The X Files

Hatochiisai

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Criminal Minds, OR the X Files

Hotch/Reid

Chapter 5

The team didn't wake until nearly 10 am the next morning. By then the motel no longer had their continental breakfast, so the BAU and the X Files Agents ended up in IHOP.

"We need to find where Nagi is hiding…" Scully said.

"We'll split up in twos." Rossi said. "Prentiss and Scully, me and Morgan…"

"I'll take Dr. Reid with me." Mulder said suddenly. He and Reid had spent the entire meal with their heads together again. "We have a couple of ideas. And Bradley Crawford should be back today. I want to talk to him." Hotch stared at them. Reid looked at his lover. He could see the territorial look in Hotchner's eyes, and the suspicion… He was still on edge after the illusion Nagi had made him see of Reid and Mulder.

"… Alright." Hotch said with a nod. He looked at Reid, and the boy smiled at him. He knew that this was Hotch's way of saying 'I trust you.'

And the group all went their separate ways. Rossi ended up on his own, while Hotch and Morgan went together; Hotch wanted to make sure that Morgan was okay.

Reid and Mulder stared up at the house. It was a dark red and brown old Victorian style. The windows were all dark. The pair walked up the front stairs and stepped onto the porch. Mulder knocked. They waited a moment, and then the lock clicked and the door opened. A tall man stood there wearing a cream colored suit with a pale green tie and glasses. He had a pale complexion, gray eyes and neat dark hair.

"… Can I help you?" He asked.

"Mr. Crawford?" Mulder asked.

"Yes." The man confirmed. Mulder held up his badge.

"I'm Agent Mulder with the FBI, this is Special Agent Dr. Reid. May we come in?" Reid frowned. Crawford didn't look alarmed, or surprised. In fact, the moment he saw the badge, he smirked, looking amused.

"Please." He said, stepping aside. Reid and Mulder walked in. A man stood across the hall. He was slightly shorter than Crawford and had long, violently red hair.

"What's going on?" The man asked with a thick, odd accent.

"Some people from the FBI." Crawford said, walking into the sitting room.

"And you are?" Reid asked, staring at the red haired man.

"This is a business partner of mine." Crawford said. "Mr. Schuldig." The man nodded. Reid turned and walked into the sitting room and sat down on the couch beside Mulder. "Can I get you anything?" Crawford asked, sitting on the sofa across from them.

"No, we're fine." Mulder said.

"What can I do for you gentlemen?" Crawford asked, glancing at Schuldig as the man moved across the room and stood behind him. Schuldig looked very amused.

"We're here about your foster. Nagi Naoe." Reid said.

"… Do you know where he is?" Crawford asked, frowning. "He wasn't here when I got home."

"We were hoping you could help us find him." Mulder said.

"We need you to tell us about him." Reid said. "Have you ever noticed anything… odd about him? Odd things happening around him?"

"Of course." Crawford said, leaning back. "Nagi is a powerful psychic." Reid and Mulder blinked, surprised. "He's a powerful telekinetic and telepath. But he had trouble controlling it. That's why I took him in. To help him."

"… You knew?" Mulder asked.

"Yes."

"How could you help him?" Reid asked.

"… He's not the only person in this world with abilities like that."

"Are you saying that you are a telepath?" Mulder asked.

"No. He's the telepath." Crawford said, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder at Schuldig, who smirked at the agents. "I'm a precognitive."

"Precognitive." Mulder echoed.

"You can see the future?" Reid asked.

"I get flashes of what may be." Crawford confessed.

"So you took Nagi in to help him learn to control his abilities?" Mulder asked.

"Yes. He's very powerful. Without help to learn control, he can be a danger to himself and everyone around him."

"He already is." Reid said. "He's murdered eight… nine people with his abilities."

"… He also scared the crap out of you with psychic illusions." Schuldig suddenly announced. Reid blinked and looked at him in surprise. The man just smirked and tapped his temple. "Telepath, remember? I can read your mind. And… I can see why Nagi is so afraid of your mind… and yet he can't resist it… he's drawn to you like a moth to the flame."

"He will touch your mind again." Crawford said, suddenly. "Be careful. Or someone will die." Mulder frowned.

"He can't resist touching your mind. Invading it." Schuldig purred. Mulder did not like the way the man spoke… it didn't take a profiler to see that this man was twisted… sadistic. "Right now, you're thinking about what my mind can do." Reid's eyes widened. Schuldig turned to face him fully.

"You're wondering what I can see… How deep into your mind I can dig. You're wondering if you can do anything to stop me. And you can't. There's nothing you can do. Only a powerful psychic can keep out another. Normal men have basic mental defenses. But you don't even have that. Anyone with any telepathic ability will be able to get into your mind. A telepath like me or Nagi… we can easily rip your mind apart." He smirked. "I could send you spiraling into the schizophrenia you so fear with minimal effort." Reid stood sharply, his eyes wide, his face pale.

"Enough, Schuldig." Crawford ordered, his tone dark and dangerous. "This is unnecessary. They are merely doing their jobs. There is no reason for you to try and intimidate them. They are not our enemies."

"Mr. Crawford." Mulder snapped, standing as well. "Where is Nagi Naoe?"

"I don't know." Crawford said. "And not even Schuldig would be able to get enough from his mind to find out where he is. Don't worry. He'll find you." And he stood. "If you have any other questions, I'm sure you have my number."

"… I want to see his room." Reid said, suddenly. Crawford blinked.

"Up the stairs. Second door on the left." He said. Reid nodded, turning and walking up the stairs. Mulder frowned and followed.

"That's boy's mind is dangerous." Schuldig said softly. "He has no defenses because he may not need them."

"What do you mean?" Crawford asked.

"If you press too far or in the wrong place… you may not be able to get back out. It's an amazing mind… it shines brightly… like I said before… a flame luring in a moth… and it smells and tastes sweet… honey for the bees… It's like a Venus Fly Trap. A sweet nectar lures in a foolish fly… if it prods the wrong spot, it will snap shut and devour them." Crawford frowned.

"You're saying that if Nagi goes too far, that boy's mind could trap Nagi's mind… possibly even devour and destroy it?"

"… Yes."

"… We need to tell him. Make sure that Nagi doesn't touch that boy's mind again."

"… He will. He can't help it." Schuldig said. Crawford turned and looked at the doorway to the next room. It was dark. But the figure of a man stood there. A single piercing eye stared back at him from a white face.

"… You and Schuldig find Nagi." Crawford said. "Tell him not to touch the Agent's mind again. And tell him to prepare to depart. It's time to take him to Japan anyway." The silent man in the dark nodded, and followed Schuldig out the back door.

Upstairs, Reid stared around the room. It was just that. A room. No décor on the walls. No posters. The clothing in the closet was all non descript. There was a small stereo but there were only a few CD's of classical music. The one bookshelf was full of more classic literature. Nagi didn't even have a computer. In fact, the place just looked like an impersonal guest room. A place for a visitor to sleep for the night and nothing else. Reid was discouraged.

This room. The monotone voice. Face void of all emotion. The empty eyes…

Did Nagi even have an identity?

Who was he?

"We won't learn anything here." Reid said. "Let's regroup with the others." And he and Mulder went back downstairs.

Crawford met them and walked the Agents to the front door.

"If he comes back—" Agent Mulder began.

"He won't." Crawford sighed. "If the police are hunting him, he will not come back here. He will distance himself from everyone and everything connected to him. He's smart. You will have a tough time finding him. You'll have to wait for him to come to you."

"If he contacts you." Reid said, and held out his card. Crawford looked at it a moment, then took it with a nod.

"How did it go?" Hotch asked when Mulder and Reid walked in.

"He's hiding something." Reid said, frowning. "I think he's in contact with Nagi. He's protecting him."

"We'll put him under surveillance." Hotch said.

"Won't work." Reid snorted. "Crawford and his… business partner… They're psychics as well." Hotch blinked. "That's why he fostered Nagi. They'll know that you're watching them."

"Are you sure?" Morgan asked.

"Well… one of them, no. He said he was a precognitive. The other was a telepath. I have no proof that Crawford is really a precognitive other than the fact that he didn't seem surprised that the FBI was knocking on his door, but the other guy…" Reid sighed. "He read my mind, Hotch! He told me what I was thinking at that very moment! And he knew things about me that few people know, if any. But… they said they don't know where Nagi is and… I think they were telling the truth."

Morgan sighed. "So now what?"

"… Organize a search?" Mulder offered. "All abandoned buildings?"

"Agent Hotchner!" A police officer called, running into the room. "Sir, we just got a call from the hospital. Agent Rossi was just admitted!!!"

Morgan, Reid and Hotchner swept through the doors of the hospital and into the ER side by side. They all approached the desk and flashed their credentials.

"We're looking for Agent David Rossi." Hotch said. The woman sent him to exam room three. The trio made their way there and knocked before stepping in.

"… Dave! What the hell happened?!" Hotch gasped, staring at the elder. Rossi looked at him, his face bruised and bloodied.

"Our psychic friend." Rossi said. "He tried to get me with an illusion. And I called him on it."

"What do you mean?" Reid asked.

"I saw Morgan pointing his gun at me. Accusing me of killing Emily." Rossi said.

"And?"

"Well. I knew Emily was with Agent Scully. And Morgan was with Hotch. But neither Scully nor Hotch were anywhere to be seen. So I ignored Morgan and looked around and spotted the kid. I pointed my gun at him and told him to put his hands up and stop the illusions. His eyes turned red and I was flying through the air. Not sure what happened after that."

"Looks like you got in a fight with a buffalo and lost." Reid snorted.

"Thanks kid." Rossi grunted, giving Reid a look. "Doctors say I'll be okay. Just bad bruising mostly. I can leave tonight."

"Good." Hotch said with a nod.

"This is hard…" Reid sighed. "Listening and watching everyone around us… wondering if what we're seeing and hearing is the truth. It's like… I'm doubting reality…"

"I know what you mean, man…" Morgan empathized, shaking his head.

That night, the team plus two all headed back to their rooms. Reid and Hotch showered and were soon curled up in bed together. They lay on their sides, Reid's back pressed into Hotch's chest, the man curling an arm around Reid's waist and holding him close. Reid was watching 'Highlander: The Series' on ScyFy when he suddenly felt a pressure on his body, surrounding him from all sides. He couldn't move. He tried to call out, wake Hotch, but he couldn't.

Enjoying your show? Nagi's voice hissed into his mind.

What do you want? Reid asked.

I'm here to prove a point. Another warning. Showing you what I can do to you and your team if you do not leave me to my work.

We're not backing off. Reid said, firmly.

Even if one of you dies? Nagi asked. And then, suddenly, Reid felt a horrible constriction around his chest. He couldn't breathe. His eyes widened. He couldn't breathe! He couldn't move… not to thrash or struggle. He couldn't warn Hotch… the man would never know! He would just wake in the morning and find himself holding his lover's lifeless body… When the coroner pronounced his cause of death to be asphyxiation, what would Hotch do? Knowing that he had held his beloved as he had suffocated, and never awoke…

He closed his eyes as his vision began to go foggy.

You're dying… Nagi breathed into his mind. And all you can think about is that man? Why?

… I love him.

So?

I don't want to hurt him.

… What do you mean?

I don't ever want him to suffer the pain of losing me.

How do you know what he will feel? Nagi asked.

Because I imagine how I would feel if I lost him. Reid told the telepath, and Nagi gasped and stumbled when he was overcome by a sickening pain in his very soul… Complete and utter loss and despair. And he realized that what he was feeling was a mere shadow of how Reid felt as he thought of what losing Hotch would feel like. And in that moment, Nagi cut off all contact with the young Agent and fled, shocked and frightened.

Hotch jerked awake when Reid thrashed in his arms and gasped loudly.

"What the…?" He slurred, blinking himself into awareness. "Spencer?! Are you okay?!" He quickly focused on the young man, who was gasping for breath. The boy clung tightly to him as he filled his starving lungs over and over.

"N-Nagi…" Reid finally managed to gasp. "I… couldn't breathe… couldn't move…" Hotch held Reid close, running a hand up and down his back, trying to calm his shaking.

"Shhh… it's okay…"

"No…" Reid sobbed. "It's not! He's gonna kill someone! One of us! He… Hotch…"

"Shhhh…" Hotch said again, then stood and walked over to the window. He peered out, then closed the curtains which had been slightly open... Hotch felt his blood boil. To make Reid stop breathing the Nagi would have used telekinesis, not telepathy. Which meant he would have to SEE Reid. He had been standing right there, staring at them through the window... Hotch growled and shut the curtains, making sure there was no gap in them this time.

In the morning, they told the others what had happened.

"It's interesting." Mulder said, watching Hotch standing in the corner, talking on his phone. "He's not killing anymore. He's focused on scaring us away…"

"He's disorganized. Our presence has thrown him off. He didn't think that someone would come to hunt down a… a psychic murderer." Prentiss said, waving her spoon. Reid leaned back as the plastic utensil sailed by his face.

"He will kill again, though." He said. "As soon as he finds another abusive guardian."

"He already has." Hotch said, walking over. "We have another body."

I guess I don't have to ask you people to identify Crawford, Shculdig and the silent one eyed man, hmm? *giggle* (And no, WeiB will NOT be making an appearence in this fic, I consider this happening BEFORE the two groups ever cross each other's paths...)