January 25th, 2007.
"Talk."
Just one simple word and it still made Reid cringe, though it wasn't completely out of fear. Reid looked downward, into the cup of coffee he was nurturing before bringing it to his lips, buying him a few more seconds as he thought over his answer. Hotch was still sitting in the arm chair, directly across from his younger agent, watching him with a stony expression. Both were already dressed, Hotch being… well, Hotch, and Reid having slept in his clothes from yesterday.
Finally, Reid lowered his cup from his lips and licked then, though they were moist enough from the scalding liquid that had just passed over them. Lowering his eyes for a second, then thinking better of it and raising his eyes to meet those of his superior's, he recounted every incident that had happened to him in the past week; the time that they had been working on their strange and infuriating case. Through the lengthy explanation Reid gave, he started to gain a little confidence as he saw that Hotch continued to sit unmoving in front of him, watching him carefully. He was listening almost intently, and his face showed no disgust or impatience. So it caught Reid off guard when Hotch stood up at the end of Reid's little speech, sighing and raking his hand through his hair.
"Reid, I think this job is starting to get to you. Maybe you need to take a few personal days, get yourself back in order, come back once this case is finished…"
"N-no!" Reid stood up as well, his head swimming from standing up so quickly, the coffee in his cup sloshing around dangerously close to the rim. "O-okay, maybe I'm being a bit paranoid, you don't have to pull me off! I'll be fine!"
Reid swallowed then as Hotch turned back around to look at him, doubt clearly showing in his eyes. Reid found that his heart was pounding, his ears ringing at the thought of losing the only thing that kept him sane in the day hours; his job. There was a reason he rarely ever took time for himself, and that was to keep his running mind occupied with things that were safe; things that didn't remind him of his past, his dreams… or now the stalker. He still believed he was being stalked, but it wasn't worth being pulled out of the only thing that was half-way normal in his life.
And so Reid stayed standing there, willing as hard as he could for Hotch to believe his words. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, Hotch nodded his head then moved toward the door, motioning with his hand for Reid to follow. Glancing quickly at the clock, Reid found himself shocked to find that it was that late already. Had they really been talking for that long…?
* * *
January 29th, 2007.
Reid could still feel eyes on him; it was worse than before, made unbearable by the fact that he couldn't say anything to anyone, least he be taken away from the BAU for who knows how long. Shivering slightly, Reid continued to look over the case, the photos of the last three victims, found grouped together in a snow covered dumpster; that much hadn't changed. This had been the first time any clusters of bodies had been found, and it was surprising to find that all three men were brothers.
These murders just had to be connected in some way…
He'd been forgetting to have Garcia work her magic on their backgrounds to look for a common person who might have ended up below the radar on more general searches due to all the excitement of running around and checking the bodies and the dump sites as they appeared. It was starting to get down to one or two bodies found per day, and it was getting very strenuous. In fact, he'd heard Hotch talking to Strauss yesterday evening about taking the team off the case. He said there was just too little to go on, and the team needed to refresh themselves. They'd been at it for almost two weeks now, and they still had a half-assed profile and empty hands.
Sighing heavily, Reid turned over a paper, reading the back of the report telling how the three bodies had been found; their clothes ripped and torn off though there was no sign of sexual abuse, covered with dirt and grime and snow, each with a single gunshot wound to the head…
Reaching up to rub his temples, Reid let his gaze lift and wander over the bullpen, only to find J.J. half jogging, half walking tiredly to Hotch, who was standing by Morgan's desk as the two conversed. Reid only caught snippets of the conversation, but found out that yet another body had been found, and the local chief of police had called them in to take a look. Heads nodded and Morgan stood before looking over at Reid, though Rossi, who had just rounded a corner and evidently heard the conversation as well, spoke up before Morgan had a chance to.
"Come on Reid, looks like we've got yet another site to look over…" but his voice was anything but encouraging.
They were all haggard and tired and sick of this case; Reid couldn't blame them. But instead of nodding and standing, Reid shook his head and said,
"You guys go on ahead. I wanted to talk with Garcia about the case, have her look up a few things."
Rossi and Morgan instantly nodded, knowing that if anything, Reid and Garcia would be the ones to see what they were missing, J.J., however, looked worried, and Hotch looked… well, he didn't look normal. He was staring at Reid like there was something wrong with him…
Reid held his breath, and pretended to look over the case files again, and finally they left him for the scene. Chancing a look upward at the now empty bullpen, Reid grimaced. Ever since that one night Reid had gone to Hotch's apartment, it was like Hotch was looking for reasons to take him off the case now. Abnormal behavior, glances around, anything and everything that was able to be profiled was profiled. Shaking his head and standing up, Reid tried to put his superior out of his head and gathered up the photos. Then he shivered; the feeling of having eyes on his back suddenly evident again. Trying to ignore the feeling, Reid hurried a bit faster than he normally would have into Garcia's tech room.
The blonde woman glanced up from her computers, obviously surprised; she must have known about the newest findings as well. But Reid silenced whatever she had been about to say with a sudden,
"Garcia, I need you to look in the background of all the victims, see if there was anyone who conducted business or services below the radar."
"Oh, uh, alright, give me a sec."
Garcia turned around, her fingers flying over the keyboard as she said then,
"You're gonna need to give me something more to work with, or we're gonna have a hellava time sorting through all the hits I'm getting."
"Um… look for… gang-related dealings… red-light district dealings, um…" Reid then shook his head. "I don't know. Try with those first, and we'll see what we get."
"Alright sweet-cheeks, but it's going to take a while, even with my magic working brilliance."
"That's fine…" Reid said, shivering again.
He was glad Garcia couldn't see him, as he was standing behind her chair and her main focus was the information revealing itself on the screens around her. With everyday, the feeling of being watched and stalked kept getting worse…
* * *
February 17th, 2007.
God, he was so hungry…
Reid awoke to the sound of his stomach growling in protest to it's emptiness. His eyelids were still very heavy, and Reid hadn't much energy anymore. The stench in the small cell like room made his stomach roll even harder, threatening to hurl what contents it had past his already burning dry throat. Even the thought made his eyes water. His body was sore all over from not only the beating he'd received, but from slipping in and out of consciousness in one position for over… how long had it been now…? Five days? Six?
He'd lost count…
That wasn't good… If he'd been missing for about a week…
…
Tears came easier to his eyes as he realized he couldn't even finish his own thought… his mind wasn't working right anymore, shutting down, not enough sustenance to keep him going…
Opening his mouth in a futile effort, he choked out a hoarse and fearful,
"Help… me…"
* * *
A/N : Another chapter up! Once again, don't forget to review!! I practically LIVE on your feedback. XD