"Hotch, we've got a problem," said JJ, coming into the filled conference room, looking tired. "The newspapers have a leak. They said that the unSub has left the area and that he's done killing."
JJ figured that if she was the one who told Hotch, he might not think it was her fault.
And what if he did know? Would he say something and risk Reid's life? But by saying that the unSub left, it meant that the case was out of the local police's jurisdiction. They were off the case. If that was the case, then by the time they updated the new group of officers, Spencer would be dead, his time up.
JJ felt an overwhelming feeling of guilt. Hotch stared at her for a second before answering, "How do we know the unSub is lying about that? Is there any evidence to suggest he's still in Portland?"
This was not the response the team had been expecting.
"Um, yeah Hotch, the profile! He would stay close, where he could keep an eye on us. It makes no sense to leave when he doesn't have to," argued Morgan, looking confused.
"I mean substantial evidence, Morgan. In the end, a profile is just an educated guess. He could be next door, or he could be miles out of Portland. There's no way to know," said Hotch, looking deathly serious.
Morgan couldn't believe it. Since when did Hotch question the power of a profile? It was his whole life…
"I agree with Hotch," piped Prentiss. "I'm not suggesting we forget about him being in Portland, but we shouldn't rule anything out."
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!" roared Morgan. Do you have any idea how long it will take to update a new police squad, get the message out, and set up search parties? Days. How long does Reid have? Two days tops."
"I want to find him as much as you do, Morgan, that's exactly why we are suggesting this," said Hotch, unsmiling. "We need to find him soon, we know. Alive."
Morgan wanted so badly to ask if any of them had gotten a message from the unSub. That would explain the madness. And Prentiss backing Hotch up? That was weird. They always disagreed.
But he refrained.
This unSub had to have them bugged, and he was not going to risk Spencer's life by breaking the rules.
But this was his family here too. Wouldn't they send him some kind of signal that they had received information? They shouldn't feel that they had to face it alone.
Instead of saying this, he bit his lip, and started up again.
"I understand that Hotch, but I know-"
"That's enough Morgan. We are going to inform other authorities. As of now, Portland will not be viewed as the primary location."
"Hotch, you gotta be kidd-"
"I SAID ENOUGH!" roared Hotch.
Morgan stopped mid-sentence. Hotch never lost his temper.
"That's the end of this discussion," said Hotch, as we walked out of the room, leaving a speechless team behind him.
Hotch closed his temporary office door closed and sank down into his chair, head in his hands, feeling ready to cry.
He shouldn't have lost his temper, Morgan was right, so right…but he was doing it for Reid. They needed to find him alive. They had to…
Hotch had gotten the tape about two hours ago. He had listened as he heard Reid struggling in the background and the unSub electrocuting him, it sounded like. He had listened to the unSub call Hotch degrading, unworthy, and backstabbing.
He had been called a liar, and awful team leader, and selfish.
And after what Aaron had just done, he couldn't argue any of those points.
The unSub wanted Aaron to take off with the false profile and lies that Hotch knew deep down that JJ had been forced to give the press. He was to give the job to other authorities. The unSub was buying time.
What could he do? If he refused, he would have lost his youngest team member, the member he always tried extra hard to protect from the dangers of the profiling job.
So he became a liar, awful team leader, and selfish man.
This unSub managed to bring out the worst in everyone.
Emily knew Morgan was angry with her, and she couldn't blame him. She was furious with herself as well.
She was told on the tape that she had to support the false profile, causing the remaining members of the team to be outnumbered.
She did it for Reid, didn't Morgan understand that? She wanted Spencer home safe so badly…she couldn't imagine what the unSub was doing to him.
The unSub had told her she was egotistical and always had to have the upper-hand on everyone. Was he right? Was she really like that? The more she thought about it, the more she thought he might be. But weren't all the members of the team? He was singling her out, when the rest of the team had other qualities way worse than hers. Hotch was infuriatingly demanding, Morgan had serious anger issues, Garcia was-
What was going on? Why was she listening to this maniac? This was what he wanted. He wanted her to turn on the BAU, her family.
She felt nauseatingly guilty. How could she think such things…?
Reid would have seen the sense in all of this. He was too good to turn on his family.
Which was exactly why the unSub took him: the best of them all.
Morgan was seething. Why would they do that? If they wanted to help Spencer, surely they would have-
Morgan accidently knocked over a cup of dark coffee onto the tan rug as he passed through the officer's desks.
Fantastic.
"God, I'm sorry man, that's my bad," Morgan apologized to the young man sitting at the desk.
The man sighed. "It's no big deal. I'll get it."
"Can't you just get the janitor?" asked Morgan, not wanting to cause the kid any more trouble.
"Our old guy quit and I don't know the new guy's extension."
Great, on top of it all, now Morgan felt guilty.
Reid twitched on the floor, the aftermath of the electrocution finally wearing off. He could feel his fingers regaining feeling, which was not necessarily a good thing. They hurt so bad…
He wanted to go home. He missed Gideon, JJ, Garcia, even Morgan…and his mom. What would she do if he died?
He needed to get home. He was not going to die.
He thought as he lay on the floor in agony. There had to be a way, something he could use to communicate, something he could sign…
He had it. If only he could get to Gideon-
"You ready Pretty Boy?" asked the unSub. Spencer cringed at the man's use of Morgan's teasing nickname.
No he was not ready. He hurt so bad…so much worse than with Tobias.
Before he knew what was going on, he felt the knife on his jaw, gashing it. With a hot burst of excruciating pain, the unSub buried the metal tip into Reid's upper arm, causing him to cry out in agony, hot tears cascading down his bloody face.
He laid on the floor, shaking and crying, when the unSub heaved him up and placed him on the chair, bringing out the camera.
He needed to get to Gideon…
Author's Note
I'm trying to type the chapters at night and post them. We'll see how that works out.
What do you think? How's the Junior G-man holding up? Do you think he'll mind if I borrow his brain for my biology final?
With love, MissdaVinci77
