Sorry for the delay again. I wrote half of this chapter one the train only to realize I needed some information I had left in my dorm room. I hope this chapter more than makes up for it. I ended up focusing a little more on Hotch than I planned to but I wanted to show how Reid's disappearance is affecting him. That's also why the team is more touchy-feely than they would normally be. I also spent way too much time finally naming the UNSUB. Anyways I hope you enjoy this chapter and next chapter is shaping up to be mostly Reid and the UNSUB. Enjoy.
Oh and just to warn you I decided this story needed a little more arrogance. You'll see what I mean.
Warning: Vague references to sexual assault
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds nor the Criminal Minds characters. All other characters and mistakes are my own.
The man dropped what he was doing when the PDA buzzed angrily on his belt, signaling an incoming e-mail. It had been happening more and more frequently in the past 24 hours, a fact that had not been lost on the man though he wasn't overly concerned.
Out of habit he popped the device off his belt and opened the message. What he read made his breath hitch in his chest momentarily. It wasn't the content of the e-mail itself that bothered him but the attachments. More specifically the attached file labeled 'Paul Ryder'. The file with his name on it.
He had underestimated his adversaries. They were smarter, more efficient than he ever thought, even without their resident genius. Logic dictated he should dispose of the kid and cut his losses while he still had the chance to run.
He hummed as he thought, quickly coming up with a plan of action. Drawing the gun from his waste-band and picking up a large knife from the silver tray in the living room he went down to the basement where his captive still hung. It was time to deal with the problem.
-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-
Arriving at the hospital, Morgan and Gideon both flashed their credentials at the triage desk in the emergency room. "A man was brought in earlier today with multiple stab wounds, a GSW to the shoulder and a missing pinky finger. Take us to him." Gideon ordered.
If the nurse on duty was startled by the presence of FBI agents she hid it well. Logging into the hospital computer system she typed rapidly, looking up the required information. "I'm sorry agent...?" the nurse started, faltering when she realized they had never introduced themselves.
"Gideon, and this is Agent Morgan. The man?" Gideon supplied.
"Agent Gideon, a man with wounds matching your description, a John Doe, was brought in earlier but he was rushed into the OR. He's still in surgery."
Gideon sighed at their luck. "How long?" he asked.
"It shouldn't be too long now" replied the nurse, "If you have a seat in our waiting room I'll let you know as soon as our John Doe is out of surgery and able to receive visitors."
"Fine" said Gideon shortly before leading Morgan towards the waiting area where the profilers sat down in the uncomfortable, hard plastic chairs to wait. When Morgan pulled out his cell phone to update their team leader the nurse from earlier hurried over. "I'm sorry agent, but you can't use a cell phone in here."
Resisting the strong temptation to roll his eyes, Morgan got up, left the waiting area and stepped outside the front doors of the emergency room to make the call. "Hotchner" his boss greeted him moments later.
"Hotch, it's Morgan. We talked to the nurse on duty who informed us that our victim is still in surgery. He should be out soon but it might be a while before we get a chance to talk to him."
Hotch caught the unasked question in his agent's explanation. "Stay there until you get a chance to talk to him. You can catch up with us at the satellite office later."
"Got it" replied Morgan. Ending the call he replaced the phone on his belt and headed back to the waiting area to fill Gideon in.
-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-
Hotch and the girls were still on the road to Augusta when the call from Morgan came in. The team leader answered the phone with one hand and gave his usual greeting, "Hotchner", before hitting the speaker button and setting his phone in the cup holder.
Morgan's voice echoed through the SUV as he updated them on the surviving victim's condition. "I guess it's just us then" he told the girls after Morgan hung up. Although JJ heard the slight worry in her boss's voice she didn't take it personally. With Reid's life in jeopardy they needed every advantage they could get.
As he drove, he explained the mysterious phone call he had received earlier. "The Supervisory Special Agent in charge of the Augusta satellite office called to say a body was left on the steps of their building. There was a bloody note stuffed into the guy's pocket. The blood on the note was Reid's." *
With that last bit of news the SUV descended into worried silence as both Elle and JJ turned their thoughts towards their missing colleague. The silence lasted the rest of the ride until they pulled to a stop next to the FBI building in Augusta.
An older, slightly gray-haired agent stood outside the building waiting for them when they arrived. Next to him stood a younger man with short brown hair, piercing blue eyes and too much muscle. The older man stepped up and introduced himself to the much-reduced team.
"I'm SSA Peter Blackwell. I'm the agent in charge here. This here is Special Agent Alex Parker. I've assigned Agent Parker to give you any assistance you need."
Shaking hands with Agent Blackwell, Hotch quickly introduced him to the girls and explained that the rest of their agents were held up at the hospital but would be along eventually. As Agent Blackwell led them into the building Hotch spotted an area of the steps that had been cordoned off by pylons. He figured that was where the body had been dropped.
"We already sent the body over to the chief medical examiner's office but the letter is waiting for you in the conference room" Agent Blackwell explained as they went. Elle and JJ found it slightly disconcerting that Agent Parker had yet to say anything to the team.
When they finally reached the conference room Agent Blackwell pointed to the blood stained piece of paper sitting in an evidence bag on the table before retreating to his office, leaving the BAU agents alone with Agent Parker.
Hotch pulled on a pair of blue examination gloves before sitting down at the table in front of the note. Before he got a chance to slide the note out of the bag, Agent Parker suddenly broke his silence.
"What kind of FBI agent gets himself kidnapped by the suspect he's chasing." he sneered. Even JJ could hear the condescension in his voice and see the look of arrogance on his face when he said it.
Before either of her team mates could say anything, Elle started screaming at the man. "Why don't you just shut up. You have no idea what you're talking about. It could have happened to anybody. It could have happened to me." As soon as she started yelling Hotch and JJ had each grabbed an arm in case she decided to attack her fellow agent. With her last words they felt all the tension drain out of the profiler and heard a low sob.
Staring at the broken woman before him, Agent Parker felt nothing but contempt. Woman don't belong in the FBI. Parker didn't actually dare voice his thoughts on the matter. While the women were nothing he couldn't handle, Agent Hotchner was a different matter.
Hotch, who had gotten up from the table as soon as Agent Parker spoke, moved to place himself between the arrogant man and his distraught agent. Turning his back on Agent Parker, he moved close to Elle and whispered in her ear. "Why don't you go wait in the SUV."
Elle shook her head furiously at the suggestion. She wanted to see the letter. She needed to see the letter. After a second of consideration though she decided to give herself a minute. "Bathroom" she told her boss before leaving the room to find one.
With the situation somewhat diffused, Hotch sat back down at the conference room. Slowly and carefully he slid the note out of the evidence bag. The paper had been folded in 3 and the word "BAU" was clearly visible in bold letters despite the blood. Nobody had read what it had to say yet. The agents at the satellite office had left that up to the BAU.
Elle had returned, much calmer, by the time Hotch had started to unfold the letter. Elle stood behind with one hand on his shoulder on one side while JJ stood similarly behind the other. Agent Parker stood in a corner of the room with his arms crossed and rolled his eyes at the dramatics.
Pointedly ignoring the agent, Hotch opened the letter and all 3 agents began to read.
-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-
Despite everything he had gone through over the past several days, Spencer Reid was still in fairly decent shape physically. As far as he knew the UNSUB hadn't forced anything else into his system since before he killed Jane. Reid figured the drugs were mostly out of his system and there was only so much time a person could spend asleep.
After the initial shock of being stabbed had worn off, Reid needed something to occupy his mind. He had started off by trying to build a profile of the man who held him but that only went so far. White male, approximately 29 years old. Sadist. Extreme hatred of women as expressed by his suppressed rage.
As soon as Reid's mind started to drift his thoughts automatically turned towards the UNSUB and he felt terror slowly begin to overwhelm him. The stabs of pain from the knife still embedded in his gut every time he took a breath didn't help.
So Reid did the only thing he could. He retreated into his memories, memories of his team, his makeshift family.
He focused on Gideon first, his mentor, the father he never really had. One memory in particular stood out to him. A conversation with Gideon the first time he killed a man.
"This is going to hit you... and when it does... there's only three facts you need to know. You did what you had to do and a lot of good people are alive because of what you did."
"What's the third?"
"I'm proud of you."
Reid quickly tumbled into another memory, another conversation from the past. A hostage situation aboard a train in Texas.
Gideon started walking away but he turned back to face the pair. "Elle"
"Yah?" Elle replied.
"Don't ever call me dad again." Gideon said before walking away for real.
Elle turned to Reid sitting next to her. "How do you think he would feel about mom?"
"Let me know when you're gonna do that so I can, uh, run"
Elle looked and sounded uncomfortable. "Um, Reid, you probably saved my life in there."
"Probably? I totally saved your life. And I'm, I'm pretty certain that it was caught on tape."
The last memory he found himself in was one of his favorites. The team had been tracking a vigilante killer in New York when they all decided to go out for Chinese food. Morgan had laughed at him when he asked the waiter for a fork.
"Did you know that experts credit Confucius with the advent of the chopstick? He equated knives with acts of aggression."
"You don't know how to use them do you." Morgan said. It wasn't a question.
"It's like trying to forage for dinner with a pair of number 2 pencils."
"Here let me help you." JJ reached over and grabbed the chopsticks from Reid. Taking a hair band she proceeded to wrap it around the end of the utensils.
Seeing what she was doing Morgan spoke up. "Ah the rubber band trip."
"Yep the rubber band trick."
Even with the rubber band he had continued to drop his food to the amusement of his co-workers.
Reid's mind was abruptly pulled back to the present by the sound of the basement door opening. What he saw when the UNSUB stepped into the light frightened him. But it wasn't the gun in his hand or the large knife he carried that had Reid worried. No, it was the wild look in his eye, the expression on the man's face. It was the same look he saw when an UNSUB realized he was caught with nowhere to go.
People, like animals, are at their most dangerous when they have nothing to lose.
-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-
My Dearest BAU,
How could you be so stupid as to send your youngest out with just a weak woman to protect him. So young, so... vulnerable. Elle Greenway was helpless to protect him, lying unconscious on the floor while I bound him with her handcuffs.
Where was the infamous Jason Gideon when his protégé was being kidnapped? I thought getting to Spencer would be difficult but you guys made it far too easy. He literally walked right into my partner's home.
It is because of all of you, because you failed, that Dr. Spencer Reid is dead. You won't catch me in time and he will die in pain. Not before I have my way with him though. What I did to the others will be nothing compared to what I'll do to him.
On the off chance that you do find me in time and manage to rescue Dr. Reid, you're already too late. The youngest and therefore the weakest, the kid is already broken, a mere shadow of the man he once was.
It didn't have to be this way.
- PTTR
Elle was the first too look away. She couldn't force herself to read past the part accusing her of being weak. Too weak to protect the man who once saved her life. While JJ and Hotch finished reading, Elle left the conference room to go find a bathroom for the second time that day.
JJ finished next and after tossing a glare at the agent in the corner she went off to find her absent colleague. Hotch remained in the room, ignoring Agent Parker, as he re-read the letter twice.
Returning the letter to the evidence bag he slipped the bag into his pocket and started to leave. Agent Parker spoke, a look of outrage on his face. "You can't just take–"
Hotch cut him off before he could go any farther. "I can and I will." Both his tone and the look on his face practically dared the younger man to argue.
Despite his obvious flaws, Agent Parker was smart enough not to mess with the BAU unit chief, choosing to silently follow the agent out the door instead, a look of contempt on his face.
Hotch had barely left the room when he ran into the girls returning from the bathroom. "Come on, we're heading over to the ME's office. Now." he said as he brushed past them.
Both ladies pulled an about face and followed their leader out of the FBI office. "Will the forensic pathologist even have anything for us yet?" Elle asked.
"I don't care if they have anything or not at this point. We need to see the body." replied her boss, quickening his pace. His behaviour concerned Elle. She tried to recall if she had ever seen him this way during a case. He had taken the time to ask her how she was doing after Reid's abduction but had anyone ever taken the time to ask him? A discrete look at Hotch's face revealed his jaw was clenched so tightly she was surprised she couldn't hear it creak.
-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-
Gideon glanced down at his watch. They had been waiting at the hospital for so long that Hotch and the others were probably already at the Augusta field office by now. It was looking more and more like by the time they were done there would be no point in joining the others.
Morgan paced the waiting room like a caged tired as he had been doing ever since the phone call with Hotch. Gideon knew the younger man wanted to be out in the field finding the young man who had practically become a kid brother to him over the past 3 years. Instead they were stuck here waiting to talk to someone who might not have even seen anything.
Suddenly a nurse came over to talk to them. "Mr. Doe is out of surgery and resting comfortably. If you will follow me." Although it was a different nurse, she had clearly been filled in on the situation. She led the profilers through a series of doors to a semi-private room. A doctor was waiting for them in front of the door.
"You're the FBI agents? I'm Dr. McKinley. I've been looking after our John Doe. Maybe you can shed some light on his identity since he refuses to give us his name."
Gideon reached out and shook the man's hand. "I'm Agent Gideon and this Agent Morgan. We might be able to identify him after we see him. Can you give us a rundown on his injuries first?"
Dr. McKinley frowned. "I was informed that you guys already knew the basics..."
"Dr. McKinley we'll need more specifics if we're going to find the man who did this to him." Gideon prodded.
"Well Mr. Doe had 5 stab wounds to the chest and abdomen. He was shot in the right shoulder with .40 caliber bullet which we managed to remove intact. He was missing his left pinky and the wound was seared making reattachment impossible." The way Dr. McKinley trailed off at the end it was clear to the profilers that he wasn't used to this level of violence.
"Thank you Dr. McKinley." said Gideon, "We'll talk to the patient now."
Dr. McKinley pushed open the door and stepped aside to let the agents through. "He still needs his rest. You have 15 minutes" he informed the profilers before shutting the door behind them.
"We'll have to get the bullet from the hospital for a ballistics comparison but I would bet my badge that it was fired from Reid's missing gun." whispered Morgan when they were just inside the door.
"That's a pretty safe bed. Searing the wound is certainly consistent with the profile and the stab wounds are generally consistent with his MO." Gideon replied.
Morgan was about to say more when they both noticed that the patient was awake and staring at them. Both agent's immediately identified him as their missing man, Marvin Hayes, from his DMV photo.
Gideon strode forward, Morgan close behind, and pulled his badge out. "Mr. Hayes I'm Agent Gideon, this is Agent Morgan. We're with the FBI's behavioral analysis unit and we'd like to ask you some questions."
Mr. Hayes's eyes went wide at the sight of the FBI badge. He began to glance around him, a look of panic on his face. Sweat glistened in a sheen on his forehead as the monitors attached to him began to voice their complaints. Fear was sending his blood pressure and heart rate skyrocketing.
Dr. McKinley rushed in followed by a pair of nurses. He paused for a second to shoot the agents an apologetic look. "I'm sorry agents but I'm going to have to ask you to –". The rest of the doctors words were cut off by a new sound coming from the machines next to Hayes's bed.
Dr. McKinley began to shout orders at the nurses. "Grab the crash cart. Ready a standard dose of adrenaline. He's crashing!"
* I know they got the DNA match faster than humanely possible but it was necessary for creative reasons
In case anyone was curious a standard dose of adrenaline would be about 0.5 ml of 1/1000 adrenaline (at least that's what I found when I was looking it up). Agent Parker will continue to be a pain and a jerk and a way for our profilers to vent their anger.
Thank you for reading, please take the time to review. They motivate me!