Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.
I appreciate reviews and comments! Probably only one more chapter after this one.
As Hotch and Reid entered the room, Jacob immediately glanced towards Hotch.
"If you want to talk to him, you get me, too," Hotch said firmly. This time, Hotch chose to stand against the wall, while Reid sat at the table in front of Jacob.
"I figured as much," Jacob muttered.
"You-you said you wanted to know if Chris said anything to me," Reid began as he tried to hide his nerves. He had never been good with interrogations, and his uneasy feeling didn't help matters any. "He didn't."
Jacob stared at Reid with a questioning look. "Why did you call him Chris?" he asked.
Reid was caught a bit off guard by his question, but answered him. "He, uh, told me to call him that... Why?"
"He didn't let many people call him that," Jacob answered. "He must have liked you."
"Not enough to disobey your order to kill me."
"I never ordered him to do anything."
"That's not what he said to me."
"I only asked. It was his choice to follow."
"I don't believe that," Reid responded, growing a bit more confident. "You knew he looked up to you, probably as the older brother he never knew he had. He would do anything you asked. You saw that, and you used him... I bet you didn't expect to begin to care for him."
"You don't know anything, agent," Jacob responded, though Reid knew he had hit the mark dead on. Jacob's eyes moved away from Reid's. "I see Chris is not the only one that has left a mark on you."
His statement confused Reid until he followed Jacob's gaze to his arm. Reid shifted uncomfortably and folded his arms in front of him. Jacob was referring to the scar Simon had left on his arm, one of the many on his body. Reid had lately took to avoiding wearing short sleeved shirts as much as he could, but it had been the only extra one he had left in his bag. The scar was mostly covered by his sleeve, and no one could really see it unless they were looking for it, but Jacob had obviously been observing Reid closely during the short amount of time since he had entered the room.
Suddenly, Reid's discomfort turned more towards annoyance than anything else. He was starting to become tired of how much Simon was affecting this case. The man was long dead, yet was undoubtedly still causing him torment.
"I know a lot of things, Jacob," Reid finally said as he pushed past Jacob's statement. "I know you killed those women, I know you forced your brother to help, and I know you forced him to kidnap me in an effort to get you out. I told you Chris didn't say anything to me, and there's no way you're going to be able to just walk out of here on your own, so why don't you make it easier for everyone, you included, and admit to what you did to those women and how you forced Chris to take part."
Jacob only let out a laugh in response and looked up over at Hotch. "The little one here's got a little bite in him when you get him worked up."
Hotch took a couple of steps forward. "This 'little one' is a federal agent, and if you insult him, you insult the rest of us. That's probably something you might want to think twice about before doing."
Reid was slightly shocked at Hotch's threat. But Jacob's insult hadn't really bothered him; he had been called much worse than that before.
"Am I supposed to be scared of you?" Jacob asked Hotch. "Because you killed my brother?"
"No. You're supposed to hold to your end of the bargain. We let you talk to Agent Reid, now tell us what you promised."
"Why should I? I believe the both of you shot my brother," Jacob responded as he glanced between Hotch and Reid. "I owe you nothing."
"What's the real reason you wanted to talk to me?" Reid asked.
Jacob met his glare. "I guess I just find you interesting, Agent... Reid," Jacob replied as he recalled Hotch's use of Reid's name.
"You have hardly even been around me. How can I be interesting to you?" Reid asked carefully.
"It doesn't take long to see that you don't seem to fit type of the FBI."
"So, you find it difficult to talk to people of with an air of authority?" Reid asked boldly, referring to Hotch and Rossi. "You choose to demean those who you deem to be lesser or weaker people whenever you get the chance, like I'm sure you did with Chris, with those women, and what you just did with me."
"Agent Reid is in the FBI because he's not weak," Hotch chimed in, taking another step forward. "Appearances aren't everything, just like this little façade you've been putting on. You look strong and confident on the outside, but on the inside, you're just as weak as you think everyone else is. I suggest you stop this little game of yours now and give us the information we want."
Jacob looked up and stared at Hotch. "You're going to regret killing my brother." He abruptly turned back to Reid before Hotch could respond to the threatening comment. "Alright. I killed those women."
"I need the details," Reid ordered. "Why did you do it?"
And just like that, Jacob was giving Reid every detail of his murders. The planning, the acts, the disposing, and how Chris was involved. It unnerved Reid how Jacob not even once looked at Hotch throughout, specifically looking directly at Reid and never wavering as he gave every detail he could remember.
As soon as Jacob was finished, Reid got up to leave, and Hotch followed him out. They went back into the next room where the others were waiting.
"Well, that was interesting," Rossi commented.
Hotch nodded. "Yeah. You did well, Reid."
Reid didn't respond to Hotch's compliment. He suddenly turned and left the room. Hotch watched him go before speaking again. "JJ, go let the officer know he can escort Jacob back to his cell. I'm going to go talk to Reid." He left the room, followed by JJ.
"What was that about?" Morgan asked as they stared at the empty doorway.
"Do you think Jacob's comments got to Reid?" Prentiss asked.
"I'd be more surprised they hadn't," Rossi answered. "After all that's happened with this case, I think he'll be in need of a long break."
"The kid has been through enough trouble lately to last him an entire lifetime," Morgan joked dryly.
Behind the three agents, the officer entered the interrogation room.
"Hotch told me he blames himself for that first hostage situation," Rossi informed the two of them.
"Why?" Morgan asked.
The officer approached Jacob.
"The circumstances he was in apparently brought up memories of Simon."
Jacob stood, his wrists still cuffed in front of him.
"Damn. When is that man ever going to just leave us all alone?"
Jacob intently watched every movement the officer made as they made to exit the room.
"Probably never. At least, not any time soon."
The officer reached to open the door, allowing Jacob the exact opportunity he had been waiting for.
Prentiss nodded in agreement. "Let's just be glad this case is finally over."
Jacob swung his elbow back as hard and fast as he could into the face of the officer.
The sudden commotion in the room behind them caused the agents to turn around. They were met with the sight of the officer on the ground, blood flowing from his nose and looking dazed. Jacob was bending over him, presumably in search of the officer's gun. The agents didn't wait to see if he found it before they bolted for the door, drawing their own weapons as they went.
Just as they entered the hallway, a gunshot went off.