Hasselhoff as Hook? ...Nope, not seeing it, Yahoo!
And I'm sorry this is so late, but recently I've been working on final exams (essay questions for Philosophy, research paper for Lit Theory, test and EC paper for Mythology, and lots more writing for Voice...) I'm all but dead on my feet, so everything I'm doing is taking longer than usual... But I'll for sure have more time later this week!
Nothing is mine; it's all CBS!
And sorry for the lack of Reid in this chapter; I just wanted to get the press conference out of the way as quickly as possible... Next chapter will have more Reid! :D
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The pen is mightier than the sword. ~Benjamin Franklin
Cameras flashed and voices echoed outside the Orlando PD office. JJ stood off to the side with the rest of the team, minus Morgan, who stood next to the podium; his body appeared relaxed, but those who knew him well could see the tight, tense way his jaw was set, the way his fists were clenched. To him, all this pomp and circumstance were irrelevant when it came to the safety of his friend, fellow agent… and brother in all but blood.
It was the end of the second day, and there were still no leads as to where Reid was. And what was worse was that the press had gotten wind of the story and every single station in Florida was now running away with it. With Reid's abduction, they had already planned on releasing a statement to the public, but now they had no choice in the matter of a press conference. It was time to step up and face the music, or let their entire investigation fly out the window.
Garcia stepped out of the police station, walking swiftly toward the podium. Immediately, cameras flashed with a new intensity, the voices of reporters began asking, probing, harried questions. But Garcia ignored them all. She wore a black skirt, high-heeled black shoes and black tights, a dark blue blouse with a white fringe along the V-neck collar, and a matching dark blue pendant on a silver chain around her neck. Earrings of the same color glinted in her ears. Her eyes were free of her glasses and her red hair was pulled into a simple bun with a pair of wooden chopsticks threaded into the smart style. In her hands she carried a plain manila folder.
JJ felt a swift surge of pride for her friend; if anyone besides JJ herself could take on these buzzards, it was Penelope Garcia.
The redhead rested her hands on the podium, opening the folder in her hands as she gazed out at the small sea of faces that watched her every move, waiting to see what she had to say.
"Yesterday morning," she began, her eyes never leaving the masses of people in front of her. "Around 10:30 outside the Contemporaty Resort inside the Walt Disney World Resort Theme Park, one of our agents was taken."
"Miss Garcia," one reporter asked. "Are you releasing the name of the agent that was taken?"
"As of now, we are not releasing that information to the public; the FBI would prefer that the privacy of the agent in question not be violated."
"When will you tell us who he is?"
"Is it true that the agent in question is under the age of 30?"
"Miss Garcia, does your agent resemble the previous victims in any way?"
"How high a priority is the abduction of you agent in comparison to the abductions of the last four victims?"
"The FBI is holding the agent's name, age and other identifying features from the press indefinitely," Garcia began. "And the public can be rest assured that we are doing everything in our power to find the men responsible for the abductions of all five victims, and the murders of all four.
"As of this moment, our team has a working profile of the kidnappers that we will be releasing to the public. There are multiple offenders, all under the delusion that they are pirates-"
"Excuse me, Miss Garcia, but did you just say 'pirates?'" One reporter asked.
"-But only one of them is smart enough to pull this off." Garcia continued as though the man had not cut her off. "He is a white male in his mid-forties to late fifties who may have recently suffered a major and devastating loss that he has not recovered from. He is extremely obsessed with the literary work Peter Pan, as well as any companion novels and media. His delusions, along with his obsession, have led him to believe that five young men, including an FBI agent, are Hook's nemesis Peter Pan himself. He will most likely dress as a pirate, talk like a pirate and has probably mutilated his body in some way to resemble that of Captain Hook?"
"Are you saying," The reported who had spoken before had one again interjected with a question "that the killer of those boys is Captain Hook!"
Garcia chose to ignore him again. "We are asking that the entire city of Orlando, as well as the residents of the Walt Disney World Resort, keep an eye out for anyone who may fit this description. I will now take some questions."
"So this man has most likely cut off his left hand and replaced it with a hook?" a woman asked with disgust.
"That is correct," Garcia confirmed.
"Miss Garcia," the reporter who had spoken out of context twice before was back, and determined to get an answer for a question. "Is it true that this same agent was taken from under the nose of the FBI once before, and by a Mister Tobias Hankel?"
Garcia felt the blood drain from her face; from the corner of her eye, Morgan, who had been standing stock still throughout the conference, twitched, and one of his fists clenched as though he planned on sinking it into the man's stomach or face."
"I can neither confirm nor deny that any agent on this team was taken by a Tobias Hankel in 2007, let alone the same agent," Garcia replied, trying to keep her voice strong. "That is all the questions I will take tonight." And with that, she walked across the stage in as composed a manner as possible.
Morgan could see that she was trying hard to keep from breaking into a run to get away from the reporter who had asked about Georgia, and about Tobias.
He walked out in the other direction, meeting her inside the conference room the team had set up at the beginning of the case. She was blotting at her makeup as tears smudged the mascara. Her hair had fallen from its bun and the chopsticks lay forgotten on the table, obviously having been ripped from her hair after she had walked into the room.
"I cannot believe that… that…" Garcia choked out, gasping as she tried to contain her tears. "He asked about… He asked if Reid had been taken before, and he didn't even sound concerned." She sniffled. "I mean… He's Reid, Derek! He's just a k-kid compared to the rest of us. And h-he's a-a-alone… in s-some sicko's lair… h-h-h-having God k-knows w-what being done to him! And it's happened b-b-be-before!"
Morgan wrapped his arms around Garcia's shoulders, pressing her against his chest and rocking her gently from side to side as she wept.
"You're right," he whispered. "That reporter had no right asking about Reid's other experiences with an UnSub and bringing up those dark memories. He was only doing his job, but he wasn't supposed to know about Hankel. But those guys…" he gestured outside the police station. "They don't know our boy like you and I do, like Hotch and Rossi, or Prentiss and JJ know him. They don't know how well he plays chess, or that he's got a mother in Bennington who loves him and a father who wants to bond with him after 17 years. They dunno how smart he is, or how he takes his coffee, or his favorite color."
"He has an IQ of 187, an eidetic memory and reads 20,000 words per minute," Garcia recited. "He takes his coffee tall, with lots of sugar, especially if he's had nightmares. And he loves the color purple, especially lavender."
"They don't know that he does magic tricks to pass the time…" Morgan said.
"He doesn't know what Twilight is…" Garcia hiccupped.
"He loves Halloween…" Morgan added.
"He knows all sorts of obscure facts…" Garcia whispered, wiping her eyes again.
"See?" Morgan whispered. "They'll never know our boy like we do. And we're gonna get him back. You'll see. We'll get him back, Penelope, I promise."
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God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December. ~James M. Barrie
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A/N: ...I probably won't update this until after the new year starts; I want to get those contest entries taken care of!
Thanks to my reviewers: danicalif80, The-Vampire-Act, Noel Ardnek, zannabanana, SSAFunbar, ripcurl. aus, 68luvcarter, SayidRocks, pottyandweezlby89, and Juliette Shane! Thank you for waiting so patiently for me to post this! And thanks to everyone who has been adding this to favorites and alerts! :D
...And yes, everyone figured out who Johnny was... Did you know that there's gonna be a Pirates 4, and Johnny Depp is back as Jack? I love Jack... Not as much as I love Reid, but still... I love Jack! And yes... Jordan Lee is a shoutout to Harry Potter!
Next few chapters: More whump, the team gets a lead and Reid tries his hand at swordplay.
Review!
*~N_CBAU~*