Chapter Ten
Kittner turned to face Hotch as the FBI agent strode towards him. The agency man took a deep breath to prepared for the onslaught he knew was coming.
"Look, Hotchner. There's nothing I can do about this. I have orders from higher up on the food chain then you'll ever be. Just back-off and let us do our job." Kittner said as Hotch stopped in front of him.
"Then make it a joint operation." Hotch replied. "Because we are not going to simply back off from this case just because someone on the Hill has taken it into their minds that this is a national security case. We're talking about my agent's life and I really don't want to be the one to tell his mother that her son was murdered simply because some CIA agent decided that his life wasn't worth anything."
"That's not fair and you know it." Kittner shot back.
"We have the address where he is." Hotch replied. His tone calm and even. "Raid it and let us tag along."
"This is the address that you got from a woman who you don't trust, who shot you and one of your agents, and who kidnapped your agent in the first place?" Kittner asked dryly.
"I'm beginning to think that she's been working for someone all along and contacted me in order to try and reverse some of the damage she has caused." Hotch replied. "We don't know for sure that she was the one who kidnapped my agent and we'll never know if we don't take her in; alive." He added.
"That's not your call." Kittner told him.
"Letting my agent die is not yours either." Hotch replied evenly.
Kittner glanced over Hotch's shoulder and looked like he was about to agree when one of the CIA agents called to him.
"Yeah?" Kittner yelled turning towards the female agent, who wore the black jacket with the agency initials written in white on the back.
"We have reports of gunfire a couple buildings down." She said holding up the walkie-talkie in her hand.
The door was wrenched open violently and Reid jumped in his chair. The room had been so silent for the last couple minutes.
The door slammed against the wall as three men entered the room. Behind them. Reid could hear Sydney protesting loudly and caught sight of him being held back by another man in the black suit.
"No!" Sydney yelled "You can't do this!"
"Let it go, Sydney." Someone said from beyond the doorway. "There's nothing you can do for your sick experiment now. Come on."
Then the door was shut, blocking out any more of what could have been said.
Out of the three man who had entered, it was the lead man that Reid took notice of. He was handsome with dark hair and green eyes; the same color as Amy's. His clothing resembled those of a commando and he didn't look too happy. He went straight for Amy.
"Hello, Parker." Amy greeted the man. "Long time no see."
Parker slapped her roughly, almost causing her to fell out of her chair. "Cuff her." He ordered the other two men. They did as he ordered, securing Amy's wrists to the chair's arm rests.
Parker ignored Reid and pulled a knife from the holster on his belt. He stood behind Amy, casually resting the knife on the backrest; right beside Amy's neck.
Reid looked up as he felt the other men in the room straighten up.
A man walked into the room through the open doorway. He wore a black suit, just like his compatriots, but there was something more powerful about this man. It was in the way he walked; the way he held himself.
The newcomer's dark eyes swept the room, quickly taking in the scene. Reid felt the two guards behind him stand a little straighter. This was the boss. The head man. He walked to the head of the table. Two more bodyguards walked behind him holding Sydney.
Amy twisted in her chair and was rewarded with Parker's heavy hand pressing on her shoulder, keeping her still.
The newcomer sat and his guards stood behind him with Sydney. He nodded towards Reid. "Dr. Reid." His voice was cultured, with a hint of a foreign accent. "You are probably wondering who I am." He spoke to Reid ignoring Amy.
Reid nodded. There wasn't much else he could do. There was something familiar about his voice.
"We spoke briefly on the phone." He continued. "Aiden Fisher." There was a hint of a smile on his face. He turned to Amy. "And you." He left the statement hanging in the air.
Reid detected the malice and annoyance in Fisher's tone.
Amy smiled with no humour in her eyes. "Mr. Fisher." Her tone was questioning, but with a hint of amusement behind it.
"How could you do this to us?" Fisher asked. "After everything we did for you."
"I'm rebellious to a fault." Amy quipped.
"You killed the Chairman." Fisher told her. His voice was like ice.
Amy tilted her head. "Sue me." She shot back.
There was a moment of tense silence before Fisher spoke again. "I understand that you've been in contact with an FBI agent. Aaron Hotchner. How much did you tell him?"
"Everything." Amy replied her voice filled with amusement.
"Liar." Fisher stated flatly. He nodded to Parker, who hit Amy again.
Reid had watched this exchange between Amy and Aiden Fisher with interest. The information he had gathered so far falling into place with clarity. He knew now.
He knew everything. The words sick experiment rang in his mind along with all the other information he had read in Amy's file before Fisher's men had contacted him at the BAU.
Amy had been trained as an assassin by these people; an experiment of sorts and now their own weapon had turned against them. Not knowing what to do, Amy had reached out to Hotch for help; to expose the Institution.
"What did you tell him?" Parker asked getting into Amy's face.
"Everything!" Amy spat back at him.
Parker looked towards Fisher who motioned for him to step back.
"It doesn't matter now." Fisher continued brushing aside his last remark. "You've become a liability. You know what that means."
Amy didn't answer. Her lip was bleeding and Reid knew from experience that she would have some good bruises tomorrow.
"No." Sydney gasped from behind Fisher. He stepped forward. "You can't do that!"
Fisher gave a small nod and two of his men stepped forward and took hold of Sydney.
Sydney strained against them. "She's too young for that!" He protested.
Fisher calmly turned to Sydney. "Hardly." He replied dryly. "Really, Sydney; you do get too attached to these kids. You've failed. It's over."
"No!" Sydney yelled again as the guards dragged him to the door. He swore at Fisher and then was thrust out the door. One of the men closed it, once again shutting out Sydney's yells.
Fisher turned back to Reid. "Sorry about that. Dr. Reid. Some of my staff get far too emotional about their jobs."
Reid noticed that Amy had once again become invisible. He cleared his throat which had suddenly become very dry. "What exactly do you do?" Reid asked.
Fisher smiled and spread his arms dramatically. "You name it, we do it. We're on top of all the cutting edge technology and experiments, which is why we want you to work for us."
"Why?" Reid asked. "There are plenty of people more qualified for this job then me."
Fisher chuckled. "Perhaps, but most of them do not have your credentials. Three PhD's, in math, chemistry and engineering; two BA's in psychology, sociology and another one coming in philosophy. I am impressed, Dr. Reid."
Reid swallowed. When this man talked about his accomplishments, he made them sound small.
"Don't believe him." Amy cautioned him from the other side of the table. "His words don't mean a thing."
Fisher saw the way Reid glanced at her and a muscle in his jaw jumped. "Shall we get on with it?" He asked Amy.
She smiled, again it not reaching her eyes. "Please. I'm dying to know what it's going to be this time."
A thin smile appeared on Fisher's lips. He nodded to one of the guards, who left the room and then returned with two champagne glasses. He set them on the table and then vanished somewhere into the back of the room.
Fisher motioned to Parker. "Un-cuff her."
Parker produced a key and released Amy from the handcuffs. She rubbed at her wrists before her chair was roughly shoved towards the table.
"You have a choice." Fisher told Amy. "A 50/50 chance that one of those will not be poisoned."
"Creative." Amy said sarcastically raising an eyebrow as she dropped her hands to her lap. "And if I say no?"
"Then we'll shoot the good doctor." Fisher replied evenly.
Reid felt an arm come around his neck and the barrel of a gun pressed to his temple. He struggled, but the man behind him had a good hold.
Amy gazed calmly back at Fisher. "You won't shot him. You still need him."
"True." Fisher replied with a smile. "But there are plenty of other places that shall we say, won't cause as much damage."
The guard moved the barrel of the gun to point at Reid's thigh.
"And if I still refuse?" Amy asked.
Fisher waved his hand, dismissing her concern. "Then he'll be easier to control."
Amy looked at Reid and then at the glasses on the table. She reached out and took hold of one.
"No." Reid's protest was small and almost wasn't heard, but Amy heard him.
She avoided looking his way as she raised the glass Fisher's way. "Cheers." She said and then drank the entire glass. She set it down on the table and looked at Fisher. "Tell your goon to release Reid."
Fisher nodded and the thug removed his arm from Reid's neck. Reid rubbed at his throat where the man's jacket sleeve had scratched against his skin.
"You ok?" Amy asked in concern.
Reid nodded looking at her with wide eyes. He couldn't believe what she had just done for him.
She just had drank something that may or may not be poisoned and here she was asking about him.
"Necessary, Doctor. Don't dwell on it." Fisher said drawing their attention back to him. He said something else, but it was lost to Amy. The room was starting to spin. Amy felt herself starting to fall and then landed ungracefully on the floor, tipping her chair over as she fell sideways.
Parker stepped out of the way.
Reid stood, but was shoved back into his chair.
Fisher motioned for Parker to leave them and then walked over until he was standing beside Amy. "Having problems there?" Fisher asked looking down at her.
"What did you do?" Amy managed to ask.
"We spiked both of the drinks." Fisher said easily. He shrugged. "The Chairmen would have wanted it done right. Call it... restorative justice. Your career is over, Jennifer. Congratulations, you've been retired."
Amy or rather Jennifer's body arched off the floor as whatever poison had been in the glass started to work. She lay back gasping for breath and then she laughed.
"What's so amusing?" Fisher asked a small frown beginning to form on his brow.
"You." Jennifer replied. "You're going to kill me without asking me if I told the FBI where we are." She gasped again.
"What?" Fisher didn't sound so cocky now. "What do you mean?"
Jennifer couldn't answer him as another pain hit her and she curled up again.
"You couldn't have been that stupid." Fisher said to her. "You know that you'll go to jail along with the rest of us. You couldn't have done something that dumb."
Jennifer just laughed.
"Tell me!" Fisher was more forceful. He bent down and grabbed Jennifer by her shoulders and shook her. "Tell me now!"
Jennifer eye's rolled back in her head and she went limp, unconscious or dead, Reid couldn't tell.
Fisher let Jennifer's limp body drop back to the floor and stood. "Pack up." He commanded looking at Parker. "We're leaving."
Parker nodded and motioned. All the guards started to leave. Out of the corner of his eye, Reid saw the guard that had been standing behind him move off. They left Reid in the office chair.
Fisher looked down at Amy- Reid couldn't think of her as Jennifer – and nudged her with the toe of his shoe. She didn't move. With a grunt, Fisher turned to Reid. "Come on, Doctor."
Somehow, a gun had ended up in Fisher's hand and he gestured with it. Reid stood and started to walk around the table.
He stopped when he saw a pin size red light hit Fisher's chest. He knew what that meant and ducked instinctively.
"What the…" Fisher would never finish his sentence as glass shattered behind Reid and Fisher fell. Dead, before he hit the floor.
Across the street, lying prone on the same roof that Amy had been on earlier was a CIA sniper. He confirmed that Fisher was down and then spoke into his radio. "One suspect down. Hostage is unharmed."
The sniper put his eye back to the scope and saw Reid stand up. He grunted in satisfaction.
Reid raised his head and heard shouts and more gunfire coming from the hallway outside of the conference room. There were a couple cries of, "FBI!" then the door was kicked in. Morgan stood in the doorway, Hotch behind him.
Reid felt an enormous amount of relief.
"Reid, are you alright?" Morgan asked holstering his weapon and going over to the younger agent.
Reid nodded shakily. "Yeah." He said as Morgan took his arm and helped him to his feet.
Morgan ran a thorough eye over Reid and once he was satisfied, let go of Reid's arm. "You have a lot of explaining to do, kid." Morgan said shaking his head at Reid.
Hotch checked on Jennifer.
"Is she….?" Reid asked looking at Hotch in concern.
"She's still alive." Hotch confirmed. He looked up at Morgan. "We're going to need an ambulance."
All three men looked up as Agent Kittner walked into the doorway. "We'll take it from here." He said.
Hotch stood as there was a commotion behind the agents. The EMTs pushed past the agents.
"Move please." The lead EMT said sharply to Hotch as they knelt down beside Jennifer. "Check vitals. Let's start an IV. What happened?" He asked looking up at the agents.
Hotch turned to Reid. "Reid?" He asked softly.
"Uh, she was poisoned." Reid replied.
"The glasses on the table?" Kittner asked.
Reid nodded.
"Bag those." Kittner said to the agent beside him. He nodded to the EMT. "We'll make sure to get a sample to the doctor."
The EMT nodded.
"Come on." Morgan said gently, grabbing Reid by the arm and leading him from the room. "Let's get you checked out."
The evening air was cool on Reid's face as Hotch and Morgan walked him out. The blue and red flashing lights of the ambulances and the FBI and CIA SUVs lit up the parking lot like Christmas lights on a tree. It was almost light enough to read a book.
Reid felt an out of place smile creep across his face.
Elle and Gideon were waiting for them by the ambulance that they had claimed. Elle gently took Reid's arm from Morgan's grasp and sat him down on the back of the ambulance. Gideon draped a blanket over Reid's shoulder and let his hand linger a moment on the younger man's shoulder.
None of them spoke as the paramedic came over and started to check Reid out. The man was quick and though; he was done in matter of minutes. Reid was fine physically.
"Where J.J?" Reid asked finally pulled the blanket tighter around his shoulders as the paramedic moved off.
"She's back at the office." Gideon replied. "The press is having a hay-day with all the random shootings around the city. The director needed her there."
Reid nodded in understanding.
The entire team looked up as Agent Kittner came over to them. Behind him in the background, Reid saw the paramedics wheeling the gurney out of the abandoned building. Jennifer lay on the gurney motionless.
"Agent Hotchner." Kittner nodded to the BAU team leader. "I'm sorry to be so abrupt about this, but we're going to need to take your agent in for a statement."
"Can't it wait?" Morgan said making it sound more like an order then a question. "It's been a rough day."
"I agree." Hotch said.
"He needs to rest." Elle chimed in.
"I understand that." Kittner replied. "But there are some questions that need to be answered. Agent Reid?" He motioned.
"It's fine, Hotch." Reid said. He stood, clutching the blanket closed at his chest. "I'll go."
"Are you sure?" Gideon asked in concern. "They are right you know. It's been a long day."
"I want too." Reid replied. "I have some questions as well."