Gideon hung his head and put his hands in his pockets, no one spoke.
Slowly Reid reached out his hand and touched Gideon's arm "I'm sorry." He said softly.
Gideon started slightly but took out his hand and put it over Reid's "Thanks Spencer." He said.
No one else said anything or even moved until Reid removed his hand and Gideon straightened up and leaned against the kitchen counter.
"Are they sure it's David Hale?" Emily asked
"Fire fighters are sure it was arson, and a man matching Hale's description was seen on the road heading to the cabin. Prentiss and I will head up there tomorrow morning, Garcia I want you to go over all cameras on the roads leading to the cabin and see if Hale has any friends or family in Washington. " Morgan said
"I've already spoken to several reporters by tomorrow morning David Hale's face will be all over the news. If he's in Washington someone will spot him." JJ said
"I would like to go the cabin." Gideon said "I know those woods and I have many years of experience not only in crime solving but also tracking."
"It's too dangerous; this might be a trap to lure you and Reid out." Morgan immediately shot Gideon down.
"Are Hotch and Rossi coming home?" Garcia asked
"I'm sure they will be, they've had no luck find Hale and the FBI and cops can continue the search on their own." Emily said.
"Gideon you had surveillance cameras at your cabin, where was the footage stored?" Morgan asked
"At a computer in the cabin, that's another reason why I should go." Gideon said
Sensing a fight Reid reached for his crutches "I'm going to bed." Reid said
Garcia stood and helped Reid with his crutches before he left the room. JJ, Morgan, Garcia, and Emily stayed for another half hour with Gideon and Morgan arguing quietly about Gideon's desire to go the cabin, while the women cleaned up. The next morning JJ came over with two additional agents, and was greeted by Morgan who had again spent the night on the couch. The additional Agents took up positions around the house, while JJ went inside. Morgan and JJ set out the breakfast sandwiches and coffee that JJ had brought. Reid came out of his room looking exhausted and sat heavily in his chair.
"How are you feeling?" Morgan asked.
"Fine." Reid said shortly "JJ stop it." Reid said ducking his head to avoid JJ's hand.
"I'm checking to see if you have a fever." JJ said putting a hand on his forehead.
After a few seconds she removed her hand and got out a bottle of aspirin. She shook two pills and handed them to Reid who took them with coffee. The three of them ate breakfast together but Gideon still didn't come out. After breakfast Morgan left and JJ and Reid went outside. Reid lay down in the middle of the yard staring at the sky, while JJ talked to Agent Nelkon who had been stationed in the backyard. After their conversation JJ came over to Reid and lay down next to him.
"I think that cloud looks like a duck." JJ said pointing to one of the few clouds floating overhead.
Reid laughed slightly and shook his head at the childishness of the game, and instead pointed out the different types of clouds and what made them different. After thirty minutes JJ went back inside. Gideon was sitting at the kitchen table with a mug of coffee; he had gotten a shower but he looked slightly disheveled and even more exhausted then Reid.
"Gideon I brought coffee and sandwiches." JJ said putting the coffee and food in front of him.
Gideon didn't say anything but simply grabbed the sandwich and started eating it.
"Listen Gideon I just want to say how sorry I am about your cabin, I know how much it meant to you." JJ said after Gideon had finished his food
"Thanks for the food." Gideon said picking up the cup of coffee JJ had handed him and went into the living room.
JJ sighing went and cleaned up the kitchen and headed back outside. She and Reid spent an hour outside before Reid let JJ help him up and they went into the house. In a case of de ja vu Gideon was sitting the same chair from yesterday, exact same position, exact same book. Reid glanced at his room, then at Gideon, then back at his room. Shaking his head Reid dragged himself over to the couch and pulled out the chessboard. He set up the pieces and looked at Gideon but Gideon continued to stare at his book.
Reid glanced up at JJ then at Gideon "Gideon how about a game of chess?"
Gideon started clearly lost in thought; he looked up at Reid and seemed ready to refuse, but then nodded "Sure kid."
Gideon came over to the couch, while JJ pulled out her phone and left to make calls. Gideon and Reid played three games; Gideon winning two of the three. Neither man spoke but both seemed to take comfort from the familiar ritual of the game. JJ came in from the kitchen at the end of the third game.
"Gideon could you help me make lunch?" She asked
"Of course." Gideon said getting to his feet.
Reid put the chess pieces and board away, then using a single crutch dragged himself over to Gideon's chair and started reading the book Gideon had left there. In the kitchen Gideon started making the sauce JJ pointed to.
"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Gideon asked as he stirred in spices.
"I've on the phone with the press all morning, I only told them about David Hale and that he wanted in connection with kidnapping and murder but they started asking questions. I was able to placate most of the reporters but one did some digging and connected David Hale to his father Richard Hale. Now with your cabin burning down it's only a matter of time before your name is dragged into this."
"Thanks for the warning." Gideon said
JJ looked ready to say more but stopped at the slouch in Gideon's shoulders and the weariness as he stirred. They made the pasta and sauce in silence and then called Reid in. They ate in silence though both JJ and Reid complimented Gideon on his cooking. After lunch both Gideon and Reid went to their rooms, while JJ went back to work. At five thirty Hotch and Rossi came over with bags of takeout, Morgan, Emily, and Garcia arriving soon after. Hotch went and knocked Gideon's door telling him dinner, then went and briefly knocking on Reid's door entered. Reid was once again curled up on the bed but instead of sleeping was reading a novel.
"Hey Reid, we've got dinner. I wanted to see how you're doing?" Hotch said entering the room and shutting the door behind him.
Reid looked up, shut his book and moved to sit at the edge of the bed. "It's odd Hotch after attacking him, and then hearing that his cabin burned down it's driven a lot of my anger away. I still resent him for leaving and I don't think I can ever forgive him but knowing that he's suffered it feels almost karmic." Reid said clearly ashamed at taking even the slightest amount of satisfaction at another person's suffering.
"Reid what you're feeling is natural; Jason's leaving devastated you, his letter must have meant so much to you, then for it to be a trap to almost die because of it even if was fake, even if Gideon had nothing to do with it." Hotch put a hand on Reid's shoulder "Don't be ashamed to be human, embrace it and try to be better."
The two men left the room, Reid helped by Hotch and went to the kitchen. They found Chinese takeout spread over the table. There weren't enough seats so Morgan was perched on a counter and Emily was sitting on a high stool. Gideon followed behind Reid and Hotch and soon everyone was eating.
"I can't recall the number of times we ate Chinese food when Gideon was at the BAU." Aaron said
"Same here, I think he had a two sided coin." Rossi said
"What do you mean?" Morgan asked
"We'll, you know we'd work late hours and we'd need to get dinner. So we'd pull out takeout menus, if we couldn't decide one of us would flip a coin. Jason always seemed to win." Rossi said
"I didn't cheat, I just calculated the odds." Gideon said
After dinner Rossi pulled out a bottle of Scotch and poured everyone a drink. They took them into the living room. Reid and Garcia settled on the sofa, Gideon took his chair, Rossi took the other arm chair, while Hotch, JJ, and Emily brought in chairs from the kitchen. Once everyone was seated and Garcia had put out a plate of cookies did the meeting start.
"The cabin was covered with gasoline, then set alight with Molotov cocktails, and a match book that ignited a trail of gasoline that led to the cabin. We know it was David Hale because he left a message; a bag made of squirrel skin nailed to a tree by an army knife. Inside was a cryptic message we're still working on." Morgan reported
"Is it all gone, can anything be salvaged?" Rossi asked with a compassionate glance at Gideon.
"No, with the amount the gasoline and the cocktails thrown through the windows the cabin went up in two minutes, and it took the fire department seven minutes to get there. All they could do was contain the blaze and keep it from spreading to the forest." Emily said
"What about Gideon's computer or the cameras?" Reid asked
"The computer's toast one of the Molotov Cocktails went straight through the study window. The techs took what remained of the hard drive back to Quantico but I doubt they'll be able to recover anything." Morgan said
"And the cameras?" Hotch asked
We were able to find some on the grounds and couples on the road, the techs are going through it now. So far they've got shots of a ford driving up the cabin and a man in a black ski mask getting out.
Gideon didn't say anything but a drink from his glass.
"I checked all other surveillance cameras I could that led to the cabin. We do have a blurry surveillance picture of Hale, I was able to identify the car but he's probably ditched it by now." Garcia said
"A man at a gas station remembers selling large quantities of gasoline to David Hale but we have no leads as to his current whereabouts beyond what Hale left for us."
"What does the message say?" Gideon finally spoke his liquor untouched.
Morgan passed over a piece of notepaper; Gideon read it, his face was impassive but his former teammates knew whatever the note meant it angered him. After reading the note Gideon stood and went into his room. The members of the team lingered discussing the cryptic note and Hale but eventually everyone left but Emily who was staying the night. The next morning Reid was up before Gideon as usual and after eating breakfast went into the backyard. Emily who was to stay the whole day went over to Gideon's room and knocked on the door. Upon getting no answer she pushed to door open to discover Gideon's bed had not been slept in and Gideon was nowhere to be found.
"Agent Clark, Agent Jenson you were on duty last night did you happen to see anyone approach the house or Jason Gideon leaving?" Emily asked the two Agents who were guarding the front of the house last night.
"Yes Ma'am Mr. Gideon came out and said he was going for a walk. I offered to go with him, but he declined. I sent Agent Clark to follow him, but he quickly lost track of Mr. Gideon so Clark came back. I figured Mr. Gideon would come back on his own." Agent Jenson said
"Mr. Gideon's not a prisoner, and he wasn't carrying anything, I didn't think he'd go off on his own." Agent Clark protested.
Emily dismissed them after a thorough dressing down and called Hotch. After their talk she went to Reid who was again in the backyard.
"Reid, Gideon's gone, I talked to Hotch and for your safety we're going to take you to Quantico until we find him." Emily said.
A/N Well Gideon is in the wind along with David Hale. Please let me know your thoughts, criticisms and speculation. Or just show your interest by Following/Favoriting.