Hey hey! Sorry, this chapter is a bit short. I wasn't exactly sure where I was going with it so I kept it kind of concise until I can gather my thoughts a it better. I'm going to take my lack of reviews in a 'no news is good news' kind of way, but they are still much appreciated! I love the positive feedback and would love to hear some predictions as I'm still not entirely sure where I'm taking this; I have about six different ideas that I could play out :).
(As always, I do not own anybody accept Makaia.)
Enjoy!
Makaia clung to Reid for what he could only describe as a long time. He lost all sense of time as he held the girl, whom he identified with more than anyone else he'd ever met, close to him and stroked her hair in what he hoped was a comforting manner.
Reid didn't bother telling her everything would be okay. He didn't whisper soothing words in her ear to tell her it was fine. It wasn't and everything wouldn't be okay. He just held her, hoping the embrace would offer her even the tiniest amount of comfort.
After the 'long time' of listening to Makaia sobbing, Reid heard movement from the direction of the new prisoners. He turned to see Liam lifting his head and looking around in confusion before his eyes settled on Reid and Makaia and his expression turned horrified. He tugged against the tape that was attaching his arms and legs to the chair.
Makaia looked up when she heard the struggling; her violent sobs had died down to silent tears with the occasional hitched breath. Seeing her foster father tugging against his restraints caused a fresh wave of tears to spill from Makaia's eyes.
"Liam." Her voice was distraught, terrified and outraged all at the same time. "I'm so sorry."
Although Reid couldn't hear what Liam was saying through the tape, he assumed it was something along the lines of 'no, I'm sorry. This isn't your fault, it's mine.' That's what most parents who had children abducted would have said.
Liam continued to yank against his bounds, but they didn't even budge a centimeter. Eventually, Addison and Adam woke up; their reactions were similar to Liam's.
While Liam and Addison continued to tug against the duct tape, Adam and Makaia seemed to communicate through facial expressions. Reid could tell that the teens were close, more best friends than anything else.
After what was again 'a long time', the unsub came back into the room. He wasn't wearing a mask or doing anything to conceal his identity. That was a bad sign.
"Oh good you're all awake now." The unsub announced, clearly pleased with himself. He walked over to his three new visitors and peeled the duct tape off of each of their mouths, beginning with Addison.
"Please." She begged. "Let Adam and Makaia go."
The unsub leaned right into her face and smiled. "No." his confidence was sickening.
The unsub then moved onto Adam, who looked straight at Makaia. "This isn't your fault." He said, firmly.
"Oh but it is though." The unsub spoke as if he was trying to convince a toddler to change their mind. "If she wasn't here, you wouldn't be either." The unsub moved onto Liam.
"You son of a bitch!" Liam shouted, causing everyone but the smiling man in front of him to flinch. "Let my family go!"
"Like I told your wife, no." the unsub turned on his heel and walked straight over to Makaia and Reid, sneering down at them like he was the king of the world.
"Let them go!" Makaia shouted angrily. Adam eyed her wearily, as if waiting for something. "They haven't done anything!"
The unsub focussed on the elder genius. "I'm sure you'll enjoy this part, Dr. Reid." His narcissism was clear and abundant. He turned back to Makaia, pulling out a gun from his waistband. "Choose."
CMCMCMCMCM
"It's been three days and we have nothing!" Morgan slammed his fist down on the table. "How the hell are we going to find him?!"
"Morgan." Hotch warned. He didn't want to look unprofessional in front of the officers. The last thing they needed was to give them another reason-the first being the missing FBI agent-to doubt their work. "Being angry won't help Reid."
Morgan huffed and sat back down in his chair, running a hand over his shaved head in frustration.
"We need to treat this as a normal case and deliver the profile." JJ said, calmly. Hotch was surprised at how well JJ had been handling Reid being abducted. He had expected her to be a complete wreck; the youngest member of the team meant so much to her.
"JJ's right." Hotch stated, simply. He was trying to keep his stoic mask intact. "So what do we have so far?"
"White male with dark hair in his late twenties to early thirties." Rossi started, prompting the rest of the team to join in.
"Clearly sadistic." Morgan said, having calmed down slightly since his prior outburst. "He enjoys seeing his victims suffer." That sentence caused everyone's stomachs to churn as they thought of what Reid could be going through.
"His narcissism shows through the message he leaves at each dumpsite." JJ piped up. "He thinks his victims are beneath him, worthless enough to be thrown out with the trash."
"The only possible suspect as of now was wearing a blue jumpsuit." Hotch said. "Garcia is looking into local public service businesses with that uniform, although I assume that description will match most of them." Hotch noticed Blake hadn't said anything. She had been reviewing the same notes, pictures and autopsy reports since that morning. "Blake." She looked up at Hotch. "You've been looking at the same documents since this morning. You've obviously got a theory or that wouldn't be the case."
"Well," she seemed hesitant, "it's not solid but…"
"Any idea is helpful right now." Hotch assured.
"I feel like he's destroying what his victims value above all else."
"Meaning?" Morgan was slightly confused.
"Well, the first two victims were alpha males." Blake was speaking more quickly than usual, as Reid tended to do when he was explaining a theory. "He took away what represented their manhood." She was obviously referring to the castration and removal of bicep muscles, symbol of power and manliness. "The next two were utterly obsessed with their looks. He mutilated their faces and deprived them of their beauty." Everyone was nodding along, processing and agreeing with Blake's theory.
"He's stripping them of their most defining trait." Rossi thought aloud. "Taking everything from them."
"So, what's Reid and Makaia's defining trait?" JJ asked, not exactly wanting to hear the answer.
"Their minds." An edge of sadness crept into Hotch's tone. "We need to deliver the profile. He's going to try and make them go insane."
I just realized that Garcia has hardly been in this story! I'll have a good chunk of her in the next chapter. She's just so hard to portray and a bit difficult to include when the team is at a dead end... oh well! she will be back soon, I promise! Please review! Arrivederci!