DISCLAIMER: I do not own Criminal Minds, nor and I making any money from this story.
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and adds! This could be the last chapter, not sure yet. Maybe last but one? Guess we'll find out together :)
WANTED – Chapter Seven
Hotch hung up his phone and left his office heading towards Prentiss' desk. "Hey, Prentiss," He called. "Where's Garcia?"
Prentiss looked up from the paperwork she was completing. "In her office," She looked at him puzzled. "Why?"
"Clarridge confessed." Hotch said.
Prentiss wasn't sure, but she could have sworn she saw a small smile creep across her superiors face. "He did?"
"Yea." Hotch said, nodding. "Apparently he was paid to set Reid up. Now all we need to do if find Reid."
Prentiss bit her bottom lip. "I, erm... I know where he is." She admitted.
Hotch didn't speak, but titled his head to the side in a manor that made words unnecessary.
"I'll get Garcia." Prentiss said, standing from her desk.
"Meet me in my office." Hotch said, turning and walking back up the stairs.
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"I'm so sorry I didn't tell you, Sir!" Garcia sobbed, sitting on the sofa in Hotch's office. She had recounted how Reid had called her, how he'd been hurt and how she'd lied to get out of work to help him.
"It's ok, Garcia." Hotch said, "So JJ's over there now?" He asked, turning to face Prentiss.
"Yep." Prentiss nodded.
"Ok," Hotch said, picking up his phone. "You call JJ, let her know we got Clarridge. I'll call an ambulance, get one over to Garcia's place."
Prentiss nodded again, pulling out her cell and leaving the office. Hotch looked back over at Garcia who had stopped crying, but was still clearly shaken. "I understand why you did what you did, Garcia." He said gently. "Thank you."
Garcia smiled at him as she stood. "Thank you, Sir." She said, leaving the office. Reid would be ok, the bad guy would go to prison and her team, her friends, wouldn't be mad at her for hiding the truth.
(((((())))))
JJ got out of her car as her cell rang. She's managed to get to Garcia's in just under ten minutes, much to her own relief. She looked at the name on the screen. "Hey, Em." She said as she answered.
"Hey," Prentiss said over the phone. "Clarridge confessed. And Hotch knows where you are. He's called an ambulance to meet you there."
"Thank God," JJ said, glad that she would at least be able to tell Reid that Clarridge had been arrested for the murders. "OK, well I'm here now." She said as she approached the door. "I'll call you in a few, let you know how he is."
"Ok," Prentiss said simply, now sure what else to say. "Tell him..." She tried, but couldn't come up with the words. She sighed. "Tell him we..." Why was this so difficult for her? She sighed again in frustration.
"I got it, Em." JJ said, understanding that showing emotion was not one of Prentiss' strong points. "Speak soon." She hung up the phone and entered Garcia's apartment. "Hey, Reid!" She called, shutting the door behind her. She got no answer. "Spence!" She called again, panicking a little. Why wasn't he answering? Was he asleep? Had he passed out? Or worse... "Spence!" She called again, entering the living room. "Oh my God!" She half screamed, running to the sofa.
There was blood, so much blood. And Reid was in the middle of it all. But it wasn't coming from his side, or at least it didn't look like it was. His left arm was covered. It was then that JJ noticed the slit that ran from his wrist up towards the crook in his arm.
"Spence?" She said, gently, placing her hands around his face. "Spencer, come on... Please. Open your eyes, Spence." She said, tears falling from her eyes.
Reid opened his eyes and looked at her, struggling to focus. "Behind..." He said weakly.
"Behind?" JJ repeated. She quickly turned in time to see a small dark haired woman run at her from the corner of the room, knife in hand. She threw herself out of the way, letting out a small cry as she felt the blade slice through her upper arm.
She turned to face her attacker. The dark haired woman was much smaller than JJ, who was still on the floor. "You're not supposed to be here." The dark haired woman said, gripping the knife in her hand tighter.
She ran at JJ again, but the blonde haired Agent was ready this time. She rolled herself out of the way, letting her attacker pass her. As she did, JJ kicked out her leg, tripping over the other woman.
JJ stood and quickly covered the distance to the other woman. She kicked the knife away from her, pulling out her handcuffs and cuffing her hands behind her back. She rolled her over to see that she was unconscious. She was bleeding from a cut above her right eye and JJ assumed she'd hit her head off the corner of the coffee table. "Spence." She whispered to herself, turning back to the sofa.
She knelt down beside him. "Spence..." She said. She held his bleeding wrist tightly in her hand to try and stop some of the bleeding. "Spence, look at me." She needed to call an ambulance. No, wait. Hotch had called one, isn't that what Prentiss had said? Yes... He had. "Spence." She tried again, tears staining her cheeks.
Reid opened his eyes and looked at her. "I didn't..." He said, barely a whisper.
"We know, Spence," She said, gripping his wrist tighter. "It's ok. We know it wasn't you." She closed her eyes for a brief second, before opening them to look at him again. "Just stay awake, ok, Spence?"
"Michaels..." Reid said, before closing his eyes.
"No!" JJ shouted. "No, Spence." She shook his slightly, not loosening her grasp on his wrist. "Stay awake, come on." She tried to control the tears that were falling from her eyes but failed. How could this be happening? How had any of this happened? "Please..."
Reid muttered something, but JJ couldn't make it out. She was about to speak when she heard sirens now far away. "See, Spence," She said gently. "The ambulance is nearly here."
He didn't respond this time, he didn't even more. "No," JJ sobbed, still not letting go of his wrist. Her hands were soaked in blood, the blood of her friend. She didn't know what to do except hold on tighter. Her finger were staring to turn white, although she couldn't see for all the blood, and she'd forgotten about the cut she'd received to her arm. "Spence?" How much blood did a person have in them? How much could they loose before they died? She knew Reid would have the answer. If he'd just wake up. "Spence?" She tried again, although barley audible.
She wasn't sure how long she waited. It seemed like a lifetime. She just sat there, holding on for dear life. She couldn't let go. To let go would be to admit defeat, to let Reid die. After another eternity the door barged open and the Paramedics rushed in. They moved JJ out of the way and began working. JJ watched in stunned silence, forgetting about her surroundings completely. She needed to tell the team. She needed to stay with Reid. She needed to take the woman who attacked her and Reid to a police station.
She didn't know what to do.
(((((())))))
The team sat in the waiting room. JJ had called Prentiss as from the ambulance. MPDC had accompanied the ambulance to Garcia's apartment and had turned up a few minutes after the paramedics. They had stayed with the Brunette attacker until another ambulance had turned up to take her to hospital also.
JJ stared at her hands. She'd washed them. She'd washed them what felt like a hundred times but she could still see, still feel Reid's blood all over them. She'd been patched up by am ER doctor. The cut on her arm hadn't been too deep and didn't need stitches. So now she sat, staring at her hands, silently crying.
Hotch was sat next to her. He didn't know what to do, what to say. And he found that in itself unnerving. JJ had told them about what had happened when she'd found Reid. He ran a hand through his hair. It felt like they'd been waiting for days.
Morgan stood and walked to get himself a glass of water. He drank half of it and through the rest away. He sat back down and sighed. He didn't know what he was feeling. Worry, guilt, anger. All of the above? He was angry with himself, for thinking, however briefly, that Reid would be capable of killing anyone. What sort of a team mate, or a friend, did that make him?
Prentiss was staring into space. She still wasn't quite sure if today had actually happened, or if she was stuck in some sort of weird nightmare. And she thought he'd done it... for the briefest of moments. How could she have even thought about doubting Reid? She closed her eyes and sighed. Hoping he would forgive her.
Rossi was sat across from Hotch. He could tell the day had taken its toll on the team. It had taken its toll on him. He should have known, the second anyone even suggested that Reid was a killer, that something was off. The kid didn't have it in him. He wished he'd been more like Hotch, or Garcia or JJ. Not one of them, not even for a second had thought Reid was capable of such a thing. So did he, if he though about it. But that thought had still been there, in the back of his mind. And he'd listened to it. He hoped he had the chance to make it up to the younger man.
Garcia was sat next to Morgan. She had been crying since they got to the hospital. The bad guys had been caught, Reid had been cleared. But this wasn't meant to happen. He was meant to be ok. He had to be ok. She cried harder. This was her fault. If she'd stayed with him instead of going back to Quantico then that woman would have never hurt him...
"It's ok, Garcia." Morgan said, putting an arm around her shoulders. "He'll be ok."
Garcia shook her head. "I shouldn't have left him." She said, quietly.
Before anyone else could speak, a doctor walked into the waiting room, chart in hand. He looked around the room at the waiting families. He glanced down at the chart again. "Spencer Reid?" He called.
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Ok, one more chapter I think. Just a quick question – got another story idea but it's kind of a supernatural/sci-fi type story... Dunno if anyone would be interested? Or would give it a go at least? Would be a team fic, but a little Reid Centric. Don't wanna say too much but just testing the waters, so to speak!
Should hopefully be able to update tomorrow :) Hope you enjoyed!