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Reid didn't remember falling asleep in the tub but he must have. He woke up, warm and in bed. Hotch was sitting on his side of the bed, reading a case file. He hadn't even noticed that Spencer had woken up. Spencer took that time to watch him. He loved the way that his bangs fell into his face, the way he creased his eyebrows together when he was concentrating or the way his eyes darted over the pages of the files. He loved the way that Hotch smelled, the way he would hold him close to his chest in the middle of the night, the way he caressed his skin and whispered his name when they were making love.

Aaron often told Spencer that it was he that was lucky. Reid always thought that it was the other way around. For all of his intelligence he couldn't figure out why someone like Hotch would want anything to do with him. Hotch had been a lawyer, he was well-known and well respected. Spencer had been a nobody, just some kid, who happened to have a high IQ and knew more obscure facts then anyone else he knew. He had known that Jason Gideon had faith in him; he hadn't been sure what would happen after Gideon left. What he hadn't expected was that nothing changed.

Aaron finally looked up from the file he'd been reading over. "Hey baby. How are you feeling?"

Reid smiled. "Great." He coughed again.

Aaron smiled back. "Yeah, you sound it. How long were you awake?"

"Long enough to try and figure out how I got so lucky?"

"And?"

Reid shook his head. "I have no clue."

Much to Spencer's delight, Aaron put the file on the floor and lay down next to him. "Well, let me see if I can't shed some light on that for you. You're brilliant, good looking and considerate. You wear your intelligence like a shield and you often feel the need to prove yourself because you feel like you're the weak link in the team. But what you fail to realize is that you're an asset to the team. There's a lot that we count on you for and the team just wouldn't be the same without you."

Reid just stared at Hotch for a minute. When he said that he was trying to figure out how he got so lucky he hadn't even been talking about his job. He had no idea that Hotch would take it so literally. "I thought the rule was no profiling each other."

"I know. I'm sorry."

Reid noticed the smile that was slowly making its way across Hotch's face. "No, you're not." He lightly smacked Aaron on the arm.

Aaron scooted closer to Spencer. He was relieved that the heat wasn't radiating off Spencer anymore. He felt Spencer sigh as he snaked his arm around the doctor and pulled him close. "But that isn't what you meant."

Reid put his head on Aaron's chest, so that he could listen to the beating of his heart. "No, I meant us and the life that we have together."

"Spencer, I'm the lucky one. You were there for me during what was the darkest time in my life. I didn't ask you to and it wasn't something that was expected. But just the same you stayed with me and for that I can't thank you enough."

Reid took Hotch's other hand in his. "Aaron, I was just returning the favour. Do you remember the plane ride back after I was rescued from Tobias Hankel?"

"Sure."

Spencer blinked away the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes. "You were there for me."

Hotch swore that he would never forget the hell that Spencer had been put through because of Hankel. He had been worried about Spencer on the flight, aside from asking Gideon if he could have a minute, he hadn't said anything.

Once they had boarded the plane and were safely in the air, Jason had gone through Reid's go-bag and gotten out another pair of mis-matched socks and the slippers that Reid always packed. Spencer allowed him to remove the other sock, put the clean pair on and slide the slippers on to his feet. If his bruised foot caused him any pain he didn't show it.

They had wanted to get him checked out at a hospital before heading back to Quantico but he just shook his head. As was standard protocol he did get the once over by the EMT, he had made it clear then that he just wanted to go home. The EMT said that it was obvious that the doctor was exhausted, the head injury wasn't serious and his foot would heal with time.

After Morgan had picked Reid up and carried him out of sight, the paramedic pulled Hotch aside. "He's in shock. Once the plane lands he should be brought to a hospital for a full check up. Take him home, get him cleaned up if that will make him more agreeable. But don't procrastinate with it too much."

"I understand."

Hotch had been the last one on the plane. He sat just across from Reid who was sitting slightly crooked and was staring out the window. Morgan had handed Hotch a blanket. Aaron used the blanket to cover him but stayed close, he had no idea if Reid would stay covered or how he would react to the confined space of the plane.

For the first thirty minutes he just sat there, blanket pooling in his lap, his head against the window with his hair falling into his eyes. He didn't move. Hotch didn't like the emptiness that his eyes seemed to hold. He liked it a lot less when Reid started to rock. It wasn't violent or destructive it was just slow rocking. Hotch sat so that he was less than an arms length away.

"Reid." Hotch took a deep breath. "Hey." He gently grabbed the other agents hand and was surprised when Spencer grabbed his hand tightly. The grip was so tight it hurt, and Aaron noticed that Spencer's knuckles had turned white.

The thing that Hotch would remember most was the terrified look that Reid's eyes held for a split second, before he was eerily calm again. He had leaned in close so that he could whisper into Aaron's ear.

"I'm sorry Hotch. I failed again."

"No, you didn't. You did exactly what you had to do. You managed to give us what we needed to find you. You should get some sleep." Just before he convinced Reid to go to sleep, he'd received a warning glare from both Gideon and Morgan. Both men had seen the tears that were making their way down his face. Aaron was reasonably sure that they thought that he had said something that made Reid upset enough that he had started to cry.

Aaron hadn't known how things were going to go from there; all he knew was that he had to be there for him; no matter what. Reid had slept the rest of the way home.

Now Hotch looked at the tears that were escaping Spencer's eyes as they lay together. "I know."

Spencer shook his head. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have survived the aftermath of that incident or Gideon leaving and the guilt that I had felt after that. Whether you knew it or not, you were and still are my rock. That's why I'm lucky."

Hotch smiled. "We helped each other out."

Spencer snuggled against Hotch's chest and Aaron wrapped his arms tightly around the thinner man. It seemed to him that all the sleep that Spencer had been getting had done him good in more ways then one.