Chapter two: Fear
The instant Gideon closed the door of the interrogation room, Reid began to apologize. Jason just shook his head and lifted his right hand to signal that the young man should stop.
"Listen very carefully to what I have to say."
Reid forced himself to look at Gideon. Oh he was serious alright. Probably angry too. And he had every right to be. And somehow, he just couldn't get David's voice out of his head. There was respect, but did the older profiler, his role model one might say, did he even like him? "How sure of that are you, exactly?" David had asked.
"Reid, have you even heard a single word I just said?" Jason asked a little louder than intended.
"No, no I haven't, I'm sorry." Spence said remorseful. He was surprised at how easy he had slipped into his own little world.
"For God's sake, stop apologizing." Gideon said warily while handing the young genius a cup of coffee. "I'm guessing you think I'm angry at you. Well I'm not. Intrigued by your choice of how you handled the situation in there. Worried at some point maybe. But angry? Nope."
"You're worried that I might do something wrong. You think that...that I'm not capable of handling this situation." Reid never meant to say that last sentence, but the words were out now. He couldn't go back in time to swallow those words. Not yet anyway.
"Is that what you're thinking?" Jason replied. he placed both of his hands firmly on Reid's shoulders. The youngest member of the team flinched at the contact, but didn't move away. "Now how rational is that thought?"
Spence shrugged. He wasn't sure of anything anymore.
"Answer me. How rational is that thought?" Although it was clear that Reid was not comfortable with the physical contact, Gideon didn't budge. He had to make Spence understand before they went back in there.
"It's not rational, then?" Reid finally asked. Jason shook his head. "But why are you worried if you think that I am capable?"
Still holding on to the young man's shoulders Gideon answered: "Being worried comes with the responsibility of the job. It also seems to be getting stronger, the older one gets." Gideon added with a smile. "Of course I worry about you. I mean, look at David's file. Look at the pictures of his victims. I think that's a really good reason to be worried about you."
Reid nodded slowly, a thought creeping into his head. "I let David get to me, didn't I?" Gideon released him and gave the genius a friendly pat on his back. Suddenly Reid jumped a little. His face lit up and with that his entire composure changed. "I have an idea. Can we go back in there?"
"I don't see any reason why we shouldn't." was all Gideon could say.
Hotchner watched the two members of his team walk back into the interrogation room. He noticed that the grim expression on Reid's face was gone. He thought he even saw a hint of a smile. That at least was good news. Not even a minute ago, Elle had called to let him now that the only surviving victim was too traumatized to talk. There was probably enough to get an indictment against David but it would be better if he confessed to everything he had done. Gideon and Reid had already gotten further than he thought was possible with this case.
David was humming a song Reid didn't recognize. "I missed you, Dr. Reid." Spence ignored the suspect the best he could although the warm voice unnerved him a tad.
"They're using you Dr. Reid. I might be a suspect in a murder investigation, but at least I'm honest about my intentions." The suspect stated.
For the first time since the interview started, Reid looked David straight into his eyes. "Are you? Because I don't think you even know your what your intention is." Before the suspect could reply, Reid continued.
"I know why you have that need. That need that gets out of control. The need that first surfaced when you were a teenager. It probably started when you survived. Isn't that right, David? You survived such a severe form of abuse which eventually formed the basis of your behavior."
The suspect slumped back into his chair, seemingly in control. A small muscle near his left eye was twitching dangerously, though.
Out of the blue, David started laughing. "Ah Dr. Reid, you crack me up. What's your first name?"
Before Reid could answer, Gideon interfered. "You don't need to know his first name. And I think Dr. Reid here is right about you. Why don't you go into that? Are you afraid to face your past?"
"Dr. Reid, could you tell your pops to cool down?" Although Gideon's comment didn't seem to have any effect at first glance, it was obvious that David was getting agitated. When Spence continued to ignore the suspect, David became even more restless. "My pops already showed me the fears I had to face. This little mind game? This is nothing compared to his parenting. "You are..." He pointed toward Gideon "absolutely nothing!"
"Then why are you so angy?" The genius asked innocently.
The suspect breathed in and out until he seemed calm and under control. "Hmmm...Dr. Reid, did your parents understand you at all? And what about your classmates? Did they...hurt you, Dr. Reid?"
"You loved them, didn't you?" Reid asked while taking the photographs of the victims out of a file. He placed those neatly next to each other on the table in front of David. He glanced at the dead men in the photo's for a split second. All of the dead men in the pictures had been heavily mutilated.
"This is how you see yourself, am I right?" Dr. Spencer Reid asked
"Calm down Dr. Reid. You remind me of a happy little golden retriever puppy, wagging his tail, peeing on the brand new carpet just out of sheer excitement." David was starting to lose his patience.
"So you see me as a puppy that needs to be trained?" Spence continued questioning the suspect. "Is that how you saw those young man?" He said, pointing at the pictures on the table.
David leaned in a bit to make sure the young profiler would be able to hear his whispers. "No sweet Dr. Reid," David whispered. "They're not dogs, you know."
Their was a moment of silence which reminded Hotch of one of those western movies, the part right before the shooting would begin. He poured himself a glass of cold water. When he looked up again he saw the suspect slowly getting up from his chair. "What's he doing..." Hotch wondered.
The suspect went on playing his sick games. "Dr. Reid, what's your worst fear? Wait, don't tell me. Your worst fear is going insane, and not being aware of it." David knew he found another weak spot. The suspect was now standing and so was Reid. David was only a few inches taller than Reid, but that could make a huge psychological difference.
"People have let you down, just a little too often, haven't they? Well sweet Dr. Reid, you can trust me. you know. You can. I know how you feel. I do, I do, honestly."
Spence cleared his throat. "Golden Retrievers can learn really fast and they remember what they've learned for the rest of their lives."
"Do you always blurt out facts like that when you get nervous, Dr. Reid?"
"No, I don't." Reid answered honestly. "However, you compared me to a golden retriever puppy, which I found very interesting. You see, the more I think about it, the more it makes sense."
"What do you mean?"
"For instance, your father was a very cruel man. But you seem to worship him. You mentioned that he showed you the fears you had to face. Do you mean the abuse, physical, psychological and sexual abuse that you have suffered? Is that what you call parenting? Is that what you were doing to these men?" Spencer asked while touching each photograph.
Without any warning, David wiped all of the photographs off the table. He was breathing heavily.
"I helped them! They, They're safe now!" David yelled with a strange, high-pitched voice.
All of a sudden, the sick man grabbed Dr. Reid by his collar. However, Spencer stayed calm and said: "You're right. My worst fear is going insane. But at least I know I have friends who would help me get through it. People I can trust." And at exactly that moment, police officers stormed in and took the murderer, David, away.
The older man rushed over to Spence. "Are you alright?" All Reid could do was nod, and walk out of the interrogation room, leaving a proud profiler behind. "Good job, Reid." He said quietly.
The End.