Oooooh, an update. Sorry I kept you all waiting for so long. It's taking a lot out of me writing these chapters at the moment! But anywho, all plot developments will be revealed! :)
Thank you so much to each and everyone of you who reviewed the last chapter, I had a record of 12 reviews and that's amazing, thank you! Glad it made so many of you cry... it was my aim ;) Anyway, I really hope you enjoy this chapter. As usual, it hasn't been read through at it is 20 pages and it's 4am and I have work in the morning. So you guys can tell me of any glaringly obvious mistakes. Please keep R&Ring, they make the lack of sleep totally worth it! ENJOY!
N.B. Did try to post this at 4am but was having issues, so posting now at 8.30am!
Morgan sat at Reid's desk, his head in his hands. He couldn't get the image of Reid's nervous and bruised face out of his mind. According to the tape, Reid was dead. And Morgan found that impossible to comprehend. He sat staring at what was left of Reid's belongings. There were no pictures. Reid wasn't the type. There was a pile of papers to the right of the desk, each of them had Reid's scrawled handwriting all over them. Morgan picked up a sheet and stared at it, a tear running down his face as he thought about how he would never see Reid writing again. It was a ridiculous thing to be upset about, but it really didn't matter to him. He promptly spent the next ten minutes looking at all the items on Reid's desk remembering the various little quirks Reid had with each object. He knew it wasn't going to help, but he just needed to feel close to him.
"Agent Morgan." Strauss was stood behind him. He didn't bother to turn around. Her brows furrowed at his demeanour, something was clearly very wrong. "What's happened?" She asked, her voice tense, knowing that the team couldn't take any more hits.
"We're too late." He said plainly.
Strauss looked around the room to see the few remaining people who were working in the bull pen, watching them intently. They all knew the team hadn't had good news. And they clearly had a feeling what that news was too, judging by the sad looks on their faces.
"What do you mean? Too late?"
"We were too late!" He snapped. "He's gone."
Strauss felt like her heart skipped a beat.
"You've found him?" She said sadly. It was more a statement than a question. She hadn't expected to feel this upset. She pulled a chair up behind her and sat down in shock.
"No." Morgan said. Strauss looked confused. "He sent us a tape." Morgan's voice was laced with anger and bitterness.
"No." Strauss gasped. She was truly shocked. "He filmed his death?" This was said more to herself than to her subordinate.
"Not exactly." Morgan said, finally turning round to meet Strauss' gaze. She could see the tear tracks down the agents face. "He sent us a goodbye tape. He forced Reid to say goodbye to us, telling us that by the time the tape reached us, Reid would already be dead."
Strauss' mouth dropped open in shock.
The door to the conference room opened and Rossi emerged, looking equally devastated. Strauss turned to look at him.
"I'm so sorry." She said, standing up, looking between the two agents. "If there is anything I can do..." She trailed off when Rossi shook his head, signalling that now was not the right time.
She read the cues from Rossi and gathered that he wanted to speak to Morgan by himself. Nodding respectfully, she moved away from the desks and headed up to the conference room to see the rest of the team. Rossi moved to take the seat Strauss had occupied. The pair sat in silence for a short while. Morgan then shook his head.
"Now is not the time, Rossi."
Rossi sighed heavily.
"Hotch is right you know. There is still a chance." He said gently.
"Don't you think I know that?" Morgan said, his voice full of emotion. "Of course I do. But what are we supposed to do? Cling onto the small chance that Jason was lying or Reid managed to escape those chains and kill Jason? That he cast a fucking magic spell and that let him walk through walls?" Morgan was sounding angry now. "No Rossi. We can't do that. Because when we find... his... his body, it'll make it ten times harder than it already is."
"I understand that Derek. Butuntil we find his body, we can't know for sure what's happened."
"Rossi, face it. He's gone." Morgan said harshly, his voice cracking.
Rossi swallowed, looking to Prentiss' desk where a photograph of the team was stood proudly next to her computer screen. It was a fairly recent photograph, taken when they were celebrating Emily's return to the BAU. They all had broad smiles on their faces. The girls were together giggling at something, Hotch had a relaxed smile, he was stood with Rossi. They looked like the sensible ones of the group. Morgan had his arm wrapped around Reid's neck, clearly trying to get him to enjoy himself. Morgan was flashing his usual bright white smile and Reid, uncharacteristically, was mirroring it. It was a rare photograph of Reid smiling fully. Not because he was a miserable person, he was just often so self-conscious that he couldn't relax long enough to actually enjoy himself.
Rossi found himself just staring at the photograph. The tears were making their way down his face before even realised. Things were never going to be the same after this. Losing Emily had been bad, it took them a long time to pull themselves together after that. But this, it was entirely different. The level of cruelty and pain that Reid had been subjected to before his death was just unbearable to think about. It was devastating and not befitting of such a gentle and harmless person. Knowing that Reid had died alone under such circumstances would haunt them for the rest of their lives.
Rossi pulled his mind out the depressing thoughts, he wiped his eyes and stood up.
"Derek, we need you." He said firmly. He stood and looked at the younger man, waiting for him to make his move. Morgan turned to look at Rossi. Eventually he surrendered, sighing and standing up. Rossi gave a smile smile, nodding then leading the way back to the conference room. Morgan followed.
When the two entered the conference room, the atmosphere was heavy with grief. Garcia and JJ were still sobbing. Prentiss had a serious frown on her face and Hotch's face was set in a stern look of concern. Strauss was just leaving as they entered. She had clearly been filled in on the latest developments. She looked pale.
As she went to close the door she poked her head through again.
"I really am very sorry." She said softly. "Dr. Reid was a lovely young man. A good agent. Really, if there is anything I can help with... and I mean anything, don't hesitate to ask."
Hotch nodded silently. She gave a small smile and closed the door behind her.
"Was a lovely young man... That's just horrible." Prentiss said, rubbing her tired eyes.
"Well what do you expect her to say?" Morgan said, his brows furrowing moodily.
"Perhaps save the epitaph for when we know what has actually happened." Prentiss replied dryly.
"We know what's happened, we've just had it spelled out for us." Morgan snapped back.
"Okay, this isn't helping." Hotch said commandingly. "I know it's hard and we're all upset, but we've got to stick together. We need to keep profiling Jason, figure out where he is and we can't do that if we're tearing each other apart."
"Aaron's right." Rossi nodded. "We have to keep focused. Don't let that tape distract us. For all we know it was just Jason trying to upset us."
"Well it's worked." JJ said sniffling.
"Oh come on, Rossi. If there was no truth to that tape, why the hell was Reid so upset? Reid can bluff but he's no actor. That emotion was genuine."
"And it would be if Jason told him he was going to die." Rossi said plainly.
"You are kidding yourself Rossi, if you think that Reid is still alive after that."
"Morgan!" Garcia gasped in shock at the brutality of his words.
"Garcia, it's true. If Reid saw any lie in Jason, he would have known it. He could have given us a clue and he didn't. And why do you think that is?"
"Because he knew he wouldn't be alive long enough for us to actually be able to help him." Hotch said depressively.
"Exactly." Morgan said strongly. He was finding it difficult to control his anger.
"Well maybe it's just me, but I would rather believe he's alive until we get proof that he isn't." Garcia said with a soft kind voice.
"Me too." Prentiss supported her.
Morgan just shook his head, clearly distressed. A hand came to his shoulder. It belonged to Rossi.
"I know you are upset Derek. I know how close you two are and how protective you are of him. But we need you with us if we are going to figure out exactly where Jason is."
Morgan shrugged off the hand, finding it slightly patronising.
"Isn't it all a bit pointless now?" Morgan said in frustration. "He's gone, we were too fucking late."
"Well I don't know about you Derek, but if he is gone, then I sure as hell wanna catch the man who did this to him." Prentiss snapped, finally having enough of Morgan's attitude. "And if he is... he is gone..." She swallowed. "Then he deserves to be laid to rest. I won't let Jason take that from him too." She said, tears welling up in her eyes as the other agents looked at her, completely saddened by what she'd said. Morgan just stared at her, his strength waning. The mention of laying Reid to rest was just too much.
He started nodding, understanding how terribly wrong he had been and then broke down. Garcia quickly grabbed him, pulling him into a tight hug as the man cried, devastated by the loss of his friend.
The team all exchanged uneasy glances. This was going to happen a lot over the next few days. Anger followed by tears. It had happened many times already. And they were already exhausted by it.
Morgan suddenly broke away from Garcia's tight hug and stood up, wiping his eyes. He was trying to regain some level of self-respect.
"Okay..." He wiped his eyes again and sniffled. "Where do you think we should start?"
Rossi caught his eyes for a few moments and nodded, a short gesture, to tell him that he was doing the right thing.
"Before we received the tape, Emily mentioned something about where the food was coming from." JJ reminded them.
"Yeah. I didn't even think about where he was getting the food from when I was watching that tape. But it does seem as if he might have been getting the food from Steve's flat."
"But what does that mean?" JJ asked. "Does it mean he's involved?"
"Possibly." Rossi said. "But like we said before, there's also a possibility that Jason gained access to his place at times when he was out at work."
"But surely he would spot a break in?" Garcia questioned, wiping tears away from her eyes.
"Not if Jason had a key." Rossi said.
"But that would mean they'd be close. Steve claims to only know Jason from the gym. He doesn't socialise with him... apparently." Prentiss pointed out the various flaws to that argument.
"Okay, well that's mystery number one." Hotch said, pushing that aside for the moment.
"What's mystery number two?" Morgan asked.
"Who brought the package into the building?" He said simply. JJ stood straight away.
"I'll get Anderson." She moved quickly out of the room, clearly desperate for even just a few short moments away from that room and the constant profiling.
"He has to have sent that package out somehow. It wasn't post marked so it was clearly hand delivered. So who delivered it?" Hotch said thoughtfully.
"Could have been Jason himself." Prentiss suggested.
"No. The men on the front desk have his photograph. I made sure of that." Rossi said confidently.
"Then someone he paid." Prentiss gave another suggestion. They were really working on guesswork.
JJ entered with Anderson in tow. The team automatically stopped their conversation and looked towards the pair.
"Who gave you this package?" Hotch asked quickly and firmly.
"The guys on the reception desk brought it up. They said that a man dropped it off. I've got them reviewing the CCTV as we speak."
"Did they describe him?" Prentiss asked.
"Yes. I showed them photographs of both Jason and Steve. Neither matched his description. It seems as though he sent someone else in, possibly paid someone. Apparently he didn't seem sure of what he was supposed to be doing with the package."
"What do you mean?" Hotch asked, brows furrowed.
"Well he dropped it off at the ground floor desk for starters. Anyone who knows this building, or has at least been given detailed instructions would know to bring it up to the second floor for distribution."
"So you think Jason was in a rush when he spoke to the man?" Prentiss questioned thoughtfully.
"Possibly." Anderson shrugged. "All I've been told is the guy looked very nervous, seemed unsure of himself and asked for a receipt for the package."
"So Jason wants to know that we have it." Rossi said.
"So are we assuming that this is someone that Jason has picked up off the street or something?" JJ looked confused.
"It's possible. If Jason had grabbed someone off the street then that would explain the lack of information given to the deliverer." Hotch said.
"Yeah, but wouldn't it also be equally possible to say that Jason would know that people in the distribution office would be on the look out for any unusual post? Especially to this team. Isn't it possible that Jason had spent his time with the guy and told him exactly what not to do to avoid being tracked back to the location?" Morgan said sitting forwards. Not wanting to throw a further spanner into the works but not able to help it.
"Is this actually getting us anywhere?" Garcia asked, wiping her eyes again. She still hadn't stopped crying.
"No." Hotch said exasperated, sitting down in his chair, feeling any hope slowly slipping through his fingers, like grains of sand through an egg timer.
"But wait, let's just think about this for a minute." Prentiss started, her red puffy eyes slightly squinted as she made her point. "Jason said that Reid would be gone by the time we watched this tape. So we assume that Jason sends someone out with a tape, after he's killed Reid... then why ask for a receipt? Surely he'd want to get himself out of Virginia as soon as possible?"
"So what are you suggesting?" Rossi asked.
"Well, what I'm thinking, is if I were Jason, I would record the tape, then deliver it..." She struggled slightly with the next words. "... Kill... my victim and then go. Not even bother with a receipt."
"He can't do that." Hotch said.
"Why not?" JJ asked.
"Because he needs to know that we are suffering. The receipt gives him that." Rossi said.
"It also gives him chance to get rid of his delivery guy." Morgan said, rolling his eyes, not believing he hadn't thought of that sooner. They all nodded in agreement, none of them had thought of that. Their brains were far too tired by now.
"But the point I was making," Prentiss continued with her original point, "is that, if Jason had killed Reid hours ago.. why have we only just received the tape now? Jason wouldn't hang around long after killing Reid." Morgan shot her a look, warning her not to bother with hope. She held her hands up. "I'm just throwing it out there. By my estimations, Reid was either killed just before the tape was sent out... Or Jason planned to do it in the time that the delivery guy was gone and coming back."
Garcia looked at her hopefully.
"So you think there's a chance he might be alive?" She reached out to Emily's hand, as if she had given her the best news in the world.
"I don't know, Garcia. I honestly don't know." Prentiss looked sadly to her friend and then around the table. Tears were starting to creep back into all of their eyes. They were getting nowhere fast and the longer they took, the further away Reid seemed.
"This is fucking useless!" JJ suddenly snapped, surprising everyone. "We're supposed to be top FBI profilers and we can't even fucking find our friend who probably hasn't even left the city!... We're just a joke." She put her head into her hands and ran her fingers backwards through her hair. Nobody had anything they could say. They all knew it was true. Jason had stumped them all. A combination of Jason's knowledge of how their team worked, missed opportunities and again, Jason's knowledge of exactly what a technical analyst would look for just kept bringing them up empty. The stage they were at, even the simplest tasks would take too long.
"We shouldn't give up, JJ." Prentiss said, trying to sound strong.
Rossi stared at the table in deep depression, he wanted to lead the team so much, but it was so hard. He couldn't understand how Hotch had taken that pressure for so many years. Holding your own emotions on your shoulders in these situations was hard enough, never mind the emotions of everyone else too. He sighed, knowing he had to do something. He had to keep the team moving.
"You need to set up another press conference, JJ. To find the man who delivered that package. We need to speak to him." He ordered.
"But that'll take too long, Rossi." She answered, the frustration clear in her voice.
"Too long for what?... One way or another, we have to find him." Rossi said plainly, staring straight into JJ's eyes. "Like Emily said, if nothing else, he deserves to be laid to rest... Jesus, after all he's been through, the least the kid deserves is that." Rossi said, his eyes watering up.
JJ stood up right away, nodding. They all desperately wanted to believe that they were working to save Reid. But deep down, they knew, they were working to recover his body. Jason wasn't going to take away their only chance to say goodbye and leave their young genius at peace. As hard as that was to remember, they had to keep reminding themselves that it was just as important as finding Reid alive.
"I'll set it up." She said as she moved to leave the room. Anderson opened the door for her, having observed all of this sadly. He didn't know the team particularly well. He knew Hotch mostly as he was his Unit Chief. But he had spoken to all of them briefly on many occasions. He genuinely liked Reid. Although he was the one he'd had the least to do with. Due to his shyness, it could often make Reid very difficult to talk to. However, he was admired by most of the people in the office. Despite his lack of confidence, he never failed to educate everyone. Almost turning into a different person when he became a profiler. His apparent fear of public speaking seemed to desert him. This had been registered on many occasions by those around the bull pen, by Anderson in particular. Although he didn't really know him, he could understand why the team thought so highly of him and he knew Reid would be missed. The circumstances of the event were already sending shock waves through the building, no matter how much Strauss tried to keep a lid on it. In one way or another, Reid's name would not be easily forgotten at the BAU.
Anderson pulled himself out of his thoughts and turned to follow JJ out of the room when they were both suddenly stopped in their tracks by another agent flying towards them.
"We have a witness!" He said quickly and excitedly. He pushed past JJ and Anderson into the conference room. The team were all looking at the man eagerly now. "We have a witness!" He repeated, throwing his pad down onto the table in front. "A man, who is on his way in now, claims that Jason became friends with him but then it all went sour when he was introduced to one of Jason's friends and held captive... They were going to sell him."
"What? Are you serious?" Rossi said, his eyebrows tightly furrowed. He moved towards the pad, grabbing it to read through the untidy notes on the page.
"That's what he said. He's coming in to tell us what happened." The agent smiled.
"Did he ever report it?" Morgan asked, confused as to why they had never heard of this before.
"No. He said he would explain his reasons when he came in."
"How far away is he?" Hotch asked, standing up in anticipation.
"Only a twenty minute drive." The agent looked around the room at all of the nervous faces. They didn't hold the same optimism he felt. They clearly didn't even dare to hope that this might be the resolution they were looking for.
Rossi turned to the team.
"Right, Hotch and I will talk to this guy. JJ, we still need you to set up that press conference. At this stage we can't get rely on one witness, we need to find the guy who delivered that package. Garcia, we need you at the ready for any information that comes your way. If we get anything that can help us, then I want you on it straight away. I also want you to keep checking through this Steve's background-"
"But sir, there's nothing."
"I don't care Garcia. There's got to be something somewhere that links him to all of this. If Jason feels comfortable enough to access Steve's flat to make food, then they are a lot closer than they are making out. Keep checking properties either of them might own or have access to. See if you can find any links between Jason, Steve and any of the places Jason's victims visited in the days before their deaths. Anything Garcia... just find us something."
Garcia nodded obediently.
"On it, sir."
She quickly stood up and left the room. Eager to do something to help.
"Morgan and Prentiss, you continue with the mapping out of the geographical profile. See if you can figure out somewhere of importance to Jason or a common connection between his victims. Garcia can help you with the locations."
Prentiss and Morgan looked to each other, nodding.
Anderson and the other agent followed Hotch and Rossi out of the conference room as Morgan and Prentiss set to work on the profile again. They weren't quite daring to hope, but the news of a witness had certainly renewed something within them. In one way or another, they were going to bring Reid home.
"What's your name?" Rossi asked gently.
The man opposite him and Hotch shuffled uncomfortably in his seat.
"I didn't realise I would have to give my name."
Rossi shrugged his shoulders.
"You don't. But if you want us to trust what you're saying, then trusting us with your name is generally a good start."
The man shifted again. He was obviously very on edge, a little too much so, the two agents thought. But they'd leave that alone for the moment. The man leaned in and spoke in hushed tones, as if telling a secret.
"Look. I got a couple of things on my record... that I... I ain't too proud of."
Hotch looked the man dead in the eye.
"We're not here to judge you. We simply want to hear what you know about Jason Turner. We need you to tell us what happened to you." Hotch kept his gaze steady. The man searched it for a few moments, then turned to examine Rossi's eyes. His were equally steady.
The man finally conceded. Nodding to the agents.
"Mark Bridges." He smiled slightly.
Rossi and Hotch were completely aware that Anderson was ready on the other side of that glass feeding information to Garcia. Any issues would come through their well concealed ear pieces.
"Agents Aaron Hotchner and David Rossi." Rossi smiled back. "Pleased to meet you Mark."
"Mark." Hotch pushed a photograph of Jason onto the table. "Do you know this man?"
"Yeah. Well, I did. He was a friend of mine... Some friend." He laughed to himself, obviously having a private memory. "But he ain't this Jason Turner you keep talking about. At least, he wasn't when I knew him."
Rossi and Hotch looked at him curiously.
"What was his name?" Rossi questioned.
"He told me his name was Daniel Harris... I never had any reason not to believe him." The man shrugged.
"How did you two meet?" Rossi continued with the questioned.
"We met in a bar. Chequers, I think it was. I had been at the bar for a while and Daniel came in and sat next to me. I was a bit worse for wear. I was er... going through a tough time."
"Did you drink a lot?" Hotch asked in a direct but gentle manner, but Mark knew his meaning. He sighed, knowing that this would come out.
"I'm a recovering alcoholic... But I wasn't back then. I was just an alcoholic back then." He said with a small smile. "Daniel bought me a couple of drinks, he could tell I was down on my luck. He said he'd been back in the next night. And we just kinda, started hangin' out, you know."
"Did he ever mention his sexuality to you?" Rossi asked.
"Not directly, no. But he did mention in passing once or twice that he had a boyfriend. So I knew he was gay."
"Did he say who his boyfriend was?" Hotch prodded.
"He kept a picture of him in his wallet. The kid looked too young for him if I'm honest. But I tried not to judge. He seemed like a nice enough guy so I became really good friends with him. We just kept going out drinkin' all the time, just to the various bars around Virginia. He seemed like a good laugh." He shifted uncomfortably again, a frown now marring his face.
"What went wrong?" Rossi asked, noticing the change in Mark's demeanour.
"One night, we went out for drinks and Daniel said he would take me to meet some of his friends. He'd talked about them loads so I was happy to go and meet them. But we ended up going down some alley way – the next thing I know, I'm knocked out and wake up in the back of this guy's car." Mark closes his eyes in distress. "My hands and my legs are tied and I'm sat upright so I can see the driver. He was a big guy, bald, clearly worked out a lot. I could hear Daniel talking in the front of the car with this guy." He took a deep breath to compose himself.
"What was he saying?" Rossi pressed again.
"They were arguing over price. Daniel was saying to this guy, who was called Michael, that he wasn't happy with the price he was getting and he wanted some more money. The next second, this Michael guy is offering me up for sex with Daniel." He shuddered. Rossi and Hotch exchanged very concerned glances.
"What did he say?"
"In all fairness, he said that Michael knew he wasn't interested in any of that. He had his boyfriend... I think his name was Spencer or something." Rossi and Hotch' glanced to each other again. "I'm sorry, I was still hazy from the booze." Mark apologised.
"No need to apologise. You're doing great. What happened next?" Rossi said, encouraging the man. He knew this must have been hard.
"They started arguing. It sounded like Daniel was recruiting men for some sort of sex ring by becoming friends with them and bringing them to Michael. But Daniel was quite new to it all. That's the only reason I can think of for why my car door wasn't locked. I couldn't believe my luck. So I bided my time and waited til we were in a populated area where people were about, I launched the door open and threw myself out of it. I dislocated my shoulder in the process, but I escaped. I don't know if it was the drink, or the situation, but I honestly didn't care that I was throwing myself out of a moving car."
"And what happened then? Did they stop?" Hotch asked.
"For a few moments, but they couldn't really. The second I was out of the car, two people were helping me. So Daniel and Michael just shot off. These guys were trying to help me, I'm pretty sure they called the police. But the second they had freed my legs and arms, I ran."
Rossi brows furrowed curiously.
"Why would you do that?"
"Look, man. I told you, I was an alcoholic. I didn't live a very clean life." He sighed when they looked at him incredulously. "I dealt drugs. I didn't take 'em, but I dealt 'em. The last thing I needed was police sniffing around my life. And I think Daniel knew that."
"But you said you think these men called the police?" Rossi asked.
"Yes. I think they did." Mark nodded.
"That should be on record somewhere." Hotch added. They knew Anderson would be listening to this, sending the information out to Garcia.
"So you've never seen Jaso- Daniel," Rossi corrected himself, "around this area since, then?"
"I moved. I left for D.C. Not far, I know, but it was far enough for me to start afresh. I'm only back here today visiting family. Lucky I was really..." Mark stared at the two FBI agents opposite him. "So what's all this about?"
Hotch pulled another photograph out of the file.
"Do you recognise this man?" He asked, his face stern.
Mark took one quick glance at the photograph before looking at the agents in surprise.
"Yes! Yes, I do. That is Michael!"
Rossi's eyes lit up.
"You're certain?" He wasn't daring to hope just yet.
"Yes. Absolutely. I would know him a mile away..." Suddenly Mark went very quiet and thoughtful. "How long have they been doing this for?"
The two agents shook their heads sadly.
"We have no idea." Rossi said. There was a long silence as the men all considered their own answers to that question. It was obvious that this was a lot bigger than just Jason and Reid.
"Are you trying to stop them?" Mark asked, his eyes looking hopeful.
"We will." Hotch nodded. Mark looked slightly confused at this answer.
"This is the first time we have heard about this. We didn't even know there was a sex ring in operation." Rossi said quite honestly. "We were trying to find someone in particular. Someone Jaso- Daniel, has kidnapped."
"Really?" Mark's face was full of concern. "Who is it?"
Rossi took a deep breath.
"A colleague of ours. Spencer Reid." He smiled slightly, seeing the recognition light up in Mark's face.
"Spencer..." He whispered, mostly to himself. Realisation dawned on him. "So Spencer wasn't his boyfriend?" His mouth hung open at the two agents in front of him.
"No." Hotch said dryly. "He was his ultimate victim."
"The only one he wanted." Mark nodded, saying the words as if they made perfect sense.
"What did you say?" Hotch asked, eyeing the man.
"Sorry." Mark shook his head. "It's just what he used to say when he talked about him. Spencer was the only one he would ever want. Or so he used to say." Mark's brows furrowed. "Is he the same kid as in the photos?"
Rossi simply pulled a photograph out of his pocket and pushed it towards Mark. The man simply nodded sadly and pushed the photo back. "I hope you find him." He said kindly. Mark was about to ask questions about the FBI, why was Daniel targeting an agent? Why Spencer? Why hadn't they known about the sex ring? So many questions that needed answering, but Rossi's phone started to ring, automatically silencing him.
"Yes?" Rossi answered, obviously knowing who was on the other end.
Hotch and Mark watched him nod a couple of times, then there was a flash of something in his eyes. Was it hope? "Okay thanks, Garcia." He put the phone down and stood up straight away. "She's found the car, it was registered to a Michael Phillips." Hotch also automatically stood. As Rossi moved to leave the room, Hotch followed him.
"Thank you very much for your time. You've been a great help." Hotch nodded to Mark who made no move to leave, but the agents didn't care. They needed to see Garcia. They turned and quickly left the room.
"The car was registered to a Michael Phillips in 2006 and falls off the grid in 2010, shortly after the report was filed against him. The case was thrown out as the victim couldn't be found." Garcia read the information from her screen quickly. "It looks like Michael Phillips might have been an alias."
"A guy like him will be changing his name all the time to avoid detection." Rossi said.
"Wait." Garcia said, her face suddenly tense and very interested. "It says here, that Michael Phillips still has a house registered in his name."
"He will have various properties all under different names. He needs as many places as possible to run a business such as his." Hotch said grimly.
"What is his business?" Garcia asked innocently. Rossi and Hotch exchanged uneasy glances. Garcia looked between the two of them, concerned. "What?" She asked frantically. "What is it?"
"He's involved in a sex ring. He takes vulnerable men and sells them on. Jason is his 'groomer'." Rossi said, the disgust clear in his voice.
"He befriends them, gets himself into their lives then sets them up. He gains their trust." Hotch said, equally disgusted.
Garcia's mouth dropped open.
"That isn't what they wanted Reid for, is it?"
"We don't think so, no. This is a personal thing for Jason. It seems he had no interest in sex with the other men. But if Steve has anything to do with it..." Hotch trailed off. He didn't want or need to finish that sentence. He furrowed his brows.
"What about this house Garcia?" Rossi asked, changing the subject.
"Erm, let's see." She typed on her keyboard. "It's empty. No residents. It's been empty for two years. Five bedrooms, three bathrooms, yikes, that line of work clearly pays well." She pulled her face. Her mouth dropped open again and her face went completely serious. "It also has a basement."
Hotch and Rossi were already on the move.
"Send us the address Garcia." Hotch said, as they left her office.
"Call a SWAT team, we need all the back up we can get." Hotch nodded in return. Rossi turned the corner into the conference room. "We have a possible address." He said plainly to the two agents. Immediately they were out of their seats and readying themselves for a raid. The nerves were buzzing through their veins, causing all sorts of tingling feelings. They were both exhilarated and terrified at the same time.
"What? What do you mean, we have an address?" Morgan asked, following Rossi out of the room.
"There is a house registered to Steve under another alias. Chances are, Steve was helping Jason to hide Reid." Rossi replied.
Prentiss looked as confused as Morgan.
"What? Hold up Rossi." He grabbed the man's arm, stopping him in his tracks. "What the hell are you talking about? Steve is helpin' him? Since when?"
Rossi leaned in and spoke in hushed tones.
"Since he was at the centre of a sex ring."
"What? A sex ring? You can't be serious." Prentiss said, shaking her head in shock.
"Jason has been grooming vulnerable men and luring them to Steve for sale. He's been doing it for at least eighteen months." Rossi said matter of factly. He didn't have the time to explain the hows, whats and wheres.
"So Reid is going to be sold?" Morgan said, his brows furrowed in a combination of confusion and disgust.
"Oh my god, what if that tape was to throw us off their tracks? So we would assume he was dead and would stop looking?" Prentiss exclaimed.
"You're sure about this, Rossi?" Morgan asked. The nerves were tingling all through his body.
"Not completely, Steve could have any number of properties under any number of aliases. It makes sense that Jason would keep Reid somewhere belonging to Steve. Steve is clearly the dominant and Jason is the submissive in that relationship."
"But what if we're wasting time in the wrong place?" Morgan interrupted.
"It's better than overlooking the right place." He said simply. They were checking out this house. That was final. "You can always stay here if you want, Morgan?"
"Hell no, Rossi. If Reid is in there, I wanna see him." Morgan eyes burned with fury. He couldn't imagine what they might find inside that house. And he really didn't want to either. But if Reid was in there, he needed to be there too.
"Right." Rossi nodded. "Well let's do this."
The motors pulled up outside the house, lights flashing and sirens blazing. The team piled out of the SUV and the small SWAT team quickly followed.
They all gathered at the front door, armed and ready to shoot anyone who got in their way. The SWAT team looked ready to kick the door in.
Rossi glanced around the team for a few moments. From Hotch, to Morgan, from Prentiss to JJ. They all looked so terrified and so concerned about what would be inside. As far as they knew, they were retrieving the body of one of their closest friends. They were no longer on a rescue mission.
"Whatever we find inside this house, we stay strong, right?" They were all looking at him now, not saying a word. They knew exactly what they might find in there, they had seen it once before and had been horrified. But that time Reid had survived it, this time they were too late. They just kept looking back at Rossi, clearly too hesitant to answer. "Right?" He said again, emphasising the point.
"Right." Hotch nodded once. As did Morgan and JJ. Rossi didn't need to tell Prentiss and deep down she knew the comment wasn't directed at her. Morgan took a deep breath. His hands were shaking. He looked to JJ, who appeared to be in the same condition. Since they had seen that tape, all of them had been in a state of shock. Stuck in some strange limbo where they needed to grieve but didn't want or have permission to. A strange limbo where they all wanted, more than anything, to know the truth, but were too terrified to accept what that truth might reveal. They all wanted Reid to be inside this house, to find him and bring him home, but another part was begging for him not to be there. For Jason to have used that tape to allow him an easy escape. So Reid would still be alive somewhere, waiting to be found. And as selfish as they all felt thinking those thoughts, they found comfort in the fact that each of them knew that they were all feeling the same.
JJ gave Morgan a small smile and nodded to him. A supportive gesture that the older man appreciated. Her eyes sent him an unspoken message: 'We can do this'. Morgan then looked to Prentiss, her face was tense, but determined. But her hands shook also. He then looked to Hotch. Hotch was exhausted, his face was creased with lines of worry and stress. His skin was slightly too pale and his eyes had the look of someone who just couldn't take any more set backs. It was at this moment that Morgan realised, this wasn't just Reid's life they were fighting for. It was Hotch's too. Or at least the life he loves, a life based around his work and the family of colleagues he has at the BAU. That was why Hotch had been so much against assuming Reid was dead. He simply couldn't take it.
Morgan set his jaw strongly. They had to find Reid alive. Morgan looked back to Rossi who looked somewhere between severely pissed off and tired with worry. The older man nodded to the SWAT team and at that moment the door was kicked in.
They burst into the house, Morgan and two officers from the SWAT team went straight up the stairs in front of them to explore the bedrooms. Prentiss and Hotch took the living room and Rossi and JJ and the remaining officer took the kitchen.
"Clear!" Hotch shouted, returning back to the hallway with Prentiss.
"Clear!" Rossi also shouted from the kitchen. Morgan was soon moving back down the stairs after having cleared the upstairs of the property, as agreed.
"Did you find any doors for a basement?" Hotch asked assuming it must have been in the kitchen.
"Nope." Rossi said simply.
"There has to be another entrance then." Hotch suggested.
Morgan nodded to the team and the SWATs to follow, he moved out of the front door and they split up into two groups to move around the outside of the large house. They met at the back.
"Guys!" Morgan said in somewhat of a whisper. He directed their gaze to a set of wooden doors that appeared to lead to a basement underneath the house. Morgan nodded to one of the SWAT team who was ready with a pair of bolt cutters. He leaned over and cut the lock away. As soon as he had, Morgan pulled the doors open violently, allowing himself and the other two SWAT officers access to the stairs in front of them. "FBI!" Morgan shouted. Ahead of them, the stairs led downwards and at the bottom was a sturdy looking door. Morgan looked up to Rossi who simply nodded.
Morgan kicked the door harder than he'd ever kicked any door in his life and it flung open. The SWAT team flooded the room and Morgan soon followed, as did the rest of the team.
The room was dimly lit which may have been why Morgan was seemingly oblivious to the huge pool of blood that he slipped in the second he entered the room. He fell to the floor, almost landing on top of the body that had expelled the fluid. His eyes widened in horror and he pushed himself away from the corpse immediately, forgetting all protocol for a few short moments. Then his gun was back to darting around the room, looking for any enemies. The team had now piled in and a gasp was heard from JJ as she entered. Two dead bodies were on the floor, one was clearly Steve's. However, it was the other body that brought tears to their eyes.
It wasn't Reid.
Jason's body was propped up against the wall, a knife sticking out of his neck, hitting directly into the artery. His eyes were wide in shock and pain. But he was definitely dead. At this discovery they all automatically turned their gaze to the bed that they had subconsciously realised was there but couldn't pay attention to until they knew the coast was clear. The bed was absolutely covered in blood, but there was no sign of their colleague. Morgan crumpled his face in disgust at the state of the bed. Hotch took a step back a little and something hit against his head. He turned and to look at what it was, distracting the team momentarily. They followed his gaze to some chains hanging from the ceiling. Hotch's mouth opened in disgust, baring his teeth slightly. They all knew at some point, Reid had been suspended from those chains. They exchanged horrified glances, how much more had Reid had to endure?
A sudden clink of metal brought their attentions back to the bed. Morgan's brows furrowed and he looked to the team before moving towards the bed. He crouched down and peered underneath. What he saw made him cry instantly. Reid was pushed up as far against the wall as he could get and his eyes were squeezed tightly shut, terrified to look at who had found him. But he was alive. Very much alive.
"Oh thank god." Morgan breathed out in relief.
"He's alive?" JJ asked quickly, in disbelief. The team instantly rushed forwards to look at the person under the bed. This made Reid slightly startled, but his eyes opened upon hearing the familiar voices of his colleagues and the complete and utter relief flooded his features. They had found him.
He was shaking hard and covered in blood, much like he had been on the video. Realising how much in shock he must be at the sudden intrusion by the team, Rossi put his arm across as a barrier to stop anyone reaching him.
"Slowly." He said, cautioning the team. "He needs an ambulance." Rossi nodded to JJ. She looked at him, very irritated at his obvious attempt to get her out of the way. "He needs it now." Rossi said firmly. JJ looked at him, desperately. The tears gathering in her eyes. She just really needed to be with Reid now, and that was why Rossi needed her out of the way.
She shook her head angrily and pulled out her cell phone. "Morgan... you go with her." Rossi said strongly.
"What?" He said angrily, looking between Reid and the older man. "You want me out of the way? What the hell, Rossi?"
"That is an order." Rossi said categorically. His priority was helping Reid and unstable, emotional personalities were the last thing he needed at that moment.
"I won't forget this." Morgan said moodily. He took one last glance at Reid and shook his head in disgust then left the room, following JJ.
Rossi turned to Hotch and Prentiss who both nodded in support of his decision. Rossi knelt back down and looked to his young colleague under the bed.
"Can you get out?" Rossi asked, noticing how weak Reid appeared. His body had been through too much.
"I..." Reid took some deep, wheezy breaths. His chest was not in good condition, Rossi noted. "I... think so." He spoke between loud breaths.
He started shuffling himself out from underneath the bed, wincing every time his chest, leg, head, any part of his body, moaned at him.
"Can't we move it?" Prentiss asked, referring to the bed.
"It's bolted to the floor." Hotch said simply.
Reid then stopped moving, breathing heavily. He was struggling. Whatever damage had been done to his chest, it was affecting his breathing.
"Come on Reid, you can do it." Rossi said gently.
He breathed in and out shakily.
"... Can't..." Was all he managed to squeeze out. But he pushed his hand towards Rossi and the older man grabbed it tightly.
"Okay Reid. This might hurt." Reid just nodded in response, squeezing his eyes tightly shut.
Rossi pulled strongly backwards, tugging Reid out from underneath the bed. It took a couple of attempts but he managed it with some help from Hotch. Reid panted on the floor. He had cried out a lot as Rossi had pulled him out. His body was in agony.
Reid was trying to sit up but was struggling. Rossi quickly, but carefully, moved in again to help him. Reid sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth as he did so. The team could see he was obviously in a lot of pain. Now the three of them had a proper opportunity to take in the young man's state. Rossi moved around Reid to his right hand side, pulling him up.
"Aaron, help me get him up." Automatically, Hotch was on his young colleague's other side, placing his hand underneath his skinny arm and pulling him up with Rossi mirroring the action on the other side. Reid cried out loudly as his ribcage and stabbed leg complained at the movement. "Sorry, sorry." Rossi said through gritted teeth. They placed him down on the bed, intrigued by the rattle of chains as they did so. It was in that moment that they took in the metal collar around his neck. Reid's breathing was heavy and laboured, he was clearly struggling to stay focused.
"Reid, stay with us." Hotch said, putting a hand to his bloody back and kneeling down in front of him. Reid's injured hands were now wrapped around his stomach and his eyes were squeezed tightly shut in pain. Rossi's eyes teared up as Hotch tried to look after his young colleague. Reid looked absolutely destroyed. Rossi glanced around the room at the devastation before him. Two dead men, one with his throat cut, another with a knife sticking out of his neck. Chains hanging from the ceiling, chains attached to each corner of the bed. A collar wrapped around the young man's neck to stop him from going anywhere. What hell had he been through?
When he turned back, Hotch had moved to sit himself next to Reid on the bed. The young man leaned heavily against his boss, his head was almost resting on Hotch's shoulder.
"I... didn't... think you'd... find me." Reid squeezed the words out between exhausted breaths. His eyes were tightly shut in pain.
"We were never going to give up, Reid." Hotch said simply, yet comfortingly.
"We need to get that collar off you." Prentiss said gently, her eyes tearing up as she looked at her close friend.
"... Jason... ..key." That was all Reid could say. His head started to drop forwards as though he was going to lose consciousness.
"Reid, stay with us." Hotch said again, putting his arm around the young man's skinny frame. This brought Reid back to the present, his head shot up as if he had been woken from a deep sleep and his body tensed suddenly, as though he was expecting someone else to be sat next to him. "Reid! Reid, it's me." Hotch said kindly, loosening the grip around his shoulders very slightly.
Reid's exhausted eyes looked towards his boss and then away to Jason at the wall. The look of horror still evident on the dead man's face.
As if reading his mind, Rossi nudged the body with his foot.
"He's gone, Reid. He can't hurt you any more."
"I... killed... " He took a deep breath again, turning his panicked eyes to Hotch. "I... killed... him." Reid's eyes looked haunted. Stabbing someone in the neck was a lot different to shooting someone. It had obviously seriously disturbed him.
Prentiss came over to Reid and knelt down in front of him.
"Reid? Did you mean that Jason has the key?" She asked softly.
Reid simply nodded, closing his eyes in complete exhaustion.
Rossi was already at Jason's body, searching his pockets for a key. Suddenly he found what he was looking for. He raced across the room and unbuckled the collar using a small key. They looked at the collar as it was removed, completely disgusted by its presence.
"Where the hell is the ambulance?" Hotch said, the more he felt Reid's body lean into him, the more frustrated and impatient he became.
"I'm sorry." Reid muttered. His eyes not completely focused. Prentiss looked to Rossi and then to Hotch, tears clouding her eyes.
"You've got nothing to be sorry for, Reid." Hotch said quietly, stroking his head tenderly. A gesture that would normally make him incredibly uncomfortable, but at this moment it felt like the right thing to do. And it clearly was, because for a short moment, Reid smiled.
Morgan suddenly entered the room, with two paramedics behind him carrying a stretcher. His brows furrowed at Reid's appearance, he was leaning heavily onto Hotch. He was absolutely covered in blood and bruises. His hands were shaking violently and the bandages that had been so fresh and clean in the hospital were now dirty and unravelling, revealing most of his injuries from his first abduction. His hospital gown was torn and also covered in blood. But what disturbed him most, was the look in his eyes. He was clearly present and alive, but his eyes seemed absent. He knew what was going on, but they were completely devoid of expression, almost as if his mind had hit a reset button and he was on some sort of default setting.
Morgan shook his head. The relief in finding him was incredible. But as he looked around the room, the implications of what had happened were starting to sink in. Not only was Jason dead, but so was Steve. And Steve appeared to only be half dressed. He looked from Steve to Reid and back again. One person was bad enough, but two? Morgan's mind couldn't even comprehend what Reid had potentially been through. Morgan looked up to find Rossi and Prentiss gazing back at him, their thoughts were clearly the same as his. There was no reason for Steve to be undressed unless he had been... No. They couldn't think about it.
Hotch was still sat with his arm tightly around Reid as the paramedics examined him. He wanted Reid to feel safe and judging by how tense the young man had gotten when the unknown men started poking and prodding at him, Hotch thought it had been a good decision on his part.
"What's his name?" One of the paramedics asked.
"Spencer Reid." Hotch said.
"Okay, Spencer. What we are going to do is get you onto a stretcher." The paramedic spoke clearly and carefully, as if talking to a child.
"We need to get him back to the hospital as soon as possible. He sounds as though he may have a punctured lung." The other paramedic said under his breath to Hotch.
"Please sir, we need you out of the way." The younger paramedic said to Hotch, but the agent made no move. "Sir, please?"
"I'm sorry, Reid." Hotch conceded gently. "I'm going to have to leave you alone for a minute."
"No." Reid moaned out.
"Yes. I'm really really sorry." He pulled himself away, trying to keep Reid upright at the same time.
The paramedics swooped in.
"Spencer, we need to take a look at your chest." The man grabbed at his hospital gown, Reid just kept shaking his head. He didn't have the energy to do anything else. He was teetering on the brink of unconsciousness.
"Please, don't." He breathed out from his pained chest. The paramedics exchanged concerned looks.
"He's been sexually assaulted for god's sake, or did the call centre not tell you that?" Morgan said aggressively, pushing the two men out of the way. They looked at him in shock.
"Morgan." Hotch warned. "Let them do their jobs."
"If he's gotta get on a stretcher, Hotch, then we are going to be the ones to help him. Not two people he doesn't know... We're his family damn it, hasn't he been through enough without causing unnecessary distress?" His eyes were burning with fury. He knew it wasn't the fault of the paramedics, they were doing what they had to, but the fear was evident in Reid's voice and Reid deserved to feel safe and protected.
"Sir," the older paramedic said, approaching Morgan. "We need to get him to a hospital right away."
Reid's head suddenly dropped forward as he lapsed into unconsciousness. The eyes of the team were suddenly wide with fear. "He's lost consciousness, blood pressure's dropping." The older paramedic spoke quickly. The two paramedics got Reid onto the stretcher within a matter of seconds and he was being raced into the ambulance. They clearly considered this a medical emergency.
The team followed immediately and watched as the stretcher was rushed past a panicked JJ.
"Oh my god, what's happening? He's turning blue!" She raced towards the ambulance only to be grabbed by Rossi who pulled her back. Hotch was doing his best to keep Morgan under his control too. "What's happening?" JJ screamed in frustration. The doors to the ambulance were closed and they no longer knew what was going on. After a few minutes of working on him, a third paramedic they had not seen before, emerged from the back and ran round to the driver's door. Before he could even hear the team asking what was going on, the door was closed and the ambulance was driving off, sirens blaring.
JJ stared after the ambulance, crying her eyes out. One minute she knew that Reid was alive the next he was being rushed into an ambulance and taken away from them again. It was all too much. The whole team stood in complete shock for a while. Shocked at what they had found, shocked that Reid was alive, shocked that despite his strength and determination to survive, a lung difficulty could still take their young genius from them.
This just wasn't fair.