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schrijverr · 3 years ago

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He Was Left on the Steps of the FBI in a Basket 3

Chapter 3 out of 7

Maybe not a basket, but sixteen-year-old Dr. Spencer Reid suddenly shows up at FBI headquarters claiming that his mother has been kidnapped. The BAU isn’t certain first, but the case he sets them on proves to be an interesting one, wherein they get to know the young doctor until he’s practically family. In this chapter, they discover where the bodies have been dumped and theorize on the plane back to the West coast.

On AO3.

Ships: minor hotch/hayley mention

Warnings: ableism (minor in this chapter)

~~~~~~~~~~

Wheels Up

Reid is nervous when they get to the police station as if he’s here because he did something wrong, instead of helping them. Or maybe, Morgan thinks, he’s scared of the reaction, scared he won’t get believed anymore oncethey hear the police dismiss him, like they’ve done before.

“Hey kid,” he says and Reid looks back questioningly. “We’re not going to dump you here and drop the case, alright? No matter what we hear.”

When relief is evident in Reid’s eyes, Morgan knows he made the right call, even if Prentiss mouths ‘softie’ at him. Which is ironic, because she slings an arm around Reid comfortingly as they enter the precinct.

They almost make it all the way to Hotch, Rossi and JJ when a portly deputy blocks their way, making Reid take a step back subconsciously as he greets: “H- Hi, Deputy Scott.”

“Spencer,” Deputy Scott raises one of his impressive eyebrows. “What the hell were you thinking, son? Flying all the way to Virginia to bother the FBI. Don’t you have a degree you should be focusing on? Hm?”

Reid looked scolded until the last part, then he frowns and snaps back: “And shouldn’t you be looking for my mom? Seems like we both not doing what we’re supposed to.” The moment the words leave his lips, his face changes as if he has only just realizeswhat he hassaid.

Before he can apologize or take it back, Deputy Scott says: “Now don’t you get smart with me, son.”

“Sorry, sir,” Reid apologizes, not sure of what else to say.

“I think we can assume that we’re all thrown off by the events,” Morgan steps in. “Let’s not point fingers or get upset.”

Deputy Scott sighs, any fight he had towards Reid draining out of him. “Alright, alright. I just don’t get why you’re all so worried. Diana Reid always turns up again.” Rossi is pretty certain he wasn’t involved at this point, but he still doesn’t like the man.

“But she’s never gone this long,” Reid protests. “She couldn't disappear in her state, not without being found. Unless she had help, I don’t get why you-”

“Kid, let it is be, okay?” Morgan cuts him off before he can pick a fight again.

Luckily the phone rings before Reid can protest more. Morgan picks up with a: “Hello, baby girl, what do you got?”

“Why hello there gorgeous,” Garcia greets him. “I come bearing lot’s of news, all bad yet good, so Hotch will want to hear this.”

“Then why did you call me?” Morgan smirks.

“Can’t a girl talk to her best boy?” she shoots back before Morgan tells her he’s putting her on speaker and walking over to Hotch, Reid hot on his trail. The moment the kid hears Garcia, he asks: “Do you have anything? Was I right about the victims?”

“Hello there, g-man, I do have a lot,” Garcia informs him.

“Tell us,” Hotch orders.

“Well, all these victims did disappear, but no bodies have been found. Until I did some digging and the a police department also did some digging, but not the digital kind. You see it turns out the police department in Ithaca, New York,” Reid frowns at the name, “found a John Doe eight years ago, sadly the victim was never identified, until now. But, they did a dental record, never got any result, so I double checked with out of state medical records. The kind that are sealed due to privacy, which is good but also really inconvenient, because I have to unseal them and that takes time, so-”

“Garcia,” Hotch interrupts her before she can go off on a tangent.

“Right. Yes. So, turns out our mystery John Doe is Lewis Clarkman, aged 34 when he was abducted from Austen, Texas also eight years ago,” Garcia tells them. “He was diagnosed with Schizophrenia when he was 26 and had been released from a mental institution two years prior, because he was doing so well. He had lost contact with his family throughout the whole ordeal and had never been a social person. No one noticed he was missing.”

“And the digging the police department did?” Rossi asks.

“Well, when I knew where he had been found, I contacted the police department of Ithaca and asked them to look at the site to check if there have been more bodies,” Garcia says. “Which is why it took so long for me to get back to you, because they had to go digging. And digging they did, because they found another sevenbodies in the area that have died prior to Lewis Clarkman, whoever dumped him stopped dumping othersthere when his spothad been found. They’re canvassing the area now to see if they can find anyone else while the bodies are being processed by the ME. I have identified three already, also from the list of possible victims. Still waiting on the rest.”

“Do you know the COD?” Prentiss says after they’ve processed the information.

“Most of the bodies were too decomposed to tell just yet, but they are working on it,” Garcia informs them. “Lewis Clarkman had his throat slit, but I don’t know yet if the othershave as well.”

“So we’re at the wrong police station,” Morgan summarizes.

“I mean, kind off,” Garcia sounds apologetic. “But you do have an invite from the Ithaca PD if you want to go there.”

“That’s a 35 hour drive from Las Vegas, 36 if you want to avoid paying,” Reid tells them. “He could already be there by now.”

Hotch thinks about it for a moment. They’ve gathered all they can here and even if there’s family of another victim here, there will still be a dozen others who won’t. “Gather your stuff everyone, wheels up in forty.”

Everyone nods before scattering to gather their stuff and make their way to the SUV’s. Only Reid remains in front of Hotch, looking nervous. “SSA Hotchner,” he asks.

“Yes, Reid?” Hotch prompts, deciding to let Reid spit it out in his own time.

“Uhm, I- I know Agent Jareau, and possibly Agent Rossi weren’t too happy with me coming along and I- and I heard you tell Morgan to keep an eye on me. I swear I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, it just happened, I’m so sorry-”

“Was there a point to this?” Hotch cuts through Reid’s anxious rambling. They have a plane to catch.

“I- Can I still come?” he asks. “To Ithaca? I can handle it, I promise. I’m not going to freak out over corpses and I can focus on the reports instead of the photos. I’m a fast reader, I can help. Please don’t leave me when he’s taking my mom there.”

Hotch hadn’t considered leaving Reid here, especially with how the police had acted towards him. He can agree that Diana Reid is an unfit parent, but the lengths to which Reid goes to to find her back, speak of how much she loves him and he, her. The policeshouldn’t have handled this the way they did.

Still, JJ’s words echo in his mind. With bodies found, the faith of Reid’s mother has gone from captivity to death. Would Reid be able to handle it?

“Please take me, even if I don’t get to help, just take me with you.” Hotch has been silent too long it seems, because Reid pleads with him again.

The unwillingness to leave Reid on his own again wins out. He can always sideline Reid later, he decides. “Do you need to pick up anything at home?” he asks and Reid lights up. “Thank you so much, sir. You won’t regret it! And, I- I did want to get something at home if that’s okay?”

“Sure. You’re with me then, see you at the car in five,” Hotch nods, before Reid walks away. He might regret this choice, but watching the head of curls leave knowing he’ll see him soon, doesn’t feel like a bad decision.

When Hotch gets to the car, Reid is already there waiting for him. The first few minutes of the drive are silent, only broken by Reid giving directions. That is until they spot the Sky Beam at the Luxor and Reid blurts out: “Did you know it costs 51 dollars per hour to keep the Sky Beam on?”

“I did not,” Hotch replies, slightly amused at the factsthat the kid couldn't seem to keep contained.

Reid reads his reaction as approval to go on, because he says: “Las Vegas is considered the brightest placeon earth and has over 15,000 miles of neon tubing. It also has 50 wedding chapels and approximately 300 weddings happen each day.”

“Really?” Hotch is genuinely surprised and entertained by the facts and since he has nothing to think about currently that is so urgent it can’t wait for the plane. He asks: “And what about gambling? I thought this was a gambling city. Do you have any facts about that?”

If one were to go off Reid’s face, they would think all the holidays and celebrations came early, because he is enthusiastic, reminding Hotch once again of how young he is. God, he hopes he made the right decision by bringing Reid to Ithaca, New York.

“It is known for its gambling,” Reid tells him, oblivious to the emotional turmoil. “But when Nevada first legalized gambling in 1931, other parts of the country called to have its right as state revoked. Also, the famous Vegas Strip is not actually in Vegas at all, it falls outside city limits and is under the jurisdiction of Clark County.”

“It does?” Hotch had never heard that before.

Reid makes a sound of confirmation, before barreling on with his gambling facts. “Still, despite that 42 million people a year visit Vegas and although 15% visit primarily to gamble, 71% still ends up doing it as well. And even with those numbers, the casino's income is only 43% from gambling, which is still high, but with the city’s reputation still unexpected for most. Turn left here, by the way. You can pull up over there.”

Morgan quickly briefed Hotch about the house, so he doesn’t feel the need to go inside, letting Reid pack up what he thought he would need in peace.

The kid is back faster than expected, in his hand only a purple cardigan and a few books that he juggles while trying to put a bottle of medication in his leather satchel. Hotch notes that the books are mostly Chemistry textbooks, but also the Odyssey.

When he noticesHotch looking he explains: “I have a paper due in three days. And I- I want to be able to give my mom her favorite cardigan and her meds when we find her.”

Hotch pointedly doesn’t comment on the fact that Reid is assuming they’ll find his mother alive and well and instead says: “I didn’t know the Odysseywas a Chemistry book. It must have changed since I last read it.”

Reid flushes slightly and shrugs, before mumbling: “Something about this placement in the whole house rubs me wrong, I want to have it on hand just in case.”

“Good thinking,” Hotch praises, not missing how Reid’s body language brightens at the small compliment. “Better to plan for every eventuality than to come up short-handed.”

Back at the plane the other’s have already arrived. Morgan starts to make a joke about Hotch being late for once, which is stopped by Prentiss’ elbow in his midriff and a nod to Reid, who either doesn’t react on purpose or misses it. It’s both funny and strange to see how fast they’ve all adapted to the young genius in their midst, when usually new people working with them on the behavioral part take a while to get used to.

As they board, JJ softly says: “Garcia send some of the crime scene photos our way already. I printed them out, but they’re pretty gruesome in their decomposition. If I may, sir, I would advise against Spencer seeing them for as long as you can.”

“Of course,” Hotch agrees, he is not about to pick a fight with JJ when she supports him now and he too would rather avoid a child, even if they are a genius and a teen, to see those photos. The BAU might be used to it, but not everyone can stomach it, nor does he want Reid to be able to do that.

“Thank you, sir,” JJ tells him, before getting onto the plane.

When they’re in the air, Hotch calls out: “Reid?”

“Yes, sir?” the kid looks up immediately.

“I want you to work on your paper. We are going to work on the case,” he can see a protest start to form, “and although I’m aware your investment, I ask you not to question that order. When we get the ME reports, you will be allowed to read those, but unless necessary, I won’t expose you to the photos. Despite your intelligence and independence, you are still a minor and my responsibility. Am I understood?”

Reid’s fight has left him while Hotch finishes and he can see the kid appreciates that he bothered to explain his reasoning. Still, he pouts slightly as he gathers up his books and takes a seat on the other end of a plane with a soft: “Yes, sir.”

“What was that about?” Morgan asks as he takes a seat.

“Garcia send us the first crime scene photos. They’re from the victims dating back ten to eight years,” Hotch says. “I want to take a look at them before we land.”

Understanding appears on Morgan’s face and Hotch takes that as the end of that conversation. He pulls out of the photos and spreads them out. The victims have been buried throughout a small clearing in a forest. The graves weren’t particularly shallow. They wouldn’t have been accidentally found by a dog, for example.

They all took a few minutes to study them.

“He’s physically fit,” Prentiss comments. “If he’s able to dig a grave like that without being spotted, he must be able to do that within a night.”

“And have time to perform his ritual,” Rossi says. “Look at those clothes. I can’t imagine they got abducted wearing robes.”

Indeed all the victims are wearing white robes, with the front stained with blood. They don’t seem to be positioned, just thrown into their grave. “The burial has to be a forensic countermeasure more than part of his ritual,” Hotch says. “He tosses them in there, no careful positioning or resting pose, just discarded.”

“So burial might have nothing to do with his MO,” Morgan says. “The other victims could be burned or just tossed. Great.”

“I don’t know,” Prentiss studied the photos. “The fact that they’re all grouped together means something. Maybe not the manner of disposal, but the place definitely means something.”

“Maybe it’s the woods he grew up around?” Rossi offers. “Could be where he’s most comfortable.”

“There’s also a college there, multiples, in fact. He might’ve gone to collegethere,” a voice from the other side of the plane speaks up and they all look up to see Reid bite his lip and look away quickly.

“I thought I asked you to focus on your paper,” Hotch responds, not engaging with what Reid told them.

“You did and I did work on my paper,” Reid says. “It’s just hard to turn my brain off and I couldn't help but overhear and technically you only excluded me because you didn’t want me to see the photos and I didn’t. I just heard you talking about them.”

“Still, you went against my orders,” Hotch tells him and Reid looks away guiltily. “JJ can you keep an eye on him while we discuss further?”

JJ doesn’t mind, as their media liaison, she isn’t involved in this part and was working through paperwork when Reid spoke up. So, she nods and gets up. Reid on the other hand is less than happy about it and protests: “I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Until you show me that you don’t, you do,” Hotch says plainly as Reid pouts some more.

But he doesn’t protest further, just smiles tightly at JJ when she takes a seat, before returning to scribbling down notes in an already filled notebook.

“Don’t you think that was a bit harsh, Hotch?” Morgan asks, keeping his voice down just in case, though Reid doesn’t seem to notice, having listened this time.

“Maybe,” Hotch replies. “But he is my responsibility and if I cannot trust him to follow these orders, I cannot trust him to follow them when we land. I’m already taking a risk by bringing him and I won’t take any chances with his safety.”

“Yeah, okay, that makes sense,” Morgan says, before staring down at the crime scene photo, not really seeing it just yet.

Hotch gives him a moment as he looks down at the photos as well. They’re all worried for Reid and him being here. He has a way of worming into your heart quickly and none want to see him hurt. To accomplish that Hotch is making sure he does what he’s told so that he will do so in a dangerous situation, whileMorgan tries to makesure he can tell the kid they did everything they could. Those can’t always coexist.

“It’s seem almost cult-like,” Prentiss says, snapping the two of them out of it. “With the robes. It doesn’t seem Satanic, but definitely religious.”

“But what sort of cult has that specific victimology?” Hotch replies, picking up the file they have on the few identified victims. “None of them were part of a cult, they had to be chosen. So, who sacrifices schizophrenics?”

“Maybe taking them of their medication isn’t about making them share a delusion, but making them pure for sacrifice?” Morgan theorizes.

“Really? Sacrifices for a cult?” Rossi says. “I don’t know. I agree it seems cult-like, but I don’t think this was the work of a group.”

“Why not?” Prentiss asks.

“Killer cults. It’s not something that happens. We’ve disproven the Satanic cults already,” Rossi explains. “It’s not something that actually happens. Most cult-deaths are their own members, but they weren’t members, they were kidnapped. It seems more like the work of a singular person on a mission.”

“The unsub could have a cult background. We should look into students of religion ten years ago as well,” Hotch decides.

“And people with schizophrenic relatives. We can’t exclude a personal motive behind the victimology,” Morgan points out and Hotch nods. “I’ll call Garcia.” He takes out his phone and dials their tech analyst, “Hey, baby girl, I need you to work some magic for me.”

When he hangs up, he says: “She’s looking into it, she also send some more files. Some more victims have been identified. They are also now digging up another burial ground they found a mile from the first one. Yet another clearing.”

They’re looking over the new files when Hotch’s phone starts to ring. The screen reads Strauss and he’s already not looking forwards to picking up. Rossi spots the caller ID as well and murmurs a soft ‘good luck,’ before Hotch walks off for some privacy and picks up. “Hello, this is SSA Aaron Hotchner.”

“Aaron,” Strauss’ voice comes over the speaker. “What an earth do you think you’re doing?”

“Right now, I am trying to find a serial killer, who has at least eightfound victims to his name, with a new burial site just uncovered to add to that as well havingone hostage right now, ma’am,” he replies, ignoring what she obviously meant.

“Don’t play games with me, Aaron. You know exactly what I mean,” Strauss snaps. “I just got a call for the Las Vegas Police Department, who were concerned because you’re letting a sixteen-year-old witness help with the investigation instead of handing him over to the proper authorities.”

In his minds eye, he sees Deputy Scott and an ugly fire burns in his stomach. Luckily, he is very good at containing such things, so he calmly states: “Am I correct in assuming the call was made by Deputy Joe Scott?”

“Yes.”

“Then I wish to inform you of my reasoning behind not leaving Spencer Reid in their hands,” Hotch replies, almost pleasantly, if he weren’t such a stoic man. “I want to have an investigation into their department, since we uncovered that both the deputy and his officers were aware of the disappearance of Diana Reid as well as the fact that said sixteen-year-old was by himself. Yet, they chose to do nothing. They also did nothing before, even when all though Diana to be unfit as guardian. I was not leaving him there.”

Strauss is quiet for a moment, she obviously didn’t expect this when she called. Still, Strauss also isn’t known for backing down. “That is reasonable SSA Hotchner, but he should have been left with CPS. I also have not gotten a reason for taking him with you in the first place.”

It’s a good thing that Hotch is great and bending the truth, because he doesn’t even falter as he explains: “He flew across the country by himself to talk to us. That was a massive risk and I did not want him to take that again. We were already flying to Las Vegas and he is one of our witnesses. We needed him there.”

“And why fly him back then, agent?” Strauss is sharp he has to give her that.

“With all due respect, ma’am, he’s a boy missing his mother,” Hotch says. “If we find her, we don’t know how long she’ll have to stay there and I don’t want to separate them longer than necessary. She has also been off her medication for a while now. We won’t know what her mental state will be like and having Dr. Reid here will be helpful.” He didn’t stress the doctor, but he used it pointedly, creating an image of a smart but ultimately young boy without his mother.

“We will have a stern word once you’re back at Quantico,” Strauss informs him and he sees that as a win.

“Of course, ma’am,” he replies, before hanging up.

When Hotch walked away, Reid moved towards the others. Morgan asked him what he thought he was going, since Hotch’s orders had been pretty clear. That was when Reid had given them sad eyes as he said: “I thought since he went away you were done. I finished my paper, I’ll only have to neatly type it before handing it in. You don’t have to talk to me about the case, I just wanted to sit here for a moment.”

And none of them could say no to him, so they put away the photos and let Reid sit with them, which he does happily.

Hotch returns to find Reid sitting with them and raises a disapproving eyebrow. Reid immediately defends himself: “I asked permission! I didn’t see anything, I promise.”

Still, Hotch looks at him for a few moment, before he says: “Garcia send over the first ME reports, you can look at those.”

The tenseness leaves Reid’s shoulders and he eagerly takes a look at the ME reports, before frowning. “Blunt force trauma to the head and a slit throat?” he reads. “But no other visible wounds?”

“So the unsub hits them in the head to incapacitate them transports them to Ithaca where he slits their throat,” Morgan summarizes.

“No, the ME says the head injuries were only inflicted moments before their throats were slit,” Reid answers and it’s weirdly uncomfortable to see such a young person talk so casually about killing as well as the disturbing fact that he knew so much about all this.

“So why hit them at all?” Rossi wonders. “He’s already had them under control in some way during the journey, so why the sudden need to hit them?”

“There were no ligature marks,” Reid says. “He can’t have restrainedthem, but there was also no sign of a struggle at my moms house.”

“You also said he vacuumed, could have cleaned up blood as well,” Morgan pointed out.

“But there would have been defensive wounds on them,” Reid says. “Though minor scratches take 3 to 7 days to heal, maybe two. Bruises also two weeks. Depending how long he keeps them, those could have disappeared. But then how does he keep them under control throughout the entire journey?”

“How do you know all that?” Prentiss asks, both amused and impressed.

“Oh, uhm,” Reid blushes. “After the psychology class from Agent Gideon, I got interested. Read a bunch of books. Including yours, Agent Rossi. I really liked them and I would have probably freaked out more about meeting you if it wasn’t in these circumstances.”

“Well, I’d be more than willing to talk with you about my books after we catch this guy,” Rossi promises and Reid smiles and thanks him.

Hotch snaps their focus back to the case. “So, we can’t rule out a blitz attack, but ruse is more likely. He also didn’t ping anyone’s radar in the neighborhood, so he’s charming and doesn’t stand out.”

“It’s a quick kill too, no signs torture and a quick finishing off,” Morgan says. “Not a sadist.”

“So, it’s not about causing pain. The killing is some means to an end,” Rossi says, causing Prentiss to add: “Sacrifice is starting to sound very likely.”

“Was there anything sacrificial found with the bodies?” Reid asks. “I overheard robes, but was there more?”

“We’ll find out when we land. I want to hit the ground running,” Hotch says. “Morgan, you go to the first crime scene, see what you can find out. Prentiss, go to the one they just uncovered. The bodies might still be there, see if you can find anything more sacrificial. Dave, go to the morgue. JJ, you and Reid are with me to the police station. With a discovery this big, the media will be on it and I want to keep the story contained. We want the unsub to still come to us. This might spook him off.”

“Of course, sir,” she says, already pulling out her phone to reach out to her various contacts.

“For now, I want everyone to get all the rest we can. We’re going to need it,” Hotch says and everyone immediately starts to get comfortable. They’re all used to sleeping on a plane and each have their preferred spot. However, they leave the couch suspiciously empty and Hotch smiles at the small gesture to Reid.

Reid hasn’t got up yet, however, and shifts in his seat slightly. He asks: “At the station. If we want to make an accurate crime board, the photos will need to be there. Will I be allowed near it?”

Hotch is proud that he even asked and decides to reward him: “I want you to focus on the writing reports, you said you’re a fast reader?” Reid nods. “Good, we can use that. If you find anything, come to me. I’ll get you a photo of the crime board before the photos go on. If we he hit a wall, we’ll bring you in to see. But I hope that won’t be necessary.”

“Thank you, sir!” Reid says with a grateful smile, so happy with very little given ground, and Hotch knows he’s going to have a hard time saying goodbye when this is over.

“No problem,” he replies, before nodding to the couch. “Try to get some sleep, we’re going to have a long day.”

Reid nods, before making himself comfortable on the couch. He ends up curled in upon himself, purple cardigan draped over him. The sight tugs on Hotch’s heart as he thinks of what will probably happen at the end of the case. Even before this Diana was unfit to parent, now even more so, probably.

There is something brewing in his mind. It is a stupid idea, but he knows he won’t be able to let it go until he hassaid it and someone told him how idiotic it was. Luckily he has one person, who doesn’t mind telling him that and he hasn’t talked to Hayley since before they left for Las Vegas.

He pulls back to the private part of the plane and dials a familiar number.

A/N:

I googled ‘Las Vegas fun facts’ and ‘how fast does a body decompose’ in the same day for this fic...

#RR writing #tw: ableism #cm #cm au #criminal minds au #criminal minds #spencer reid #aaron hotchner #derek morgan #emily prentiss #dave rossi #jennifer jareau #erin strauss #He Was Left on the Steps of the FBI in a Basket #He Was Left on the Steps of the FBI in a Basket Part 3

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