Code Name: Paladin

Part 1:

I groaned as I walked into my apartment. It was late, I was exhausted, and I still had a report to write up. So, with a heavy sigh, I dragged my tired ass over to my desk and just dropped my bag. The chair was hard and uncomfortable; perfect for writing up boring reports when you were walking dead on your feet. So, pulling out my customized super laptop I began typing and, by the time I got to the third page of the incident report, I was in survivor mode; only focusing on the laptop and barely managing that. It took an hour longer than it should have but I eventually managed to complete it; doing a little in my seat dance as I went. God I hate paper work.

As the comp shut down I decided to raid my fridge for sustenance before I collapsed as a heap on the floor. It would do me no good if I fell asleep without food in my stomach; partially due to the fact that I hadn't eaten in twenty eight hours but who's counting anyway? So I was miffed when I heard the hesitant knock. Looking at my watch I swore. It was four am and someone just happened by and wanted to visit? Great; what joyous occasion could cause someone to visit me of all people at four am? Scratch that thought. I wasn't really sure that I wanted to know the answer. Hearing the knock at the door I sighed and managed to yell out a quick and snippy 'I'm coming' between bites of a cold piece of pizza.

Reaching the door I took another bite of pizza before I opened it. I was shocked to see a beaten up Spencer leaning against the door frame. He barely could manage a smile in between pained movements and my first thought was to pull him into a hug; though I caught the steadily worsening winces of pain and I stopped myself before I went to hug him.

"What happened?" I asked as I lead him into the living room and made him sit down on the couch. He didn't answer at first so I went to the bathroom and grabbed my first aid kit and, when I came back, he began to tell his tale.

"I was working late in the office because I decided to read through a stack or two of case files to help Garcia out… filter out the ones we would actually consider taking on. So by the time I was walking back to my bike it was late and you know I don't like people knowing I ride so I don't park in the Bureau parking lot so, as I was walking back to my bike, I got cornered in the parking lot by some guys. They decided they were going to have some… fun with me before they stole my bike. So now I'm out my pride and a motorcycle that I had custom made."

Throughout his explanation I had been bandaging him up, made him strip and all so that I could get to all of his wounds. He looked worse than he actually was, he didn't have a single broken bone but he would be hurting for a while. I noticed a lot of deep muscle bruising and winced as I applied healing balms. After I decided that there was nothing else I could do I grabbed him a spare change of clothes and did not give him a choice on whether or not he was spending the night.

"How does your head feel? You have a few good gashed back there." I noticed that many of them had to have happened while he was down on his back but I wasn't going to push the subject. I watched as he winced when he reached back to touch the bandages. He was going to look like hell in the morning when all of his bruises finally set in.

"Like a semi truck exploded inside of it." Was his reply and I noticed he was eyeing the rest of the pizza slices that I had left out when I went to open the door. Going over I put two on a plate; I knew he liked cold pizza as much as I did so I didn't bother warming it up. He smiled, it was faint but it was there, and took the pizza from me and started to eat.

"We need to inform the Bureau Spence… Do you want me to call or…?" I watched as he shrank into himself on the couch and nibbled gingerly at his pizza. He was quiet for a minute, pensive I noted, before he answered.

"Can you call Hotch for me? He'll want to see me and have me file a report as well…"

I nodded and picked up my phone, I didn't know this Hotch person but I knew of him. He seemed like a good man. He watched out for Spencer while they were both on cases and off. Spence had told me all about Hotch and it was about time I got to meet my lovers Boss. I just wish that it didn't have to be under these circumstances. Dialing the number Spence had added to my contact list in case of emergencies I sighed heavily as I waited for the man to pick up. If I hadn't been called away on a last minute case I would have picked him up like I planned and taken him to dinner. Then this would have never happened. After the fourth ring I thought the man wasn't going to answer but instead I received a gruff "Aaron Hotchner speaking."