Baiting the Trap
If he hadn't been so distracted worrying about his mother's reaction to her medication – though he would never think of his mother's well-being as a distraction, his distraction was his fault alone – maybe he would have better thought the situation through. If he hadn't been so distracted he might have seen it coming. As it was, he hadn't.
He had checked into his hotel and went straight over to Bennington within an hour of landing in Las Vegas. He had barely set foot into the Bennington parking lot – he never even made it inside – when there were suddenly arms around his chest and a chloroform soaked rag pressed against his nose and mouth. The last thing he saw before blacking out was the inside of a dark colored panel van; the first thing he sees when he wakes up is a dimly lit room.
He had struggled, of course. Held his breath as long as he could, jutted out his elbows and knees, tossed his head, kicked his feet out. He'd thrashed and squirmed. Fought. But who ever had grabbed him knew what they were doing; there were two of them. Another two in the van. He remembers that without too much effort. And it isn't too hard to figure out what happened. They had been waiting for him.
It had been a trap.
He doesn't know where he is. He is chained up, restrained and restricted. He has yet to see the faces of his captors – though he isn't exactly reassured that that is really a good thing. He knows who they are anyway, even without knowing names or faces. All four of them. These are the men they'd been looking for.
He knows no one will notice he's missing for at least a few days. His mother and her doctors are expecting him, but will think he has just been delayed; his team is expecting him to call, but will think he's just gotten caught up visiting. That doesn't spell good things for him, he knows.
They all had been thinking too small, not seeing the bigger picture staring them all in the face. Even his one hundred eighty-seven point IQ wasn't enough for him to realize it in time. It is plenty enough to help him figure out why he is here, though. He is bait. Bait to catch the rest of his team.
How or when that will happen, he doesn't know either, nor what will happen after. But he does know one thing for sure. Penelope Garcia isn't the only one being targeted.
They all are.
Author's Note: After the 'big reveal' in Target Rich (11x7) I couldn't understand exactly how they came to the conclusion that Garcia was being targeted by that group of assassins. I love Garcia, I really do, but does anyone else find it a little odd that – out of an elite team of crime fighters – she is the only one being targeted by this group of assassins? Is she really the only one who could be able to find them? But the fact that they are taking the threat to Pen so seriously, and then Reid rushes off to Vegas seemingly without a thought . . . well, this little baby was just asking to be written. Probably going to be AU by tonight's episode (though, from what I've seen, Reid won't be in this episode either) but what have you. This is merely for fun, not a prediction; though the pieces do fit. (Not sure if anyone else has noticed or agrees, but the CM writers don't seem capable of keeping suspense going for anything more than a few episodes, leaving season long story arcs feeling rather lackluster.) This is my first foray into writing Criminal Minds and what seems to be my shortest story to date. I love Spencer so much, and so much bad stuff happens to him; fanfiction just makes it all worse. Take care all! Love you! God bless!
-TheOneThatGotAway99