All characters are property of CBS, Jeff Davis, Edward Allen Bernero and sadly not mine. I just take them along for the ride.
This chapter is a mixture of a missing moment and, as stated in the summary, a deeper look into an existing scene so I took some of the dialog from the episode.
Special thanks to my dear friend Sarah (1983Sarah) for all her help and encouragement and being a great beta. Thanks to everyone who read and/or reviewed one of my others stories.
This story is dedicated to Annber03 and 1983Sarah. Hope you'll enjoy it! :)
Spoilers for "The Uncanny Valley", Reid-centric
"I'm sorry, you can't back up your story, doctor," Dr. Malcom said, being seated across the desk from Rossi but addressing and facing the agent's younger colleague who was standing next to the talking man. The psychiatrist, father of the UnSub, emphasized Reid's academic title while injecting a hint of sarcasm in it at the same time.
And just then Dave was certain that his fellow profiler had hit a nerve with the physician. Apparently he had figured out the last missing piece in the profile in merely the few minutes they had been in this office.
Rossi had given up when Dr. Malcom had seemed to have all the right answers and nothing he could have said would have persuaded the man to give them his daughter's – and subsequently the missing women's – whereabouts.
Prepared to leave, at least until they had come up with a new angle to get the doctor to cooperate with them, he was half-way to the door when Spencer had started to question the man himself after studying the content of the room silently, in particular the shelf behind Dr. Malcom.
Seemingly unrelated questions at first, before he had reached out and had started grabbing some stuffed animals from the shelf, one by one, asking each time what girl the psychiatrist had helped with that one. Then Reid had confronted him with the result of his profiling by accusing him of the rape of not only his own daughter but also several of his young patients.
The older agent had simply looked on, somewhat surprised and impressed, even though this hadn't been the first time Spencer had pulled something like that off, and had let his colleague take the lead. Because the moment Reid had started asking, Dave had seen in the other man's eyes that he had figured something out.
And he had also seen anger flashing in them, the same anger Reid had displayed after hearing that the physician had used electro-shock therapy on his daughter, and it had also shown through in the agent's words, which was a pretty rare occurrence.
So the young profiler didn't back down one bit at that statement of Dr. Malcom a moment ago.
"This-this is why I love my job, doctor," Spencer replied with the same slightly lowered but none the less forceful voice he had used before, injecting the same amount of sarcasm into the last word as the other man had done, "uh, because my lab, it's a jury of your peers. My test will be Jenny Larson, Abigail Moore and Linda Kraus."
Sitting down on the edge of the desk and leaning forward, just slightly invading the psychiatrist's personal space, he continued, "The DA will put them on the stand and I'm gonna personally bring those dolls in and we're gonna watch how they react."
Having the perfect leverage now, provided by the team's genius, Rossi decided to step in and use it to their advantage. "Or you can tell us where your daughter is and we'll tell the DA that you cooperated. But once we walk out this door-," he indicated at said object behind him, "-that deal is off the table."
The agents waited briefly for a response and getting none, Rossi watched the other agent sliding off the desk, so he turned around before walking over to the door and crossing the threshold with Reid directly behind him.
Just as they were about to head down the corridor he heard Dr. Malcom saying, "2529 Adams Street," stopping them in their tracks.
Turning toward the office again he saw that Reid was already back inside, and he followed, stopping just inside the room with his right hand resting on the door's handle.
"You'll tell them, right?" the psychiatrist asked with a look of defeat on his face, the arrogance he had displayed earlier completely gone. "That I cooperated?"
Reid stepped up to the desk. "Do you know how I figured you out?" That Dave was interested in as well, since he wasn't sure what clues the young man had picked up on.
"Those toys," Spencer pointed at the ones on the shelf, "-you didn't take care of them." Putting his hands on the desk and leaning forward he indicated with his head to the stuffed animals he had put on the wooden surface while continuing, "These ones you treasured. But you know what? The collection's not complete."
Pausing momentarily he added, "Where are they?"
Dr. Malcom briefly stared at the young agent before he turned around with his chair to the closet behind him. Opening one of its doors in front of him he slowly retrieved a colored suitcase, knowing exactly what the profiler was referring to. After holding it mid-air for a second he reluctantly lifted it over the desk and handed it to Reid who had straightened up.
Without another word being said by either of the men Rossi followed his colleague out of the room and down the corridor to the exit of the building. Once inside the car, the suitcase safely put in the backseat, Dave pulled out his cell phone. After hitting the dial button he put the key into the ignition and started the SUV.
"Hotch, we have Samantha's address, it's 2529 Adams Street. We're heading there now," he said as soon as he heard their team leader's voice at the other end.
"Her father told you?" Aaron asked, surprise evident in his voice.
"Well," Rossi began with a sideway glance to the person in the passenger's seat, "let's just say Reid convinced him that it was in his best interests to help us."
"How so?"
"Dr. Malcom molested his daughter; the dolls were gifts to make up for it. And he continued that with at least some of his patients."
After a moment Hotch replied, "I'll have Morgan and Prentiss meet you at Adams Street with back-up and paramedics."
"All right. Bye." Rossi hung up and turning to Reid, he informed him, "Morgan and Prentiss are gonna meet us there. Then we're going in."
By now they had almost reached their destination and out of the corner of his eye he saw his younger colleague shaking his head almost imperceptibly while stating, "We can't risk a hostage situation. Bethany Wallace might not have much time left since we don't know for sure how her body reacts to the drugs."
Dave pulled over to the curb when they arrived at the address and turning off the engine he faced Spencer. "What do you suggest?"
With slightly raised eyebrows the other man replied, "She just wants her dolls. When she sees that she can get them back, I'm sure I can talk her down."
Rossi considered that for a moment. He was reluctant to send in Reid on his own, especially since the profiler had just recovered from his last face-to-face encounter with an UnSub.
As if he was sensing the senior agent's hesitance, Spencer added, "She didn't kill any of the women on purpose. I'm gonna be fine."
Dave could understand the young man. After having been shot by Patrick Meyers a few months ago, he had mostly been confined to the police stations. And while Spencer most definitely wasn't the "action type" it sure had to have been frustrating for him not to be able to see the case through to the end, to actually get the UnSub.
And he had proven more than once his talent to talk people down. Also he was probably the least intimidating member of the team which in a case like this could prove to be helpful.
All those reasons coupled with the look of reassurance and determination on Reid's face convinced Rossi to let the other agent give it a shot. "Let's do this then."
Even though Spencer turned quickly to exit the car Dave could still see a small smile briefly appearing on the other man's face.
Both agents walked around the car to its rear side and after opening the trunk, Rossi geared up fully while Spencer only fastened the microphone to the inside of his watch's strap. When they were heading back around to the front of the SUV they saw a black vehicle arriving, which stopped across the street.
Morgan and Prentiss got out and put on their vests before they walked over to him and Reid who was opening the door to the backseat and pulling out the suitcase.
When the black agent had reached them, he pointed at the colored object. "What's in there?"
"Her dolls," Spencer simply answered, looking down at it for a moment.
"You wanna return them to her," Emily concluded, gazing from her younger colleague to the senior one.
Rossi confirmed that with a nod while saying, "That's the plan."
Spotting the promised back-up and ambulances approaching, Derek and Prentiss turned and went over to brief them while Dave took a sideway look at Spencer. Studying the young man for a moment he noticed that the anger the man had displayed earlier had vanished completely, being replaced by compassion. It was always difficult when the UnSub turned out to be a victim, too.
Watching Reid approaching the house and entering cautiously the senior agent joined his colleagues and they strategically placed themselves at the entrance of the building.
Standing there at a ready, waiting for a word from their fellow team member, Rossi couldn't help but remember the image of Spencer half-sitting, half-lying on the grass with his hand pressed to the bullet hole in his leg. The genius had stopped the UnSub on his own that day and saved a life. Dave had confidence that the other man would succeed at that here, too; he had a well-earned confidence in Reid. But he hoped that this time it would end without a hurt agent.
Still, it felt like an eternity to him until he finally heard the redemptive words from Reid over the radio, "Clear. We need medical in here."
And as he was signaling the cops and paramedics to follow him inside he made a mental note to let the young man know just how well he had done on this case, in a way his first case back.
A/N: Thanks for reading! If you have some time please leave a review! Constructive criticism is always appreciated.