The alert lights ceased to blink and the noise stopped as well.
"Derek told me that we've got the Weevils of block seven on the loose.", Hotch explained, "Somehow their electric locks came undone and as soon as they found out they escaped."
"That was the reason for the alarm?", Reid asked. He felt like all this was getting a little bit too much for him. He was at a place he'd never seen before with all his team acting as if nothing had happened, there was a living dinosaur in the cellar, Hotch apparently had the hots for him and in addition to that some beetles were on the loose which seemed to be a bad thing. All he wanted was to wake up in his bed and find out that it had all been a bad and crazy dream.
His supervisor nodded. "We can't do much about it since we've got no repellent spray but according to Morgan there were only three Weevils in that block. I'm sure they can handle it."
"Ah. Only three. I see...", Reid said, trying to sound like he knew what his boss was talking about. Why were these insects so dangerous that two adult FBI agents were barely able to cope with only three of them? Did they carry some disease?
"We should lock the door that leads to this corridor though. I'm pretty sure they won't make it into the centre of the hub but one never knows."
Carefully and silently they made their way towards the concrete room they had come from in the first place. But only several feet before they reached it it sprang open, revealing a horribly disfigured person. Reid, who had been a little ahead, screamed and stumbled backwards. The figure in front of them seemed to be human but at the same time to have no nose and only very small ears. It's big mouth was full of sharp, dangerous teeth. It's eyes glinted evilly.
"Shh! Don't provoke it!", Hotch hissed.
A gurgling noise escaped Reid's mouth. The hand that pointed his gun at the creature was shaking.
"Guys, we've got one down here in the corridor leading to Myfanwy!", he heard his supervisor's voice, apparently addressing someone over his headset. He didn't sound strained which was reassuring. The swear word Reid heard him utter a few seconds later was less reassuring though.
The Weevil, because he assumed this was what the monster in front of him was called, had begun to growl. It appeared that not all Weevils were beetles.
"Hotch and Prentiss are busy defeating the other two.", Hotch explained. "If it attacks I'm afraid we'll have to kill it. Well, you, since I never carry my gun with me in the hub. And it looks very much like it's gonna attack us."
Indeed, the growl had become louder, more menacing. Reid swallowed and was slowly walking backwards. After all, he wasn't sure whether bullets were able to kill the creature.
And then, with a deafening roar, the Weevil jumped at them. Instinctively he shot and was surprised to see he had hit, which was the reason for their attacker to simply slump on the floor, lifeless. One of its hands brushed against Reid's leg as it fell and he leaped backwards in panic, hurtling into his boss who caught him just in time to prevent him from falling.
"Easy now, coffee boy!", said Hotch as he helped him get up again, "It's dead."
He was breathing hard and looked at the beast lying on the floor, eyes big with shock.
"Too bad!", he heard his boss sigh, "I had hoped to go out with this one tonight."
Confused, Reid looked up. Hotch grinned and winked at him.
Reid stared.
Hotch had made a joke.
And he had winked.
Hotch had actually winked!
It was this little fact that made Reid cry.
"Hey, whoa, Spencer!", he heard his boss. At first he seemed to be overwhelmed by his subordinate's behaviour but then Reid felt a comforting arm around his shoulder. "Spencer, what's up?", he heard his supervisor say. But they were not on first name terms!
"I don't remember!", he sobbed.
"You don't remember what?"
"Everything! This place! The pterodactyl! The monster there! Hotch, I... I think... I've got amnesia!"
"Okay, okay, shh!", Hotch tried to calm him down. "Don't panic! What's the last thing you remember?"
"That I'm on the metro on my way home from the office."
"You take the metro? Sophia line to Tudor street?"
Reid shook his head, tears streaming down his face. "What's Sophia line?"
Hotch looked very serious. "Spencer, do you know where you are?"
"Hotch, I woke up this very morning not remembering how I got here!"
"You're in Cardiff."
Reid snivelled. "I'm in Wales? But how did I get here?"
"Uh... You remember Torchwood? And Lila?"
The young man shook his head and searched his pockets for a handkerchief. "What's Lila got to do with this?"
His boss sighed and handed him a kleenex. "You work for Torchwood. We deal with extraterrestrial life on earth. You joined us because you wanted to save your girlfriend Lila, who was turned into a Cyberwoman."
"Cyber- what?" He blew his nose.
"The Cybermen from Mondas did that. In the battle of Canary Wharf."
Reid blinked at his boss, still not understanding anything. "D... Did you say extraterrestrial?"
"That Weevil there, it's an alien. The pterodactyl, too." Then something seemed to come to Hotch's mind, and he frowned. "But... wait! Why do you remember my name? You only met me here, in Cardiff! You were so desperate to get into Torchwood, you'd follow me everywhere, helping me out whenever you could. You offered me a cup of your wonderful coffee right in front of the supposedly secret hub, just to make me hire you! Remember?"
Reid shook his head violently. "I worked for you at the BAU for the last seven years, Hotch! There were no extraterrestrial creatures and no supposedly extinct pterodactyls, just ordinary criminals."
Before his boss was able to answer Morgan and Prentiss appeared in the doorframe.
"Oh, glad to see you got it!", Emily said as she cast a look at the body on the floor. "We managed to lock the other two up and Pen fixed the locks."
"What's up with you, coffee boy, don't tell me you're sad about killing it!", Morgan joked, "Or did you know it personally?" His grin widened.
Hotch cast him a stern glance. "Shut it, Reid's having amnesia!"
Derek raised an eyebrow, instantly getting serious again. "Then we better bring him upstairs so I can inspect him."
"What caused it?", Prentiss asked, "Did he had some sort of accident?"
Hotch sighed. "No idea."
"I can't remember… I just woke up and didn't knew where I was.", Reid explained.
"Come on, let's get you upstairs.", Morgan said, "It's only natural to be freaked out by this situation but there's no reason to panic. It might be anterograde amnesia, which means the cause for it-"
"-might have happened some time ago.", Reid interrupted and nodded. He turned towards Prentiss, explaining, "You see, there's retrograde amnesia, which-"
"Hey, wait!", Derek interrupted, "I'm the doctor here!"
"No, you're not!", Reid replied bluntly. "But I have a Bachelor in medicine."
Morgan smiled dismissively and shook his head. "Your file says something else, coffee boy."
"Guys, let's discuss this upstairs, right?", Hotch interjected, "Derek, you bring Spencer to the surgery and have a look at him while me and Emily take the Weevil to the morgue!"
"But… but… Morgan has no medical degree!", Reid spluttered.
Hotch sighed. Personally, he didn't believe in the amnesia theory but it was the easiest to go with at the moment. "Did it occur to you that you forgot he's got one?"
This effectively shut Reid up. "N… no, sir…"
Soon Reid and Derek were in what Hotch had called the 'surgery'. It was a round, clinically white room but there was only space for one patient. Reid was just sitting on the hospital bed while Morgan did a medical check on him as Penelope came down the spiral stairs to join them. Reid noticed that she was wearing very normal clothes, jeans, a dark grey shirt and black boots. There were no colourful or glittery accessories at all.
"Are you hurt? Did one of the Weevils attack you?", she asked curiously while sitting down on the lowest step. Her voice sounded shyer and quieter than usual. Reid wondered what had made her change. Why wasn't she her usual cheerful self anymore?
"Guess who's having amnesia?", Derek replied with an amused grin.
"Amnesia? Why, what happened?"
Morgan chuckled. "He doesn't remember!"
Reid was a little annoyed that his friend didn't take the matter more seriously but he didn't say anything.
"I'm sure you just need a trigger or something and the memories will come back.", Penelope said, obviously trying to be helpful.
"Yeah...", he sighed while Morgan was meticulously inspecting the back of his head. He had to admit that the way his friend had examined him so far did show that he had some sort of medical expertise.
"Can't find any bruises or scars.", Derek stated. "Your file says nothing about epilepsy, meningitis or encephalitis but I'll take a blood sample just to be sure."
"I'm too young for dementia", Reid added, "so it can't be that. And I don't have hypoxia."
"Nope.", Morgan confirmed, preparing a syringe. "Any migraines?"
Reid shook his head. "And I never had an ECT. As far as I remember, anyway..."
"Traumatic experiences perhaps? Abuse of alcohol?", Derek asked while he took a blood sample of his friend's arm.
The young man sighed. "Not that I remember."
"Fantastic!", Morgan said as he turned towards his desk, his voice heavy with sarcasm, "Not that you remember! That will definitely help you win the award for Most Helpful Patient Of The Year!"
"Derek, don't be like that!", Garcia defended him. "It's not his fault!"
The tall black man didn't answer, he just shook his head as he sat down to analyse Reid's blood sample.
He had to admit that he did feel a little rejected by the dismissive behaviour of the man who was supposed to be his best friend. Something seemed to have happened that had changed his whole team and the way they interacted. And where were the rest of them? Had they been fired?