"Sorry," Riley said, greeting Will again at Reid's desk. "Spencer is… really busy right now. But I can keep you company."
Will nodded. "Thanks. He's worried about his mother. I understand." From his attitude, Riley had a suspicion he had overheard the dispute above. It wasn't a surprise; sound traveled in this quiet.
"Can I get you some coffee?" She asked. "I think the others are making a fresh pot."
"Thank you, please." He replied. Riley hurried away to the break room where the others were gathered, leaving Will alone again. He reclaimed his seat, admiring the empty office, having never gotten to observe where his son worked.
He wasn't alone for long, though. "Hey, Dad," Reid said, having come from the conference room.
Startled, Will got to his feet. "Spencer… I thought you were working."
"Well," He shrugged. "I needed a break."
It was awkward. Reid didn't know what to say, his gaze looking around for some kind of distraction. Will was trying not to stare at his son too much, the first time he'd seen him since he was shot.
"How are you feeling?" He finally asked.
Reid gave bob of his head. "I'm okay." He wanted to leave it at that, but Riley's words haunted him. He attempted to make an effort. "A little tired… I don't have all my strength back yet, but I'm better… at least I will be, when I solve this."
"I'm sorry I got you into this, Spencer." His father blurted, shaking his head.
Reid had never felt so horrible. With a deep breath, "You heard us…"
"Spencer, please understand, when I started getting those letters, I never wanted to bother you." Will plainly stated. "I thought about telling you, but I didn't want to waste your time. It was because of your mother… I know it's hard to believe, but I do still love her, very much, and I was so worried about her. I knew you would be, too, and angry if you didn't know about this. I am sorry about your friend… I wish I could go back and change it."
"Dad… I didn't mean that." Reid begged him to understand. "I'm just aggravated… this would have happened anyway. If you hadn't come… both you and Mom could have been killed before I even knew what was going on. I'd hate myself if that happened. I'm glad you came, Dad… even if it was 3 in the morning."
Will smiled. "I am glad you're okay… I can't tell you how relieved I was when your boss told me you were alive."
Reid couldn't explain how odd he felt, like he was suddenly a little boy again. With a nervous swallow, "I'm sorry I had to put you through that."
Before his father could say another word, the phone on Reid's desk rang. Once. Twice. Three times.
"Morgan!" Reid called to the break room, getting the other's attention, all pretending they were too distracted to listen. "Where's Garcia?"
"Her office, why, you think that's him?" Morgan asked.
"We don't have time to wonder, just… tell her to trace it anyway."
As fast as his legs could take him, Morgan hurried out of the unit towards Garcia's office. At the ninth ring, Reid hoped that had been enough time, and picked up the receiver. "This is Dr. Reid."
"I won't be long, Dr. Reid," Nathan said, "Miss Garcia won't be able to trace this anyway, even if I stay on twenty minutes. I remember her… she's the one that helped you. I wonder if she should be my next one after JJ."
"Nathan…" Reid was wasting time asking, but he had to know. "I know you have both JJ and my mother. I just want to know if they're okay."
There were several long, drawn out breaths. "They're fine… for now. But you don't have much time. The press conference was a nice effort, but it won't help."
"It did help, Nathan," Reid explained. "It got you to call us again."
"Stop talking. I wouldn't want to lose my train of thought." Nathan continued. "You're running out of time, Dr. Reid. Timing is awfully important, don't you think? Do you know where to find me, yet?"
"Can't you just tell me?" Reid asked. "I will come alone, I promise. No gun, no vest, just tell me."
"Dr. Reid… I've changed over the years. I'm not that stupid little boy from when we met. The one that trusted you. I didn't want you to help me, and now you have to pay for that. But I'm not entirely without feeling. You did believe what you were doing was for the best. I understand that. If you choose not to come, you won't suffer with the guilt for long. After I'm done going through your family and friends and of course, that girl you love so much, I'll make sure to put you out of your misery, for certain this time. Think of it as a token of my gratitude… for saving me."
Reid had to keep him talking. Garcia could trace any phone line, even if Nathan didn't think so. "Nathan… are my mother and JJ together? Are they with you? Can I talk to them?" A long pause followed, each question lost in the silence. "Why don't you want me to know where you are?"
"Dr. Reid, I've given you… at least four clues in this conversation. If anyone can figure it out, it's you… I'll see you soon."
And with that, the line once again went dead.
…
He wasted no time. Reid pulled out a pen and tablet, writing the conversation word for word. Once he was finished, he removed the paper and set it on the desk, setting to work on notes.
He wrote feverishly, analyzing the words. The others stood around him, unable to lend him a hand.
"Wow," Will whispered in a huff.
"What?" Elle asked.
The man was beside himself, "He remembered that entire conversation? He wrote it out without a second thought to recall."
"Yeah, that's what an eidetic memory means, Mr. Reid." Elle's tone was offensive, wondering why of all people, he was impressed.
"You knew that, didn't you?" Riley was curious.
"Yes, I knew that. I've just…" he shook his head, "I've never seen him work before. It's really amazing… I can't believe that's my son."
Their conversation didn't even penetrate the bubble Reid was immersed in, which only impressed Will more. Riley smiled as Rossi chuckled, "You get used to it. After awhile, it gets annoying."
"The answer has to be here," Reid said as he flipped for a clean page. "Nathan must have chosen his words carefully before he called. He wanted to point me in the right direction… but where? Which words connect together?"
"Reid, you could put almost any of these words together and connect them in half a dozen ways." Elle pointed out. "And even if you find a place that makes sense, how are you going to know it's the right place. This is just a waste of time.
"Do you have a better idea to find him, Elle?" Reid snapped, his attention finally pulling from the paper. She was silent, lost for a reply. He went back to work, scratching out the last attempt he made. They heard the doors open, indicating the others were back. "What do you got?" Gideon inquired.
"I managed to trace the call." Garcia replied. She was downhearted, enough indication for the rest of them it wasn't good news.
"To who, Garcia?" Emily wondered.
"JJ," she moaned. "He was calling from her cell phone."
"Can't you track the towers the signal bounced off of?" asked Hotch, his temper sizzling on the surface
"She tried," Morgan replied, just as sad. He put his arm around the girl, seeming so bizarre looking this hopeless. "Nathan disabled it so the signal bounces off several, random towers before it goes through. And there's no way to trace the GPS."
Will, having no idea an unsub could be so intangible, asked, "How can he do that, though? Is he… some kind of computer genius or something?"
"You don't have to be a genius to do things like that, Mr. Reid." Rossi explained, his eyes focused on the young man continuing his scribbling and decoding. "You can learn just about anything on the internet, like disabling a phone. It's illegal, but that doesn't stop people."
Reid scratched out his work again and turned to yet another page. "It doesn't matter, the answer is here." He looked to the transcript again, looking for the next noun he hadn't tried. "It's eluding me in the sentences, but I know it's here."
"Kind of like hide and seek… with words." Riley specified.
"Yeah…" Reid sighed. "At least I think so… I've never played hide and seek."
"Okay," Hotch thought for a moment, "I think the best thing we can do right now is let Reid work in peace. We're running low on time. Rossi and Elle, I want you to go to the police station, make sure they're doing everything possible. We have cops searching all over the city; the news alert is airing every fifteen minutes. Everyone in DC and the neighboring cities will see Nathan's face. He will not be hidden for long."
"Provided he's out in the open." Everyone else was just as worried as Emily, but she had a much harder time than usual at keeping her doubts and fears inside "I know he wants to meet with Reid, but it's not midnight yet. How do we even know he's not in hiding or underground?"
The words roused Reid like he was awaking from a comatose state. "Underground…" he repeated, looking around the group. The words sounded in his head like someone had pressed play on a mental tape recorder I wouldn't want to lose my train of thought. "…trains drive underground."
"What's that got to do with anything?" Morgan asked.
"Nathan mentioned when we met… when he was timid and scared and was trying to understand himself… I was coming up from the subway… 'train' - the subway, of course, is made up of trains; he mentioned how important timing is, the subway, like all transportation, works on a precise schedule; 'token' – you used to need tokens to ride the subway. Now you just used a prepaid card, but he knew I'd pick up on the symbolism." The others looked at him like he were speaking Ancient Viking, waiting for him to get to the point. "He wants to meet me where we met, on the steps down to the entrance of the subway… the one on Kennedy Avenue."
"That's not the closest entrance to the BAU, though." Emily said.
Reid nodded. "If it were a matter of closeness, it could be one of six. But it had been on Kennedy Avenue where we met. He's going to meet me on the landing… I'm sure of it."
"Okay," Hotch said. Now they were getting somewhere. "Rossi, Elle, go to the police station now, tell them what we know. Garcia, I need you to track all running trains in the subway, time, stops, tracks offline, everything. Call us when you have it."
"I'm on it, sir," Garcia cried, rushing to her office once again, grateful she at last could be helpful in finding her girl.
"The rest of us are going to be in Nathan's pursuit." Hotch explained.
"Hotch…" Reid caught Riley's nervous, almost panicked eye. He hated to say this, he knew she would be upset, but it had to be this way. "I think I should go alone. Nathan won't cooperate if I show up with other agents. He wants me alone."
"Spencer," Riley whimpered, trying futilely at keeping herself from crying, "Please, you can't do this by yourself."
"Riley, I have to," He looked at everyone, knowing Riley was voicing what the others were feeling. "It's what Nathan wants."
"So, all of a sudden you're taking orders from the boy who tried to kill you?" Riley cried. "No, you can't go! I forbid it!"
"Riley…" Reid's tone was soft, trying to get her to see this was best. She was often determined to get her way, but never had she treated him like he needed permission.
"No! Spencer, you made me promise you once in order to save my life! Well, now it's my turn! So if you love me, you will do what I ask! You will never get out of there alive! Please, don't go!"
"No… he's going to go." Gideon voiced before Reid could answer. Reid looked to the old man, knowing he was forming a plan. Every feeling of resentment and abandonment was gone. He couldn't explain why, but Reid completely trusted him.