Author: TemporaryUniverse
WC: 2575 (11548 Total)
Chapter 6: Midnight
Day 3 ~ 5:41 am
REID
Reid was exhausted. He felt like he hadn't slept in days, though he knew he kept falling unconscious. His entire body was sore from being chained to the uncomfortable chair for so long, but his limbs were numb. At least his leg no longer throbbed from the knife damage. He could barely move; his muscles were cramping too badly. The only thing he could do was sit and think and even that was difficult. His mind seemed to be filled with a fog, and he didn't know what time it was. He could list the reasons for his weariness. It was from blood loss, isolation, dehydration, and hunger, but he had no idea what he was going to do. The TV had been turned off, so he couldn't watch Henry anymore. Reid knew it was a way for the man to control him, and so that he wouldn't be able to regain his concept of time. He felt like crying, but the tears wouldn't come. He was too tired. The only thought he had been able to fully form for the past four hours had been relatively simple, but it gave him some solace. My team will come. They will find me. It repeated over and over in his head like a mantra, but the longer he sat there, the less true it sounded.
The door opened with a clang, and Reid's head snap towards the unexpected movement. The intruder made his way towards the wall to his right. The heavy footsteps echoing loudly in his ears and made Reid's head pound. He kept silent, not wanted to anger his captor. He doubted he had the strength to speak anyways. His senses were on high alert, and his mind had regained some of its clarity. The young agent simply watched, gauging his next move carefully. The Unsub had been carrying something. Reid heard the clank of a metal chain and the metallic thud as something landed on the floor. He didn't know what it was though; the man had his back to Reid the entire time.
The man then turned around, and the genius suppressed a shiver at the man's expression. His icy eyes were full of malice and a sort of twisted eagerness. The man made his way towards his victim and knelt before the chair. Reid blinked, slightly confused. What was he doing? His question was soon answered as his captor began to untie the rope around his ankles.
"Don't fight back, Dr. Reid. It won't work and it will just be worse for you," The man uttered, his voice smooth, but threatening at the same time. Reid said nothing and sat frozen in his chair. When the ropes were off, the man moved around to the back and started to undo the cuffs. Reid moved his legs experimentally. The blood beginning to circulate again made them feel like they were on fire.
"Stand up." His arms were freed. Reid obeyed the command, his knees buckling under him when he tried to put weight on them. It had been a long time since he had moved more than an inch. He collapsed on the ground, his small gasp stifled by the gag that was still in his mouth. He slowly raised his arms to remove it and they protested loudly. He winced. The man grabbed his arm and pulled him up roughly.
When the man began to drag him over to the table, Reid decided to act. He threw himself against his captor and brought his knee up into the other man's abdomen. The man was winded and clutched his stomach. His grip on Reid loosened, he slowly sank to the ground. The agent pulled himself free and started to run. Despite the weakness in his legs, he scrambled up the stairs and reached for the door. He twisted the handle and pulled as hard as he could, but the locked door refused to open. Panic filled him and he pulled frantically. He could hear the man getting up from the ground and patiently approaching the young genius. Reid started to pound on the door. "Someone! Help!" he screamed. He was able to let out a last, "Help me!" before strong arms wrapped around him and he let out a sob. He struggled until the cold edge of a knife pressed against his chest. He bit his lip. No, no, no.
"I told you there would be consequences for any resistance, Dr. Reid. I'll let this pass, but next time, little Henry won't be so lucky." The man's voice was cat-like, a deep purr that rumbled in Reid's ear. The tone of it terrified him more than when the man had been angry. The man carried him back down the stairs and sat him against the wall. Reid squeezed his eyes shut and tried to block out the tingling of hot breath on his neck. His heart was pounding. He heard the clink of metal and the pressure of a thick manacle that was fastened around his ankle. His hands were grabbed by large, calloused hands and pulled in front of him. The handcuffs were tightened on his wrists, cutting into the already raw skin.
He opened his eyes, and tears threatened to fall. A feeling of helplessness overwhelmed the young genius. "Please, just let me go," His voice trembled. The only answer he got was the gag being placed back between his lips. His hazel eyes locked with his captor's and he saw the fury in them.
The man left the room but returned only minutes later. He no longer had the knife, instead, there was a cattle prod clenched in his fisted hand. Reid scooted backward and strained against the chain, trying futilely to put distance between himself and his tormentor. The man advanced on him, halting when Reid was less than a foot away from his feet. The man reached down and ripped off the gag. Reid trembled in terror. The man pressed a switch, igniting the tip of the cattle prod with crackling blue energy. Faster than Reid could react, the Unsub thrust the prod down, catching Reid below his ribs. Electricity penetrated every nerve of his body. His muscles spasmed and burned in agony. He screamed.
UNSUB
The man repeated his jab with the prod a few more times before he stood up, his eyes never leaving the trembling and shaking form lying on the ground. The genius in front of him curled into himself after he had finished, limbs twitching sporadically. He smiled in satisfaction at the pain he had caused. The tears on the younger man's face were falling freely, but he was no longer screaming and stayed silent. The man said nothing either, and left the room, leaving Dr. Reid alone. He wasn't done with the young doctor yet, and what was coming next was even worse than what he had just forced on him. He walked through his house and opened a door, taking in the sight of the woman bound and gagged in front of him. She struggled valiantly.
"Hello, Sarah. I'm leaving for work now, so be a good girl and we'll have some fun when I get back." His voice dripped with sadism. He left her and locked the door behind him. Before exiting the house, he stopped to check on Spencer, watching him through the video feed. The boy was still lying on the concrete floor, not moving.
He reached his destination early, but was pleasantly surprised to see Agent Hotchner already working. The bullpen of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit offices was completely empty, save for the serious-looking man, and himself. His janitor's uniform allowed him to watch the unit chief as they both worked. When Agent Jareau entered, the man left, passing the blonde profiler with a charming smile. He headed towards Penelope Garcia's office. When he reached the office, he knocked cautiously. Upon hearing no answer, he entered. The man slipped out the envelope in his pocket and placed it on the technical analyst's desk. Her name was scrawled neatly on the official-looking package's face. He began to walk out, but paused, an idea striking him. His eyes scanned the sparkly toys that littered the room, and he grabbed one of them, a small frog that lit up when it was squeezed. The frog went into his pocket. Grinning, he exited the office, knowing the BAU would get his present very soon.
Day 3 ~ 7:16 am
HOTCH
Agent Hotchner was staring at the files on his desk, but not really seeing them. He hadn't slept much that night. His mind was too worried about Spencer, though he had gone home and sent his team to get some rest as well. The stoic profiler kept thinking about his missing agent. He glanced out of his office window into the office area beyond. He could see an exhausted JJ entering through the glass doors, passing the janitor on her way to her office. The senior agent sighed and focused back on the information in front of him. I know we're missing something, but what is it? He thought angrily to himself.
When he looked out again, Morgan and Prentiss were conversing in front of Reid's desk. He didn't know what they were saying, but their behavior seemed tense and angry. He took a deep breath, preparing himself mentally before stepping out.
"Morgan. Prentiss. Get JJ and Garcia and meet me in the conference room," He ordered and went to get Dave from the adjacent office.
When the team was settled at the round table, they all looked expectantly at Hotch.
"Garcia, have you found anything from the prison records?" He began by asking.
"Well, I have 14 possibilities from Virginia, and another 27 from West Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey, but I'm still working on it. The problem is that Reid's had cases in almost every state, not to mention consultations. He's worked on over a thousand cases, and I don't know how far back to go or where to start. There's just a lot of information to go through, sir," Garcia sighed unhappily. She wanted to be doing more to help find her Boy Wonder.
"Okay, I think you can remove cases that didn't involve murders. Let's start by looking at cases where the Unsub had a child," Dave directed the distraught hacker.
"A child?" Morgan was confused.
"The guy we're looking for has a lot of rage and is looking for revenge. He blames Reid for a loss, and whoever he lost was very close to him, and probably related," Dave explained.
"Okay, I can do that. Just give me a sec," Garcia quipped as she tapped away at her computer. A few minutes of tense silence passed. "Um. Still over a hundred."
Morgan sighed, "Well, that's better..."
"Any more parameters?" Garcia stared at them from over her laptop screen.
"Narrow it to Unsubs or their children who fit the profile. 30–40 years old, male," Prentiss cut in.
"Alright. This is gonna take a while." Garcia picked up her laptop and started back to her office.
"Baby Girl, what's that?" Morgan asked, spying an envelope that Garcia had left behind.
The bubbly tech girl turned back around, a frown on her face. "Oh, I don't know. I just found it in my lair this morning. It looked important, and I was going to check it out later." She hobbled back to the table and grabbed the envelope before exiting the room. The team went back to their profiling, brainstorming theories so they could catch their Unsub.
All of a sudden, Hotch's phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and took a moment to read the text. It was from Garcia, and it was in all caps, the words screaming urgently at him from the display, "GET IN HERE NOW!" Hotch frowned, but stood up and practically ran to the computer-filled office.
"What is it Garcia?" Hotch said the words as the rest of the team entered as well, confused by Hotch's reaction and curious as to what Garcia had found.
"I—I opened the package, and—" She seemed reluctant to continue, "I found this." The blonde held out a thumbdrive and a small note.
Hotch frowned as he took them, wondering why a thumbdrive would upset Garcia so much. It wasn't until he opened the note that he understood.
He read it out loud to the rest of the team, hating every word. "'BAU, I hope you don't mind, but I thought I would give you one last goodbye to your little agent. He and I are enjoying ourselves immensely, but unfortunately, you won't see him again after this. I know that right now you are trying to find me, but I can assure you that your efforts are futile. Dr. Reid misses you terribly.'"
There was silence around the room until Hotch spoke up, "Did you plug the drive in Garcia?"
"I was going to, but I thought you should all be here first," Garcia replied.
The dark-haired profiler nodded and handed the thumbdrive back to her. She immediately plugged it into a port on her main monitor and typed in a few commands. A black window appeared on the screen.
"Oh my god," Garcia gasped.
"What is it?" Prentiss asked. The profilers were confused by the tech's reaction to seemingly nothing.
"It's a video," Garcia said quietly. She pressed a button, and the video began to play. Instead of black, now the youngest member of the family was on the screen. There was a collective gasp and an echo of Garcia's exclamation from everyone gathered; Reid was handcuffed and tied to a chair, with his back to them, although he had twisted his neck around to look at the person holding the camera. They watched as the brown-haired agent shifted apprehensively and the camera shakily moved closer to him. The perspective they had seemed to be as if they were the Unsub.
"This isn't a live feed, is it Garcia?" Hotch asked.
"No, it's just a recording, but that means I can't track it." Garcia seemed on the verge of tears again. Morgan put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
They continued to watch, never seeing the Unsub's face. He must be holding the camera, Hotch thought. A familiar voice came over the speakers, "I won't do it, I will never do what you want."
Hotch couldn't help but feel proud of his subordinate's strength. They watched as the man yelled at Reid, obviously angry, and stalked over to the table. They watched the Unsub's hands grab the black cloth and the knife. When the man shoved the gag in Reid's mouth and then stabbed his leg with the knife, Garcia let out a sob, and the rest of the BAU tried to cover their own startled reactions. Hotch's fists were clenched so tight his fingernails dug small crescents into his palms. Morgan's grip looked like he would break the back of Garcia's chair. JJ's hand was covering her mouth and she, Prentiss, and Dave all had looks of horror frozen on their faces, though Prentiss' shoulders shook slightly.
The entire room was in shock as the video abruptly ended. They could still hear Reid's muffled screams vibrating in their ears, and it was a long time before any of them moved.
