A/N: Beta read and bunny-enhanced by the Gublerific editor frog - thanks sweets! Now, there are certain lines in this fic that connect with people that Reid has come in contact with in his past. Can you guess who they are?
Saturday
Having arrived the night before, the BAU gathered up the agents and officers for a briefing. JJ handed out copies of the pictures of Sienna, Cate and Tracy, and of Reid. The briefing was over in less than fifteen minutes, and the search patrols were on their way.
Harrison was a small town, having only around 2000 inhabitants. Hotch was thankful that the search area had been narrowed down from 100,000 square miles to 4, but it still didn't make the search easier. Finding Reid was just as hard as it had been the day before, but at least now they were in the right city.
The pictures circulated on the street during the entire morning. Officers were knocking on doors and stopping cars in traffic trying to get a positive match on one of the faces portrayed, but they all came up empty handed.
Having started the search at seven that morning, the BAU were less than pleased at 1pm when nothing at all had been discovered
"We have cops knocking on doors and agents swarming the entire town, how the hell could we not have found him yet?!" Morgan was on his last nerve.
The BAU was standing in front of the Harrison police station gathered around the two government issued SUV's.
"Just relax." Hotch was the voice of reason as always. "We pick up where we left off; Morgan and Gideon go west, check out the farms and estates. Emily and I will go east and do the same. The officers have the town; I'll send an order to the field agents to move out of town, searching the surroundings. JJ, you stay here; if you hear something, anything – call us."
Nodding, the agents split up and got into the cars. The frustration filling their minds was worse now than at any point during the search, as they now knew that Reid was within arms grasp; but they still couldn't find him.
-o-o-o-
"Spencer... Spencer... Wake up, Spencer...
Reid slowly woke from his fear-induced unconsciousness. The concrete under his cheek was cold and a bit jagged. The young agent moved his head slightly as if listening closer. "Mhm..?"
"You shouldn't lie on the floor like that, you could catch a cold."
The young man slowly opened his eyes, but there was no change to his vision; the room was pitch black. Shutting his eyes once again, he wished that the blissful unconsciousness would return. Who's talking to me?
Rolling over onto his stomach, he winced in pain as the relatively fresh wounds on his thighs came into contact with the rough concrete floor. At least they had stopped bleeding and were scabbing up a bit.
Slowly, he raised himself up to a sitting position against the wall. Leaning his head against the hard surface, the young doctor let his hands blindly examine his body; finding more wounds and welts than he wanted.
He hurt everywhere. Every joint in his body was in a complete uproar, and his head was ready to detach itself from his neck and find another host.
"You should drink something."
"What?" Reid sluggishly turned his head to where the voice had come from. In the deep opaque it was impossible to make out anything.
"You look terrible, you should drink something."
"I don't have any..." The young doctor stopped mid-sentence. He was alone in the cell, he knew that. Who was talking to him? The female voice was so familiar, but in his confused and exhausted state he couldn't place it. "Who are you?"
"Spencer Reid, I am disappointed. Of all people you should know me
"But I don't... I..." Reaching up to his head, Reid clutched his hands around his temples. The headache was nearly unbearable.
Who's talking to me? I'm alone here! There is no one here! Oh God, no...
The realization came over him, causing his heart to skip a beat. The young doctor was hallucinating, hearing voices. His breathing increased, threatening to send the young man into hyperventilation.
"This isn't real..." he mumbled. "It's just the dehydration. I'm not crazy."
"Oh, Dr. Reid – but you are!"
This was a different voice, male. Reid jerked his head up, looking around to locate the source of the sound. "Stop! Stop talking to me!"
The logical part of his head told him that he was delusional from the dehydration, the pain and the sleep deprivation. But the part of him that was less logic; the self-preserving part; told him an array of other things. Unfortunately for young Dr. Reid, he now listened more to the illogical side of his head than the one that really made sense.
Leaning against the wall, the young doctor struggled to rise to his feet, only to immediately lose control of his legs; plummeting to the floor.
"Lie still, kid, you're gonna hurt yourself. Man, you are one sick dude."
"Stop!" Reid cried out into the darkness. He lay on his side, curling up on the cold hard concrete, trying to block the voices out with his hands. "Why are you doing this to me?!"
His eyes were wide open as he stared out into the black cell, desperately trying to find the source of the voice. But there was nothing. Just the deathly silent darkness around him.
"It all ends today."
A third voice made its way into Reid's mind, making him whimper in fear. "Please!" he cried. "Please, leave me alone...!"
"Just ask the question, sir knight."
A fourth voice spoke to him through the darkness. The young doctor could have sworn that there were people standing all around him, and the thought shook him to his very core. There were no people around him, he was positive; at least he hoped there were none. But still, it felt like there was a crowd around him, leaning over him; talking, murmuring, whispering.
Reid tossed and turned everywhere, screaming his lungs out. Banging his fists against his head, he tried to get the voices out of his head. "Get out, get out, get out! Leave me alone!"
"You really are a worthless child, Spencer."
Reid stopped twisting; froze at the sound of the eerily familiar voice. Staring straight up into the ceiling he lay on the floor, holding his head.
"You were always such a disappointment. Normal boys play football and join the little league. You had your nose so far down in those books; no wonder you look like a stick figure, you never move!"
The voice scolded the young man lying terrified on the floor.
"Why couldn't you have made me proud, Spencer? If you had been a better son, maybe I wouldn't have left!"
"Dad..." Reid whimpered through his tears. "Dad..."
-o-o-o-
Hotch and Emily had just gotten back in the SUV after speaking to a farmer living a few miles west of Harrison. The conversation had been like all others; fruitless. The farmer hadn't been in town for over two weeks, and not many people came by his property, just the occasional hunter and hiker, and none of them matched the description given by the agents.
As he started the engine, Hotch let a deep sigh escape his lips. Emily turned to him. "Hotch, we're gonna find him."
"I know, I'm just..." he trailed off as he steered the SUV out on the dirt road leading to the main highway.
Emily nodded in understanding and began flipping through the wad of papers in her lap. "Okay... Next place on the list is about a mile and a half down the road, then turn right. The road doesn't even have a name, according to the map."
Slipping on his tinted shades, Hotch put in the next gear, racing down over the dirt and gravel, sending it flying every which way as the large vehicle made its way to the main road.
The voices were many more now, all talking at once. Reid had no way of telling them apart. He squirmed on the floor, trying to back away from the pandemonium going on inside his head. Hitting the wall, he found the familiar corner and curled up in it, still clutching his head.
"Stop! Stop! Stop! Please!!"
Suddenly, everything went silent. All the young doctor could hear was his own strained breath and the pounding of his heart. Letting his hands slowly drop from his ears, he wiped away the tears running down his face.
The darkness was driving him crazy; playing tricks with his mind. The intense fear mixed with the poor state of his body created a perfect breeding ground for insanity.
From deep in the darkness came a hoarse, yet soothing voice.
"Reid."
The young doctor looked up, expecting to see the owner of the voice in front of him; but was only greeted by the inherent absence of light.
"This can end, Reid."
Frightened, the young agent looked around, trying to get a bearing on the source of the one speaking to him. It sounded like he was standing right behind him. But the young man had his back against the wall, how could it be?
"Wha-what do you mean?"
"Do you really want to end up like your mother?"
Tears filled Reid's eyes as he hid his face in his palms. "Oh, God..."
"You don't have to live that way, Reid. There is a way to end it right here, right now."
"No..."
"No one knows where you are, and no one will find you. You are alone in the dark and you hear people who aren't there. Is this the way you want to live the short period of time you have left?"
"Please, don't..."
"You're gonna die anyway, Reid. Why not do it – like you said earlier – on your own terms?"
"I can't..."
"You can. I know you can. You're stronger than you look, Reid. I believe in you. I trust you. You're like a son to me."
"I'm afraid..."
"But I'm here with you. You don't have to be afraid of anything."
"I..."
"Do it, Reid. Take control. You haven't had control of anything in days; now take control of your own life."
"I..."
"Do it. Do it, Reid. Do it."
The young doctor cried as he pulled himself away from the corner. Tears of fear and dissolution ran down his cheeks. Searching blindly on the concrete floor, he found what he was looking for and crawled back into the corner.
"It won't hurt, I promise. I'm right here with you all the way."
-o-o-o-
Gideon and Morgan had just arrived at a farm six miles east of Harrison. Stepping out of the SUV, they were greeted by a farmer emerging from the entrance of the red wooden house. The two agents pulled out their credentials and showed them to the farmer.
"Good afternoon sir, I'm agent Gideon this is agent Morgan, we're with the FBI."
"The FBI?" The farmer looked very confused as he scratched his head. "What brings you folks all the way up here?"
"We have a couple of questions we'd like to ask you." Morgan held out the photos of the girls and Reid for the farmer to take. "Have you seen any of these people?"
The farmer eyed the photos with squinting eyes. "I'm sorry, sirs, my eyesight isn't what it used to be. Can't say that I've seen them. Are they missing or something?"
"The man is a federal agent who was kidnapped last week; the women in thee photographs are believed to have abducted him.
"Oh, my..."
"Have you seen anything out of the ordinary; cars you don't know, any other people not local?" Gideon was gripping at the last straw, trying to find out anything about the situation; any little detail.
The farmer looked thoughtful for a moment, and then it seemed to come to him. "Come to think of it, there was this one thing..."
The two agents held their breaths.
"I don't know if it's anything important, though."
"Let us be the judge of that." Gideon bit the inside of his cheek, waiting for the farmer's reply.
"Well... There's this farm about a mile or two up the road – the old Bailey house. The Baileys moved out like four months ago, they got a real sweet deal on the house. I've never seen the new owners, but there has been some serious remodeling going on down there."
Morgan calculated the timeline. Four months ago Sienna Nolan returned to the US, there was a good chance she was the buyer. But where would she have gotten the money?
"There's been a car driving up and down this road a couple of times this week, I've never seen that car before."
"What kind of car was it?" Morgan felt a strong charge of hope surge through him.
"Aaah, a green one? Can't make out any make or model from this distance. It took off yesterday afternoon at a totally insane speed, haven't seen it since."
Gideon pulled up his phone, dialing. "Garcia?"
"Did you find him?!"
"Not yet. Can you send me a picture of George Fletcher?"
"You'll have it in less than a minute." Click
"What more can you tell us about the car, or the house?" Morgan kept pressing the farmer to think.
The farmer shook his head. "I'm sorry, that's pretty much all I know. I go by the house a few times a week, and I've seen the vans and construction vehicles all up until the week before last. I guess they're done with whatever it was they were doing."
"Does the house look any different?"
"No, not really."
"Then what did they renovate?" Morgan looked at Gideon.
Gideon was about to answer as his phone beeped. Garcia had sent the picture of Cate's boyfriend. The older agent held the phone up to the farmer. "Have you seen this boy?"
The farmer looked at the picture for a moment, and lit up. "Yeah, I've seen him! In town, in the grocery store. Wait…come to think of it... Damn, that is the kid who drives the green car!"
"Gideon." Morgan gave his colleague a look, and it was quickly returned. Charging back to the car, both agents pulled out their cell phones, furiously dialing.
"Hotch, we have a location! The end of West Arnold Lake Road!" Morgan threw himself into the car as Gideon forced the SUV into gear.
"JJ, get every agent out to the old Bailey farm nine miles east of Harrison! I think we've found him; we're on our way out there now. Alert EMS, get them out here."
Tires spinning, the SUV kicked up gravel all over the farmer's front porch as it sped away towards the old Bailey farm.
-o-o-o-
"Go ahead, Reid. Don't be scared. I'm here with you."
Reid's hand trembled as he held the triangular piece of glass tightly. His mind was empty except for the soothing voice talking to him; encouraging him to take control.
It hurt when the glass sank into the tight skin of his left wrist. The young agent cringed, but never eased up on the pressure falling on his skin. Slowly moving the shard over his flesh, a gash opened up; crimson blood practically pouring out of him.
Moving the shard to his other hand, the young man tried to apply the same amount of pressure on the right wrist, but the burning pain was too bad. The second gash was only half as deep, but still let the blood flow freely out of his circular system.
"Do it again. It's not enough."
"It...hurts!"
"It won't hurt for long. Now do it."
Re-applying the shard to the shallow wound on his right wrist, Reid roughly pushed the shard into his flesh, causing the gash to open wide. Blood gushed out.
There was no pain. Only relief. He had taken control, he was in charge. Leaning against the wall, he let his body slide into the corner; head resting in the junction of the walls.
He was so tired. All he wanted was to sleep.
It's over... It's finally over. No more fear, no more pain. Just peace. I can sleep now. Oh God, I can sleep now...
Closing his eyes, he slipped slowly into a makeshift unconsciousness; not aware, but not unaware either. He felt the blood running over his lap where he laid his hands. The warm fluid was smooth and smelled slightly metallic.
Reid's breathing became less and less frequent; every breath a strain.
"That's my boy, Reid. I knew you could do it. It'll be over soon. It'll all be over soon."
-o-o-o-
Driving up to the old Bailey farm, Morgan and Gideon rushed out of the car. Hearing sirens in the distance, they knew backup was on the way, and they drew their guns running up to the house.
"FBI!" Morgan yelled the second before he kicked the door in. The two agents barged into the silent house.
The house was completely empty. Not a single piece of furniture, no curtains, nothing. Morgan and Gideon ran through the first floor, clearing every room.
Moments later, they were accompanied by a number of uniformed police officers and agents in full gear. But they found nothing. The house was clean, emptied of every shred of trace left by the suspects. And Reid was nowhere to be found.
The basement was searched, the barn was searched, and so was the tool shed – nothing.
Morgan kicked a rock clean over the yard in pure frustration. "Damnit!"
"This doesn't make sense. The farmer said there had been construction vehicles here for months. What did they renovate? The house is a dump." Gideon paced up and down the gravel walkway leading up to the front door.
"There's nothing here!!" Morgan was about to go into a fit of rage.
"He has to be. Everything leads here."
-o-o-o-
The silence was so wonderful. Reid could feel the last ounce of energy leave his body as his heartbeats slowed more and more.
"I'm here with you. Don't be scared. I'm here with you."
-o-o-o-
Hotch and Emily drove up to the house where Morgan and Gideon stood waiting and scowling. As they ran up to their colleagues, Hotch had hope written all over his face. "Did you find him?"
Gideon shook his head slowly. "No."
"Goddamnit!" Emily yelled furiously as she turned away from the men around her.
"This is insane. He has to be here!" Morgan clenched his fists.
"Morgan, just because you want him to be here, doesn't mean that he has to..." Hotch began.
"Morgan." Gideon interrupted his superior. Something had caught his eye.
His younger colleague turned to him. "What?"
"Did the house have inside plumbing?"
"Yeah, two bathrooms. Why?"
"Why does a house with two bathrooms need an outhouse?"
The entire team looked over where Gideon's eyes were directed, and they all saw it. The small red outhouse set near the adjacent forest. Not even a second passed before Gideon took to running towards the small building, quickly followed by his team.
Ripping the door open, Gideon's eyes fell on the floor; and suddenly everything inside him jumped. The large metal hatch protruding from the ground was not something you would usually find in an outhouse.
Gideon threw himself on the hatch, yanking at the lock, making it click open. "Reid!" The older agent's cry was that of hope and expectation, fear and anxiousness. "Reid, I'm coming!"
Finally getting the hatch open, all they could see as it opened was a thick darkness. "Reid!" Gideon cried. "Give me a flashlight! Reid! Answer me!"
As the flashlight hit his fingers, he let the light shine into the dark pit below him. "Reid!" Moving the light around the cell, it finally fell on something that would cause the entire team nightmares for the rest of their lives.
Reid was in the corner, half sitting, half lying on the concrete; naked. His stomach, legs and arms were covered in blood.
"Good God! Reid!" Gideon threw his legs into the opening, jumping straight into the darkness; Morgan following right behind him.
The two men ran up to their youngest colleague. Morgan grabbed his throat to find a pulse, while Gideon pulled his shirt off, covering the young man lying on the floor. "Reid! Reid, can you hear me?" Gideon pressed his hands over his young colleague's wrists.
"Get EMS down here! I can't get a pulse!" Morgan pulled his shirt of, placing it over Reid's lower half. "Reid! Come on, kid! Stay with us!"
"Reid. Listen to me. I know you can hear me. Hold on." Gideon held Reid's wrists tightly as they could hear the EMS making their way into the cell, flashlights and stretcher ready.
"Hold on, Reid. Hold on."
A/N again: Nervous?