Disclaimer: see my profile
A/n here's the one some of you have been waiting for.
Morgan pushed Kevin into the basement room. The other man stumbled and fell to the carpeted floor. Morgan hauled him to his feet and pulled him to the chair. Kevin fell into it like a rag doll. His face was red from exertion and his hands were trembling.
"Stay down!" Morgan ordered him.
"I didn't do anything!"
"Did you really think you could keep Penelope from finding out what you're up to?"
Kevin was slumped down in the chair. His glasses had slipped down on his nose, but he didn't dare push them back up on his face. He looked up at Morgan and saw the face of rage.
"I would never do anything to hurt Penny. I love her."
"I'd come up with a better answer if I were you."
Kevin looked around the empty room instead of at Morgan who was circling his chair like a panther on the prowl.
"So, um… what's this supposed to be? Isn't an empty room with a chair in the middle a little spy movie cliché? Where're your rubber hoses and bright lights?"
"You think this is funny?"
"No… I'm just curious."
"This is Rossi's home. The room is soundproofed so no one outside will hear me beating the truth out of you."
Kevin pushed his glasses up on this face with a trembling finger. "You can't hurt me. If you do, I'll cry police brutality."
Morgan laughed and it erected the hair on the back of Kevin's neck. "This is the FBI. You work for us, which means I can do what I want to you and no one will give a damn."
"I want a lawyer. You can't question me without one present. You didn't read me my rights or anything."
"You haven't been arrested. I'm just questioning you about the disappearance of Dr. Spencer Reid. We have reason to believe that you know where he is."
"I don't know where he is. I'm just a computer tech."
"Not the answer I want my friend."
"I don't know what you want to hear."
"Yes you do. You know what I'm looking for."
Kevin looked around the room again, desperately trying to find something to focus on other than the man that kept circling his chair.
Morgan suddenly stepped in and grabbed Kevin by the collar of his shirt. He twisted the back of it so that it began to choke him, "Pay attention Lynch!"
Kevin flailed against the hands and the arms that were too strong for him to throw off. The pressure on his windpipe made taking only the tiniest breaths possible.
"Now, why don't you tell me where I can find my friend?"
Kevin's hand pulled at Morgan's fingers till little gray spots danced in front of his eyes. "I… Don't… Know…"
Morgan let him go and he fell off the chair. He felt himself being hauled back up into the chair. The air rushed back into his lungs and he gasped it in like a lover clasping his beloved to his chest.
"Where is Dr. Reid?"
"I don't know!"
"What did Calloway tell you?" Morgan said, changing tactics. "Did he say that you'd just be able to walk away with a lot of money and Garcia on your arm? Did you really think she'd just walk away from her job and her family for you? Did you think she'd ever stop looking for Reid? If you did, you don't know her at all."
He was back to circling Kevin. Kevin was hunched over the chair like an old man, breathing in and out. Air was the only thing he could think about.
Morgan yanked him upright. "You better be listening to me Lynch."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Morgan reached down and grabbed Kevin by his manhood squeezing and twisting at the same time. The young man went white and all the renewed breath rushed out of his lungs. "You've been letting Garcia lead you around by the balls. I can understand it. She's a beautiful woman that could make any man with a brain crazy. You were just doing what you thought you had to do to get her to follow you anywhere. Well, how does it feel to know that all you worked for is over."
The pain was an enormous living thing that took over everything else. Was there something he was supposed to do or say?
"Now, we're going to have a discussion. If you tell me what I want to hear, I might not kill you. If you don't tell me what I want to hear…" He squeezed tighter and Kevin went green and glassy eyed.
"What's the answer going to be? Tick-tock Kevin, tick tock," He wagged the first finger of his free hand in front of the man's face.
Kevin opened his mouth, but no words came out. "What, I can't hear you." Morgan said, putting his head right down in front of Kevin's mouth.
The door opened behind Morgan and Rossi came into the room. Morgan let go of the man and let him slump down in his chair.
"How's it going?"
"It's not going. He refuses to talk."
"Let me have a try."
"Gladly," Morgan stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Rossi turned to Kevin, who'd curled up in his chair. "I'm sorry if he hurt you. We're all stressed and want to find our friend."
"Keep h-him a-away from me." Kevin gasped.
"I will if you'll tell us what you've done. Garcia found the program you planted on her computer. She knows you were trying to prevent her from finding Reid. Why don't you tell us what happened and I'll see what I can do about getting you immunity from charges."
"I was following orders."
"I know, but I need you to tell me who was giving the orders."
"It was Calloway. He said that he'd pay me very well to help him kidnap and keep Dr. Reid. I just wanted to get Penny away from all of this."
"I know the stress of this job can be almost intolerable."
"Yeah, she deserved better than to look at horrible pictures all day and deal with the worst of humanity. This job got her shot and almost killed, for God's sake."
"You're right, some people aren't meant to take on the stress of the job."
"I just wanted to make things better for her."
"You still can. Tell me what happened."
---
Hotch stood in the living room, looking out the window at the green grass that was going yellow and the changing leaves on the trees. It was going to be really cold soon. Did Calloway have Reid somewhere warm? Or was he in a shack, cuffed to a chair like Georgia. He suppressed a shudder that wanted to wrack his body from head to toe.
This was different. This wasn't Georgia. No one was torturing Reid and broadcasting it over the internet. Calloway had different plans for Reid and he wouldn't hurt him.
How do you know that?
He wants control of your unit. He's ambitious and paranoid, but he won't do physical harm to Reid. He needs him alive and healthy.
Do you believe that or are you trying to make yourself feel better?
His phone vibrated at his side and he almost jumped out of his skin. All of this worry was making him lose his precious control, just like two years ago in Georgia.
"Hotch…" He barked loudly into the phone.
"Hotch?"
"Reid is that you?" Relief at hearing his voice was like a strong surge of adrenaline in his blood.
"Yes… I'm okay. I'm at Quantico."
"What?"
"I don't have time to explain. You can't come here. Strauss is involved in all of this. I don't know if she has your phone bugged or -"
"Slow down Reid… We know Strauss and Calloway are behind all of this. We have Kevin Lynch in our custody at Dave's home."
"How did you figure it out?"
"You have Garcia to thank for that. She's a much better hacker than Kevin Lynch."
"Was there ever any doubt!"
"No… Look Reid, I need you to stay where you are. Jordan's at Quantico with Emily. I'll let them know you're there and we'll try to find a way to get you out of there safely."
"Hotch, Austin is here with me."
"Alright, I'll tell Emily. Don't worry!"
"We're on the fifteenth floor in one of the old apartments."
"Okay, just sit tight."
"I had some help escaping from Calloway. Agent Ramirez from Calloway's team helped me. We have to make sure he gets a break when all of this is over."
"When this is over, we'll talk about it Reid."
Hotch shut his phone just as Morgan and Garcia entered the room. "That was Reid. He's okay, but he's at Quantico. We need to figure a way to get him out of there.
Garcia sagged back against Morgan who looked like Christmas had come early. "He's okay."
"Yes, but Austin is with him. I gathered that Calloway grabbed her too."
"Son of a bitch…"
Hotch directed his gaze at Garcia who was crying softly with relief. "I need you to hook into the surveillance system at Quantico and take it down. I need you to keep it down as long as possible."
Garcia straightened her glasses on her nose. "I thought you were going to ask me something difficult sir."
Hotch grinned at her. "I'll have to think of something else when this is over."
"What about Lynch?" Morgan wanted to know."
"Get downstairs and make sure he doesn't make any phone calls. I don't want Calloway or Strauss alerted.
"You got it."
After Morgan left the room, Hotch said. "Come with me Garcia. We've got some planning to do. This is going to require really good timing."