I hope you enjoy this.
Chapter Two:
Prentiss woke to the sound of her phone ringing around midnight.
"Hello," she said.
"Agent Prentiss, this is agent Ray Fabry."
She got up instantly. Fabry was the head of the secret service.
"How can I help you, Agent Fabry?"
"Gather your team and assemble at Central Hospital as quickly as possible. I will inform you of the details when you arrive. This is a very sensitive situation."
"Understood, sir."
"See you then."
Almost everyone on the team picked up immediately. It was as though they were expecting her call. The only person missing was Reid, which made her nervous. She left several messages and tried to brush off the anxious feeling. Later, she'd have Garcia trace his phone.
Once Prentiss arrived at Central Hospital, she was directed to a wing used less frequently. The paint and flooring were in bad shape, but the equipment was state of the art.
Rossi was in the private waiting room with Fabry. Fabry, in his early fifties, was a tall man with military neatness.
"Agent Prentiss," he said. "Thank you for coming so quickly, I'll get you up to speed as soon as the rest of your team arrives."
"I was unable to get ahold of one of them," she said.
"I'll address that too," he said.
She wondered what he meant by that. The rest of the team soon arrived, and when everyone was seated, Fabry began.
"Agents, at approximately seven-thirty, a woman called nine-one-one and reported a man had been shot twice. She refused to identify herself until ambulances arrived. At that time, she revealed herself to be Royal Queen Caroline Erdaya. The man with her was Spencer Reid."
Everyone gasped.
"How is he?" Garcia asked first.
"Critical but stable condition," Fabry said. "The doctor will be able to tell you more later. I know you are worried about your friend and fellow agent, but I need your help calming the queen. We have told her Agent Reid will be fine, but she is still extremely agitated. I thought by bringing you in, she might provide a more coherent statement."
It irritated her that Fabry didn't tell her anything about Reid on the phone, but she refused to let it show. She merely nodded.
"J.J. and I will interview the queen," she said. "Can Garcia stay close to Reid in case his status changes?"
"Certainly," he said.
"How else can my team help?" she asked.
"Given your team's, experience, I am prepared let you run the investigation as if it were one of your cases. My team would still be overseeing everything and handle direct communication with the White House."
"That's fine by me," Rossi said.
"In that case," Prentiss said. "Why don't Rossi and Simmons, you re-interview the first responders, Alvez and Lewis, go back to the crime scene to look for any details that might have been missed."
"I'll have my team give yours a ride," Fabry said.
"Then take us to meet the queen."
…
The queen was sitting in a reclining chair wearing blue a robe that mostly covered her hospital gown. There were stitches and bandages on her face. Her hair was held back in loose ponytail. She looked completely spent emotionally.
"How can I help you?" she asked politely in English with a slight accent.
"Your royal highness, my name is Agent Emily Prentiss, and this is Agent Jennifer Jareau. We're here to ask you a few questions about your abduction," Prentiss said.
The queen sighed. "Law enforcement here is so full of re-redundancies."
"We're just trying to see if you remember anything new," J.J. said as she and Prentiss took seats.
"Do you have any news about Spencer Reid?" she asked.
"Nothing you haven't already heard," Prentiss said. "Spencer Reid is a coworker of ours."
Her eyes lit up. "You know him?"
"Very well," J.J. said. "He is the godfather to my two sons."
"He is the bravest man I have ever met," she said. "If he dies because of me, I'll never be able to forgive myself."
"He has been shot before," J.J. said.
She looked shocked. "What branch of the FBI do you work for?"
"We're in the Behavioral Analysis Unit," Prentiss said. "We essentially hunt serial killers."
"Serial killers," she said slowly. "Murderers, who kill in a semi-organized sequence that can be traced based on patterns."
J.J. smiled. "Exactly."
"Tell us what happened Your Highness?" Prentiss said.
"The front of my convoy exploded, and I remember being dragged out," she said. "I thought it was a first responder, so I was relieved. When I woke up though I was tied to a chair by men wearing black ski masks in what looked like an abandoned store. They wanted to me to make a video message pleading for the release of Leopold Tomsk and Joseph Colone, two terrorists in my country's custody. I refused to say a word. They beat me. They threatened to rape and then murder me. I refused. Dying was preferable. I was left alone for long periods of time.
It was getting dark when they were trying to transport me. I fought hard as they tried to pull me into a van when a man shouted 'FBI! Put your hands up!' Then I heard the shots and was slightly confused. One had dropped my legs to shoot and then he was dead. The man holding my arms dropped me and shot off his gun but then fell to the ground. The getaway driver got out and before I could react he was dead to.
Then I saw your friend on the ground dying. He told me where we were and dialed nine-one-one. He gave me his name in his last breath. I wept as I tried to stop the bleeding in his shoulder."
"Thank you, your highness," Prentiss said.
"I am doing the best I can!" she said bursting into tears. "My friends and confidantes are dead! You won't even let me see the person who saved my life!"
"We'll work on it," J.J. said.
Prentiss and J.J. moved to get up.
"We'll tell you about his status as soon as we have an update," Prentiss said.
"Please do so," she said quietly.
Prentiss and J.J. then went into a private waiting room.
"It sounds like she's telling the truth," J.J.
"I agree," Prentiss said. "We'll need to interview her again to get more details, but I think she needs some sleep first."
"And closure," J.J. said. "Spence's condition must be weighing heavily on her mind."
"How are you holding up?" Prentiss asked seriously.
"Shocked and not shocked at the same time," she said and shook her head sadly. "He is literally a trouble magnet."
"He'll pull through like he always does," Prentiss said.
"I know," she said. "I just hope his luck doesn't run out one day."
"It won't," she said more confidently than she felt. "I promise. Let's get back to work."
They walked down the hall together.
…
Reid woke up in early hours of the morning slightly confused. He didn't know why he had an oxygen mask on. His left shoulder felt funny. The lights were dim. His confusion was turning into fear.
Then he felt a hand on his face. It felt familiar.
"It's okay," a soft but commanding voice with a slight accent said. "You're safe Spencer."
Reid looked up and saw a woman who looked familiar. He still wasn't thinking clearly. She had kind eyes, despite her firm features.
"Rest now," she said. "We'll talk later."
He closed his eyes. He hoped the woman would visit again and she wasn't a dream.