A.N. Hey all! So here's the second half of the first episode. As always I've tried to stick as close to cannon as possible, but there may be some changes. There were a few times when working off the script it got confusing as to where a character was, or how they got there-especially with Spencer. So when I wasn't sure I just kinda shoved him on Derek-they needed the extra bonding time anyways :P Also-since I'm a few chapters in now I wanted to ask you guys about beginning and ending quotes. Should I stick with the cannon ones, or find ones more applicable to this sotry specifically, or a combo? There's a poll on my profile page, so please go vote and as always read and review!
Loves' Denial
Chapter Three: Season 1 Episode 1 Part 2
Emerson said, "All is riddle, and the key to a riddle, is another riddle".
Spencer glanced irritable around Richard Slessman's home; "There's no girl here. We can arrest him with probably cause, but we won't be able to hold him. Slessman's been at the top of the suspect list". He felt frustration flowing through him at the failure.
Gideon examined the suspect's family where they had gathered in the kitchen, "is that the mother?" He asks.
"Grandmother" corrects Greenway, a pretty young agent who'd been the brains behind the arrest. "The mother died in a fire when he was thirteen" she explained.
"Probably not the only fire in his childhood" Gideon replies as he heads towards the kitchen.
"Before his Son of Sam murders, David Berkowitz set a multitude of fires" Spencer mused.
"Exactly how much is a multitude?" Morgan asks.
"According to his diary, one thousand, four hundred and…" Spencer trailed off as Greenway finished for him; "eighty-eight". This made Gideon turn his attention to her.
"Luring him out was your idea, right? Greenway?" he asks her.
"Elle. I don't send a SWAT team into a house with children" she replies, nodding.
"Hotch says your background's in sex offender cases. What can you tell us?" Gideon demands, testing her.
"The last four murders show he's an anger-excitation rapist. He'll keep a victim for a couple of days. He probably records or videotapes them so he can keep reliving the fantasy" Greenway answers.
"You ok with Hotch being in on the interview?" Gideon questions.
"I'd like him to lead actually" Greenway corrects.
"Fine, but hold off. Slessman's done time, and he knows the process. All you will get now is a demand for a lawyer" Gideon says wither certainty as he turns and walks out.
"Next time, show a little leg" Morgan jokingly advises Greenway as the two start heading upstairs. He ignores the slight stab of guilt and pain he gets, just as Spencer ignores the jealousy churning inside him from Morgan's flirtatious comments.
Spencer decides to go find Hotch and Gideon instead of following Morgan. He's got Greenway, and Spencer doesn't want to get in the way of the two. He shakes off his jealous thoughts as a helpful local agent points him towards the garage where the two older agents are examining Slessman's jeep. Finding nothing helpful there the three decide to check out the attic. Spencer began poking around to see what he could find. As he paused to examine the game of go laid out in the middle of the room Greenway came to stand beside him.
"What kind of game is it?" She asks him.
"In China, it's called weichi. Here we call it Go. It's considered to be the most difficult board game ever conceived" he tells her.
"Chairman Mao required his generals to learn it" Gideon adds.
"It also looks like he's playing himself" Spencer murmurs.
"How can you tell?" Greenway asks. Instead of replying Spencer crouches down and turns the board 180ᵒ.
"This might provide an advantage actually. Go is considered to be a particularly revealing game. There are profiles for every player…the conservative point counter, the aggressor, the finesse…" Spencer trails off thoughtfully.
"What kind of player is Slessman?" Hotch asks.
"Extreme aggressor" Spencer replies after giving the pieces a careful look over.
After that revelation the four decide to head back downstairs and see how the others were doing. They made their way to Slessman's bedroom on the second floor where they found Morgan and some other agents setting up a bunch of computer equipment.
"Okay, here we go" Morgan muttered as he booted it up. Once it was on a Deadbolt Defence™ login appeared accompanied by a large number 6.
"What's the number six at the bottom of the screen?" Greenway asks while peering at the screen.
"Number of password attempts before the program wipes the hard drive" Morgan explains.
"There could be an email, or a journal in the computer, something that tells us where Heather is. Do you think you can break in?" Green asks looking slightly concerned.
"In six tries?" Morgan says doubtfully while scoffing and shaking his head.
"Try again. Fail again. Fail better" Gideon chimes in suddenly from where he'd been listening in. Morgan looked at Spencer, silently demanding clarification with his eyes. Spencer ignored the rush of happiness he got whenever Morgan confided in him, or looked to him for any kind of help.
"Samuel Beckett" Spencer tells him. That the words themselves are a quote is left unsaid, but he knows Morgan will understand.
"Try not. Do or do not" Morgan replies. This causes Gideon to give Spencer the same look Morgan had just moments before.
"Yoda" Spencer explains to his mentor.
As he turned his attention back to Morgan and the computer he was vaguely aware of Gideon poking around the bookshelf behind them. Not paying this much attention Spencer was understandably surprised when Gideon spoke up again.
"I want to talk to him" he declared, snapping what Spencer believed was a textbook shut and walking out. Spencer and Morgan shared a slightly surprised look at this before shrugging-they were rather used to Gideon's behavioural quirks after all.
"So, any ideas?" Spencer asks causing everyone's attention to turn back to the computer.
"One" Morgan replies pilling out his phone, "Garcia". Spencer nods, the tech analyst really was the best person to deal with a tech problem. Morgan hit speed dial, and Spencer could just make out Garcia's voice as she answered.
"You've reached Penelope Garcia in the FBI's office of supreme genius" she says.
"Hey, it's Morgan. Need you to work me some magic here. I got a program called Deadbolt Defence and a girl with only a couple hours to live, so what do you know?" Morgan asks, getting straight to the point.
"then you've got a problem. Deadbolt's the number one password crack resistant software out there. You're gonna have to get inside this guy's head to get the password." Garcia's answer did not particularly please either agent.
"I thought I was calling the office of supreme genius" Morgan hedges.
"Well gorgeous, you've been rerouted to the office of too friggen bad" Garcia retorts.
"Thanks anyway" Morgan says while hanging up with a sigh.
"I'm going to head back to the field office to check in with the others" Spencer says after the two had spent a few moments silently studying the computer. He'd heard most o the other leave while Morgan had been on the phone with Garcia. Morgan was nodding distractedly at Spencer's words, his mind clearly still engaged in trying to figure out what the password for the computer could be. Spencer leaves him be, and finds a nice younger agent willing to drive him back to the field office for a bit.
As soon as he walks into the office Hotch is there pulling him to the side. Hotch gives him a quick update on how they'd figured out there was probably a second killer, and that they thought the partner could be Slessman's old cellmate Linder. Hotch also lets him know that Gideon and Elle were headed to check out the nearby prison where Slessman and Linder had done time. Spencer absorbed the information and agreed to help the local agents find more information on Linder before heading back to the house to help Morgan.
Soon enough, Spencer finds himself standing by a printer going over all the information they'd found so far, and waiting for the rest to print. He could hear Hotch's footsteps as the older agent drew near.
"We get an address on Linder?" Hotch demands in lieu of a greeting.
"It's coming right now" Spencer replies as Hotch hands something to the agent working at the desk behind them.
"Does senior management want a field assessment on Gideon" Spencer asks. The question had been on his mind since Morgan had pulled him aside when they'd first arrived.
"Don't worry about it" Hotch deflects.
"Are they nervous about him being in charge?" Spencer presses.
"Aren't you on your way back to Slessman's house to help Morgan?" Hotch demands, changing the subject as he begins to walk away.
However, Spencer had one last question for the man; "do you know why he always introduces me as Dr. Reid?" Hotch stops and pivots on one foot before returning to where Spencer was standing.
"Because he knows people see you as a kid, and he wants to make sure they respect you. What's the address?" Hotch answers glancing at the paper Spencer had just gotten from the printer.
"Don't think it matters anymore" Spencer replies. He hands the page to Hotch who sighs but takes it,
"Get back to Morgan, whatever's in that computer is even more important now" Hotch orders. Spencer nods and complies.
Back at the house he finds Morgan and a handful of other agents going over the suspect's CDs. Morgan shows Spencer the sleeping pills he'd found and explains his theory that the password may be Slessman's favorite song. Spencer could find no flaw with this theory so he got to work with the others. This was how he ended up sitting in Slessman's room by himself some time later. They'd gotten nothing useful from the CDs so Morgan had taken the laptop up to the attic in hopes that something there might help.
Spencer absently twirled a CD between his fingers as he stared off into space and contemplated the problem. He still thought Morgan had been onto something with the CDs, but while Slessman's music collection was both impressively large and well used no one CD seemed to stand out. No one CD was different…Different!
Spencer shot up as an idea occurred to him. Spotting a nearby paper clip he dropped the CD and grabbed that. He also slipped a certain CD case into his pocket. He was pretty sure he knew what the answer to this riddle was, or rather where the answer was. He headed up to the attic where Morgan and the laptop were. Arriving he noticed that Morgan seemed to be talking to himself. Spencer paused by the door for a moment to listen.
"Oh, come on! I need a password. I need a password. What am I looking for? What could I possibly be looking for?" Morgan was muttering to himself while pacing back and forth in front of the computer.
"I've been thinking about the CDs" Spencer pitches in from the doorway.
"Oh, Reid, come on. We tried the CDs. We searched, sifted, and sorted through every one of this guy's head-banging heavy metal collection. We gotta find something or this girl is dead" Morgan snaps at him. Spencer brushes off the spike of hurt Morgan's exclamation causes him. He knew that the other man was frustrated with the situation and with himself, not with Spencer. Reminding himself of this he walks over to the laptop and uses the paperclip he'd been fiddling with to open the CD tray.
"I think we may have missed the obvious" he tells Morgan as he does so.
"What are you doing?" Morgan demands as the drive opens. Instead of answering the other agent Spencer pulls the Metallica CD out of the drive and hands it to a rather stunned looking Morgan.
"Reid, what made you think of this?" Morgan asks. The almost awed tone of his voice makes Spencer feel warm all the way down to his toes.
"It was the only empty case" Spencer explains. 'It was different' he doesn't say. Instead he digs the CD case out of the pocket he'd tucked it into and hands it to Morgan.
"All right. I'm an insomniac who listens to Metallica to go to sleep at night. What song could possible speak to me?" Morgan muses aloud while examining the songs on the CD.
"Enter Sandman" Spencer suggests. Morgan tries it, and Spencer tries to ignore the heat that floods his face at the delighted smile Morgan gives him when it works. Unfortunately, the happy feeling does not last long once they see what's on the computer screen. It's a live stream showing Heather trapped and bound inside a cage. Without saying anything Morgan is whipping out his phone, and Spencer knows he's calling Gideon.
"Gideon, Heather's alive" Morgan says as soon as the other agent picks up, confirming Spencer's theory.
"How do you know?" Gideon demands. Morgan glances once more at the laptop screen.
"Cause we're watching her right now" Morgan replies before Gideon hangs up. Spencer catches Morgan's slightly confused and worried look when he does so.
"He's probably calling Hotch right now" Spencer says knowing how his mentor operates. Morgan nods and pretends that he was unaffected by the whole thing, but Spencer can tell that his words relieved the other man. His theory is confirmed a few minutes later when Morgan's phone rings again.
"Hey Hotch" Morgan answers after glancing at the caller ID.
"Morgan, we need leverage to get Slessman to reveal Heather's location. Try to get something off the video" Hotch orders before hanging up. Morgan and Spencer share a look before turning back to the screen. They watch in silence for a few minutes before Spencer notices something.
"Morgan, can you show me the last twelve images lined up next to each other" he asks.
"Yeah" Morgan replies while quickly getting it set up.
"Right there. Right there. You see that? The light bulb hanging from the wire?" Spencer asks pointing at the object he's talking about.
"Yeah, what about it?" Morgan replies clearly confused as to why Spencer seem so exited.
"It's shifting positions like it's swaying…like the earth is tilting" Spencer explains. Understand crosses Morgan's face as he does so.
"Not the earth, Doc. The ocean." Morgan corrects and digs out his phone again.
"Hey Hotch, we may have something. The girl's being kept on a boat" Morgan reports as soon as the other agent picks up.
"She's on a boat? Where?" Hotch demands.
"It's a pier or a dock. He wouldn't be able to transmit the webcam image rom the middle of the ocean" Morgan replies.
"You're sure about this?" Hotch confirms.
"It's the best we got, Hotch. Even if we're right, getting the location's up to you my friend" Morgan states mater-of-factly.
"What is it you always ask Garcia?" Hotch asks.
"To work me a little magic" Morgan replies with a grin as Hotch hangs up. Morgan and Spencer settle in front o the computer to wait. At this point, all they can to is keep an eye on the victim and alert the others if anything happens.
Unfortunately, it's only a few minutes later when something does happen. A large man steps into view of the camera heading straight for the victim. Both agents can immediately tell that the man is not one of theirs. This meant he must be the missing partner.
"Reid, he's inside" Morgan hisses unnecessarily at Spencer. "Get Elle on the phone" he adds as the unsub begins to unlock the cage. Spencer does so immediately before handing the phone over to Morgan.
"Listen to me. You need to wait or backup" Morgan says urgently after Elle has updated them on what they can't see of the situation.
"If we wait, the girl is dead" Elle argues.
"And if we had waited in Boston…" Morgan begins.
"I can't. You told me to trust my instincts." Elle cuts him of before hanging up. Morgan snaps the phone closed while muttering swear words under his breath. Spencer puts his hand on the other man's shoulder in comfort. He knew how much Morgan hated being left behind while others ran into danger. Neither noticed how the hand Spencer used was the one with his soulmark, or how a comforting warmth seemed to spread from that mark down to Morgan's shoulder. They are both relieved when not a minute later their phones buzz with a text from Hotch with the location of the boat and orders to get out there.
The two waste no time in following those orders, but even so everything has been wrapped up by the time they arrive. They check I with Elle, and get a quick run down on exactly what had happened. After they were both up to speed Morgan wanders over to where he can see Hotch sitting. He sits by the older man and they both watch for a moment as Gideon comforts the victim before the EMTs load her into an ambulance.
"So, what kind of report do they want on him?" Morgan asks breaking the silence.
"I suppose whether he's fit to be a field agent" Hotch replies. "You know, Haley and I were looking at a baby names book. Guess what Gideon means in Hebrew" he adds just as Spencer wanders by.
"Mighty Warrior. Appropriate" Spencer answers before continuing on. Hotch and Morgan exchange a slight smile and that.
"So, what are you gonna tell them?" Morgan prods.
"What would you say?" Hotch retorts.
"Gideon saved her life. That's good enough or me" Morgan replies before getting up and wandering away to check on the rest of the team.
Nietzsche once said, "when you look long into the abyss, the abyss looks into you".