((Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters)
Thank you all for your support. It's been a crazy year and FanFiction has really been a great support. So thanks for everyone who has stuck by my poor time management and my half finished stories.
You're all awesome.
So... enjoy.
It took a whole day. Rossi was beside himself when Sunday morning came around and no search warrant was issued. It wasn't until ten that morning that they received word. It was out of Emily's hands after her phone call; she tried calling several more times but she didn't seem to alter the time it took.
The police station weren't entirely on board but they offered two officers to join the agents.
They expected to see a doting father and his son. Morgan could tell the one officer had this mindset, he even seemed a little hard-done-by.
Part of Morgan wished they would find the kid unscathed, perhaps having gone to a family friend they referred to as 'auntie.' But there was still the case of Ashley Kingsley and Diana Reid.
"Agents." One of the officers prompted Morgan and Hotch to take the lead, Rossi was examining the front flower beds with a furrowed brow, much to the irritation of the officers.
Hotch nodded and rapped loudly on the door.
"Mr. Reid?" He paused, listening for any sounds inside. "FBI, open the door, sir."
After another long pause, Hotch looked back, exchanging a look with Morgan and then Dave when the older agent looked up from his investigating.
Morgan jumped up the porch steps and moved past Hotch, banging loudly on the door with his palm. Aaron didn't stop him.
"We have a search warrant, Reid. Open up the door before I break it open myself."
The officers were taking a step back. The doubtful one with wrinkles and sun-seared skin looked back at their vehicle, his hand reaching down for the radio on his belt.
Morgan glanced at Aaron for his approval and when he took a step back Morgan had his answer.
Morgan tried the handle first, despite his foot's eagerness to kick. To his surprise the door opened. Guess a search warrant wasn't entirely necessary, he thought, taking a step inside and unholstering his gun.
"William Reid!?" he called.
Emily followed quickly after and motioned to the stairs.
"I'll take Mosey and Jones upstairs with me. You three look around down here."
Morgan nodded, stepping aside and turning his gun toward the living room as he let Emily up the stairs.
The officers followed behind, their guns out too, finally taking the FBI seriously.
Morgan pointed down the hall and quietly led the way. Rossi and Hotch were close behind, scanning the living room and study.
Morgan stopped in front of a basement door. He turned to find Rossi right on his heals.
"I have a bad feeling," Morgan whispered and all Rossi could do was nod.
Aaron continued down the hall into the kitchen, flashing his torch and gun around the dark room before flicking on the light. Empty.
He walked back to the hall. "We're clear on this floor," he said.
Dave looked up, listening to the soft footfalls upstairs.
"It's locked."
Dave broke his gaze with the ceiling and looked down. Morgan motioned to the heavy oak door, giving the handle a jimmy to prove his point.
Aaron and Dave took a step back, giving Morgan space to break the door down. Aaron missed the smirk on the young agent's face but Dave saw the brief, excited smile.
Morgan kicked the door once, relieved when he heard a slight cracking sound.
Before he could kick again Emily appeared part way down the stairs her hair having fallen slightly out of her pony-tail.
"We got him," she said, swallowing and panting out her next breaths.
"Who?"
"William."
Dave felt coldness run from his shoulders down to his clammy hands where his gun hung uselessly. "Spencer?"
Emily shook her head and Dave's whole body went cold. "Reid's on something. He's out of it."
Dave turned his head quickly to Morgan. "We need to get down there. Spencer..."
Aaron watched his partner choke up a little and his own eyes grew dewy in sympathy.
"We'll find him," said Morgan and he raised his leg again. Another kick took the door down and he stepped aside to allow Rossi down first, his torch and gun out in front of his chest.
Rossi's heart sunk at the dead smell lingering in the basement. He got to the final step and cringed at the sour stench.
God, they were too late. Dave swallowed thickly and raised his gun and torch, pushing back the dreadful thought of the kid being dead. If he was it would be their fault. They'd taken way too long to get something on William. They'd also just handed the boy back.
How stupid am I? He thought with disgust in his mind.
Morgan could smell it too because he exchanged a concerned look with Aaron.
"He's not down here," Dave muttered, spinning the torch around to the next wall.
Morgan lowered his gun and sighed, passing his torch around the floor. "Then where the hell is he?" he muttered, his voice low with frustration.
"David, Morgan, over here."
Rossi whipped around at the sound of Aaron's voice and he squinted where the unit chief had his torch directed.
"Sneaky bastard," Morgan muttered at the sight of the door. It was metal but blended well with the walls having been painting the same colour. The handle folded up into the door, the only give away were it's silver edges from where it had been touched often. Aaron pulled the handle out until it locked into place. He glanced at Dave and raised his gun.
Rossi went to lower it but Aaron pulled away. "What if someone's with him in there?" he hissed and but Dave didn't raise his own gun.
"Open it," Morgan whispered and Aaron nodded and slowly lowered the handle.
"It's not locked," he said. Dave felt a bubble of dread pop inside him. That must mean if Spencer's inside he's incapable of opening the door, he thought and images of a dead four-year-old assaulted his mind again.
Aaron pushed the handle and as soon as the lock slipped out of place he yanked the door open and raised the barrel of his gun.
"Oh my-"
Aaron stared at the sight before him, his body didn't hide the scene and Morgan's own gun clattered to the ground.
"Aaron, drop it!" Rossi shouted, his voice cracking from his suddenly very dry throat.
Dave pushed forward as Aaron gaped down.
The smell was more potent now but Rossi ignored the sticky floor and knelt in front of the small boy.
"Spencer?" he whispered, his hand reaching out but stopping just centimetres from the boy's visibly cold face.
His eyes dropped down to the boy's body and he jerked back suddenly from a large rat close by. He soon recognised its stiff body and bloody face as a clear indicator of its death and he turned his focus back on Spencer.
"Oh... Jesus," Morgan said as he raised a hand to his mouth. He turned away, retrieving his gun as an excuse to take a few deep breaths.
"Is he alive?" asked Hotch whose hand was shaking as he returned his gun.
Dave pressed his fingers to the child's neck, looking away as he did. He nodded after a moment and looked back at the boy.
He stared at the cuffs forcing the boy's hands up. Spencer must have tried to get free of the right cuff as his skin was literally torn from his right hand. Dave swallowed quickly at the sight of the white fingers, the skin peeling up the hand like a glove.
"Call an ambulance," Dave said as he looked over the rest of the kid. His hands were cuffed too high for him to sit down so he was partly hanging, his feet brushing the floor. His shoulder was twisted at a painful angle and Dave crawled forward to cradle the boy, taking the strain off his arms.
As he moved the boy whined. "Spencer?" Dave whispered, turning Spencer's face in his hand. He noticed then the deep gauges on the boy's face. They had crusted over into an oozing yellow and the skin around the cheek was red and inflamed. One of his eyes was squeezed shut, a crust formed around the eyelashes and the lid itself was a purple colour, with undertones of red. Dave winced at the sight of it but noticed the other eye was open and looking back at him. He could feel the boy trembling and he rubbed his hand down his back.
"It's alright," he whispered.
"Go find the key."
Aaron left with Morgan, just as Emily found her way to the door. She leaned on the frame with sad eyes.
From where she stood she saw the extent of the child's neglect. The boy's lips were so chapped the skin was flaking off, some sticking to fresh skin while others revealed blood-red fleshy skin.
The boy's face was pale, making the gashes across his cheek stand out starkly.
His hair was matted to his face, scuffed up in the back from where he'd been rubbing it against the wall. Emily noticed a water bucket, face down on the floor. Spencer looked down at the bucket and started to breathes harshly. He pulled against the cuffs, straining the neck to get to the bucket. Emily pulled it away, stepping around the damp floor.
"He's wearing the same clothes he was on Wednesday," Rossi said quietly as Spencer stared at the floor.
Emily crouched down and shone her torch down at the boy's feet. The socks were battered and stained with blood and dirt. She lifted her torch to Dave's face which was twisted in a grimace.
Spencer's lips shook and he tried lifting his hands.
Dave gently held them still and Spencer started to cry. "Try not to move, kiddo. You're safe now, I've got you, we'll get you out."
Emily scowled at the cuffs. "They're so tight," she said. The hand that didn't have the skin peeled over was just as sore with rings of sliced skin throbbing against the cuffs.
"Sooner we get them off the better," muttered Dave. He went back to hushing the child who was panting and yanking at the cuffs. The movement grated against his skin, pulling it further from the wrist bone. Spencer screamed and let his hands go limp, shaking against Dave with the aftershocks of agony. Dave held the boy's right hand tightly, tearing his eyes from the uncovered tendons under Spencer's skin.
"D-da-Daddy," Spencer whimpered, he raised his good eye up and sobbed loudly. Dave tried to hush him, but his hands were too busy holding the boy's arm for him to stroke his back. "L-let me out, out, let me go, daddy please, out, out!"
"Shhh, we're getting you out, Spencer."
There were thunderous footsteps down the stairs and Emily stepped aside as Morgan sprinted over.
He revealed a small key between his two fingers and carefully moved to Spencer's less injured hand.
"Where did you find them?" Dave asked as he held Spencer's hand steady while the kid leaned his head back on Dave's shoulder and just whimpered quietly.
Morgan angled the key into the lock, ignoring the blood around the key hole. "Bastard had it in his pocket. Said he was gonna let the kid out today."
Aaron stepped forward with a bottle of water in his hand and a gronola bar. He got to his knees by Dave and coaxed Spencer's mouth open.
Spencer pointed weakly to the bucket and made a movement towards it. Dave pulled him back so Morgan could unlock the cuffs easier.
"This water is better," Aaron said in the soft voice he reserved for Jack. He tilted it up to Spencer's lips and the boy just sat there watching. Aaron poured some water into Spencer's mouth and the boy coughed suddenly but quickly started to swallow. He whined as the water stung his torn lips but it must have tasted too good to let it stop the boy.
Morgan got Spencer's first hand out and Dave lowered it into Spencer's lap. Aaron pulled the water away and Spencer looked at it longingly with his good eye, his head lolling groggily. His lips were bleeding afresh now.
"Hold him steady, Rossi. This cuff is so slick," Morgan said, grunting with effort as the key slipped in his fingers. He kept his eyes averted from the mess of Spencer's hand.
"I'm trying," Dave said as he held Spencer's arm still. Aaron poured some more of the water into Spencer's mouth and pulled it back when the boy started to cough.
He soaked the granola bar in some water, trying to soften it. He lifted the bar and peeled back the wrapper. Aaron looked sympathetically at the child's twitchy bloody lips, but he had to give him something.
"That's too hard for him," Dave said.
"He hasn't eaten in days. He should have something."
Morgan finally got the cuff free. He held back the bile rising in his throat when he had to pull the thick metal from where it had been rooted in the bony wrist.
Dave held onto the second arm, keeping it raised while Spencer mumbled incoherently, his eye fluttering. Aaron had managed to encourage the boy into a bite of the granola bar wahsed down with water, but he was too delirious to continue.
Dave looked at the hand again and felt a sudden surge or anger. He tilted his head up at Emily and said, "find some gauze, or something to wrap his hand in."
Then without blinking he turned to Morgan. "And make sure the kid's father is out of the house. I don't want Spencer seeing him."
Spencer mumbled something about his father and nearly fell back from Dave's lap. Aaron held him back up.
"Where is that damn ambulance?" Rossi snapped, looking up at the ceiling while the sickly boy in his lap pressed his face to Dave's chest.
"Hey, Spencer?" Aaron touched Spencer's cheek gently and the boy flinched. Aaron pulled back but the boy was half-looking at him.
"You remember us, don't you, buddy? Remember David? Mr. Rossi?"
"H-hot-s." Spencer shook with exertion. Aaron nodded.
"I'm Hotch. That's right. We didn't forget about you."
Dave snorted and Aaron lifted his gaze.
"We could have saved him from this," he grumbled, scowling down at Aaron who just scowled back.
"We couldn't have known for sure. You can trust your hunches all you like but they won't hold up in court."
Before Dave could retort Emily was there, a roll of gauze in her hand.
"Morgan is 'talking' to William. They told me to... oh..." Emily stared at the little boy in Dave's lap, his head sagging and blood dripping from his torn lips.
"Gauze." Aaron snatched it from Emily's hand as she stared. He began to unravel it and glanced at Spencer's wrist as he did.
"I'm going to pour some water on it before I wrap it. Hold him, Dave. This is gonna hurt the poor kid."
Spencer was in his own world when Aaron approached with the bottle. The water stung badly and Spencer could only muster a few whimpers before something was wrapped around his wrist.
He somehow got the energy to scream when his skin was shifted about and he even kicked against Dave. Strong hands kept him in place and before long all he could do was pant and tremble erratically.
He wasn't sure how much longer he sat there, cushioned by Mr. Rossi and being fed water from Mr. Hotch but eventually he saw the outlines of new people before a new pain flared in his good wrist and he started feeling a little better, the pain just bearable.
Dave helped lift Spencer onto a stretcher and stepped away so the paramedics could arrange him.
"He'll need fluids when we get him to the bus, how old is he?"
"Four," answered Dave and Aaron simultaneously. They looked at each other, equally grim expressions on their faces.
Dave hurried after the backboard holding the small child, calling comforting words to him.
"Where's William?" Aaron asked, looking at Emily and Morgan. Morgan was distracted, his torch flickering around the inside of the closet.
"Police have him upstairs."
"He won't see Spencer?"
Emily shook her head. "They were taking him outside. Spencer won't have to see him again."
"Poor kid."
Aaron turned his head to look at Morgan who was shaking his head at the closet, turning away after another look of disdain.
"I could kill that bastard."
"Honestly... me too," Emily muttered, putting her hand on Morgan's shoulder.
When they left the house the garden was overflowing with cops.
Aaron saw an ambulance and a gurney rolling out to meet Dave and Spencer.
On the otherside of the lawn William Reid was being dragged toward a car, his hands cuffed and two cops flanking him. He was struggling fiercely.
He heard some of the shouts. "They'll kill us!"
"-off me!"
"-son!"
Aaron sighed, checking his gun was in its holster before starting toward the ambulance. He had doubted the kid once, he wasn't about to do it again.
"You have no idea!" William yelled. Aaron paused and turned away from the ambulance. He knew Dave would be going with the kid anyway.
William saw Aaron and he stared at him for a moment before he was being pushed into the cop car.
"They'll find him! Please! It's-" He shoved his shoulder into the door to keep it open and he craned his neck in Aaron's direction. "It would have been better for him! Please! No, no- I had to. I had-"
The door slammed, cutting off William's cries.
The ambulance door also slammed shut behind Spencer, the EMTs, and Dave (who had insisted on travelling with them.)
Emily and Morgan watched as both vehicles moved away from the scene but Aaron continued to stare at the spot William had been stood. He turned slowly to the house, his frown growing deeper as thoughts merged together on his mind.
He clenched his jaw, glancing at the fleeting cop car. What had William Reid done?
I didn't think I'd cram all of that into one chapter.
I hope you guys enjoyed it.
See you soon.