Reid is completely out by the second half of the movie. Garcia tries her best to keep her movements to a minimum in fear of waking her friend, but just the thought of having to stay still makes her feel twitchy.
"Have you heard anything from back at the office?" Rossi asks. He keeps his voice low, also careful to not disturb the sleeping agent.
Garcia shakes her head. "Not yet. But Kevin said that he'd tell me the moment they found anything new."
"Strauss plans on talking to Reid again sometime today."
"What?" She places a hand protectively on Reid's head. "Why? I thought he talked to them last night."
"Most likely to go through the details and make sure everything matches up. Maybe they will get Reid to remember something that can help more."
"But he remembers like everything," Garcia says quietly as she pets Reid's hair. "How is he ever going to get through this?"
"I think he's a lot stronger than we give him credit it for. He's already fought his fair share of battles."
"I know, I know. I just don't get how anyone could want to do this to him. His poor, little precious face. He looks awful. I'm just glad that he's been able to sleep. How was he last night?"
"Alright. He was still up at two when I went to check on him. I was able to convince him to take his meds and that helped a little bit, but he asked me to stay with him until he fell asleep. I ended up just sleeping there, in case he woke up."
"Aw!" Garcia coos. "You're such a good daddy for our baby. I'm glad he feels safe here." Garcia pauses. A look of panic strikes her face. "Not that he wouldn't! I mean, of course he feels safe. We know you'd-."
"It's okay," Rossi cuts in.
"Anyways," Garcia continues, "I talked to Emily earlier and she said that may stop by later on. If that's okay! It's your house!"
"Of course. Have you heard from anyone else?"
"A little from Derek."
"How is he?"
"Okay, I guess. He's pretty angry about everything. And Strauss kicking us off the case is driving him crazy. He feels like he's just standing around and being useless."
"I know the feeling."
"You're not being useless!" Garcia exclaims, trying to keep her voice low to not wake Reid. "You're doing a great job taking care of Spencer! Can you imagine how bad it would have been if we just let him go off on his own? He'd be so scared."
"You know there was no way any of us were going to let him be anywhere by himself."
Garcia smiles. "No. We're going to smother him with love until he's all better."
Rossi smiles back, although he doesn't completely feel it. No matter how much they coddle and comfort him, Reid will never be the same person he was before.
For as good as Dave claims he and his team is, I have not been impressed by their detective skills. A day has passed since the rescue- a fluke of one, if that- and their progress appears to be going quite slowly. They aren't even looking now. I know this because the two of them showed up as I was at work. After my sister and I had to put our mother away, I was placed in charge of the family business; a small, quiet café. In my opinion it's a dump, but it keeps up enough business to stay going. Two of the detectives, all women, are somewhat regulars. Today there is only one of them; the burnet with a blond, who seems quieter than the flamboyant one she is often comes in with.
So much for them being worried. It looks like what I told the doctor is true.
I watch them from behind the front counter. They got their regular drinks and sat in their regular spots. Their smiles were fake, but still polite as I handed them over their coffee. Serious would be the best word to describe them. It was a bit out of the ordinary, and this pleased me. I asked them where their friend was.
"Visiting a friend," the brunet said.
"Oh. I hope all is going well. Here are your drinks."
They smiled politely again as they are handed their Styrofoam cups.
Now they talk quietly, about the doctor I hoped. I will have to try to get close enough to hear.
"Have you talked to Rossi yet?" Emily asks.
"No," JJ says. She lightly taps her nails across the table top. Her coffee sits in front of her untouched. Despite the lack of sleep from the previous night, the coffee doesn't sound appealing. "I wanted to give them some time to settle. What about you?"
"I've only heard stuff from Garcia. She's over there now. Hotch was there earlier this morning."
"How is Spence doing?"
"Okay, I guess." Emily pauses, but then smiles as she remembers what Penelope had told her. "Oh! Apparently Garcia has him and Rossi watching Cinderella."
"Really? I wish I could have seen that."
"Me too! Can you imagine Rossi watching any Disney movie?"
JJ shakes her head, but says nothing. The conversation goes quiet for a moment. Emily takes a drink from her coffee before picking it up again. "I was thinking about going over there later tonight. Just to see how Spencer is."
"Oh."
"Did you want to come with?"
"I don't know," JJ says slowly. She had a hard enough time looking at Reid while they were in the hospital. She feels horrible about it. She has seen far worse during all of her years of working cases, but seeing those injuries on someone she loves so dearly made it even more sickening. It broke her heart to see him so hurt, and she wasn't sure if she could do it again.
"It's okay," Emily says quickly. "You don't have to-."
"I'll try. I'll have to see what Will has going on and if I need someone to watch Henry. But I'll try."
"That's okay," Emily repeats. "He's probably-."
"Are you two doing alright?"
Both agents look up to see the café owner standing in front of their table. They jump a little, startled by his sudden appearance. The man holds a pastry on top of napkins in each hands. He smiles, which makes Emily feel a little uneasy. Out of many times she has been here, this guy has never been so friendly. She and Garcia had difficulty getting him to say anything much more out of him than him taking their orders, let alone a smile. The two of them had made it a game to see who can get him to say the most.
"Here," the owner says as he hands them the pastries. "You two looks like you could use these."
"Thanks!" Emily exclaims. She takes the pastry and sets it on the table, next to her coffee. JJ does the same. "I really appreciate it. It's been a long week."
"I can tell. I- I don't mean any offense by that! I could just tell. I'm good at reading people."
"It's okay," Emily says with a smile. "We really appreciate it."
"I can get another one," the man says, motioning back towards the counter. "For your friend that's usually here, I mean."
"Sure! I'm sure she'll love it! I'm going to see her later tonight actually. We're going to meet up with some of our friends."
"Oh, good! Do you know what she likes? How many people are going to be there? I could put together a box."
"You don't have to-."
"Nonsense! It's no problem really. I would rather have them go to people instead of going in the garbage."
"Well, I guess if you really want to that would be okay. There will probably be around five of us. Possibly more. I haven't heard back from everyone yet."
The man stares at JJ, grinning, as if he was waiting for some sort of reply. JJ forces an uncomfortable smile in hopes that it would be enough to make him go away.
"Of course!" the man exclaims. "I'll get you something to go."
Emily and JJ watches as he walks away. "That was weird," Emily says in a hushed voice.
"I know," JJ whispers back. "I don't think I have ever heard him talk so much."
"I don't think I even know his name."
"Yeah." JJ stares at the man intently. There was something off about him, something very familiar. Then, she begins to realize. "Emily," JJ says slowly. "I think I know him."
Reid managed to get an hour and a half of sleep before Rossi woke him. Strauss was coming over, he said. Strauss and another agent were going to interview him. Reid whined and did his very best to look so pathetic that Rossi would keep Strauss out, but it was no use.
"I know you don't want to do this," Rossi says as he helps Reid settle on the couch. "But we'll get it over with as soon as possible."
"I already did this once." Reid rearranges the blanket Rossi had placed across his lap; a small victory for himself.
"I know. I won't let it last long. I'll be here, and Garcia too. If she wants to be." Rossi glances at Garcia. She sits next to Reid on the couch, nervously clicking away at her phone. She looks up upon hearing her name.
"Oh. I'll try. I don't know how helpful I will be."
"You don't have to," Reid says quietly. In fact, he would rather if Garcia left. Hotch already knew the details, and now Rossi and Strauss would too. That was three more than he would like.
"I'd love to be here for support, but it's up to you, sweetie," Garcia says, patting Reid's hand.
Reid looks around the room uncomfortably.
"It's okay!" Garcia exclaims. "I have some errands to run anyhow. I'll probably be back later. If that's alright."
"Of course," Rossi says. "Have fun with your errands. Let us know if you hear anything."
Garcia left in a hurry, and less than fifteen minutes later Strauss arrives with a female agent. Reid, weighed down with nerves, pays little attention to the two until sat down. Reid glanced up only to see a very familiar in a chair across from him. There sits Elle Greenway, his former coworker. She does not look nearly as shocked to see him.
"I hope you don't mind," Strauss says. "I thought it may be easier if you were with someone you knew."
No, Reid wanted to say. He had barely spoken to Elle since she left the BAU and all of their interactions had been short and awkward. To be honest, he still felt rather guilty for all that she had gone through.
Rossi looks from Reid to agent Greenway. He vaguely knew of her. She was a part of the BAU before him. She was even part of the pre-Emily era. While Strauss' offer may have been in good intention, Rossi could tell that Reid was not comfortable with it. He takes a seat next to Reid on the couch. Right away Reid leans in to him, the stress of the upcoming conversations already weighing down on him.
"I know you aren't looking forward to this, Spencer," Elle says.
"No."
Elle smiles a bit. "Can you tell me what you remember from when you came back to your apartment."
Reid pauses a moment to collect his thoughts. "We just finished a case. I got a few things from the office, but then went right home. The door was still locked. Nothing looked different. I was just sitting in my living room and… I don't know how it happened, but he grabbed my face. I didn't even hear him… I tried to fight him off, but then he stabbed me with something and… that's all I remember."
"Did you ever get to see his face?"
"No. Not then. I did later on though."
"Do you remember what he looks like?"
Reid shrugs. "Brown eyes. Brown hair; it was thicker. He was maybe in his late 40's."
"Was there anything more definable?" Elle asks. "Like tattoos or scarring?"
"No."
"Had you seen him before?"
Reid tries to think back. It was possibly. He had seen many men that looked like his kidnapper in the course of his life, but no one that he could really put a name to. "I don't think so."
"Okay, Elle says slowly. "What do you remember from when you woke up?"
"It was dark. I didn't know where I was. I couldn't move or talk because he had me tied up."
"Did he talk to you at all?"
Reid shifts uncomfortably. "A little."
"What about?"
"Uh… He said some things about Rossi. I don't remember what. My brain was still a little foggy. Th-then he wanted to make a video for him."
"Can you tell me what the video was about?"
"I," Reid begins to say, but then trails off. He wraps his arms across each other and pulls them close against his body. "He wanted to make Dave mad, so... He had me lying on a mattress on the floor and did… stuff."
"Could you clarify please," Elle says, awkwardly.
Reid glances at Rossi. "He. Uh. He cut me and hit me a few times." He struggles to finish. "And... and he raped me too."
"Did he say anything during it?"
"Mostly ramblings. He called me names too. Whore," Reid adds quietly. "Stuff like that."
"How many other times did this happen?"
"Once."
"Did he talk to you any other times?"
"He- he said that the wanted to talk to Dave. I tried helping him, but he kept insisting that this was the only way to do it."
"Did he ever say what he wanted to talk about?"
"No, not really."
"Could you tell me about when he raped you again?"
Reid sighs heavily. He leans further into Rossi, still grasping onto himself. Rossi, although he is unsure if he is doing the right thing, moves an arm and places it around Reid's shoulders and pulls the young into him.
"It was like the first time, but he was angrier. He kept hitting my head until I blacked out. I don't know what else you need to know."
"You're fine," Elle says. "You're doing well. I only have a few more questions."
The tension in the room began to grow. Rossi was quickly becoming tired of this. There seemed to be little point to it. "No offense to you or Strauss, but is there really a point of putting this poor kid through all of this again? Don't you think you'd be doing more help somewhere else?"
Elle is about to shoot back a comment when Strauss stops her. "Agent Rossi, you know very well that we are not trying to torture Dr. Reid. We're only trying to gather as much information as possible to find the man who did all of this. It's part of the job; you should know that."
"It's okay," Reid whispers to Rossi.
Just as Rossi is about to reply, his phone goes off. He checks it quickly and sees that Emily is calling. He chooses to ignore the call, but his phone goes off once again seconds later. It must be important. This time, Rossi answers.
"Hello?"
