Hi Friends!
Thank you so much for the reviews, follows, and favs. Sorry for being so cruel at the end of the last chapter :) I've been wanting to do that to Reid for years...lol. Only 1-2 more chapters at most and then I'll be moving on to my next adventure.
To my guest review that wished me a Happy Thanksgiving: I hope you have a great one too! And Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who celebrate!
Sorry for any typos or terrible usage of grammar.
Enjoy!
Damien took one final drag of the nearly burnt out cigar and flicked the stub into the water. It was turning out to be a beautiful night. In a matter minutes he would be cutting the dead body of Spencer Reid away from the dock supports and setting it adrift in the murky waters of the Potomac. After that he was going to hightail it out of Virginia and never look back.
He stood up from the captain's chair and peered over to the neighboring pier. The bound genius was barely visible in the dusk. "I'd take a deep breath if I were you, kid. It may very well be your last," he viciously taunted.
The sinister former agent smiled gleefully as the next wave rolled in and cut off the genius's air supply. He watched with mirth as the young man started the thrash wildly against his bindings in an effort to get his nostrils above the water. Damien could feel his pants tighten as the kid became more and more violent.
Eventually the boy went still but the throbbing in West's groin hadn't dissipated. The murderer decided that he had best take care of his needs and walked himself back to his boat in triumph. He sat back down in the cushioned seat and turned so he had a good view of the brown mop of hair that was floating just above the surface. His hand found its way to his zipper and pulled down the silver handle. He was in mid-reach for his member when the sound of gravel crunching and a brief flash of a headlight startled him out of his mission.
Damien frantically shoved himself back into his pants and jumped out of his seat.
"Damn it!" he shouted as he climbed back up onto the dock and went over to the rope that was mooring the bow of the ship to the dock.
He heard a few car doors slam shut while his fingers were tugging at a knot in the rope. He almost gave up and pulled out his knife when it finally loosened. He flung the frayed end down on the ground and made to stand up.
"FBI, West! Stay where you are and put your hands up!" Morgan shouted as he and the other profilers started to run down the wharf.
A sly smile came to Damien's lips as he slowly raised his hands in the air and rose up from his crouch.
"Turn around!" Morgan ordered, his gun steadied on his former teammate.
The abhorrent man turned and faced the agents with an air of arrogance oozing out of his pores. He took in the agents' positions and noticed that the three other profilers had spread out around the muscular man in order to eliminate any escape attempts. He knew their efforts didn't matter though; there was no way they could block his route to the boat below.
Damien was drawn out of his observations when he heard Derek's demand, "Where's Reid?"
The former agent's smile grew broader when he replied grandiosely, "You're too late." He then tipped his head in the direction of the drowned kid.
The agents all turned their heads to where he indicated. A sharp intake of breath was heard followed by JJ's voice yelling out, "Reid!"
Not even a second later there was a splash sounding cutting through the air as Morgan's body pierced the surface of the dark water.
Damien took advantage of the BAU team's momentary stupor and jumped down into his boat. He reached for the ignition and glanced back one more time to permanently affix the devastated looks on the profilers' faces into his memory.
Hotch, usually the most calm and collect in intense situations, found himself frozen with terror at seeing Reid's floppy curls riding the waves of the Potomac. He barely registered that Morgan had thrown his gun at him before he jumped into the water. It was only when his brain recognized the sound of Damien's boat starting up that he was pulled out of his stupor.
"Hotch! Let Morgan and JJ get Reid. We've gotta go after West," Rossi shouted as he swiftly moved down the dock.
Aaron shook his head in order to clear his worry-clouded mind and ran after Rossi while he shoved Morgan's gun into his waistband. He reached the end of the pier in no time and heard Rossi yell for Damien to stop. At that point the unit chief's instincts took over and without a second thought he launched himself onto West's boat.
He hit the floor with a thud and brought up his gun, "Damien West, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of a Federal Agent."
Damien turned around and faced Hotch with his hands in the air. Over the roar of the engine Hotch heard the felon's retort, "Who knew you were such an optimist Hotchner…attempted murder…ha!"
"Give up, West. There's no place to go," Hotch commanded gruffly.
"That's where you're wrong agent," West yelled as he lowered his left hand behind him and pushed forth a leaver.
The propeller started twirling upon command. The boat lurched forward and jerked to a sudden halt, dropping the two men down onto the deck of the vessel.
"Seems like you forgot to untie the stern, West," Rossi called out sardonically from up above.
The former agent was the first to recover out of the two and growled with anger at the realization that Rossi was right. There, at the back of the boat, was a rope pulled taunt as it clung to the dock.
The stout man knew then that escaping was a matter of overtaking the remaining agents and threw himself at Hotch, heedless of the aim of Rossi's gun.
Unfortunately, Aaron had hit his head on the deck as a result of the fall and now found himself slightly dazed. The haze caused him take longer than usual to recover and left him vulnerable to Damien's attack. He struggled to get up onto his knees and began to frantically search for his gun, which he had dropped when he hit the deck. The pudgy man took advantage of his adversary's confusion and tackled the unit chief back down onto the floor using the extra fifty pounds he had on the other man.
Hotch felt two swift punches to the jaw on the left side of his face. The hits were powerful but not enough to deter him from trying to get throw Damien off of his body. He started to squirm underneath the bulky man's weight in an effort to gain some leverage. It worked and he was able to slightly bend his knees and lift his hips. He was about to put all his energy into pushing off of the deck when he saw another blow coming out of the corner of his eye. Instantly, he brought his hands up to block his abused face and grabbed the other man's fist in the center of his palm.
A shocked look came over Damien's face at Hotch's quick reaction. Aaron allowed a brief smile to upturn his lips as he forced West's arm backwards and away from his face. Hotch then jerked up his hips with all his might and dislodged the man from off of his waist.
Damien scrambled for purchase as he tumbled off the formidable agent. He summersaulted around and landed on his knees. He wasted no time getting up and faced Hotch's stern figure.
"It's over Damien," Hotch heaved out through clenched teeth.
"Not the way I see it. Your boy over there…he doesn't have a good enough shot on me and you're missing your gun. I can still get out of this, no problem."
"I highly doubt that," Hotch said, bracing himself for another attack.
West slowly started to circle the unit chief, making sure to keep Rossi's view of him to a minimum, and stopped when he had the agent right where he wanted him. Without any warning he leapt forward and faked an exaggerated punch. While Aaron's arm went up to block, West's leg kicked out and nailed him in the stomach.
Aaron was suddenly airborne and hurtling backward towards the river. It was all that he could do to reach out and grab the arm of his assaulter and pull the repugnant man down with him.
Morgan had hoped that the adrenaline pumping through his system would have made him immune to the temperature of the water, but such was not the case. The darker agent let out a garbled yell into the water as he kicked his feet furiously toward the surface. When his head broke above the water he drew in a deep breath and started to swim toward the neighboring dock at breakneck speed. He never heard JJ jump in after him and didn't even realize she was there until a shrill, "Reid!" rang out next to his ear.
The two agents made it to the dock support at the same time. Immediately, Morgan grabbed Reid's gnarled locks and tried to bring his friend's head above the water. He knew it was in vain because even with his head tilted completely back Reid's nose was fully submerged.
"He's tied up," JJ said, stating the obvious.
"You get his hands," Morgan ordered as he dived back under the inky black river.
There was no light beneath the surface and Morgan had to reach his hand out to use Reid's body as a guide for his descent. The river wasn't that deep but the lack of illumination greatly skewed Morgan's perception. It felt like he was diving forever but eventually his hand made contact with the genius's ankles. Blindly, his fingers followed the bindings around the pole and started teasing at the knots.
For at least a minute his stubby phalanges fought with the leather strips but they made no ground against the stubborn strips. All too soon a burning sensation started to overtake his lungs and Morgan had no choice but to push himself up off the river bed and back to the surface.
"Fuck," he shouted into the water on his way back up. He emerged from the muddy depths to a distraught JJ, who was tugging insistently at Reid's wrists.
"I can't get them undone," she cried. "Did you have any luck?"
"No," he shouted before he took another deep breath.
"I need a knife!" JJ hollered in desperation, panic consuming her crystalline eyes.
Morgan's head jerked up at her words. His mind had been so clouded with fright over losing Reid that he had forgotten about the Swiss Army Knife nestled in his pocket; it had belonged to his father and he never left home without it. He shoved his right hand down into his pocket and said a mental "Thank you, God" as he pulled it out and showed it to JJ.
He didn't wait to see her expression as he dived back down. As his hand reached for his friend's feet a second time he vowed not to resurface until the genius's legs were free.
Hotch's heart started pumping like crazy when his body plunged beneath into the river. He didn't even bother trying to open his eyes and instead focused his energy on trying to right himself in order to get back to the surface. A hint of concern flitted through his brain when he realized that he had lost his grip on Damien during the fall.
With a renewed effort, Hotch kicked his legs and propelled his head above the water. He gulped in a huge breath of air and immediately took in his surroundings. He was near the stern of the boat and he could hear the propeller whirring as it tried to push the boat away from the dock. He looked back and forth and West was nowhere in sight.
"Hotch! Behind you!" Rossi shouted from up on the dock.
Unfortunately, the older agent's warning didn't come in time and Aaron felt an enormous pressure push down on his head as he was dunked underneath the water. Rossi, who was desperately trying to find a clear shot, could only watch as West tried to drown the unit chief.
Hotch could feel the tight grip West had on his hair that he was using as leverage to shove the unit chief further down into the water. The former agent was also using his other hand to add more force to the thrust by pressing down on his shoulder. Instead of panicking, Aaron gathered his wits and used both of his hands to break Damien's grasp on his shoulder. Without regard for his tender scalp, Hotch wrenched his body around and brought up both of his legs. Using the adrenaline rush that started the second he saw Reid's limp body resting in the water the unit chief kicked out with all his might.
It was too dark in the water to see what happened and where the felonious man went, so Hotch resurfaced and shouted to Rossi, "Do you see him?"
Rossi stood there with his mouth agape and his gun down at his side. He lifted a finger and pointed in the direction of Damien's speedboat.
Hotch turned his body around and saw what had caused Dave's speechlessness.
Damien West's head was floating on the top of the Potomac River, permanently detached from his body courtesy of the propeller on his prized speedboat.
JJ watched as Morgan disappeared under the water with the knife in his hand. She knew that it wouldn't matter if Morgan got Reid's feet undone if she couldn't release his hands too. She tugged again at the tight bindings but didn't feel any give in the knots.
The blonde desperately looked over to where she left the two other profilers in hopes that one of them could help. Her blue eyes caught sight of Hotch on the losing end of his own battle in the middle of a boat and Rossi moving his gun back and forth in vain.
"Rossi! I need a knife," she shouted.
The grizzled old man momentarily took his eyes off of his fellow agent and turned his head toward her voice. "What?"
"Knife! Knife! I need a knife! Tell me you have a knife," JJ yelled as loud as she could.
Rossi looked back over to Hotch and raised his gun in his right hand. With his left he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pocket knife. He didn't even look as he tossed the weapon toward JJ, his mind fully focused on Hotch once again.
JJ barely saw the little knife fly through the air in her direction. Luckily the moonlight was bright enough to glint off of the handle, sufficiently illuminating it as it careened through the air. She kicked her legs in order to gain some height above the water and reached her hand out. The metal casing glanced off her fingertips and fell into water.
Alarm skittered through her at the thought of losing Reid's salvation but she was able to smack her hand down exactly where it landed and caught it before the knife could plunge even an inch deep.
Clutching the knife with all her might, JJ swam back over to Reid and set to work on his hands. She felt the first strip give when Morgan resurfaced.
"His feet are free! Are you done?"
"Just…another…second…Done!" she yelled as the last piece of leather fell away from the genius's battered wrists.
"Help me get his arms around my neck," Morgan ordered as he positioned himself in front of Spencer.
JJ lifted the lanky boy's limp limbs and situated them around Morgan's shoulders. The dark agent grasped both of Reid's tiny wrists with one hand and used his free arm to paddle toward the dock ladder.
Morgan scrambled up the wooden rungs, hauling Reid's gangly frame upon his back. JJ quickly followed and watched as Derek placed Reid's lifeless body on the hardwood planks.
The muscular agent then knelt along Reid's side and attempted to peel back the tape that was sealing the profiler's lips.
"Damn it!" Morgan bellowed as he whipped out his knife again and steadied his hand. He forced himself to calm down before he started attacking Reid's porcelain face with a sharp knife. After two attempts he was able to make a complete tear in the silver tape. He grabbed the cut end of the adhesive strip and pulled it away from his friend's face.
The second he exposed Reid's rosebud lips Morgan started CPR.
Meanwhile, JJ felt her legs give out in worry and she ended up collapsing down onto the dock on the opposite side of Reid's body. There was nothing she could do except watch Morgan's rescue attempt in utter agony.
As seconds passed by, she found her mind captivated with her fellow agent's continuous thrusts against Reid's chest. She worried her bottom lip between her teeth and allowed some of the saltwater drops she had been holding in to cascade down her cheeks. "Please be okay," she whispered to Spencer, a man who had practically become her brother over the past ten years.
"Reid! Come on, Reid! Don't give up on us yet, Pretty Boy!" Morgan shouted at his lifeless friend as he continued his ministrations. He was so consumed with reviving Reid that he didn't even notice that Hotch and Rossi had made it over to their dock and were standing above him with bated breath.
All of a sudden a spout of water shot out through Spencer's mouth and dribbled down the side of his face. Morgan tilted the boy's angular cheekbones to the side in order to help the water flow completely out of his mouth.
Suddenly the genius started coughing uncontrollably while shaking his head back and forth.
"Oh thank God!" JJ exclaimed as she reached out to push some of Reid's scraggly brown hair out of his eyes.
Relief surged through the group of profilers but was quickly replaced with worry when their youngest member stilled once again.
Morgan reached down and gently tapped his friend's cheek, "Reid! Reid, come on. Open those eyes up and show us you're okay." The agent's pats quickly turned from soft to hard as he tried to provoke a reaction out of his friend.
One especially firm tap must have gotten through to Reid, for moments later his brown windows cracked open a sliver.
"-organ?"
A thankful smile decorated Morgan's face as he cupped Reid's cheek in his meaty paw, "Yeah, kid. It's me…you're alright now…you're going to be okay."
Spencer murmured something unintelligible before he closed his eyes again.
"Hey, man. Keep your eyes open. Now what was that you said?
Even though Morgan leaned down and put his ear an inch away from Reid's lips he barely heard the kid whisper, "I held on as long as I could."
"I know, Pretty Boy. I'm so proud of you," he said soothingly.
Morgan went to straighten up when he saw a shudder run through Reid's frame. The boy's brown eyes closed once again and his body seemed to go limp. Terror ripped through the man as he placed his two fingers to the pulse point on Reid's neck.
"Morgan?" came Hotch's questioning voice.
With eyes as big as marbles and horror etched in their depths he looked up at his superior, "He's got no pulse!"
Oops...guess I left ya hanging again...sorry :)