Author's Note: Given the time difference between the 1996 From Dusk Till Dawn film, Criminal Minds which began its run in 2005 and the From Dusk Till Dawn TV series that started its run in 2014 (in Australia), I'm going to have the From Dusk Till Dawn aspect of this story be made to line up with the Criminal Minds timeline. Oh yeah, this will also crossover with Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Mysteries novels, using the timeline from True Blood to make it fit in.
So much heartaches and pain
Always on my way
Living on, living day by day
I got no future, I got no past
Just going nowhere, nowhere fast
How long does forever last
"Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams" by The 69 Eyes
FBI BAU Quantico, Virginia - December 15th, 2004 – Early Evening
"Pretty boy, I don't know what happened to you out there with him, but what was that in there?" Derek Morgan, Supervisory Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Behavioral Analysis Unit stared at him with something akin to concern and worry. The matter of the question referred to his interaction with the Unsub not even moments ago, and had they known of how deeply involved he was with the man they wouldn't have let Spencer see him to start with.
"Even if I explained it none of you would understand or believe what I have to say." His gaze went to Aaron Hotchner—who was watching him with a scowl of concentration—to Elle Greenaway—who merely looked saddened. "You're thinking I'm a victim of Stockholm Syndrome, but it's a lot more complicated than that."
"Reid, if it isn't Stockholm Syndrome then what is it? Explain to us what we saw you doing in there with Seth Gecko." Hotchner spoke this time, the plead for understanding in his tone.
Spencer's mind drifted back to ten minutes ago, when he had just convinced the BAU team to let him go talk to their Unsub alone. Jason Gideon, Morgan and Hotchner had volunteered to watch from the observation room, but their presence there hadn't been enough to dissuade him from what had occurred.
The lights in the room had been brighter than normal, or so it seemed to his now more sensitive than usual eyesight. Seated at the interrogation table, with his hands cuffed to the underside, was one Seth Gecko. A glare had marred the man's features, which quickly softened into a look of concern at the sight of Spencer. "Are you okay, baby?" Was the very first thing out of Seth's mouth, his voice thick with emotion.
"A little bruised from earlier, but otherwise fine, Seth." Spencer spoke in a soft tone, his gaze flicking to the mirrored observation window. He noted the quick flash of anger that stole over Seth's face at the mention of him being bruised so he turned his full attention to him. "I'm okay, Seth. They haven't hurt me." Spencer added quickly in that still soft tone.
"I'll rip them apart if they do," Seth promised darkly, shifting in his seat while his black gaze swept over Spencer's lithe form. He inhaled deeply and after a moment a look of satisfaction replaced his anger. "Come here, baby."
It was an order, and he knew what would happen if he complied with it. Still, that didn't stop Spencer from walking around the table to where Seth was. He could hear Hotch and Gideon behind the window, at first questioning what he was doing before realization set in. They wouldn't have very long so Spencer knew he would have to make it count. Leaning down, he caught Seth's mouth with his own and kissed him desperately, hungrily.
There was a slight, almost unheard grating noise and then the chains holding the handcuffs together snapped. Hands freed, Seth wrapped his arms around Spencer's waist and pulled the lithe man onto his lap right as the door to the interrogation room burst open. Vaguely aware of Spencer tensing slightly, he paid the two agents no mind and deepened the kiss, a hand shifting to tangle in Spencer's hair.
"Reid! Let him go you bastard!" Hotchner ordered, his gun drawn and aimed at Seth. The unit chief looked angry, and a bit confused. Gideon, however, looked lost while he also drew his gun and aimed at Seth.
It was Seth who broke the kiss, his gaze penetrating into Spencer's while he touched their foreheads together. "I'll be fine, baby," he whispered, wishing that he didn't have to let go of Spencer. He did so, reluctantly, and watched with an angry scowl as Hotchner pulled Spencer out of the interrogation room by his arm. Gideon remained behind, gun still trained on him.
"It was reassurance," Spencer finally said in a soft voice, his gaze downcast as he came back to the present. None of them could understand, they were still under the delusion that he was experiencing Stockholm Syndrome. It was rather the opposite, the circumstances surrounding him and Seth so complicated, and so very unbelievable.
"Reid, how is that not Stockholm Syndrome?" Elle asked, that sad look still on her face.
Spencer flicked his chocolate gaze towards her for a few seconds then shifted to get more comfortable in his seat. "If I'm going to try to convince you of anything I will need to start at the beginning."
"When he first abducted you?" Morgan asked, to which Spencer gave a slight shake of his head.
"When I first met Seth Gecko and his brother."
Mohave Mental Health – June 23rd, 1995
If there was one thing that he knew it was that his mother needed to be committed, that she needed help. Everything was bearable for the time being, and while he was going to college at the age of fourteen-has been since he was twelve-he wasn't legally old enough to live on his own, let alone get emancipated. Not that he had any desire to become emancipated in less than two years' time. He could wait until he turned eighteen.
Slowly browsing over the pamphlet for the Mohave Mental Health facility, even though he had an eidetic memory and could already recite everything on the glossy foldout, Spencer Reid wanted to be sure of the decision he knew he would have to make in less than three and a half years. Walking aimlessly down the halls of the facility as he read and re-read the words on the pamphlet, he was quite suddenly brought out of his thoughts when an arm circled tightly around his waist and another was slid around his neck. Then there was the yelling.
"Let him go, Richard!" It was the voice of one of the orderlies he had passed in his wandering.
"No! He's one of them!" Richard frantically cried out as he tightened his grip around Spencer's neck. He forced them to back up against a wall, leaving Spencer no choice but to let Richard, who most certainly was a patient here at the facility, drag him along.
The pamphlet fluttered to the floor where they had been standing, Spencer watching its descent for a moment. He reached up to grab on to the arm around his neck, his gaze shifting from the pamphlet to the orderlies, nurses and doctors that had come to try and get him out of this situation. Everyone looked so distraught, he noted almost absently.
"Richie, you need to do as they say," a new voice warned, this one younger than any of the staff working at the Mental Health facility. The tone was one that brooked no argument from the recipient of the order.
Spencer shifted his gaze to the newcomer, a young man no older than twenty-one. His skin was tanned, like he did work outside, but a glance at his hands revealed that they weren't very calloused from a hard labor job. Spencer pushed that detail aside as he observed the rest of the young man, clothed in all black, which was an odd choice for the time of year and the fact that they were in Las Vegas, Nevada. It certainly wasn't a cool day out. The last important details he took in was the dark, almost black hair cut in the Roman style and a pair of intense black eyes that were filled with worry.
Richard's grasp on Spencer loosened enough for the fourteen-year-old to slip a hand between the patient's forearm and his throat. Even though he could now keep Richard from choking him, possibly at least, it didn't help with the arm wrapped around his waist.
"But Seth, he's one of them!" Richard whined and retightened his grasp on Spencer.
"Richie, let him go!" The command was spoken in a sharp tone, anger flashing in Seth's eyes at the patient's failure to comply. "This isn't how we do things, Richie, now let the kid go!" The worry was back, most likely for the patient, Spencer deduced, and not for himself.
A long moment passed where nothing happened and then he was suddenly free, a hand roughly shoving at his back. Richard was unhappy with the outcome. Stumbling forwards from the force of the shove, Spencer was ready to brace himself for hitting the floor, an instinct born from constant bullying during his time in high school, when the young man shot forward and caught him.
"Christ, Richie! You can't do shit like this!" Seth reprimanded as he helped Spencer regain his balance, letting him go once he was steady. Richard merely gave him a baleful glare, betrayal in his expression as the facility staff swarmed around him and proceeded to carry him away. "Hey, kid, are you alright?" Seth turned his attention to Spencer, concern and worry etched into his features.
"I'm fine," Spencer responded in a soft tone. "I've gone through worse in high school." It was the truth, but his statement seemed to confuse the young man. "I graduated from high school when I was twelve. They picked on me because of how much younger I was than them, and because my IQ is 187."
Seth blinked at the new, unwarranted information, which actually explained a lot. "How old are you, kid, and why are you in a place like this? You seem fine…" Not like Richard, the patient, whom Seth seemed familiar with. Richard was likely his brother.
"I'm fourteen, my name is Spencer and…" Spencer went silent for a few seconds, his gaze dropping to the floor. Under his foot was the pamphlet he had been reading. "I was trying to decide on a place for my mother get treated at for when I turn eighteen. She has Schizophrenia." His voice dropped down to a whisper as he stated his mother's illness. "I don't think this is the right place for her."
Seth was blinking again, absorbing all of the information Spencer had given him, his expression becoming one of sorrow as he glanced down the hall to where his brother had been taken. "I'm really sorry about Richie, Spencer. He's sick, and I…" There was guilt evident in his tone. "I never wanted him to come here. Our parents had him committed here after he had done some things… I don't think any of it is helping him though."
"The help won't work unless he actually wants to be helped," Spencer commented softly, watching a range of emotions cross Seth's face. "Talk to your parents. See if they'll consider giving you custody of your brother."
Seth paused at that, a strange look on his face at the idea Spencer had given him. "I'll do that. Thanks for the advice, Spencer." With that the young man turned and walked the direction opposite of where Richard had been taken.
Spencer blinked then gave a slight shake of his head. Lifting his foot off of the pamphlet, even though he had decided against sending his mother here in the future, he bent over and picked the glossy foldout up off of the ground. He mentally crossed Mohave Mental Health off of his list. Next was the Bennington Sanitarium.
December 15th, 2004
"You inspired Seth Gecko to go and murder his parents?" The question came from Agent Hotchner, his face creased with a troubled frown.
"Well, yes, I suppose I did." Like he'd have known then that Seth's intentions would have been to murder his parents just to get custody of his brother. He'd certainly been old enough to get custody of his brother, which the age requirement was that the person seeking custody of someone who wasn't their own child be twenty-one years of age or older.
"Why didn't you say anything about having met him when we started this case?" Elle asked, the sad look in her eyes replace with one of irritation. "It would have helped our profile!"
"Agent Greenaway," Hotchner turned to her, a note of warning in his voice and in his posture. "Go get some air."
Elle opened her mouth to argue then snapped it shut and cast a glance at Spencer. He stared back, his face unnervingly blank. "Fine," she intoned curtly, tearing her gaze away from Spencer before she turned on her heel and left the conference room.
"While it would have helped in building Seth's profile it wouldn't have helped us to track the both of them together. Yes, he was protective of Richard, but that only went so far." Spencer spoke quietly now, his gaze going from Elle's retreating back to Hotchner and Morgan. "Things changed."
"Okay, pretty boy, what changed so that Seth was no longer protective of Richard?" Morgan sat forward in his chair, a hand reaching across the table for Spencer.
Spencer eyed his hand warily then shifted his chair away from the table. "In order to understand everything you need to hear what we both have to say. The answers to all of your questions will be there, but you need both of us to fill in the gaps."
"No," Hotchner said immediately. It was understandable, considering the interrogation room incident. Still, it was necessary.
Spencer opened his mouth to say something, anything, to convince Hotch otherwise, but immediately shut it as the BAU Section Chief Erin Strauss strode into the conference room, a grim expression on her face. Everyone turned to look at her, an unreadable expression on Hotch's face.
"Agent Hotchner, we cannot hold or question Spencer Reid and Seth Gecko. You need to let both of them go immediately." A look of anger flickered across Strauss' face as her gaze passed over Spencer, as if this was somehow his fault. "Probationary Agent Reid, you are hereby fi-"
"You cannot fire Agent Reid," a curt voice interrupted, everyone's gaze going to the doorway of the room where a blonde woman in a business suit stood. Her piercing blue eyes studied Spencer for a moment then she gave him a condescending look. "That will be for the Council to decide."
Spencer blinked, not understanding what was going on, nor did he understand the strange vibe he was picking up from this stranger. There was something off about her, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it.
"Chief Strauss, who-" Hotchner started to speak but was suddenly cut off when the woman gave him a sharp look.
"Nan Flanagan. Everything else is classified and need-to-know, which none of you here need-to-know." Her tone was snide and her expression arrogant, and the looks she gave everyone was as if she thought them all beneath her. "Agent Reid, go acquire your…lover and bring him with you to the lobby."
Spencer stared at Nan, trying to figure her out, when she narrowed her eyes in irritation. He quickly got up and left the conference room, left his former team and friends behind. He reached the interrogation room to find a morose Gideon standing outside of the door. Gideon glanced at him then quickly looked away. "Gideon, I-"
"Just take the Unsub and go, kid." Gideon's tone was flat as he moved away from the interrogation room door.
Spencer found himself suddenly blinking back a few tears at the coldness from Gideon. Swallowing forcefully, he opened the door to the interrogation room to find Seth sitting in the chair opposite from earlier looking smug. "Seth…"
As soon as the man heard his name he sprang up from his seat and approached Spencer. The traces of tears didn't go unnoticed and a scowl twisted Seth's features as he pulled Spencer's lithe body into his arms. "What's wrong, Spencer?" There was a hint of a growl in Seth's already gravelly voice, his body going rigid with anger. He rarely used Spencer's name anymore, so the young Agent knew just how serious Seth was.
"Nothing, Seth. Let's just go." Spencer hated lying to Seth, and he knew the man could tell when he was lying, but thankfully Seth let go of the matter. He started to pull away from the man but found himself suddenly getting scooped up.
"We'll talk about it later then, baby." Seth gave him a penetrating look, to which Spencer nodded, then proceeded to carry him out of the BAU. They only stopped to meet up with Nan in the lobby, who sniffed at them condescendingly then jerked her head towards the exit.
"Thanks to you two we have to push back our plans by a whole goddamn year so we can look into the mess you two made and clean it up," Nan muttered hotly while she led them outside to where a long black limousine was awaiting them.