CHAPTER ONE: Silence

Spencer couldn't believe that he was just sitting there, watching his family be tortured. He had to keep reminding himself that his brother had wanted him to hide, had wanted him to stay safe. But his mind was screaming at him to jump up from his hiding place in the coat closet and try to help. 'Stay here and be quiet.' Aaron's words resounded in his head.

Suddenly a scream made the thirteen year old flinch and blood splattered across the door. A couple of droplets came through the small opening where he had the closet door cracked open and they landed on his cheek. Tears spilt out of his eyes as he held back a sob.

One year later...

Jason Gideon nodded as he listened to his Prosecutor, friend Lucas Howard explain his predicament. "This boy is basically a genius, but it will be very difficult to convince the jury he is a reliable witness if he won't even talk to anyone." Howard said.

Gideon glanced down at Spencer Reid's file then looked back up at his friend. "You said that Fred and Kaitlin Landon were his foster parents. What happened to his biological parents?"

"It's quite a sad story. His father left him and his schizophrenic mother when he was only four. Only a few months later CPS came and took him, his mother was institutionalized. Spencer's father refused to take him so he was put with his aunt." Howard rubbed his hand over his face wearily then continued. "He stayed with her for two years then she gave him up. After that he was in a couple of foster homes before he came to be with the Landons and their adopted son Aaron Marx." He paused again before saying. "Will you try to get him to talk? We really need his testimony."

"I will see what I can do." Jason said firmly.

Howard smiled in relief. "I'll have the U.S. Marshall bring him down here tomorrow."

Gideon sighed. "Lucas, you need to understand that it may take a while depending on his stage of healing."

"I understand, Jason, thank you for agreeing."

Spencer stared out the window of the SUV. He tried hard to put it out of his mind that he was going to be psychoanalyzed in less than half an hour. The words of William Shakespeare's many classics ran through his mind as he attempted to distract himself.

"Agent Gideon is really a nice guy." Timothy Potter, Spencer's assigned U.S. Marshall, told him. "You don't have to be nervous."

Spencer looked at the man in the driver's seat then turned back to the window, his brother's last words to him replacing Shakespeare's. '...Be quiet.' A gentle plea that the fourteen year old refused to disobey.

He closed his eyes hoping to maybe sleep the rest of the way.

It was about nine o'clock in the evening and Spencer and Aaron were watching television in the living room when the doorbell rang. Aaron glanced behind the couch at the front door. "Dad!Door!" the sixteen year old shouted.

"You can't get off your lazy butt and get it yourself?" Spencer asked with a grin.

Fred Landon smiled as he walked to the door. "Thanks for defending me, Spence."

"You're welcome."

"Kiss up." Aaron muttered good naturedly.

Fred opened the door and gasped.

"We're here." Spencer's head jerked up when he heard the U.S. Marshall speak. It felt like butterflies were fluttering around inside his stomach. Everyone wanted him to talk, to tell them what had happened, but he couldn't. Aaron had told him to stay quiet, so he would. It was his brother's last request and he would not disgrace his memory by forgetting it. So as he got out of the car and followed Timothy into the building, he steeled himself against the probing that would be coming soon.

Once they got inside they were greeted by an agent who led them into an elevator. The agent pressed a button and the lift started its ascent. No one spoke during the short ride. Spencer always found it interesting that in his experience government agents only ever spoke to each other if need be. In his mind it was a little hypocritical that they try to get him to talk and they barely even speak to each other.

The elevator doors suddenly opened and the agent took the lead again. Spencer and Timothy followed him through a bull pen full of other FBI agents and then up to an office that had a plaque on the door that read 'SSA J. Gideon'. The agent knocked on the door and a voice called through "Come in." An overwhelming urge to run came over Spencer, but Timothy's hand on his shoulder kept him from acting on it. The agent opened the door and the three of them went in.

Two men sat on either side of the desk. Then man who sat behind the desk, Reid assumed this was Agent Gideon, was far from what he was expecting. He had graying hair with a bald spot on top, gentle eyes that made you feel safe, his face was a bit worn but still friendly, and he didn't wear the same suit that most of the other agents seemed to be wearing but he wore blue jeans and a light blue t-shirt.

The man in front of the desk was the total opposite. He was exactly what you would expect an FBI agent to look like. He wore a dark suit, had dark hair, and a stoic face. Yet somehow he looked familiar.

Spencer was so busy examining the men in the room that he was startled when the agent who had brought them up there spoke. "Agent Gideon this is Timothy Potter, the U.S. Marshall you were expecting."

"Thank you, Burke." Gideon said sincerely. Burke left as soon as he knew his job was done.

"Agent Gideon." Timothy greeted as he shook the agent's hand.

Gideon smiled then nodded toward the agent on the other side of the desk. "This is SSA Aaron Hotchner."

When Spencer heard the name he fixed his gaze on the stoic features of the agent. That's when he realized what was so familiar. If he was smiling he would look exactly how Reid would imagine his Aaron looking as an adult.

"Are you here to talk to Spencer too?" Timothy asked, slightly confused.

Hotchner stood as he spoke. "No, I was just discussing a case with Agent Gideon." He turned to Gideon. "We'll finish talking about this later."

Gideon nodded and Agent Hotchner was gone.

Spencer tuned out Timothy and Gideon's conversation. He didn't feel like listening to people talk about him as if he wasn't there. Everyone seemed to think that just because he didn't talk he couldn't hear them.

"Spencer." the fourteen year old looked up when he heard Timothy talking to him. "Agent Gideon is going to talk to you for a little while, but I'll be right outside if you need me, okay?"

Reid swallowed nervously but nodded that he understood.

After Timothy left the room Gideon gestured to the chair that Agent Hotchner had been sitting in for Spencer to sit. The boy glanced at Gideon then the chair then back at Gideon. He shook his head and took a step back away from the desk. He refused to give them an inch.

"Okay, you can stand." Gideon said kindly.

After the session Timothy went in to talk to Gideon and they asked Spencer to wait in the conference room. He didn't have to be in the office to know what they were talking about. Gideon was probably telling Timothy the usual "He's been severely traumatized... He may never speak again... No point in trying to get him to talk... Waste of time...".

Spencer decided that he didn't want to just sit there and wait, he wanted to see man who looked so much like his brother and even had his name.

Spencer exited the conference room and started walking down the row of office doors. He stopped when he saw a door with a plaque that read: "SSA A. Hotchner." The boy wondered if this was it. He figured there was only one way to find out, so he knocked. "Come in." a voice commanded from inside the office. Spencer entered and inwardly patted himself on the back for finding the right office when he saw the same stoic man from earlier.

Hotch looked slightly confused but asked. "Can I help you?"

Spencer nodded and walked forward until he was standing directly in front of the desk.

The agent waited expectantly but no words came out of the boy's mouth. "Shouldn't you be with Agent Gideon?"

Spencer shook his head and sat down in the chair across from Hotch.

"Then shouldn't you be with your marshal?"

Spencer suddenly reached across the desk and grabbed a pen and a piece of paper. He wrote something on the paper and when he was done he handed it to the FBI agent.

Timothy and Agent Gideon are talking. Hotch read.

"Where are you supposed to wait for them?"

Spencer grabbed the pen and paper again. He flipped the paper over and started drawing this time.

Hotch couldn't help the ghost of a smile that crossed his face; the teenager had drawn a perfect diagram of the conference room.

Hotch cleared his throat before speaking. "You should go wait for them in this room." He said as he pointed to the picture.

Spencer sniffled. He didn't want to leave the one person who could remind him of his brother. A knock on the door suddenly interrupted their strange conversation. Gideon poked his head inside before Hotch could answer. "Hotch, is- Oh, there he is." Gideon leaned out to talk to someone, then he and Timothy both came in.

Timothy shook his head. "Spencer, you can't run off like that." he scolded.

Hotch stood up as he apologized. "I'm sorry. I should have brought him back as soon as he came in here."

"That's okay. At least he didn't go too far." Timothy suddenly got distracted by the paper Spencer had been writing and drawing on. "Did he do this?"

Hotch nodded. "Yes. I asked him some questions and that's how he replied."

"He's never done that before. Usually he just ignores everyone."

Gideon looked a little curious but turned to the marshal. "You can bring him back in a couple of days. I don't want to overwhelm him right now."

Timothy nodded and gently took Spencer's arm. "Come on, Spencer."

Spencer's eyes went wide. He couldn't leave Aaron; not again. "NO!" he yelled as he ripped his arm away. He ran forward and threw his arms around Hotch in a tight hug.

The three men stood there completely stunned.

Spencer had not wanted to leave his new Aaron's side but the three government agents had asked him to wait outside while they talked so he sat on the ground staring up at the door waiting for it to open so he could see new Aaron once more. When the door finally opened Spencer jumped to his feet and ran into the office. He quickly grabbed Hotch's arm, refusing to let go.

Timothy sighed in exasperation. "Spencer, we have to go, but I will bring you back to see Agent Hotchner tomorrow."

The teenager looked up at the FBI agent he was clinging to. Hotch nodded, attempting to reassure boy. Spencer reluctantly released his grip and slowly walked over to the U.S. marshal.

Hotch sighed as he climbed into bed next to Haley. "Are you okay?" she asked as she rolled onto her side to face him.

"We need to talk about something." He stated carefully.

Haley frowned. "What is it, Aaron?"

"Today Gideon was talking to this very traumatized fourteen year old boy. His father abandoned him and his mentally ill mother when he was four and then he was in the foster care system until he was thirteen. Then he saw his foster parents and foster brother tortured and murdered."

Haley held back tears as her husband spoke. "That's terrible." she breathed.

"He won't talk but he's the only witness who can get the murderers put away for sure. If he doesn't testify they'll probably walk and he'll be in danger his whole life." Haley opened her mouth to speak but Hotch cut her off. "I'm telling you this because he's formed an attachment to me. It might be because I have the same name as his foster brother but the point is he spoke today when the marshal assigned to him tried to get him to leave me. I think I might be able to get him to open up and if I did that would be a huge advantage for the prosecution. Basically I'm asking you if he can stay with us for a while."

Haley looked thoughtful for a few moments. "Do you think Jack would be okay with it?"

A/N: I will continue with this story if enough people would like me too but updates might be a little slow because i go back to college in a week or so. Please review, I would appreciate it.