"Mommy, I'm hungry!" Penny whined sitting next to her sister on the sofa.
Alexa let out a sigh. "I know, Sweetie, but we can't leave quite yet." She explained. "I promise, we'll go get some lunch as soon as possible."
"I don't understand, what the hell was that all about?" Harper asked. "They talked to us like we're responsible and they don't even tell us the reason for it!"
"I don't know they did that, but it doesn't matter. Whatever their doing, it's to help the investigation." Alexa explained, sitting onto the sofa with the girls. Penny immediately crawled over her sister's lap to get to her, wrinkling the pages of her book.
"Watch where you're going, squirt!" She said with a light scowl.
"I'm not a squirt, you're a squirt!" Penny cried. "You're a big meanie squirt!"
"That's enough!" John yelled, causing both the girls to jump. "Not another peep out of either of you or I'm going to get mad!"
"Going?" Meredith mumbled with a roll of her eyes.
"What did you say?" Her father demanded. "You've got something to say to me, little girl, you say to my face. You'll see what you get."
She shrunk back in her seat, eyeing him cautiously, afraid the wrong response would set him off. "Nothing, sir."
"That's what I thought." He looked to Alexa angrily. "If we're forced into the middle of this, we have to stay in this stuffy precinct all day, then you better keep those two quiet."
"Alright, John!" Alexa snapped. "You yelling is not going to help anyone."
The door suddenly opened and one of the agents stepped in. "Hi," She said with a kind smile. "I don't think we've met, I'm Agent Jennifer Jareau, I'm the media liaison for the BAU. If there's anything you need, just let me know."
"Yeah, who do we got a talk to get some food in here?" Jeremy grumbled. "I mean, you separate us, you treat us like we're the god damn criminals, you'd think the least you g-men could do is spring for lunch."
JJ focused on him, her eyes hard and intense as she loosened her stiff muscles, ultimately disgusted by this man. "This is not a catered affair, Mr. Bundle. We're investigating a kidnapping and a possible murder. I'm sorry if you feel you've been treated unfairly, but we are doing everything possible to track down our subject. None of your basic rights have been infringed upon, any attorney will tell you that. I'm here to offer emotional support because, primarily, this usually is a very sorrowful time for a family. I see I was mistaken this time. Now, our interviews are finished, you are free to leave for the time being."
"I think we'll stick around, thanks." John said, glancing at his sister and friend. "I don't really think we'll be requiring your services, Miss Jareau."
She glared at him a moment. She knew how badly Morgan wanted to knock this man's head off. If he didn't do it soon, JJ was going to step up to the plate. "Very well," She muttered and quickly left the room.
As the door closed, Alexa got to her feet, adjusting Penny more comfortably in her arms. "You're not here for Peter's sake, you're here so you can mess with Spencer Reid."
"What's wrong with that?" Harper asked. "We have so little in our lives."
"Exactly, you know there's nothing special about you so you're attacking someone who is genuinely unique." She snapped. "This is no different than high school."
"Who are you to judge?" Harper wondered, getting to her feet. Her black hair swept around almost dangerously, like a leather whip. For a moment, she looked like the wicked eighteen year old she once was, always on the look out to devour a poor and meek younger student. "You tortured him right along with us, you never said boo. Wasn't it your idea to lure him the football field that day?"
Her breath caught in her chest, that familiar bile taste rising up every time she thought of the awful things she'd done, especially to Spencer. "I'm not proud of that… and anyway, I thought you were just going to beat him up, I had no idea you were going to… do what you did."
"We were legends after that." Jeremy grinned, his eyes shining with a nostalgic sparkle. "Everyone in school knew our names. And now this kid's going to come in here and act like he's better than us? I don't think so."
"You're no better than us, Lexi." Harper said with a knowing smirk. "Don't you dare stand there and act like you're some saint because you came to him for help. People like him are not worth our time, just because he has something you need. Trust me, when this whole ordeal is over, do you really think you're ever going to see him again? He wants nothing to do with you and trust me, you don't want something like that in your life."
Alexa knew she'd drifted from her friends over the years, but it was the first time she'd seen them in such an unflattering light. "I… I…" She wanted to retort, to explain to them they were not the superior ones. They were, in fact, weak and pathetic to hurt the esteem of a kind and decent person, especially one who devoted his life to helping people.
But, as Alexa admitted earlier, she was doormat. Shrinking back, she shook her head. "I'm going to take the girls and find something to eat. Come on, Mer."
Meredith obeyed, closing her book and getting to her feet. She followed her mother out of the lounge, all three breathing a lot better once they were separated from the toxic attitude.
"Mom," Meredith said, grabbing her mother's arm to stop her. "What did they mean… what did you guys do to Dr. Reid on the football field?"
It broke Alexa's heart to think of that afternoon, wanting so much to go back and make things right. It hurt even more to hear her daughter ask the question and her option was either lie to her daughter or tell her what an awful human being she was.
"Sweetie… we did something very mean to him." She said vaguely. "Something I regret very much and I wish I could apologize for."
"Why don't you?" She asked as they walked slowly to the break room. "I'm sure he'd understand."
"You think so?" She wondered, doubtful.
"Of course, oh my God, he's such a nice guy!" She exclaimed with a smile, almost giggling as she talked. "We had a really nice conversation. And boy, is he cute! Why can't he come around more instead of Aunt Harper and Uncle Jeremy?"
"Yeah!" Penny agreed, resting her head on her mother's shoulder. "He's a sweetie pie."
"Was he nice to you, too?" She playfully wondered, looking at her little girl.
"Uh huh," Penny replied, having the exact same grin as her big sister. "He's really brave, he fights monsters, Mommy. I was really sad about Peter and he gave me a big hug."
That warmed Alexa's heart so much, she thought it would burst. Even though he hated her, he wasn't displacing his loathing on her daughters. Perhaps Agent Hotchner was right. She'd been talking to him like some aunt who saw her little nephew after so long. She needed to talk to Spencer like an adult… maybe then, he'd at least hear her out.
JJ returned to the conference room looking very agitated. Everyone was looking at her in worry. "Are you alright, Sweetie?" Garcia asked.
"Yeah, just… those… people!" She said, folding her arms, feeling so shaken up. "They act like they whole world owes them something just because they got out bed this morning. I can't stand people like that!"
Reid was very pleased by her comment, his hand indicating her to the others in a way to show he wholeheartedly agreed with her comment. "See?" He asked, looking to Hotch.
"Let's get started, shall we?" Hotch said, not wanting to get into another debate with the young man. "What have we learned that's useful?"
"Well, Bundle and Hillman don't seem to be too upset over Peter's disappearance." Morgan said, his hand landing on his stomach again. It wasn't stabbing him at the moment, but it was irritating. "Hillman was very defensive on every question we asked, he might be hiding something."
"If he's hiding something, no doubt Bundle is, too." Emily added, obviously noticing the pain her boyfriend was in. It was an effort to sit here calmly and pretend nothing was happening. She was almost in as much agony as he was.
"You think they're involved with the kidnapping?" Rossi asked.
"I don't see what they'd gain from faking this." Morgan shook his head. "Neither couple has a lot of money or an important status, the only benefit I could think of is there's one less mouth to feed… unless John's having an affair."
"Garcia, I want you to run a financial status and background checks on all four adults." Hotch ordered. "There may be something in one of their pasts the others don't know, old debts or grievances."
"I will get right on that sir, a-sap." Garcia said, making a note with her sparkling pink pen.
"What about the women?" Emily wondered. "Either of them suspicious?"
"Alexa's clean." Hotch said at once. "She's devoted to her children, they're her whole life. It sounds like she doesn't have any kind of life outside of caring for her family. We're not going to learn anything through her."
He glanced across the table and saw Reid shift uncomfortably. It was obvious he was beginning to believe Alexa was not who he remembered, but he was too stubborn to let himself accept that.
"Harper, on the other hand, seems just as difficult as the men." Rossi continued. "Most of her interview was complaints on what a waste of time this was. It was taking time at her big career at the hair salon."
"She wasn't at all concerned as to what happened to her nephew?" JJ wondered, "I can understand the brother-in-law, but you'd think she'd be concerned for her flesh and blood."
"It's an odd family arrangement." Rossi replied. "Most of them act like they're estranged, but they're constantly in each other's lives. Normally when we see a family like this, they're very close and very loyal to one another."
Reid considered something, adjusting himself in his seat as he thought. "You know… it seems to go along with what Penny Hillman said."
"Is that a fact?" Rossi inquired, interested. "What was that?"
"She's under the impression that Peter ran away with a man; from her description, I'd say early twenties… whether it's the truth or not, I don't have any proof yet… but she said he left because he needed a new home. If they're living in this kind of environment, it would be a lot for a little kid to take. He was more than likely very anxious to run away."
"Children of that age don't typically go out into the world, even with a stranger." Emily shook her head. "They find a relative or a friend's house. Even they know they can't take care of themselves."
"He may not have had anyone." Reid explained. "Meredith claimed she didn't have a lot of friends. Peter may not have had any at all. After all… he is a twin."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Garcia wondered, looking up from her notes.
"Twins don't develop socialization skills as normally as other children do." Reid immediately explained. "It's a big subject in child psychology. Socialization is an evolutionary tactic, like lions in a pride, but instead of being eaten in the wild, it's just trying to survive on the playground. Twins are different, both dizygotic and monozygotic, they've known each other their entire existence so there's no pressure to be accepted by others, they always have someone to play with. It's actually a major issue in child psychology."
"Is that true, Riley?" Morgan questioned.
Riley was the only one uninterested in the conversation. She kept a tight grip on her husband's hand, so much so his fingers were almost numb, but the discussion around her was white noise. At the sound of her name, she sat, dazed, as if just realizing there were others in the room. "Huh?"
"Socialization in twins." Reid simplified, managing to give her a squeeze. "It's a major topic in child psychology, right?"
"Oh, uh… yeah, I… think so." She shook her head, barely able to understand what they were talking about. "I don't typically focus on children."
"Are you alright?" Rossi wondered. No surprise seeing he was one of the only three people who weren't informed on the situation.
"She's fine," Hotch said quickly to change the subject. "If the twins only want to be with each other, it wouldn't be that easy for a predator to take one twin and not the other."
"My instincts tell me this man specifically chose Peter. If he hadn't come willingly, he would have taken him by any means necessary." Reid assured. "He wasn't at all interested in Penny, in fact, he scared her."
"Okay… so we're looking for a man in his early twenties approximately, targeting boys between the ages of 5 and 9 from abusive or unhappy homes." Hotch said. "It's not much to go on."
"Baby Girl, did those searches turn up anything similar?" Morgan asked, turning to their analyst once again.
"Nada mucho," She replied. "Believe it or not, there haven't been too many kidnappings in the Vegas area in the last year. I did a search through the entire state, but there have only been a little over 300 kidnappings for boys under the age of 13."
"Girls tend to be more popular for predators." Rossi informed. "Let's think back, maybe there have been more crimes singling out twins or a twin. Along with kidnappings, let's try assault or flashing or some kind of impulse crime."
"Maybe even attempted kidnapping." JJ noted.
"Garcia, add that to your search. If there's anything connected, my guess would be it would be within the last three months. I want JJ to keep a watch on the family, observe them, attempting starting conversations with them, see what we can learn that could lead us to who took Peter. It's often these kidnappers attach themselves to the family to get better access to the child. Rossi and I are going to interview the people at the Hillman twins' elementary school. Morgan and Prentiss will investigate the Hillman home, see what they can learn about Peter, maybe there's a clue that shows where he and his captor may have disappeared to. It could possibly be where we find his body."
"Maybe I should go with them." Reid suggested.
"Your effort is better spent here." Hotch corrected. "Look back over the kidnapping cases, research which ones came from abusive homes, it's possible the captor was inspired by such a crime or was involved with it himself. Peter just might be the first victim, but that doesn't mean there weren't any rehearsals."
Reid wasn't so pleased at having to remain here. He would have liked to escape from this horror movie sequel for awhile, but he didn't argue. He couldn't argue with the logic, though. Hotch was right, there could be clues in the old cases and he was the best one to look for it. After all, he enjoyed a good paper trail. "I'll make notes on similar cases, and I'll add Garcia's results once she's finished."
"Alright, we'll meet back here in about two hours." Hotch concluded, and everyone quickly stood to get to work.
Reid looked over to meet Riley's worried face; the only person not getting to her feet. "I could use your help on this."
Riley looked up, startled and confused. "Did you say something?"
He'd never seen her so distracted. Really, he was starting to get worried about her. Her face was so pale and her forehead glistened with a cold sweat, he was tempted to abandon the case and take her to the hospital. "I asked if you wanted to help me research the past kidnapping cases."
Ordinarily, she would have jumped at the chance to assist him, but her mind was a live wire, she couldn't focus on anything right now. She wasn't sure how to deny him without him getting suspicious.
"Actually, I hate to steal her from you," JJ said as she gathered her things, "but I could really use Riley's help. Her expertise would be essential at studying the family."
Reid immediately accepted that. "She has a point. I'll see you later then?"
"Absolutely," She said softly, giving a nod.
Before she could pull away, Reid gently took her arm. "Are you alright?" He asked, soft but serious.
It wasn't the first time she felt like he could read her thoughts. The curse of being married to a profiler. "I'm just… a little distracted. I have some things on my mind."
"Okay…" Reid replied, not feeling relieved at all. "What is it, do you want to talk about it?"
"No, I don't," She answered, and with that, pulled away. "I'll be out there if you need me."
He expected her to give him a hug, or at least a kiss on the cheek. If he didn't know better, Reid would believe she was keeping something from him. He looked to JJ, the only one remaining in the room. "Is something going on?"
"Don't worry," JJ said confidentially. "Everything's going to be fine. You just focus on this, I'll look after her."
"Thanks, JJ," He said kindly. She returned his smile and stepped out of the room. Reid immediately reclaimed his seat. He grabbed the closest box, flipping off the lid and pulling out a handful of manila folders. With that, he began his search of flipping through the pages upon pages of kidnappings, searching for answers.
About ten feet from the door, Riley watched her husband lose himself in his mind as he set to work. She hated lying to him, and she loathed not being able to confide in him. After all this time, she almost couldn't deal with her own problems without seeking out her husband's advice.
JJ tugged on her arm to follow her and Riley obeyed. "Thanks for the cover."
"Don't thank me yet," She answered, guiding her towards the break room. "I pulled you out of there for a reason. Come on, I have something to show you."