Hi Everyone! Sorry for the delay in updating the story! It's been one heck of a week with little internet, and among other things, my birthday. :). But I'm back, with three more chapters! I will also be posting a Criminal Minds-NCIS LA cross-over story titled Allies either tonight or tomorrow.
To Hippiechic81: Guess you'll have to see.
To Tannerrose5: I saw them as having a special relationship too, but not necessarily a romantic one.
To Ahowell1993: Thank you! Glad you're enjoying it!
To everyone else: Keep reading and reviewing! You know how much I enjoy hearing your feedback.
Without further ado, here is the next installation!
Disclaimer: I do not and never will own Criminal Minds or its characters. I just wish I did. This story is for my and others' enjoyment. So please enjoy!
"We need to go!" "Emily," "Hotch, did you not hear what Doyle said to him? He told him that he would break him, and then he'll kill him. Reid's strong, but he can't hold out forever. It's a miracle that he even made it this long; most people crack after the first swing. Shillelaghs are meant to inflict as much damage possible, especially when they're applied to the same part of the body multiple times. We need to go now, before Reid comes back in pieces!" She moved to get out of her bed, but Hotch caught her arm. "We also need to be smart. Emily, what's going to happen if you go in there with a half-assed plan to rescue him. Best case scenario, Doyle catches wind that you're coming and he moves Reid. Worst case scenario, he kills you before you get within ten feet of Reid." "Ian wouldn't kill me," Prentiss said numbly, "he'd take his time torturing me until I went insane, and then he would kill me."
"Either way, you know how much Reid would blame himself if something happened to you." "I don't know any more Hotch. You've heard what he's said, I think I'd be the last person Spencer Reid would cry for. He'd probably think that it was justice for what I put him through." "You might be surprised. Remember the Hankle case? He pretty much called me a narcissistic egomaniac, all so he could pass along a clue. If he hadn't, there's no doubt in my mind that we wouldn't have found him in time. Reid's just doing what he has to in order to survive. Trust me, he's going to apologize as soon as we get him back."
Emily sighed, she knew her boss was only trying to make her feel better, but she couldn't the sight of Reid being beaten with the shillelagh. Even if he didn't mean any of the things he'd said, it would be months before she'd be able to be in the same room as him; she wouldn't be able to handle the guilt. "Maybe you're right," she said, "but I can't just sit by and do nothing. He's still a kid, and I don't want him to suffer anymore." Her voice broke, imagining the beaten and battered condition her teammate would be in by the time they got to him. Morgan wrapped his arms around her, "I don't either, but Hotch is right. We wouldn't be doing Pretty boy any favors by running around like a pair of chickens with their heads cut off. We need a list of Doyle's properties, his known associates, how he travels. We need to understand him and how he operates better than we know ourselves."
Need to understand how he operates better than how we operate. Need to understand how he operates better than how we operate. Emily sat up as if she had been stuck with a pin. "Emily?" Morgan asked cautiously, "Is everything alright?" "What?" she asked, momentarily forgetting her teammates were still in the room with her. "Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about what you said. You mentioned that we needed to understand Doyle and how he operates better than he knows himself. I obviously can tell you a lot, because I was in a relationship with him, while undercover." "You were what?" Rossi demanded. "It's honestly not that big a deal Rossi, especially since I'd done it before." Prentiss rolled her eyes exasperatedly, "Anyway, there were four other members of my team while I was under. They handled surveillance and tracking all of Doyle's transactions, so that we'd have an idea of anything he was planning and how much damage he might cause." "That's great Emily, but what does that have to do with anything he's doing now?" "I was getting to that," Prentiss said, glaring at her boss for interrupting her. "As I was saying, we had access to everything while I was under. When I found out that Ian had escaped from the prison we had put him in, I contacted my team to get access to everything we had on him. I thought I might be able to determine his endgame from the profile, but a few of my teammates took it as the go ahead to start tracking the assets of Doyle, his underlings, and all of their aliases."
"Do you think they'd be willing to help us?" Hotch asked. "Considering that Doyle just murdered Psia's fiance and nearly killed Clyde over a decade ago; I think they'd murder me for not including them. We all want Doyle's head on a stick!" "Tell them we'll flip them for it when the time comes." Rossi said, Morgan nodding in agreement. Prentiss looked to Hotch for confirmation before pulling out her cell phone and dialing the burner Psia had told her about in their last conversation.
"Lo?" a woman answered sleepily. "Psia," "Emily? Oh my gosh, are you okay? Clyde and I just saw the news! It said that there were agents still in the building when it exploded. Please tell me you weren't there when it happened." Prentiss smiled at the rapid fire questions her friend asked, some things never changed. "No, I was too busy getting the shit beat out of me by one of Ian's friends." she answered. "What?" Sia's voice sharpened, "Doyle was in Virginia? Clyde and I were in Montreal for a week because we heard chatter about him taking part in a huge weapons trade. We just got into Boston, but we should be able to get a flight down there by tonight!" "That isn't necessary." Prentiss assured her, "we know that Ian's back in Boston. I was calling to see if you and Clyde would be willing to help my team and I hunt him down like the animal he is." "Team? Emily, we talked about this. They don't have the clearance to be involved in this. Please tell me that you didn't tell them." "Psia, that all flew out the window the minute he targeted my team and abducted one of my friends!" Prentiss snapped, pissed that they were discussing protocol while Reid's life was in danger.
"He what?" Psia asked sharply. "Doyle was the one who bombed the FBI Training Academy." Prentiss said. "A few of my team members were just leaving the building when it went off. They were lucky, they only suffered concussions. However, we did lose our entire night crew, as well as a damn good agent. I thought that was the worst of it until one of my teammates showed up to the hospital with a package from Doyle. There was a tablet with a video of one of the younger members of my team bound and unconscious in Doyle's vehicle. He's been taunting us with live streams of him torturing Reid. Psia, he used a shillelagh on him. He's staying strong, but I don't know how much more he can handle. We need your help getting him back and making sure Doyle never sees the light of day again."
"Of course! How long has your friend been in captivity? We need to gauge whether or not we can afford to wait for you to get here." "Doyle's had Reid for about fourteen hours. He's been beaten pretty badly, but he's holding on. As much as I would like to get him back as quickly as possible, I won't risk you and Clyde's lives like that. The best chance we'll have is when we have as many numbers as possible." "How soon can you be here then?" Psia asked. "We have a jet that we use for assignments, my boss is asking the director for permission to use it. If we can get on the jet, we should make it to Boston by four o'clock this afternoon." "Okay, I'll wake Clyde and start going over what we have on Doyle. Do you know exactly where he took your friend?" "No, just that they're in the general Boston vicinity." Emily said, dreading that they would be looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack, Reid's location. "Okay, we might need to wait until tomorrow to go looking for him. Clyde and I can cash in some favors, but there's no guarantee that they'll pan out or will get back to us quickly." "I know, meet us at the Boston FBI field office. We'll set up central command there." "Okay, bye Emily. Be safe!" Hotch entered the room as soon as Prentiss terminated the phone call. "I just got off the phone with the Deputy Director." he said, "He told me to do whatever it takes to bring Reid home safely. Wheels up in twenty!"