Keep the Suit, Lose the Nickname
A Criminal Minds AU

Author: Kuria Dalmatia
'Verse: Reid's The Chief!
Rating: Each chapter is individually rated, but overall, FRM/R
Warnings: Profanity, sexual situations, physical and sexual violence, adult content, case discussion
Characters/Pairing: Hotch/Reid, Season 1's BAU

Summary: What if Spencer Reid was the unit chief of the BAU and Aaron Hotchner joined the team after the Boston bombings that lead to Gideon's leave of absence? As Hotchner adjusts to his new role in the elite profiling unit, he faces challenges not only from UnSubs but from Gideon, who doesn't approve of the new Hot Shot of the unit. Oh, and the little matter of Hotch having a crush on Reid …

ARCHIVING: my LJ and FFNet account... anyone else? Please ask first.

April 2011. August 2011

COMMENTS: Unbeated. Will this AU work? Maybe. It will have its flaws and characters may seem OOC. I also never thought I would have the courage to post this, because it's all over the place and then some. This is for you, CMAli, because you said over lunch, "Why not post it?"

It's a WIP that is now edging towards the 47k word mark and spanning into mid-S2.

Inspired by a prompt from Ansera's CMIV Kink Meme: "AU: A younger and eager Hotch has a thing for his unit Chief Spencer Reid. bottom!Reid and somewhat inexperienced (with men) Hotch!"

This so totally got out of hand or out of mind. Or something, because it's another one of those 'evolution of relationships' things. And it became a freaking monster.

Feedback always welcome.

DISCLAIMER: The Mark Gordon Company, ABC Studios and CBS Paramount Network Television own Criminal Minds. Salut! I just took them out to play and I promise put them back when I'm done. I'm not making any profit just trying to get these images out of my head.

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AUTHOR'S NOTES REGARDING THE TIMELINE

In this AU, Hotch is about the same age as Morgan. While he worked in the prosecutor's office, it was a very short stint before he went on to the FBI. He didn't run the Seattle field office like he did in canon nor did he run security for Ambassador Prentiss.

Reid is in his early- to mid-forties, and as spent the last fifteen or so years in the BAU. Gideon did bring him in to the BAU but (as it stands right now), Reid wasn't directly recruited out of college.