Author: TemporaryUniverse
WC: 2780 (22277 Total)
Warnings: minor character death and child death (in a dream sequence)


Chapter 9: Nightmares

Day 3 ~ 2:00 pm

REID

Reid opened his eyes to white. He blinked rapidly, trying to clear the brightness from his vision, but the light still burned his retinas. Where am I? He squinted around the area, frowning when a small form took shape at the edge of his view.

"Hello?" He called out uncertainly, but as loudly as he could manage. The figure appeared to be some distance away and was shadowed, despite the glowing brightness that surrounded it.

"Help me!" Came the reply. Reid couldn't recognize the feminine voice.

"Who are you?" He began to run towards the figure. The person's features were becoming clearer and more defined. It was a woman, but despite how close she seemed, her face remained blurred and dark.

"Help me! I'm scared! He's going to kill me!" the woman screamed. Reid urged his legs to move faster. He was almost there. The woman looked at him, and Reid stumbled in shock. She had chestnut hair and wide blue eyes, and the last time Reid had seen her was when she was lying lifeless on a cold table in a concrete prison.

He was right in front of her now, close enough that he could have reached out and touched her. He should have been able to hear her breath, but then he realized she wasn't breathing. The genius stared into her pale face. Her blue eyes were dead and empty, her mouth frozen in a perpetual scream, and her hair formed a tangled halo around her head. She wore a torn white dress that billowed down to her ankles.

"You killed me," she accused, but her mouth hadn't moved, and yet Reid knew it was she that had spoken. Her voice sounded strange and distant as if it was heard from underwater.

It was then that Reid became aware of something clutched in his hand. He chanced a glance down, immediately feeling sick at the sight of the knife he held in his long, pale fingers. It was dripping with dark crimson blood.

"You killed me." The phrase echoed around him, and Reid slowly returned his gaze to the woman. He couldn't look away from the red that began emanating outward from a single bloody wound in her chest, spreading a stain on her white dress.

Suddenly she screamed again, the blade of the knife was buried in her stomach, still gripped in Reid's hand, the young doctor had been unaware of his own movement, he watched horrified as he pulled the knife out, before plunging it into her flesh once again.

He felt like he was watching a movie, images running in front of his eyes, but he couldn't do anything; his body wasn't his own to control. He couldn't stop.

Reid shut his eyes, trying to will his body to let go of the knife, but he snapped them open again when a terrifyingly familiar voice began screaming.

"Uncle Spence!" It was a child's voice. Oh god, no. Reid was staring into another set of wide blue eyes, but now they belonged to a frightened three-year-old boy. The toddler was crying, covered in blood. "Uncle Spence, please! Stop!" Henry sobbed, and tears began streaming down Reid's face as well. I'm sorry, Henry. He was now even more desperate to stop.

"I can't, Henry. I'm so sorry!" He cried.

The knife finally dropped to the ground, and Reid immediately rushed to pick Henry up. He cradled the boy and stroked his blond hair, streaking red through the strands. The toddler was shaking and struggling to gain breath.

"Damnit." An unfamiliar voice reached Reid's ears, but he ignored it, instead focusing on the dying child he was holding.

"Uncle… Sp-Spence," He gasped. Reid was helpless as his godson died, his blue eyes closed, tears trickling down his cheeks.

"Dr. Reid." He barely heard the words through the pounding of his heartbeat and his own sobs.

Reid felt something break inside him. He pulled Henry closer to him with shaking arms, buried his face in the toddler's hair, and cried.

"I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry. I killed you. I didn't want to. Henry, I'm sorry," He continued to whisper over and over to the small boy's body.

"Dr. Reid, wake up." The voice was louder and more insistent this time. He could feel himself being pulled into the darkness, but he clung to his godson, refusing to let go.

"Damnit, wake up!" Henry disappeared into the darkness and Reid obeyed the voice.

The first thing he was aware of when he woke was the presence of someone standing over him and a hand on his shoulder. The second thing he was aware of was the pain. In his head, leg, throat, abdomen, practically every muscle of his body was pulsing with it. He managed to open his eyes slightly but squeezed them tightly shut again and whimpered when a wave of pain washed over him.

He heard a sigh of relief from above him.

"Alright, Dr. Reid, I was worried you weren't going to wake up. While you were sleeping, I realized you haven't had anything to eat or drink. Now I must admit that it's my fault. With all the fun we've been having, it must have slipped my mind." The Unsub's tone was full of a dark humor.

Reid didn't care, he was too busy trying to shut out the torment of his body. He began to experimentally move his arms and legs, wincing at each twinge of pain. Finally, it started to subside, and he raised his head just in time to see the man drop a paper bag in front of him. The agent clenched his teeth as he sat up.

"W-what's… in… the bag?" He ground out breathlessly. The whole room seemed to be swimming around him. He was trying to focus his attention on his situation, but threads of fear and panic from his nightmare were still clinging to him, and it was hard to brush them off in his current state.

"Your lunch. Well, I say lunch, but it might be breakfast, or even dinner, depending on how you look at it. I suppose it's whatever you decide it should be."

Reid stared at the man blankly, his exhausted mind struggling to comprehend the words. He determined that the man was officially crazy. But then, you'd have to be to be torturing someone in your basement, right? Right now, the Unsub was grinning at him like they were suddenly best friends. Yup, he's absolutely bonkers. Totally… Reid couldn't think of the appropriate word. Garcia would know. She'd have some perfectly witty and nonsensical phrase that would somehow describe him exactly… Right? Reid snapped out of his thoughts when he realized the man was speaking to him.

"-st eat this and I'll come back for some more games soon. And I better see that you finish your meal, Dr. Reid, wouldn't want any nasty consequences now, would we?" The Unsub stood up abruptly and left, the door banging shut behind him.

It took the young agent a few seconds to pull his erratic thoughts together. Slowly, he pulled the bag towards himself and opened it to find a bottle of water, a plastic container of what looked like chicken noodle soup, cold, of course, along with a cheap plastic spoon and a bread roll. When he had pulled the items out, he noticed something else that had been previously hidden at the bottom. He reached in with trembling fingers and lifted it out. Reid stared into the face of the smiling toy frog. He was bewildered by its meaning and why his captor had put it with his food. The bright color was even more exacerbated by the flashing lights that it produced. A fragment of a memory flashed through his mind.

Reid hesitantly knocked on the door and entered the dark, cramped room. The glow of a dozen or so computer monitors provided extra illumination. "Garcia?" He queried, wondering where the perky analyst was. The office appeared to be empty. Frowning, Reid glanced about the space. Deciding to wait for her as it seemed she would be back soon, Reid walked further into the office and performed a cursory examination of its contents. He smiled faintly at the sight of the many colorful baubles on her desks. It looked like a rainbow had exploded on the surfaces. He fingered a bright green frog, startling when colored lights began to flash under the skin.

"Oh!" The surprised exclamation had him hastily replacing the object and spinning around. The owner of the toy frog grinned at him happily, a mug of fresh coffee clutched in her manicured hands. Her nails were a vibrant pink that matched her thick-rimmed glasses. "Reid! I wasn't expecting you."

"Hey, Garcia," He smiled at her, "I need you to look something up for me."

"Of course, sweetcheeks, anything I can do for my favorite Junior G-man." She hurried forward, sat down on her desk chair, and began typing while Reid gave her his request.

Reid stared down at the object, feeling numb. He can get to Garcia. He can get to the team. I need to protect them. The young doctor glanced at the food. He shoved the frog into his pocket, a constant reminder of his family, and began to eat.


Day 3 ~ 2:20 pm

UNSUB

The man was hunting again. The park was always a good place; it had plenty of trees and an abundance of unsuspecting targets.

He hadn't really considered another abduction; the decision was impulsive. His meticulously careful plan was crumbling, but it wasn't his fault, not really. It was that damn doctor. Watching him — no, forcing him to kill had given the man an invigorating high he'd only experienced once before, during his first kill. He remembered her as clearly as if it were yesterday, her wide, brown eyes, silken hair as dark as obsidian that framed her pale face with its soft tresses. Her tinkling laugh, bright and beautiful, and her even more perfect screams. The man sighed at the memory, a smile playing on his lips.

A high, female voice cut through his reminiscing, and he returned his attention to the task at hand.

"Excuse me. Excuse me, miss?" He inquired with all the politeness he could muster, letting desperation seep into his voice. The lone blonde turned to face him. "I-I need help, it's my niece. She's only fifteen, oh god, help me."

The woman's expression morphed to one of concern. "What happened? Is she alright?"

"I don't know. She was just over there, and then I forgot something in my car, but when I came back, she wasn't there and I found this." He held up the jacket of one of his previous victims, the small blood spatter on the sleeve was a nice touch. "I just, I don't know what to do! Please, can you help? I'm begging you."

"You said she was over here? Have you called the police?" They walked together towards the location he had pointed out.

"I did call the cops. They will be here soon, but I was hoping I could start looking for her. I just, what if something happened to her? I would never forgive myself." He rambled in mock concern. She followed him trustingly, and he was gleeful at her naivety but kept the worried expression on his face. It was all too easy to hit her over the head and get her into his van. The trees provided privacy from any possible observers on the other side of the park. His latest victim in tow, the man headed back to his basement of horrors.


HOTCH

"Jake Ellis, open the door! This is the FBI!" Morgan pounded on the sturdy wood with a clenched fist. The tactical team standing ready on the porch could hear footsteps approaching from the inside of the house. The door opened, displaying an incredibly confused man with tangled hair and the stench of alcohol on his breath. His eyes went comically wide when he saw the dozen gun barrels pointing at him.

"Jake Ellis, put your hands behind your head. You are under arrest for the kidnapping and assault of a Federal agent and the murders of Toby Cross, Michael Willis, Adam Smith, and Jeff Brighton."

"Whoa, whoa. What the hell are you talking about! I never killed anyone!" Ellis protested.

"Hands behind your head, Ellis," Morgan growled. His glare seemed to intimidate the suspect, who obeyed the demand nervously. Morgan immediately holstered his gun and handcuffed the man, being none too gentle with the task. Hotch lead the search of his house but was disappointed to discover nothing incriminating, much less a missing federal agent.

Ellis was taken to the interrogation rooms at the Quantico office. Hotch, Morgan, and JJ stood in the observation room, glaring daggers at him through the one-way window. Rossi and Emily were working with Garcia to see if they could locate their hacker. After enough time had passed for Ellis to get appropriately anxious, Hotch and JJ came through the connecting door. JJ sat down at the table while Hotch took up a standing position, leaning against the wall behind the blonde agent.

"Look, I don't know what you think I did, but I swear I didn't do it," Jake pleaded.

"Your brother was Matthew Ellis." JJ's comment was met with silence as the suspect's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Yeah, so what?"

"So, you're not mad about the fact that he's in jail for life?" JJ asked.

"Hell, no. My brother was a sadistic jerk. I hated his guts. He deserves to be in jail." The two profilers could see that Ellis was getting mad.

"You're lying," Hotch spoke up, finally, making his voice as hard and furious as possible.

"Would you love your brother if he killed your girlfriend? He raped her and then he murdered her! God, I was the one who turned him in. I put in the anonymous tip to the police. He told me what he had done and expected me to be glad about it. He expected me to thank him!" Jake's tone rose to an angry shout by the end of his rant.

"Do you know a Spencer Reid?"

Ellis blinked at the change of subject. "Umm. Maybe? The name sounds familiar."

"He was in a few of your classes at CalTech," JJ stayed calm and neutral.

"I'm sorry, agent, but that was a long time ago and there were lots of people in my classes. I don't think I would remember them all."

"I think Reid would be very memorable. He was the genius fourteen-year-old," Hotch snarled.

"Oh! That Spencer? He's a great kid, you know. He helped tutor me in my engineering and math courses, he's probably the only reason I was able to get my credits." Jake smiled brightly at the mention of the doctor. JJ and Hotch shared a significant look.

"Can you tell us where you were two nights ago at 11:20?"

"I was visiting my cousin, Anna, in Miami this whole week. I got back this morning at around nine," Jake answered calmly. The profilers could see that he was still anxious and confused, though.

"Thank you, Mr. Ellis. Can you give us her phone number, so we can check your alibi with her? And then you will be free to go." He wrote the number down and Hotch and JJ stood and went to meet with Morgan. The door banged shut behind them. The observation room was silent for a few long moments. Then Morgan spoke.

"Jake Ellis was set up. We couldn't find anything in the house. He has nothing against Reid and a massive grudge against his brother. He seemed sincere when you were questioning him, too."

"I know. He didn't do it, but someone was still in Garcia's office and he still had to hack into her computer to delete that file. What worries me is that the Unsub had to know that Ellis fit the profile somehow. Hopefully, Rossi, Prentiss, and Garcia can find something," Hotch reassured them.

"What if he hired someone?" JJ's voice was quavering with unshed tears. Their only lead was useless to them, and she was feeling overwhelmed and hopeless.

"Then we'll find out who he hired and use that to catch him," Morgan said with certainty.

"Reid might not have much time left." Hotch hated stating the hard truth.

JJ bit her lip and Morgan pierced the Unit Chief with his sharp glare. "Then we won't rest until this bastard's in custody or dead."