Peekabooo: Hey Guys! Sorry it took me awhil to get this one up. I wanted it to be a bit longer and then I grammar checked it and spell checked it...And it took more time thant I expected. So...Again. I'm sorry. Forgive me?
Hotch woke up in the morning and immediately went to his phone. He noticed he had a missed call. It was from Reid. Hotch called him back frantically but was dismayed when Reid didn't answer. He sighed and dropped his phone on the counter, putting his fingers on the bridge of his nose. He got ready and went to work preparing what he was going to say to the team. About Reid's odd disappearance. It just didn't make sense.
Hotch had been sitting in his office an hour before the team started trickling in, one by one. Seaver entered first, Then came Rossi, followed by Morgan, afterwards Garcia, and then JJ. JJ had only been back with the team for two weeks now. Every time she gets a phone call she leaves the room.
Hotch knew why but he tries not to think about it. Tries not to think about Emily. It makes too many emotions boil inside him. Fear. Confusion. Guilt. He knows she is alive and that was the hardest part.
Morgan walked into Hotch's office with confusion plastered on his face.
"Where's Reid?"
"Morgan..." Hotch sighed. He dug out his phone planning to call Reid again.
"I've been trying to call him since I got here. It's no use," Morgan said, "He's always here before me. Always. He's never late."
Hotch's phone buzzed indicating he had a new voicemail. He pressed buttons quickly and put the voicemail on speaker.
"Hey Hotch. I just wanted you to know that I'm not coming back. I don't want to go back. It's not worth it. I'm sorry I left Henry and Jack without telling you. But every eighth word..every eighth word...every eighth word that comes out of Jack's mouth needs help. I left them alone. They could've been kidnapped. I'm sorry. I wish I could've said bye in person. The job is just so dull. I can't go back. Please do not find me. Please...please do not look for me either. Tell the team goodbye for me. Help is not needed where I am. Goodbye Hotch." The message ended and Hotch actually dropped his phone.
"That..He...Why would he say anything like that?" Morgan's angry voice flooded the room, "What the hell is he talking about?"
"I went to his apartment on Saturday night and he wasn't there. I have been calling him since. This is the first contact i have had with him since then," Hotch tried to explain.
"Saturday night? Okay...So you are telling me that Reid has been missing since Saturday night and you haven't told us? You haven't done anything about it?" Morgan's eyes flashed.
"There wasn't anything we could do! I thought maybe he would come into work today," Hotch struggled to keep his voice calm.
"Yeah well. I'm going to actually do something about this and go get this to Garcia," Morgan grabbed the phone and slammed the door as he walked out of Hotch's office.
Hotch sighed again thinking all over again of what he should say to the team. He called JJ to his office and asked her to gather everyone into the briefing room. She agreed, although she was confused.
When Hotch walked into the briefing room half an hour later The team was there minus Morgan and Garcia. He dreaded telling the team what he had feared since Reid had joined the BAU team.
"I regret to tell you that Reid is no longer a member of our team," Hotch's voice cracked.
Seaver looked smug.
"He has resigned. He asks that you not call him."
JJ's jaw dropped.
"He says he's okay and that we shouldn't worry."
Rossi sighed deeply, his eyebrows scrunching together.
"No. No. He isn't leaving. I just go back. He's not leaving," JJ muttered to herself pulling out her cell.
Hotch frowned. "JJ. You know it's not worth fighting."
"I knew something was wrong with him," Seaver said wistfully, trying not to sound cocky.
"Don't do that," Rossi said, not hearing the tone of voice she had, "He made his own decision."
"That's right," Hotch said, flipping his head the other way to look at JJ.
"Actually my fine furry friends, I'm not sure he did," Garcia came in, holding a laptop. Morgan entered right after her.
"So. This is what I found. Here is the original message," Garcia played the voicemail message for the rest of the team and everyone looked confused when he said the part about leaving Jack and Henry alone. Hotch ignored them, speculating Reid's rough voice.
"What does he me-" JJ started but Garcia cut her off when i was finished
"No questions now! Did you notice how he said 'Every eighth word three times'? Well I figured Reid's a genius, so let's try every eight words," Garcia got out without taking a breather. She moved the mouse and they heard every eighth word of Reid's voice.
"Help. Kidnapped. Bye. Dull. Find. Me. Help." His voice sounded choppy and cut off but it was something.
The team just looked all around at each other for a second.
"Dull? Who the hell is dull?" Morgan finally asked, breaking the cold silence.
"Garcia. Get me everything you can on any kind of 'dull' that the Bureau has ever come in contact with. Reid thinks we know him or he wouldn't have said his name. Morgan and I will go to Reid's apartment and see if anything there will help us. The rest of you..." Hotch realized there wasn't much else to do.
"We'll listen to the voicemail again. See if there is any background noise or...something," Rossi finished after seeing Hotch struggle.
"Yeah. You do that," Hotch said, lamely.
Morgan and Hotch drove to Reid's apartment in silence. After their little 'spat' it was kind of awkward.
When Morgan entered Reid's apartment he half laughed half snorted.
"What?" Hotch asked, laughing a little himself.
"The books. They're everywhere," Morgan glanced around.
It was true. The books were everywhere. On the table, the counter, the coffee table, the top of the TV, and the couch.
Morgan moved down the hallway examining the fallen table.
"Sign of a struggle?" He asked after a moment.
"Perhaps." Hotch tilted his head.
Morgan walked deeper into the hallway and opened up the door to a room.
"Oh. My. God." He said in shock as he disappeared into the room.
"What is it?" Hotch asked, worriedly, as he walked toward the room.
But it wasn't anything bad. Just...Amazing. On all sides of the room, there were book shelves that went up to the ceiling. Books filled all of them.
"Oh my god," Hotch repeated.
After a few minutes Morgan moved to Reid's bedroom.
There was a big bed that sat up against one wall. There was a white down comforter that had dark blue sheets underneath it. A nightstand that had been placed next to it had a box of tissues, a lamp, and a stack of books on it. The floor was a smooth light hardwood that had a small layer of dust settling on it.
Morgan left again, trying to think of what Reid had been doing when this 'dull' had come into the house. The sun from the window of the room glinted of something in the hallway.
Morgan's breath caught. "Hotch. I think I got something."
Hotch made his way from the kitchen, into the hallway where Morgan kneeled on the ground.
"It's his gun," Morgan said, picking up the gun and turning it in his hands.
Hotch looked down to the ground, wondering if Reid was still alive and Morgan made his way back to the room with the books, sighing.
Morgan messed with a few books that sat on a desk in the middle of the room While Hotch walked towards the doorway of the same room.
"Hotch. We don't have anything. What if we don't find him?" Morgan asked and Hotch could hear the pain in his voice.
"It's okay. He'll be okay," Hotch tried to assure him.
But the truth was, Hotch didn't know.
He just didn't know.