Chapter Text
From day one, Hotch looked out for Reid.
He knew he would never stop to think if he thought he could help someone,
and Hotch was reminded of it in his limp,
in the scar on his neck,
and the track marks on his arms
So he kept him a safe distance from the action when he could. Sending him as far away from where he thought the unsub would be as possible. His concern for him only growing after the beginning of their relationship.
Only he didn’t always get it right.
That had been the case this time.
It was a routine enough case. Blitz attacking men and restraining them, before torturing and then killing them.
They were sure where the unsub was.
They tracked down his job at the local library and knew by the time of day that he would be there.
Well, they thought they knew.
Turns out he knew they were coming and was not prepared to go down without a fight.
They had profiled that he was intelligent, patient, measured, and by all accounts was unlikely to physically fight when caught. Most of the real damage done to the victims was post-mortem and he always blitz attacked them and physically restrained them to their beds. One key factor of note however was that he would carve a triangle into the side of their ribs.
They eventually realized the connection with the victims, was all that they were gay males, and that the triangle was a representation of the pink triangle, a long established queer symbol.
None of this lead them to believe that there would be any trouble in apprehending the unsub, or that he would be anywhere but his job at the time.
So, Hotch sent Reid to his house.
He and JJ got in the door, separated, and got to looking.
They were in there all of ten seconds when Reid felt the sudden impact and hit the ground like a dead weight.
He pushed himself off the ground as fast as he could, but he couldn’t even turn to look at the unsub before he was hit again.
And again.
And again.
He vaguely thought he heard JJ enter, and yell at the man to drop whatever he was holding, but he could hardly hear over the effort of trying to move or see.
Whatever JJ said, it didn’t work. The man threw whatever he hit Reid with at her and dragged Reid onto his feet before she could react. He could feel the sharp edge of the knife at his side as he was held tight against the unsub. The unsub must have had more strength in him than he showed in his kills, because Reid didn’t have enough strength in himself to stay standing on his own.
JJ quickly recovered from the attempt and had her gun pointed at the unsub.
“You’re not getting out of this Caleb. You should be smart enough to know that.”
She was playing up to his intelligence, knowing in people like him it often came with arrogance she could exploit.
He just grinned.
“Well neither will he. You shoot me and ill make sure of that.”
JJ didn’t like her chances with how close that knife was to Reid’s vital organs.
Reid could hardly think. He felt like his head was throbbing and he could hardly stand, but he gained enough mental clarity after a minute to realize something. The unsub had a gun sticking out of his pocket.
He wondered why the unsub hadn’t shot one or both of them and left, and he wondered if he would be able grab the gun and shoot him if he was distracted.
Before he could weigh up this plan, he was shoved forward, landing crumpled on the ground at JJ’s feet.
“Oh Jesus spence-“
She didn’t even finish before he shot her twice, and she joined Reid on the ground.
Reid practically threw himself forward to make sure she was alive. His hands searched around for blood beginning to pool but was instantly relieved to see both bullets lodged in her vest.
Of course, the unsub was very specific with his targets, and she didn’t fit
Suddenly his head was jerked up by the unsubs fist in his hair, and he was lifted off the ground again.
“Well, well. I was going to kill you, but look at you, you’re just too perfect.”
Reid could see that grin till he was shoved forward again.
“Move. You’re coming with me.”
He instantly panicked. All he could think about at that moment was that cabin in Georgia. He hadn’t panicked till that moment and suddenly he felt like he couldn’t breathe. He got out of the door and heard it slam behind him. He knew he had no way to physically overpower the man, and the house was far back enough from the road that he had no hope in terms of witnesses. So, he did what he did best, he talked.
“What’s so perfect about me?” he asked.
“You’re the best looking out of all the men I’ve killed. And an FBI agent at that. I wouldn’t usually go for such an important target, don’t like choosing people who’ll be missed, but you’re too good to pass up.” He replied.
“Is that why you chose gay men?” -Reid asked- “We know you chose them, probably because you’re gay and felt wrong for it, that was why you chose the triangle. It was a symbol used to identify gay Jewish men in concentration camps in the 1940s. they reclaimed it, and you have something against them so of course you would turn it back into something wrong again. Someone would have reinforced that idea in you while you were still easy to influence, likely your father I assu-“
“SHUT UP” the unsub yelled.
Reid winced as he was spun around and shoved at the ground again, knife pointed under his chin.
“You shut up now or ill kill you here instead.”
Reid wanted to dare him to, wanted to just get it over with if he could and not face the same thing, he had examined multiple times by now in morgues all over the state.
But when he thought about hotch, he couldn’t. Their relationship had remained a secret from the team for the past year and a half, through so many injuries and close calls on cases, but Reid knew if he died here hotch wouldn’t survive it either.
But he was still struggling for a plan. JJ, even if she was able to move right then, wouldn’t be able help him, since he doubted the unsub would have left her with her gun in there, and she didn’t carry a backup to the house. The rest of the team was across town and would take approximately 34 minutes to reach the house once they realized Caleb wasn’t at work. Which should be within the next 10 or so minutes.
Reid would have to either keep them there for the next 44 minutes or find a way to let them know where he was inevitably about to be taken and…killed.
He didn’t get to consider this however, as he was swiftly dealt another blow to the head.
Too bad he couldn’t formulate a plan when he was unconscious.