Disclaimer: See first chapter.
RUN
"By now you've gotten the picture. We can't escape fear. We can only transform it into a companion that accompanies us in all our exciting adventures; it is not an anchor holding us transfixed to one spot." - Susan Jeffers quote from Feel the Fear…And Do It Anyway
Reid sluggishly awoke to the rhythmic swish-swish of wipers working frantically against a rain-spattered windshield and to the warmth of a body pressed tight against his own. He struggled with paralysis associated with waking out of a deep sleep. His arms, legs, eyes and mouth simply wouldn't work and his body felt heavy with the weight of an added body on top of it. Though his mind was alert, his body refused to function. His tongue felt as though it were glued to the roof of his mouth. When was the last time he had had a drink of water? What was that noise? Who was on top of him and how could he work his way from beneath this sweaty burden? Where the hell was he?
Fighting the surge of panic at the fact that someone was pressed so firmly against him and that he couldn't move, Reid forced himself to calmly take stock of the situation. His head hurt, he couldn't open his eyes or move even his fingers or toes, his leg felt as though it were on fire, someone was squishing him, and his throat felt as though it were caked with gritty sand. Wherever he was it was dark and…there was movement. Was he in a car? If so, how had he gotten there? He willed himself to remember what had happened and racked his usually impeccable memory for something, anything that would help him understand what was going on and why he couldn't seem to open his eyes. Had he taken some sort of drug? Had he been forced to take a drug? He doubted that he would fall back to his old habit; at least he hoped he hadn't. Why couldn't he remember?
The body pressed painfully into his groin and he was finally able to move. His body jerked with the pain and he moaned, eliciting a deep humorless laugh that seemed to echo around him. Wherever he was, it was a small space. Whoever had him pinned down, moved again, causing the agent to gasp as the pain traveled up his stiff spine. God his back hurt.
"Waking up?" A gruff voice asked as a rough hand shook his shoulder causing even more pain to erupt in his back. Reid struggled to open his eyes, but they wouldn't cooperate. He allowed his head to tilt to the side and attempted to lift his left arm, but it was pinned down. Swallowing the acidic bile that rose in his throat, he tried his other arm and was relieved when it sluggishly cooperated and he was able to move it about an inch from where it lay useless at his side.
A screeching sound accompanied a sudden bone-jarring stop that propelled Reid forward in the small compartment. His eyes finally popped open as his head smashed into the dashboard and he saw tiny, bright pinpoints of light dance in front of his eyes. The rough hand flung him back and dizziness overwhelmed him. Blinking in an effort to erase the dots that accompanied his dizziness, Reid let his head rest against the seat and took steadying breaths.
The overly bright fluorescent lights of a gas station briefly stole his sight and he shakily raised his right hand to shield his eyes. The weight on him shifted again and much to Reid's relief settled next to him. His left arm, now freed was tingling painfully.
"Don't even think about moving," the gruff voice cautioned. Reid rolled his head to look at the source of the voice and his vision blurred. He didn't think he could go anywhere if he wanted to and though there was a nagging voice at the back of his mind that urged him to flee; he could barely string two coherent thoughts together let alone muster the coordination to move. At the moment it was taking all of his concentration to get his eyes to focus on his captor and his vision was still blurry. Closing his eyes, Reid took a steadying breath and reopened them. Two bitter blue orbs stared back at him and he was covered in a thin spray of spittle as the man snarled in his face, "stay here with the brat! I gotta find us some new wheels and a new shirt thanks to you," he jabbed a finger in Reid's chest punctuating his words.
Swallowing hard Reid closed his eyes and attempted to move away from the angry man, "Oh no you don't pull away from me," the man pulled him forward by his shirt and shook Reid slightly before releasing him aware that even though the gas station had few people due to the heavy downpour, he could possibly be drawing some unwanted attention. Slamming the door of the SUV, he walked into the gas station.
"I gotta pee," a small voice whispered startling Reid. He fought to open his eyes. Why was this so hard? He felt as though he were swimming against a strong current in a river and drowning. Slowly blinking in the bright light he attempted to focus on the speaker. Double-vision plagued him, but he could just make out the features of a young boy albeit fuzzily.
Licking his parched lips, Reid strained to speak, his voice coming out as little more than a strangled wheeze, "S..s..sorry," he choked back a cough. The boy tugged at this hand, pulling on Reid insistently as he opened the door. Alarm bells went off in Reid's head. What would the man with the piercing eyes, rough hand, and gruff voice do if he and the boy left the vehicle? Pulling back as much as his battered body would allow, Reid attempted to keep the boy from leaving the SUV, "nnn…nn..we ha'fta stay," he managed to get out before his breath was stolen as a fresh wave of pain consumed him and he closed his eyes to stave off the pain.
The boy stopped pulling on his arm and Reid sighed in short-lived relief until he heard the unmistakable sound of someone dropping to the ground and small footsteps making their way across concrete. Shit, Reid ignored the pain that knifed through him and clawed his way toward the passenger door. Using the doorframe for support he eased out of the vehicle calling out a raspy, "Wait!" A sense of relief flooded through him when he heard the small footsteps stop and then return. A small hand reached up to him and he caught it on the third attempt.
Instead of jumping into the vehicle, the boy pulled on Reid's arm, dragging him across the parking lot of the gas station which seemed to swirl around him in a myriad of dizzying colors as he allowed the young boy to guide him over the concrete. Dipping and swaying as he walked he leaned gratefully on the corner of the building when they finally reached it, catching his breath until the boy impatiently led him around the corner into sudden darkness. Rain soaked through his thin shirt and trousers as he was no longer protected by the overhang that covered the gas station. Shaking in cold and fear, Reid slumped to the ground.
Lifting his face to the rain, he opened his mouth, assuaging his thirst by swallowing a few greedy mouthfuls of the cool liquid. How long had the man been gone? When would he be coming back? What would he do when he saw that both the boy and Reid were missing? Reid forced his battered body to stand as the small hand tugged on him again. One thing Reid knew for sure was that they could not get into the SUV with him again. He didn't think he would survive and he doubted that the little boy with him would either from the way the man had spoken about him. No, they both had to get away from him, he wondered how much more time they had left before he came out of the gas station and found them missing. Would they have time to make it to the woods he could just make out behind the gas station?
"What's your name?" He bent down to ask the young boy who had not let go of his hand.
"Aiken," he whispered.
"Aiken, I'm Spencer Reid," his head spun as he straightened, "we need to leave this place; get somewhere safe, do you think you can walk to the woods back there?" He gestured with his free arm, wincing at the pain in his back.
Nodding his head, Aiken smiled tightly and began to lead the way. Stumbling across the pebbled back lot, they painstakingly worked their way toward the shelter of the woods. Looking back periodically, Reid kept placing one foot in front of the other, each step jarring the pain in his back and intensifying the throbbing of his injured leg.
They got halfway to the woods when a gunshot rang out from the gas station behind them, stopping both of their hearts for a beat. Swallowing hard, Reid grasped Aiken's hand more firmly and began running as survival instinct took forefront in his mind and adrenaline kicked in. As confused and lost as he felt, Reid knew beyond a doubt that if they were to have any chance of making it out of this alive and finding help, they would have to make it to the woods before the man, whom he believed had caused him to be in his current state of pain, found them.
Heart jackknifing painfully in his ribs, lungs on fire, and legs burning Reid ran for the woods, Aiken beside him, even as another shot rent the night air and bit at their heels.