Thank you so much for the great reviews so far. There is a little bit of physical violence in this chapter, so if that bothers you, please do not read! But it will get much worse in later chapters ;) hint hint. Please keep reading and reviewing! If you like/don't like please tell me! R&Ring makes me an extremely happy bunny. Hope you enjoy, thanks again!
"Reid." Hotch sat on the opposite side of his desk from colleague. His gaze was searching but remained stern. "What's going on?"
Reid looked at his boss, a fake look of confusion flooded his face. Shaking his head, he denied all knowledge.
"Nothing – I- I don't know what you mean." He smiled slightly, trying to reassure Hotch, but he was having none of it.
"Reid, I want to remind you before you answer again, that I am your boss and if there is something that is troubling you then I need to know. Not just for your own safety, but for the safety of the team. So I'll ask again – what's going on?" His voice was firm and his gaze was fixed hard on the young man.
Reid shifted his weight uncomfortably, feeling under scrutiny. For a few moments he didn't answer, considering his options. Taking a deep breath, he prepared to answer.
"I really don't know what you're talking about." He replied with a slightly cocky tone, obviously intended to irritate Hotch, hopefully enough to make him angry rather than protective.
Hotch stared deep into Reid's eyes, imploring him to say a little more. But he didn't. Sighing, Hotch pushed himself into the back of his chair.
"Take an early lunch." He said, coolly. "I don't want to see you back here 'til 1pm. Do I make myself clear?"
Reid's brows furrowed at the idea of being kicked out of work for an extra half hour. What was he going to do with himself for an hour and a half? Those worries soon passed however, when he realised that Hotch hadn't pushed the subject any further.
"Yes, sir." Reid replied obediently. He stood up and left the office.
The whole team, now including Garcia, were sat around the desks talking in muted tones to each other. It was clearly about Reid. When he emerged from Hotch's office they suddenly went silent and watched him come back. He walked in a hurry over to his desk, feeling more than a little self-conscious. He started packing up his belongings into his satchel.
At this Garcia assumed the worst.
"Reid, what are you doing?" She asked tentatively. Reid shrugged his shoulders in a defensive manner.
"Taking a long lunch." He looked up at her. "Hotch's idea."
Garcia was surprised to see how tired Reid looked. She just wanted to go and give him one of her best hugs. She softened her voice and reached out to her troubled colleague.
"Reid-"
"Spencer!" Jason cut in confidently. Garcia looked over to him in surprise, slightly irritated by his intrusion. She looked to Morgan who made a face as if to say, 'here we go again'. He had obviously mentioned Jason's presence in the previous conversation. "Where you going, man?"
Reid started to look a little less awkward.
"Early lunch." He replied simply and moved to leave the office. Jason grabbed him by the arm, stopping him in his tracks.
"I'll come with you. I'm taking a break now as it is. I'll come with you for twenty minutes."
Reid tried to shrug his arm off but couldn't.
"It's okay, there's no need." She said gently.
"It's no trouble, Spencer. Honestly. I'm going out anyway, so we may as well go together!"
A genuine smile came to Reid's face.
"Yeah, alright. I suppose a bit of company won't do any harm." Reid turned to leave, when a thought suddenly crossed his mind. "But isn't your team in the middle of that local serial killer case." Jason smiled in response.
"We were, but he was taken into custody in the last hour. The local police actually managed to bring the guy in. Discovered him completely by accident, of course. But it doesn't matter how it happens, does it really." Reid just gently shook his head. "Anyway, come on, twenty minutes and the clock is ticking."
Jason walked out of the bull pen and through the glass doors, Reid followed him. Soon they were both out of sight from the team.
"Well he obviously has more trust for that Jason guy than he does for us." JJ said, irritated.
"I told you." Morgan replied, "he won't talk to us."
"Well, if he won't talk to us, but he's talking to Jason, shouldn't we talk to Jason?" Prentiss suggested.
"But if Reid finds out we've been asking about him, is that not going to make things worse?" JJ looked concerned.
"Jason wouldn't say anything to him." Garcia assured them. "He's not like that, he's trustworthy."
Prentiss looked to Rossi, who hadn't said a word yet. His mind was obviously elsewhere.
"Dave, you okay?" She prodded. The rest of the team now looked to him.
"Some thing's bothering me." His brows were furrowed with worry. "I don't know what it is, but some thing's not right."
"None of this is right, Rossi." Morgan quipped. "Reid seems to be losing his mind!"
"Morgan!" Garcia warned him.
"Sorry baby girl, but we can't ignore this. He's clearly not well." Morgan simply stated.
The team all went silent, clearly deep in their own thoughts. Eventually a depressed Garcia walked back to her office. Saying nothing further, slowly the team started working again.
It was 12.50pm and the team were eating at their desks. Suddenly SSA Michael Lewis ran through into Hotch's office. Something was clearly going on.
The interests of the team were suddenly focused on what was happening. Hotch then emerged from his office followed by Agent Lewis, there was a slight look of panic about his face. He knocked on Rossi's door and walked in. Soon Rossi was emerging from his office too. Hotch then carried on going around all of the offices, each time he spoke, the person inside emerged from their office. Some went straight towards the glass doors and out of the BAU offices entirely.
Rossi was the first to come over to the team.
"What the hell's going on?" Morgan looked around, deeply concerned.
"Lewis' team have reason to believe that the guy they arrested for those 7 murders has two brothers who are gonna be seriously pissed off."
"And?" Prentiss pressed, still not quite understanding.
"They believe that they are gonna come here. Demanding to have their brother back."
"They are dependant on him." Morgan thought aloud. Rossi nodded.
"Apparently so." Rossi said with slight humour in his voice. "They are evacuating the BAU. Anyone without a weapon must leave immediately."
At this moment, they saw Garcia worriedly leaving the offices, looking back at the team. She had that concerned look she always had when she thought she might never see them again. Morgan nodded to her, conveying the message 'it'll be okay'. For the next couple of minutes, the BAU was efficiently cleared of vulnerable people.
The offices were almost completely evacuated when the sound of gunshots resonated through the bull pen. The team all of a sudden found themselves in a line, Hotch and JJ included. Each one of them pointing their guns in the direction of the door.
"They've got an automatic." Hotch said.
Looking around Morgan could see that the only people left were his team and Lewis'. It concerned him to see that Jason, along with two others, was just heading for the doors when the gunshots were fired. He had no choice but to stay, unarmed. He felt sorry for the man, he knew how scared Garcia would be if she were here.
Morgan's attentions were then drawn back to the glass doors, where a tall, large man was now stood. An automatic gun in his hands.
He kicked the glass door open, and confidently walked through, seemingly unfazed by the numerous guns pointing in his direction.
"Drop the weapon John, or we will be forced to shoot you." SSA Michael Lewis spoke.
John merely laughed.
"Try it." He smirked. "Is losing one of your agents is worth it?"
Lewis' was confused, he looked to Hotch.
"Put the weapon down, John. And nobody will get hurt." Hotch spoke calmly.
"Other than your agent." He retorted.
Confusion danced in Hotch's eyes for a few moments, then it was gone.
"You have one of our agents." He simply stated.
"That's very astute of you." John replied, mocking Hotch.
"Then show them to us." Rossi chipped in. John smiled.
"Why? Where's the fun in that?"
"He's bluffing Hotch." Morgan turned to his boss, trying to reason with him.
"Is that a risk you're really willing to take?" John said, directing the question at Hotch. "If you're wrong, you might have killed one of your agents. Do you think you can live with that?"
Hotch stared hard at the man. Morgan was turned towards him, desperately pleading Hotch not to believe John.
Coming to a decision, Hotch let out the breath he didn't realise he was holding. He lowered his weapon.
Morgan tried to reason with him.
"Hotch.. no." He spoke under his breath.
"Lower your weapons." He spoke in a commanding tone. "Now." He pointed that directly at Morgan.
Prentiss, JJ and Rossi all lowered their weapons without question, as did Lewis and his team. Although they didn't feel it was the right decision. Morgan still had his pointed at John.
"Morgan, lower your weapon." Hotch said again, strongly.
Feeling the frustration mounting up inside him, Morgan desperately wanted to shoot the man. But eventually common sense got the better of him. He didn't want another agent's life on his conscience. He finally lowered his weapon.
"Common sense prevails." John mocked.
"Blondie," he said to JJ, "collect in all the weapons and bring them over here." He pointed to the desk closest to him.
JJ's irritation was clearly evident. She took a couple of seconds to actually start moving, she went to Lewis' team first, then collected the guns from her own team. She moved towards John and placed them where he requested.
"There." She said shortly.
"Good girl." John said in a patronising tone.
Suddenly Rossi stepped forward, John moved his aim straight towards him.
"You won't get your brother back this way, John." He spoke, calmly but firmly. "At least let the ladies go." JJ and Prentiss looked to Rossi, annoyed that he would consider them to be too delicate to be in this situation.
"Oh, I think if an agent's life depends on it, giving my brother back must be your only option."
"Do you really think you're going to get out of an FBI building unscathed?"
"We will get our brother back or we will die trying!" John shouted, clearly angered now.
"Okay." Rossi did not rise to the anger, instead he waited for John to speak again, hoping to lead him down an emotional path. The man was clearly driven by his emotions, all Rossi needed was to channel his emotions in the right way. He hoped those very emotions that drove him to help his brother would be the same emotions that would eventually turn him against him.
After a minute of angry thoughts, John was just about to speak when Rossi spotted the elevator doors open.
Reid emerged from the elevator, cup of coffee in hand. As he approached the glass doors he stopped dead in his tracks. All he could see was a tall, well-built man pointing an automatic gun at all of his BAU colleagues. Within a split second, Reid dropped his coffee and went for his own gun. His right hand desperately felt around for the weapon, looking down at his belt, he saw nothing. Now he had lost his gun.
Cursing inwardly, Reid could see Rossi and Hotch's slightly frustrated expressions through the door. Their eyes were asking him a question he couldn't answer. 'Where the hell is it?' Reid's heart was beating so fast and heavily, he could feel it in his throat. He swallowed back the panic. He had only been stood there a few seconds when he was suddenly tackled from behind. The attack knocked the wind out of him and he struggled to breathe on the floor. The second brother kicked Reid in the stomach twice. He doubled over in pain. The brother then had hold of his hair and forced him to his feet. The man was a lot bigger than Reid, much like the other man with the automatic weapon, so when he wrapped a muscular arm around his neck and put a pistol to his cheek, Reid knew he hadn't a chance.
For a split second, Reid caught the horrified glances of his co-workers, who had obviously had to surrender their weapons to the man with the automatic. Reid's captor pushed him through the glass doors and into the bull pen. Turning his head to look, safe in the knowledge that no-one was armed, the man holding the automatic lowered his weapon and laughed.
"Well this just makes things even easier, doesn't it?" Reid's hands were held out to show he wasn't armed. The now unarmed brother patted him up and down to search for a weapon. Reid jumped uncomfortably at the touch. Satisfied that Reid wasn't hiding anything, the John turned to his captive audience. "I think we'll be having our brother now." He smiled.
"You know that's something we cannot do." Spoke Rossi, calmly and fairly. His face conveyed no hint of panic, even though the blood was pumping through his body at a ridiculous speed. "Your brother killed 7 women. We have ways of doing things. We can't just release him without any clearance. You know that, John."
John frowned, that was not what he wanted to hear. He picked up his gun slowly and carefully, pausing for a couple of seconds to compose himself. Turning around quickly, he swung the butt of his gun into Reid's face. It connected hard with his cheekbone. The force behind the hit made Reid nauseous and dizzy. His legs gave way for a few moments but he was pulled back up by the arm around his neck. His hands came up to clutch the arm to help steady himself.
John circled his accomplice and Reid. He grabbed hold of Reid's hair and yanked his head to the side. Reid breathed in sharply. Morgan's eyes burned a cold fury, he eyed the men dangerously.
"You see this?" John spoke, then grabbing Reid by the face. "This, is your clearance." The pistol was still pointing at Reid but had now moved down to his neck. Reid looked desperately to his team, not knowing what to do. JJ's eyes were wide open, she looked angry but was evidently trying her best to stay calm. Prentiss looked concerned, but on the whole, coped with these sort of situations very well. Reid knew there was no way she would have been able to undertake the level of the undercover operation she was involved in, without that ability to stay calm. Morgan's eyes were burning hatred, his protective side strongly kicking in. Hotch just looked unhappy, but Hotch always looked unhappy. But Reid could see a flash of worry there too. He could also see Jason, he had his arms crossed tightly in front of him, he was obviously nervous. Reid felt a little sorry for him, as he would clearly have never been involved in something like this before.
Jason's boss, SSA Michael Lewis stepped forward slightly, gaining the attention of John. Rossi eyed him carefully, obviously concerned about what he might say.
"Look, that kid has nothing to do with this. He isn't even a part of our team. It's us you should be dealing with!" He gestured to his team who had clearly been working the case that they all kept referring to. "Let him go, and we will talk."
Rossi looked to Reid, worried. It was clear he wanted to deal with this situation himself, there was a reason why Rossi was their 'go to' negotiator.
Squeezing Reid's face even harder, John turned his face to meet his.
"I think someone hasn't been listening Agent..." John paused, reaching his hand down to Spencer's belt, he pulled off his ID badge. Spencer jumped at the touch. "Doctor Reid. It seems he thinks he is pulling the strings. What do you think?" He finally let go of Reid's face. The other man's gun was still at his neck, but the arm accompanying it loosened it's grip and allowed Reid to stand freely. His hands were shaking despite his best attempts to hide it, his eyes were wide and careful. The sight made Morgan more frustrated. How could people do this to someone like Reid? He's so harmless.
Rossi was willing him not to answer.
Reid was just about to open his mouth to speak when he was cut off with a sickening blow to the side of the head. The man who had been holding him was now attacking him, and John's automatic weapon was once again trained on the onlookers. Reid fell limply down to the floor, he tried to crawl away but the man kept kicking him. Loud moans came out of Reid for the first couple of kicks, but by the sixth, he was just desperately gasping for breath. The man then stopped.
"You feel like you're in control now?" The attacker shouted loudly. He gave another kick to Reid's stomach to punctuate the question.
JJ was now covering her mouth in shock. She looked away, desperately trying not to cry. Agent Lewis was gritting his teeth in anger.
"You bastards." He responded.
Rossi quickly interjected.
"We know you're the ones in control right now." He spoke calmly, "but you have gotta remember where you are... You are in a government building surrounded by FBI agents, you are attacking an FBI agent. Is your brother really worth that, Christopher?"
Christopher's gaze faltered for a moment. It was clear he wasn't the one in control. The reality of the situation had just sunk in. John however, still held his automatic weapon up proudly at the office full of agents.
"Our brother is worth a thousand of your lot." He almost spat out the words. "Now bring him out." John said, dangerously.
"Why are you here, John? After the way he has treated you?... Since you were little, he has always told you what to do, hasn't he? Called you names... made you feel inferior." John gripped his gun tighter. "Told you that if you helped him out, he would help you out... How many times has he promised you something and never done it?"
Christopher was listening to Rossi intently, obviously agreeing with most of what he was saying, as if it was his first realisation. Feeling this, John snapped him out of it.
"Don't fucking listen to him, Chris! He's trying to turn us against him! You know what you have to do!"
Chris looked at John in frustration and confusion and then looked to Reid on the floor. Making the decision, he threw himself on top of Reid, straddling his hips. Reid tried to buck in sheer panic. For his troubles he was punched hard in the face three times. His lip was split and blood trickled from his mouth. Rossi kept calmly talking.
"You can do this today and get him out of here. But what happens the next time? The next time he hits one of you, the next time he makes you feel worthless? And you have given your freedom up for him?" Chris once again faltered, his hand was tangled in Reid's hair. Reid opened his eyes, surprised another hit wasn't raining down on him. "Will he thank you? Will he show you the respect that you have both so desired from him?... Or will he do what he always does, and take you for granted?"
John was now extremely stressed, his hands were shaking as he gripped his weapon tighter.
"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" He cried desperately. Rossi continued.
"You are stronger than he is, John. You have known that all along, you should be the one in control now. It's your chance. The chance you have always wanted. You are about to throw it all away, for what? A man who can barely look at you? Never mind acknowledge you as his brother."
"That's not true." John muttered, not sure who he was trying to convince.
Everyone in the room could feel the tension building, something was going to happen, one way or the other.
Reid looked to Chris who was sat on top of him and still had his hand resting in his hair and saw his chance to catch him off guard. Using all of his strength, which wasn't much, he quickly forced himself into a sitting position and grabbed the man around the throat, trying desperately to gain the advantage by rolling him over to reverse their positions. Chris let out a startled shout as he was grabbed and rolled onto his side. Reid couldn't quite get the leverage he needed to get on top of the man, but he kept his grip firm, around his neck. In this moment, John lost concentration and turned slightly to see what was happening. This was all the time Hotch needed. He quickly grabbed his gun from his ankle holster and fired, catching John in chest. Chris froze in shock, seeing his brother fall to the floor. Furious, he kicked out at Reid who consequently let go of his grip around his neck. He pushed his weight on top of Reid. Desperately trying to reach the automatic gun. Reid did his best to pull him back. Chris' fingers just reached the weapon...
Morgan's boot covered foot stomped on the man's hand and he yelped in pain. Suddenly two agents were on Chris and pulled him up to a standing position, handcuffing him.
"No!" He shouted. "No, you can't take him away from me!" Chris fought the agents, trying to reach his brother who was being checked for a pulse.
Pausing for a couple of seconds, Chris heard the words 'He's gone.'
"No!" He screamed at the top of his voice. "You bastards!" He tried pulling away from the agents holding him but to no avail, they were walking him out of the bull pen. His final stare landed upon Reid, but he wasn't looking. Chris was then pulled through the door and out of sight.