Hello friends! Quick PSA: Anyone who wants to take my poll needs to do so by midnight tonight! I'm also going to be posting chapters as soon as I finish writing, instead of two/three at a time. 'Family Always' should be finished by either Thursday or Friday of this week! Can't wait to hear what you think of the ending!
To Hippiechic81: More twists and turns coming up!
To Tannerrose5: I've never been a fan of Ambassador Prentiss. I always wanted the writers of Criminal Minds to have a scene where Emily completely shuts her down. As for JJ, she's so overprotective of Spence that she can have a bit of a one-track mind. Don't worry, she'll get a chance to make things right.
To hairbrain1947: Hopefully she puts that rage towards hunting Doyle down!
To ahowell1993: I wouldn't count on it. She'd be more likely to disown Emily.
To everyone else: Keep on reading and reviewing! Hope you're loving the story.
-XoXo Elisa
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters. This story is solely for my and others' amusement!
Chapter 20:
"Emily!" Psia's voice echoed down the thin hallway. "We've been looking all over for you! Did you learn anything about why Ian took your colleague or what he's planning." Prentiss nodded, "Yes, I actually learned a lot. I just want everyone to be here so I don't have to repeat myself." "Your teammates are still in front of Dr. Reid's room. They were quite worried about you." Easter added, his sharp gaze looking for a reaction. "Clyde." Emily muttered before strolling off to Reid's room. "Where's Jayje?" she asked Hotch; the entire team was still camped outside Reid's room, but her blonde friend was nowhere to be seen. "She got called away." Hotch answered, "some emergency at the state department."
"Guess we'll just have to fill her in later." Emily's dark eyes swept across the room, everyone was staring at her, waiting for her to disclose what she'd learned. "Um, first off. I learned why Doyle chose to target Reid instead of anyone else on the team. Apparently Spencer and I are first cousins. His mom's older brother was my mom's first husband." "What?" Morgan yelled. "Derek shut up!" Hotch ordered, "you can ask questions after Prentiss finishes. Go on Emily." Prentiss sighed, "As I was saying," with a pointed glare at Morgan, "Reid is my first cousin. Apparently my dad committed suicide when I was younger because he had learned he was also going to inherit schizophrenia. He couldn't handle the idea that he was going crazy, like his sister had, so he killed himself. He left my mother a note, telling her what he'd done and that she should cut all ties with Reid's mom. That she should never let me meet any cousin I might have. Like being near Diana would suddenly make me crazy. I think the worst part of it was that my mother kept tags on them, so she knew what Spencer struggled through and still did nothing. I'll never forgive her for that."
"Poor boy wonder," Garcia murmured, "poor you. You never knew?" "Not until Reid accused me of never telling him that we were related. I would've liked a cousin growing up." she said softly, "but that's not the point! The point is that Doyle is trying to get back at me for something he thought I did over five years ago." "Which was?" Rossi prodded. "The murder of his son." "Wait, hold up a second." Easter looked at her in confusion, "I thought that you didn't know who murdered the boy and his nanny. Hell, we didn't even know there was a boy until your case report. Emily, please tell me you did not murder an Irish weapons trader's five-year-old son."
"Of course I didn't!" Prentiss snapped, "I just made it look like someone had. I needed to get Declan away from his father, so I faked his murder. And don't look so scandalized Clyde! You and I both know that boy would've been used as a pawn against his father! I did what I needed to in order to make sure he would live a safe, happy, healthy life." "Where is he now?" Psia asked, "did you bring Declan to the states?" Emily nodded, "Yeah, it was the best way to keep him safe. I had a friend of mine take him in." "Is there a chance that anyone knows his true identity?" Hotch's impassive mask slipped slightly at the mention of an innocent child. "Yes." Emily answered, "if Doyle mentioned Declan there's a good chance that he knows about my ruse."
"Then he's our next step. You, Psia, and I need to go find him and get him to safely." Clyde argued, Psia nodding vehemently behind him. Prentiss opened her mouth to answer only to be cut off by Morgan. "Hold up one second. What makes you think that you three are the only ones allowed to try to stop Doyle? Doyle blew up our office. He took our friend. If anything, you should be the ones to take a backseat. This is FBI jurisdiction, not Interpol or CIA or what other agency you work for." Psia glared at him, "Clyde, Emily, and I chased him for five years. He murdered my fiancee. If you think for one second that we're going to just sit back and let a bunch of wannabe profilers go after him, then you're an even bigger idiot than you appear to be!" "Enough!" Hotch cut in before Morgan could retort. "There is absolutely no reason why we cannot work together. Like it or not we need each other if we are going to have even the slightest chance of catching Doyle. Reid's doctor just told me that he can leave in an hour, so we need to determine how we're going to protect both him and Declan."
"What makes you think that Reid would still be a target?" Easter asked. "He's my cousin, that'll be more than enough incentive for Ian." Prentiss replied. "I agree with Hotch. We're going to need everyone's skill set for this, so shake hands." The team reluctantly shook hands with the two spies. "Good," Prentiss said. "Now, we can decide what to do next. Boston is Doyle's main base of operations, so we'll need a group to stay here. We need to cut off any and all external assistance he may receive. The other group will travel back down to Virginia to protect Declan." "What about Reid?" Hotch asked, "which group should he be in?" Prentiss deliberated for a minute before answering. "Declan will be Doyle's primary focus, but he'll want to finish what he started with Reid. Since Declan is in Virginia, Reid should stay in Boston. He won't be completely out of the line of fire, but he should be far enough away from Doyle." Hotch nodded, "Okay, in that case why don't you, Dave, Easter, and I take the jet to Virginia? Morgan, Seaver, Garcia, and Psia can stay with Reid. Does that work for everyone?" "Where will we stay?" Psia asked, "Doyle will surely have men stationed in Boston. They'll be searching all of the hotel guest lists for mention of Emily's known associates." "I have a house in Cambridge," Rossi offered, "you all could stay there." "It's settled then." Hotch said, turning towards Reid's room, Morgan following him. "What are they doing?" Psia asked. "Attempting to get Reid to see the rationale behind what we're about to do." Rossi answered, "but I doubt they'll be able to."
Morgan thought he'd be prepared for the palpable anger Seaver and Prentiss had told him about; he'd thought wrong. The kid's soft, doe-like eyes were black with anger and narrowed into slits. "Finally decided to visit me did you?" "Kid." Morgan said softly, sinking into the chair next to his bed. "We did everything we could to find you. You've got to believe me." The dark eyes met his, "Did you though?" Reid muttered, "did you really do everything in your power to prevent the pain? I mean, you knew about Emily all of these years and you never said anything to me." Morgan's dark cheeks flushed red. "It wasn't my place to tell kid." he said. "Maybe," Reid said softly, "but it would have prevented me from suffering so much damage."
"What's done is done Reid." Hotch said, breaking his silence, "It's how you move on that matters." The hateful glare shifted towards the unit chief, "nice to hear your voice Hotch. Let me ask you something, would a dalmatian have been able to escape abduction so easily? Or would the dalmatian have been so traumatized by being brutally beaten by a man trying to play God that a husky would need to take the beating in the dalmatian's place? Hypothetically of course."
To Hotch's credit, his impassive mask was not affected by the younger man's accusation, but shame burned through him at the words. "Reid, you need to know why I did what I did." Spencer scoffed, "no, I don't really believe I do." Hotch and Morgan watched as their favorite genius reached into his satchel, pulled out his badge, and flung it at Hotch. "I do believe you told me if I ever pulled a stunt like Texas again you would fire me. Since this qualifies, I'll save you the trouble. I'm done." Hotch stared at the badge for a minute before responding, "I don't accept." Anger flashed through his subordinate's eyes. "I didn't ask you to." "So you're just going to thrown in the towel?" Morgan asked incredulously, "Gonna abandon us like Gideon and Elle?" "I can't be on a team I don't trust." Reid retorted.
"We'll discuss this later!" Hotch snapped, "Right now we need to get you to the safe house." The man in the bed crossed his arms and glared up at him. "No, what I need is to get on the next flight to Virginia." Both Hotch and Morgan gaped at him, they'd figured Reid would be reluctant but they hadn't planned on him flat-out refusing. "Reid," Hotch said quietly, "Doyle knows that there's a blood connection between you and Prentiss. He'll keep coming after you until either you or he is dead!" "Great, I'm happy for him." Neither profiler could place the bored indifference in their colleague's voice. "It's not up for debate kid." Morgan snapped. "Actually it is," Reid retorted, "and considering that I am no longer a Bureau employee, I do not need to follow you or Hotch's direction." "Maybe not," Hotch said, pulling out his handcuffs, "but we can and we will take you into protective custody." "You wouldn't dare," Reid hissed, "especially after what I went through. You wouldn't risk losing the tiny shred of respect I still have for you." Morgan grabbed the cuffs from his boss and gently placed them around his friend's wrists. "I never thought I'd say this Reid. But I'd rather have you alive and hating me, than dead and still my friend." Hotch sighed, hopefully Reid will understand when this is over. "Grab a wheelchair and let's go," he told his subordinate.
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