Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds and all characters and recognisable themes belong to the respected creators.
Broken
It wasn't until the phone started ringing that Reid snapped out of his thoughts and realised he had tears streaming down his cheeks at the memory of the worst day of his life. He quickly wiped the tears away and looked at the caller ID. It was Garcia.
'Hello?', he answered, sounding tired.
'Reid, you got me and JJ on speaker', Garcia answered, sounding wary of what she was about to say.
'What's going on?', Reid asked, immediately sitting up in his seat, though keeping his quiet because Emma was still sleeping.
'We've found him. Well, we know where he lives. The rest of the team have gone there now', Garcia said quickly, taking in a deep breath, waiting for her colleague's reaction.
'What's the address, I'm going there too', Reid said straight away, practically running out of the hospital room, an angry tone forming in his voice.
'Woah, woah, Reid calm down', JJ said calmly, 'You can't just go rushing there, you have to wait for the rest of the team, you're not even armed!'.
'I don't care', was Reid's response as he hurried down the staircases, taking two steps at a time, 'JJ, don't you remember what he did to my sister?'.
'Yes, I know, but none of us, including Emma, want you to get hurt!', JJ insisted. 'Look, we haven't sent you the address yet and we won't until you PROMISE to wait for the rest of the team to get there before you arrest Parker!'.
Reid sighed in frustration, before saying quietly, 'Okay, I promise'.
'Thank-you', JJ replied, before Reid hung up. Both of the girls looked at each other and hoped, for Reid's sake more than anything else, that he kept his promise.
Luckily the girls needn't had worried; although Reid was effectively closer to Parker's residence than the rest of the team, because of the snowstorm and the team's head start, they both arrived at the country house at the same time.
As soon as Reid got out of his car, closing his car door quietly so as not to alert Parker to their presence, Morgan hurried over to him with a gun and bullet proof vest, which Reid quickly put on. Hotch, Gideon and Emily then proceeded to where Morgan and Reid were standing, with the police team following behind them.
'Okay, so here's the plan. Gideon and Reid, you cover the back entrance to the house, Emily and Morgan, you go round the side and the chief and I will try to get in through the front door', Hotch informed them. He then turned to the police chief saying, 'If your men could surround the perimeter of the house, just in case he has an escape we're not aware of', to which the police chief nodded and began to lead his men around the house.
Hotch then turned back to the team, 'I'll doubt he'll let us in through the front door, so be prepared, I imagine he'll be armed. And Reid, I know it's hard, but remember, unless he poses as a threat, we can't legally take him down', he said, sounding concerned as he addressed Reid.
Reid just nodded, but he was gripping his gun tightly in his hands. As soon as the chief returned to the group of profilers, Hotch spoke up again.
'Okay, let's go', he instructed and the team moved around the house.
Hotch and the chief quietly made their way to the front door. Hotch banged on the door, whilst saying,
'ROBERT PARKER, OPEN UP. IT'S THE POLICE AND THE FBI - WE HAVE A WARRANT', after a few seconds of silence, Hotch knocked again.
'WE KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE AND WE KNOW WHAT YOU'VE DONE, SO JUST COME OUT QUIETLY WITH YOUR HANDS UP AND NO-ONE ELSE WILL GET HURT', he yelled through the door.
Suddenly, a smash was heard from inside the house and there was the sound of a door opening.
'He's going out from one of the side doors', Hotch told the team through the microphone on his wrist, before he and the chief quickly moved towards the back of the house.
As soon as they had heard what Hotch had said, Morgan and Emily nodded to each other, before Morgan hurried down the left hand side of the cottage, and Emily went to investigate down the right hand side. As soon as Emily had turned the corner, she saw a figure running towards her, holding a knife out in front of him.
'Robert Parker, put the weapon down on the floor and put your hands in the air', she told him, pointing her gun at the dark-haired unsub who was standing a few feet in front of her. Parker just smirked, clearly thinking he was no match for Emily, and went to lunge forward, but instead found himself tackled to the ground by Morgan.
'Put the weapon down you son of a bitch!', Morgan growled angrily. As soon as Parker had flung the knife down, Morgan forced his hands behind his back, digging Parker's face into the concrete.
It was at this point that Reid and Gideon hurried around from the back of the house and Hotch and the chief from the front. Upon seeing his former college student, Parker grinned with triumph.
'Well, if it isn't Mr Perfect Spencer Reid, the one who could never do any wrong', he said, his speech slightly slurred due to Morgan's strong hold of him, 'Well, guess what? I win! I tortured and killed your precious sister, how d'you feel now eh?'.
Reid bent down towards the person who had caused him so much grief over the past few days, his voice full of emotion as he whispered,
'Pretty good considering my sister's still alive. You didn't kill her Parker - she fought for her life and she beat you! She's stronger than you think and now you're gonna pay for what you've done! Take a good look around you, because believe me, this is the last bit of the outside world that you're ever gonna see, I'm gonna make sure of that'. Reid then slowly rose, his body shaking with anger as he glared down at Parker.
Parker's face had gone from one of amusement, to shock and then extreme anger as Reid had been talking to him, and he tried to lunge himself at Reid, his face a look of pure hatred, but Morgan merely pulled him to his feet and dragged him away to the police car, murmering in Parker's ear, 'Don't even think about it!'
Hotch and Emily followed, but Gideon and Reid stayed behind.
'I'm proud of you, you know', Gideon said, turning round and facing the youngest member of the team, as soon as everyone was out of ear-shot.
Reid smiled sheepishly, before saying quietly, 'For not ripping Parker to pieces?'.
'No, well partly, but for staying strong for your sister', Gideon replied.
'Gideon, I ran away. If Morgan hadn't had found me, I'd probably still be in that park now', Reid said, looking confused, but also slightly upset at the memory.
'No you wouldn't. You would've come back', Gideon said simply.
'How do you know?'.
'Because I've seen the way you are with your sister today and there's no way the Reid I know would have abandoned her. You love her too much for that, she's lucky to have you, you know', Gideon answered, patting Reid on the shoulder, before following the rest of the team to the police car, leaving Reid with a smile on his face.
The team spent that night in a nearby hotel, apart from Reid, who took up residence in the spare room in Julie and Harry's house. Everyone fell asleep very quickly that night, tired due to the lack of sleep because of the case, but happy that Parker was finally behind bars. It wasn't until the next afternoon, that Reid finally woke up and looking at the clock, he surprised himself by how much he had managed to sleep. He made himself a cup of coffee, before ordering a cab to take him to the hospital; Harry had left a note, saying he had already proceeded there, and didn't want to wake Reid. By the time the team had caught Parker the previous night, the hospital visiting times had ended; Emma was still asleep, and with Julie staying the night at the hospital with her, Reid happily accepted the Johnson's offer of staying in their spare room.
The snow was still falling, though lightly and more peacefully than the day before, but the ground was still covered in a thick blanket of white, so Reid wrapped himself up in a purple scarf and matching gloves. It was when Reid stepped out into the biting cold outdoors that he was thankful he had been wearing his winter boots to travel in, as the only other pair of shoes he had packed in his go-bag were his sneakers, which would have sunk straight through the snow and soaked his feet. Due to the slightly better weather, the cab ride to the hospital didn't take too long, and Reid arrived just as visiting hours were starting.
He quickly hurried up to his sister's ward, eager to tell her the news. As he arrived on the floor of the ward, he was met with Harry, who was getting some drinks from a vending machine.
'Spencer!', he said cheefully, reaching out to shake Reid's hand, 'Emma was wondering if you were gonna come visit her today. Did you sleep well? I'm sorry, I would have given you a lift, but Julie wanted me to bring some stuff to the hospital, and you were kind of out of it'.
'Oh, that's okay, I was pretty tired last night', Reid replied, looking anxiously onto the ward. 'Is Em okay this morning? Nothing's happened?'.
'Oh, no, no, she's fine', Harry informed him, to which Reid breathed a sigh of relief. 'The doctors seem a bit worried that her blood pressure's still a bit high, but they said that should hopefully repair itself over the next few days'.
'Oh right, okay. Is it okay to go in and see her?', Reid asked.
'Yeah, yeah, course. After you', Harry said, holding the door to the ward open.
Emma's eyes lit up when her brother entered her room as she said,
'Hey Spence! Did you sleep well? I heard you were a bit shattered last night', giving her brother a knowing look.
Reid laughed quietly before saying, 'Yep, I think the lack of sleep finally took it's toll on me. You feeling okay this morning?', as he sat down in the chair beside his sister's bed, leaning over to give her a hug.
'I'm alright. I can't wait to get back home though, hospital food's horrible', was Emma's muffled reply, as she tightly hugged her brother back, before pulling a face as she thought about the meal's she had been presented with earlier that day.
'Speaking of food, now Spencer's here, you don't mind if your father and I nip downstairs for a bite to eat do you?', Julie asked.
'Oh, no, no, that's fine. As long as you bring me back a cookie please?', said Emma, grinning.
'Oh alright then, only because you look as if you might wither away sat there in that hospital bed', Julie sighed, kissing Emma on the forehead, before leaving the room saying, 'Call us if you need us!'.
'Will do!', Emma replied as the door to the room shut.
'Sleep well then?', she asked her brother, turning around to face him.
Reid chuckled, replying, 'Yeah actually I did, did you? Are you alright now?', looking slightly concerned as he remembered the state Emma had been in last time he had seen her.
Emma breathed out slowly, before nodding saying, 'Yeah, I think so, now', smiling slightly.
'Well, I just thought I'd let you know, we caught Parker last night. So you don't have to worry about him anymore, he should be locked away for a very long time', Reid informed his sister.
Emma's face relaxed with the relief of hearing this news and she threw her head back against the pillow with happiness.
'Really? He can't hurt us any more?', she whispered
Reid smiled warmly; 'I promise Em'.
Emma just sat there and smiled that not only did she have to worry about Parker haunting her dreams anymore, but also that he would not hurt her brother.
'Hey, by the way, Harry mentioned that your blood pressure was a little high?', Reid said to Emma, pulling her out of her thoughts. As soon as he said this, fear quickly flashed across her eyes, before she composed herself, shrugging saying,
'The doctor said it's probably because of the surgery and everything', as she averted her brother's eyes.
Reid noticed Emma's reaction to this statement, but let it pass, believing it to be nothing. Suddenly, a gust of cold air swept towards Reid from the fan that was on Emma's bedside table, causing him to shiver and pull his jacket tighter around himself.
'Em are you actually warm in this weather?', he exclaimed, looking over at his sister, who had a thick jacket wrapped around her.
'A little bit I suppose', Emma replied, shrugging.
'Why don't you take your jacket off?', Reid suggested. As soon as he said this, Emma looked alarmed, stuttering,
'No, it's alright, I'll just turn the fan off, I'm cooler now'. Reid seemed a little confused by this, but as soon as Emma leaned over to switch off the fan, he understood why. The sleeve of Emma's jacket rolled up her arm to reveal little cuts along Emma's wrist - some were red, but others were little white lines, continuing a few centimetres up her arm. When Reid saw them, a mix of emotions began to run through his mind, fear, panic, confusion, and he couldn't help but stare at his sister's lower arm, despite what he was seeing making him feel dizzy. As soon as Emma noticed her brother's stare, she quickly tugged down the sleeves of her jacket over her wrists and nervously looked at her brother.
It didn't take Reid long to work out that these scars looked too old to have been inflicted by Parker. When he was finally able to look up at his sister, he found that her eyes were glistening with tears and she was looking nervously at him, waiting for his reaction. When no sound came from her brother, Emma whispered,
'I'm sorry', so quietly, that Reid wouldn't have heard it except for the fact that the entire room was filled with silence.
'Why Em?', was Reid's whispered reply, his voice breaking with shock.
Emma took a deep breath, before shakily saying, 'After your last visit, I was cleaning the spare room and I found a photograph. It...it was of me as a baby and you and...and our mum. My head just started spinning, I didn't know what I was feeling when I saw it - shock mostly. I just sat there for hours, and then I felt...I felt sad. I felt like I'd been ripped away from something important. I...I was gonna call you, but when it came to it, I just couldn't. I couldn't tell anyone about it. But I couldn't stop thinking about it for weeks, I've never been so confused. Then I had exams and I just got stressed and, well, I guess it kinda took it's toll on me. The first cut, I didn't even really mean it, it was sort of an accident. But seeing it made me feel like there was one thing in my life I could control and that felt, well that felt good. And after that, I couldn't stop, I tried to, but I just couldn't. And then the doctor said about my blood pressure and I realised I must have cut a blood vessel or something and now I'm just scared and I wish I'd never have done it. I'm so sorry Spence'. Tears had begun to rapidly stream down Emma's cheeks but she didn't wipe them away.
Reid took a deep breath in, digesting what he had just heard, before taking hold of his sister's hand and saying,
'Oh, Em. I'm so sorry too. I'm so sorry I left that photo there and I'm so sorry I haven't been here for you sweetheart, but I promise I will be now', he whispered.
'I...I just feel like you saved me for nothing, like I'm not worth saving because I've let everyone down', Emma said, looking down into her lap.
Reid tilted his sister's chin up so she was looking at him.
'Hey, you have let nobody down, do you hear me. You are so, so brave and do you know why? Because you kept going, not just when you found that photo, but in that warehouse too. And I promise you Em, I am going to help you through this, I won't let you be in pain any more, okay?', Reid said fiercly.
Emma just looked at her brother and nodded, before wrapping her arms around him and pulling him into a hug.
'Thank-you Spence...for everything', she said, her voice shaking slightly less than before.
'Any time', was Reid's reply, as he hugged his sister back tightly.
Author's Note: Another chapter done, and with a relatively quick update! Hopefully all of my updates should be this quick from now on too. I think I've planned about two or three more chapters of this story, but I also have plans for a sequel story as well. I hope I wrote about Emma's secret well, I've tried to be delicate about the subject, but I also wanted to make sure Emma's feelings and reasons were portrayed clearly and it's also sort of the first time we realise she isn't perfect. The next few chapters will kind of follow on from it, but I'll be writing about another issue as well. I'd love your feedback, especially since I found this chapter so difficult to write, so please, please REVIEW! Thank-you so much for reading this story, it means so much to me and I should be updating soon! :D