A/N This is my revised version of Reid the Mute. I realized it was slow, a bit dull and predictable. However I didn't just want to abandon it and leave all my followers with nothing. So this is the same story condensed without the cult. The plot however follows my outline about what happened to Reid. Let me know your thoughts. If you are interested in the cults and witchcraft let me know and I will try to figure out ways to write about it so it's not so unoriginal.
It was Eight Am on a Monday Morning. The members of the BAU slowly trickled in and made their way to their desks. JJ and Garcia were the first to arrive: Garcia arrived with her boyfriend Kevin she gave him a discreet kiss in the elevator and then separated as they went to their offices. JJ was only a few seconds behind she greeted Garcia and forbade to tease her on the kiss with Kevin. Rossi was next sharing an elevator with Blake: both were carrying cups of coffee and were looking professional and alert. Morgan arrived three minutes carrying a gym bag and was carrying a button down shirt. He walked over to his office to change. Hotch was the last to arrive he was impeccably dressed but was ten minutes late; despite his air of non chalence he discreetly tried to hurry into his office before anyone noticed how late he was. He needn't have worried Blake and Rossi's entire attention was focused on Reid who was getting a mug of coffee.
Blake and Rossi were trying to talk to Reid who was actively ignoring them. He finished getting his cup of coffee dumped four sugar packets in it and walked over to his desk. Hotch stopped midway into the bullpen to watch Reid. Nothing seemed wrong with Reid and he had ignored the team on occasion when he was too caffeine deprived to deal with them yet. However Reid seemed to be moving slightly slower than usual, with greater care and a slight stiffness in his limbs. Reid sat down carefully with a slight grimace. Hotch walked over to him
"Reid, how are you feeling?
Reid started slightly he turned to Hotch gave him a slight wave and smile. He then nodded and then started opening files. Hotch figured he was tired and went to his office. Rossi and Blake went to work as well. At Ten AM JJ came into the bullpen she stopped when she saw Reid then in a few strides was at his desk.
"Hey Spence it's good to see you.?" JJ said putting a hand on his shoulder
Reid flinched away from her touch, then looked up and saw it was her. He smiled more warmly at her than Hotch but gestured to his work.
"Spence we have a case" She turned to Blake "Blake did you have a nice weekend?"
"I did, we have a case where are we going?"
"I'll explain all at once it's not a good one." JJ said and went to Hotch's office
Reid seemed to sigh though Blake didn't hear anything. He then stood and went to get more coffee. Morgan and Garcia came in just then, they went to talk to greet Reid but Blake waved them over.
"I think Reid is sick, he hasn't spoken a word all day and he's slower than usual."
"Slower? What do you mean like he's limping?" Morgan asked
"No, he's taking more time to read files and his movements are slightly stiff and he flinches every time he looks into bright light."
"He does get migraines he might have one." Morgan said
Hotch, and JJ came out of his office just then and Blake, Garcia, Morgan, and Reid all walked to the conference room. Five women had been abducted and killed in Tallahassee Florida. A mass grave been found yesterday the bodies had been undressed and showed signs of torture and sexual assault.
"The victims keep getting younger the oldest body was 27 year old Kathy Greene the latest body is 19 year old Molly Branson. All were killed in the last two weeks and its spring break we don't have any time to waste. Wheels up in twenty." Hotch said
Everyone stood and left except for Reid who was staring at the floor and rubbing his head.
"Spence are you okay?"JJ asked pausing before she left
Reid looked at her and nodded, JJ left to get ready but Morgan and Garcia waited in the hallway. Reid yawned but no sound seemed to come out. Reid then leveraged himself up slowly; he started walking away but stumbled and grabbed the back of the chair for support. Morgan and Garcia hurried toward him but Reid quickly regained control and walked out of the room.
"Pretty boy what's wrong with you?" Morgan asked "Reid are you still sick?" Garcia asked
Reid shook his head and went down the stairs and over to his desk. Most of the team had already left for the airport when Hotch left his office; Rossi was waiting outside his office
"Aaron you're actually running late, something off with Jack?" he asked
"No, just having an off day they happen." Hotch said as they walked through the bullpen. Before they got out of the BAU a messenger hurried through
"I'm glad I caught you, this was left at the front desk you." He said trying to hand Hotch a small package wrapped in brown paper
"I'm sorry I have to leave for a case, just put it in my office." Hotch said trying to leave
"Sorry I was told to put this directly in your hands." The man insisted handing it over
"Thanks, I'll look at it later." Hotch said putting it in his bag
Rossi and Hotch hurried past the messenger and found Reid emerging from a bathroom. He hurried over to them and smiled apologetically the two didn't say a word and the men hurried to the SUVs and the airport. On the way to the plane Reid walked slowly and dropped his to go bag on the way to the plane. Rossi picked it up and carried it. When they finally got on the plane they found everyone waiting. Hotch apologized and they took off. Once airborne the team started to gather to go over the case. Reid went over to the coffee machine for his fourth cup of coffee before joining; Blake went over to talk to him
"Reid, Spencer can you tell me what's wrong?"
Reid tried to answer her he opened his mouth but no sound came out. He cleared his throat and massaged it and then tried again nothing happened. Reid looked slightly alarmed and annoyed
"What is it, do you have Laryngitis?" Blake asked
Reid shook his head, brushed past her and went into the bathroom. Blake left the galley and took a seat at the table next to Hotch who had the window seat. Rossi was across from, JJ had the other aisle seat, Morgan was on the couch.
"Did Reid tell you what's wrong?" Hotch asked
"No, he didn't say anything, he tried to but he couldn't make a sound. I think he's still sick."
"If that's true he'll have to work at the station, I need the whole team for this case. I can't spare anyone." Hotch said
Suddenly a bang was heard Morgan jumped to his feet and started moving to the galley when Reid came out rubbing his hand.
"Reid did you hurt your hand?" Morgan asked coming over
Reid shook his head, Morgan gave him a long searching look but let Reid by. Both men took a seat on the couch and the team went over the case and got a plan for when they landed
"Blake, Morgan I want you two to go the disposal site. JJ and Rossi go to the morgue. Reid and I will go the police station and set up. Reid I'm going to need you to start working on the geographical profile okay?" Hotch said after they had gone over the case
Reid nodded and went to leave when Hotch stopped him
"Spencer can you talk at all, you haven't said a word all morning?" Hotch asked
Reid took out his note pad, wrote in it and handed it over. Hotch read it with a puzzled expression then handed it to Blake
"Reid this is in Gaelic." Blake said
Reid smiled sheepishly and held out his hand. Blake handed him the notepad and Reid wrote in it again and handed it to her.
"This is in Latin." She said
Reid looked annoyed and shook his head. She handed it back and he tried a third time
"This is English he writes Sorry I thought I would have my voice back my now. I will do my best to not have this inconvenience the team."
"Alright Reid, get some rest. Hopefully you'll feel better." Hotch said
Reid nodded and went over to the couch. JJ handed him a pillow and soon Reid was fast asleep. Everyone scattered around the cabin except for Rossi and Hotch who remained where they were
"So Aaron what was in that package?" Rossi asked
"I don't know, let's see." Hotch said taking it out
He opened it and took out a small leather drawstring bag, and a letter. He opened the bag and pulled out what appeared to be a gold coin. He carefully dumped the bag on the table; there were six more coins.
"This is a gold coin from Scotland with the head of Charles the Second minted on it. I think it's real." Rossi said examining it
"Why would someone send me coins from the sixteen hundreds?" Hotch asked
"The answer is probably in that letter you haven't opened." Rossi said sardonically
Hotch opened it and another very small pouch fell on the table. Rossi opened it; it was full of plant matter. Hotch took out a piece of parchment and read through it. He read through it twice after he was done Hotch put the seven coins bag in their bag, pulled the bag of plant matter tightly shut and tied it. He put the letter on the table and the two bags in the box. Hotch then stood and walked over to JJ
"JJ I need an ambulance waiting for us when we land. Morgan I need you to contact Garcia have her check the cameras on the weekend before Reid took his sick leave and for this morning both at his home and at Quantico. Blake I need you to contact the Organized Crimes Division see if they've heard of someone called Crowley King of Hell."
"Aaron what's going on? What did the letter say?" Rossi demanded coming over
"Crowley wrote to me thanking me for letting him borrow Reid last week. He said Reid was an invaluable help to him, and he gave me the gold coins as compensation for the loss of Reid's labor for the past week. He also said that he took Reid's voice away because he thought Reid talked too much. The herbs in the bag will give Reid his voice his back if I want to do that." Hotch said disgusted and disturbed by the letter and its author.
The other agents all had varying looks of anger, indignation and disgust. They all then looked over at Reid and went to work. Garcia found footage of Reid leaving his apartment with two men but there were no signs he was being forced. At seven this morning a black Mazda had pulled up to Quantico, Reid got out from the passenger side grabbed his to go bag and messenger bag from the trunk and walked in the building. That was the only information they had been able to gather before it was time to land.
"Spencer we're landing you need to find a seat." Hotch said coming over to him
Reid yawned and gingerly sat up. He stood and stretched and found a seat. After they handed everyone got ready to go. Reid putting his messenger bag on when Hotch came over and directed him to sit on the couch facing the large table
"Spencer I'm so sorry for what happened to you. I promise we are going to find Crowley and he is going to go to jail for what he did." Hotch said
Reid looked puzzled then a look of illumination hit him. He pulled out his notepad and pen and started writing when he was done he handed it to Hotch unfortunately for Hotch it was written in Gaelic again
"Spencer this is Gaelic." Hotch said handing it back
Reid shook his head in annoyance and wrote again in English
"You're saying that Crowley asked for your help, you agreed but took sick leave because he told you to say you were sick. You were with Crowley for a week translating old documents and that he let you go when you were done. Do I have that right?" Hotch asked after reading Reid's statement
Reid nodded and moved to leave. The others had already left when Morgan came back inside with a paramedic
"Hotch , Reid, this is Frank Alenns he's here to check on Reid."
Reid started and started to brush past when Hotch put a hand on his arm
"Spencer you have been moving slowly all day, you have a massive headache, and I think you are injured. On top of that you can't speak at all. I need you to allow the paramedics to examine you and then I need you to go to the hospital for a thorough examination. If you refuse I will order you put under a physc hold." Hotch said
Reid looked furious he whipped out his notepad and pen and wrote out "I'm not crazy, but I will comply."
Hotch motioned the medic over; he had Reid sit the couch and Alenns looked him over.
"I don't see any obvious signs of trauma but I do think he's either coming down from drugs or alcohol. I'm going to have to take him to the hospital for a more extensive exam."
Hotch nodded and the four of them left the plane. The rest of the team was waiting on the tarmac. Reid climbed into the ambulance with Hotch while the others left to investigate the five homicides. At six the team gathered in an Italian resteraunt. Reid was at the hotel sleeping a police man was with him for protection
"So the five women were lured away by a young attractive physically fit white man. He tied them up with rope according to the ME and held them for five hours before slitting their throats. The Unsub left no physical evidence behind on the bodies or at the grave site he's going to be hard to find." Morgan said
"Organized Crime got back me an hour ago. My request for information about Crowley was bounced around the department until finally the lead supervisor himself intervened. Rowlins called me personally and told me to stop asking about Crowley: very little is actually known about him but he has a nasty reputation for getting rid of people who annoy him and he has friends in very high places." Blake reported
"So he's a very powerful crime boss, what did Rowlins mean by Friends in High Places." JJ asked
"Apparently Crowley has no criminal ties or anything connecting him to law breaking. What he does have is a lot of money and influence and friends in the Federal Government including a few Representatives and at least two Senators." Blake replied
"Who will protect him." Rossi said
"I'm still waiting on the lab results from the package I got but I doubt it will reveal anything. Reid had a massive hangover this morning and he did have sex in the past week. However there are no signs of force, no signs he was ever restrained or physically hurt. He is exhausted, malnourished and dehydrated however their are no signs it was anything more then Reid neglecting himself to do the translations as quickly as possible. His vocal chords were paralyzed and doctors have no idea what caused it. They do say that Reid should regain his ability to speak soon."
"Reid may have been with Crowley of his own free will. Reid's not stupid if Crowley is rich, influential with no moral scruples Reid might have cooperated out of self preservation. I think we have to drop the case for now, Reid is not going to cooperate with us and we have nothing on Crowley beyond a name and a rental car. " Rossi said
"You're right we won't stop looking, but let's focus on our current case for now. Reid will join us tomorrow." Hotch said
A/N Favorite, or my personal favorite Reviews. Sorry I know I wrote something similar up top but it's become my signature