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A/N: You can leave requests on tumblr under @glowingspence or in the comments <3

"Be careful!" Hotch exclaims when Derek knocks Spencer over while training with him.

"Hotch man, this ain't gonna work. You have to leave." Morgan points out and helps Spencer up from the floor, "I get you are his big brother but you asked me to train with him and I am not gonna hurt him but you have to trust me."

"Is that okay?" He asks Spencer skeptical, "Is it okay if I go upstairs? Derek can call me any time."

"Sure." Spencer just shrugs.

"Okay" Nervously Hotch looks at Derek, he doesn't like this. He doesn't like this at all. "Please be careful."

"I will."

"Tell him if he makes you uncomfortable." Hotch looks at Spencer with a scolding expression who just nods while rocking back and forth on his feet, "I will be out of your hair then."

When Gideon had started talking about the genius he met, the kid that would perfectly fit into their team, the man that caught him so off guard, he hadn't expected to stand in front of his step brother a few months later for a job interview.

They grew up in the same house, at least for some years until his father had enough of Spencer and sent him to live with his sick mother shortly before Hotch moved to college.

He had seen the kid whenever he could but with Spencer moving from college to college and with Hotch being caught up in his job, he eventually maybe once a month picked up the phone to make sure he has everything he needs, sending him money when he has his first job as a lawyer.

So when Spencer stood in front of him, it had been a blessing and nightmare all in one that he seems to not be able to escape because while he loves having him around the house and in his team, whenever he sees him in the field, he feels like he is going to be sick.

He knows he isn't the small boy anymore that he rocked to sleep or the kid he tried to feed when all he did was scream from the top of his lungs but with every gruesome picture he hands him, with every time they board the jet to fly to a city where a serial killer is on the loose, he feels like wrapping him in bubble wrap and shielding him from everything bad in the world, just like he did when his father was drunk and he hid him under his bed.

"How is the training going?" Gideon questions when he meets Hotch in the kitchen.

"I was kicked out. I couldn't watch it."

"Aaron-" He starts and places his mug down, "You gotta give him some space."

"I am giving him plenty of space."

"You have to trust him."

"You dragged a nineteen year old to the FBI, only because he is older now doesn't mean I will forget that."

"It was his decision."

"I don't care." In the beginning everyone thought this would end after a few weeks of Spencer being in the academy and for a while it actually got better but the moment Spencer joined the team, Hotch went back to the beginning, making Gideons life a living hell for planting the thought into Spencer's head, that this is a good idea and by now even he thinks Hotch will maybe not come around.

"When will Spencer be home?" Haley asks while cooking dinner, "Should I cook his dinner already?"

"He is out with Morgan." Hotch tells her.

"That's a good thing isn't it? You were so worried about him not getting along with the rest of the team." Haley reminds him. "And Agent Morgan is a great guy, he will have an eye on him."

"They are at a bar, Spencer hates bars." Hotch points out and checks his phone again.

"He needs to learn to voice when he doesn't want something on his own, I can't imagine Derek forcing him to go there."

"But Spencer doesn't say anything, alright?" He snaps, "He is probably sitting there and feeling horrible, I will pick him up."

"Don't" Haley hurries after him, grabbing his arm, "Let him have some peace."

"He can have peace in this house."

"Aaron-" Haley tries again but Hotch rips his arm away, grabbing his jacket and aims for the door, "He is not a little boy anymore!" She yells, "Spencer has grown up, he is a man with his own life. I get that you are scared for him and I can't even imagine what you two have been through but you need help, this is not okay."

"You are right, you have no idea, so please, stay out of this." Right when he grabs the doorknob Haley speaks up again.

"If you keep controlling him like this, he will leave. He loves you, he loves you so much but he got through life for many years without you and he will continue if he has to." She starts, "He is comfortable here because it's you and me and he obviously needs some help with things but he didn't have that for most of his youth, so what makes you think, that when he even gets the slightest feeling, that you could turn into his father, that he won't pack up his things and leave?"

"I am not my father."

"Exactly, but you are, right now, controlling every aspect of his life, you work with him, you live with him and now that he wants to do something on his own, you try to be there too." She tells him, "I know you don't do this to hurt him, but you have to give him some space or your intentions won't matter."

"I just want to protect him." He whispers, a tear running down his face as he grips the jacket in his hands with strength.

"Oh honey, I know." She walks over to him and pulls him into a hug, "You two are not in any danger anymore."

Spencer comes home in the late evening, more than slightly drunk stumbling through the door to see Hotch standing there with crossed arms, looking at him with an amused expression while Spencer tries getting out of his shoes until he pleadingly looks up to his older brother, "Sit down." With a chuckle Hotch crouches down in front of him and starts loosening the shoelaces on his converse, "How much did you have?"

"A few cocktails and there was a group of girls giving out shoots to us."

"What are a few exactly?"

"Four cocktails and five shoots."

"Kid-" Hotch wants to lecture him, that he can not drink that much if he never drank before but bites his tongue, "Did you have fun?"

"A lot. Derek and I talked a lot."

"You like him?" Hotch questions.

"A lot." Hesitant Spencer moves his finger over the fabric of Hotch's sweater, "Maybe a lot to much?"

"You mean romantically?"

"Don't be mad!" Spencer immediately yells and pulls his hand back, rocking back and forth on the floor, "I am sorry, I am sorry."

As he starts sobbing, Hotch closes him into his arms, muffling the noise when the younger man presses his face against him, "I am not mad, I would never be mad at you for something like this."

"I am sorry I am into guys. I know you don't like that I spend so much time alone with Derek." He brings out and Hotch hugs him even tighter, "Please don't hate me."

"You can love whoever you want, I don't care." Hotch stammers out, "You will always be my little brother okay? I could never hate you. I love you so so much."

"I am sorry, I am sorry." Spencer keeps bringing out between sobs while Hotch holds him, rocking them back and forth while the words from Haley really sink in, because while Hotch maybe can protect him from anything else, he can't from the memories they already have and maybe it's time to at least in some moments, let Spencer go again because in the end, he will always be the person he will come back to, as long as he doesn't messes this up. Again.

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