Reid sat on a large, decaying log in the middle of the woods.
It was mid-afternoon, the sun was obnoxiously bright, and the sky a vivid blue without a single trace of clouds. The heat was unbearable.
Reid miserably stared at the muddy ground and his pale, long toes curling and squishing in the moist earth. He desperately yearned for the violent storm that hit the area just last night to come back. He'd take cold rain and thunder over a humid, summer day in a heartbeat. He agitatedly ran a shaking hand through his hair, bringing it back down to clutch at his forehead.
In front of him was a babbling creek, glistening blue and green and almost sparkling in the light. He'd throw himself into it if it weren't for fellow agent and friend, Emily Prentiss. She stood in the middle of the creek, pants rolled to her knees, sleeves pushed up as far as they would go on her shoulders.
Her hands were dripping blood.
Reid looked at her from between his trembling fingers. The urge to throw up had never been stronger. The reality of where they were—what they'd done—was finally hitting home, and hitting home hard.
Oh God. Oh God.
Reid stared as the water turned red.
They were going to jail. They would be caught, prosecuted, and packed off to the worst prison before they could even form a defense. The evidence was everywhere. On him, on her, on Morgan stuffing bodies into his rental van—everywhere.
Thinking of the other agent, Reid dropped his hand from his head and craned his neck around to search for him. About twenty feet away a battered, dirt-covered, white van was parked, its back doors wide open and four bodies lying lifelessly, unmoving, in the trunk. Morgan was pushing a fifth body inside, rolling it on top of the other four. Prentiss finally left the creek to stand beside Reid as Morgan slammed the van doors shut and wiped a hand across his sweating brow.
"You okay, Reid?" Prentiss asked.
Reid looked up at her incredulously. Prentiss winced.
"Right, sorry." She pat him on the shoulder, gave it a comforting squeeze. "Come on. Let's get moving. I don't want to stick around here any longer than you do." She walked ahead to join Morgan at the back of the van. Reid saw them talking, shooting him glances every once in a while. He sighed and stood, ran his hands through his hair a final time, and went to join them as well.
"You okay man?" Morgan questioned, studying him.
Reid looked at him the same way he looked at Prentiss.
Morgan wiped his brow again. "No point in waiting around," he finally said. "We should hit the road."
"But what about—" Reid's voice cracked, a bead of sweat slipped into his eyes. He rapidly blinked, face contorting, and struggled to clear his dry throat. Morgan and Prentiss exchanged hesitant looks. They reached out and rubbed his shoulders in an attempt to soothe him. All it made Reid want to do was cry. "What about the bodies?" he croaked.
There was a long, pregnant pause.
Two hours later they were on the road, driving back to Virginia.
The van was mostly silent and smelled like musk and mud. Prentiss, in the passenger seat, wound her window all the way down. Morgan did the same on the driver's side. They were on a highway, speeding at 75 miles per hour. All the air came whooshing through their windows, blasting Reid who couldn't really escape from it unless he jumped out the van. His eyes squinted, watering madly as his hair flew uncontrollably, whipping into his eyes, then back out, then back in again, and lashing and lashing and lashing across his forehead.
Prentiss uncomfortably shifted, her hand resting on the side of her head. "It's still so hot," she complained. "I wish this thing had a sun roof."
"You and me both," Morgan mumbled. He glanced in the rearview mirror. "You got enough air back there, kid?"
Reid hunching over, protectively trying to shield his face with his arms, was more than enough of an answer.
Morgan cringed and hastily put his window up, causing Prentiss to do the same. The air inside the van grew hot and stifling within moments. The three of them grew lost in their thoughts. Prentiss kept her eyes on the passing scenery, one foot on the dashboard, her other knee pulled to her chest. Her dark eyes were worried though her face fought to stay calm. Morgan drummed on the steering wheel, his gaze never straying from the open road ahead. His shoulders were tense, his arms rigid.
Reid didn't know what his two older friends were thinking about. All he could do was slouch in his seat, stare out the window, and wonder where he went so wrong.
It was supposed to be a simple, weekend vacation—a small camping trip into the Pennsylvania woods.
No one was supposed to get hurt. No one was even supposed to be with him!
He was no longer SSA Dr. Spencer Reid, young genius of the BAU.
He had transformed into SSA Dr. Spencer Reid, young genius of the BAU, and full-fledged kidnapper, equipped with two cohorts—Derek Morgan and Emily Prentiss—who would no doubt spend the rest of their days behind bars along with him once they were caught. It was kind of an astonishing feat, what they managed to screw up over the weekend. Reid might've even been impressed if he wasn't directly involved.
But he was, heavily so, and no one would be clapping for what they did—except maybe the five men they kidnapped as he, Morgan, and Prentiss were carted off to jail.
One's choice, one's decision, one's unsaid refusal, one's panic, one's fear, one's utter desperation.
One, one, one, one, one, one, one…
Steadily, one by one, he'd let himself lose control. This was the consequence.
And it sucked.
TBC...?
Yes, it will be haha. First attempt at a multi-chapter story. I'm trying hard to push past writer's block... Hopefully this will get me where I need to be, while giving you guys some entertainment of course!