Silence in the Scars
By: A.M. Anderson
Chapter 9: Day One
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds nor the characters. I do own my characters. Warning: Violence and swearing
The team of BAU profilers, minus Reid, sat the police station, staring at the board of victims and evidence. Stress and the lack of sleep were etched clearly in every line on their haggard faces, cups of long cold coffee sat forgotten on the wooden table. Each team member was lost in their own thoughts as the sun peaked through the open windows, casting its warm light into the silent room. They had spent the last hour trying to piece together a new profile to give the cops, but their minds were wondering where Reid was, eventually each of them had relapsed into quiet, silence that now filled the room.
Morgan checked his phone for what felt like the hundredth time since that got back to the station. He wanted to hit the table in frustration, yell, do something anything, but sit there and wait for Garcia to call him back. The undeniable feeling that this was all his fault had taken root in his mind and no matter how many times JJ or Garcia told him that it wasn't his fault he knew that it was his fault. He was the one that always had Reid's back. The kid was a magnet trouble, getting himself blown up, being held hostage by a religious cult, or getting held hostage by a delusional UNSUB on a train, although, Morgan thought smiling slightly, Reid had volunteered for that one.
The sharp, shrill ring of a cell phone cut through the silence, making everyone jump and look around, alarm and worry briefly crossing their faces before Hotch realized it was his cell phone ringing. He flipped it opened and groaned when he saw Strauss's name in the caller ID. Sighing inwardly he stood up and slipped outside into the almost deserted main part of the police station. Closing the door behind him he flipped open the phone.
"Agent Hotchner," he said answering it.
"Agent Hotchner is there a reason that you haven't called me," Strauss's sharp, biting tone reprimanded him in his ear.
"It slipped my mind," Hotch replied, his brow furrowing slightly, it had slipped his mind to call her.
"I understand that something happened on the raid of the suspected UNSUB's house," Strauss continued. "Can you elaborate?"
"One of our agents was abducted by the UNSUB," his tone clipping slightly.
"Which agent?" She actually sounded concern, Hotch was somewhat surprised at this.
"Reid," he replied in his stiff manner, no need for her to think that they would get emotionally involved with the case. There was a moment of silence from her end of the phone, through the glass window Hotch could see Morgan getting a phone call from whom he could only assume was Garcia with news on what she had found.
"Agent Hotchner," Strauss's voice brought him back to the current conversation he was in. "I trust that you will call me when you find your missing agent."
"Of course," Hotch stood there slightly shocked for a minute, she was actually going to let them stay in the case. He quickly put his phone back into his pocket and went back into the room to join the others.
The first thought that entered Reid's head was how much getting hit with a flashlight hurt. The dull, pounding throb had only intensified with the second blow to the head, he cracked his eyes slightly and winced at the bright sunlight streaming in through a window somewhere. Temporally blinded he closed his eyes and tried to take stock of his situation without actually opening his eyes.
His hands were handcuffed behind him with what he was fairly certain were his handcuffs. The handcuffs felt like they were strung through the back of the chair. He could feel blood caked to the left side of his face from the flashlight injury and guessed that he had a least a concussion. The handcuffs were digging painfully into his wrist. Shifting around slightly he tried to find a position that both his arms and back agreed with. Reid decided to try to open his eyes to see where he was, he opened his eyes slightly and winced as bright light assaulted his vision painfully. Squinting he looked at where he was trapped for the time being.
He knew that he was probably inside the cabin that Tyler had been dragging him towards. Craning his head he looked around the interior of the small room, it was about size of a small cubical, on the wall opposite him was an open doorway through which he could see two grimy, cracked mirrors and a dark, mottled brown door that looked to be out of a solid wood of some kind. The room he was trapped in was deserted for the most part except for the chair he was tied in, it seemed to be a normal kitchen chair.
He strained his ears trying to hear something, but he could hardly hear anything over his own haggard breathing and rapid heartbeat, he gave a few experimental tugs on the ropes on his ankles but to his dismay, they held. The sound of arguing voices drifted through one of the cracked windows causing Reid to freeze as sudden fear griped him. The kidnappers were back. He strained his ears, trying to hear what they were arguing about.
"I don't give a fuck what you think about it Tyler," Zoe yelled.
"Yeah well guess what," Tyler could be heard hollering back. "I'm done taking orders from you!" The door was thrown open with such force that it hit the wall with a loud bang and bounced off the wall causing Reid to flinch involuntarily.
"Go with Jack and find out what the feds know," Zoe snapped, her eyes were shining with pure anger. Tyler crossed his arms and glared at her. "Go!" She reached a hand almost unconsciously to her neck and sudden alarm crossed her face.
"What?" Tyler asked, slight worry evident on his face.
"My necklace is missing!" She cried in alarm, real concern flitting across her face.
"Necklace?" Tyler asked raising an eyebrow.
"The locket that Jack gave me," she snarled, the old angry Zoe back in place. The sudden, rapid changes in her behavior were starting to make Reid incredibly nervous. Tyler just muttered something as he left the small shake, Reid could hear a car engine being started and then fading as they drove off. He was frantically trying to profile what he knew of these people from the little that he actually did know. His racing thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Zoe cocking the gun and entering the room, a leering smile dancing on her lips.