Hotch's phone rang and he walked away to answer it.
"I know he's the boss but he had no right not telling us." Garcia said fiercely
"He may be right though we did have a time constraint and we were never specifically told a time frame we just assumed it was an hour because that's what Reid wanted." Emily replied
Hotch walked back over right then
"Emily, Morgan if you're up for it I want you to take Reid back to the hotel in two hours and stay with him. I'll have Garcia set you up with computers so you can work on the case from there." Hotch said
"I'm fine with that, Emily?"
Emily swallowed hard but nodded her agreement. Emily and Morgan stayed at the hospital while the others left for Quantico, JJ joining them there after half an hour after dealing with the press. They went home at midnight and were back bright and early at eight, Morgan and Emily by phone.
"The media is all over the assault last night but with the amount of opium recovered and the criminal history of the four men involved I was able to spin this as a drug bust with Reid as a an undercover cop." JJ reported
"That's good, Garcia do you have the identities of the four men yet?"
"Yes William Hashton, Killian Jones, Marcus Zilch, and Henry Marks. Killian Jones the man that fell has not regained consciousness yet and the doctors don't expect him to ever wake up."
"Wait Killian Jones isn't that the man Holly Birch named as her dealer?" Emily asked
"It is I've already asked the police to show her a photo of him and confirm his identity." Hotch said
"Is the guy in custody talking yet?" Morgan asked
"No, he was processed and then got a lawyer he's not talking." Rossi said
"Any sign of Lee?" Emily asked
"No, did either of you question Reid yet?" Hotch
"No, we got him here and he went right to sleep, he hasn't' woken up." Morgan
"We'll let you know as soon as we have more information and get us Reid's statement as soon as possible. Don't tell him about Holly Birch or Killian Jones." Hotch said and hung up
Morgan and Emily looked at each other and Emily shook her head.
"When Reid learned that Fire Cat betrayed he cut layers of skin off, I don't want to think what he might do when he learns Oracle has betrayed him as well." Emily said
"Did she betray him? Just because her dealer works with Lee's me doesn't make her part of the Angels."
Emily didn't respond, she just stood and walked into Reid's room, Morgan following. Reid was sleeping buried under the covers still and pale. They quietly left and went to work. Two hours later Reid stumbled into the living area leaning heavily on the wall for support. Morgan jumped to his feet and hurried over to him, but Reid pushed him away and stared around the room trying to get his bearings. Emily went into the kitchen to get coffee, when she returned she found Reid slumped in an oversized lounge chair. She handed him the coffee but Reid's strength failed and it fell onto the carpet and shattered. Reid cursed and Morgan hastily cleaned up the coffee and glass, while Emily got him another mug. Reid was forced to have Morgan help him drink, when the cup was half done Morgan put it on the coffee table and then Reid what he remembered about last night
"I leave the hospital and a car pulls up with four men two in the back seat, the driver, and a man in the passenger seat. They tell me Fire Cat sent them and show me his seal ring and a gun. I enter the car and climb over one of the men to get the middle seat. All the men are armed and at least the two I'm sitting with have knives. I swallow the poison the doctor gives me and it starts to take effect. I hear the guy on my left tell the drive something's wrong and the guy to my right feels my pulse then I fall unconscious." Reid finishes and then waits for Morgan or Emily to tell him what happened next
"Did you know any of the men who took you? Did they say or do anything that might help us find Lee?" Morgan asked
"No I didn't recognize any of them, the ring they showed me was Lee's ring from when he part of the rangers it's how we identified each other. When I left the Rangers to join the academy I gave my ring back that's how you quit."
Emily and Morgan take turns relaying the events of last night. Reid listens silently then asks if the opium dealer Killian Jones had any connection to Holly Birch. Both agents deny it but its quite plain Reid doesn't believe them. Reid fell into thought and then fell asleep. Morgan and Emily picked him up and carried him to the couch and then went into the kitchen to prepare lunch. When they finished they woke Reid up and had him eat a half bowl of soup before Morgan helped him back to his room. For the next three days Reid stayed in his room, Morgan came in twice a day to change Reid's bandages and Emily brought food in three times a day. They tried to talk to him a few times but with little luck Reid made one word answers and then ignored the speaker. Hotch came to see them on the third day
"How's Reid doing?" he asked sitting in the living room
"He barely talks, refuses to leave his room though I hear him in the kitchen late at night. His injuries are healing well his back is almost completely healed though I'm afraid Reid will have permanent scars. His left arm is very weak but his wound is healing well. He does eat and sleep and I believe will make a full recovery in time." Emily said clinically
Hotch didn't respond but nodded, Morgan switched the topic to the case. They had been working on the case from the apartment but mostly research; communication had been limited in case their network or phones got hacked
"So Hotch any sign of the Angels or Lee?"
"No, we traced the apartment to Killian Jones he rented the apartment two months ago when he moved here from Los Vegas. Birch claims to have no knowledge of Jones's connections to Lee she just said a friend of her recommended him and that he was fair and honest. Jones has yet to regain consciousness but the doctors say it's only a matter of time before he dies. Two of the men have the encircled Celtic cross; Jones and Hashton. We offered Hashton immunity in exchange for information on Angels but he refused. Our case against him is weak, Reid did ask Lee for a ride which prevents kidnapping charges, the gun was legally bought along with the car, the only thing we can charge him with is possession to sell."
"So he's going to walk." Morgan said disgustedly
"No he's going to spend three to five years in jail." Hotch said trying to calm Morgan down
"And Holly Birch?" Emily asked
"She didn't break her deal she gave us the safe house and Jones we can't prove she knew anything else."
"So that's it, it's done. Unbelievable I trust you and you give me nothing. I'd have been better off going to Canada like I planned." Reid said walking into the room
"Spencer it's not over we put a lot of criminals behind bars and shut down a major criminal operation and caught a major drug dealer. We will find Robert Lee and the other Angels and get justice for what happened to you." Hotch said walking over to Reid
"Yeah, right." Reid said walking back into his room, shutting the door in Hotch's face
"Can we keep him safe and bring his kidnappers to justice?" Morgan asked
"We'll find Lee and the other Angels, thanks to the work we've done and the criminals we've put behind bars thanks to Reid I'm in talks with witness protection." Hotch said
"What you're going to send Reid away? What about Diana, will she go with him?" Emily said
"We have Diana under surveillance and so far there has been no suspicious activity. We will find some way to allow them to communicate but going into witness protection until we can catch the Angels is our best plan and Strauss is pressuring me to move on to other cases." Hotch admitted reluctantly
The two agents looked at him with anger, disgust, and dismay but said nothing knowing how badly Hotch was already feeling. Hotch stayed for another hour but Reid didn't come out of his room and refused to answer when Hotch said goodbye. That night Reid helped Emily and Morgan make dinner, the next morning when Morgan went to change his bandages they found Reid's bed empty, they searched the apartment but he had vanished. Emily called Hotch who came over with Rossi. They searched the apartment and even called in a crime scene team. They found a homemade sleeping substance in the soup Emily had made for dinner last night. When Garcia checked the hotel cameras she found Reid on his own with his backpack over his shoulder. He walked alone for several blocks before taking a bus and disappearing. The team gathered in the conference room mid afternoon to make a plan
"We searched bus stations, train stations, subway stations, and airports no sign of Reid though we did leave police to keep looking." Emily said
"There is no sign of activity with any of Reid's bank accounts, credit cards, or subway pass." Garcia said
"Wait a minute check our bank accounts Reid's smart enough to gain access to any of our accounts." Morgan said
Garcia looked unhappy but did a quick check at eight AM Reid had withdrawn five thousand dollars from Hotch's checking account.
"Everyone should change their bank information now." Hotch ordered
"No Aaron we shouldn't, Reid is alone, he's scared, and he's a good man. He won't take more money then he needs and I'm sure if he can he'll repay it." Rossi said the others nodded in agreement.
Hotch looked the table and dropped the subject. They discussed Reid and Lee but they had no leads same as in Denver. Four days after Reid disappeared Hotch got a phone call
"Hotch how are doing?" Reid asked
"Fine, where are you? Are you okay?" Hotch said swiftly rising to his feet and entering the bullpen signaling the others to come to the conference room
"I'm good about the five thousand I'll pay you back or you can take the money from my account I'm sure Garcia can get you access."
"It's fine Reid, we're going to come get you where are you?" Hotch said walking into the conference room and putting the phone on speaker
"I" muffled noises where heard in the background and Reid got off the phone
" Will you be quiet I'm on the phone."
"You have no right to keep me here, I haven't done anything wrong." The distinct tones of Robert Lee where heard in the background
"Shut up or I will gag you with a dirty sock."
Garcia was already tracing the call and the team headed out.
A/N Please Review, Favorite, Follow let me if anyone is still interested.