My update day is generally Tuesday, but since tomorrow is going to be hectic and I really don't think I'll have time to post tomorrow. So, here's the chapter, a day early! The BAU team will be in the next chapter, so all Hotch, Morgan, Garcia, Prentiss, and JJ fans, rest assured. They are coming. Please read and review!
After the man and his daughter had climbed in the car, they had promptly blindfolded and handcuffed the three men. The young girl had laughed and asked her father if they planned to play "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" or if there would be a piñata. She had then proceeded to poke Reid in the ear for the entirety of the car ride, successfully distracting him from memorizing the route they had taken from Evan and Hank's house. Eventually, the car rolled to a stop and Evan, Hank, and Reid were assisted out of the car and rushed into a house. They were led down a flight of stairs and then left by themselves with a threat that their captors would be back.
"Can anyone get their blindfold off?" Reid asked, rubbing his face against his shoulder in an effort to dislodge the fabric.
"Almost," Evan grunted, as the fabric moved up his face. Finally, he managed to move the blindfold up to his forehead, allowing him to see his surroundings. "We're in a basement." He examined the basement, but couldn't see anything that could be useful. "You guys got your blindfolds off?" Evan asked.
"Yeah," Reid said, finally getting the obscuring fabric away from his eyes. He looked around the room, searching for anything that could possibly help them. They were surrounded by boxes; it looked as if their abductors had just moved in and were not finished unpacking. Or they were about to move and were just finishing packing. But, other than the numerous boxes, Reid could not see anything else that could help them. He was very thankful for the lone bulb that hung from the ceiling, providing at least a small amount of light. Reid didn't really want to be stuck in the dark at the moment.
"I can't get it off," Hank muttered.
Evan scooted back to where Hank was beside him. "Lean down and I'll pull it off your eyes," he instructed.
"You know," Hank observed, "I'm really not completely comfortable with putting my head down near your butt."
"It's that or remain blind."
"Fine," Hank relented, leaning down. Evan's fingers gently ran over his brother's face as he searched for the blindfold. "Ow! You just poked me in the eye!"
Evan frowned. "Well, sorry for trying to help you."
"You just about really blinded me," Hank pointed out, once Evan had removed his blindfold.
"So," Evan began, "how do we get out of this Mr. FBI agent?"
"FBI?" a voice came from the stairs.
Evan's mouth dropped open as he quickly asked, "Did I say FBI agent? I meant eff my patience. 'Cuz I'm not patient. Like, at all. Can we leave now please?" Beside him, Reid barely resisted rolling his eyes.
"Are you an agent?" the dusty skinned man asked, kneeling in front of Reid. "I know these two aren't FBI, couldn't if they tried, but you I don't know." He cocked his head. "You don't look FBI. What's your name?"
"What's yours?" Reid shot back.
"You can call me Dave."
"You can call me Spencer."
Dave continued to stare at him, before seeming to decide something. "I don't believe you." Before Reid could say or do anything, Dave had shoved him to the floor and was digging through Reid's pockets. If he found Reid's wallet first, chances were he would stop searching and not discover that Reid was, in fact, an FBI agent. Unfortunately, luck was not with Reid. Dave sat back, examining the federal badge. "Steve!" he shouted. "Steve!"
"What?" the other man asked angrily, stomping down the stairs. "Maggie's trying to watch her TV show and you're just shouting and shouting. I thought you'd take care of this quietly?"
"He's a Fed," Dave said, tossing the badge to Steve. "You abducted a Federal Agent."
"This isn't my fault," Steve complained, throwing the badge on the ground in anger. "How was I supposed to know he was an agent?"
"You're the one who was all gung-ho about nabbing them, even though someone was with them."
"Okay, fine. It's my fault. Does that make you feel better?"
Dave ran his hand through his thick black hair. "What are we supposed to do, Steve? Kill him?"
"Killing FBI agents is bad," Steve pointed out. "Like, life in prison bad."
"Well, so is kidnapping them, so we're already in too deep, if that's what you're afraid of."
Steve threw his hands in the air. "Fine. Kill him. See what I care."
"Wait!" Reid exclaimed. "You're wrong. Just abducting me, yes, that's bad, but it isn't bad enough to land you life in prison. Not if you don't kill anyone. Not me, not Evan, not Hank. You'll go to jail, that's guaranteed, but your best bet is actually keeping me alive."
Dave thrust his gun under Reid's chin. "And what if you're just saying that to save your skin? Why should I believe you?"
"Probably because it makes sense," Evan pointed out, ignoring Hank's attempts to shush him. "Your best bet is to keep him alive."
"What's it to you?" Dave asked Evan. "He's your buddy of sorts?"
Before Evan could answer, Maggie trotted down the stairs. "Daddy, what are you doing?"
"Nothing," Dave and Steve answered simultaneously.
"I'm kinda hungry. Can we have dinosaur nuggets for dinner?" she asked, her big blue eyes pleading.
Steve immediately softened. "Of course, honey. Come on, Dave. We can come back after someone is s-l-e-e-p-i-n-g," he said, spelling out the final word.
Dave gave the three prisoners one last look. "I will be back and you will pay. You will pay, Hank Lawson." He glared at them one last time, before following Steve and Maggie up the stairs.
"What does he have against you?" Reid asked Hank.
Hank tried to shrug, but the handcuffs restricted his movements. He settled for speaking instead, "I don't know. I've never seen either of the men in my life."
It felt like it was late at night, but Reid couldn't be entirely sure, since there were no windows in the basement and his arm with his watch was twisted painfully backward, so he couldn't check the time on there. They had been abducted around two in the afternoon, but the car ride had been long. Definitely over an hour. And the young girl had wanted dinner. After the girl and her fathers had gone upstairs, the three men had sat in silence, each lost in their thoughts. But, it hadn't been too long, right? Maybe it was later than Reid thought. Either way, they needed to figure out a way out of here. And the only way to do that was through Hank.
"You've got to think," Reid whispered to Hank. "Once we figure out who these men are and why they are attacking you, it will be easier to profile them and use their profile against them."
"I get that, I do," Hank responded, wearily, "but I have no idea who these men are. I have never seen them in my life."
"Why would they attack you specifically then? You've got to have bothered them somehow. Maybe cut them in line to a movie or got the last item at a grocery store? It can be as insignificant as that," Reid pointed out.
"I don't know. I can't remember."
"Come on, Hank. We need to figure this out," Evan said. His shoulders were aching and he was tired. When he had watched movies as a kid, often the intrepid hero had been captured, sort of like this situation. But, Evan was fast discovering that being kidnapped was not nearly as glorious as the movies made it to be. It was painful. And frightening. Evan really just wanted to go back home and sleep. Thoughts of his bed, soft and warm, made his shoulders ache even more. "We need to get out of here."
Hank turned on his brother. "Don't you think I know that? I have no idea who these men are. I've never met them until today." He sighed, before admitting, "I wish I had taken those threats seriously."
"There's no way you would have known," Reid pointed out. "They weren't specific enough to appear credible. I didn't think they were real."
"I knew they were serious," Evan muttered. "You guys should have trusted me. Then we wouldn't even be in this position, probably."
Reid shook his head. "No, these men would have gotten to Hank some other time, some other way."
The three men remained silent for a moment, before Evan broke the silence, unable to take it any longer. "Do you think your FBI buddies are looking for you?"
"I'm sure they will be, but not in the right place. I took the day off, but I didn't tell Hotch, my boss, where I was going. When I don't show up for work tomorrow, they'll probably look in Las Vegas, check to see if I'm with my mom. They would never think to look out in the Hamptons."
"Oh," Evan said softly. "So, we're basically stuck here without hope for a rescue?"
"Not necessarily," Hank said quickly, not wanting his brother to worry about their possibly impending doom. "Divya will notice that we aren't there in the morning. She'll contact the police. They'll find us."
"How can you be so sure?" Evan asked, his voice bitter.
Hank laughed slightly. "Because it's Divya. She's not going to let the cops stop until we're home, safe and sound."
Footsteps sounded on the stairs, stumbling and uncertain. The three men immediately quieted, awaiting what the footsteps would bring. Dave stumbled to a stop at the base of the stairs, the wall holding him up more than his own strength. He examined the three men, his eyes lingering on Evan. "It's late," Dave said, his voice slurring.
Reid frowned. If he was already drunk, then this didn't bode well for any of them. Drunk UnSubs were wildly unpredictable. Reid didn't want to think what would happen to him if Dave remembered that he was an FBI agent. He wanted to say something, but words were at a loss. "If it's late, why don't you just go back upstairs to get some sleep?" Reid suggested, saying the first thing that came to his mind. "You look tired." Hopefully, appearing as the concerned hostage would keep Dave from hurting him or his friends.
Dave addressed Evan, "You're pretty."
Reid instantly recognized where this was headed and quickly tried to come up with some way to protect his friend. Hoping that his facts would save him as they did once before, Reid started saying the first thing that came to his mind. "You know, it's really important that you get some sleep. There is a relation between multiple health problems and the amount of sleep an average person gets at night, surprisingly enough. Or actually, not that surprising, seeing as how sleep is vastly important for all aspects of the body."
"Shut up," Dave commanded Reid.
Instead of listening, Reid merely spoke faster, hoping that some of the information he was spouting off would stop Dave. "If one gets insufficient amounts of sleep, their body's ability to produce and use insulin is impaired. This can lead to diabetes, which affects nearly ten percent of the United States' population. That's a huge number of people; around 29 million people, if I did my math right. You know, diabetes is actually the seventh leading cause of death, right after Alzheimer's disease. The number one cause of death in the United States is heart disease, but cancer is—"
Reid was interrupted when Dave punched him in the face, the force propelling the young agent backwards. He landed on his arms, which were still twisted uncomfortably behind his back, causing pain to shoot up and down his currently immobile arms. Dave approached the fallen genius, watching as Reid struggled to sit up. "I told you to shut up," he reminded Reid.
"Yes, well, I thought it was important that you know how dangerous it was for you to avoid sleep," Reid grunted, finally managing to maneuver himself so that all his weight wasn't crushing his arms. "I'm looking out for your best interest."
"You're looking out for my best interest?" Dave asked, incredulously. "You're a Fed!" Now that Reid had managed to sit up again, Dave shoved him back to the floor. He bent down, leaning way too far into Reid's personal space. "I could kill you right now, if I wanted to," he threatened. His breath was sour with the remnants of old alcohol and Reid resisted the urge to vomit.
Reid, wisely, remained quiet, only his heavy, pain-filled breathing was heard throughout the room. He ignored the trickle of blood staining his face and glared back at Dave. Reid understood that showing weakness while in a captive situation could very well be detrimental. While, on the other hand, being overly defiant would surely get him killed. Somehow, he had to strike a balance between the two responses.
"But, I'm not going to." Dave turned back to Evan. "I think I want to have a little fun now." He squatted down next to Evan, who backed away as much as he could. Slowly, Dave ran his fingers down Evan's face.
"Don't touch him!" Hank shouted.
Dave looked at Evan's older brother, slightly surprised at the outburst. "Or what? What could you possibly do to stop me?"
"Don't do this," Reid chimed in.
Evan remained fearfully silent.
Dave returned his gaze to Evan, smiling slightly. Before Dave could touch the young CFO, Steve came storming down the stairs. "Dave! What are you doing?" he shouted.
"I was just gonna have some fun," Dave whined petulantly.
Steve held up his left hand, the ring on his finger glinting in the light. "We're married. You know what that means, right?"
"But, he's pretty," Dave pointed out.
"Being married means that we don't have sex with whatever pretty prisoners happen to be in our basement," Steven reminded his husband, his eyes flashing angrily. "Now, come up to bed with me. Maggie's asleep and the prisoners will still be here tomorrow morning."
Reluctantly, Dave touched Evan's face one last time, before following his partner up the stairs. At the top of the stairs, he paused and flicked the lights off, plunging the basement in absolute darkness. Reid's heart began beating wildly as he searched for even the faintest pinprick of light to focus his attention on. Nothing. From beside him, he could hear Hank beginning to talk to Evan, so Reid latched onto the words to buoy him up out of the darkness.
"Are you okay, Evan?" Hank asked. He couldn't see his brother, so he had no idea what emotions were flitting across the younger man's face. Normally, Evan was easy to read, especially for Hank. But, if Hank couldn't see his brother's eyes, he wouldn't know what to say to make this okay. And he had to make it okay.
Evan remained silent, trying to slow his frantic heartbeat. He wanted to answer Hank—he could hear the worry in Hank's voice—but he couldn't trust his voice to be steady enough, nonchalant enough. So, Evan opted for silence, shutting his eyes against the dark basement. Maybe if he just pretended that he was back at home, where everything was safe and monsters didn't abduct you or try to—
"Evan. Please answer me, Evan. Are you okay?" Hank asked, his voice a little more desperate. If his brother wouldn't answer him, there would be no way for him to fix all of this. Hank was a doctor; fixing things was his specialty. But he needed to know what the problem was before he attempted fixing anything.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Evan muttered, weakly. He leaned his head back against the box he had backed himself into in his efforts to escape Dave. "Just tired," he lied, hoping that Hank would leave him alone.
"Okay, you get some sleep, then," Hank advised. He couldn't resist cracking a slight grin as he continued, "I mean, you heard what Spencer said. Diabetes and all that." Hank looked over where he assumed Spencer Reid remained, but he was unable to even distinguish shapes in the thick darkness. "Should we have someone remain on guard?" Hank asked. "Just in case, someone returns?"
Reid nodded, before remembering that Hank couldn't see him. "Yeah, I'll stay up." He knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. No matter how often he tried to logically explain why there was no use in being afraid of the dark, Reid couldn't shake his fears away. It was basically impossible for him to shut his eyes when he had no idea what could be creeping around beside him.
"Are you sure?" Hank asked. "We could take shifts."
"No, you need to sleep. I've worked countless nights where we don't get sleep for long stretches of time. Once, the case we were working on occupied our time so fully that I didn't get sleep for sixty-three hours. I think I can handle one night without sleep," Reid reassured the doctor.
Hank wasn't totally okay with the idea of leaving the young FBI agent on watch the entire night, but he truly was tired. Now that his adrenaline had fully run its course, he could feel his eyelids drooping, despite all efforts made to keep them open. "Well, if you need some rest, just wake me up."
"Of course," Reid said, leaning back. It was going to be a long night.
