Brotherly Love Has Wings
A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. - King Solomon
It was a failsafe but the biggest one was bringing in someone who is good at keeping secrets.
Michael Nassar was all about keeping secrets. It was part of his job as a Special Forces operator for the army under DIA and carried over when he had been uniquely recruited to join the IRT unit for the FBI where he kept an eye on the situation regarding Scratch for two years, helping when he could and being the operator from the shadows that Emily and Steven needed. He did what he could in between trying to save the IRT from being gutted by politics. Most would consider him a hero. He didn't consider himself that since that was not what was needed at the moment.
Michael hadn't batted an eye when his best friend and little brother Spencer Reid basically shoved Penelope Garcia and his newest friend from IRT, Matt Simmons out the door. Michael didn't leave and knew that Reid wouldn't notice unless he wanted to. And even if he did, there was no way that he was going anywhere and leaving Reid alone. He leaned against the wall after giving Simmons a signal that it was okay and let Reid do his work.
"I need to work, Mike," Reid's voice entered softly.
Michael looked at Reid and replied, "Then work. I'm your dogsbody right now." He looked at his friend with a gentle but firm look. It told Reid that he wasn't leaving.
Reid looked at Michael for a moment and then went back to work trying to find out what BICAP meant. He started going through all the books and the possible acronyms that it could be. He didn't have it in him to fight his older brother and the most important thing was to find Emily. Scratch had her and the clock was running to get her back. There was no time for arguments and it wasn't like either of them would win. That was a stalemate waiting to happen.
Michael kept his thoughts to himself as he watched Reid work. He had noticed the same as Alvarez the symptoms. He knew them all too well. He was grateful that Alvarez said what he said to his little brother. The subject wasn't closed but just postponed and at the moment he was there just in case and he knew Reid well. So, he leaned against the far wall with his arms crossed over his chest. From his vantage point, he could see Simmons and Garcia in the bullpen below. Old habits died hard and the tactical maneuvers just kept coming.
Reid went through his books and files trying to find what he needed. He felt his frustration mount. He knew he needed to find the answer. Emily needed his help. She needed his head in the game to finish this. He knew that he told Simmons and Garcia to leave and while he wanted Michael to go, he was glad that his practically big brother decided to not listen to his request. Then again, he never listened when it was serious and he made it known when everyone accused Michael of being the unsub.
Michael had always been there even when he was deployed. It was a special bond between Reid and the genius from Texas. It was a bond that had been cemented from shared experiences that included the good, the bad and the ugly. If Michael was on deployment, Sophia was there and Reid owed her a lot for what she did when he needed it. The point was they accepted him with no questions asked and never once did they get that awkward look when he rambled or missed a social cue. They were like brothers and Michael made that clear and Reid accepted it fully and in agreement. It was one of those foundations he needed at a time like this, but it wasn't enough.
Reid was becoming frustrated. He had once told Hotchner that he worked best under pressure and he showed that when he worked to find Michael when he was kidnapped and held by the unub in Texas. Now it felt like his brain wasn't working like it should. His wife Genevieve called it firing on all four cylinders, using the car metaphor and he wasn't firing all four of them. It was making him upset and feverish. He prayed that he would find the answer soon otherwise he was going to lose it.
He did find the answer but it took him thirty minutes. Thirty minutes when it should have taken him at least thirty seconds. And it didn't help that his vision was blurry and he was discombobulated. He pressed his palm to his eye since it felt like a migraine but it wasn't. And he started hearing voices and he recognized them. Feeling frustrated, he grabbed a book and threw it where it struck the glass with a hard thud and fell to the ground. He picked up another book with the intention to throw it but it was grabbed from his hand.
Reid had never been a physical fighter but he had been taught how to defend himself. He had several sources that showed him; they showed him that he didn't need a gun to defend himself. But he felt like swinging a punch and he swung it at the one person that cared most about him next to his parents. He swung straight for Michael's face. It was blocked and he tried again, clipping the jaw. He was just angry and frustrated and the pain from his vision was too much. He would have kept on going if he hadn't been grabbed and pushed into the wall away from the window. He blinked and found himself staring at his best friend, who was looking at him with a pensive and firm look.
Reid reacted more from his past experience and demanded, "Let me go."
"No."
"Let me go!"
"Spence," Michael called out in a firm tone. "Stop. Calm down."
Reid struggled and protested, "I can't because what should have taken me thirty seconds took me thirty minutes." He tried to push Michael away.
Michael refused to be moved. He knew that Garcia and Simmons saw Reid throwing the book and would come to see what was wrong. He trusted Simmons though to hold back and give him a few minutes after the last two years working together and getting to know each other's tendencies. He stared at Reid and saw the anguish in his eyes. It pained him to see his little brother like this but he had to be firm. He spoke in the crooning tone that he used to soothe his daughter to sleep, "And it's okay, Spence."
"No, it's not, Mike," Reid protested. He still pressed against Michael's hold. "It's on me if we can't get to Emily on time."
Michael knew the stakes. He had been in these situations all the time and it could be draining especially when someone's life was in your hands. He knew that the urge to hurry was there but he also learned a few things and imparted them to Reid, "And worry leads to haste and haste leads you to the grave. That's why I'm telling you to calm down, little brother."
"Come on. This isn't one of your nuggets of wisdom, Mike." Reid scowled at the man that wasn't letting him go. "This is Emily's life..."
"You don't think I know that?" Michael raised his voice a little to reestablish his dominance. "I know what is at stake. Why do you think Ems asked for my help? Why do you think that I'm here? Scratch has done you all wrong and nothing makes me angrier than the fact that he had started stalking Jack. You know me, Spence. You know what I do."
"This isn't a mission, Mike."
"It is and it isn't." Michael sobered and swallowed slightly. "That is why I'm here and not out there with Simmons and Penny." He relaxed his hold a little but he still had control in case Reid decided to try something. "I am here to keep it that way. Emotions can get in the way and I know you're frustrated because of what you've been through."
Reid narrowed his eyes. "You don't know anything, Mike." He pushed on Michael and managed to push him back to get some space but his back was still against the wall. "You don't know what I'm going through. You don't know how..."
"Angry?" Michael took a step forward with a raised brow. He kept his voice low in that soothing tone. "Discombobulation? Oh I know that well. I was a prisoner too." He paused, certain that he had Reid's attention. He continued, "Kandahar was over eight years ago and since then I've been subject to more of the same including being beaten by a group of soldiers that blamed me for that. Ruptured my spleen and gave me a renal tear. Through all that... I still see it. I see Sarai's face, terrified before that... bastard raped her. I hear the whimpers and screams of the girls crying from being beaten, burned by cigarettes and some being violated... I still see it."
Reid looked at his friend, his brother. In his anger, he had forgotten that. He apologized, "I'm sorry."
Michael shook his head slightly, "This won't go away, Spence. I will tell you now that it may get worse before it gets better but you need to work through it."
"And how has that worked for you?"
Michael blinked at the sudden snarkiness from Reid. He knew that feeling too. It was not easy to talk about trauma. To this day, he and Sarai still didn't talk about it much but they did what they could to work through it. He stared at Reid and replied, "Quite well and you know why? It's because of you, Sarai, Rory, the team... all of it; people that care about me are there if and when I need it. That and because I believe that God gave me the burden for a reason."
"God?"
"Don't go there Spence," Michael warned, "We both agreed to respect that. But to answer, yes. He never gives us more than we can bear and He gives us the signs, the light. I know for you it is Gen."
"Don't bring her into this," Reid warned as he turned away. Michael had backed away enough to let him move but he was ready to jump him again if he wanted and it got out of hand.
"I will Spence," Michael countered as he tracked Reid. "She is affected as much as you. We all are." He pursed his lips and added, "Gen tries to be strong but even I know there is only so much that woman can handle and she fought tooth and nail for you. I was ready to go full on lawyer mode and then some and once even dared to think of jailbreak. And it pained me that she was suffering and I couldn't fix it because you were in prison and I pained me I couldn't do anything about it."
Reid turned to look at Michael. He absorbed the words that his brother had told him. "I know," he whispered. "I know it pained her. I saw it."
"No one likes seeing the person they love in a situation like that." Michael looked at Reid with a knowing look. "Now Simmons and Penny are going to come into this room. Can you keep it together enough to give them what they need?"
Reid looked at the ground at nothing in particular. He could do that but he wanted to do worse. He wanted to kill Scratch for what he had done. He nodded, "I got it, Mike. I know the answer."
"Good." Michael turned to go open the door.
"I want to kill him, Mike. For everything he has done."
Michael turned to look at Reid. "I know, Spence. I want to do the same. The bastard hurt my family."
Reid paused at that. Michael had always called him his little brother. Partially as a joke and partially because that was how he saw him. Reid never questioned that. It was that he sensed Michael meant that in a different context. He knew that Genevieve called the team the BAU family and thinking about it... that's what it was. They were family. Michael was merely stating that those that meant the most to him had been hurt. He had seen how tense he was when he found out about what happened to Walker. He nodded, "I just..."
Michael walked towards Reid and put a hand on his shoulder, "We'll work it out, Spence. Right now, trust me as you away have. Stay with me and we'll get Ems back. Stay with me. Kick the tires and light the fires." He then said a phrase in Arabic that he knew Reid would understand.
Reid heard it and looked at his brother. He nodded. He was still angry and frustrated but he was calmer now. What Alvarez said made sense now. He could do this. First step was to get Emily back and if they could get Scratch in the process then that was fine with him. He still wanted to kill him though. He knew that he wouldn't be able to hold back from going if and when they found him but he would do his job. He had his best friend, his brother, flying in and giving just what was needed. He could do this.
The heart is like a cup. The more you fill it with love of Allah the less room there is for love of Dunya. - the Koran
A/N: Michael knows what Reid is going through and is there to be a bit of calm in the storm. Tag to 13.01 Wheels Up. Enjoy.