The Funny Thing About Friends
I Own Nothing :(
A/N: Hey everyone, sorry for the wait! I've been so busy! Well, anyway, review please!
Chapter 9
Brenda's body was dropped off on the front steps of her boyfriend's home two days after her death. Spencer and Hotch were on their way to the scene, and Hotch silently hoped that things would go better than the last time they had headed to the body dump together.
The trip would take about an hour and a half, considering that Brenda's boyfriend lived in New Jersey. That would give Hotch plenty of time to find out a bit more about Spencer and Bailey's friendship. Hotch would be the first to admit that he was rather curious, but at the same time, he was worried that Spencer may get worked up at the memories of Bailey. Hotch was never one to get too personal in the lives of his coworkers, but he had to admit that Spencer intrigued him more than the others on the team.
Hotch cleared his throat and turned on the radio. The channel was set on an 80's rock station, and "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" by Pat Benetar came blaring through the speakers. Spencer covered his ears at the noise; he had certainly not expected Hotch to be a fan of rock music, especially at that volume. Hotch looked over at Spencer, and upon realizing that he was not used to the radio being turned up full blast, lowered the music level. Spencer uncovered his ears and gave a tiny smile.
"I'm pretty sure that we would both be deaf by the time we reached the crime scene if you had kept the music at the same decibal level the entire trip." He gave a little chuckle.
The one corner of Hotch's mouth turned up into a rare half-smile, and he made a little noise in the back of his throat that seemed to be an attempted laugh.
Spencer looked at Hotch out of the corner of his eye, and began to speak to him again. "Hotch?"
"Yeah, Reid?" Hotch kept his eyes on the road, his expression not changing.
"Thanks for," Spencer cleared his throat. "Thanks for letting me stay on this case."
Hotch glanced over at him. "You haven't given me any reason to take you off of it." That wasn't a complete lie; Spencer may have been emotionally involved, but he was still doing good work, and hadn't completely jumped off the deep end. After all, Hotch had done much, much worse when Hayley had been -
His train of thought was interrupted by Spencer's responce. "Well, I just...you said the other day that some people wanted me off the case. But I honestly don't know what I would do if I wasn't aloud to help find Bailey. She's like a sister to me, really." Spencer looked down at his lap, a frown on his face. "I guess I'm just trying to say thanks for believing in me."
"I trust you Reid. You do good work, and I know that you'll do everything that you can to get Bailey and the other girls home safely." Hotch replied. He had to admit, he didn't mind having a personal talk with Spencer.
"We only have two weeks and five days left before he kills Bailey." Spencer said softly, more to himself than to Hotch. He turned to the older man, his eyes wide. "Honestly, do you think we'll get there in time?"
Hotch sighed. It was a question he didn't want to answer, and one that he had been avoiding as well. He finally answered as best as he could. "I don't know. Garcia is doing all that she can to find John/Jason Monroe, and JJ is organizing a press conference for later tonight. You and I are going to the body dump to see what we can find out, and Emily and Morgan are following up on all leads to try and find a paper trail. For now, that's the best we can do; we'll just have to see where it takes us."
Spencer gave a little sigh. "I just can't imagine what she's feeling right now. I just want to get to her and save her before anything else happens."
Hotch looked at him an gave an understanding nod. He decided that he might as well try and find out some more about Bailey and Spencer's relationiship. Before he could ask a question, though, Spencer spoke first.
"When Bailey and I were seventeen, she 'proposed' to me. Like, you know, a marriage proposal." Spencer gave a small smile. "She said that we could take on the world together. I said yes, but of course we were just kidding. Sometimes, though..." He trailed off.
"Sometimes you wish that you two were being serious?" Hotch answered the question. Spencer nodded.
"Don't get me wrong: I'm so happy for her and Jake, and Anni is the most beautiful little girl I've ever seen. I just sometimes wish that it could be Bailey and I, and that I'd be able to protect her from whatever happens." He sighed.
(Spencer's Flashback)
"Hey, Spencer." Bailey softly called his name, and he turned around to see her dressed in her wedding dress, with her hair done up beautifully and her entire face glowing with happiness.
"Bailey, you look amazing." Spencer told her, barely able to get the words out. She gathered him in a hug, and he wished that hey never had to let go. But eventually, Bailey spoke up.
"Spencer, you're crushing my rib cage." She joked. He let go of her, had not realized how tighly he had been holding her.
"Oh, sorry." He said with a tiny smile.
"Can you really believe this is happening?" Bailey asked him. She seemed to be walking on air, barely aware of what was going on around her.
"Honestly? No, not really. And, uhh," He cleared his throat. "I can't remember at all what I'm supposed to do when we walk down the aisle.
Bailey let out a laugh and had to cover her mouth so that no one would know that she had snuck out of the changing room before the wedding. "Yeah, right. You never forget anything."
"Well I forgot this! I'm under pressure." He argued. She rolled her eyes.
"Just walk me down the damn aisle when the music starts."
He smiled. "Okay."
Bailey, having no father to walk her down to Jake, had asked her best friend to hold her arm instead. She couldn't have thought of a better person to walk her down than Spencer.
"Caroline is going to kill me if she knows that I snuck out while she's at the bathroom. I guess it's 'bad luck' if anyone sees me before the wedding." Bailey gave a small smile. "But I couldn't help myself. I wanted you to be the first person to see me all fancy." She did a small twirl in her dress. "I better get back before she does."
"Alright." Spencer said. Bailey leaned foward and kissed him on the cheek, and disappeared back into the changing room.
Spencer continued talking to Hotch. "But now this has happened, and I feel so... helpless."
"We're going to get him, Reid. Don't worry." Hotch replied. But in his heart, he sadly knew that he was unsure if they would get him in time.
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Garcia typed wildly on her computer, trying desperately to get the information she needed.
"C'mon baby. Give momma what she needs." She mumbled to the machine. Finally, a picture of a woman popped up on the screen. Garcia looked closely. Her name was Ashlyn Meade, and she was the sister of Jason Monroe. Garcia smiled and sat back in her chair. "Oh, I'm amazing."
She picked up the phone and dialed Morgan's number.
"Hey, baby girl." He said into the phone.
"Baby, I have good news. But, it's gunna cost ya." She smiled in a sly way. Morgan raised his eyebrows.
"Oh, really? Well, as good as that sounds, I'll have to take a rain check. What's the good news?"
"Our unsub has an older sister. Maybe she knows where her brother is." Garcia said.
Morgan repeated what Garcia had just told him to Prentiss. "Okay, Garcia. What's her address?"
"1919 Mockingbird Court in Dover, Delaware. I'll send directions to your phone right now. You better get going; it's going to take about an hour to get out there." She replied.
"Well, she lives right in the middle radius of the girls who were abducted. Okay, thanks Garcia." Morgan said.
"Anytime. Oh, and sweet cheeks," Garcia said with a smile. "Don't forget about that rain check you just promised me."
Morgan laughed and hung up the phone. He looked at Prentiss. "Well, let's get going."
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Spencer's phone rang, and Hotch looked over at him. "Who is it?"
Spencer frowned. "I don't know." He glanced at Hotch. "The number's blocked."
Hotch nodded and signaled him to pick up the phone. Meanwhile, he called Garcia and quietly told her to trace the call that was coming into Spencer's phone.
Spencer cleared his throat and accepted the call. "Hello?" He put the call on speaker.
"Spencer?" A soft voice came through the line.
Spencer swallowed. "Bailey?"
"Jason said we have a minute to talk." She answered from the other end.
Spencer silently cursed Jason for playing so many mind games. "Okay, then we can talk. Do you know where you are?"
"A barn. In the middle of freaking nowhere." Bailey replied.
"How do you know that you're in the middle of nowhere?" Spencer asked.
"Because there's no noise outside. No cars, no people, nothing." She remained surprisingly calm.
"Okay, Bailey. That helps. Really, it does." Spencer looked at his watch. Forty-three seconds had already gone by.
"Bailey, my name is Aaron." Hotch spoke up from the driver's seat. "I work with Spencer. Just stay calm. Jason thrives off of fear and anger. Don't let him mess with your mind."
"I won't." Bailey promised. "You're Aaron Hotchner, aren't you? Spencer's told me about - "
The phone line went dead at the one minute mark, just as Bailey had said it would.
"Bailey?" Spencer called, but there was no reply. He dropped the phone into his lap.
Hotch redialed Garcia's number. "Did you get a location?" He asked when she picked up.
"I don't have an exact address but I have a general area between three cell phone towers." She replied. "He's somewhere in New Jersey between Paulsboro, Woodbury, and Bellmaw."
"Thanks, Garcia." Hotch said. "Tell JJ, Emily, and Morgan to get their go-bags ready. After the press conference JJ is setting up, we're heading to New Jersey." He hung up the phone.
"This unsub lived within forty minutes of Bailey and Jake." Spencer said softly. "It's cases like this that make me wonder if any of us are ever really safe from the bad tings that happen in the world."
Hotch nodded in agreement.
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The body of Brenda Feika turned out to have no special markings by the unsub, and Spencer and Hotch were a bit discouraged by the fact that they had wasted about four hours only to end up with no new leads.
By the time they returned, it was time for the press conference.
JJ stood up behind the podium and began to speak. "Good afternoon, my name is Agent Jennifer Jeroe and I am with the Behavior Analysis Unit within the FBI. We are currently investigating the kidnappings of seven young women, all within the age range of 30-40, who have blonde hair and blue eyes. These women are very attractive, and fit the 'type' that our unsub is looking for. This man has already killed two of these women, one in each week. He seems to be following a strict pattern of when he murders the women."
A large picture of Jason Monroe was on a stand next to JJ. She pointed to it.
"This is the man that we are looking for. His name is Jason Monroe, but he may go by the alias John Monroe, or another name that he has created. We believe that this man has suffered the loss of a close female friend that has caused a psychotic break. He tries to make up her death by killing women who look like her in order to 'save her'. This man is most likely delusional, and suffers from multiple mental health disorders."
JJ looked carefully throughout the crowd before going on. "If you were to come across this man on the street and start a conversation with him, you would probably not suspect he could be a serial killer. He is intelligent, physically attractive, and friendly. He was also able to lure women who were married or were in a relationship, which suggests that he played an act. For example, he may have said that he had just moved in down the street, or that he was lost and needed directions. In these cases, even married women would have been easy to kidnap. However," JJ went on, "This man is also overly confident and cocky. He also has a short temper. When he gets angry, he changes from friendly to harmful."
"We believe that this man is from the New Jersey area, and that this is wehre he is keeping the women hostage. If you have any information at all, please call the FBI tip hotline. Thank you." JJ concluded the press conference, and asked if there were any questions. Once she had taken all of the questions she could, she walked away from the podium and towards the parking lot where Hotch and Spencer stood, waiting.
"Where's everyone else?" She asked.
"They're still getting their things together. You should, too. We leave in a half hour." Hotch answered. JJ nodded and disappeared into the BAU. Spencer and Hotch stood outside, a bit awkwardly, waiting for the other agents.
Finally, Hotch spoke up. "On the phone earlier, Bailey said that you had told her about me." He stated. Spencer shrugged.
"I tell her everything about everyone." He responded. Hotch nodded slowly, wishing Spencer would elaborate on his answer. Finally, he did.
"I tell her about my friendships with my coworkers. It's nothing much, really." He blushed softly.
"Do you tell her anything specific about me?" Hotch asked, genuinely curious. Seeing Spencer's eyes widen and his cheeks turn bright red, he looked away.
"Sorry. That was rather unprofessional of me." He mumbled.
Morgan walked out of the BAU with Prentiss and reached Hotch and Spencer as soon as Spencer said softly, "It's okay. I don't mind."
Morgan raised his eyebrows, always one for gossip, but Hotch and Spencer would not respond to his questioning looks. It wasn't any of his damn business, anyway.
TO BE CONTINUED
A/N: Hope you liked it, once again, sorry for the wait.
