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Being back in Las Vegas always brought mixed emotions with it.
On one hand, he was here to do a job, and he was with his team. So, no matter what happened, they would work together to solve the case. And if things went well, with him not having to fake the severity of an injury, he’d be able to stop by and visit with his mother.
On the other hand, Vegas reminded him just how different he was, especially now. Genius, child prodigy, youngest to graduate from his high school in history, things that marked him different. Add in that it seemed the entire school knew his father ran out on their family because of him, and his childhood could be considered… difficult.
But he wasn’t here to remember his childhood, or deal with his father again. Right now, he had bigger things to worry about.
They were well into their second night of the case (while men being kidnapped at gunpoint, showing up dead three days later looking, as Morgan sarcastically described to Reid privately, like swiss cheese) when Hotch called for them to take a break. Back to the hotel for six hours then back to work. And everyone needed it.
They’d hit the ground running when they had arrived, but they had little to go on. All of the victims looked similar, but there was no other similar overlap in any of the five victims. Different jobs in different parts of the city with different family structures. There seemed to be no overlap except for their looks. All tall thin white men with longish brown hair. Not much to go on.
Reid was just glad to go back to the hotel and catch a nap. He still hadn’t caught up on his sleep from the previous case, and having to cut his leave short to help with this one didn’t help him one bit. Plus, with Booker just vanishing again, he wasn’t in the best of moods.
Morgan was trying to play buffer between him and the rest of the team, but it was slow going. With him in the know, he knew why Reid was out of sorts, but he didn’t know everything, including exactly why he went up to New York City to see his second family. But he could keep a secret to protect his little brother, no problem.
They both were glad to have separate rooms on this case. Needed to decompress after two long days was a must, and having to share sometimes got old real fast.
Reid had just gotten out of the shower when he heard his other phone ping with a text notification. Opening it, he let some of the stress of the day fall off of his shoulders.
You know how to Skype? Wouldn’t mind getting to know Derek’s best friend some more. NF
He had to laugh. Of course he could use Skype. Just because he liked not using technology when pen and paper would do did not mean he was born before the dark ages like Andy. He quickly set up his laptop (which both Garcia and Booker had helped him pick out, separately, without knowing it) and typed in the number Nile sent him in a follow-up text.
Almost immediately, the newest immortal’s face filled up his screen. She looked bright and cheery, despite the late hour.
“Sup! How’s Vegas?”
Spencer let out a low laugh. “Depressing as always. Cases rarely allow for sightseeing.”
She tilted the camera back just a bit, and he was able to see that she was currently in a hotel room not too dissimilar to the one he was in. She was curled up on the bed, looking ready to get some sleep.
“How are you? Were you able to get any sleep?”
Spencer shook his head. “No, after we parted, I returned to Virginia, and was immediately called in. There was no time to sleep on the plane, and we’ve been working nonstop for the past two days. We’re on a mandatory six hour stand-down to get at least a nap before we’re back at the station.”
Nile gave him a worried look. “You know, you’d work better if you got sleep.” It was clear that she wasn’t trying to be malicious, but was just worrying.
“I know,” Spender said. “But we’ve got missing people and the police aren’t able to find them. It’s up to my team to give them a chance.”
“That’s what makes you and Derek good people. You put your lives in hold to help others.”
“And so have you, Nile. I know you’re a Marine, no matter how you left the service. You stepped away from everything to help people. It’s commendable.”
Nile smiled. “Andy says I come from warriors.”
Spencer choked back another laugh. “Oh, so you get compliments? She just gives me hell about not wanting to go on jobs with everyone. And I do offer, so don’t listen when they say I don’t.”
She let out a giggle. “I won’t, I won’t!”
After a moment of pause, she continued, “But that’s not why I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to ask about Booker.”
He sat up straighter in his chair. “What about him?”
“You saw him, didn’t you. I’m not mad, believe me. I’m just worried. Leaving him behind on the Thames was really hard, and it was bothering me a lot.”
“I saw him,” he confirmed. “Found him in my apartment the night after everything happened. Or, rather, he broke into my apartment before I got home from my last case. Which, I should warn you, is not something I like, so please don’t break into my apartment without asking me first.”
“But was he ok?”
He shook his head. “The night he called me, he was wasted. Drank most of the alcohol in my apartment, and then called me, but he could barely tell me anything beside the fact he was there. No details or anything. I tried calling Nicky and Joe, and didn’t receive an answer. I was honestly getting worried when I saw the news report out of London. When we finally got back to Virginia, he was sobering up, but he still managed to let slip the immortality fact to Derek.”
She actually looked surprised at that. “He did? That doesn’t sound like him.”
“Remember, you’ve only known him for a few days,” he returned, not unkindly, “but I’ve known him for five years. When he’s sobering up after a binge, he can say things that he later regrets. And if we include the fact that I had someone come up to my apartment with me when I knew he was there, it threw him off.”
He took a deep breath and continued. “By the time I left for New York, he was back to being his normal self. I just didn’t know he was going to leave before I’d returned.”
“Do you have his number? Or where he is? I’d like to at least thank him for helping, and for not killing Andy.”
Here, he hesitated on two fronts. He did have Booker’s new phone number, as well as an address in Paris. But he also had a feeling that Booker might not be exactly happy if he just gave it out.
Also, not killing Andy?
“Nile, what do you mean, not killing Andy. That…”
Nile looked stricken. “Oh fuck no one told you.” Shock slowly morphed into rage. “Son of a bitch, I swear I-”
“Before you lose your temper, what’s going on?”
She took a deep, audible breath. “You’re not going to like it.” She paused, collecting herself. “How much of what went down do you know?”
“Just what the media said, and the little tidbits that I got out of the boys. Booker sold them out, the South Sudan mission was a set up, Joe and Nicky ended up captured by Merrick, the rest of you got them out, and as Derek would say, Merrick took a swan dive out of a skyscraper. That’s about it.”
“Booker was working with a former CIA operative named James Copley. He’s clean, now, but was on a misguided mission to try to find a cure for MS. Booker, Andy and I went to his place in Surrey to find out where the others were taken. I had a bit of a crisis and left, I’ll tell you about that later. Booker shot Andy to capture her for Merrick. But, she didn’t heal. Turns out when we were leaving Goussainville-”
“They took you to the Charlie safehouse? My condolences.”
“She got stabbed, and it didn’t heal. She knew and didn’t tell anyone.”
Spencer had to turn away to breathe. He may not exactly be happy with his circumstances, but he had grown close to the foursome in the past five years. He’d thought he’d have many years after he left the Bureau to finally get to be with them. But now…
“She’s okay now. Off soul searching, she said. Didn’t want to stick around with the newbie.”
He shook his head. “It’s not like that. She’s always been more of a loaner. She’s the first of us, which I assume you already know. And after losing Quynh… Joe said it was like she lost a limb. Sometimes she just needs to go her own way for a while. We’ll see her soon.
“But thank you. For telling me, I mean. Well, and also for going back for them. They’re still family.”
Nile smiled again, a little watery. “That’s why everyone was so angry at Booker. He could have killed her, for real. And he’s apologetic, but the others won’t accept it.”
Spencer nodded. “As well they shouldn’t. Booker made the mistake, he has to deal with it. But whose brilliant idea was it for one hundred years? The man is already depressed. He needs therapy, which is not something I normally advocate for. But one hundred years is just too much.”
Nile shrugged. “I didn’t hear the final verdict on purpose. I went out to talk to Booker on the balcony. But I know that Joe and Nicky are burned pretty bad by this. Will they let him back sooner?”
Spencer blinked. “Oh, Nicky and Joe pushed for it? Booker will be back in five years, at the latest. The both of them have tempers, but they will cool after a while. Joe will be first, and Nicky a bit later down the line. By the time I retire, he’ll be back.”
That seemed to comfort the young woman. She then happened to glance at the time. “Oh my gosh, you said you haven’t slept, and we’ve been talking an hour. Spencer, get some rest. I’ll text you later?”
Spencer noted the time himself, but he wasn’t too worried. He’d worked on less sleep. “Sure. I’ll see if I can track down Booker’s number while I’m at it. But don’t hold it against me if I don’t answer. I can’t text from this phone when I’m around the others. I’ll answer when I can.”
They said their goodbyes and signed off. Spencer carefully packed the laptop away, letting his thoughts slowly wonder back to the case at hand. He got ready to sleep when things started to click into place.
The BAU needed to find their Unsub within the next twelve hours, or someone else would be kidnapped, as per the timing. They didn’t have anything to go on. He’d have to dig deeper to come up with something.
He flipped off the main lights and promptly fell asleep.
Morning came all too soon. The four and a half hours helped, but it was nowhere near enough to get him completely back to normal.
Oh well. Thank God he’d get back up if he died of exhaustion.
Reid paused at the sink in his room’s bathroom. He had the luxury of dying and coming back. Andy didn’t anymore. Tears finally stung his eyes. How could he take advantage of the situation, when she couldn’t anymore?
It took him a second to get his mind back into the case. He had to compartmentalize, something that he was just not good at compared to Emily.
He checked both of his phones for messages as he made his way out of his room. Nile had sent a few, mostly just thanking him for the conversation, and a demand to have Derek get into contact with her. It was clear that, while she was okay with everything and moving on, she still needed that link back to her family.
Hotch had also sent a message, which directed him to head straight for the station, four blocks away. JJ and Rossi would meet him there. The others were going to the latest dumpsite.
He tucked both phones away. Personal deep into his pocket, work clipped to his belt, mostly because he was sick of Morgan giving him shit for not doing it. Then he started the quick walk.
The station was in sight when he heard the telltale sound of a gun being cocked behind him. He turned, hands already up, to see someone in a ski mask training a gun to his head.
“In the alleyway, now. There’s a car waiting. Drop your phone while you’re at it.”
The muffled voice coming from behind the mask was recognizable, but he couldn’t place it. He did what was demanded of him, dropping his work phone to the ground, and his messenger bag for good measure. The man gestured down the alleyway to the four door hatchback, directing him into the back seat, before clocking him in the head with the butt of the gun.
In the seconds before he blacked out, Reid finally made the connection. All the victims looked similar to him. This person was targeting someone that looked like him.
Now he was in trouble.
The darkness finally came over his vision, and he knew no more.