Disclaimer: Criminal Minds and all its characters belong to CBS. I own nothing. Feel free to read and review, but please don't copy.
AN-Please be patient. My mom's been in the hospital all week.
Previously on Criminal Minds- Snuggling the boy closer to him, Dave closed his eyes and joined Spencer in sleep.
CM
The next morning Rossi was released with strict orders to rest. Ecstatic to be out of the dreaded place, the old profiler swiftly filled out the mountain of paperwork the hospital required before tromping into the bathroom and changing into the button down shirt and jeans Hotch had brought him. After stuffing the crappy hospital gown into the bin, Dave went back into his room.
"Your chariot awaits." Aaron teased, pushing the wheelchair over to the bed.
Rossi grimaced. "Can't we just pretend I rode in that thing?" he asked.
"Sorry Dave, its hospital policy." Hotch replied, his tone letting the older man know he wasn't the least bit sorry.
Sighing, Rossi shuffled over to the uncomfortable contraption and slowly sank down on the seat. While he didn't think he needed a lift to the car, he'd endure riding in it since he had no choice. Hell, he'd gladly ride in a baby carriage to get out of this crappy room. "Home James" he joked.
Spencer snickered as he climbed onto the older man's lap. "Good one, Wossi" he complimented, high fiving his friend.
Aaron rolled his eyes. "I'd be careful if I were you, gentlemen. It's not wise to tick off the person controlling your transportation." He warned.
"Less talking, more walking" Dave gruffly instructed, smiling as the boy in his lap giggled.
"No wonder all the nurses are in this floor looked so thrilled." Hotch observed before breaking into a grin. "You're grumpy when you're injured."
"Ha ha" Dave said, scooting up in the wheelchair so the boy in his lap could press the down button.
"What no witty comeback?" Aaron mock gasped as he pushed his charges into the elevator. "You're getting old there, grandpa."
Spencer leaned back against Rossi's chest as he listened to his friend's banter. It was going to be a good afternoon.
CM
"Don't listen to him, Reid." Dave told the little boy as they walked into their home for the next few nights. "Aaron knows he really…" Noticing the expressions on his family's faces, he abruptly cut off. "What's going on?"
"The director called. We've got a case." JJ told him.
"What? I fought he said we wewe on bweat?" Spencer questioned.
"He did but a new case has come up a couple of hours from here and we're the closest team." The media liaison explained.
"Why call you?" Dave curiously inquired. "Why not call Aaron? He's the team leader."
"He tried. Evidently Hotch's cell was off or it couldn't pick up a signal." JJ replied with a shrug. "He said the case couldn't wait so he called me."
"Hotch, he expects us there by five." Prentiss stated.
Aaron nodded. "Get your go-bags. We'll leave in ten." He ordered. Turning to the senior and junior members of the team, he added, "Rossi, get some rest. Spencer, you stay here and keep an eye on him."
"No way, I'm going." Dave adamantly stated.
"Me too!" Spencer hollered, latching onto Hotch's hand.
Aaron sighed. He had known it wouldn't be that easy. "Dave, the doctor told you to rest."
"And I will…in the car." Rossi answered.
"Dave"
"Aaron, if you think for one minute that I'm going to let you go on a case short three men, you're sadly mistaken." Dave growled. "You can either take me with you or I'll find a way there on my own. Either way I'm going."
"Me too! Me too!" Spencer shouted, jumping up and down.
Hotch glanced from his injured friend to his son and back. "Fine" he huffed. "You can interview family members and help Reid with the map but that's it."
"We'll see." Dave said with a smirk.
Aaron raised an eyebrow at the remark but said nothing. He'd save his argument for after they arrived at the scene. "Grab your bags and let's go." He ordered.
The profilers quickly packed up their bags and walked out the door.
CM
Two and a half hours later, the BAU strode into the Macomb, Washington police station. Bypassing the officer sitting near the door, the team proceeded over to the chief who met them halfway. "Sheriff Johns, I'm SSA Aaron Hotchner." Hotch greeted, extending his hand. "This is SSA David Rossi, SSA Emily Prentiss, Dr. Spencer Reid, and our media liaison Jennifer Jareau."
"Agents" the tall, muscular man replied. "Sorry, you got dragged into this. Mrs. Barker's husband insisted we call you in and since he's tight with the mayor…" Sheriff Johns huffed. "Anyway, we've fixed up a room for you with all the evidence we've collected so far. You're more than welcome to do whatever it is you do. Just know, my men and I will probably have this case solved and the women back home before your team finishes going over the evidence."
Hotch resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He hated dealing with officers like the one before him. Biting the inside of his cheek to keep from snapping at the arrogant officer, Aaron settled for glaring at the man. "I'll keep that in mind." he ground out.
The BAU followed the sheriff down the corridor and into the smallest room they'd ever seen. Scanning the area, the group sighed. From the state of things, it looked like the local police were bound and determined to make things as hard as they could for the federal agents. Sighing, they went into the room and gathered around the picture frame sized whiteboard.
JJ waited for the sheriff to leave and then stepped up and began to fill in the team. "Okay, two women have been kidnapped in less than twenty-four hours. Brenda Hamilton, 34, is a second grade teacher and mother of two. She went to her normal friend's luncheon at one o'clock yesterday afternoon but failed to pick up her children from school three hours later. The second victim, Mary Barker, has one son. The kindergarten teacher was taken sometime between seven and nine o'clock this morning. In both cases, no one saw or heard anything out of the ordinary. There have been no cash withdrawals, credit card purchases, or any other paper trail. It's like they vanished into thin air."
"So we have two tall, thin primary teachers with short blond hair missing. Both appear to be attentive mothers with young sons under ten." Prentiss recounted. "That's a very specific type."
"The vittims pwob'ly wep'sent(represent) an impowtant female figuwe in the unsub's life, most litely his mofew(mother)." Reid speculated.
"It could be the unsub's mother abused him." Dave threw out.
Hotch nodded. "Possibly, we'll know more after we interview the victim's family. JJ, you and Reid stay here and work. Rossi and Prentiss go interview Mrs. Hamilton's family. I'll handle Barker's husband." He instructed. "Let's go people. We need to catch this unsub before he strikes again."
CM
Prentiss pulled up in front of a modest brick home in a well-kept subdivision and cut the engine. "Nice place" she remarked as she climbed out of the SUV and started up the sidewalk with Rossi.
"Yeah, but it's not exactly the kind of place you'd expect to find a kidnap victim." Dave observed. "The Hamilton's are doing well but not so well that they'd be the targets of a ransom demand."
"Maybe it's not about money." Emily threw out as she rang the doorbell. "The kidnapper could have other ideas in mind. After all, it's been over twenty-four hours now and there hasn't been a ransom demand yet."
"True" Dave agreed. Seeing the door open, he looked over at the young, muscular man in the doorway. "Mr. Hamilton, I'm SSA Rossi and this is SSA Prentiss. We'd like to talk with you about your wife's disappearance."
"Come, come in" Gene stammered. He stepped back to let the agents enter before leading them into the living room. "Have a s-s-seat. I'll be, be right back."
Emily and Dave shared a look. "He's awfully jumpy." Prentiss commented.
"A little too jumpy" Rossi stated. "He knows…" He stopped, mouth dropping open at the sight of the two missing women strolling into the room with a terrified preteen boy between them. "What's going on here?!" he demanded.
Mrs. Barker tightened her hold on the shaking boy. "Agent Rossi, if you'll just sit down, we'll explain everything." She told the profiler.
Dave shook his head. "We'll be having a conversation alright but it will take place at the police station not here."
Prentiss frowned as all the color left the preteen's face. She reached out intending to lay a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. The profiler quickly retracted her hand, however, when the youngster flinched away from her. Hearing a mumbled 'sorry', she stared at the group in shock. "He's the kidnapper?!" she exclaimed.
Mrs. Hamilton glared at the agents. "As Mary said, we're willing to explain everything to you. We can't go to the station though."
"Why not?" Rossi asked, returning the woman's glare with one of his own.
"Let's just say, it isn't safe there." Brenda replied.
"Look, if you're worried about questioning them all together, don't be. There are enough rooms here for you to take each of them in a separate room." Mr. Hamilton told the profilers.
Rossi glanced at Prentiss before shaking his head once more. "Sorry folks but I'm going to have to insist we move this discussion to the police station." He insisted.
"No, we can't…" Mrs. Barker broke off at the near silent mumble of the preteen boy. Bending down, she looked the youngster in the eye and asked, "Are you sure?" A shaky nod was her only answer. "Okay Sweetie" she agreed. Mary straightened back up, shot an angry look at the profilers, and said, "Alright, we'll go to the station with you."
Rossi took note of the curious exchange. Something odd was going on and he wanted to know what, starting with who the kid was and why he had kidnapped the women. Knowing he wouldn't get any straight answers until they got the group to the station, Dave glanced at his co-worker. "Prentiss, call Hotch and have him meet us at the station." He ordered. Turning to the mismatched group before him, Dave said, "Let's go."
CM
Rossi gazed across the table at the frightened preteen. The bowed hand and drooped shoulders spoke volumes. The kid had either been bullied or abused. Dave had been around long enough to know all the signs. Of course that still didn't explain things. For that he'd need the boy's help. If he could get the kid to talk that is. Sighing, Rossi leaned back in his chair and assumed a relaxed, nonthreatening pose before speaking. "Can you tell me your name son?" he asked.
The preteen mumbled something the profiler couldn't have heard if he'd been standing right next to the boy.
"Could you repeat that?" Dave inquired. "My hearing's not what it used to be."
"Matt Pringle" the boy quietly replied, his fingers nervously twisting in the hem of his shirt.
Dave nodded even though the boy couldn't possibly see it. "Can you tell me your age Matt?"
"12, I'll be 13 in four months."
"Since you're a minor, I'm not going to ask you anymore questions until your parents get here." Dave told the youngster.
Matt's head shot up at that. "Don't call her. Please! She's really busy taking care of my older brothers and sisters. She doesn't have time to come for me." He breathlessly stated before lowering his head and softly adding, "I don't matter to her anyway."
"I'm sure that's not true, Matt." Dave countered. "I'm sure your mother loves you."
Matt vehemently shook his head. "No, she doesn't. I thought she did when she first took me in but I was wrong."
"Took you in? You're a foster child?"
"I was when I was little but then she took me in and adopted me and after a while of living with her I thought living there was the most wonderful thing in the world." Matt said, a wistful expression flashing across his face.
"What changed your mind?" Dave prodded when the boy didn't continue.
Matt shrugs. "I guess as I got older and wiser I realized it wasn't as perfect as I'd thought. She actually treated me a lot different from the other kids. I just didn't notice it at first."
"Different how?" Rossi asked. "Was it because you were adopted and they weren't?"
"No, it had nothing to do with that. We're all adopted. And it had nothing to do with the adoption order either. I wasn't the first or the last one to be adopted." Matt replied. "I, I think it has something to do with my intellect. See she, she…it's like this: Anytime one of us has a problem adjusting or we revert back to our old behaviors, she helps us deal with it. She spends as much time as we need her to to fix the problem. All except me that is. With me, she'll give me some spiel or another and that's supposed to fix everything. She's spent weeks or sometimes even months trying to help my brothers and sisters through their problems, but with me it was a one-time shot. My problems are always pushed aside so she can deal with someone else's. The others are always more important. She didn't even stick around to help me after, after…"
"After what, son?" Dave questioned.
"After I, I attempted to kill myself." Matt stammered.
Dave's eyebrows shot up. "Why would you do that, Matt?"
Matt looked up at Rossi then and the expression on the young teen's face broke the profiler's heart. He had never seen so much hurt and pain in the eyes of someone so young.
"I, I started my sophomore year of high, high school this past school year. I guess the older students didn't like a, a 12 year old who was smarter than them. They bullied me from the time I started there; knocking me around, locking me in lockers, beating me."
"You didn't tell anyone?"
"Who was I going to tell? She was always busy with my older brothers and sisters. And the principal and teachers wouldn't have done anything. It would have been my word against the others. And who's going to take the word of a 12 year old over that of the football team?"
"The whole team?!"
Matt sadly nodded. "Most of the student body actually."
"You siblings didn't notice?"
"The only one that went to that school was my brother Adam and he told our, his mom he didn't know about it. It's hard for me to believe he didn't though. The whole school talked about what was happening. It'd be kind of hard for him not to hear anything. Plus, he was friends with several of my main tormentors. How could he be friends with them and not know?" Matt answered. Huffing, the youngster wrapped his arms around himself for comfort. "Then again, no one at home ever noticed the bruises or rumpled and dirty clothes or anything else either. I even came home with a black eye and a split lip once and they let it go when I said I ran into a door."
"How did they found out what was happening to you?"
"This, this one day the ummm, guys at school decided pushing me around wasn't good enough. So they, they" Matt paused. He struggled to get his emotions under control as the first tears began to fall. "They did, did something h-h-horrible to me. And as if that wasn't enough, they videoed it and sent it to everyone in school. That was the last straw for me. I stole a gun from my neighbor Joe's house and was going to use it to kill myself. But one of my big sisters caught me and then the whole story came out."
"What did you mother do?" Dave inquired.
"She, she yelled at the principal and took me out of school." Matt quietly replied, hanging his head.
"I meant what did she do to help you?" Rossi corrected.
"Oh, she umm, she hugged me and told me she was sorry that happened. Then she told me I was on lock down. That I couldn't leave the house and that I was banned from going to Joe's until she could trust me again." Matt recounted.
"That's it?!" Dave exclaimed.
Matt nodded. "Pretty much. I guess she figured I couldn't try again since I couldn't go to Joe's and get another gun. She didn't realize guns aren't the only way to commit suicide." He told the profiler, turning his wrists over so the man could see the scars of at least two more attempts.
"What about your brothers and sisters? Didn't they try to help you?" Rossi questioned.
"One of them did at first but it wasn't long before he left me alone again." Matt answered.
"Is that what made you kidnap those two ladies?" Dave inquired.
Matt shook his head. "No, I umm, I was angry and frustrated and terribly hurt but I was still holding onto the thought that she really cared about me. I even made up excuses for why she wasn't helping me like she did with the others. Stupid huh?"
"No son, it's not stupid to want your parent's love." Dave softly said.
Matt gave Rossi a sad smile.
"What happened Matt? What did your mother do that made you think she didn't love you?" Rossi prodded after a moment.
"I borrowed my big brother's Nintendo DS without asking and accidently dropped it and broke it. My big brother got really mad at me and he said, said…he basically said that I wanted what happened to me; that I, I deserved it. I, I lost it then. I attacked him, punching him over and over again until my other brother and m-his mom pulled me off of him. Mo-she was so angry. She yelled at me for what I did and then went to comfort him. Can you believe it?! He tells me I deserved what those bullies did to me and I'm the one she lays into?!" Matt stops a moment. "That's not the worst of it though. When my other brothers and sisters found out what happened, they took his side. They were all mad at me. They thought I should have been able to handle it without hitting him. None of them ever said they were sorry he said that to me or that he shouldn't have said that. They just stuck up for him."
"Is that why…"
"Part of it. That's when I started to think she didn't care. It wasn't till I saw proof though that I, I…"
"Proof? What kind of proof?" Dave asked.
"My brother Adam, the one that said that, that…his friends turned on him and he started getting bullied. They knocked him around a little bit and called him names but that's it. He didn't tell either but m-she found out. She went and yelled at the principal and took Adam out of school like she did with me. But then when she got him home, she spent a lot of time with him, trying to help him deal with what happened. And not just her either. All my brothers and sisters tried to help him, too. They all made this support circle around him. I wasn't allowed in that either because of what I'd done to him." Matt paused, swiping a hand across his face. "That's when I knew for certain she didn't really care. I was bullied mercilessly for months and, and then they, they…It was so bad I tried to, to kill myself and that barely put me on her radar but then my big brother gets just a taste of what I was put through for months and suddenly the whole family is focused on helping him. I was drowning, had been drowning for months but nobody cared. They were all too focused on each other to spare a thought for this worthless piece of trash."
Matt, you are not worthless." Dave adamantly stated, moving closer to the preteen.
"My dad left me with my drug addicted mother when I was four. Then I get taken away from her and bounced around from foster home to foster home before being sent to live with mo-Ms. Pringle. My real mother didn't even try to see me while I was in foster care. She just threw me away like my dad did. I thought Ms. Pringle would be different but I was wrong. She didn't spend any more time with me than she absolutely had to. I was the youngest child in the house yet I was the one that was always left to fend for myself. The others were always more important than me. Even after my attempted suicide, she didn't see fit to try to help me." Matt angrily spat.
"I'm so sorry Matt." Dave said, placing a hand on the trembling boy's shoulder.
Matt shrugged. "Don't be. I'm not worth it. I can't be. I mean, if I was, wouldn't my, my family have rallied around me after they found out about the, the bullying? Or the suicide attempt? Wouldn't they have tried to help me then like they're doing with Adam?"
"Son, it's not you that's in the wrong here. It's your family." Dave declared, frowning as the boy shook his head. "Yes, it is. They should have been there for you. They should have talked with you and held you and done everything in their power to let you know that they loved you and that what happened with those bullies wasn't your fault." Dave soothed, eyes widening as a thought came to mind. "That's why you kidnapped those ladies, isn't it?"
"I just, just wanted to pretend I had someone who loved me just for a little while. I was going to bring them back. I just needed, I needed…" Matt dropped his head onto the desk and began sobbing.
Dave swiftly walked around the table and pulled the boy into an embrace. "Shhh Matt, it's alright." He whispered, rubbing the teen's back. "You're going to be okay. I promise."