Chapter 10

They were ready.

It had taken less time then Hotch had thought for the police forces to show up, his agents instantly running over to join him on the front porch the moment the their SUV was parked.

"We got here as soon as we got your message," Prentiss seemed slightly out of breath as she stopped at the bottom of the steps, "how's Reid?"

"I didn't get a very good look at him, it was only a glimpse. But the boy who lives here and his sister are apparently friends with Reid and from what they've told me it's not good," Hotch replied, running a hand down his face and looking over at the house across the street.

"I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch," Morgan paced the length of front porch, like a tiger in a cage that was too small, "I'm gonna rip out his heart and shove it down his throat so far..."

"Derek, calm down," JJ cut in, walking over to him and grabbing his arm, efficiently stopping his pacing, "the last thing we need is you doing something irresponsible and getting in trouble."

Morgan sat down on one of the brightly painted deck chairs and said nothing.

"Hotch, I'm gonna go in and talk to Mrs. , try to help her better understand the situation," JJ waited for Hotch to nod his approval before she turned and vanished into the house, leaving the other agents standing on the porch.

A few moments later a member of the S.W.A.T team walked over, "We're ready to go in."

"Let's go," though Hotch had given the order Morgan was the first to move, obviously trying to not just run over and kick down the unsubs door.

They moved forward silently, the S.W.A.T team right behind them as they approached the house, Hotch giving the nod to Morgan who didn't hesitate to lift a foot and kick the door in, the door flying back and hitting the wall with a bang.

Morgan lead the teams into the house, keeping his gun eye level and turning in slow sweeps, Hotch, Prentiss and Gideon spreading out behind him, Gideon giving hand signals for the S.W.A.T team to check upstairs.

Entering the kitchen, the FBI agents froze when they found Reilly Peters sitting quietly at his dining table, sipping coffee and reading the news paper.

"Don't move," warned Morgan, "hands where we can seem'em."

Peters turned his head to look at them, smiling slightly, elbows on the table and fingers laced under his chin, "is there something I can help you with officers?" His voice was overly calm.

"Where's Spencer Reid?" demanded Prentiss, gun following the mans movements as he stood and re-laced his fingers behind his head, slowly dropping down onto his knees, Morgan rushing foward to cuff him, shoving him face first into the floor and making sure the cuffs were as tight as he could possibly make them.

"Spencer? He's quite busy at the moment, I'm afraid," he hissed as he was roughly yanked to his feet by the hand cuffs, "you'll have to come back later."

"Tell me where he is or so help me God, I will repaint your walls with your brain matter," Morgan threatened, shoving Peters into the nearest wall and pressing the muzzle of his gun into his temple.

Peters just laughed, "all the time you waste threatening me Derek, is time you could be spending on trying to save Spencer before he has an..." he paused as if looking for the right word choice, "accident."

"What do you mean?" Hotch stepped forward, looking almost as angry as Morgan.

"I wonder, Aaron. Do you know how good Spencer's balance is?" the man continued, seeming to ignore the gun that was being pressed to his temple, "'Cause from what I've seen, it's not very good."

"Someone get him out of here," Gideon sounded overly calm, his expression unreadable as Hotch stepped forward and pulled Peters away from Morgan, actually having to pull Morgan away before he could get Peters out of the kitchen.

"Let's spread out and look for Reid, I'll check the backyard, you two check down here, the S.W.A.T team already has upstairs covered." Gideon ordered, staring mainly at Morgan as if he was expecting the larger agent to protest.

Morgan simply nodded and left the kitchen with Prentiss, checking every room and closet but finding all of them empty except for furniture and a large lazy house cat who lay purring on the back of an old beaten couch.

"Does this place have a basement?" questioned Prentiss staring at the cat absentmindedly before turning to Morgan.

"It has too, the S.W.A.T team would've found him by now if he was upstairs." replied Morgan, heading back down the hall, stopping outside a door the he and Prentiss had yet to check, Morgan reached out and tried the knob, "it's locked."

"Of course it is... kick it in," Prentiss waved her hand and Morgan kicked the door in, a cool draft hitting them as they stared down at a narrow set of rickety looking stairs.

"Reid?" shouted Prentiss, both agents falling silent as they listened, just able to make out shakey breathes and the occasional whimper making their way up the stairs from the darkness of the basement.

"Let's go," Morgan hurried down the stairs, Prentiss hot on his heels. Groping in the dark the dark skinned agent paused at the bottom of the stairs and flicked a grimy feeling light switch, making the naked light bulb that hung from the ceiling flicker to life.

"Oh my god..."

Morgan turned his head to look at where Prentiss was staring and found himself staring at Reid, stripping down to his boxers and hands tied behind his back, balancing precariously on his toes on the back of a chair, a thick rope looped around his neck and tied to the rafters above him. Every time the chair wobbled in the slightest the young man would let out a whimper as he fought to stay balanced, his beaten and bruised body trembling with the effort it was taking him to stay up.

Then right as Morgan stepped forward and opened his mouth to call out, Reid lost his balance and the chair tipped, Reid letting out a loud yelp of alarm as he started to fall back.

Both Morgan and Prentiss lunged forward yelling as the rope around the younger agents neck pulled taut and everything went suddenly silent.

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Hehe, I'm so evil... I keep leaving you guys at a cliffy :)

Sorry it took so long for the update, school and all that jazz... it's not fun... not fun at all :(

lemme know what you think. REVEIWS ARE MUCH LOVED *hint hint*