The sun had gone down. Reid had been gone for nearly two days, and the team still didn't have enough to find him. They were all feeling very defeated.
Garcia and Kevin were unable to break through the encryptions and proxy servers that hid the broadcasting location of the videos, and the photos seemed to have been wiped of nearly all of their embedded location information.
The rest of the team had found a few more traffic photos of the SUV before it drove into an area without cameras. They were unable to pick up the trail after that.
The information from the traffic photos did narrow down the search area, but it was still much too big. Hotch and Rossi had gone over the area in extensive detail. They figured that Reid was likely being held somewhere residential, but there were simply too many houses and apartment buildings in the area. Garcia had looked through rental properties, but was unable to find anything connected to Dr. Malcolm.
Kevin had been called away on other business. Since the team was at a dead end, and another team needed him, they let him go. He'd probably be of more help on another case anyway.
Hotch had insisted that everyone go get some rest, but this time none of them would leave the conference room. JJ had fallen asleep on the table for about ten minutes, but that was all the rest anyone had gotten.
The team continued to narrow down a profile of Dr. Malcolm, knowing that it did them little good unless they found Reid's location. But it helped them to feel like they were doing something.
A familiar ping from Garcia's laptop caused everyone to jolt awake. By now, the team knew that noise to mean Garcia had an email. Though she had received many over the time they had been on this case, the noise put them on edge each time, knowing any one of her emails could be from Dr. Malcolm. They looked at Garcia expectantly, waiting for her to announce that it was another false alarm.
As Garcia opened her email, her eyes widened. "Sir. It's from Malcolm."
Hotch immediately stiffened. "What does it say, Garcia?"
"It's another link. The subject line says, 'It's Time.'" Garcia moved the mouse overtop of the link, but hesitated to click on it. She needed a few seconds to mentally prepare herself for this. The rest of the team had moved behind her and were doing the same.
As Hotch looked at his team, and he was touched by the care they displayed for one another. Both Morgan and JJ had a hand on one of Garcia's shoulders. JJ's other hand held Emily's hand tightly. Rossi had one of his hands on Emily's back as well. Hotch would normally request the team to look a little less vulnerable in front of an unsub. But the profile suggested that Dr. Malcolm had a plan and he was going to carry it out, no matter what the team's words or body language said; so they might as well get some comfort and strength from each other. They were likely to need it over the next few minutes.
Hotch sighed. "Garcia, we're ready. Click the link."
Reid couldn't control the memories playing through his mind at first. He'd been forced to re-live every bad outcome of every case he'd ever been on. The worst memories involved Tobias Henkel. When he fell into those memories, he had a hard time escaping. His current predicament likely had something to do with that, he guessed.
Over time, Reid had forced himself to focus on the good memories instead of the bad. He thought of his 24th birthday and the ridiculous hat he'd been made to wear. Of his recent 30th birthday when the team threw him a surprise party to make up for forgetting it. He thought of the many hours his friends had spent at his bedside after injuries he's sustained on the job. He thought of the party Rossi had thrown after Prentiss had returned from her 'death' and how the team had stayed up all night that night drinking and talking. He thought about the relationship he had with each and every member of the team, how special of a thing they had. Thinking of this gave Reid peace, but it also broke his heart. He knew that, if he didn't make it, the team would have a hard time coping with his loss and would likely blame themselves. Reid would never blame them for not finding him though. Dr. Malcolm had a long time to plan this, and had clearly covered his tracks well. Reid knew the team was be doing all that they could, and that's all he could ever ask of them.
Reid was ready for this to be done. Whatever Dr. Malcolm had planned next, Reid just wanted him to get it over with. The waiting was excruciating, and as long as nothing else happened, the team had no new clues to go on. Besides, maybe the man would make a mistake in the next video that would lead the team to them. At the very least, it would put an end to this unbearable waiting game he was being forced to play.
The second Reid heard the familiar footsteps, he wanted to take back his previous thoughts. Please just change the IV and leave, Reid thought. But then he heard Dr. Malcolm's voice break the silence he had become accustomed to, and knew that wasn't going to happen.
"How are you doing Dr. Reid? I hope you are still awake and alert in there. I'd hate for you to miss your finale." Dr. Malcolm chuckled to himself. Reid heard keyboard typing coming from in front of him, and knew that the doctor was setting up a new video feed. Here we go. This is the end.
Silence fell over the room for several minutes. All Reid could hear was Malcolm's footsteps as he paced impatiently, waiting for the BAU team to start the stream.
After some time, Reid heard a female voice that indicated the team was connected via video. It was like music to his ears. "Spence, we're here with you." JJ's voice was shaky, but it was so nice to hear it.
Dr. Malcolm sneered. "No, they're not, 'Spence.' If they were here, they would be able to stop me from doing this." Dr. Malcolm had barely finished the sentence when Reid felt a fist connect with his left cheek. The momentum of the punch nearly sent his body off the chair, but Malcolm caught him by the hair and pulled him back upright.
Stars exploded in Reid's obstructed vision, but cleared quickly. It was painful, but he was not going to lose consciousness.
Reid heard a gasp from several of his team members. Then Rossi calmly spoke. "Please, stop this, Dr. Malcolm. I know that you blame Reid and the rest of us for how your life has turned out. You wanted to see him suffer, and for us to watch it. You succeeded. Reid will forever carry this with him. Now let him go before you do something that will put you on death row." Reid heard the threat in Rossi's voice.
"So, you finally figured out who I am. It took you long enough. Well Agent Rossi, if you know who I am, and you know what I've lost, then you should know that I have nothing left to lose. And it just feels so GOOD to make your little Reid here hurt." Dr. Malcolm landed another punch, this time to Reid's stomach. Reid's body involuntarily lurched forward from the force, and Malcolm roughly pushed him back into place. Reid struggled to catch his breath, as the wind had been knocked out of him by that last blow.
Malcolm continued. "But you know what the worst part of it all is? My daughter being taken away. She's so close, yet I'm not allowed to see her. That new doctor of hers has turned her against me. And being locked up in that place is breaking her spirit. And that's all your fault. If you hadn't meddled where you didn't belong, I'd still have my daughter. But instead I'm forced to sit on the outside and wait as her spirit dies in that institution you put her in. Well, I want you to know how I feel."
Reid waited for another blow that never came. Instead, he felt the tape being removed from his head. Dr. Malcolm was less than gentle, and the tape ripped out some hair as it was pulled away. A small wince escaped his lips.
Reid blinked against the light. After so long in the dark, his eyes needed to adjust. As his vision returned to him, he took in his surroundings. It was dark out now. The laptop was directly in front of him, his teammates watching with worry and exhaustion etched firmly on their faces.
Dr. Malcolm was talking as Reid looked at the screen. "That's better. I want to see the look in your eyes when I do this."
As Reid turned his attention to Dr. Malcolm, he barely had a chance to register the item in his hand before…
Reid let out a muffled groan as Dr. Malcolm plunged the knife he was holding into Reid's abdomen.