Between classes Spencer internally cheers each time he manages to slip through the halls unnoticed. Shirts tucked in, ties straight, head's held high everyone's polite and orderly as they proceed with confidence down the cold exposed brick corridors to their next lesson. Every so often a group of kids would pass by, raise their collective gazes to him, murmur an agreement labeling him 'the new kid' before moving on, unaware of his alien presence in their intrinsic world. Head down, shoulders hunched, back tensed to resist turning around Spencer keeps his own gazed fixed forward each time it happens. His own natural awkwardness already makes him stand out like a sore thumb and he knows he has the best chance of being dismissed if he sticks to what he knows best. He's not a coward, but it doesn't take a genius to catch on that any challenge of the hierarchy is certain to land him in the kind of trouble that could attract the wrong kind of attention and blow his cover. It's not too different to how he survived high school the first time really. Only difference being this time the threat is murder, not the run of the mill humiliation synonymous with high school bullies.
When the bell rings for the sixth time that day Spencer packs up his things like the rest of his classmates and slinging his backpack over one shoulder prepares himself for the next hurdle, breathing a sigh of relief that his first day is very nearly over. All he has to do is make it from the science building where he is now back to his dorm room without incident and he can call it a success.
Entering the main corridor there's a distinct lack of frenzy in the air as kids of all nationalities mingle together, like an adolescent united nations all looking very formal as they talk quietly amongst themselves, no one in a real rush to leave. Now Reid had loved school, but even he'd joined in the pushing and shoving at the end of the day, a shared desperation to escape a building that in those final moments resembled more prison than institute for learning.
He isn't as small this time around, but he's no more graceful in his movements now than he was at twelve and despite all his FBI training still manages to trip over thin air as he rounds a corner, too preoccupied with what his next move should be on the case, than in the physical world. Something JJ's warned him about before on numerous occasions.
Catching himself at the last second, grabbing and near pulling over a water fountain Spencer furtively looks around to check nobody had seen. Looking up the small set of steps before him his gaze quickly lands on a boy pushed up against a row of lockers. His head rebounding off one of the metal doors as he's unceremoniously slammed back into it. Reid freezes in position. The boy who did the shoving is older, more his age or rather Spencer Hotchner's age. He has his hand fisted mid air, arm pulled back like a coiled spring. Catching sight of Spencer the older boy drops his arm, letting the one against the lock slump to the floor and turns on Spencer. It takes all Reid's concentration to remind himself though he is actually twenty-six and not afraid of bullies anymore, he desperately needs to act seventeen in order to maintain his cover.
"And you are?"
"Spencer." Reid announces smoothly, moving to the side, keeping eye contact. "You?"
The boy considers him for a few seconds. "Brent."
The boy on the floor sees his opportunity and makes a run for it, not forgetting to grab his bag on his way. Brent doesn't seem too bothered his prey has escaped, likely because he's found another target for his no doubt misplaced rage. Spencer closes his eyes briefly in acceptance of his mistake, and employing all the tactics he's used with suspects in the past lifts his chin, staring his would be attacker in the eye, waiting for Brent to make the first move.
"So you're the new kid everyone's talking about."
'So much for slipping by unnoticed'. The sigh of defeat escapes him before Reid can stop it. He'd felt for sure no one had really paid him much attention, but how stupid could he be? Any profiler worth their salt would know the new face in an isolated community would make the top of the gossip list.
"So, what happens now?" Spencer asks, a lift of optimism in his voice he certainly doesn't feel.
Brent eyes him from head to toe. There's a beat of indecision from both of them, but just as Reid's weighing up the pros and cons of defending himself in a fight on his first day the option is taken away from him-
"Hey, what's going on down here?" An unmistakable voice booms down the corridor. "You! Get moving."
"See you around, Spencer." Brent smirks, walking away but not dropping his challenging glare.
Reid unconsciously deflates the second Brent turns the corner and is out of sight.
.
"Hey slow down kid," Morgan shouted to the skinny boy who nearly knocked straight into him, running down the long empty corridor like something possessed.
He'd been tasked with clearing the halls ready to close the school for the evening. Something the teachers had started doing since the recent murders of Rebecca and Daniel. All the staff were on high alert, no one standing out as a likely unsub. His day had been a bust as far as the investigation went. He could only hope Reid or JJ had better luck.
Speaking of Reid. He hadn't planned on seeking him out so soon, but turning the corner the unexpected scene set before him really felt him no choice.
"Hey, what's going on down here?"
Pointing at the kid standing in Reid's personal space Morgan ensured with his tone alone, trouble would be coming his way if he didn't get moving.
He waits for the boy to turn the corner before speaking to Reid directly. "You okay kid?"
"Yeah," Reid answers, gaze to the floor.
Morgan can see the turmoil behind his sad brown eyes. Wants to tell him it's okay and not worry, instead he says, "you best get going if you don't want to be late for dinner."
A small group walks by, seniors by their prefect jackets. The girls make eye contact with him, one actually waves. Morgan tries to ignore the whispering and waits patiently for them to move on, staring at Reid communicating with his gaze what he can't risk saying to his young friend out loud. Watching Reid bite his lip in indecision, like he's waying up who knows what in that over sized and very likely over tired brain is unbelievably hard. He can do no more than watch as Reid walks off alone down the now dark and empty corridor.
...
Returning from the coroner arms full of autopsy reports, Prentiss opens the door to their briefing room and walks straight into the most tense atmosphere she's felt in a long time.
"What's going on?" She asks with urgency, wrongly assuming something bad had happened in the short time it took her to travel to the ancient fax machine and back.
Hotch eyes her speculatively, breaking from his slumped position with a resounding smack of the table. One look to Rossi and the sideways eye roll tells her everything and nothing.
"Anything new?" Hotch speaks, words sharp and to the point.
She tells him the usual. Coroner found nothing out of place in the autopsy's. All died from an overdose, the single stab wound occurring postmortum.
"What about contacting the families?" Rossi throws in, seemingly as an icebreaker.
"Too risky if we want to keep our investigation quiet. Word will get to the school somehow." Prentiss keeps her tone neutral while giving Rossi a questioning look the second Hotch turns away to face the whiteboard.
Rossi sighs with a shrug, refusing to meet her gaze and provide some real answers. "So no leads then."
"Actually what the coroner didn't find might be somewhere to start." Emily eases into the nearest seat, putting her curiosity about Hotch's mood on hold for now. "All four kids had no other DNA or any evidence on them. They were clean, even their clothes."
"That's impossible." Hotch spins around.
Emily bites her tongue to prevent a grin at her triumph showing.
"Apparently not." Rossi allows her a nod of approval when Hotch turns back to the white board, only looking at it for clues now not escape.
"But if the unsub moved the bodies to a dump site he'd have left fibers." Hotch turns back, frowning at them both.
"The coroner checked the new bodies over twice to be sure, there was nothing."
"That means our unsub is taking serious precautions and spending a lot of time with the bodies. He's not just dumping them-"
"He's caring for them, presenting them-"
The three agents go over facts once more, trying to write a profile they can pass on to Reid and the others in order to help them narrow down the suspect pool. Emily didn't take much pleasure in being confirmed right about victimology proving difficult since without new information they were put at a loose end rather quickly.
After thirty minutes of going in circles Rossi excuses himself, citing air and chocolate as his primary needs. He doesn't normally go for sweet treats, but Reid has proven to be a bad influence on his diet and it feels right that he should have a candy bar now, in his honor.
Snow had started falling not long into the afternoon, requiring an increased presence of law enforcement in the small mountain town of Brandon where they were currently stationed. It's the nearest sheriffs station to the school, and they chose to set up here instead of the main precinct in town for the obvious reason's of proximity and secrecy. But walking the empty corridor's Rossi can't help but feel they've made themselves more vulnerable in the long run.
What if I'm wrong?
Hotch's word's scream out to him. They're the main reason he wanted to get some air. At first he'd brushed it off, how could Hotch be wrong? But then he explained. About Reid's recent sleeping problems - which Rossi knew about. About the conversation in his office before leaving - which Rossi knew about. And about the nightmare Reid had last night, which Rossi had of course not known about until Prentiss filled him in this morning, but could have guessed. Separately none of these concerns seemed unmanageable or a reason not continue with the case as planned. But putting them all together? That presented a different challenge.
"Can't decide?"
"I was contemplating a nougat entrée however I've found caramel to be an adequate accompaniment for day old burnt coffee." Rossi responds smoothly, giving Prentiss no hint her sneaking up on him actually took him by surprise.
"Well I always go for the pure chocolate. No need to add anything else." She smiles in his face, edges of her lips near touching her ears.
"Let's cut to the chase." Rossi grins back, knowing that smile to be the same level of fake as aimed at the well meaning Ms Henderson this morning.
"Which is?" She stares him dead in the eye.
"You didn't follow me to talk about chocolate." He sighs, knowing when he's caught.
The smiles drops into her natural lip quirk, but her eyes stay locked on his. A surreal Mexican standoff by a crappy vending machine in snowy Portland. What had his life come to?
"Busted." She admits, first to look away.
Rossi internally cheers his minor victory.
"I just wanted to ask if you're okay. You seem a little distracted. Both of you." Her eyes track back to where Hotch must still be, waiting, staring at the whiteboard, at the pictures of four dead kids.
"I'm fine." Rossi breaks away, facing the array of treats once more.
Prentiss bursts into loud, obnoxious laughter.
"Sorry," she sounds anything but, "just you're the third person to claim that since this case started and I'm beginning to think you've all been cloned or Reid has some kind of telepathic hold over you."
Rossi thins his lips, eyes narrowing holding in his own amusement at that image.
"Hotch is dealing with the situation like the rest of you. In his own way." Rossi puts his coins into the slot, decision made.
"You're dealing with it to." She tries to pull on the thin thread holding them all together this week.
"I'm dealing with feeling my age." He refutes refusing to look her in the eye.
Numbers pressed, the metal spiral starts to move, releasing his Hershey bar to fall into the tray below.
"What about Reid?" She asks, reaching it first, holding the bar of coco and sugar between her fingers.
"Kid's fine too, apparently." His tone is hard, snippy and a total giveaway.
Another laugh issues forth, only this one is hollow. "Look I know what you were trying to do on the jet, but isn't it best if we let Reid chose whether to share or not."
Rossi huffs, looks to his shoes. Still shiny and perfect. Not a scuff, new like the day they came out the box. No one would even guess at the crime scenes they've stepped through. Catching his reflection in the vending machine glass Rossi has to wonder.
"That's the thing about trauma." He hears himself say. "Sometimes it doesn't show on the outside. Not until it's too late to do anything about."
Her face goes slack, eyes moving from side to side in serious thought. He wants to ask but the answer isn't really as important as the question.
"Did you know I had a son?" It feels like all the air has been sucked out the room in a vacuum the second he says it.
Rossi takes the chocolate from her now lax fingers and guides them to take a seat at the small break room table. The single window is slightly frosted in the corners, but that doesn't obscure their serene view of the forest beyond, the setting sun reflecting off the whiteness blanketing the evergreens like a soft unwrinkled blanket.
"He'd have been twenty-eight this year." Rossi snaps off a segment of the candy, handing it over.
"When did he die?" She asks, placing the piece on her tongue.
Die. Not lose. Prentiss can be relied on for a lot of things, but the one he most admires is her ability to be blunt without sounding offensive.
"The day he was born." Rossi sighs, he's not had to remember that day in years, god knows why he wants to torture himself now. "Carolyn, the first Mrs Rossi, hadn't had an easy pregnancy. James was premature with complications and technology wasn't like it is now, the odds were low he'd survive the night. But I stayed with him, those few hours were both the best and worst of my life. And trust me, it's been a long life." He ends with an nostalgic chuckle.
"James." She repeats likes she's committing the name to memory, then "Reid's twenty-six."
The short statement needs no explanation. Rossi tried to keep his distance from the kid in the beginning, but of course the longer he worked with Reid the more that desire for distance wore down. He couldn't stop himself from getting attached anymore than he could stop the sun from rising.
Looking at Prentiss he can see the wheels are turning again, only this time the skin around her eyes and mouth is tight, pressure being put into making all the relevant connections.
"Who else knows?"
"Hotch knows, but it's not a secret."
"You came back to the BAU to solve your case. It's solved." She raises one eyebrow in challenge.
"Yeah, it is." He agrees.
He can't muster a laugh at her pout of frustration with him, too long a day with too little progress.
"Agents?"
Prentiss and Rossi turn around. Carmichael, the sheriffs deputy who showed them around when they first arrived, the only other person aside them and the call operator left in he building is standing before them now, looking incredibly nervous.
"What is it?"
"I think we've got a situation."
...
"You knew you had students missing when we arrived this morning and didn't say anything?!" Hotch slams his hand down on the narrow desk just as Rossi enters, Prentiss on his heels.
They see JJ leaning by an open cell door, look of thunder on her face. Lack of a proper interview room meant they were stuck in the main office area, out in the open by the holding cells. Plenty of tables to hit and chairs to break over heads if the mood struck.
"I was going to tell you but I never got the chance." Gables pleads. "Ms Henderson accompanied me at the last minute, she heard Mr Rossi was coming and wanted to meet him I couldn't think of a good reason why she shouldn't I'm sorry!"
"Want to catch us up?" Prentiss asks coming up on Hotch's left, close enough her presence distracts him from his next move, which by the look on his face would be smashing Gables head into the table.
"Two students are missing, not seen since late yesterday after classes. I've sent Garcia their school files before I left." JJ answers, tone cold, face still like stone.
"Prentiss you and JJ go call Garcia see what she's got." Rossi speaks smoothly.
Neither questions why he's giving the order instead of Hotch and leave the room quietly, taking Deputy Carmichael with them. Hotch moves away, taking an observational stance against the wall behind Gables whiles Rossi takes over the questioning, slipping into the vacant chair opposite.
"I was going to tell you, as soon as the school day finished I swear." Gables offers after giving one of the more pitiful excuses for protecting his own ass Rossi has heard in a long time.
"So to summarize." He swallows, completely understanding JJ's frustration. "You knew two students were missing before we brought in our undercover Agents. Didn't say anything. And you're really only here now because Agent Jareau found out before you could find the time to tell us."
Rossi sits forward gaze boring into Gables, making his feelings about the withholding of vital information clear. "How exactly did you find out the students were missing?"
"Upper classmen act as house monitors for the younger students, they marked them absent last night and reported to me . I didn't raise the alarm immediately because this isn't the first time with these two. Although they've never been missing together, I was hoping- I never imagined he would take someone again so soon. I never- I'm sorry."
"So nobody at the school is aware two students are officially missing?"
"No, I was collecting files for us when I noticed these two had been marked absent in all their classes."
"What about friends? Surely they've noticed."
"Well, yes the girl, Beth. Her roommate Sara has been asking questions but no one really listens to her."
"Why not?" Hotch jumps in.
"Beth and Sara, they awkward types." He shrugs. "Don't really fit in."
Rossi looks up and over to Hotch, catching his eye. "What about the boy, Janus? Is he the awkward type too?"
"I guess so. Doesn't speak English all that well. Or refuses to I'm, I'm not really sure. I've not managed to meet with his parents, he arrived unaccompanied from London a few weeks ago."
"You don't know?" Hotch advances forward, rage renewed. "You are responsible for these children Mr Gables. Parents put their trust in you to keep them safe and you don't even know if this boy, this 14 year old boy, speaks English?"
Rossi stands, palm out to Gables instructing him to remain seated as he follows Hotch's angry march out of the room.
"We're pulling Reid out." Hotch waits for Rossi to catch up before continuing down the corridor heading for the briefing room.
"Wait, now just think about this a minute."
"Doesn't fit in. Awkward. That's the same description we have for the first pair of victims and I bet the Rebecca Mills and Daniel Oliver's families would describe them same way if we could ask them."
"You can't know that." Rossi bargains, pulling Hotch to a stop before he takes this attitude into the others. "We don't have anything other than the word of a man who already admits he knows very little about his students."
"What we have is Reid in unnecessary danger." Hotch huffs, pushing through the doors surprising JJ and Prentiss with the force. "These new missing's means the unsub's escalating. It's less than three days since the others were found, and we've just delivered his type right into his grasp."
"These new missing's give us an opportunity. There's a good chance those kids are still alive, you blow our cover now and the unsub might panic and kill them."
"Rossi's right." JJ stands. "I've been there a day and I already know which teachers are having affairs and who's dealing behind the bleaches. Nothings a secret. We shut it down now we loose our best source to bring these kids home."
"What about Reid?" Prentiss asks, her gaze travelling between the three of them. "I mean could he be in danger?"
"Morgan knows the situation and is keeping an eye on him. The teachers take it in turns to monitor the student dorms at night and he's volunteered to take Reid's floor tonight." JJ assures them.
"Okay, we let Reid do his job. Tell Morgan to update him on who's missing so he can talk to the other students, in particular the missing girls roommate Sara. Maybe she knows more than Gables thinks." Hotch pauses for breath, "And tell him, tell Reid to watch his back. I made a promise and I intend to keep."
With that Hotch leaves, slamming the door behind him.
"What promise?" JJ frowns.
"At a guess?" Prentiss sighs, joining JJ and Rossi staring forlornly at the now closed briefing room door. "He promised Reid we weren't sending him in as bait."
