A/N I don't own any thing from CM. There are no warnings for this chapter. Pay attention to the warnings in later chapters. This is post "The Boogeyman" and before the teams replacement. Please review. Spoilers for "Aftermath."
A gentle golden light peeked in through the blinds at his window. He loved the quality of light at this time of year, when the leaves turned into brilliant fire and the sun seemed to sift its light through them to become soft and inviting. It was eight am, not late for some on a Saturday morning, but considering that he usually awoke much earlier on the week days, this was sleeping in. His body was telling him it was time to get up. He thought longingly of a hot shower and even hotter coffee with lots of lovely white sugar, and he threw off the quilt and strode across the room to the bathroom. He turned on the water raising it to a blistering temperature before stepping in and yanking the curtain shut. He got out when the water turned cold.
He pulled on a tee shirt and some jeans and padded barefoot to the kitchen. He sat down and addressed the daily letter to his mother he had written the evening before, pushing down the guilt that leaped into his throat whenever he mailed a letter instead of going to her in person.
When he went out to mail his mothers letter, he ran into his next door neighbor Mrs. Cassidy on her way in from the market. They chatted and he helped her with her grocery bags. She always called him a good boy and tried to give him food. She said he was too skinny and he needed to eat. He mostly humored her because in truth he hated to cook and if she wanted to give him the occasional plate of cookies or a pie she baked, he wasn't going to turn it down. She liked that he lived next door to him, she said having an FBI man next door made her feel safe. So loaded down with brownies this time, he made his escape after twenty minutes of small talk walking back to his apartment to leave the plate of brownies on the kitchen counter.
He was walking back to his apartment when his cell rang. It was work and it was urgent. It was always urgent. But at least he'd had almost one day to him self. He went into his apartment and changed into his usual work clothes. He grabbed the bag he always had packed for this occasion and walked quickly out to his car.
It was Monday night, they had caught the serial bomber in Wisconsin and he was tired after two days of almost nonstop work. He slept the whole way back on the plane and couldn't wait to get into his own bed. He pulled into his apartment complex at exactly 11 pm and getting out of the car, he turned to grab his bag. He was still thinking about work so he never heard the person walk up behind him until the arm was around his windpipe and he felt the needle prick in his neck. The world went black, and his absence wouldn't be noticed until 9 am Tuesday morning.
The bull pen Tuesday Morning 9am
Morgan headed to his desk with a cup of coffee. He had slept poorly the night before and he knew why. He was angry at Elle leaving; he never thought she would just leave like that without a word to anyone but Hotch. He had wanted her to defend herself and show them that she hadn't murdered that man. Oh, she had been cleared by the police and the review board, but now Morgan wasn't so sure. He'd tried to call her before Hotch informed him she had tossed her cell phone. He'd gone to her apartment and it was cleaned out. The landlady said she'd come in, paid the penalty to break her lease and moved out that same day. He sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose. A raging headache was beginning and he seriously considered going to Hotch and begging for a sick day as he didn't want to face the mountain of paperwork on his desk.
"Morgan have you seen Reid this morning?" Gideon asked walking up to his desk. He looked like he hadn't slept either.
"No, what time is it?"
"Just after nine am."
"That's weird; usually he's here early when we have paperwork from a case."
"I know, Gideon said, that's what worries me."
"Maybe he overslept, or maybe he doesn't want to deal with this place. You know he still blames himself for Elle." Morgan said.
"I know but if he wanted time off he would ask for it." Gideon said.
"Maybe he's sick, he looked tired yesterday." Morgan proposed.
"Too sick to pick up his cell and call in, I don't think so." Gideon said beginning to look worried.
"Let me call him" Morgan said pulling out his phone and hitting the speed dial for Reid's phone.
He closed his phone at looked at the older agent. "It went straight to voice mail which means he probably has it shut off."
"Al right let's get Hotch and get over there I have a bad feeling about this."
As they drove to Reid's apartment Morgan asked, "You don't think he would-"
"No! Gideon said emphatically, "He would never do that, there was a time I thought he might be capable but not now."
"I agree, Hotch said, I'm sure we are over reacting, maybe something came up with his mother and he had to leave in a hurry, have we called Bennington Sanitarium?"
No, I'll get the number from the operator and call them right now Morgan said pulling out his phone.
Hotch and Gideon rode in silence while Morgan talked to the administrator. They were just pulling up to the apartment complex when he finished the call.
"The administrator confirms that Diana Reid is fine. Dr Reid hasn't called them in a week and they have had no reason to call him."
"His car is in his parking slot," Gideon said with dread closing in on his heart.
They parked in visitor's parking and walked over to the car first. His bag was in the back seat and there was an envelope on the front seat and the driver's side was unlocked. Gideon knew then that something was terribly wrong.
"He wouldn't leave his clothes and laptop in an unlocked car overnight." Gideon said.
"So something happened to him out here last night." Morgan said fear kicking through his body.
"Let's not jump to conclusions, Hotch said. We need to check his apartment, he was very tired last night, we all were, and he may have just forgotten the bag."
They went to his door and Morgan knocked. They waited and there was no answer. Morgan knocked again this time calling out to Reid. There was still no answer. Morgan wanted to kick it down but Hotch said no they would get the super to let them in. The super, intimidated by their badges, let them into Reid's apartment and left almost at a run. Gideon would have found his behavior amusing if he hadn't been so scared for Reid.
They looked around the neat and empty apartment. Where had he gone without his car and if something were wrong why hadn't he called them?
"We need to call the police and get a crime scene unit in here and his car needs to be processed as well." Gideon said, admitting to himself that the young man had disappeared.
Neither of the other men disagreed and Hotch pulled out his phone to make the call. "They're on their way" he said closing his phone.
As usual his eyes gave away nothing but to those who knew him and Morgan and Gideon could see the fear and worry in their depths. They all paced the small living room till the techs arrived and then they pulled on gloves and went out to Reid's car with the head of the CSI's Detective Suarez. She opened the unlocked door and photographed the envelope where it lay. She picked it up and opened the flap to remove the contents. She unfolded the paper and read the contents. She laid it on the hood of the car with a couple of pens and photographed it before handing it to Hotch. They read it over his shoulder. It was a simple typed message.
HE IS SO BEAUTIFUL LIKE AN ANGEL HE WILL BE FUN TO HURT AND TO BREAK
TBC