Three days went by without any leads in their case. Three days in which they found nothing that would tell them whether Desi was in the states, or even where he was at all. Three days in which there was no sign of any of him, his people, or anything. No attempts to take Spencer, no threats, no demands, nothing. It had Spencer beyond on edge. The worry for his own life wasn't his primary concern, though. With each passing day all he could think of was that it was another day that Remy was in Desi's care. What was happening to him? How was he being treated? Was Desi hurting him? Remy was smart and he was creative. If there was a way to escape, he would've done it in the past month. That meant one of three things—he was being held very securely, he was too hurt to escape, or he was…gone. Spencer tried to only think of the first option. The other two had him flirting awfully close to a panic he wasn't sure he'd come back from.
The only thing that happened during those days was a brief, discreet meeting on the second night. Even that hadn't really been anything. The two slipped out once they were sure Dave was asleep and they met up with two of Belle's guard and two of the Thieves that Jean-Luc had sent up. The report from both sides was pretty much nothing. No one had found anything out about Desi. The only thing that they were able to say for sure was that he was no longer in Rome.
That was the first time that Spencer really got to meet any of the Thieves that had come up. The way they looked at him, so intent and serious, and how they didn't once look away from him even when they were answering Belle's questions, left him feeling slightly uncomfortable and he was glad when they finally went back inside.
Belle found it hilarious.
"Y'r cute when y' don't know something." She teased him as he brushed his teeth in the en suite bathroom.
That had him poking his head out the door to look at her. She was sitting on the bed in pajama bottoms and a tank top, legs crossed and reclining back on her hands, perfectly at ease with herself. At his confused look, she let out a husky laugh. "Spencer." The way she said his name was a low drawl that he was familiar with when he'd done something that she found particularly exasperating and yet amusing. "Dey know who y' are. Of course dey're deferring to y'."
"What are you talking about?"
She let out another of those laughs and didn't bother answering his question. Shrugging, he let it go and finished preparing for bed. There was no point in pushing Belle on something she didn't want to talk about.
It was on the fourth day when Spencer finally had enough.
The team was gathered in the round table room, the door shut to protect them from anyone coming in, and they were once more discussing ways to try and find Desi. Even just something that could tell them where in the world he was at the moment. Spencer listened with growing agitation as they bandied about ideas that they all knew weren't going to work. None of the things they were suggesting were going to work! Desi was too good, too smart. He'd had a long time to plan things out. They weren't going to trip him up with something little and stupid. But there was one that had been playing around in the back of Spencer's head. One idea that he knew the others weren't going to like. He was getting desperate, though. They needed to get Remy home. Now.
Spencer finally couldn't take listening to them anymore. "We're all overlooking the one obvious solution here."
That sure got their attention. All eyes turned towards him; even Derek, who avoided looking at him lately. Only one of them, though, seemed to know what it was he was going to say. "No, Reid." Aaron said flatly, already shaking his head. "No."
"It's our best bet, Hotch. You know it."
"What are you two talking about?" Penelope asked, looking back and forth from one to the other.
Spencer sat forward, only hissing a little at the pressure on his still sore ribs. He rested his arms on the table and kept his shoulders back, his chin up. "We all know what Desi wants out of this—he wants me. That's his end goal. So I say we give it to him. Let me go out, alone. He'll come for me. I know he will." He could see the protests already building and he rushed to spit out his words, to try and convince them of what he was beginning to think might be their only option. "If you let me go home, alone, you know there's a good chance he'll come out of the woodwork."
"We are not using you as bait, Reid!" Emily said.
"It might be our only choice!" Spencer fired back hotly. His voice cracked with the sharpness of a whip and silenced the others. Some of the inner fear and pain that he'd been feeling ever since Belle first showed up was leaking through now. "Every single day that goes by is another day Remy's with him. Do you get that? Do you understand what he could be doing to him right now? I don't care if this puts me at risk. I don't care if you don't approve. I will do anything, anything, to bring him home."
"We're not willing to sacrifice you to do it." Aaron said in that tone of voice that the others had learned over the years meant he wasn't going to be moved.
There was a brief moment where the two men locked gazes and the air seemed charged around them. It was broken when Spencer let out a disgusted snort and shoved back from the table. Before anyone could say anything to him, he'd marched out of the room, opening the door hard enough that it almost smacked against the wall. The very out of character display of temper was more suited to Derek than to Spencer. They all watched Spencer as he moved through the bullpen and out the far doors. Only when they saw him turn in the direction of the bathrooms, not towards the elevators, did any of them relax. "Wow." Penelope breathed out. "I've never seen Reid get pissed like that."
"This Remy obviously means something to him. Something important. What wouldn't you guys do for someone important?" Dave asked them. His simple words had a sobering effect and the room went quiet once more.
It wasn't until a good fifteen minutes had passed that any of them started to get worried. Penelope was the first to point it out. "Reid should've been back by now."
"PG's right." Emily agreed. She turned in her chair to look out over the bullpen. "Even with him being upset, he still should've been back already. He's been working this nonstop lately. I can't see him giving that up for a break no matter how pissed he is."
There was a moment of quiet before someone finally spoke. "I might know where he is." Derek said slowly. He knew that Spencer liked to hide out in his office when things got too much. With as annoyed and upset as he was, it wouldn't surprise him to find him down there. For a brief second Derek debated just telling one of them where the man might be; things between him and Spencer weren't the greatest at the moment. But Spencer always went in there to hide out from everyone else. Sending other people just felt, wrong. He couldn't bring himself to do it. Angry with one another or not, he pushed up from the table. "Give me a second to go check. I'll be right back."
When he reached his office, he was honestly surprised not to find Spencer there, an a tiny bit relieved not to have to have any kind of confrontation with his friend. He wasn't worried, though, not yet. In for a penny, in for a pound, he figured, and he stopped off to check the bathroom next. No Spencer. He checked the next bathroom, the one closer to the bullpen. No Spencer.
That was when he started to worry.
He checked Penelope's office, though he doubted Spencer would be there.
Nothing.
He wasn't in Derek's office, wasn't in a bathroom, wasn't in Penelope's office, and when Derek hurried back to the others, he saw that Spencer wasn't in the bullpen or back with the team either. His steps quickened as a horrifying thought started to build. He wouldn't dare—would he? Are you kidding? A voice whispered in the back of his mind. You know he would. What wouldn't Reid do for someone he cares about?
Derek burst through the door of the round table room, eyes wide. "Reid's gone."
Spencer was more than just 'gone'. By the time his team had realized his disappearance, he was already halfway home. Despite how he looked, slumped almost lazily against the backdoor in the cab, his eyes were sharp and he was fully on alert, watching carefully for any signs that he might've been followed back home. He wanted to be followed. Desi wasn't going to stick his head out while Spencer was completely surrounded by guards; there was just no way. He wasn't stupid. This was one giant game that he was playing with them and Spencer was tired of playing by everyone else's rules. He needed to do this. Why couldn't they understand that?
There was no sign of anyone trying to follow his cab back to his apartment. Still, he knew someone would be watching, and he made no effort whatsoever to hide when he climbed out of the back of the cab and made his way to the front door of his building. He remembered how Desi had done things the last time around and he could and he was banking on some of that being the same this time. Last time, he and Remy had found the bugs in their hotel room. Spencer as hoping there would be some of them in here now.
With that in mind, he went into his apartment for the first time in days, shutting but not locking the door behind him. Then he made his way straight to the middle of the living room. Standing there, he looked around him, letting his gaze slip over the room with a trained eye. Nothing was really out of place, at least not extremely. Some of it could be blamed on Belle's people coming to get his clothes, maybe. But there was something…there. Over by his bookcase. He moved over towards it and carefully moved the book out of the way. Behind that first book, he found nothing. It'd apparently been just slightly nudged. But on the third he finally found something. A low hum of pleasure slid up his throat when he moved the book and found the tiny little camera it'd been hiding. He took hold of the camera and pulled it out and up towards his face. "All right, you son of a bitch. I'm here and alone. Come and get me."
The room went silent for a moment as Spencer dropped the camera down to the ground.
Seconds later, the sound of a ringing phone filled the room.
It wasn't his cell phone and he didn't have a home phone. A quick search, following the sound, unearthed a disposable, prepaid cell phone lying in the open on his bed. It's location was a message that Spencer wasn't going to bother thinking about at the moment. He was more focused on scooping the phone up—he had enough presence of mind to grab a shirt so he wouldn't put his fingerprints on it or mess up any fingerprints that might be there—and then he was pressing the phone to his ear. "Just a phone call, Desi? I'm disappointed."
Laughter came down the phone line. "My most abject apologies, my dear. I thought it better this way."
It was a voice that Spencer hadn't heard in twelve years. The sound of it now was enough to send shivers racing down his spine, and not the good kind. He fought not to let it show; there was no telling where else there might be cameras in here. One camera wasn't practical. Spencer drew in a breath and prepared himself to play a part. It was the only way he was going to get through this. "I was hoping for something a little more, productive, than just a phone call."
"Mm. Yes, I'm sure you were. But I find I like this. How are you, my dear? It's been so very long since we last saw one another."
"I've been better." Spencer said dryly. He dropped himself down onto the edge of the bed, leaning back on one hand and crossing his legs, going for a relaxed, almost bored pose. He arched one eyebrow and turned his tone a bit dry. "I tend to be a bit unhappy when people I care for go missing. A quirk of mine, you see."
"You always were such a soft soul." Desi said, the smile in his voice clear, and Spencer had to fight back another shudder at the tone of pure possessiveness. "So sweet. So kind."
"I'm not particularly feeling either of those at the moment, Desi. Mostly what I am is worried, and angry. You took someone very important to me and I want him back."
"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about, my dear. And even if I did, well, what would be the fun in telling? I always did love a good surprise."
Oh, he was being careful. Very, very careful. Nothing he'd said so far could implicate him in anything whatsoever. He was giving nothing away. Spencer's fingered tightened over the phone and he had to draw in a careful breath just to keep himself from snarling furiously at the man. This was the bastard who had Remy. Who'd taken him. So many parts of Spencer wanted to scream at him, to demand that Remy be brought back right now. The profiler in him, the thief that Remy had trained, both those parts knew that shouting would do nothing except for maybe get Remy hurt even more. Those parts of him kept his voice calm and controlled, albeit just a bit sharp. "I've been waiting to hear from you, but it's been days and you haven't said or done anything. What good is your surprise if there's no one there to appreciate it?"
"Good things come to those who wait." Desi teased him.
Sitting up, he used his free hand to brush his hair back from his face. "I can be patient, when the incentive is right. But I want some kind of proof that there's even still a reason to wait. What's the point in playing if my prize is already gone?"
"Oh, such little faith in me, my dear Spencer. Think you I'd dispose of the prize before the game even really gets a chance to be played?" A soft 'hmm' sounded over the line and then Desi's voice changed, turning a bit less playful and a bit more businesslike. "It looks as if we'll have to finish our conversation later. Your company is about to arrive and I find myself suddenly very preoccupied. Keep the phone, my love. Consider it my gift to you. Until we speak again!"
Before Spencer could protest, there was a click as the call disconnected.
Desi's words took a second to sink in. Once they did, Spencer was pushing up off the bed and moving towards the living room. He got there just as his door was snapped open and the rest of his team came pouring in, guns at the ready.
Holding his hands up in a sign of peace, Spencer tried to mentally brace for the storm that was about to hit. "Everything's fine, guys. There's no one else here but me."
There was absolutely no doubt whatsoever that he'd managed to piss off his friends. As weapons were holstered, Aaron marched straight up towards him, anger written clearly in every line of him. He stopped right in front of Spencer and pinned him in place with that sharp, furious glare. "If you ever do something so completely stupid again, I will put you into protective custody and stash you in a safe house while the rest of us handle this. I understand this is personal to you, but I will not stand for one member of my team putting himself at risk like that."
If Aaron had expected his words to cow Spencer or make him feel guilty, he was sadly mistaken. The young genius straightened up and didn't back down in the least from his boss's glare. "I haven't done anything illegal, Hotch. I left work without permission, true, but simply to come to my own home, a place I have every right be to be. You can't force protective custody on me no matter how much you may want to."
"I'm not going to stand here and watch you put yourself at risk." Aaron shot back.
It took everything Spencer had not to tell him 'then don't look'. He squashed that childish response and held tighter to the cool mask he'd put on during his phone call. Lifting his hand, he held out the cell phone that was still gripped inside the shirt. "If I hadn't come here, we wouldn't have this. Or that camera over there." He gestured with the phone to where the camera sat on the floor. "I imagine there's others, so you might want to mind what you say. Apparently he managed to get someone in here to bug my apartment and leave this phone on my bed." Twisting his wrist so that the shirt better covered the phone, he dropped it in Aaron's outstretched hand. "I never touched it outside the shirt, so there's a minimal chance that there will be prints on there. I wouldn't count on it, but it's worth the effort. Garcia and I might be able to get something off the cameras, though. I'm sure Desi's watching the feed now, amusing himself by watching us scramble, but he's too smart to have set up anything that can be traced back to him. He'll dump them before we get far. Still, it might at least let us know where in the world he is."
"You talked to him?" Dave asked, focusing on what he obviously considered the important part of all of this.
"I did."
They took their conversation downstairs, away from the apartment and out to the parking lot where the SUV's were parked. Once Aaron put in a call to get a crime scene unit here to take care of the apartment and search for more cameras and any potential prints, he had Spencer recite the phone conversation word for word. When he was done, they all took a bit to think about what had and hadn't been said. "He was careful." Emily said.
"I told you, he's extremely intelligent." Spencer reminded them. "He's not going to implicate himself."
"It sounds like he plans on calling back soon." Derek said. He looked at the phone that Aaron still held. It was out of the shirt now, held in Aaron's gloved hands, and the senior profiler was searching through it. "Is there anything in there, Hotch?"
Aaron shook his head. "Nothing. The number he called from doesn't even show up."
"We'll need to process the phone quickly. If he calls again, it'll be Reid he'll want to speak to." Emily said.
Their conversation was cut off then by the arrival of the CSU. It wasn't just them that pulled in, though. Another car pulled up behind them, one that Spencer didn't recognize, but he did recognize the woman that climbed out of the passenger's seat. He couldn't stop the low "Oh, hell" that slipped past his lips as Belle came marching towards him. This wasn't going to go well. Judging by the look on her face, she already knew what was going on, which meant that she most likely had someone around here that was standing guard and who had reported everything to her. Spencer didn't question how she'd gotten the information. There was no point in that. He just prepared himself to deal with the fallout.
Belle wasn't much any happier than the team had been when she saw him. She was just a bit more open about it. She marched right past everyone, straight to Spencer, and greeted him with a slap that snapped his head to the side. Then she grabbed his chin in a hard grip, fingers biting into his skin, and forced him to meet her eye to eye. "Y' ever do something like dat again and I'll tie y' up and lock y' in de trunk of m' car and we'll be out of town in de hour, heading f' home. Do I make m'self clear?"
Already on edge, Spencer reached up and caught her wrist, using a trick that he'd, funny enough, learned from her. He broke her hold and then twisted her wrist until it was pushed up at an awkward angle between them, putting just enough pressure to bring it right to the danger point without actually causing her serious damage. He held it there, ignoring the sharp call of "Reid!" off to the side. His eyes were hard and cold when he leaned in and brought their faces only inches apart. "Don't presume to try and tell me what to do, Bella Donna. I'll do whatever it takes to bring him home, whether you approve of it or not. I don't answer to you. Do I make myself clear?" Releasing her wrist, he took a step back, watching her warily.
"Reid, what do you think you're doing?" Emily demanded, moving up to stand at Belle's side.
A gesture from Belle stopped her. The woman kept her eyes on Spencer and the look that was there was tempered with something like respect. "Non," she told the others, keeping her eyes on Spencer. Then she dipped her head towards him in understanding and, yes, that was respect, he was sure of it this time. "Point well made, petit frère."
The use of the title was deliberate, her way of letting him know that they were okay and a sort of apology all at the same time. When she moved forward again, he didn't flinch, just lifted an arm when she got close. He slid his arm around her shoulders while she slipped hers around his waist, tucking herself in against his side. She stayed there for the next few hours as Spencer's apartment was processed.
