Okay, so I could give you a hundred reasons why this chapter has taken me so long, but i'm just going to put it down to one thing: Me not being bothered. I've just got so much going on that the thought of writing this actually made me cringe. But i'm back (more than likely).
So here it is, I apologise if it isn't worth the wait, but anyway, it's here.
Jessa and JJ pulled up at the residence of Mickey Bates in the earlier hours of the next morning. He was sitting out on his front porch. Prentiss had told him to expect someone, but she offered to stay back at Henkel's house to go over what they knew, now that they had his father's body.
When JJ and Jessa climbed out of the SUV, Mickey stepped off the porch to greet them.
"Well, I never." He grinned as Jessa slid her sunglasses to the top of her head, "Little Jessa Winchester." He stepped closer and hugged her, "I haven't seen you since you were just a little one."
"It's been a long time, Mickey." She smiled.
"How's that daddy of yours? Still driving around in that ol' scrap heap he calls a car?"
"Be careful how you speak of that car." Jessa light-heartedly cautioned. "Dad actually passed away about six months back."
"I'm sorry to hear that. Your brother's still alright? Last I heard from John, little Sammy ran off to college." He paused, "He spoke about Dean, but never mentioned you. Now I guess I see why. How's it feel to be on that side of the law?"
Jessa laughed at him, "I've never been in trouble with the law, Mickey."
"That's because you had a hell of a lot more sense than that brother of yours." Mickey grinned, but the grin faded when he glanced at her cane, "Or so I thought."
"I'll be right in a few weeks; don't you worry about this." The sound of JJ clearing her throat cut off their reunion, "Mickey, this is Agent Jareau, we just need to ask you a few questions about Tobias Hankel."
"Your name and number were found amongst some of his things." JJ explained.
"Tobias Hankel? I haven't thought about that boy in probably ten years."
"So you knew him?" Jessa asked.
"Through a Narcotics Anonymous program?" JJ added.
He nodded, "That boy should be the one to tell you, but yeah. I was his sponsor." He smiled slightly, "Small town, we all get lumped together. Me, I was just a drunk but Tobias, he was a whole different sort of animal."
"What was Tobias' drug of choice?" Jessa asked.
"Dilaudid."
Jessa shot JJ a confused look so she explained, "Drug store heroin."
Mickey nodded, "He used to cut it with a psychedelic. That boy was looking to escape as far from reality as he could get. Addicts don't get excuses, but if someone ever needed to self-medicate, it was that boy."
"Why's that?"
"You know anything about his daddy?"
"We think Tobias Hankel may have murdered his father." JJ told him, and Mickey actually smiled.
"Good for him. You know, Tobias' mama ran off with another man when he was seven. His dad went section-eight, started preachin' about sin, end-of-the-world stuff. Beat Tobias' silly. He burned a cross in his forehead when Tobias was ten. If Tobias wore a hat, he beat him more." Mickey actually looked sad for Tobias, and really, Jessa couldn't blame him. Poor guy had it rough, not that that was an excuse for murder.
"Is there anyone Tobias would turn to if he was on the run?" She asked him.
"As far as I know, he never left home." Mickey looked thoughtful for a moment before adding, "You know, honestly, between his habit and the old man, I'm amazed he's still alive."
"Thanks for your help, Mickey." Jessa hugged him once more as they went to leave, but Mickey called her back.
"Listen, I owed your daddy my life. If you kids ever need anything, and I mean anything, you just come my way."
"Thank you." Jessa smiled gratefully.
"Take care of yourself, Jessa."
"Always do, Mick."
The two agents climbed into the SUV and they were halfway back to the Hankel property before JJ spoke.
"You seem close."
"Mickey was a friend of my father's, I'm pretty sure they served together."
"What did he say to you as we were leaving?"
"He just told me that he was there if we ever needed him. He's a good man, he just liked his booze too much."
"Any luck with the Rehab contact?" Gideon asked when Jessa and JJ returned.
"Well, he didn't know where Hankel might be, but we did find out that he has a serious drug problem—Dilaudid." JJ explained.
"Well, that could explain the psychotic fracture." Hotch supplied.
"Psychotic fracture?" Jessa asked, staring between her two bosses.
"Tobias is living as at least three different people." Gideon explained to them, "Himself, Raphael, and his father."
Jessa was sure she could have trapped flies, her mouth was open that far. Tobias Hankel was suffering from some extreme psychosis.
"This could be some bad news." Detective Farraday announced as he walked into the room, "A computer store was robbed in the middle of the night. A suburb just outside of Atlanta. Thief got away with four laptops, external hard drives, and a satellite."
"If this is Tobias, it puts him right back in business!" Jessa said, not trying to hide her panic.
"Guys, guys!" Morgan stuck his head into the room, panicking, "Get in here!"
They all rushed in to see Tobias' computers with images of Reid on them. He was tied to a chair, and had blood on his head.
"He's been beaten." Emily observed.
"Can't you track him?" JJ snapped, running her hands through her blonde hair as she freaked out.
"Hankel's only streaming this to his home computer." Penelope explained, tears in her voice.
"This is for us." Gideon spoke, "He knows we're here."
"I'm going to put this guys head on a stick." Morgan said, walking from the room.
"Why can't you track him?" Hotch asked Garcia. He was the only one in the room keeping a level head.
"He's rerouting to a different IP address every thirty seconds." She explained.
Jessa watched in disgust as Tobias—or more likely Charles—asked Reid to choose a 'sinner' to die.
"The other heathens are watching." He said after Reid refused to choose, "Choose a sinner to die and I'll say the name and address of the person to be saved."
Reid was looking at something that was out of the way of the camera, so they couldn't see it too. "I won't choose who gets slaughtered and have you leave their remains behind like a poacher."
Hankel stepped in front of Reid and got in his face, "Can you really see into my mind, boy? Can you see I'm not a liar?"
Jessa closed her eyes until she felt a hand slip into hers. It was Morgan, he needed her support as much as she needed his.
"Choose one to die, save a life." Hankel continued, "Otherwise they're all dead." Hankel backed off so they could see Reid again. He was crying.
"Alright." He breathed, "I'll choose who lives."
"They're all the same." Hankel teased.
"Far right screen." Reid looked down, unable to look near the camera knowing his friends were watching.
"Marilyn David, forty-nine-thirteen Walnut Creek Road."
"You got that?" Hotch asked Garcia, who had already jumped into action.
"Yeah."
Gideon dialled the number that appeared on the screen. "Marilyn David? My name is Jason Gideon, I'm with the FBI. I need you to shut off your computer and get yourself, and anyone else inside your house, somewhere safe."
He hung up, then Reid disappeared as the screens turned black.
Morgan fled again, this time he slammed his fist into the door on his way out.
"So now what?" Farraday asked, "Wait for a 911 call and hope we get there in time?"
"It's all we can do." Jessa whispered, looking out of the room after Morgan.
There was a 911 call. Raphael has killed them before their lies can free more sinners. A defence attorney and his wife were slaughtered in their living room, this time Hotch hadn't objected when Jessa said she was going to the crime scene.
"What bible passage was left?" Gideon asked.
"Isaiah 59." Farraday answered, but before he could read it out, Jessa cut him off.
"'No one calls for justice, no one pleads their case with integrity.'" She quoted from memory, "'They rely on empty arguments. They offer lies. They conceive trouble and give birth to evil.'"
Everyone turned to look at her.
"Religion PhD, remember? I know the bible."
Gideon moved to the computer and sat down in front of it. "Reid," He said to the camera, "If you're watching, you're not responsible for this. You understand me? He's perverting God to justify murder. You are stronger than him. He cannot break you."
Jessa smiled a little, Reid and Gideon were close, and she could tell that he had come to see Reid as a son. She couldn't even imagine how much harder this was for him.
No one spoke again when they were at the crime scene, nor on the ride back to Hankel's place. No one spoke until Hotch ordered them all to get some rest. Whether it was by choice or not, no one listened.
Jessa was sitting on the kitchen counter as Morgan made them both coffee when JJ walked in.
"You should be getting some rest." Derek said to her.
JJ just shrugged, "No one else is."
"We can handle it, you rest."
JJ paused, "It's funny. I keep thinking that the one thing we need to crack this case is… well, Reid."
"Yeah." Morgan answered, but he was tense. Jessa could tell he wasn't saying something, and apparently so could JJ.
"You think Reid and I should have stayed together at the barn, don't you?"
"Get some rest." Was his answer, so in other words, yes, he thought that.
"I can tell what you're thinking, so…"
"I just want to get Reid back safe."
"But… If I had his back like I was supposed to, he'd be here now." She finished for him.
"JJ, what do you want from me?" Jessa tensed, ready to jump in any moment.
"I just… I want someone to tell me the truth."
"The truth is, one of you is here and one of you isn't. You gotta figure the rest out for yourself." He left the room, and JJ sagged against the counter.
"Let him think what he thinks." Jessa told her, reaching for the mug of coffee that Morgan had made her, "What matters is what you think. And for what it's worth, I would have done the same thing. Don't beat yourself up."
JJ smiled, but didn't speak.
"Now, I'm going to leave you to ponder that," Jessa chuckled as she less-than-gracefully slipped off the counter, "As I make a perfect and swift exit." She joked, nodding to the cane that she clutched in her hand, "Well, sort of."
JJ laughed slightly, well it was more of an exhale than a laugh, but a small smile accompanied it. "Thank you, Jessa."
"We can trace their whole family history." Morgan stated as Jessa walked into the room. He was staring at the board they had set up on the screen door. To it they had images and notes taped—one side for Tobias, one side for Charles. "Here we got happy and smiling Tobias. Report cards are all A's and B's, but at eight years old, we got nothing."
"That would be his mother leaving." Jessa said, sitting down on a chair and elevating her aching leg.
"Six months later, on the other side of the board we have a form from Child Services saying they paid a visit." Prentiss said.
"And then Charles starts keeping journals about punishing sinners and needing to remove the devil from his son." Morgan added.
"Which corresponds to Tobias' drug use. He's trying to escape."
"So wherever Reid is, it was Tobias' choice, not his father's." Morgan finished.
"How do you figure?" Prentiss asked.
"Look at these two lives. They're like inverse graphs. One's getting weaker while the other one's getting angrier. Tobias would run away, his father would have stood and fought."
"What's Tobias' escape?" Jessa asked with a small smirk.
"Drugs." Prentiss answered.
"Wherever he's taken Reid, I would bet my life it's where he used to get high." Jessa explained, her smirk was now a grin. They were a whole lot closer to finding Reid.
"I'll go back through the journals and see if there's anything that links his drug use to a hiding place." Prentiss said, making a hasty exit to the next room.
A little light on action, I know but i'm getting there. Hope you enjoyed, and I hope the next chapter isn't as long of a wait.
