Author's Note: I don't own Criminal Minds and I don't pretend to. Well, not in public at least…
Chapter 13 A Little Investigating Goes a Long Way
"She told me to come here and light a candle," said Reid, "Do you think she knew about this pew?"
"She must've, the only question is why this one?" Morgan said, thinking, "I'm going to call Garcia and see if she can look into this Ethan Parker for us."
He pulled out his cell phone and Reid said, "Uh, don't you think you should go outside to use that? I mean, churches are kind of sacred and well…"
"I get it, you don't want me to be smited or whatever," said Morgan with a laugh, "I'll be right back."
Morgan left the church and Reid stared at the name plate. Why this pew? What was so special about it? He looked around and at the stain-glass window. Sadly, someone had broken the small top window that used to hold a dove with an olive branch, according to the similar ones all around the church. Reid could see the building next door and people sitting out on their porches as they enjoyed the surprisingly warm weather. Not many of the porches were empty.
"Garcia said that Ethan Parker used to work at the zoo for fifty years before he died," said Morgan suddenly, causing Reid to jump, "He worked with the tigers as well so that's how she knew him. When he died, he had no family so he left everything to Sally and Olivia. It seems like they were the daughters he never had. Olivia gave the eulogy and donated some of Parker's money to the church so he could have his name on this pew. Apparently this is where he went to church every day."
The door to the church opened and the two men looked up. Gideon and Prentiss walked in and quickly joined their other team members.
"I found a matchbook on Matson's bedside table," said Prentiss, "It's the motel that's right next to the church. We thought we'd take a look."
"A motel next to a church, isn't that a little sacrilegious?" Morgan asked with raised eyebrows.
"I called Hotch and he and J.J are on their way now," Gideon said quietly, "Shall we take a look?"
Morgan nodded and the team started walking but noticed Reid staring out the window. Gideon joined Reid and saw he was staring at an empty porch, the only one in that row.
"What floor is that on?" Gideon asked.
"The fourth."
"We'll start there then."
Reid nodded and the team went to the motel. Prentiss held up a picture of Matson she had taken from the house and asked the man at the desk if he had seen him. The man was in his late forties with graying hair and laugh lines on this face. He squinted at the photo and smiled a toothy grin.
"Sure did! He an' a lady came here 'bout…half an hour ago I guess," the man said, giving Prentiss the picture back.
"Can you tell us where he's staying?" she asked.
"Yup, just one minute…gotta check the computer." They waited patiently, well the rest of the team did while Reid tapped his foot anxiously. Half an hour alone with…him?
"Here we go, he's in room four sixteen," said the man and frowned a little, "Can I ask what this is all about?"
"He kidnapped that woman he was with and we have him for multiple murders," said Gideon, "The police are going to be here in a few minutes so if you could start evacuating the rooms on that floor as quietly and discretely as possible, that would be much appreciated."
"Of course, of course! I'll get all our staff on that immediately."
He began making phone calls while the team stood in the lobby. Reid was pacing back and forth. Every minute they wasted down here was a minute Olivia was with Steve. What was taking Hotch and J.J so long?
Finally, they saw the squad cars and the BAU car drive up. There was even a SWAT car with men in full armor climbing out. The regular police started setting up a perimeter around the motel and helped keep order among the motel guests that were coming down the stairs and elevators. Hotch and J.J joined their fellow team members and followed the SWAT men up the stairs. Reid was glad the team hadn't taken their vests off after searching Matson's house.
They reached the fourth floor and SWAT surrounded the door, guns raised. The poor man from the front desk had to open the door for them with shaking hands. As soon as this was done, Hotch quickly pushed the man behind the SWAT line and entered first, Reid following right behind his superior.
"Steve Matson, this is the FBI," said Hotch in a raised voice.
The bedroom was partially blocked because of the bathroom wall but once Reid rounded the corner and saw the full room, his stomach twisted inside him. Steve was standing there with his shirt unbuttoned holding a scantily-clad Olivia at gunpoint. Olivia's eyes met Spencer's and relief washed over her face.
"Mr. Matson, put the gun down," Hotch said carefully, "There's no where you can go. The police have this place surrounded and we have SWAT right outside the door."
"You come any closer and I'll blow her brains out!" Matson shouted, pushing the gun harder against Olivia's temple.
"Why would you want to kill her?" Reid asked suddenly, "You said you loved her. Could you live with yourself if you killed the one you loved?"
"Reid…" said Hotch warningly but Reid didn't listen. He waved his hand behind his back to tell the rest of the team to stop and not come in.
"You said yourself before that you never wanted her dead, so why the change of mind? Did you find something wrong with her? Was she not what you expected? There's always a difference between the imagination and reality. You realized that it's not she that's too good for you, but you're too good for her. Am I right Mr. Matson?"
"I…" he stuttered, looking at the woman in his arms thoughtfully.
"Look at her, she's full of imperfections. Her nose is too large, her eyes too close together, her teeth look like rabbit teeth! Her hips are too wide and her thighs are too large. Don't you see them?" asked Reid, unable to look at Olivia as he said these things.
Matson continued looking but quickly snapped his head up at Reid. "Why are you wasting your time talking? Where is all this manpower your friend spoke of?" Reid was smart enough to look worried and Matson smiled evilly. "Looks like the smart-aleck Dr. Spencer Reid is at a loss for words. So you're stalling, is that it? It's just you two then, all alone."
"We're the first on the scene, the scouts if you will," said Reid sheepishly, "We convinced the others to let us come up here but they don't know we just want to negotiate."
"Negotiate what?"
"Mr. Matson, the FBI doesn't want you. We have a man who confessed to the murders and that's good enough for us," Reid said, hoping he sounded as authoritative as Hotch as he said this, "The Philadelphia police, however, want you locked up for good. My partner and I think we can come to some sort of understanding."
"Go on," said Matson. Hotch looked at Reid with his eyebrows slightly. In Hotch language, that meant, "My partner?"
"The FBI just wants Olivia Tusconi returned home safely because that's what we came here to do," continued Reid, "If you give us the girl, you can leave now and we'll say we found her here alone."
"That's it? It seems too easy," Matson said, glaring at them suspiciously.
"Well then you have to swear to leave the city of Philadelphia," said Hotch quickly, "Although why you would want to stay here when the police would be chasing you is beyond me. Time is running out Mr. Matson, our forces will be here in a matter of minutes. You want the best head start you can get you know."
Matson looked at each agent closely and then down at Olivia. He looked her up and down closely and she shuddered under his gaze.
"How do I know you're not going to tell your buddies I left when they get here?" Matson asked.
"You don't have to tell us anything about where you're going," said Spencer, "They'll spend the majority of their time searching the city from top to bottom. My advice is to get out of the city and as far away from here as possible. It's your choice Mr. Matson. You can either stay and get arrested, locked up for the rest of your years, or you can run now and live a normal life."
Matson stared at Reid and the young doctor looked back, never letting his gaze waver. Finally, Matson looked away and down at his gun.
"Very well, my choice is…RUN!"
He shoved Olivia away from him and sprinted to the door. BANG! Matson fell to the floor, clutching his leg as Hotch lowered his gun and ran over to the man. The rest of the team entered with their guns on Matson. Spencer ran and picked Olivia up off the ground. She looked up at him and started sobbing uncontrollably.
"I knew…I knew…" she kept repeating as she cried into his shoulder. Spencer held her tightly and kissed the top of her head, sighing with relief. She was safe now, he had good news to tell her sister.
"Someone should call an ambulance," said Reid over Olivia's head.
J.J took out her cell phone told them after a minute that they were on their way. Two SWAT men entered and pulled Matson roughly to his feet. He looked at the men in shock and turned to Reid.
"You told me you were here alone!" he screamed.
"No Matson, you said that," said Reid icily, "They were waiting right outside the door behind us, all you had to do was look for yourself."
Matson struggled against the two men but it was all in vain. When the EMT's arrived, they had to sedate him before he caused serious harm to himself and those around him. A woman in a dark blue jacket with the white letters "EMT" came up to Spencer and Olivia, who was still sobbing.
"We have an ambulance waiting outside," she said kindly, "Can she walk or should I get a gurney?"
"I…I can w-walk," Olivia said through the tears. She clung tightly to Reid and they walked toward the elevator before she stopped short and refused to move.
"It's okay, we'll take the stairs," he whispered and she nodded.
Once downstairs, Spencer helped Olivia get onto the gurney waiting for her in the lobby. The police had moved everyone outside so it was empty except for the rest of the BAU team. Olivia made sure to grab Reid's hand and he rode in the ambulance with her to the hospital. It was only when they reached the emergency room that the doctors told Reid he had to wait in the waiting room. Olivia started freaking out and he quickly squeezed her hand.
"I'll be right here when you're done, okay?" he said and she swallowed before nodding again. She looked so frightened and vulnerable. This wasn't the Olivia he had known before. He mentally cursed Matson for changing her. He managed a smile and she returned it before being taken to another area of the emergency room.
The team arrived a few minutes later and waited with Reid. J.J and Morgan tried talking with Reid to keep his mind off of what was going on with Olivia and it worked for a while until there was a pause. Gideon and Hotch were talking quietly amongst themselves and Prentiss was on the phone with Garcia, keeping her updated. Reid remembered he promised to call Emma and quickly dialed the number.
"Hello?" said Emma after one ring. She sounded tired and worn.
"Emma, this is Dr. Spencer Reid," he said.
"What happened? Did you find her?" she asked in a panicky tone.
"Yes, we found her. We're in the hospital right now waiting for the doctor to come back and tell us how she's doing. I just wanted to let you know that she's safe and we have the guy who did this."
"Are you sure? Because if I find out you have the wrong bloke again, I swear to God that I will fly to Quantico and kill you myself with an axe!" said Emma. He knew she didn't want to believe it until she was absolutely sure.
"I'm positive, it was Olivia who figured it out actually. She managed to tell me using Morse code," said Spencer and smiled when he heard Emma laugh with happiness.
"Thank you, oh thank you so much!" cried Emma, "Jude, they found her! She's okay!"
Reid heard muffled sobs and the phone switched hands.
"Dr. Reid," a male voice said that must've been Jude, "I don't know how we can ever thank you enough for this."
"It was nothing, really," said Reid, "I should warn you though that Olivia suffered a terrible ordeal and will most likely be changed because of this. She needs someone to look after her."
"Of course, we'll be there as soon as we can and take her back with us," said Jude.
Spencer felt his stomach plummet. Olivia in England? How was he going to see her then? If she was recovering in Philadelphia, he could take the train and be there in a few hours. He could visit her on his weekends off. If she was in London, he wouldn't be able to see her except for holidays.
"Are you freakin' mad Jude?" Emma cried, "No, Olivia needs to stay where she is. It'll be better for her to recover in a place where she's familiar with. I'll take some time off work and stay with her. You can stay with Isabella and I'll keep Caleb with me. Dr. Reid, it would be better for Olivia to stay, right?"
"Statistically, it's better for someone who has experienced a horrible shock to stay away from the area where the shock took place. However, I think Olivia will be fine only if she stays away from the motel and the man's house. It's better for her to have psychologists in the area that she can rely on and trust and keep for as long as she needs," he replied.
"There you go, the genius doctor speaks!" said Emma, "We'll work it out later, just know that Olivia will be staying in Philadelphia and tell her that I'll be there as soon as I can…and I love her."
"I will, don't worry."
"And doctor?" Emma said and let out a huge breath, "Thank you, thank you so much."
"You're very welcome. Good-bye," Reid said and hung up the phone. He looked up as a woman with short red hair and brown eyes entered the waiting room. She had on a white lab coat that had "Dr. Silvia Barker" embroidered in red. The doctor looked around and saw the waiting room full of anxious agents.
"I'm looking for the people who came with Miss Olivia Tusconi," she said and they all stood up.
Reid felt his heart pounding. He couldn't read the doctor's expression, was she going to tell them something good or bad?
"I'm Dr. Silvia Barker-"
Really? I had no idea, Reid thought sarcastically.
"-and I took care of Miss Tusconi," she said. She looked at them all and smiled, saying, "She's going to be just fine. She had a few hairline fractures on her right arm and some smaller injuries that will heal on their own. There were no signs of sexual assault, which is very lucky from what I've heard about the guy. As you all know however," she continued and her smile faded, "The psychological damage is much more severe. She's going to need a lot of counseling."
"Of course," said Hotch, looking at Reid, "Is her sister flying in?"
"As soon as she can arrange it with her work," he replied, "Doctor, when can we visit her?"
"Right now if you want, she's awake and has been asking for you. Just follow me."
The doctor walked and Reid looked at his team. They were waiting for him to lead the way. He smiled shyly and followed the doctor down the halls. Finally, they reached Olivia's room and found the veterinarian sitting up and smiling groggily at them all.
"I'll leave you then," the doctor said softly and left. Spencer walked over and sat in a chair beside the bed. The other agents stood around the room but Olivia didn't look at them. She was smiling at him.
"I knew you'd figure it out," she said quietly and looked up, "All of you."
"How did you know who the unsub was before you saw him?" J.J asked.
"I'm not sure, it just sort of fell into place. I thought about the profile as I was trying to figure a way out of that room and Steve just popped into my head," she replied, "I only wish it had clicked sooner."
"We have him now, that's all that matters," said Spencer and Olivia smiled at him again.
"I was afraid when we left his house that you wouldn't find me, but you still did," said Olivia.
"You mean you didn't know about the motel?" said Morgan with a frown.
"No, I thought he would take me back to his place and he did at first but only to grab the…ah, garments he forced me into at the hotel."
"But you told me to light a candle at the church," Spencer said, his mouth agape, "And I saw the bench with Ethan Parker's name on it and the quote from Acts chapter five verse thirty one. Wasn't that what the clue meant?"
"No, I was giving you Steve's address," said Olivia, "I wanted you to light a candle there because that's what Ethan always told me to do when I was upset. Wow, I had forgotten I had used that passage. It was his favorite."
"But Parker…and five thirty-one…I don't…"
"That is what my mother would call a God wink, Spencer," Olivia said with a laugh at his sputtering, "Not everything can be explained by science."
Spencer looked at the others and they all had the same look of shock. He sighed and turned back to Olivia. Well, as long as she was safe, he didn't care how strange it was. The other members made their way out to give them privacy and he took a deep breath.
"I know you're going to ask what happened in the motel," she said before he could speak, "The doctor told you he didn't do…it but I know he was planning on it. He…He made me change into that horrible outfit and told me to sit on the bed." She stopped and took a shaky breath.
"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," said Spencer softly.
"No, I want to. I need to," Olivia said, closing her eyes for a moment and opening them as she continued, "He just stared at me and kept muttering things to himself. I couldn't hear what but he had this crazy look in his eye. It was like he couldn't believe he was there but there was also a hint of disappointment. It was almost like he went to all this trouble to get me there and felt like it was a bit of a let down. But after staring at me and taking photos, he st-started to unbutton his shirt and I tried to run away. He grabbed my arm and threw me onto the bed. The doctor said that's how I got the fracture. Then we heard the door unlock and he grabbed me, pointing a gun to my head and you know the rest."
Spencer held her hand and stared at it. He had seen his share of creepy serial killers and knew they liked to have physical trophies of their victims. Apparently the pictures of Olivia were his. Still, it made him sick at the thought of Steve looking at Olivia like that. She gave his hand a light squeeze and brought him back to Earth.
"Olivia, back at the motel, those things I said about you-"
"You don't need to explain Spencer," she said, squeezing his hand again, "I know you were only using his narcissism to his advantage. You were trying to make him see that nothing was good enough for him, even the woman he considered perfect."
"That's what I like most about you," Reid said with a chuckle, "You understand my work even though you're not in it. I have to make sure you understand though, none of what I said is true. You are perfect and I like you just the way you are."
"I also want to apologize for what I said," Olivia whispered, "I said some horrible things about your team members and about you. I didn't mean any of it, please let them know that. And when I said I didn't like you…that was the biggest lie I ever told. I like you a lot Spencer, otherwise I wouldn't have gone out with you. You are not a bore. You're an amazing guy and I really hope to keep in touch with you when you go back."
"I promise to write to you every week," said Spencer, "And I have good news, your sister is coming as soon as she can get away to help you get back on your feet. You're going to have to see some doctors for a while before you can go back to work but you'll be staying here and I promise to visit you as often as I can."
"Thank you," she said and her eyes started lowering. Spencer laughed softly and got up to leave but she held his hand tighter. "Please don't go," she whispered.
Reid smiled, kissed her forehead lightly, and sat back down. He couldn't believe all that happened. This girl, this wonderful, intelligent, beautiful girl liked him. She liked his awkwardness, his genius-ness, and his statistics. And, to top it all off, he liked her. How could he not? She was kind, loyal, and loving to everybody, and everything, that came her way. When he thought he had lost her forever, here she was beside him again.
He knew the following months and years would be hard for Olivia, but she had so many people to support her. Her sister was willing to cross the Atlantic Ocean for her! She had him too, and Spencer Reid promised himself he wouldn't let anything else happen to her. He would always protect her.
Author's Note: I'm back, yay! We stayed an extra few days and got back two days ago. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'm posting another along with this, just like I promised. The next few chapters are the aftermath and I really hope you enjoy them. There're some twists because I know you love them! Hehe! :)