Emily goes right over to Spencer and hugs him and rubs his back to comfort him. Spencer leans into her and sobs. He was terrified that they weren't going to find Derek in time and that he and the team will have to raise Christi but more him than anyone. Derek had told him that he trusted him more with Christi than anyone and that if something had ever happened to him that he wanted him to raise Christi. He had even written it down and put it in his gun safe where it could be found easily. Emily looked over on the other side of Spencer and sees that Christi is sound asleep next to him after her crying fit.
"He's going to be okay Reid. He has Christi and you to fight for. He's going to come home to the two of you. He has you two to fight for." Emily said dropping the hint that she knew about him and Derek as his sobs subsided.
Reid's head shot up when she said that.
"I figured it out. I followed the clues. The way you two looked at each other after Derek found out she had Croup that Monday. Then the way she calms down for you when Derek can't get her to calm down sometimes. Not to mention the little peaks you two give to each other and the smirks when you two look at each other sometimes. The shifting in your seats sometimes when the other is leaning over you. And now with the reaction you gave to the video I figured it all out. You two are dating. But don't worry the secret is safe with me."
"Thanks Emily, I needed to hear you say that and thanks for keeping it safe. We don't want Strauss finding out and going ballistic. I think that Hotch suspects, and possibly Rossi, but I'm not sure. JJ and Garcia may as well. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if Garcia drug it out of Morgan," Reid chuckled.
"Yeah, me, either," Emily agreed.
"I'm just really worried about the little angel. I mean if she loses Derek she'll be crying 24/7."
"No she won't. Sure she'll cry for a while but after a while she'll calm down and just cry when she needs to cry. And all of us will be there for you and her if and that is a very big if that happens. But let's not talk that way. Derek is a fighter and has two people here to fight for to come home to."
Spencer nods then sighs as he looks over at Christi who was sleeping soundly and gently rubs her dark brown hair covered head. She had her middle and ring fingers on her right hand in her mouth sucking on them as she slept.
"Hey Em, can you go and get her pacifier off of the coffee table please?"
"She's fine Spence. She's sleeping soundly. If you take her fingers out of her mouth she might wake up and scream and right now she needs to sleep."
"You're right. I'm gonna wrap her up in Derek's shirt to help her sleep better." He said as he noticed she was whimpering.
Emily nods and goes to continue to look over all the case files. Spencer pulls off the Chicago PD shirt and gently wraps her up and lays her back down on the bed. He then goes and lays her down in her playpen in his guest room and sets up the baby monitor in the living room helping Emily go over all of Derek's case files.
Meanwhile back at the location where the unsub's had taken Derek.
He groans as he regains consciousness and squints his eyes and shakes his head slightly.
"Glad to see you've woken up Agent Morgan. Your friends are looking for you. The smokin' hot blonde did a press conference. But to bad you're friends won't find you in time. Christi is going to grow up with that fag of a boy toy you have since our little sister is growing up without her father and with us instead." The other unsub said.
"Leave them out of this! They have nothing to do with this! You have a problem with me. NOT them!" he hisses at them. It's then he remembers has his pocket knife on him in his back pocket that his dad gave him when he was ten.
The guys leave and Derek shifts a bit and the knife slips out of his pocket and he gets the knife up and he cuts the rope bindings then puts the knife back into his back pocket then sits and waits. He only cut his wrists free but not his ankles as he didn't want to make it so obvious that he cut himself so free.
A few hours later the guys come back and smirks at him.
"Just came back from following your boy toy. He looks so cute with your kid. He was going to Wal-Mart to by formula how sweet. They make such a cute pair, too bad you won't ever see either of them again."
Derek growls and hits the guy square in the jaw. The guy hisses and grabs Derek's right arm and twists it until he hears the bone snap and Derek shout out in pain.
"I FUCKING THOUGHT YOU CHECKED HIM JONATHAN! HE HAS A POCKET KNIFE AND CUT HIMSELF FREE!" one of the guys growls.
When the guy said Jonathan he remembered the case right away.
Jonathan, Michael and Sally Williams. He had to kill their father Craig Williams. He opted for suicide by police officer instead of going to prison. Jonathan had been in Florida attending Florida State University to get his medical degree and he was the oldest child. He was in school at the time when Craig was killed. Mike was in the house with a then 18 month old Sally when Craig did suicide by police officer. That was four years ago to the day.
"Mike we had no choice but to kill your father. He was coming at us with a knife saying he was going to kill us. What he did was suicide by police officer. Not to mention he killed twenty women who looked like your mother."
"SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU FUCKING FAGOT! YOU KILLED HIM IN COLD BLOOD!"
Derek shuts up not to provoke him anymore. Both John and Mike were showing the same qualities as their father. He couldn't push their buttons anymore.
"Good now we're leaving for a few days. See you in two days." Mike said as he and John retied his arms and placed them behind his back.
Derek groans in pain as his arm was throbbing.
Meanwhile Garcia had gotten a tip from the FBI tip line.
She smiles and calls Hotch.
"Hotchner." came Hotch's exhausted voice.
"WE GOT A TIP! WE GOT A TIP!" Garcia cheers excitedly.
"I'll call Prentiss and Reid." he said then continues on to add, "Get up to the bullpen and bring your laptop up there."
"Yes, sir." She said as they hung up.
Five minutes later everyone but Prentiss and Reid were in the bullpen but they were on speaker phone.
"Tell us what you have Garcia."
"Okay two of Derek's neighbors called. It was the married couple who lives to his left. They were out for their morning jog together they were just coming home from their jog. Around seven is when they saw a white van parked out front. They saw two guys dressed in black coming out of the house carrying Derek. They weren't sure on what to do until they saw JJ's press conference. They're sorry they didn't call earlier. They didn't get a look at the plate and all they were able to tell us about the van is that it's white. Like those type of vans you see in the movies where someone gets kidnapped where it has the double doors in the back."
"Did they get a good look at them?" Rossi questioned.
"No, all they could tell was that they were wearing black and that one was about 6'1" and the other one was about 5'9". The only other thing they remember is that one of them had a really gravelly voice, like he'd smoked a pack a day for 20 years," the tech finished.
"Do they recall what they said?" Reid asked.
"Something about him paying for taking their father away from them and their little sister," Garcia answered. Just then the tip line rang.
"Put it on speaker," Hotch told the tech.
"Yes, sir," Garcia said as she did what she was told. JJ joined her so she could take the call. As the media liaison that was part of her job. She wrote down anything the caller said.
"FBI tip line, this is Agent Garcia, what is your tip?"
"Um, yes, this is Lizabeth Kane, I just called about the missing FBI agent a few minutes ago. Well I just remembered something else about the kidnappers."
"Ma'am, this is Agent Jareau, I'm writing down what you say, so please be as specific as possible."
"I will, the only other thing I remember is that the one with the gravelly voice was wearing a Florida State University baseball cap."
"Is that all you can remember?" Garcia confirmed.
"Yes it is, I hope he's found safely. My husband Matt and I are praying for him and his family," she added.
"Thank you, please call us if you remember anything else," JJ said. The two women hung up and Garcia turned her attention back to the team. Reid was furiously typing on the laptop. He was pretty sure he remembered which case this was, but he didn't want to have any doubt in his mind. There was way too much riding on this case.
"What have you got, Reid?" Hotch asked.
"Hold on a sec," Reid answered distractedly as he scanned the screen. "Ah ha!" he cried. "I know who the two unsubs are. Mike and Jonathan Williams. We had to kill their father Craig a couple of years ago when he came at us with a knife. He'd killed 20 women who looked like the three kids mother. She'd been killed by a drunk driver who could have been her twin just after the little girl was born," Reid summarized.
"Do we have a current address on either one of them?" Hotch asks.
Reid goes back to typing furiously. He was searching for anything on Mike and John. He knew they had to get something in order to find Derek.
"It's about three hours from where Derek lives. It's in that warehouse district. I guess they're living at Craig's warehouse."
"Give us an address Reid."
Reid reads off the address.
"Okay Prentiss, Reid stay there with Christi. We'll head over there and call you as soon as we have Derek. You can meet up with us once we get him to the hospital and checked out."
"I'm coming with you Hotch." Reid said.
"Absolutely not Reid, you're to emotionally involved in this case. I have no problem with it, but your emotional involvement could compromise the rescue," Hotch said, inconspicuously telling Reid that he knew.
Reid sighs and says, "Okay."
"Good. We'll call you once we have him."
They hung up and got back to work.
Garcia looks over at Hotch.
"Sir, I'd like to go over there with Reid. You could use Emily. And besides I want to see my goddaughter."
"Okay go ahead. Send Emily over to the warehouse and tell her to wait for us if we're not there by the time she gets there."
"Yes, sir." Garcia said gathering her laptop among other important essentials then heading over to Reid's.
Emily gets the door as Reid was feeding Christi her bottle.
"Hey Garcia."
"Hey Em. Hotch said to go over to the warehouse and if the rest of the team isn't there wait for them to get there."
"Okay."
Emily leaves.
"So how is your and Derek's relationship going?" she asks sitting next to Reid and gently rubbing the top of Christi's head.
"You forced it out of Derek I'm guessing?"
"Yea I did. Now I want to hear it from you."
"We're going good. Taking it really slow but it's going good. I'm really happy."
"Good. Now how is my goddaughter?"
"Wants Derek. So besides you, Emily and Hotch who else knows?"
"No one else. JJ and Rossi suspect but that's it. But Chief Strauss knows nothing. She's completely oblivious."
Spencer nods and sighs and looks down at Christi who just looks up at him with soft brown eyes. He smiles and feels his her melt at the sight. He just hoped that this would be a regular thing and become permanent one day. He wanted to be in Christi's life for good and help Derek raise her as another parent.
"He's going to be fine. He's strong." Garcia said.
"I know, I'm just scared."
"It's okay to be scared baby cakes. Here let me take her. You go and lay down and try and get some sleep. You look both emotionally and physically drained. I'll take care of her."
"You sure Penny?"
"Of course." She said taking Christi to burp her.
He nods and goes to lay down and try and get some sleep. XXXX
"Okay, we go on my count," Hotch calls into his mic on the comlink.
"Everyone be careful, these guys are most likely armed and dangerous," Rossi cautions. The others acknowledge Rossi's words and wait for Hotch to give the signal.
"One... two... three!" he calls. Rossi moves in and breaks down the door.
"FBI!" he yells as he storms the warehouse. The rest of the team follows his lead.
"Clear!" JJ called as she walked into one of the rooms.
"Here as well," Emily replied.
"Same here," Rossi said.
"Yeah, here to," Hotch growled. They finally all met in the last room and were very discouraged. They hadn't found Derek or the kidnappers.
"Now what, Hotch?" Emily questioned.
"We go back to the BAU and keep searching, he has to be hear somewhere," he answered.
"I'll call Pen," JJ offered as they filed out of the warehouse and back to the SUV. XXXX
"Garcia," answered the tech softly. Christi was sitting in her bouncy seat next to the desk where Garcia was working and she was almost asleep or at the very least just being quiet.
"We didn't find him," came JJ's discouraged voice.
"Did you find anything?" Garcia asked.
"No, no kidnappers, nothing. We're heading back to the BAU to see what else we can find." Just then Garcia's computer beeped indicating she was getting an email. While she still had JJ on the phone she clicked on it and gasped.
"Oh my," she murmured.
"What is it, Garcia?" questioned the media liaison.
"It's another video, I'm sending it to all of your phones," answered the tech.
"You should wake up Reid," JJ told her. Sighing reluctantly Garcia nodded she really didn't want to wake him, but she knew she had to. Five minutes later everyone was connected with Garcia and Reid and were about to watch the video.
"Hold on just a second, I'm going to move Christi into the guest room. She shouldn't see or hear this," Reid said picking up the baby who was playing with a stuffed pig and carrying her into the guest room and placing her in the playpen.
"I'll be back in just a minute, sweetie," he said kissing her forehead before walking back out into the living room.
"Okay, let's do this," he said trying to strengthen his resolve. Simultaneously Garcia and JJ started the video for everyone to see. XXXX
Meanwhile in an unknown location. Derek was unconscious and bound. His arm was throbbing and all the kicks and hits he'd sustained weren't helping. His breathing was labored and he was pretty sure that at least one of his ribs was cracked if not broken. A hard blow to his face brought him back to consciousness.
"Good, you're awake. It's time to send the BAU another video. Are you ready for it?" Mike taunted as he set up the camera. Derek was confused, had two days gone by already. He didn't think so. It was as if Jonathan could read his mind, because he spoke up, answering his question.
"We figured we'd give the BAU one more video before we leave you here all alone for two days. If you don't die from your injuries and from lack of food and water, we will make you wish you'd died by the time we're done with you. Then just when you think we're going to let you live, guess again," Jonathan whispered.
"We'll kill you," Mike finished. "Now smile and, say hello. You're on candid camera," he said shoving the camera in Derek's face. Derek didn't respond, just glared daggers at both men. Once the camera was set up the two men began hitting, kicking, and punching every inch of Derek's battered body. Grabbing a crow bar, Jonathan swung and connected solidly with Derek's stomach around his ribcage. Crying out in pain, he tried to curl in on himself. He started coughing and was alarmed but not surprised when he coughed up blood.
"Now here comes the fun part," Jonathan growled in his gravelly voice. Smiling an evil smile he grabbed the tazer and began tazing Derek. His body jerked and he cried out in pain.
"Damn it, shut him up!" Mike yelled.
"Any last words before I shut you up?" Jonathan whispered. Derek knew this might be his only chance to tell the team anything.
"I l-l-love you, Spencer. I'm sorry I didn't get to tell you before now. Take care of Christi please. As for the rest of you, you've been the best friends a guy could ever ask for. Stay together and take care of each other. Hotch, keep the assembly line going. Christi, baby girl, Daddy loves you so much. I'm s-s-so sorry I won't be there to watch you grow up. I know the team and especially Spencer will take good care of you and make sure you grow up right. Love you so much. Goodbye Hotch, Em, Rossi, JJ, Garcia, Spencer and Christi. I love you all," exhausted and in severe pain, Morgan sank back into the chair and tried to breathe through the pain.
"Okay, now you can shut him up," Mike ordered. Reaching out Jonathan brought the crow bar down on the back of Derek's head knocking him unconscious.
"Burn you son of a bitch," Jonathan snarled as Mike grabbed a freshly lit cigarette and placed it on Derek's arms delighting in the jerking Derek's unconscious forum did especially when the burning object touched his broken arm.
"Night, night, sleep tight," Mike called in a sing-song voice as he switched off the camera and the two men left the room this time not planning on returning for two days. XXXX
The moment the screen went black Reid jumped up and fled. Running into the guest room he picked up Christi and buried his face in her hair. Collapsing to the floor beside the playpen he began rocking himself back and forth as he sobbed. He didn't know how much more of this he could take. The rest of the team was just as shaken. The three women were crying openly and both Rossi and Hotch had their fists clenched and it was plane to see that they were angry and scared.
"I thought they were together, but I wasn't sure," JJ said softly.
"Yeah, I thought so," Rossi commented. Emily was frowning she was playing Morgan's words on a loop in her head. There was something about them that didn't make sense to her. All of a sudden it clicked and she snapped her fingers.
"What is it, Em?" JJ asked noticing her friends expression.
"It's something Morgan said. I don't understand what he means."
"What did he say?" Rossi wondered.
"He told Hotch to keep the assembly line going," Emily replied.
"I have no idea what that means either. Do you have any idea, Reid?" Hotch asked unaware that Reid had left the room.
"Um, he's not in here right now. He fled to the guest room once the video ended," Garcia informed the group.
"If we lose Morgan, it's a good possibility that we'll lose him to," Rossi commented.
"I think as long as Christi's in the picture, we'll be able to keep him from falling completely apart," Emily added.
"I sure hope so," JJ said quietly.
"Well, we need to continue working on this. Everyone keep thinking about what he said and see if it strikes anything in your memory. Garcia, dig through these guys entire history. Find out everything. I want to know what they had for breakfast when they were nine and everything in-between," Hotch instructed.
"I'm on it, sir."
"Everyone else, keep doing what your doing." Everyone nodded and disconnected the call. Heaving a sad sigh Penelope went to check on her broken hearted best friend.
TBC?
A/n, so what do you think Morgan meant? Wanna know, read and review.