Well, I just always thought it would have been awesome if Reid had actually used that whistle in L.D.S.K. So, while this story isn't particulary good, I like it, because I got to use the whistle.
Hope you enjoy my plot-less Reid whump.
It had started off as a normal case. But then again, it usually did. The killer abducted his victims, then tortured them before dumping their bodies in the woods.
Morgan, Reid, and Prentiss had gone to question the third victim's wife, to see if they could make any connection between the people he knew, and the people the other victims had known. After the questioning, which had pretty much led to nowhere, the team had decided to retire to their hotel for the night.
"Okay everyone, lets get a good nights sleep, look at the case again in the morning with fresh eyes." Hotch told his make-shift family, and his eyes swept over them all fondly. JJ and Prentiss departed to their room, but not before Prentiss teased Morgan about having to share a room with Reid, which ment listening to ramble on all night.
"I do not ramble." Reid protested, frowning. "Right, JJ?" He turned to the blond ex-media liason for support. She smiled and patted his shoulder.
"Don't worry Reid. It's cute."
This didn't seem to comfort the genius, but he let it go. He was too tired to argue over this. Or ramble. He just waved off their comments and went towards his room. He was used to it after all. Such was the fate of being signifigantly smarter then those around you.
He smiled though, because he really did love all of them, despite the teasing. The teasing actually made it feel even more like a family, because isn't that what families did?
"Night Pretty Boy." Morgan said as he crawled into his bed, clothes and all. Reid did the same, too tired to change.
"Good night." he replied, sliding under the sheets of his blankets, and resting his head on the pillow. He thought for a few moments, of the victims, as he usually did when he had a moment to himself. Tortured, just like he had been. He knew how afraid they had felt. He could only hope that wherever they were, they were no longer afraid, and that he himself never had to go through it again.
*(*)
He wasn't sure what had woken him up. Had he heard a noise? Did he have to go to the bathroom? He listened silently, trying to see if Morgan was snoring, as he sometimes was. Usually, Reid would just throw a pillow over his face. That would wake Morgan up, alert him to the noise he was making, and he'd roll over.
But Morgan was silent. He didn't need to use the bathroom, nor was he thirsty. So what had woken him? He rolled out of his bed and stretched, deciding he'd go to the bathroom anyway, just out of lack of something to do. As he past the window, he felt a faint breeze, signaling that it was open.
He shivered and went over to it, shutting it firmly. Just as he was about to turn away, something caught his eye. He turned back, searching. It was dark out, and from his window he had a pretty good view of the woods, even if they were about two hundred feet off. He squinted, trying to find whatever it was that he had seen.
Then he saw it.
A dark figure, dragging a limp figure behind it.
Someone dragging a body.
The unsub dragging the victim.
Reid's breathing accelerated. He had to get out there, before the Unsub got away again. He stumbled across the room, grabbing his gun. Despite the noise he was creating, Morgan didn't wake up. He was out of it, and the rest of the team probably was too. They had worked really hard today, and they didn't have any more energy. Their bodies didn't want to wake up.
So why had his? Was this a sign from a higher being, sending him to stop the evil?
He went over to Morgan and shook him, trying to wake him up.
"Morgan!" he whispered. "Wake up! Get up!"
Morgan grumbled something in his sleep, and barely moved. Reid bite his lip worridly. He had to hurry, or the unsub would get away, and more people would die. And he just couldn't let that happen, couldn't let more people be tortured, and scared, submitted to dieing at the hands of a psychotic stranger.
"Morgan!" he said, and Morgan blinked, looking up.
"Reid, go to sleep." he mumbled, half awake and not catching the obvious panic in Reid's tone and eyes. He shut his eyes, going back to sleep. Reid cursed lowly, something he rarely did. He briefly contimplated running to Hotch's room, but quickly cast away the idea. The unsub could be gone by then. He would have to do this alone.
He ran back over to the window and threw it open, pulling himself out and jumping to the ground. He had to be quiet, or he'd scare the person away. He crept slowly through the motel parking lot, ducking behind cars, careful not to lose sight of the two figures. He got closer and closer, until he was in the woods with them, the motel more of a dot in the distance. He breathed slowly, trying to calm himself. How he hated the dark.
The man dragging the body dropped it, wiping his hands on his jeans. He was atleast six foot four, muscular, mid-thirties. Not somebody Reid could outfight. But he had a gun, and if he was lucky, this man did not. He looked at the body on the ground, and was horrified. It was a teenage boy, he couldn't be any older then fifteen. His eyes were shut tight, and his body, from what Reid could see was bruised and bloody.
Reid took a silent step forward, lifting the gun. How could anyone treat anybody -espically someone so young- like they wearn't human? He had to go to jail, and suffer the consequences.
But he froze in shock as the young boy suddenly moved, shifting slightly and groaning. The unsub turned to look at him and pulled a large bat out that Reid hadn't seen before. But he didn't use it, he waited for the boy to open his eyes.
"This is the end, Andrew." the man said with a sneer, and the boy's eyes shot to him, and he started to cry as he realized what was about to happen.
"I told you!" he gasped. "M-my names not Andrew!"
But the man didn't listen, just lifted the bat. That's what Reid moved, throwing himself into view.
"Stop!" he shouted, leveling his gun at the man's head. "FBI!" he said, and the boy turned to him in shock, crying out loud with relief. The unsub snarled in anger, but didn't move, just as Reid had hoped, and his heart stopped pounding so hard. Maybe this would actually go smoothly, and all three of them would make it out of this.
"FBI?" the man sneered, looking Reid up and down. "You don't look like much of an agent."
Reid ignored the fimiliar remark. "Drop the weapon, and step away from the boy." he ordered calmly, not dropping his gaze.
"Can you move?" he asked the boy, who nodded, and stood up on shaking legs, making his way over to Reid quickly and ducking behind him, sobbing out his thank you's.
The man dropped the bat, but Reid still didn't feel much like approaching the man on his own. He hadn't brought handcuffs out with him, because he'd been in to much of a hurry.
"What's your name?" he asked the kid behind him, who stammered out a reply.
"M-Micheal."
"Micheal, it's nice to meet you. I need you to go to that motel over there. There's a window, and it's open. My partner is in there. I need you to wake him up. Do you think you can do that?"
"O-okay." Micheal said, and he darted off, limping in the direction of the motel.
"What's the matter?" the man leered. "You don't think you can handle me on your own?" He took a step forward.
"Don't move." Reid said, cocking his pistol. But this man didn't listen, obviously not wanting to go down yet. He came right at Reid, who stumbled back.
"Don't move!" he shouted loudly, but the man didn't stop and Reid fired. He heard the man grunt, but a second later, his gun was being knocked from his hands forcefully. A closed fist hit him in the head and he grunted and fell to the ground. He should have known this wasn't going to be any different.
When will I learn?
The man grabbed him and started dragging him away.
"No!" he shouted, thrashing. He didn't want to be tortured, not again, and he certainly didn't want to be killed! He was dropped harshly on the ground, and he tried to get up, but was stopped as the bat whacked him right in the head. He fell to the ground, not unconsious, but certainly not awake.
He couldn't move as he felt the unsub pick him up, and start to run. He heard something in the distance, a voice, shouting his name.
"Reid! REID!"
It was Morgan. It was Hotch. It was the team.
"Help me." he whispered, and then he shouted it, as loud as he could, ignoring the throbbing pain in his head.
"HELP!"
"REID!" the voices came again, more paniced as they heard him. But the woods were preventing them from knowing which way his voice was coming from, and they weren't catching up. This unsub was going to get away.
*(*)
Morgan had been deep in sleep when he'd been woken by someone shaking him. At first he thought it was Reid again, as he recalled a vague memory of Reid doing the same thing. What in the world was so important, and why couldn't it wait until the morning?
"HELP!" someone screamed at him, and his instinctive reaction was to jump up and look around for signs of danger. On the other side of the bed was a young teenage boy, bloody and bruised. Morgan looked to Reid's bed, and too his horror, saw it was empty. What in the world had Reid done this time?
"Kid, what's wrong? Where's my parter?"
"H-he's in the woods." the boy said, pointing out the open window. "He told me to g-go get you. He saved me."
"FUCK!" Morgan cursed loudly, grabbing his gun. Was this what Reid had wanted him for? Had he been trying to get Morgan's help? What if he got hurt, all because Morgan was too tired to get up?
"Stay here!" he ordered the bloody boy.
He jumped out the window, and at the exact second his feet touched the ground he heard Reid's voice.
"Don't move!"
And a split second later, a gunshot. On both sides of him, two windows flew open and the team leaped from their windows, already running towards their youngest, who was obviously in danger once more. They ran and ran, guns ready, listening hard. To all their horror, their was only silence.
Until they suddenly heard Reid shout, "No!"
"Reid!" JJ called desperately, and voices echoed hers. He didn't answer, which either ment he couldn't hear them, or...Morgan pushed the thought away. It was too sick of a thought to even consider.
"Reid!" he shouted loudly. "REID!"
Morgan's heart was pounding. Reid, his best friend, his little brother, was in trouble. He needed them. He was scared, and he wanted them there. Why was the kid so damn brave all the time? Why had he gone out into the dark, alone, even though he was afraid of it?
Suddenly, a voice.
"HELP!"
"REID!" they all screamed back, practically in unison, but there was no answer this time. "
"Where are you?" Hotch shouted loudly, looking desperately from side to side, trying to decide which way to go. They quickly split up, but there was no way of tracking them. Their hearts sank in their chests, and tears of worry and rage were barely surpressed.
Why did it always happen to Reid?
*(*)
When Reid woke up, he was dismayed to realized that he was strapped to some table, his mouth gagged. He wasn't alone in the room though, the unsub was standing mere inches from him. Reid met his eyes, then quickly looked away again. His heart pounded in terror as the man moved to the other side of the table, and Reid gasped as he saw that he was holding a large knife.
"Please, don't do this!" he tried to say, but he wasn't sure if the man could understand him with the gag in his he could or not, he still laughed harshly, ignoring him. Reid's heart sunk. The only way he usually got out of these kinds of situations was by talking. It's how he'd stayed alive so long with Tobias, it's how he stopped a murderer from fighting Hotch, and it's how he kept Owen calm and at bay until he could show him he wasn't alone.
He couldn't talk with his mouth gagged. Which meant he couldn't get out of this.
Which meant he could die.
He probably would.
"You just had to stick your nose in it, didn't you?" the man asked, sliding the knife slowly down his cheek, scaring him. He had to talk to the man, ask him his name, try to communicate, show him he was human. But he couldn't do it.
"Now, you have to die too. Just like Andrew. And I'll have to make it really hurt, since you let my last one get away." the man said coldly, and then he sliced through Reid's shirt. Reid screamed past the gag as the knife cut into his skin, the pain making him want to throw up. He really hoped he didn't, because the gag would stop it, and then he'd just have a mouth full of vomit, which he'd choke on.
He fought as best as he could, which only lead to more pain. After he was done cutting him, the man left and came back with a bat, the same bat he'd used before. Reid was out of breath from screaming, and his throat hurt really bad, but he screamed even worse as the bat came down again and again, breaking his ribs.
He didn't think it would ever end, and all he could do was scream, and pray to God that the team would find him quickly.
*(*)
Despite the description from their victim, and the name Andrew, the team couldn't find a solid lead on the man who had taken Reid away. They tried getting a location, but the boy said he had been out of it for most of the ride over.
JJ and Emily were sitting with Rossi, the two girls holding hands to comfort each other, and Rossi looking worried and more old then he had in a while. Hotch was alone, going through the file again and again forcefully, like it was the file that had kidnapped Reid. All of them would do whatever it took to get Reid home.
Morgan was sitting alone, hurting internally when the phone rang.
"Baby Girl, please, good news." he said hopefully, and the voice on the other end spoke quickly.
"I've got a hit! A man named Murphy Green, just got fired by a man named Andrew Hanks."
"Do you have an adress?" Morgan asked, and Garcia laughed briefly. The whole team was now facing him, listening desperately, wishing that this was the thing they needed to bring their genius back.
"Of course." She gave the adress, lifting all their hearts. "Now bring my baby boy back home. And when you do, smack him for me, because I'm really starting to get angry with him."
Morgan laughed. "I will Baby Girl, on both accounts."
And then the team ran to their cars, hope flaring that they weren't too late.
*(*)
Reid blacked out from the pain. It was too much. When he woke up again, he was in a car. The car was not moving. He was in the backseat, but no one was in the front. He lifted his banging head weakly. They were pulled over at the side of the road, and his kidnapper was nowhere in sight.
Not caring why, Reid, struggled to get out of the car, hissing at the pain it caused in his body. His left arm was broken, and so were atleast five ribs. He felt like he might have a concussion, but he wasn't sure. Blood was pouring from multiple wounds on his body. Still, he couldn't let that stop him. He limped off as quickly as he could, but not before memorizing the license plate of the vehicle he had previously occupied.
He didn't make it far before he collapsed to the ground, panting hard and wasted of any energy. He reached into his pocket hopefully, and to his joy, his cell phone was there. He hit his speed dial, then waited as it rang. Someone picked up, voice scared and paniced and happy all at once.
"Reid?" It was Morgan. "Reid, where are you? Are you okay?"
When he didn't answer at once, Morgan spoke again, more frantic.
"Reid, come on now Reid, stay with me. Where are you?"
Reid could hear voices in the backround static, which meant either he was on speaker, or the team was speaking very loudly.
"I...don't know...woods...it's getting dark." he gasped out, and Hotch's cool and soothing voice spoke.
"Just stay on the phone Reid, we'll track you. Keep talking, okay? Do you hear me? Keep talking."
"Ye...yeah. I hear you."
"Good."
His voice vanished then, and he could hear it vagualy speaking to somebody, probably Garcia, telling her to track his phone.
"Spence, are you hurt?" he heard JJ ask, her voice teary. He bite his lip, sad that he was the one that had made her that way once more.
"Yeah." he answered simply.
"Is he nearbye?" Prentiss put in.
"Pr-probably. Please, h-hurry."
"We will Spence. We are. I promise." JJ said passionately, and then he even heard Rossi's wise old yoda voice chime in.
"Just stay hiden. We're coming."
Reid didn't really count himself as hidden, but before he could say anything, his phone screen suddenly went black. He had lost the signal.
"Nooo." he moaned to himself, closing his eyes and curling up into a ball. He felt himself drifting to sleep, and even though he tried to stay awake, he drifted off anyway, the pain too much to bere.
*(*)
He woke to the sound of voices. He listened hard, and he cried out in joy. It was the team. They were calling his name. They had found him, even though it had obviously been awhile, since it was now completely dark outside. It was hard to believe he had been with that crazed man a whole day.
He tried calling out to them, but he realized with disbelief that his voice was gone, due to all the screaming he had done. He could barely whisper, much less call out to them.
"Reid?" he heard again, but this time it was heading away. They were going the wrong way!
"No," he whispered. "This way. Come back."
But when he heard it again, they were even further. They were going to pass him up! He was going to die out here, alone, in the dark! He looked around for anything that he could use to try and help him, wishing he had the strength to get up.
Suddenly, his eyes caught something glinting in the moonlight, and he couldn't believe his eyes. When he had failed his gun qualification test all those years ago, he had been angry at Morgan for putting that whistle around his neck, and saying, "If you need anything, just whistle."
But he had never before in his life been more grateful for a whistle. He didn't care why it was out here, he just thanked God that it was, crawling forward and clutching it as tightly as he could. He needed Morgan now, he needed the whole team.
Just please let them hear me.
"Reid!" he heard, but it was even further now, far away and only getting further.
He lifted the whistle weakly and blew. At first, it was only a weak tittering, so he tried again, feeling like Rose in Titanic. This time it was louder, and the calling voices suddenly quit, so he knew they had heard him, and were listening for him to do it again.
"Reid, we hear you!" he heard Morgan shout. "Do it again!"
Reid blew again, and this time it was loud, and he blew again and again, frantic. He heard them crashing through the tree's calling his name, and suddenly they were there, right infront of him. He dropped the whistle and sobbed weakly, in joy this time. Morgan was bending down and picking him up, holding him tightly to his chest.
"Don't worry kid, I got you. Your crazy, you know that right?"
Reid laughed weakly and said, "I never thought...I'd actually need...to use a whistle..."
Morgan smiled down at him, and then started saying his name as Reid blacked out again.
*(*)
When Reid woke up, he was in a hospital. His team were all in the room with him, fast asleep. He smiled at them, snuggling in to go back to sleep.
Once more he had stared death in the face. And once more, he had survived.