Did I disappear for a year only to suddenly find the motivation to finish this fic...maybe...the ADHD hyperfocus is a wild ride
Chapter Text
"Come on Garcia" Morgan anxiously picked at the button on the sleeve of his shirt, willing Garcia to somehow find Reid faster.
The entire team was crowded into her tiny office, anxiously watching the price for their friend's head soar.
"There are 4, no 5 bidders," Garcia relayed to Hotch, "I don't know if I will have enough time to track them all"
"Just track as many as you can." Hotch responded, tight-lipped. Morgan's eyes were glued to the feed, searching for any clue that could help them find Reid.
"Damn it," He whispered half to himself, "the kid doesn't look too good." Even on the tiny video feed, he could see the blood trickling down Reid's torso, see the shake in his breath and the wince every time his inhale caused the rope to tighten across his chest.
"Alright!" Garcia triumphantly interrupted his thoughts, "I've got addresses for three of the little creeps"
"Morgan and I will each take one," Hotch ordered, "Rossi and JJ, you take the other."
Morgan nodded already halfway out the door.
"I'll send you the addresses" Garcia called, but Morgan was gone. JJ looked at Hotch with concern.
"He'll be alright," Hotch said.
Morgan raced along the back country roads, a local squad car, his back up, trailing behind him. His GPS dinged, letting him know his destination was to his right. He swung into the driveway of a luxurious farmhouse with a hedge row on either side. Without even waiting for his backup to get out of the vehicle, he drew his weapon and charged up the front stairs, two at a time. With a vicious kick, he broke the door open and charged in, almost colliding with a tall man who appeared to have been on his way out. The man dropped his phone, startled, and raised his hands in surrender. Morgan's backup finally made it up the stairs and finished the procedural arrest while Morgan knelt down, picking up the man's phone. Two messages popped up on the screen. 'You won the auction. Meet us here to collect your prize.' The second message contained a set of GPS coordinates. Morgan opened his phone to call the team, before realizing he had no service.
"Get him back to the station and tell my team to send backup to these coordinates," Morgan ordered, tossing the phone to the officer and charging out the door, already typing the location into his GPS.
10 minutes later, he was pulling up to what appeared to be an abandoned mental hospital. He knew he should wait for backup. The video feeds had shown at least three men, fully armed, so if he went in now alone, he honestly stood a better chance of making things worse rather than better. He had just resigned himself to standing guard by the main entrance until backup arrived when he heard three consecutive gunshots from somewhere inside the building.
"Damn it kid" he muttered under his breath before charging inside.
"Garcia?" Hotch answered his phone as JJ glanced in their rearview mirror to ensure the police car carrying their fugitive was still following.
"Got it." He hung up. "Morgan got an address, 11 miles north of here" JJ nodded and swung the vehicle around.
A few minutes later they pulled up the long drive to the abandoned mental hospital. Morgan's car sat, deserted, across from the main entrance. Hotch and JJ pulled out their guns and with a silent nod, entered the building. The interior was a maze of dimly lit hallways lined with cells and common rooms filled with discarded furniture, fallen ceiling tiles, and graffiti. Finally, they arrived in a large central room, in the middle of which lay two broken chairs and a fallen tripod. A figure lay to one side, face down in a pool of blood.
20 minutes earlier:
"Sold!" The masked man triumphantly exclaimed. He nodded at his coworker, who appeared to shut the feed down and then began packing up their equipment. Reid watched cautiously as two of the men moved to untie Alex. This transport period would be their best, and possibly only, chance for escape. Taking a deep breath through his gag, he tried to slow his heart rate. They weren't going to get a second chance at this. Alex was pulled roughly to her feet, hands now cuffed in front of her as the other man moved behind Reid and started to work on the knots tying his wrists. As soon as he had one arm free, Reid bolted up, swinging the chair still attached to his right wrist around, catching the guard unaware and knocking him to the floor.
"Run Alex!" Reid screamed, yanking the gag from his mouth with his free hand as he charged towards the next nearest henchman. Alex immediately bolted for the exit as Reid rammed into another guard, smashing what remained of the chair he had been tied to.
BANG...BANG...BANG
Reid spun around towards the gunshots. Standing at the far edge of the room was a man he didn't recognize. With one hand he held a smoking gun, still pointed at the ceiling where he had apparently fired three rounds. The other hand was entwined in Alex's hair, wrenching her head back as his boot rested in the crook of her knee, forcing her down in front of him. Reid froze. He was still free and the other henchmen hadn't recovered yet, he could still make a run for it. His eyes met Alex's gaze. She winced as the man tightened his grip.
"Run" She mouthed, but it felt like his feet were rooted to the spot.
From the corner of his eye, he saw movement.
"FBI! Nobody move!" Morgan shouted, barreling into the open room, gun drawn. One of the masked men to his right attempted to raise his gun, but Morgan got his shot off first and the man fell, gun clattering to the floor. Reid began to make a move for it, only to have someone much stronger than him wrap a burly arm around his torso, effectively pinning his arms to his side, and force a gun under his chin. Reid tensed at the sensation of the cold metal. By now he'd had quite enough of playing the damsel in distress, but there wasn't much he could do. Morgan froze at the sight of the gun shoved at Reid's throat but did not lower his weapon.
"Let him go." Morgan ordered, "Let him go and we can all walk away from this."
"I think not." The man holding Alex drawled. Morgan spun around to face them, noticing Alex's small frame kneeling on the floor for the first time. "I think you're going to put down your gun, and then we can talk like sensible men."
"Sensible men." Morgan scoffed, "Is that what we are? Alright, I'll put down my weapon if you put down yours." Alex shook her head, but let out a small cry as the tall man wrenched her head back farther.
"I think you're going to put down your weapon," the tall man continued, "or we'll shoot your boyfriend." Morgan froze as he lazily aimed his gun in Reid's direction. Suddenly, Reid noticed movement in the shadows.
"Morgan, look out!" he cried, but was too late as the but of a gun was smashed against the back of Morgan's head and he crumpled to the ground. The man removed the gun from beneath Reid's chin, and a moment later he felt a cracking pain at the base of his skull as the world went dark.
