Hi everyone, this story popped into my head and i had to write it, let me know what you think, good or bad, thanks

He never knew that 10 years could feel like 10 minutes. They had been told that the effects of the drug could last for years but they never expected it to last this long. Personally he was glad that it had taken so long and he would have been just as happy if the effects had been permanent.

—

10 years he had waited. He had waited for his life to continue, he wanted to just pick up where he left off but now things were different and he wasn't sure they would ever feel "normal" again. He felt like they were all watching him, expecting him to need their help, but he didn't need their help now, did he?

Maybe he did need their help, he didn't know how to live this life anymore. He wasn't as

confident as before, he wasn't used to working such long hours anymore, he wasn't used to being able to make every little decision for himself anymore, who was he now?

—

As they all sat at the conference table he watched the young man sitting across from him, the man that he had treated like his son for the last 10 years. He thought this would be easy, that things would be the same as always but they would have a closer relationship that they had before this happened.

He didn't know how he could make things better, talking about it hadn't worked very well, he just hoped in time that they would be able to relax around each other again.

—-

He could feel the uneasiness with the others whenever they were together, it was like they didn't know how to treat him, the last 10 years had changed all of their relationships in different ways and now they were all unsure of how to act and they all wanted to talk about it, everyone except him.

"Alright my crime fighters today you are off to Miami where a group of young women have all

gone missing together. They were all seen together last at a nightclub celebrating a birthday two nights ago, the bartender said they all left together around 1am and no one had seen them since.

That was until one of the ladies washed up on a beach this morning and was found by a local fisherman." Garcia said as she turned away from the gruesome images on the screen

"Do we know all of the women that went missing? How many are there?" Asked Rossi

"Three ladies were reported missing the morning after their celebration when they had failed to show up at home or work, and so we have their identities, the birthday girl is Sandra Marble, and her two friends Mandy Carulo and Amanda Berry. The lady that was found on the beach is 26 year old Mandy Carulo, the ME is doing an autopsy as we speak to determine the cause of death."

"Wheels up in 20" Hotch said as he stood up and headed toward his office.

—

10 years ago:

"I can do it Hotch!" Exclaimed Spencer as he tried for the third time to get his sock on without

much success

"I'm sure you can, but how about you let me help you because we are running late" Hotch said trying to keep the frustration out of his voice

"Fine!" Spencer cried dramatically throwing his hands in the air.

—

"Hotch? Are you with us?" Asked Morgan snapping Hotch out of the memory

"Yes, sorry continue Garcia"

"Yes sir, so we have found out that Mandy was new to the area and had only met the girls recently through the birthday girl Sandra Marble, the two met through their workplace when Mandy transferred from California"

"Thanks Garcia, when we land Morgan and Prentiss, you go and talk to the ME, Reid and JJ you go to the sight she was washed up and see if you can find anything else and Rossi and I will go to the station and start talking to the families of the girls"

"Are you ok Aaron?"

"Yeah Dave I'm fine"

"How are things with you and the kid?" He asked quietly

"I think it's going to take time for both of us to adjust to the situation, he needed me so much for the last 10 years and now..."

"Now he doesn't, and I'm sure that's hard on both of you"

Hotch looked out the window and didn't respond

"He will still need you, you know. He needs to learn how to be an adult again, he will need you to be there for him for guidance and reassurance"

"I thought so too but he doesn't even want to talk to me about what he's feeling or going through, it's almost as though he's mad at me, like it was my fault that it happened to him...I suppose it was my fault that we didn't get to him quickly enough"

"It was not your fault and Spencer knows that, but maybe he's blaming you because he had no one else to blame, the man that did this was put to death a year ago. Just give him time and I'm sure he will come around"

—

"Me and mrs Carulo, I'm so sorry for your loss." Hotch started as he sat down to talk to the

distressed couple "I understand that this is incredibly hard for you but anything you can tell me about Mandy or the girls she was with on Thursday night will be helpful"

"All she told us was that she was going out for drinks with sandy, a girl from work because it was her birthday, she wasn't really looking forward to it because she didn't know the other girls that were going, but because she was new in town she thought it might be a good way to meet new people" mrs Carulo said tearfully

"Did she tell you anything else? Where they were going? How late they planned to be out?"

"No she just said they were going to a restaurant for dinner then to a club for some dancing, she didn't expect to be out too late because they had work the next day"

"Ok thank you for your help" Hotch walked out of the room and immediately called Garcia

"Boss man, how can I help?" She answered cheerfully

"I need you to see if there are any cameras outside of the nightclub that might have seen them leaving and where they went or what kind of car they got into"

"Right away sir"

"The cause of death was drowning, there were trace amounts of drugs in her system but not

enough to have caused her death" Spencer said as he and JJ walked in to the conference room at the station

"Garcia has found some footage of the girls leaving the club and getting into a white car

registered to Amanda Berry. According to the video they headed west before we lost sight of

them" Rossi said

As they all started going over the case files again and going through the new information that

Garcia had sent to them Aaron glanced over at Spencer, they needed to talk about a lot of things but it would have to wait until they solved this case and went home again.

—

10 years earlier:

"HOTCH!" Reid was screaming when they stormed into the house

Morgan kicked down a locked door and the first thing they saw as they entered the room was Reid laying on the floor and the unsub standing over him laughing, "Hahahahaha! You may have caught me but it's too late! He will be changed! The formula was

perfect!"

"What do you mean? What did you do?" Demanded Hotch as Morgan restrained the unsub and Emily rushed to Reid's side and confirmed that he was breathing

"I have given him the best gift ever! He will get a chance to live again! To start over!" The crazy man yelled

"Get him out of my sight!" Growled Hotch "I'll deal with him later"

Reid was still unconscious as the medics came in and put him on a stretcher "Im going with Reid, Rossi you go to the station and see if you can get some sense out the unsub, call me when you have any information"

At the hospital Hotch refused to leave Reid for any reason. The doctor had examined him and couldn't find anything wrong with him, they tested him for drugs and found an unknown

substance but because they couldn't identify it they couldn't guess at what it would do to him.

Finally Rossi called with some news

"Well he was very forthcoming, he explained that he injected Reid with some sort of serum that will reverse the aging process" Rossi explained

"The doctors found traces of the drug in his system but nothing has happened to him, he is still the same as always."

"Apparently it takes time to start working, we should see the effects within a few days he told us."

"And how long do these effects last? A few day? Weeks? Months?" Hotch asked fearing the answer

"That's the worst part, he is not sure how long it will last but he thinks it could be years before he returns to normal"

—

"I've been doing some digging into both of the girls that are still missing since we have no leads on who could have taken them, so, it looks like Amanda and sandy have been best friends for a very long time, they went to school together and have been friends ever since." Reported Garcia

"Maybe there is no other unsub" speculated Reid " maybe the two girls planned this and decided to kill Mandy?"

"Maybe Amanda was jealous of Sandy's relationship with Mandy?" Added JJ "girls can be very jealous if they think their best friend is going to replace them with someone else"

"Garcia, do you have any information about where Amanda might have taken them?"

"The only place in her name is her apartment and no one has been there since before they

disappeared, but I'll do some digging and let you know if I find anything"

"It will probably be somewhere near water or with a access to a pool" Reid added before she

hung up

"Morgan and Reid I want you to go to Amanda's apartment and see if you can find anything"

Hotch ordered "JJ and Prentiss you go to Sandy's place and look for anything there"

"Hotch, I think we have something, we found an old scrapbook at Amanda's with pictures of her from when she was a child up until she was a teenager at a beachside cabin. It looks like the families regular vacation spot there are even some later photos of her and sandy there together."

"Thanks Reid I'll call Garcia"

"Ok so I have been able to find the house that Amanda's parents rented out every summer, looks like no one has been there in years and it was forclosed and is waiting to be demolished, I've sent the address to your phones"

"Thanks Garcia, we're on our way"

20 minutes later Hotch led the team into the house, as they searched through the rooms Rossi came upon the two girls laying on one of the beds.

"In here" he called as he checked for a pulse "they're dead" he announced as the others entered the room

"I found a note from Amanda, it says that if Sandy isn't her best friend then she can't be anyone's friend, so it would seem like she killed sandy then killed herself, there are also drugs in the kitchen" Reid informed them

—-

10 years ago:

The first thing Reid saw when he woke up was Hotch's worried face "Hotch?" He said quietly

"what happened?"

"How are you feeling?"

"Tired but ok..I think"

"You were injected with some sort of drug by the unsub, the doctor is unsure what sort of effect it will have on you"

"He was some sort of crazy scientist he kept telling me to enjoy my second chance at life?

Whatever that means" Reid yawned "can I go home now?"

"The doctor wants to keep you here overnight just to make sure you're ok but you should be able to leave in the morning"

"Ok, I'm fine now Hotch you don't have to stay, go and get some rest yourself"

"I'm not leaving you Reid, I'll get some sleep here, and we can leave together in the morning" Hotch replied

The next morning Reid woke up feeling fine and after the doctor had examined him again he was discharged.

Hotch and Reid headed straight to the jet to meet the rest of the team, when they got out of the car Hotch could have sworn that Reid looked a little shorter than normal.

Once the jet was in the air Hotch decided that he had to tell Reid the truth

"Reid I have to tell you something" he started

"What's up Hotch?" Reid asked cheerfully, happy to be on his way home

"Well... the unsub told Rossi some information that doesn't make a lot of sense, he told him that he had injected you with a home made serum that will reverse the aging process"

"That's not possible, there has been study into such a thing but nothing that can physically

change a person like that" Reid objected "and look at me, I look the same as always!"

"We know it doesn't sound possible but he said that it will happen gradually over a few days, so now we just have to wait and see if anything happens"

"But...how...what if it does happen? How long did he think the effects will last?"

Hotch hesitated before answering quietly "a few years at least"

"So..." Reid started "I..."

"It's ok Reid, if anything does happen then we will do everything we can to fix it" Rossi assured

"So, what, I'm going to turn into a child again? What am I supposed to do? Go back to Vegas and live in the institute with my mom?"

"No you will be staying with us, we won't abandon you Spence" JJ told him

"That's right Reid we'll take care of you" Morgan added

For once Reid was lost for words.

—

Present day:

"Ok Reid lets go, see you guys tomorrow" Hotch said as they got off the plane and all headed to their cars

When they got home Reid headed straight for his bedroom, "goodnight"

"We need to talk Reid" Hotch started

"I'm tired, we'll talk later" Reid said as he shut his bedroom door

—

10 years ago:

"I think it's probably best if we keep this to ourselves for now, and you should come home with one of us just in case anything does happen" Hotch said

"I don't need a babysitter!" Spencer started "not yet at least. I'm going home. Alone!"

"Spencer..." Hotch started

"No Hotch, I'm going home, I need some time alone to think about things. I'll call you if I need you, ok?"

After thinking for a few moments Hotch finally replied "ok, but I'll be checking in so keep your

phone with you, if you don't answer I'll be coming over in person to check on you"

"Fine" Reid shrugged as he walked away

"One of him needs to be with him Hotch!" Morgan objected as they watched Reid leave.

"I agree, but that's not what he wants and if he really does become a child again this could be his last chance for a bit of alone time and privacy. And little does he know, but I'll be on his doorstep at 7am to see for myself that he's ok"

"I'll meet you there" the younger man agreed

As promised Hotch and Morgan arrived at Reid's apartment at 7 in the morning and they were shocked by the sight of Reid as he opened the door

"Hi" he said in a small voice, Reid looked like he was about 15 years old

"It happened!" Was all that Morgan could say

"Are you ok Reid?" Asked Hotch

"Yeah I'm fine, except for the fact I'm 10 years younger than I was yesterday"

"Well I think that settles it, you're coming home with me" said Hotch decisively letting himself into Reid's apartment

"You'll need to get some stuff to bring with you, books, personal items, that sort of thing"

"So is this what it's going to be like now? You're just going to make my decisions for me?" Reid yelled

"Calm down and think about it rationally for a minute, you can't live alone, what if you keep

getting younger? A child can't live alone and you know it" Hotch said in a calm voice.

"I'm not a child!"

"No but you are in the body of one, what if someone saw you walking into your apartment all by yourself and called child protective services and they took you away? What then? How would we explain you to the authorities?" Hotch tried reasoning

Spencer thought about it for a minute trying to find a flaw in Hotch's logic, "Fine! Whatever!"

He said as he stormed into his bedroom and slammed the door.

"Good luck with that attitude Hotch" laughed Morgan

"He'll be ok when he calms down and adjusts to the situation"

"I wonder if he will get any younger? And what are you going to tell the director? We can't take a 15 year old to work with us ?"

"I don't know how I'll explain it, lucky we have today off so I can think about what I'm going to say without sounding like a crazy person" sighed Hotch

"Uh oh" said Morgan suddenly "Garcia"

"Good point" smiled Hotch "Garcia will love a mini Reid to spoil, good luck telling her" he laughed clapping him on the shoulder.

"She going to think I'm insane!" Morgan laughed

"I'm glad you guys think this is funny!" Reid called from the bedroom

"We are not laughing at you pretty boy" Morgan called back

The bedroom door opened and Reid came out dragging a huge bag full of books "can someone please help me with this"

"Do you really need all these books?" Hotch asked

"Yes I really do and I will need to get some new clothes, these are all too big for me now" Spencer said pulling up his pants for emphasis

"We can go shopping on the way back to my place, and how about we buy you a kindle so you don't have to drag all of these books around with you?"

"But I like real books!" Reid whined

"I know but I just think that for now it will be easier" Hotch said

"I'll think about it, but for now I'll just take these"

Hotch followed Spencer around the boys section in target as he moaned that the clothes were all horrible and he wouldn't wear any of them, eventually he had enough "Spencer, you only need a few things until we make sure you are going to stay this age, so just pick something" he said firmly.

"Why don't you just pick some things for me then, I really don't care" Spencer declared folding his arms and turning away from Hotch, "you're determined to make all my decisions for me anyway"

A mother with her teenage son looked over at Hotch and smiled after hearing Spencer's last

remark, "isn't this a wonderful age" she laughed and Hotch smiled at her in response. "Yeah it's adorable" he joked

They finally agreed on a few things and decided they could find some more "Spencer" style

clothes later if this was permanent.

After they arrived home Hotch carried Spencer's books up to jacks room, " this will be ok for

tonight and then I'll sort the guest room out for you after that, ok?"

"Whatever" Spencer shrugged

"Spencer, I understand you are upset about what is happening and you have every right to be but this attitude needs to stop, I'm only trying to help you"

Spencer sat down on the bed and started looking through his books

Hotch sighed "ok well Rossi has invited us all to his place for dinner so we can all talk about the situation so feel free to have a shower and get cleaned up before we leave"

A few hours later Hotch still hadn't seen or heard Reid so he went to check on him "Reid" he

called softly as he knocked on the bedroom door, getting no answer he opened the door and saw Reid asleep on the bed. Hotch gently shook him "Reid, wake up, it's time to go to Rossi's"

"Hmmm" Reid mumbled as he woke up and turned to look at Hotch, "I'm not hungry"

"That's ok, you can come and watch us eat then" Hotch said as he stood up and walked towards the door "we're leaving in 10 minutes"

A few minutes later Spencer came downstairs "do I really have to go? Can't I just stay here, I may look like a kid but I'm really an adult"

"No you can't stay here alone and I'm sure you will have things to add to the discussion"

"Let's just go and get this over with then!" Spencer said as he walked out the door.