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"Dr. Reid…"
The younger man's head jerked up and he grabbed Ramirez's shoulder so hard that the other agent cried out in pain.
"Hello Ramirez," Reid said with a smile,
"What the hell…"
Reid's free hand flashed out so fast that Ramirez didn't have time to react as something was shot into his eye. It burned like acid and he screamed in pain. Reid threw the empty syringe aside and shoved Ramirez away. Ramirez fell back against the toilet. His head rapped the edge of the porcelain rim and he went silent. The younger agent sprang up and over to Ramirez who had tears seeping out from under one eyelid. He was breathing slowly and appeared to be knocked out. He cautiously approached the agent, keeping his eye on the gun in his holster.
Reid knelt down over the man and reached for the gun. He cried out in surprise when on of Ramirez's hands shot out and grabbed Reid's wrist. Reid's eyes jumped to Ramirez's face. The eye he'd released the Dilaudid into was tightly shut and tears were running out of the corner. He yanked so hard on Reid's arm, that bright pain shot up to his shoulder. He was nearly pulled off his feet, but he dug in with is feet and pulled back. He fell back and his head hit the wall, seeing stars. Ramirez was struggling to his feet. Reid leapt up like a snake striking out at a mongoose. Ramirez had gained his feet and was rubbing at his eye with one hand and swinging wildly around with the other, which caught Reid under the chin, snapping his teeth together with an audible snap. He tasted blood in his mouth, but kept his eye on the man that was flailing around like a fish out of water.
Ramirez shoved at him again. Reid stumbled backwards, pushing the door to the bathroom shut with a bang.
"I'm sorry to do this." He said and smashed his fist into Ramirez's face. "Tell your boss I said thanks for the Dilaudid."
Ramirez went down like a felled steer in a slaughterhouse. His head hit the tank of the toilet. This time, he was out when Reid approached him. The young agent bent over him and checked his pulse with a hand that was shaking with reaction to the sudden fight. Ramirez was breathing and his pulse was strong so Reid leaned over and pulled his gun out of the holster. He searched Ramirez's pockets and found a ring of keys, a wallet and fifty seven cents in change. He laid the keys and the wallet to one side and pulled off Ramirez's shoes.
"I hope we're the same size." He said softly as he began stripping off the man's clothes.
----
Erin Strauss strode into her office and shut the door with a snap. Calloway was settled in to the chair across from her desk. One leg was crossed over the other and he was flicking a tiny piece of lint off the arm of the expensive looking suit jacket.
He looks entirely too comfortable! I'll put a stop to that.
"I see you're making yourself comfortable, Calloway."
"Hello Erin!"
"I told you never to call me that here. Have you lost the remainder of your senses?"
Calloway straightened up in his chair. His face went stony and he looked at the picture of the President over her shoulder.
Bitch! Just like all women. When I take what's rightfully mine…
"Pay attention Agent Calloway!"
"Yes ma'am!"
"It appears that someone has tipped off Aaron Hotchner and his team that Dr. Reid is missing."
"I know. Lynch informed me today. Don't worry, I have it under control. One of the reasons Lynch is working for us is to keep Dr. Reid under wraps. He's doing his best to keep that fat girl occupied and -"
"Don't brag about your technical analyst. Penelope Garcia is the best in the world."
"That chubby blond woman, she should have been booted out on her ample ass a long time ago. The way she flaunts the dress code and flirts with all the male agents is disgraceful!"
"Watch your mouth!"
"Why should I? I'm sure she enjoys her status because she's probably sleeping with Hotchner and Morgan as well as Lynch. She's nothing but a bitch whore who-"
Strauss came out of her chair. "Shut up and listen! Penelope Garcia's on a very short list. In fact, she tops that list. You underestimate her at your peril and mine. I'm in this hip deep just like you are. I expect you to succeed and take your place at the head of the BAU."
"I don't need your help to take what is mine."
"Yes you do. You couldn't do this without my help. In fact, the only reason I chose you to help me get rid of Agent Hotchner is that no one would suspect you. Your team has the worst record of all the teams in the bureau. No one pays attention to any of you because you're barely a blip on the radar."
"Don't talk to me like that!"
"I'll talk to you anyway I want. You remember who's in charge here."
"Yes ma'am!"
The Section Chief sat back in her chair and put her chin on the tips of her fingers. "Don't take that tone with me Agent Calloway, or I'll drop the right information into the right ear and you'll be in jail."
"You won't do it. You're in this as deep as any of us."
"I know how to cover my tracks. If you try to pin this all on me, no one will believe you. Now get out of here and make sure that Dr. Reid stays where he is. Don't underestimate him. If he can't talk his way out of this, he'll find another way. "
"He won't find a way out of his prison. He doesn't have any idea where he is and even if he did, he wouldn't be able to find the way out of that maze of rooms without a map.
"Your overconfidence will be your undoing. Unfortunately I can't allow you to mess this up. You will do as you're told and make sure that Agent Hotchner never finds out where he is. At least until we're ready to make our move. Officially, Internal Affairs should be taking the case, but I've asked Davidson to allow you to give your 'professional input,' to the case."
"Don't worry about Davidson and his crew."
"I'm not worried about Internal Affairs. As soon as Hotchner and his team finish the case they're on in Vermont, they'll be back here and looking for Dr. Reid."
Calloway tapped his thumbs together while he watched the SC with hooded eyes. "I would think that you could keep him busy enough to stay out of our business."
"I don't tell the teams where to go. I just make sure that they don't make disastrous mistakes like your slip up in Phoenix a year ago."
"That wasn't my fault."
"Yes it was. I covered it up for you because I knew I'd need you very soon. If you want it to stay covered, you'll make sure that Dr. Reid stays under wraps."
Calloway grimaced and nodded at the same time. "I'll keep him as snug as a bug in a rug."
"You better, because all of you go down with me if I go down."
"May I go now?" Calloway had stood up and was facing her like a soldier on parade.
She waved him away with a flick of her perfectly manicured nails.
Calloway had put his hand on the door knob when Strauss called him back. "Oh Calloway," her head was bowed over a file. "Don't ever come in here when I'm out of the office and make yourself comfortable again. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Watch your tone!"
"Yes ma'am!"
He left the office brushing past two agents passing the door to Strauss's office. "Why don't you watch where you're going?" He glowered at them.
---
Reid put on Ramirez's shoes and holstered his gun. The pants were a bit too short and the shoes were a little tight, but there was no help for it.
This might turn out to be the dumbest idea you've come up with in a long time.
He looked at himself in the mirror. Stop stalling! He's been in here too long. They're going to come in here looking for him.
He put the wallet on the counter and opened the door. Just keep your head down and walk out as if you own the place.
Yeah that would be very easy!
Just do it!
He left the room with his head down, trying to copy the easy gait with which Ramirez walked. His heart was pounding and his throat was dry. His palms were greasy and they twisted off the door knob to the hallway when he tried it.
Good one Dr. Reid. Now they'll send someone after you for sure.
He tried again, and winced at the cold feel of the doorknob on the palm of his hand. Why do door knobs feel cold in the warmest of rooms?
He boldly walked out the door and down the hallway. The carpet in the hallway was the same color as the carpet in his room. He kept his eyes on it as he tried not to run down the hallway. Every room he passed made his heart thump so hard it hurt.
Anyone could walk out of those doors and then it would be over.
He wiped his hands on the unfamiliar chinos. The clothes had felt like they'd just come out of the dryer when he put them on. The warmth from Ramirez's body in the material made him feel a bit ill.
Just ignore it and get out of here.
He rubbed his hands on the pants again and took a right at the junction of two hallways. If he went the opposite of where Stark had taken him to make his phone calls…
His shoes whispered over the carpet as he fought down the urge to run pell-mell down the hallways of his prison.
If you panic, you'll never get out of here.
He took another right at the next intersection. There were doors at regularly space intervals. He tried all of them, but they were all locked.
What if there are others like me trapped down here? What if Calloway's got some kind of weird human collection going on?
That's crazy… You need to stop watching thrillers on Sunday nights!
But the images of a couple horror movies he'd seen recently on DVD wouldn't leave his head. From now on, no more horror movies either. Don't you see enough horrors on the job?
He kept trying doors despite the sweat that was collecting on his palms once more. Everything looked the same to him. The carpet was the same, the smell of piped in air was the same, and the silence had the same heavy quality to it that had permeated his room.
It wasn't your room. It was your prison. Don't get the two mixed up in that brain of yours.
The walls were plain white and the hallways seemed to go on forever before he found another junction. He made another right and his heart jumped in his throat. The sight of the elevator made it pound so hard that he got dizzy and sick at the same time.
He walked to the call button and pushed it before he could think about it too much. It seemed to take forever before the door opened. He was chewing on the thumbnail of his right hand when the car finally made it to his floor.
The doors opened and he stepped inside. The panel on the wall next to the doors showing that he was on the seventh floor. Was that up or down? Were they in some kind of a bunker? Should he go all the way up or down?
He pushed the number one and felt the elevator begin to ascend. The ride was rapid and so smooth that he wouldn't have known that he was going up if not for the initial lurch in his stomach.
The doors opened up at the first floor without the usual pinging announcement. He stepped out of the corner he'd been waiting in.
You mean you were hiding in it!
No one was waiting on the other side of the steel elevator car doors. The entryway was empty except for an emblem hanging on the white painted wall.
"Well I'll be damned!"