Hello everyone!
Here is chapter 2! I will be away for the weekend so I might be out of reach for a few days, that's why I updated today. I never imagined getting such lovely feedback. A huge thank you and a fandom hug to all my readers!
cm44 - It's like the setting from the episode "Profiling 101", so it's being shown in front of the whole classroom on a projector and the students are able to see it.
SPOILERS for episodes from Season 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.
I don't own Criminal Minds.
The team didn't make a sound, just looked at the screen silently. If they did something wrong, Reid would be the one to get punished for it. He was the youngest member of their team. Some of them looked at him as a brother, some of them as a child. Everyone was protective over him. They couldn't protect him this time though. He was at the hands of an unsub, his fate yet to be determined.
Reid was slowly gaining consciousness. He blinked a couple of times and opened his eyes, trying to remember what had happened. In front of him was a live feed that showed his team. All of the team was looking back at him from the screen with concern. His head started pounding as reality hit him. He was in a basement with some sick unsub. Again.
The unsub started speaking. "Dr. Reid managed to surprise me last night. I watched him all night, waiting for him to do something stupid. Take Dilaudid or maybe try to kill himself. He didn't do anything but hug his book and cry himself to sleep. It was so emotional, I almost had tears in my eyes." he said sarcastically with a sick smile on his face.
Reid was staring at the unsub with his big brown eyes fearlessly. He wouldn't let some sick psychopath take him away from his family. There were people out there who needed him. He had to be strong. He wouldn't let this unsub break him.
"I chose this day for two reasons. First of all, it's the one year anniversary of Maeve's death. But there is another reason. I want these students to see that it's not worth it. Sacrificing your own and your loved one's lives to save others. It's pointless."
The unsub pulled a chair and sat beside Reid, facing the camera. "I have been watching you for so long, I know the things you don't know about each other. I must say you all have very interesting and dramatic stories." The unsub looked at Hotch with the same smile on his face.
"Agent Hotchner. The Unit Chief. Someone who doesn't know you well may consider you emotionless, but life hasn't been very kind to you. You married the love of your life, Haley, but she left you. Your divorce wasn't really because your love for each other ended; it was because of your job. The job that later got her killed. You know, I really thought he would kill you that night. The night Foyet stabbed you and delivered you to the hospital himself. He was clever though. If you want a man to suffer, don't kill him, kill his family. That's why he came after Haley. You were forced to listen on the phone while he shot her. Luckily, your son survived, but you failed to save Haley in time." the unsub said calmly.
Hotch was staring at the unsub with disgust and anger. He needed to control his emotions, but he was struggling. He knew everything about Haley and Foyet. He knew about his son Jack. He needed to put the team's families into protective custody as soon as the live feed turned off. If this unsub had watched them all this time, he was capable of doing anything.
Morgan clenched his fists as the unsub was talking about Hotch and Haley. He was trying not to punch something.
"Agent Morgan, please don't be angry with me. I haven't been watching just Agent Hotchner; I have been watching all of you. I know that you suffered as a child. I was so touched when I heard your story. What about your cousin, Cindi? She was being stalked and you couldn't keep her safe from her stalker. You stopped looking for her, didn't you? Over eight years, Malcolm abused Cindi sexually and psychologically. You made your aunt believe that she was dead, while she was actually being used as a sex slave. If you'd been trying to find her, she wouldn't suffer this much."
"I am going to kill you with my own hands, you son of a bitch!"
"Oh, look at that. Agent Morgan is tough! Or maybe he thinks he is. Would you like to know what I'm going to do with Doctor Reid? Maybe I should kidnap Miss Garcia, too. I would love to see your reaction when I slowly torture your baby girl."
"Don't you dare touch them!" Morgan shouted. Garcia let tears fall off her cheeks as JJ put her hand softly on Garcia's shoulder to comfort her.
"Control your emotions or get out." said Hotch with a firm voice. Morgan knew he had to control himself. He couldn't cause Reid any pain. There was a moment of silence before the unsub started speaking again.
"Thank you, Agent Hotchner. He was starting to touch my nerve. He may have caused me to do something bad to the young genius here. Thank God, that didn't happen."
No answer came from Hotch or the rest of the team. Reid was looking at the team through the screen as tears were threatening to fall. How could he know this much about them?
"Speaking of you, Miss Garcia, the optimist of the team. You're spreading joy around wearing colorful clothes and decorating her office with toys, but you're crying on the inside. Your parents died when you were very young. You never had a real family. But then Agent Hotchner found you. The team became your family. I'm sorry, but you couldn't protect your family, Miss Garcia. I have been watching you no matter where you went. If anyone should have noticed that, it was you. The only reason Doctor Reid is sitting on this chair right now is you, Miss Garcia." said the unsub, causing Garcia to start shaking uncontrollably. JJ wrapped her hands around her.
"Such a cute scene. Everyone in the team is way protective of each other, but you always fail. You are all weaker than I thought. That's why your sister committed suicide, Agent Jareau."
JJ flinched at the mention of her sister. A tear rolled her cheek before she could stop it. She wasn't going to respond. The unsub wanted to watch the team squirm. She was not going to give him that.
"How did Doctor Reid feel when you lied to him? He came to your house for ten weeks in a row, crying over losing a friend, and not once did you have the decency to tell him the truth. And that's a direct quote." The unsub was still smiling at the end of each speech to the members of the team, making JJ sick.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Let me fill you in." the unsub turned to the students, making all of them look at each other uncomfortably. "Agent Prentiss faked her death with the help of Agent Jareau. The team thought she was dead. They buried an empty coffin. I was at the funeral, standing at the back. I was so touched, I almost cried. It felt so real. What did it feel like, Agent Prentiss? What did betraying your own family feel like?"
Prentiss was struggling to control her emotions, like the rest of the team. She needed to be strong, for Reid. Anything she might say or do could make this unsub hurt Reid. She hated playing along with the unsub's fantasy, but she knew responding right now would only make things worse.
"And finally we have Agent Rossi. One of the founders of the BAU. You left to write books and give lectures. You still chose to go back to the BAU shortly after. Was it really worth it? You were so eager to save other people, you couldn't save your own wife. She was sick and you weren't there for her. What about Zoe? A lovely criminology student, she died because you ignored her. You let her die."
Rossi felt his heart shatter at the mentions of his wife and Zoe. The things this unsub was saying, he was right. They did fail. He looked down as guilt surrounded him. He knew the rest of the team felt the same but hid their emotions.
"Here is the best part: Doctor Reid. The team's little genius. I must say you have the most interesting story. You use your brain to save other people, but left your mother alone in an asylum. You betrayed your own mother. What was the last time you visited her? Three, maybe four years ago? What about Maeve? She was being stalked and you were the only reason she came out of hiding. She didn't have to die. You could have saved her."
Reid looked away when the unsub mentioned Maeve.
"Look at me when I'm talking." The unsub got up and grabbed Reid's face.
Reid felt the growing rage inside him. He felt a moment of courage and threw himself forward. He hit the unsub in the face, making the unsub's noise bleed. Reid had a massive headache now, but this was worth the pain.
The unsub wiped the blood off his face and started speaking very calmly. "I am so sorry. I'll see you soon. You will receive your first clue in three hours at the BAU headquarters. But right now, I need to teach Doctor Reid how to behave."
The team stared at the screen as it went black. How much did the unsub know about the team? How long has he been watching? More importantly, what was he planning to do with Reid?
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