VI. Stick It To the Man!
Reid was still fuming as he worked on the papers he'd been given, wearing the ridiculous hat-like device connecting him to the Brain Scanner. He was angry and gave thanks for the fact that the men in the other room could only measure his mind's activity and not 'read' his actual thoughts. They surely wouldn't be happy about his opinion of the whole situation and of them in general.
'These people are completely mental.' – He thought to himself. – 'Totally insane. No wonder the term 'nutty professor' is regularly used in relation to scientists. Pfff. I bet Morgan would have a field day provoking them. I know Dean would make them cry.'
He continued turning pages and writing absent-mindedly, while still occupying his thoughts with ways he would like to torture and kill his captors so that he wouldn't miss his trip to Europe.
'I'm becoming an UnSub. But under these circumstances, I know anyone would understand.'
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The researchers stood staring at the screen that showed the room with the geniuses working in it. They had zoomed in on Doctor Spencer Reid to get a better look at their newest addition to the group – their ultimate prize, it seemed.
"Incredible. Not even a computer works this fast." – Remarked one man, gawking wide-eyed.
The others couldn't believe what they were seeing either.
"Is it even possible? Or is he just leafing through the pages aimlessly? Do you think he can process anything at all with that speed?"
"He sure seems pretty determined and focused…"
"Also very pissed off." – Pointed out another scientist with a bit of worry in his voice.
"Yeah… that too. Do you think he's just stabbing the papers in anger?"
"I don't know."
This went on for another ten minutes, after which Reid turned the last page and found… nothing under it, just the desk. He leaned back against the backrest and folded his arms stubbornly over his chest, looking as if he had bitten into a particularly sour lemon. The others were still engrossed in their tests, not noticing anything around them. All except for Lottie who looked up at his movement and gave him the thumbs up. Reid sighed. This would be a long day.
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"Sir, I think we've got something!" – Exclaimed Garcia excitedly, motioning at the screen in front of her.
Everyone gathered around the technical analyst and waited hopefully for news that would help them find their missing youngest member. It had already been a over a day since he had been taken and God only knew what he'd had to endure during this time…
"What is it, Penelope? Come on, tell us!" – Urged her JJ, nearly bouncing in the chair she had pulled over.
"All right. So: there is a professor called Alfred Bergmann at Yale who has published studies about the importance of geniuses and how they are the only ones who have a chance at saving the humans from extinction-"
"What the hell!?" – Blurted Morgan, much like Reid at a completely different place. Everyone gave him a dirty look because of the interruption. – "Sorry, Baby Girl… Go on."
"As I was saying: he believes humans are about to disappear from the Earth soon, given our greed, as he calls it… and the way we destroy our planet. And technology. Mostly because of technology." – Garcia raised and eyebrow as she read the article she had found. For her, blaming technology for something human behavior was clearly responsible for, sounded incredibly stupid. Computers only did what the persons using them made them do! – "So, he says that only these unique minds can come up with a solution to this problem."
"Ahm…" – Simon cleared his throat. – "So, this nutty professor took Genius Boy and the others to… what? Change the world? Isn't this a little bit far-fetched…?"
"Well, even college professors can have mental breakdowns and personality disorders…" – Explained Hotch. – "Garcia, do we have anything else on this man?"
"Only that he suddenly quit his job around two months ago, sir." – She replied.
"That's when the kidnappings started." – Remarked Prentiss, snatching the notes they had taken from Ian's hand (ignoring the agent's indignant cry of 'hey!' as the paper cut his palm) and checking the dates. – "Yes. It seems to fit."
"And where does this man live?" – Asked Rossi, already heading for his go bag.
"In New Haven, Connecticut. I'll send the address to your cells." – Said Garcia, already working on it as everyone gathered their things and got ready to leave.
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Professor Alfred Bergmann owned a large, three level Victorian-era house in one of the most elegant parts of New Haven. He was, quite evidently, very wealthy.
"Wow. Why would someone with a property like that make a habit of kidnapping people instead of enjoying life?" – Marveled Morgan who, as someone with a hobby of renovating properties, was absolutely impressed with the house and its condition.
"Because if someone doesn't have problems, he makes some for himself." – Remarked Walker dryly, eyeing the front door with a certain level of disgust in his eyes because he, contrary to the profiler standing beside him, hated the thought of living in a 'castle' just to show everyone you could do it.
"It's true; that's why I don't ever want to be that rich." – Added Marshall.
"It's not that you don't want to be rich, Wilder. It's just that you'll never be." – Delivered Emily the biting declaration, effectively shutting the other agent up. – "So, shall we go in?"
"Yes. Come on, people." – Said Hotch quickly, already halfway up the stairs. As soon as he got up, he knocked on the door and waited a few seconds, before calling: - "This is the FBI. Is someone at home? Professor Alfred Bergmann?" – He shared a meaningful look with the others before Morgan, understanding the hidden message, kicked the down the door with one well-aimed movement. The unit chief was thankful they'd thought about getting a search warrant, otherwise this could turn out pretty ugly.
"Clear!"
"Clear!"
"Clear!"
Came the shouts from all over the house as the group spread out with drawn guns to check all the rooms.
"Nobody's here." – Marshall concluded after a few minutes, holstering his gun. The others followed suit.
"And it looks like nobody's been here for a while." – Continued Rossi, eyeing the month-old layer of dust covering the kitchen table, the counter and all the bookshelves.
"Let's look for any clues on where the professor; and our Genius Boy; could be." – Suggested Ian, starting to open the envelopes he had found on the floor right under the mail slot. – "He's got lots of unopened letters. And a warning about unpaid bills… Hmm…"
"Really? I didn't think he had money matters…" – Simon gestured around, indicating the richly decorated sitting room that even had a small library with hundreds of first volumes stocked in three different shelves, each reaching up to the ceiling.
"I don't think it's about money. I believe he really hasn't been back here for weeks." – Shouted JJ from upstairs, where she had found the bedroom totally abandoned, the walls bare and the closets completely empty. – "It looks like he moved away ages ago."
"The house is still on his name though." – Said Gideon who had been, up until now, silent and melancholic. It was evident he was still blaming himself for every bad thing that had ever befallen their youngest member. – "There must be a very specific reason for him to stay away for so long…"
"Oh, he does have a reason. He's holding our Genius Boy captive!" – Growled Dean angrily while he was looking through cupboards and drawers for any indication where their missing genius could be.
"We don't know that yet." – Pointed out Walker, though he too found the situation more than suspicious.
"I think I found something!" – Shouted Emily from a smaller room next to the bedroom that apparently served as a home-office. She had been digging though the documents on the desk when she found… - "Letters! Lots of letters written to three colleagues called Professor Frederick Gibbs from UCLA, Professor Abel Jocelyn Hayward from Harvard and Professor Benjamin Walton from Columbia." – She said while everyone filed into the room to take a look.
The letters Prentiss had found were actually printed e-mails shared between the four scientists. A quick read through let the agents know that they were all about the study of the human brain he had been doing and how, in Professor Gibbs' opinion, the brain of a genius could be different from a 'normal' one and he wanted to check it out to make sure.
Hotch quickly dialed.
- Please, tell me you have found our Baby Genius!
- Not yet, Garcia, but we're working on it… I have three new names I'd like you to look up for us.
- Anything. Just find him… It's so horrible to sit here alone and worry and-
- The names are: Professors Frederick Gibbs, Abel Jocelyn Hayward and Benjamin Walton. Look for any place they could be with so many hostages unnoticed. Look for properties they own or rent, for labs they work in, for family vacation houses, or for… anything at all that could help us. Help Reid.
- Certainly. I'll call you back as soon as I've got something.
"All right, people. Until then, let's continue looking around; maybe we'll find something helpful."
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"Unbelievable."
"Incredible."
"I can't even find words…"
"It's absolutely amazing."
The four scientists were bent over the geniuses' tests, looking through them while also letting the computer analyze the brain activity they had 'produced' to achieve the results. What they found by Reid's took away their breaths.
"Not a single mistake. Not one."
"He finished in ten minutes what others needed an hour and a half for."
"Could he have cheated?" – Asked 'Alfie' finally, even though he didn't believe so himself. The disbelieving looks and eyerolls he got from the others were answer enough. – "Okay, okay. Just checking." – He defended himself quickly, holding up his hands in the universal sign of surrender.
Apparently, their new 'guest' had spent the remainder of the time after finishing his paper until he'd been let out of the room writing up and solving difficult math equations just for fun, filling six more pages with them with his tiny and messy handwriting. There were also a few drawings between the numbers and some messages obviously meant for the readers, like: 'I won't let you do this to me.', or 'don't think you've won.'. It was somewhat creepy.
"He can be the one to get us to the big breakthrough, my friends! I'm confident he'll be the one we've been waiting for! I can feel it!" – Professor Walton exclaimed excitedly.
"He's not only brilliant but also creative. Look at these problems he solved: he wouldn't have been able to do it with just lexical knowledge."
"And his brain activity? It never changes! He didn't even make an effort!"
"However, what seems to be normal for him, would kill anyone else… An activity like that? It would wear anyone out in an hour or so! They'd die!"
"The little girl… ahm… what's her name again?"
Hayward rolled his eyes.
"She's called Charlotte."
"Oh, yes. Her. So, she's the one who resembles him the most in many ways. She has a constant higher than average brain activity as well. Of course not this high but still amazing."
"These two are brilliant. It looks like there's a difference between someone who's a genius in music and arts, or someone who's a genius in physics and math… and these two who are geniuses in… well: everything! General Genius; we should call them."
"Their minds have a unique way of working. That's what we need. We need to find out if it can be taught or developed somehow. Do you think they know they're special?"
"I'm sure they've been told at some point during their lives."
"That's not what I mean!" – Protested Bergmann. – "I mean if they can answer our questions about how they think and work!"
"Oh. I'm not sure about that. We'll see. The only important thing now is that they need to cooperate with us. The little girl will be easy to groom but the boy…"
"Do you think we'll have a problem with him?" – Inquired Professor Gibbs, finally voicing the worry that had been on each of their minds ever since they had seen the boy's reaction to their presentation. – "All the others seemed so much more… ahm… understanding, when we explained the situation to them… At least those who paid any attention to us."
"Oh, well… We probably don't need to fear. Khm… He may be angry and resentful but he's still just one young man. Completely powerless to do anything against us. He's brilliant but doesn't look very strong or skilled in fight. We'll be fine."
"You're right, Abel. I mean: just look at him. He's your typical quiet, 'good boy'. I bet he'll look for young Mackenzie's approval to even go loo, just like the others."
All four men nodded, content with their conclusion.
"Well. He's certainly not the type to become a leader."
"Right. Who would listen to him, anyway? These geniuses are all locked in their own little world, completely content to solve puzzles and do their stuff. Most of them can't even communicate with each other."
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Meanwhile back in their 'common room', Reid was racking his brain about how to get out of this mess, and take at least Lottie with him. But preferably everyone who wanted to go home. There was no way he was going to give up and surrender to these madmen! And when he was already by surrendering…
"Mackenzie… Why do you all let these delusional people bully you around?" – He asked the girl who was sitting close to him, reading a book with great interest, seemingly completely at ease with not a care in the world. Considering their situation, it was a disturbing sight.
She looked up, surprised at his outburst.
"Well… It's complicated." – She said slowly, as she carefully set the book down and turned to the youngest FBI agent, gesturing for him to talk more quietly so that others wouldn't hear. Unfortunately for her, Reid wanted everyone to overhear their conversation, so he pointedly ignored her wish and continued with a raised voice:
"I don't think it's so complicated. We're hostages: we want to get home. What's so difficult to understand about it?"
"Spencer… Right now, we're being taken care of. I don-"
"So, we should be so grateful for the food we get that we need to let them keep us here against our will? Is that what you think? Is that what you all think?" – He asked, turning to include everyone in the question.
The other geniuses fidgeted uncomfortably and avoided his gaze. All but the youngest of them. Charlotte was watching their exchange curiously, following their movements with her eyes as if she were watching the most interesting TV show ever.
"Listen… I just don't want trouble; why don't you get it? They could punish us if we misbehave! They could take away food, beds, books, board games-"
"Board games? BOARD GAMES!? You're freedom is worth a couple of board games? Because if you sell it for that, Mackenzie, then you put a price on it, don't you think? Isn't that a bit cheap?"
"I- It's not like that!" – She shook her head, vehemently denying the truth.
"It is exactly like that! And they don't have a right to punish us!" – Reid continued, purposely loud enough for everyone to hear him. – "This here is not the ancient Egypt and we're not their slaves!"
The little girl's eyes lit up at that.
"Did you know that according to the Egyptologists say that the Great Pyramids were actually not built by slaves, as they had thought before, but by peasants?" – She chirped proudly. – "I read a book once and-"
"Yes, thank you, Lottie." – Reid rolled his eyes. Trust the child to say something completely unimportant to their current predicament. A good thing he had never been as annoying as her… - "As I was saying: we're not slaves and nobody has the right to award or punish us as they see fit! We won't be manipulated like that!"
"You don't know what you're talking about, Spencer. You're new here. I've been taking care of the group and they all agree that we need to obey in order to stay alive until the authorities find us."
"Do they though? Did you actually ask them?" – He then turned to the others again. – "Do you really want to play nice?" – Nobody answered. – "Lottie: what do you think?"
The little girl seemed startled at the question. The fact alone, that she didn't protest against the use of the nickname told Reid he needed to find something else to annoy her with soon.
"I… I don't know. I'm only five…"
"That doesn't mean you can't have your own opinion." – The profiler pointed out.
"But adults know better…"
Reid sighed tiredly.
"Lottie… you're a genius; there are, in reality, not many adults who know better than you."
"But you told me that being a genius wasn't everything and I shouldn't brag about it!"
It was true: he had told her that the evening before, since she couldn't stop going on and on about her achievements in her studies.
"But that's not the same! Boasting about your abilities and knowing and using them to their full capacity are two completely different things! You need to know what you want and why you want it. You also need to know how to get it. So, I'll ask again: what do you want, Lottie? Tell us!"
"I…" – She hung her head as if ashamed. – "I miss my mommy and daddy. And my school and friends. And our house."
"Charlie!" – Hissed Mackenzie, trying to stop her.
"What, Maxie? He's right! I want to go home!" – She declared.
Reid nodded.
"All right. What about you, Erik?" – The eighteen-year-old autistic boy started to rock back and forth while pulling at his hair in a way that seemed rather painful. He was clearly agitated. – "Or you, Brody?"
The musician boy stood up.
"I don't want to be here. I just want to play my instruments, that's all. I don't even understand what I'm doing here!"
"Yes!" – His twin sister agreed. – "We'll have a concert in two days. That's all we care about! We're not scientists, we don't do math or physics and we don't want to be part of any experiment."
The profiler addressed the others one by one. Riley gave proclaimed his wish to go home in four different languages, Caleb groaned something that sounded like agreement, while the others all nodded as well.
"And you, Julian? What about you?" – Asked Reid the last person in line who hadn't said anything yet.
"Eb ot desoppus s'ti woh wonk t'nod I…"
"Huh…?" – Then he remembered that the 23-year-old only used lyrics to talk, and even that usually backwards. This was going to be difficult… - "Oh, you know… ahm…" – But something occurred to him that could, maybe, help reach the young man. It was worth a try. – "When the way you're treated has got you good and pissed, there's been one solution since the world began: don't just sit and take it…"
The boy, previously only halfway aware of his surroundings, sat up straighter at once, and shouted determinedly:
"Stick it to the man!"
Reid jumped up onto the table to stand higher than everyone else.
"Exactly, that's it! That's what we need! We need to stick it to the men so that they'll understand: they can't do this to us!" – The geniuses all cheered and clapped, suddenly eager to act.
All except for one: Mackenzie still looked uncertain and even a bit scared.
"But, Spencer: how could we do it? We're not strong, we're not fast… We've never done anything like that before… What you suggest: it means rebellion!" – She seemed horrified at the very thought of revolting against persons she viewed as authority.
"YES! We're rebelling! And how we'll do it, you ask?" – Reid was really getting into his preachment even though he had never done anything like that before and had never expected to do it either. – "Easy: there's fourteen of us and only four of them. We're not armed but neither are they. We're not strong but they aren't either. We're at an advantage. We're determined and we are going to win!" – Reid said with full confidence. – "Everyone who wants to help them with the research is welcome to do it, but it has to be our own choice and not by them forcing us."
Julian stood up and hollered:
"Why live your life to someone else's plan!? STICK IT TO THE MAN!"
Some agreeing shouts echoed, filling the room, and Reid smiled.
"Indeed: why? The answer is: there's no reason, so we won't. So: who's with the REBELLION?"
"Me!"
"I am!"
"Yes!"
"Of course!"
"Let's do it!"
One by one, everybody confirmed their determination to end this ridiculous captivity as soon as possible. Mackenzie was the only one who still hesitated, so little Charlie took her hand to pull her down to her level and whispered into her ear:
"Please, Maxie! I want to go home! I know you want that too! Don't you miss your parent and friend?"
"Oh, well…" – She hesitated only for a moment. – "Ah, all right. But I hope you know what you're doing, Spencer, because this is all on you."
The youngest FBI agent shuddered. He had never wanted to be a leader – that was Hotch. It could be Rossi or Gideon. It could be Emily or Morgan one day. It could be the members of the Organized Crime Unit. But not him. Never him. He had never wanted to be responsible for anyone else beside himself and maybe his mother; and only because, with her, he hadn't had any other choice. Now though? Did he really want to do it? Also, this wasn't exactly the type of army he'd voluntarily build for himself.
And still, looking around the room, noticing that even those who usually didn't pay attention to anything happening around them had their eyes and ears glued to him now, he knew for certain: there was only one right answer to that. Now, he didn't have any other choice either.
"Fine." – He nodded. – "So, what we need now is a good plan…"
*The quote is part of the song 'Stick it to the Man' from the musical School of Rock by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Glenn Slater and Julian Fellowes.