(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters)
Thanks Lady Lurena, Yeegaber, AZCatmom, Caroliny Hotchner, fishtrek, R Leaf, and NerdGirl1210 for reviewing the last chapter.
This chapter made me cry. I looked up child coffins to get an idea of what Dave and Erin has to purchase for their son. I never want to see a child coffin again. It's so sad. And I hate that it's a reality for some parents.
Anyway, this chapter is a somber one, the real drama comes in the next chapter (which may already be written *and may be released earlier than next Friday*.)
Enjoy.
December 1985
"Daddy?"
Dave turned back from the light switch and smirked at his son. "No more questions. It's bedtime, kiddo."
Spencer tilted his head to the side and blinked sweetly. "Just one more, daddy. Please."
Dave rolled his eyes but dropped his finger off the light switch. He folded his arms and leaned against the doorframe. "Go on then, brainiac," he said fondly. Spencer sat up under the covers.
"Um..." Spencer looked down and Dave watched his three-year-old's face become serious and sullen. "Y-you know you save people from the bad guys," he whispered.
Dave frowned a little but answered "yes."
Spencer nodded slowly and he bit his lip. "What about the people you can't save, daddy?"
Dave unfolded his arms and walked back over to his son's bed. The kid was smart but he didn't understand death. Not yet.
"Sometimes," Dave said quietly. "The people we don't save die." He smiled sadly at Spencer who was frowning and looked to be thinking hard.
"Where do they go after that, daddy?"
Dave's smile faultered. "Uh... well..." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "No-one really knows, kiddo. Some people think we go up to heaven or the afterlife."
"With god?" Spencer asked seriously and Dave nodded half-heartedly.
"Yes. But some people believe there is nothing... Uh... I mean, well, they think when we die that's it."
Spencer stared up at his dad with wide eyes. "Is it?" he mumbled.
"I don't know, kiddo. Talking scientifically then you'd assume we would just return to the earth and-"
Dave paused when he saw a big tear roll down Spencer's face. Crap.
"Hey, it's okay, buddy. I'm sorry, I'm scaring you."
He reached over and pulled Spencer into his arms and Spencer grabbed onto him suddenly.
"Daddy?" he said with a loud sniff. "Daddy I don't want you to die! Ever! O-or mommy!"
Dave pulled Spencer back but the boy was hugging him so tight that all he could do was rub his back and hush him.
"That's... it'll be a long time before then, kiddo. You'll understand life better."
"But I don't wanna lose you! Don't leave me! Don't ever leave me, daddy!"
"I won't. Hey, it's okay, I won't ever leave you. Me and mommy believe in heaven, so that's where we'll all end up someday. We'll always be together."
Spencer finally pulled away, his eyes puffy and his nose wet. "Really?" he whispered. Dave smiled and nodded.
He chuckled then and pulled Spencer back in for another hug. "We love you too much to ever leave you, Spencer."
"It's just... scary," Spencer whispered.
"I know, but I'll always be here for you. Now, no more crazy questions, you were meant to be going to sleep."
Spencer giggled against Dave's shoulder.
In that moment, the thought of his son's death never crossed Dave's mind. He could never conceive the idea that he may have to bury his own son. The reality of which came true just eight months later. Dave would have to watch with his wife's hand in his as they carefully lowered the three and a half foot coffin into the ground.
Present
Aaron felt sick. There was no better way to put it. A deep nausea pulsed through his body. His fingers even felt heavy with it.
His name had been inside that young-man's mouth. Aaron didn't want to think about the fact that their unsub had carefully written out the note before cramming it behind his victim's teeth. It made Aaron wonder what Meat-Man was thinking. Why Aaron? He was no more special than any of the other boys... alive or dead.
Aaron was jolted from his thoughts by a bang and he looked up to see Rossi, a file on the table in front of him.
"You alright?" he asked as Aaron stared up at him. Aaron swallowed back the thick, sick feeling in his throat and he nodded tensely.
"Have they got back to us on the identity?"
Rossi shook his head and glanced back at the door. "Garcia said they were sending it over to her soon. Are you sure-"
"I'm fine," Aaron said stiffly and he forced himself to look at Dave. "Fine. I just needed a moment to think."
"Any ideas who the kid is?"
Aaron shrugged but the nausea throbbing back to the surface of his gut said a different story. "Might be Bailey," he mumbled.
"Likely. He was the last one they took." Rossi studied Aaron for a moment before adding, "thank god he's alive. Good kid."
Dave remembered Bailey giving Erin a flower he'd picked from his garden at Spencer's funeral.
Only a few of the boys came to the funeral, it was too soon and too upsetting for most of the boys... such as Aaron.
"He didn't deserve this," Aaron muttered and he pushed up from the table. Dave opened his mouth to argue that that wasn't what he meant but Aaron was already out the door. Dave followed him.
"Prentiss, how is the geographical profile looking?" Hotch said as he looked toward the map Emily was fiddling with. She turned around sheepishly.
"Not totally accurate. I need more time... and more coffee," she said and she smiled and lifted her empty cup, giving it a shake.
Hotch frowned and thought about how useful Reid would be on the case. He'd have to call the kid later.
"Sir?"
Hotch looked up and found JJ holding up their laptop. "Yes?"
"Garcia text, they're sending her the identity. I'll call her now."
William got home a little shaky. A feeling had started to rise within him and he frowned thoughtfully as he dropped his keys on the table.
"What did you do?"
William looked up from the table and saw Diana, on her knees, her palms covered in blood. William sighed when he stepped further into the light. She hadn't given him chance to clean up and their son's blood was still smeared across the floorboards. Diana was up on her knees, her palms outstretched to William. "It's not his, is it? Not my baby? Where is he? William, where's my baby, please," begged Diana and she fell forward, catching herself on the backs of her palms which she was trying to keep off the floor. She stared down for a long moment before her fiery eyes rose. "William!"
She shifted forward on her knees, dragging her nightdress through the blood.
William smiled and reached a hand toward Diana. He cupped her cheek and she steadied herself on his arm, leaving bloody handprints there. "Darling," he whispered and he teeth poked out from under his lips. "He was only ever temporary."
William dropped her cheek and she nearly crashed to the floor again. That was if the shock hadn't frozen her. "M-my baby," she mumbled, her eyes cloudy.
William nodded sadly, pouting his lips. "Afraid so, my love. But twenty or so years was plenty of time."
Diana fell back numbly, her back hitting their uncarpeted staircase with a painful thump. William paused and glanced back at her. Her light-blue nightdress was covered in blood, the tatty frills at the bottom tie-dyed in the stuff.
He gave another sigh as if what he was about to do was over-indulgence on a spoiled child. He reached into his pocket and pulled something out.
"I got you something though," he said with a smirk and he threw the small pot at Diana. It rattled and landed with a dull thud against the wall, bouncing close to Diana's thigh. "Just something small, a souvenir if you will."
Diana looked up at her husband and then down at the pot. She turned her head quickly, grabbing the stairs and heaving suddenly.
William shook his head but turned away again. "I thought you'd be happy," he called. "The things I do for you, woman!"
Diana sobbed against the cold stairs, dry blood flaking from between her fingers.
William stretched and started toward the couch when Diana let out a gurgling scream. William laughed loudly, mostly to quiet the feeling that still resided inside him.
William sat down, tuning out the screaming of his wife who was still grasping at the staircase. He frowned and shifted uncomfortably, the dreadful feeling coming back to taunt him. He tried to sit back again and he scowled in thought.
He wasn't in pain... nor was he anxious, he'd never been someone with fragile nerves.
William licked his lips slowly and thoughtfully. He didn't feel nauseous. That wasn't it.
"Y-you bastard! You unimaginable bastard!"
William raised his eyebrows as he glanced in his wife's direction. She collapsed back onto the stairs, gnawing her teeth into the closest step as she whined like a shot animal.
William rolled his eyes and for a moment he imagined his son kneeling beside Diana, his hand on her shoulder.
William stopped for a moment and stared at Diana and a horrifying idea came across him and the feeling swelled inside him.
The feeling was grief.
"I just got the victims identity sent to me," Penelope said and Aaron noticed how shaky her voice was. He looked up at the laptop to see her face was a picture of unease.
"Garcia?" he said and his eyebrows fell a little. "Was it Bailey?" he asked in a small voice.
Penelope shook her head, her lips pinched tight together as she stared at her monitor. "I-it doesn't make any sense," she whispered, clicking a few times before gasping suddenly, her hand coming up to her mouth.
"Baby girl? What's wrong?"
"It even ha-has his photo."
"Garcia! Will you tell us what's wrong?" Rossi demanded and Penelope looked back up at the video call.
"Something's gone wrong," she said. "It... they've said it's..." Penelope paused and looked back at her other screen as she shook her head. "How is it Reid?" she mumbled.
"Reid?" Morgan looked around at the others suddenly and stood up. "What about him? Has he spoken to you? I've been tryna' get ahold of that kid for days."
Aaron was also scowling. "Reid...?" What did Reid have to do with this? He was supposed to be on holiday. Aaron frowned harder. Had the kid called Garcia offering to help with the case? He really needed to teach him how to actually take a holiday.
"It's Reid," Garcia said and she looked directly at Hotch. "He's the victim. They identified the latest victim as Reid! I-I'll send you the report."
Garcia started typing fast before the team could even comprehend what she was saying.
The laptop flashed and a tab filled their screen, overtaking the picture of Garcia.
"You see!?" Garcia said. The team looked back at the report in quiet shock as they read 'William Spencer Reid,' alongside a photograph of their youngest agent.
Aaron stood up then. "What the hell is going on!?"
I'll leave it there because shit hits the fan next chapter.
Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think in the reviews.