Part 3: The ransom
"Silence is the ultimate weapon of power." - Charles De Gaulle
Spencer sat quietly listening as the unsub rambled. He had heard a remark about cute genius babies, and he wasn't sure he liked at all where this might end up. He tried to be perfectly still as his face was stroked with the latex glove again.
He was trying to figure out what to do, but he wasn't able to pick up a lot of information about the unsub. He had only been able to figure out that the unsub was male because he had heard the statement 'picking a suitable woman to carry the babies'. Spencer also had decided that silence at first would be the best way to deal with his captor.
The unsub kept talking about all kinds of things. He seemed to have a fear of silence, and there was hardly a second where he was quiet. Spencer thought if he kept the unsub talking that perhaps he would say something stupid that would reveal his identity. Spencer was just hoping for something tangible that meant the unsub could be tracked quickly.
"I don't like your silence. I heard you were a bit of talker. Didn't you learn to talk at 2 months? It might not be true; I only heard it from a source that hasn't really talked to you in a long time. You think he would keep in touch with you, since you are brilliant. I am sure you don't need me to tell you that though. " The voice-modified voice prattled on for a few more minutes about how utterly brilliant Spencer was for a few minutes.
Spencer was only half listening. He was trying to determine if he tuned out the unsub, even only slightly, if he could hear any noises in the background. In the length of time since he had been here, Spencer had realized that the scent of vanilla was drifting through the house, also the light scent of carbon as if the unsub had lit a scented candle. It made Spencer wonder if the unsub thought they were on some kind of date.
"Hey!" The voice was louder that usual. "I thought you figured out I wanted you to talk sometime." The hand, that had been stroking Spencer's cheek, smacked his hand softly as one might do when they were correcting a child.
"I wasn't sure if you were done with your external monologue." Spencer commented in a tone as if he was bored, that he had picked up from his coworkers when he had a tendency to discuss a topic of conversation for too long.
"You know I should have ask, do you even want kids? Or are you afraid they might become like your dearest mommy?" The unsub was stroking Spencer's cheek again, as if he hadn't just slapped his captive a few seconds prior.
"I haven't really thought about having children. I am too busy to think that far ahead in my life." Spencer lied, keeping his voice very calm, and honest sounding. He didn't want to get into details with the unsub about any of his own personal debates. The truth was Spencer was a planner, and had mapped out the pros and cons of big decisions such as children, and marriage. He had decided that the plan was easily alterable whenever he found someone he loved enough to actually have those conversations with.
"Maybe we can discuss this later. I have to send another message to our friends at the B. A. U."
Spencer wasn't quite sure, but he thought he heard the unsub skipping out of the room.
"Just as yellow gold is tested in the fire, so is friendship tested by adversity." -Ovid
J.J. had been sitting at Spencer's desk for almost fifteen minutes, crying as she took the things out of the bottom drawer of his desk. She pulled out the little Godzilla action figure she had given him last year, and the tears had started to flow. She missed Spencer dearly. All she wanted right now was to be in Ohio working on the case they were supposed to with Spencer near by, his childlike enthusiasm helping them all feel a little less stressed.
She hoped that she would be able to see him again. She kept getting this awful feeling that she never was, and it made her angry with herself for even thinking that.
It was hard to be positive though, especially when the Hankle videos kept playing in her mind in an endless loop. He almost hadn't come back last time, and she wasn't sure if he would be able to this time. She cuddled the Godzilla doll close to her as if it were a child, not caring if anyone came in and saw her crying.
J.J. knew that she needed to try to compose herself and try to focus on the case. It was a struggle though, especially since it seemed like it had been an eternity since the unsub or unsubs had left them any word of Spencer.
She reasoned if they didn't hear anything from the unsub in ten minutes, she would force herself to calm down. Then she could start calling people in Spencer's address book. She picked up the black book now, and opened it randomly. It landed on R, and she was surprised to see through her tear-blurred eyes an entry listing a D.C. number for his father.
J.J. knew Spencer hadn't actually talked to his father in years, but it seemed that he had kept track of his father's phone numbers, as there were numbers in the entry that had been crossed out. Spencer probably had the numbers intending to call, but never doing so because he didn't know what to say. J.J. was tempted to call Dr. William Reid and give him a piece of her mind for abandoning his son, but she knew it wasn't his place. It wouldn't help the investigation any, anyway.
The fax machine started behind her, and she wiped at her tears with her sleeve as she went over to see what it was. She hoped it wasn't another Bureau memo, and something that would help them with the case.
Five minutes later, she was reading it to the team in the conference room. "He isn't hurt, and you aren't going to track his location with your tech enchantress. We heart the nerdy doctor. You probably want him back. : ( Send the Delicious chocolate detective to the Washington monument in three hours. Have him bring two copies of the O.E. D. but don't bring Spencer's edition, you have to get your own. I may give you information about his whereabouts, or we may just talk about the nerdy doctor's loveliness. I will be wearing a green carnation. See you soon. – Nerd Brigade" (All of the note was written in one long paragraph with black permanent marker with the word heart written out and the little sad emoticon after the third sentence.)