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Chapter 29
Just before he'd answered the phone call from Rossi, Detective Green had handed Hotch the file of another possible victim of their Unsub that he'd discovered during his search that morning. This file was what Hotch reflexively crushed with his left hand as Rossi told him the good news, the body wasn't Reid. Closing his eyes for a brief moment, Hotch spoke to Rossi, closed his phone, then faced the others who waited in terror of what Rossi had said.
"It's not him."
The relief in Hotch's voice was reflected in the simultaneous sigh emitted by the other agents. Green, unaware of what it all meant, looked confused, 'Who are they talking about?' he wondered.
"Detective, we'll need a place to set up. Our other colleague, Agent Rossi, is currently at the morgue consulting with the coroner about the latest John Doe and will be joining us shortly." Following Green down the hall towards the room he had set up for the FBI agents to use, Hotch started giving out instructions.
"Prentiss, I want you to make a timeline with all of the known victims. Morgan, you need to go over every wound, type, location, size, possible weapon; list those that currently only appear on one victim, and those that appear on multiple victims. We can all be certain that there are more bodies out there somewhere, and we'll need a concise list for Garcia so she can begin searching through databases. JJ, talk to your contacts in the press, let them know we'll be involved with finding the murderer of the latest victim. Hopefully, letting the Unsub know we're searching for him will cause him to try and make contact. If nothing else, he might want to brag about his conquests."
As Hotch entered the room, the others hurried to begin their assigned tasks. Everyone felt immensely relieved, happier, lighter somehow, knowing that Reid was not the unknown victim. But Hotch couldn't shake the oppressive weight of doubt, he knew something was still wrong concerning their youngest teammate…..
Reid didn't know how he was managing to choke down his lunch. His face was burning from the brutal slaps; his stomach gripping painfully as the words of his captive rang in his ears, he was going to continue being punished after lunch. Swallowing hard when his food threatened to come back up after each bite, Reid tried to keep his mind from imagining what the additional punishment might consist of…..
As Rossi pressed the buzzer marked Building Manager, he continued to compose questions he wanted to ask Reid. He knew he'd have to tread very carefully with the sensitive young genius, as he would probably still be very hurt, very depressed about what had happened, about what the others had done. Rossi knew Reid would be emotionally damaged by the betrayal, and the embarrassment of the situation, so Rossi was trying to figure out what would be the best possible way to firstly get Reid to talk to him at all; secondly probe his brain about their latest case, hopefully convincing him to join them at the station; thirdly, and more importantly, start discussing 'the event', and how the others might start trying to win back his trust and friendship.
"Yes" Rossi heard the brusque tone and instinctively his attitude changed.
"FBI. I'm here to speak to one of your tenants." Rossi voice, though calm and professional, had a distinct bite to it; the listener would have known following instructions would definitely in his best interest.
Rossi watched, keeping his face impassive, as a large, dishevelled man lumbered over to the door of the building and let him into the foyer. A young boy, that Rossi immediately noticed kept an arm's length away, followed the man to the door. Rossi flashed his badge, then commenting that he already knew the apartment number he wanted, made his way over to the elevators. The manager, pissed that he'd had to leave his pizza to grow cold as he let this jumped-up security guard into his building, sneered at Rossi, mumbled something about working class people's tax money going to unnecessary government agencies whose members wouldn't know what a hard day's work was if it bit them on the ass, then plodded back to his apartment, yelling at his son to stop being a nuisance and get out of his way.
Rossi shook his head in disgust, then noticed the young boy had joined him in front of the elevator. Once inside the elevator, Robbie turned to Rossi and stated, "My mom's got a headache so I stayed home from school to watch my sisters. They're having their naps right now. Are you going to report me to the principal?"
Rossi, not really wanting the company of a chatty child, but figuring the poor kid probably lead a dog's life with that revolting father of his, glanced down, "No kid, I'm not interested in being a truancy officer."
"Are you here to see Mr. Reid? He works for the FBI too" Robbie asked curiously.
"Yes, as a matter of fact I am" Rossi answered as the door of the elevator opened on Reid's floor.
"We're good friends. Mr. Reid tells me all sorts of stories about his cases. I'm going to be an FBI agent when I grow up." Robbie said confidently, walking down the hall beside Rossi.
Rossi was surprised. Reid was such a shy person, usually so awkward around other people in a social setting; it seemed odd to Rossi he would be friends with this kid. Rossi knocked on Reid's door, then a second time.
"Reid, its Rossi. Open up, I need to talk to you. About a case. It's important."
"He's not home." Rossi turned to face Robbie, his eyebrows raised in question.
Robbie had stood and watched the man knock on the apartment door, finding it surprising that someone who worked at the FBI office wouldn't know Mr. Reid was away on vacation.
"Why do you say that? How do you know?"
"He's gone away, on vacation."
"Vacation?"
"Sure. I' m feeding his fish."
"Fish?"
Rossi took a breath, as his mind began to tumble his thoughts around. Refocusing he softened his voice slightly, and asked, "How do you know Reid's on vacation?"
Robbie rolled his eyes, wasn't this guy listening? Sometimes Robbie wondered how adults got through the day, they all seemed so dopey to him.
"I just told you, I'm feeding his fish while he's away."
"Do you know where he went? When did he leave?"
"He called me Saturday night because he said he was leaving the next day. He didn't say where he was going, but he said he didn't know when he'd be back and to make sure I fed his fish every day so they wouldn't die before he got back."
Rossi pondered his next move. The kid obviously had a key to the apartment, so he could just go in and look around. On the other hand, if Reid did go away for a while, probably to Las Vegas Rossi surmised, then he wouldn't appreciate knowing Rossi had been inside his private residence for no reason. And Reid was already extremely upset with the BAU team as it was. Maybe the kid could tell him more.
"So, kid, does the apartment look like it normally does? Everything in its normal position?"
"Sure. I never moved anything. My Mom always says not to touch Mr. Reid's stuff. Just feed the fish and get out."
Rossi decided to call and let Hotch know the latest news, and decide if he wanted Rossi to go into the apartment. Since it was Hotch's gut instinct that was indicating something might be wrong, better he decide if they should invade Reid's privacy or not…
Hearing the footsteps coming down the stairs, Reid, now dressed in the clothes the man had brought him, rose on wobbly legs. Making a note of the time, he tried to stop his knees from buckling as the door to the room opened, and the man stood silently in the doorway for a few minutes, just letting his presence intimidate Reid. Reid, not wanting to appear weak, straightened his back, kept his eyes on his captive, and willed his mind to stay sharp.
Derek Danger stared at his 'boyfriend', exalting in the show of strength that Reid exhibited, when he knew very well that the skinny young man had probably worried about the threat of continued violence all through his lunch. Seeing that Reid had eaten all of his food, Derek made a mental note to praise his 'Mr. Perfect' later, for following the rules. Derek always liked to be fair with his new boyfriends, not just meting out punishment all the time, although he loved doing so.
"Remove your shirts and put your hands together."
Reid pulled off the sweatshirt and t-shirt he wore, hoping the man hadn't noticed the slight tremble in his fingers.
Derek sucked in his breath, trying not to sigh aloud, as he watched the cold air in the room harden his 'boyfriend's' nipples. Moving quickly he soon had a pair of cuffs secured around Reid's narrow wrists, and the chain unattached from the bed. Pulling the chain, he led Reid out of his room and through the door to the right; Reid moved his eyes around rapidly, committing everything he saw to memory, hoping he could eventually use the information to aid his escape. Derek secured the cuffs to a length of chain attached to the far wall, then pulled Reid's leg chain through a metal ring embedded in the floor.
Reid realized the room was lighted not only by the ceiling light, but also by a window high on the wall he was attached to. Wondering for a moment if this could be used in his plan to flee, his attention was soon returned to the situation at hand when Derek punched him in the eye.
"That should blacken nicely" Derek mumbled to himself as he backed up. Turning his head from one side to the other, like an artist studying a blank canvas searching for inspiration, Derek kept up a quiet running commentary to himself as he once again approached the shackled, terrified Reid.
As quick as a viper, Derek's hand shot out and he began forcefully twisting Reid's already slightly bruised nipple. Listening to Reid's cry of pain, Derek felt his body surging with excitement and lust. Knowing he absolutely had to stay in control, Derek said quietly, "You hurt my feelings when you said you didn't love me."
Then, still twisting and pulling with his right hand, he bent his head across Reid's chest and bit down as hard as he could on Reid's other nipple. Reid shrieked in agony, his body quivering now, his mind starting to rebel against the onslaught of pain. Stepping back, Derek licked the blood he'd drawn when he had broken the skin of Reid's chest off of his lip. "That's going to look gorgeous tomorrow."
Derek took out his camera and snapped some shots of Reid's marked chest. Moving to a drawer in the desk by the door, Reid watched in stunned silence as Derek lifted out a short handled horse whip. Moments later Reid's harsh screams rang in his own ears as Derek advanced towards him, his face beaming with unbridled excitement….
Slowly walking towards his car, Rossi made up his mind. Hotch, after discussing the situation with Rossi, had told him to come to the station. They had no real reason to go into Reid's apartment, and Hotch told him to leave if for now. But Rossi himself was feeling a bit uncomfortable about it all. So he finally decided to follow his own instincts and called Garcia.
"Hey Garcia, I need you to do something for me, strictly under the radar…"
