The resort was incredible. It was snowing lightly when they got off the plane, and everywhere you looked, buildings, trees, cars were all iced in a thick layer of snow, giving the town a fairy tale quality.
It was a two hour drive from the tiny landing strip to the resort. The main hotel was a large, square, modern looking building with 9 floors of guest apartments. Its metal support frame and big glass windows glinted blindingly, reflecting rows and rows of winter suns, and it had a decorated wooden arch over the front entrance with the word 'Welcome' carved into it.
Framed behind it were some snowy mountains where the skiing took place, and a ski lift to take guests up to them. Spread out around the grounds of the resort were the oak cabins, which looked like little fairy tale cottages. The cabins they drove past were built on a slope. Thick wooden stilts supported a balcony on the second floor with a view of the forest and mountains, overhung by the eaves of the sloping tiled roof, which had decorative carved wooden edging around the gables. They had large latticed windows designed to look quaint and old fashioned, complete with fake shutters.
Two police detectives and the hotel manager came out to meet them. Young and Prentiss stayed in the car in case the unsub saw them with the FBI and realised he was being tricked.
"Welcome to my resort!" The manager, a tubby, balding man in his fifties, said after introductions and handshakes had been exchanged (His name was Daniel Orwell while the two detectives were Officer Dane and Officer Jarvis.) "Thank you so much for coming so quickly. I hope the weather wasn't too much hassle?"
"We managed." Hotch said impatiently. "Have you announced the findings of the investigation so far to the guests?"
Orwell seemed to shrink to half the size. "Yes. Once those kids found the bodies in the lake I could hardly keep it a secret."
"And how many of them subsequently left?"
"Only a few." said Officer Dane, "By the time they heard about it the weather had got so bad that most of them had no way of getting home. None of the public airports are letting any planes fly in the snow storm. And the nearest hotel which isn't fully booked is a two hour drive away. Besides, it's actually on the lakeside, and folks aren't so keen to be near the water anymore."
"Right. Is there somewhere we can talk inside? We need to discuss how to protect the guests."
"Of course. I'll take you there now. Why don't the rest of you get settled in your cabins? I've got your welcome packs here. It has a map with the location of your cabins marked on it, your keys and the codes for the alarm. Get unpacked, freshen up, dinner is served up at the main hotel from six until eleven, or your cabin will have a fully stocked kitchen and larder if you'd prefer to do it yourselves." He said enthusiastically and handed them the packs.
Morgan got the impression the man didn't quite grasp the fact that the point of their visit was to catch a killer, not to enjoy themselves. However, it had been a long journey up here and he was pretty eager to get warm and fed, so he and Reid got back in the car and Morgan drove to where their cabins were, while Hotch, Rossi and JJ sorted everything out.
The arrangements were that Prentiss and Young were officially Mr and Mrs Prentiss, and they were booked into a honeymoon cabin for the weekend, Friday evening until Monday morning, so the unsub would come on Sunday evening if he stuck to his pattern. Hotch had asked the manager to enter their fake details into the hotel's system, so if the unsub was hacking into the computer system to choose and locate his victims, he would find all their details in order.
Their cabin was in the forest quite close to the hotel and right next to the road which connected all the cabins. Within sight of Young and Prentiss's cabin window was a family cabin, where the rest of the team would stay, ready to intervene in case anything went wrong. The police had already set up CCTV cameras monitoring every side of the house, which would be watched in shifts by the team when Young and Prentiss were inside, and by the police when they were all out, to make sure he couldn't sneak in and wait for them.
Morgan and Reid helped them carry their bags inside and Morgan gave Prentiss a goodbye hug.
"Don't worry, we'll catch the son-of-a-bitch before you know it." He reassured her with a grin. She didn't look convinced. Reid hung back uncertainly before deciding on a very speedy hug. She was pleased anyway. He'd been in such a foul mood lately she didn't expect any affectionate gesture from him at all.
Then Morgan and Reid got back in the car and Morgan drove round to their cabin. They dumped everybody's bags inside the door and Reid sat down at the kitchen table, while Morgan made coffee. The cabin was warm and cosy, but the atmosphere was awkward and tense.
"Hey kid, I'm really sorry about earlier." Morgan said.
"It's okay." Reid replied, picking at a splinter of wood sticking up on the pine table.
"No it's not. I shouldn't have talked to Hotch without asking you first. It was out of line."
"Really, I don't blame you. I know you were just trying to look out for the team." Reid replied.
I wasn't looking out for the team. I was looking out for you, you idiot.
"Besides, at some point you may have to." Reid continued.
"Have to what? What do you mean?"
"Tell Hotch without my permission." Reid replied looking up at him grimly. "I've been thinking about this for a while now, that if I have a schizophrenic break, you won't be able to reason with me. I know how hard it is to convince a schizophrenic that they need help. I felt so guilty for sanctioning my mom, and…I don't want anyone to feel like that about me." He leaned forward slightly. "So I'm giving you my permission now. I want you promise me, if I ever become a burden to the team, you'll do whatever you have to do. Promise me."
How the hell can I promise to get you thrown off the team?
"Morgan?"
"Okay kid. I promise. But it won't come to that. Anyone would be stressed out having been through what you have. You have nothing to worry about."
Reid bit his lip and nodded, not meeting his eyes and doing a terrible job of trying to look reassured.
"It is just that isn't it?" he asked softly, sitting down on a chair next to him. "Or is there something you're not telling me?"
Reid shook his head and picked at the table again. Morgan leaned forward slightly, folding his arms and resting his elbows on the table.
"You can tell me, I won't tell Hotch or anyone. I swear I only want to help you Reid."
There was a long pause where he seemed to be working up the courage to say something.
"It's just that…recently I've been having these weird…feelings. Well I guess…sensations would be more accurate." Reid gritted his teeth, struggling to get through the sentence.
Morgan waited for him to elaborate.
"It's like I can feel…fingers on my body. Touching me. And it's…Tom's fingers, I think." He grimaced and scratched the back of his neck, still not meeting Morgan's eyes.
"What makes you think that it's Tom?" Morgan asked, confused.
"Cause…well…when we were with them…he…came into the basement. When I was alone. And he…well..." Reid balled his fists and held them against his forehead. "You can infer what he did to me from the fact that I'm feeling his fingersall over me now."
Morgan's mouth fell open. Fresh, possessive fury welled up inside him all over again at the thought of that repulsive, slimy psychopath touching Reid.
"Oh God. I didn't know..."
"I didn't want you to know." Reid said quietly.
"Did he…did he actually…God, I don't know how to ask this…" Morgan stuttered.
"I don't think I can talk about it right now." Reid said numbly, wrapping his arms around himself and leaning forward against the table.
"Of course…it's okay, you don't have to talk about it." Morgan tried to pull himself together. "How often does this happen?"
"Between five and ten times a day. Especially when I'm in bed."
"Has there been anything else that's been worrying you?"
"There's been a few times where I've…heard things, which weren't there. Or maybe they were, I don't know anymore. I'm just so tired I forget what it feels like not to be tired, you know? And whenever I do fall asleep they're both there. Waiting for me." He mumbled.
Morgan put his hand on Reid's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"Auditory and tactile hallucinations are symptoms of schizophrenia." Reid said hopelessly.
"They're also symptoms of extreme stress and fatigue." Morgan pointed out. "And the more you stress about what it could be, the worse they'll get."
Reid nodded.
"I think you should consider talking to Young about this." Morgan said.
"No. No way."
"I know he pissed you off, but if it means he might be able to give you something to help make these symptoms go away, or to help you sleep, don't you think it's worth giving him a second chance? I know you, okay? I know that you're stubborn as hell when it comes to accepting help, and I know that you'd never have told me what you just told me if it wasn't scaring you pretty badly. So please just try and cooperate with him?"
"Alright. I'll think about it." He said blankly.
Like hell he will. Morgan thought, and sighed. He could tell from the young man's posture and tone that he was only saying that to shut him up.
He stood up and poured the coffee, mainly to give himself time to calm down and think what to say. He put a mug down in front of Reid and took one himself.
"Thanks." Reid said distractedly.
"S'okay." Morgan smiled at him.
Then they heard the door open and Hotch, Rossi and JJ stumbled in from the howling blizzard which had started outside.
"Where's coffee? Need coffee." JJ shivered as she wandered into the kitchen, pink-cheeked and caked in snow. Reid handed her his own.
"Your need is greater than mine." He smiled.
"Oh such a gentleman." She smiled back at him and ruffled his hair.
Morgan tried not to mind that she got a smile and he didn't.
"I'll make some more." He muttered as Hotch and Rossi entered the kitchen and made praying motions to him with their hands.
There was a strange holiday vibe among them as they stood around chatting in the warm kitchen, even though they were still talking about work.
"So what's the plan to keep the guests safe?" Morgan asked, bending to retrieve a filter from the cupboard next to the sink.
"We worked out a patrol schedule with the police and the hotel's security guards. The guests staying in the main hotel have been moved as close together as possible to make guarding more effective."
"Aren't we forgetting something?" Reid asked.
"You mean that our unsub could be a security guard?" Rossi said. "Yes, we considered that, but we can't exactly tell the guests not to trust the security team and the security guards not to trust each other. It would cause panic. We have to trust the profile. There's no way a guy like this unsub doesn't have a violent criminal record and Garcia checked out all the guards."
"Did Garcia find any other guests which match his victimology?" Morgan asked.
"there were two young brunette couples but they were moved up to the main hotel, and we know he prefers not to take his victims from there." JJ said.
"Good." Morgan said.
"Okay, so once we've got sorted out here we'll be splitting up into two groups. Dave, myself and Reid will investigate the cabins of the three couples, while Morgan and JJ will be shadowing Mr and Mrs Prentiss while they dine up at the hotel." Hotch said.
"Hell yeah! That means dinner on expenses. C'mere mama." Morgan high-fived JJ, who laughed. He gave her a quick hug. Okay so she wasn't his number one choice of dinner companion at the moment, but he knew he would remember how much he liked her once she and Reid weren't in the same room.
"Which brings us to sleeping arrangements." Hotch said. "This place has three bedrooms, one with a double bed and separate bathroom, one with twins and one with a single bed."
"So who's sharing with who?" Morgan asked tentatively, sensing things were about to get uncomfortably intimate for two members of the team.
"Oh hell no, I am not sharing with a boy." JJ laughed.
"JJ can take the single room." Hotch said. She nodded and left them to it.
"Then…" he faltered. "Are you two okay sharing a room?"
Reid looked at Morgan, as if it were up to him. Morgan nodded and shrugged.
"Sure. I don't wanna be seeing you old timers in your pyjamas." He grinned cheekily.
"Ah ha ha. You just earned yourself first shift on night watch my friend." Rossi smiled vindictively. Morgan made a face.
"So who gets the double and who gets the twins?" asked Hotch, evidently torn between not wanting to make Reid and Morgan feel uncomfortable, and not wanting to share a bed with a snoring Rossi.
"Flip for it?" Morgan suggested, keeping his tone casual to show Hotch he didn't need to worry. "Heads, you get the double. Tails we get it. Okay?"
They flipped a coin and it was heads. Morgan felt a guilty prickle of excitement. Rossi and Hotch went off to unpack.
There was an awkward silence.
"So…I guess we're sharing a bed then." He said to Reid, as casually as he could manage.
"I'll take the couch downstairs if you want." Reid said, keeping his face expressionless.
"What? No! Why would you say that?" Morgan was taken aback. "You think I'm some homophobic asshole who can't handle sleeping in the same bed as another man?"
"No! Of course not." Reid said helplessly.
"Then why did you think I'd want that? Or…" he tried to calm down and think it through properly. "Or are you uncomfortable sharing with me because of what they made us do?" he asked gently, hoping it wasn't that.
"No it's not that! I just thought maybe you…I don't know! Just forget it!" Reid said, rubbing the side of his head with his knuckles like he was in pain.
"Please Reid. Tell me what's going on with you."
Reid stood up and leaned on the opposite counter looking across the room at him with a blank expression.
"I just thought… you wouldn't want to share a room with me, let alone a bed…because…" he looked down.
"Because what?" Morgan asked impatiently.
"Remember Alaska?" Reid said tensely.
"Yeah…sure. The kid who was hunting the town's people. What does that have to do with…ohhhh." Morgan closed his eyes and winced at his own stupidity. "At the inn, I said 'I'm not sharing with Reid.'"
Reid shrugged. "Yeah. Um… did you really not want to share with me, or…?"
Morgan closed the gap between them and hugged him tightly. Reid flinched in surprise but then linked his arms around Morgan's waist, and settled his chin and then his forehead against his broad shoulder.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to take that seriously!" Morgan laughed. "I didn't know you then as well as I do now and it didn't occur to me that it would stick in your mind forever until after I said it, and I thought about apologising but I was too embarrassed to bring it up."
Reid lifted his head anxiously. "What about the time I came late from the movies? Rossi said 'I hope she was worth it' and you said 'I hope she was a she.' That strongly suggested both that you thought I could be, and that you carried an aversion to homosexuals."
Morgan tried hard not to laugh.
"I don't Reid. Not at all. I was just wisecracking. It was a dumb thing to say and I'm sorry."
(The truth was he'd been so jealous at the thought of his pretty boy having a date that he'd childishly wanted to burst his bubble with a juvenile insult. Again, he'd regretted it the second it came out of his mouth, especially since deep down he wanted Reid to be happy, whoever that was with. And the biggest kick of guilt had been when Prentiss had pointed out the movie excuse was more than likely a cover for his 'problems.')
"Oh. It's okay." Reid said looking a little less dejected. "I think rationally I knew that you weren't serious. But recently it's been like…I mean…something occurs to me and then other stuff all seems to support the hypothesis and then I can't stop thinking the thing and I get obsessed. One of the pitfalls of having an eidetic memory I guess."
"Oh." Morgan said, trying to understand. "So…that crazy stuff about me wanting you fired…that's what that was?"
"Sort of…I don't really know. It seems irrational to me already. I don't know if I really even believed it at the time. I'm just so tired I can't seem to…" he didn't want to use the phrase that medical professionals used to describe schizophrenia, but he couldn't seem to find another one which fit. "…to order my thoughts." He looked down and let his arms fall to his sides.
Morgan released him a little but kept his hands on Reid's shoulders. He felt like the conversation needed to be led away from schizophrenia once and for all.
"So, um…" he stumbled awkwardly. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to talk about it, but…I mean I never asked…" he raised his eyebrows meaningfully.
There was an awkward pause.
"You mean am I homosexual?" Reid asked quietly, looking into his eyes and swallowing.
"Yeah…I mean it's not important or anything. I love you no matter what you are." Morgan said quickly. Reid looked almost as taken aback as he was. Love? Oh God why did he say that? They'd never said that to each other before and now was not the sort of conversation to just drop it into. What if Reid took it the wrong way?
Even if the wrong way was secretly the right way...oh God this was so complicated he had no idea why he'd even asked the question anymore.
He knew Reid was, if not totally asexual, not exactly enthusiastic about the idea of sex with either gender. But he was curious to know what Reid considered himself to be.
Reid's gaze fell to Morgan's mouth, almost undetectably briefly before he looked back at his eyes and then away altogether. He folded his arms and fixed an amused smile on his face.
"No Morgan. I'm not gay." He laughed, unaware that for Morgan hearing those words was a little like being stabbed in the chest, even though he'd already known that the answer probably wouldn't be what he wanted to hear.
"I love you too though. In a totally heterosexual way." Reid said with a smile, slightly stemming the blood flow from Morgan's chest cavity. "You're like, my best friend I think."
Hey. He loves me back. That's pretty cool. Morgan grinned and ruffled Reid's hair.
"Yeah...you too kid."
When he thought about it, of course Reid would identify as heterosexual when asked. Even if he'd never had or even wanted to have a single sexual encounter with anyone in his whole life. He didn't need any more things that made him different, that attracted attention to him.
Or maybe he just thought Morgan would be able to relate to him better if he said he was straight? Or he didn't fully trust him. He hoped it wasn't that.
Rossi came into the kitchen and told them to get a move on. The Prentiss's were on the move.
...
Half an hour later Rossi, Reid and Hotch were standing in the living room of the cabin which had been inhabited by Josephine and Sam Keller with the two officers, all wearing plastic gloves.
"They were probably his first kill. He must have lacked confidence." Reid said. "Do you think he targeted them inside their cabin?"
"He would have had a hell of a job getting past the security features. It would have been easier to wait until they were outside." Rossi said.
"So I've been watching them, learning their habits. I need to take them both somewhere isolated to kill the husband and cut out his heart." Hotch said. "It would have been difficult for me to move two bodies alone. The most effective way would be to threaten them with a firearm of some sort, or to use some kind of ruse."
"The Tox Screen indicated a high level of benzodiazepines present in the female victim's blood, along with a puncture mark on her thigh. So at what point did he drug her?" Rossi said.
"Difficult to say. We need to find the secondary location he led them to." Reid said, staring at the coffee table, which had two cleared plates and glasses from when the couple had eaten breakfast. Officer Dane saw him looking.
"At least they had a good fried breakfast before they went." He said profoundly, seemingly trying to cheer them all up. They all turned to stare at him, unsure whether he was being crass and insensitive or whether he was genuinely that optimistic. Seeing their reaction, he coughed and looked sheepish.
"The autopsy didn't reveal anything in the male victim's stomach." Reid said, confused, flipping through the file. "The female victim ate a meal of this description around lunchtime, but he didn't."
"So who ate the second meal?" Officer Dane asked. His expression changed as it suddenly dawned on him. "Oh that's just sick. He made her cook for him?"
"Send it to the lab for DNA testing to make sure." Hotch said. Officer Dane nodded and bagged up the glasses and plates.
"So assuming she didn't just invite a stranger home for lunch, that means the husband was already incapacitated by this time." Rossi remarked.
"Could he have taken the husband to the secondary location already, and threatened to kill him if she tried to escape?" Hotch asked.
"That would explain why she cooperated with him." Rossi nodded. "We need to find out where he kept them."
"And we need to find the other two couples." Reid said.
...
At around 11pm Reid and Hotch were in the kitchen making up for having missed out on dinner. Rossi was monitoring the CCTV feed and eating in the living room.
Reid was making himself a cheese sandwich but he was too uneasy to feel like eating anything when Hotch kept looking at him calculatingly, like he was about to say something Reid wouldn't like. Reid sat down at the table to eat, and when he'd finished Hotch finally spoke up.
"I texted Young to ask him to meet you tomorrow evening for another counselling session."
"That's way too risky," Reid was stunned at his boss's lack of judgement. "if the unsub sees us talking…"
"There's a popular event that the hotel usually holds in the woods on Saturdays, called the Men's Wilderness Gathering. It's a meal served around campfires and there are activities such as survival skills, making fire, chopping wood, archery and whittling. It's been moved into the hotel courtyard in light of the situation, and we'll all be there guarding and conducting interviews with the guests. You and Young can easily slip away for an hour and if the unsub is watching it will just look like you met him and had a conversation." Hotch said calmly.
"Great. It'll be really easy for me to relax and talk about my feelings when there's a killer out there and the only person around to help me would be Young." Reid muttered resentfully.
"It's too early for him to take Young, and you don't match his victimology. We will keep an eye on you from a distance and it will be very well lit in that area. I'm sorry it's not ideal, but I'm asking you to do this anyway. You agreed to this condition before we came, remember?"
Reid fell silent. He knew there was no getting out of this.
He tried to appreciate the fact that Hotch was trying to help him, but why couldn't he see that this wasn't what Reid wanted? He wanted to get his life back to normal as quickly as possible and never think about the Faraday brothers ever again. Therapy was literally the worst thing anybody could do to him right now.
"What is it with Young? Why did you choose him for us?" he asked, despairingly.
Hotch folded his arms, leaning back against a counter.
"Did you know we were at the academy together?" he asked.
Reid raised his eyebrows. "You mean he was training to be in the FBI?"
"He was top of the class. It secretly drove me mad because it seemed like he never did any work. Then in our third month there our room-mates both dropped out and we were moved into the same room. And I found out that all the laziness and laid back attitude to the job was just a front. Every evening he played around with his many friends, and then came up and worked half the night."
"Idiot." Reid muttered.
"That was exactly what I thought. I told him it would catch up with him eventually and he would regret wasting this opportunity we'd all been given."
"And?"
"And he listened to me. He ditched his admirers, studied and trained at reasonable hours. We became rivals and he would probably have beaten me in our final exam…if circumstances hadn't prevented him taking his place. We kept in touch, but I didn't see him again for years."
"When you divorced Haley?" Reid asked.
"Yes. I knew he went to university majoring in psychology, and did a PhD, and he'd made a name for himself as a private counsellor. I arranged a session with him, but I kept chickening out and cancelling until finally he showed up at my home and demanded that I talk to him. Even then it took me a stupidly long time to accept that I needed his help. But I'm so glad that I did. These past few years…the Boston Reaper…Haley's death…it's been hell. I don't know how I would've got through it without him."
Reid looked down at the table. There was a strange lump in his throat.
"I don't doubt his brilliance. But I don't think he understands…this." He seemed to concentrate very hard on tearing up a crust of bread.
Hotch sat down in the chair next to him. "In our first session I punched him."
"What?"
"He has an incredible knack for guessing exactly what you want to avoid talking about and bluntly forcing it out into the open. He would have been a very skilled agent." Hotch said with a wry smile. "Anyway…something happened on the Boston Reaper case which I never shared with anyone, and..."
He looked down uncomfortably and seemed to get stuck for a moment. He'd not mentioned the Boston Reaper case voluntarily since it ended.
"…and I'll never know how he did it but somehow he got it out of me, and suddenly it didn't seem so terrible or shameful anymore. So I think if you carry on with this then maybe you'll see that he understands more than you think."
Reid nodded. He didn't know what to say so he didn't reply. Hotch gave him an embarrassed 'I've been talking about my feelings for far too long' smile and gave him a manly pat on the shoulder before going to join Rossi.
Shameful?
Reid wondered what his boss was referring to as he went upstairs to read in his room.
Ugh. This chapter. I don't know why but I really struggled. It felt really forced, and very time I read it through I was like oh damn this is boring, but then I realised that was because I've already read through it like 27 times. I don't know. I apologise if it sucked. There is beautiful angst to come, I swear.
Also, the thing with Hotch, everyone knows what I'm referencing right? Cos I swear they just casually dropped that line about the Boston Reaper showing Hotch he wasn't impotent into the episode, and then NEVER MENTIONED IT AGAIN. And I would have been so interested to see how such a tough and stoic guy like Hotch would deal with that, but I'm not sure whether it actually happened or not, or whether it was meant to be left up to the audience's interpretation. So anyway, in my criminal minds universe it did happen.
*cuddles Hotch* there there. ^^ You're still the manliest agent on the team, don't worry.
By the way did anyone else find the reaper strangely attractive? xD Maybe my next fanfiction can be an AU BDSM Hotch/Reaper story. If I ever finish this one =_= and my other one. Damn why can't I just give up all this school nonsense and write fanfiction full time?
Anyway, the reviews...well on the one hand I think I got more reviews for this chapter than I ever have before, and it's reached over 100, so that was pretty cool. :) they had some pretty mixed feedback though. Dr Young apparently rubbed a few people up the wrong way slightly...'^^ whoops.
To the guest who called him a mary sue, I appreciate your honesty and you taking the time to review me I guess, but OUCH man! Don't be so quick to try and predict where I'm going with him. I'm under no illusion that them seeing a psychologist is all it takes to make them better, and Young is witty and funny because a) any psychologist who is going to help Reid has to be smart. and b) because I thought I could use him for some comic relief, since I don't want to depress everyone too much. And no Reid can not 'have some self awareness and maturity' because he is sick and he is traumatised and HE IS HURTING INSIDE. *cries and points at the mean reviewer*
No seriously, thank you. I know my writing isn't perfect, and some of the comments made me realise I was about to make a few horrible mistakes which I have now hopefully remedied. So thank you for your help keeping this story on the right track.