It was around eight by the time they landed. The team decided to check into the hotel and start fresh in the morning. Hotch had a police escort take Alexa home and Reid had to admit, he was glad to be free of her, even if it was just for a few hours. Reid promptly took Riley to their room, putting her to bed immediately.
The others went for a late supper and then retired to their beds, agreeing to meet in the lobby by first light. A half hour after the halls were quiet, Emily snuck out of her room and headed down the corridor to Morgan, who was waiting up for her. Oddly, the two had inadvertently gotten to a point where they couldn't even sleep unless they were together. A few weeks ago, when he, Rossi and Reid went to Portland, Maine and the rest worked on a local case in Baltimore, the nights had been almost unbearable for both of them.
It was very late, well after midnight. She was tired, but Emily hadn't fallen asleep yet. Morgan had long since drifted off, his breathing steady and heavy. Judging by it, he was dreaming peacefully. Emily rested against his bare chest, listening to his strong heart. Each beat echoed in her ear, soothing her like the waves of the ocean.
This was her favorite place in the world, held protectively in his embrace against his warm body, nothing surrounding them but the night. Her hand caressed his warm skin, feeling so secure. Something she never believed she could have before Morgan. It was incredible. She'd seen these muscles knock down doors and restrain dangerous killers. These arms could easily throttle a man, yet held Emily like she were a precious dove. He would never hurt her. Not that Emily had ever let a man become violent with her. She could hold her own. But Morgan was a lot stronger and more powerful; he could easily harm her. The fact was no matter how angry he was, no matter what happened, he wouldn't lay a hand on her out of anything except love. That was a freeing feeling, to know she was safe. She trusted him like she'd never been able to trust another person. Morgan had a hold on her and she prayed he'd never let her go.
Morgan's heart beat sped up a bit as he let out a deep sigh, a contented smile spreading across his face.
He was dreaming, maybe even about her. She couldn't help but smile. Sleep was starting to get to her. It was ineffable just how different life was with him. Before Morgan, Emily was a big believer in space. She liked her home, her life, she didn't like other people invading it for long. But Emily wanted to be around Morgan as much as possible.
Emily placed a kiss on his arm, nestling against his chest as she closed her eyes. "I love you," she whispered. She listened to each thump of his heart. Maybe she couldn't say it to his face, but this was good enough. At least this way she could say it without the fear of losing him.
Reid was dragging his feet the next morning. He woke up the next morning, once again, to hear Riley vomiting in the bathroom. Once she was through, he quickly threw on some clothes and ran out to get them some breakfast, which she surprisingly scarfed down rather quickly. It wouldn't be long before they had to meet the others, but Reid couldn't seem to move much faster than a snail.
He sat on the edge of the bed, a sneaker in hand, his eyes lingering on his mismatched socks. Riley was pulling a royal blue sweater on as she spotted him, motionless.
"You almost ready?" She asked gently.
"No," He mumbled. "I don't feel good, I think I got your flu." He feigned a cough, looking up to her with a pair of big, puppy dog eyes. "Let's stay in bed and drink lots of fluids."
Riley tilted her head in sympathy, going to sit beside him. She put her arm around him, leaning up to press a kiss on his cheek.
"You know this is going to be okay." She assured, leaning against his temple. "It has been twenty years, maybe they've changed."
"Yeah," Reid grumbled. "Maybe we'll connect and become life long friends."
"Okay, you don't have to be snarky." Riley said, leaning back. "I'm just saying it might not turn out as bad as you think… and anyway, they are missing a member of their family. They're probably more focused on that to be concerned about you. They might even be grateful you're helping them."
Reid gave an unsure twitch of a smile, taking her hand. "I really hope you're right… and as much as I want you to stay in bed and get better, I'm really glad you're going to be with me."
She smiled, brushing back some of his hair. "I'm starting to feel better, anyway." She lied. If she kept thinking that, her mind might convince her body it was true.
"I guess we'd better get going soon," He groaned, at last pulling on his shoe. Riley stood up, going to grab her bag.
Reid had his other sneaker on and was throwing his shoulder bag on when he got a full view of her wife in her outfit. The tight jeans going well with the snug form of her low neckline sweater, her curly hair swept back with a barrette, just as he liked it. She looked absolutely gorgeous and if he wasn't concerned for her health, he might be intrigued to be late this morning.
"What?" Riley asked as she turned, suspicious as to why he kept staring at her.
"Even if they haven't changed," He said, "I don't think they're going to make fun of me for being married to you."
Beaming brightly, Riley came forward and took his hand. "Let's go," She said, giving him a confident squeeze.
The team arrived at the precinct just before nine. It was the same place where Reid had investigated the murder of Riley Jenkins, where he had learned the truth at what tore his family apart. Amazing how so many things connected to a person's life, showing up when one least suspected it.
Alexa was waiting for them when the team arrived. She was alone, dressed in jeans and simple short sleeved blouse, her hair pulled out of her face in a ponytail. Her face was saddened and tired, an obvious person in mourning. Reid knew it didn't matter whether they found her son's killer or not; her life was never going to be the same. For a moment, he felt true pity for her.
It disappeared, however, as they approached her. "Agents," She said as she got to her feet. "I want to thank you all again for doing this." Her eyes landed on Reid for a moment, but quickly looked away. "It means everything to me that I find what happened to my son, I appreciate your help."
"We're going to set up the evidence in the conference room, first." Hotch informed, getting right to work. "Our technical analyst is here, she's going to start doing searches on missing boys in Nevada, searching for kidnappings that match your son's disappearance. Agent Jareau will help her with that, they might want you're assistance after we're done questioning you."
"Questioning me?" She asked, confused. "But I've told you everything."
"With all do respect, ma'am, you've told us about Peter and his case." Rossi explained. "We need to be thorough in this investigation, we need to know every detail about him and his home life, once we speak to you and the members of your family, we'll have a full story."
"Prentiss and Morgan will handle the husband and the brother-in-law." Hotch ordered. Morgan agreed, not even acknowledging Alexa's presence. "Rossi and I will question Mrs. Hillman, Reid, you're the best with kids, why don't you talk to the daughters individually."
"What do you want me to do?" Riley wondered.
"We're going to put the girls in an interrogation room while they're interviewed, I'd like you to observe." Hotch requested.
"Interview? What can you possibly learn from my daughters?" Alexa wondered. "They didn't have anything to do with this."
"But Peter was their brother." Hotch explained. "Your eldest is in her teens, correct? You probably had her baby sit the twins."
"I did," Alexa replied, suspicious.
"And Penny is Peter's twin. Even at her young age, she knows more about your son than you do."
"Twins often have a strong psychological bond, sensing more about one another's life and emotions than even the biological mother." Reid explained out of habit. "Some believe it's more of a psychic connection, but scientists suspect it's a trait developed in utero."
The others weren't surprised by this, having heard Reid's express of intelligence at least twenty times a day. Alexa, however, was very taken aback by this, as strangers always were when the FBI's resident genius took the spotlight.
"I see," she finally answered. "So you think my daughters know more about my son's disappearance than they're letting on?"
"We think they know more about Peter than they're letting on." Hotch corrected. "Learning about Peter's behavior is essential in developing a profile, which in turn is needed to catch our killer."
This investigation was becoming much more complicated than Alexa suspected, but they all seemed to know what they were doing. "Very well, I hope they can help you… my oldest is not the easiest person to talk to."
Reid had a sudden image of the offspring of his two hated enemies. A young girl, the spitting image of Alexa, in that same cheerleader uniform and smug look upon her face... the same one her father always had. Maybe she wasn't pleasant, but hopefully she would cooperate enough to get a little information out of her.
"My husband and his family should be here soon, they're bringing my daughters." She explained.
"In that case, we'll start setting up." Emily said, claiming one of the case boxes the police had already brought out for them. Morgan grabbed the other one and the two started heading for the conference room. Hotch stepped off with Rossi, no doubt discussing their tactic at how to interrogate the men. According to what they had learned, this wasn't going to be some simple questioning.
"Shall we?" Reid asked, clutching Riley's hand again.
"I just need to stop in the restroom, I'll just be a minute." Riley explained.
He let out a chuckle with a shake of his head. "Between your bladder and your stomach, you may just want to make a permanent residence there until this flu gets through you." Reid teased, slipping a kiss on her cheek. "Don't be too long."
"I won't," She assured. "And I'll bring you some coffee."
He clutched her hand for a moment, so relieved to have his wife with him on a case. He had missed working with her, ever since two years ago when she filled in for JJ. Reid followed Morgan and Emily's path, leaving the girls alone.
JJ, who had been watching casually, figured there wouldn't be a better time. Setting the file down, she hurried to catch up to the young woman.
"Hey," she said with a smile. "Going to the Ladies' Room?"
"Yeah," Riley answered, unsuspectingly.
"I'll go with you." She pleasantly said. Too pleasant. Riley was instantly suspicious, but she didn't deny the company. The two girls made their way to the restroom down another corridor.
Spencer was late this morning. He'd overslept, having been kept up half the night by one of his mother's episodes. Homeroom was in three minutes, he had to hurry if he was going to get there in time.
The halls were quiet, the warning bell having already rung. Most kids were gathered in their homerooms, with teachers taking attendance. Light chattering echoed in the void hallways, like the whispering of a ghost. It was almost chilling.
He liked the corridors silent, however. Spencer could walk down the hallways without fear. Making it to the stairwell, he struggled to get his short legs upward as fast as possible. The extra weight of his backpack weighing him down. There was only two minutes left; he had to go faster.
As he finally made it to the top, however, Spencer stopped in his tracks. The sound of stifled laughter met his ears. Perhaps there were some other tardy students, goofing off in the halls. Spencer tried to ignore it as he made it to the landing, running to get to the hall.
He stopped in his tracks, however, when his path was blocked. A behemoth of a man stood before him, glaring down at him like a lion about to devour the weakest member of the herd.
"Where you going, numb nuts?" John Hillman asked with a sickly sneer.
His heartbeat was quickening in his chest, but Spencer stood his ground. "Excuse me," He said sternly, trying to sound brave.
"No excuse for you, pee wee." He answered. "You know it's almost homeroom… if you're not in your seat, you'll get put on the tardy list. Little miss perfect has never been late in his life."
"I'm not going to be late." He informed, trying to side step the jock. "And at least I'm not some ignoramus microphallus who needs to bully people in order to feel better about himself."
John couldn't make sense of the insult, just as Spencer had intended, but it didn't matter. He knew it was something rude. And he knew just how to deal with that. "Get over here, you little creep."
Spencer cried out as John grabbed his arm. At his scream, someone came around the corner. At first, the young genius felt relief, only to scream again as Jeremy Bundle appeared. "Grab his bag!" John ordered, twisting his arm behind his back, so hard Spencer was sure it was about to break.
With Glee, Jeremy ripped Spencer's bag off his shoulders, zipping it open. He dumped the contents down the steps, papers and books and pencils littering the stairwell. He tossed the empty bag down with it. Spencer watched in panic as all his homework and reading fell to oblivion.
Jeremy grabbed one arm while John hung onto the other, dragging him down the hall. Spencer struggled and wriggled to get free, but they were much too strong, dragging him down to the Men's Room.
"Let me go!" Spencer screamed over and over, desperate for a teacher or something to hear and come to his rescue. But they didn't. They never did, no one ever did. Always turning a blind eye when things like this happened.
Spencer smacked his head off the door of the end stall as the boys dragged him in. John flipped him upside down easily. Spencer fought with every ounce of strength, but he couldn't break free, his head dunked into the water as Jeremy flushed.
Every time he resurfaced, Spencer gulped to replenish his air, sucking it in like an infant taking his first breath. After five dunks, his entire upper half was soaked and he was dizzy from lack of oxygen. The boys had had enough, dropping him to the floor as the bell rang.
Spencer cried out as his shoulder slammed into the ground. He remained motionless as the boys, laughing hysterically, hurried out of the restroom, rushing to homeroom. No doubt, they'd be able to explain their lateness. And the teacher wouldn't question it in the least. Spencer didn't care about being tardy right now. He was tired and dizzy and wet and sore, all he could do was rest his head and close his eyes.
He came back to reality as the bell rang again. Everyone hurried off to first period. Spencer speedily pulled himself off the floor, remembering all his schoolwork was decorated in the stairwell. He sloshed out into the hall, trying to push through the throngs of people to get there.
No one seemed to care there were papers and books everywhere, walking up and down the steps like as if they couldn't see. Spencer quickly tried to gather his things, begging people to stop walking on his books and papers. At least the toilet water hid the tears running down his face.
A trickle of blood dripped from the cut on his forehead, splattering on the cover of his Principal's of Democracy paper, due today. He'd never be able to explain that to Mr. Heidelberg, but right now it didn't matter. The bell rang again at last. Class was in session. The dirty and ripped remains of his papers and books sat around him. Spencer, so emotionally exhausted, sat on the bottom step of the middle landing, burying his face in his knees for a moment, he let his tears soak into his second hand khaki pants, his bloody paper clutched in his trembling hand.
"Reid?" Morgan called, trying to get his attention. "You okay?"
The conference room could hardly be considered a room. There were no doors, just long pillars around the area to give it a bit of privacy. He could see and hear just about everything going on in the precinct. His eyes were focused across the room, his face suddenly turning ashen.
"Reid?" Emily pressed now, stepping forward. "Yoohoo, Spencer."
Still, he didn't hear their cries. For across the room, Alexa had been greeted by five people. Two of them were young girls. A teenager and a little child. The child was ecstatic to see her mother while the teen, dressed completely in black, gave her a very stiff hug. Just from looking at them, he knew there were Alexa's daughters. Like her son, they were the spitting image of their mother.
The adults, however, made his heart stop. He recognized them immediately. They greeted Alexa in turn, though he couldn't hear what any of them were saying. Jeremy and Harper stood together, trying to stay out of the way. They seemed a bit annoyed at having to come here. John, however, was talking intently to his wife, blatantly furious at why she lied to him and went to the FBI. Alexa was cowering before him… as she used to do when he screamed at her in the halls of their school, simply because he did not get his way.
"Reid!" Emily cried again. "Are you alright?"
At last, he came back to the present. Reid turned to his friends, who watched him with caution and trepidation.
"Yeah…" He mumbled with a nod, trying to ignore what was happening, pushing away the feeling of dread in his stomach. He started pulling the evidence from the boxes, arranging it on the bulletin board. Behind his back, Morgan and Emily shared a worried glance, anxious for their friend. As hard as this was going to be on him, they could at least be certain that this time they were here. He wouldn't have to go through this alone.