Title: Close to Home
By: zequin-stars
Pairing: Morgan/Reid
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Prompt: 008. Pitiful
Word Count: 4,828
Rating: NC17
Warnings/Spoilers: Warning this is not a happy fic for most of the beginning! There is mention of rape, torture, and violence, if that squicks you please do not read further.
Summary: Reid is kidnapped by an unsub and suddenly the case is more deadly than the BAU team had anticipated.
My Beta! My lovely wovely beta, she deserves everyone's praise for putting up with my run on sentences and annoying questions! ztivokreb

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This is a song for the genius child. Sing it softly, for the song is wild. Sing it softly as you ever can - Lest the song get out of hand.
Nobody Loves a genius child. Can you love an eagle, tame or wild?
Wild or tame, can you love a monster of frightening name?
Nobody loves a genius child. Kill him - and let his soul run wild. "“Langston Hughes

As I recall with my stomach turning
I was hiding away from myself, away from you
Like nothing, though something was terribly wrong
And I admit that I was only waiting for the right time
Night time, the right moment for you to look away
Though you never did, I pretended for a while
So I could walk where I don't belong

Reid was scared, his stomach was tied up into knots and felt like shards of glass were being ground into his skin, nothing good could come from this.

The case had started out just like any normal case, no one was paying attention to Reid and he had been outside looking at the crime scene: alone. It wasn't usual for Gideon or Hotch to let him outside alone, but they had been so busy that no one even noticed when the youngest team member had asked one of the detectives to take him back to the scene of the crime.

The victims had been young male prostitutes, so far all of them were dead and no one knew if another was missing or not, it was turning into a dead end case and that was not making anyone on the team happy. Reid's constant statistics and his usual barrage of information had finally snapped some of the team mates, Morgan had yelled at him before storming away with Elle, and Hotch had actually told him to stop speaking because he couldn't think. Reid decided to just get out of the way for awhile, not noticing that Gideon had been listening to him intently, and Morgan had looked contrite as he walked away from the youngest on the team.

He had come out here to hide from the team, if he was honest with himself. Reid was having a hard time feeling adequate to this case and his own personal demons were biting at his heels. His secrets were coming back to haunt him as he stared at the faces of the dead boys who had been forced to prostitute themselves to survive and had ended up dying. Reid felt stupid for not being able to focus on this case, it made him feel useless when the others ignored his ideas and simply condescended to listen to him when all of their own ideas were exhausted. Peering at a pile of dead leaves on the ground, which were piled haphazardly in a club, Reid had an idea. Taking a pen he flipped the leaves up and gasped quietly when he saw a wallet like the ones he carried his BAU badge in. Pulling on a pair of gloves, Reid picked up the wallet and opened it to reveal a detectives badge spattered in blood. Their profile had suggested the man was in law enforcement or some type of government job, this proved it, he didn't know how they missed it but they had.

Flipping open his phone and calling Gideon, Reid stood up and brushed his slacks off as he read the name on the badge. Eyes widening when he saw the name on the badge he looked up to see the same detective who had given him a ride to the scene striding towards him, the man who's badge he was holding. Not even bothering to say hello or tell Gideon who he was when the older man answered his phone, Reid turned around and started running towards the street as he started to speak into the phone.

"The unsub is Gareth Mapner, the detective who's been driving us to the crime scene. I'm . . ."

Before he could finish his sentence and tell Gideon where he was, Reid heard a gunshot and felt a white-hot pain along his left shoulder causing him to drop the phone. Falling to his knees, hand going up to press his shoulder automatically, Reid turned his head sluggishly to face the angry face of detective Gareth. Listening to Gideon's frantic yelling on the cell phone, which was lying on the sidewalk, Reid closed his eyes as the butt of the gun in Gareth's hands met the side of his face and the whole world went black.

And I remember every word you said
Come back in time, come back
And I remember I would soon be dead
Now so pitiful, so pitiful

Everyone stared at Gideon as the older man started to yell urgently into his cell phone, calling to Reid desperately as he heard gunshots and the crackle of the phone being dropped to the ground. The BAU team ran towards their leader, each with identical looks of variegated shock, fear or concern at Gideon yelling their youngest teammate's name into the phone. Gideon pulled the phone away from his ear slowly, staring at it for a moment as if he didn't realize he was still holding the small piece of technology in his shaking hands. Looking up at the team, who were ringed about him waiting for Gideon to tell them what had gone wrong, Gideon closed the phone with a harsh snap.

"The unsub has Reid," Gideon stopped speaking with a snap of his teeth when the team seemed to explode into talking and rapid fire questions, "his name is Gareth Mapner."

The entire team turned around, en mass, when they heard a few of the cops gasp at the mention of that name. Before Gideon could say anything, Morgan was over a desk and the cop was backing up rapidly to avoid the older man. Aggression in every line of the darker mans body as he stared down at the nervous looking cop.

"How do you know this guy?"

"I-I . . ." The cop stared at his partner with fear in his eyes and avoided looking at Morgan as much as he could with the other man shoving his face into his own. Gideon stepped forward and yanked Morgan back by his arm, turning the other man around until he was facing away from the scared cop.

"Gareth Mapner is a detective in his office. We need to focus and find out all we can about this man, before he calls."

The entire team silenced at Gideon's words, they had already profiled this man, and they knew what his habits were. They all paled when the realized, Reid was the unsub's next victim, they all knew what happened to the victims this man picked up. Suddenly spurred into action they all moved off into different corners to get set for the unsub's first call. Morgan was bristling and snapping at everyone, his guilt at snapping at Reid earlier eating him up inside. Elle and JJ were quiet and frowning, upset that they hadn't listened to Reid more closely on this case when he had ideas for them to use. Hotcher was closed off, his arms crossed over his chest to ward off anyone who would even think about speaking with him. It was obvious he was feeling guilty that their youngest and most fragile appearing member should be the one who was kidnapped by the unsub. Gideon watched his team with a slow clenching feeling of malcontent. Reid had an eidetic memory; anything the unsub did to the youngest member of their group would stick with him in Technicolor clear picture until Reid died. It ate him up inside that the young man was kidnapped, none of them had paid enough attention to Reid's ideas so he had gone to the crime scene to find proof. Now Reid was in the clutches of a rapist and torturer vigilante who had a bone to pick with the BAU for stepping up the investigation.

The police office and the BAU team did not have long to wait for the first phone call, the phone rang an hour after Reid's desperate attempt at contacting Gideon. Gideon was the one who answered the phone, everyone crowded around the table that they had the tracing equipment set up to find where the caller was from.

"Hello Agent Gideon. Desperate to have your little boy back?"

Gideon clenched his hands into fists before speaking, watching as Morgan started to pace and Hotch frowned even harder. He could hear Gareth's harsh breathing over the phone and it took him a minute to remember his training and not get emotional.

"Hello Gareth. I need to speak with Spencer. May I speak with him Gareth?"

"Oh, you're good at this aren't you Agent Gideon. I'll let you talk to your boy. I'll let him tell you all the fun we've had since I found him all alone at the crime scene. Do you usually make him go places alone?"

Gideon clenched his teeth together and glared at Morgan in warning when the other man stepped forward as if to speak. Waiting for the other man to subside before speaking, Gideon cleared his throat and used his most soothing voice to speak with the unsub.

"I just want to speak with Spencer, Gareth."

Hotch leaned forward and pressed the button in front of Gideon that made the phone silent so that the unsub couldn't hear them speaking to each other while they waited for Reid.

"He keeps calling Reid, little boy, or your boy. I think he sees Reid as no threat, equating him with the teenage boys he usually victimizes."

Morgan snorted and crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at the phone as if he could kill the man on the other side with just a look. Elle was standing close to JJ and both women looked concerned and angry.

"He keeps trying to use the way we treat Reid as a way to guilt us into believing it was our fault he was able to kidnap Reid."

Gideon nodded at Hotch's words and pressed the flashing button to turn the phone back on when he heard soft breathing come on the line. Looking at the team in warning to keep silent, Gideon leaned forward and stared at the phone, hoping it would be Reid who answered.

"Gid-Gideon?"

Letting out a breath when it was Reid's voice on the phone, closing his eyes for a second at the pain in the younger man's voice, Gideon nodded and swallowed.

"It's me Reid. Are you hurt? Can you see where you are?"
Gideon frowned when he heard Gareth's voice on the line, as if the other man was speaking into Reid's ear.

"You tell them, pretty. You tell them all I've done to you. I know you want to, tell your daddy what we've done together."

Listening to the other man speak to Reid like that Gideon curled his hands into fists and looked up to see Morgan turning away and leaning his head against the wall, as if to tune out the conversation. Hotch's fingers were gripping the side of the table so tight his knuckles were white, and both women were glaring at the phone.

"I, I think I'm under ground in a basement or something. Like the basement at the Inn we went to the other day." Gideon cocked his head to the side at the stress Reid put on the word Inn and saw Morgan leap forward to write down the name of an Inn they had seen driving into town. Reid was giving them clues as to where he was, Gideon almost smiled at that, but frowned when he heard Gareth speaking again.

"Now, now pretty. You tell them what I've done to you, or I'll take that phone away."

Reid sucked in a shuddering breath and Gideon wanted to hit something, the sounds of pain the younger man was making were taking its toll on the entire team. Hearing all that had been done to the youngest of their team would break some of them from their tenuous control.

"He, he shot me in the shoulder and knocked me out by slamming the butt of the gun into my face. When I woke up I was tied to a metal bed frame with chicken wire, like the stuff they have at the farm down the road from Gubblers Inn." Gideon looked up at Morgan, who was writing furiously to keep up, Reid had given them another clue.

"Then he. . ."

Gideon strained forward when Reid stopped talking, he heard furious whispers that didn't belong to Reid before another voice picked up on the phone.

"˜It seems like your little boy doesn't want to tell you all the fun we've been having. So I'll tell you Agent Gideon."

The entire team blanched as Gareth proceeded to tell them in detail how he had raped Reid multiple times. How he had beat him and then raped him again, until the entire team couldn't bare it anymore.

"Seems like our time is up for today. I'll be speaking with you later I'm sure Agent Gideon."

"Wait, Gareth wait. Don't you want to talk about this some more Gareth? Spencer is a smart man. We all just want him back safe."

"Good bye."

Before Gareth hung up Gideon could hear Reid yelling something in the background, leaning forward he cursed when he realized what the younger man was yelling.

"It's a recording, it's a recording," Gideon repeated as the phone line went dead. "The trace won't do us any good, he recorded it all before using a payphone to lead us away from where he is."

Morgan slammed his fists down on one of the desks and cursed, standing up to call Garcia and tell her the name of the two Inn's Reid had mentioned to get any information on them. As well as the farm close by that Reid had mentioned during the chicken wire explanation.

Elle and JJ both started making plans to go back to the crime scene, maybe find what Reid had found and get some clues as to what had happened. That left Hotch and Gideon, both staring at the phone with intense expressions of anger.

"We have to find him Gideon." Hotch sat down next to Gideon and stared at his clenched hands as if to find the answers in his white knuckles and the tremors of rage running through them.

Gideon looked up, his face in it's usual blank yet intense stare. "I know."

But I know, as I hammered those nails into your beautiful hands
Your eyes still try to search for mine, but I look away
Now your eyes are the only thing that can save me
I'm still so afraid of them piercing
You're breaking into my prison,
Just pretended for a while
My soul is dying
I won't look away

Reid moaned as he opened his eyes, he couldn't tell what time of day it was nor how much time had passed since the first time he woke up in this basement. Tied to a disgusting bed with chicken wire acting as his bonds Reid was tired and hungry and in so much pain his brain couldn't process it. He figured he was going into shock, the loss of blood and the constant trauma his body and mental state were going through contributing to how slow time seemed to be crawling. He couldn't see and couldn't speak, his vision blocked by a blindfold and his speech blocked by a hateful rubber ball gag that seemed to amuse his kidnapper.

It must have been at least two days of captivity now, he couldn't tell, but his body told him that he had been tied to this bed for a long time. Cursing his eidetic memory Reid moaned and clenched his eyes shut underneath the blindfold as memories of what exactly his kidnapper had done to him came crashing over his psyche. He had tried talking to the unsub in the beginning, like he was sure Gideon or Hotch would have, but that had simply angered the other man and earned him the dreaded gag that now resided in his aching mouth. Unless the other man decided to gag him in another way. Reid retched at the idea and jerked at his shredded wrists futilely, ripping them against the chicken wire even as he tried to get free.

He thought about his mother, wondering if she was going to be able to handle losing him if he died down here. There was no one else to take care of her, just him, hopefully she would get the care she needed when he was gone. Jerking in fright when the blindfold was ripped from his eyes, Reid moaned in pain as his wrists and shoulder were jarred when the unsub yanked the gag out of his mouth.

"Time to say goodbye to your friends, pretty boy."

The unsub untied one of Reid's hands and shoved a telephone into his hand, the man was actually going to let him talk to the other's instead of a recording. In Reid's fogged mind he couldn't help but be relieved that he would be able to hear his only friend's voices before he died. Even if they weren't really his friends at all, he could ask Gideon to take care of his mother. Blinking as the phone started to ring Reid didn't even remember typing in Gideon's cell phone number until Gideon answered curtly.

"Gideon."

The sound of the older man's voice at once brought him focus and spun Reid off into his own mind, he wondered if this was what his mother felt like when she was having her episodes.

"Who is this!"

The angry sound of Gideon's voice spurred him into action and Reid coughed before speaking, his throat raspy and dry from the abuse it had suffered.

"It's me, Gideon."

Reid could hear the sound of squealing tires and cursing on the other end as the unsub yanked the phone away from him and put himself on the line. The sound of Gideon yelling for him, not yet realizing the phone had been taken away from Reid, kept him from floating back into the hazy place he had been to escape the pain.

"Hello Agent Gideon. I've decided to let you speak with your little boy once last time. Honestly I'm disappointed in you for not finding him. I see why you kept him around though, he is very sweet once you silence that mouth of his."

He could tell Gideon's control had snapped when the older man started to curse at the unsub, he'd never heard Gideon lose control before. Maybe the older man was simply unhappy that he couldn't solve the case, it didn't occur to him that Gideon would be frantic with worry over Reid. Clumsily clutching the phone when it was shoved back at him, Reid coughed again before speaking.

"Is the team with you Gideon?"

"Yes, Reid they're all here. We'll find you."

Reid closed his eyes in pain at the words, full of false hope, and shook his head as the statistics of them finding him alive rolled of his tongue and into the phone to reach Gideon's ears.

"Reid, please . . ."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go off into one of my ramblings. I have to say goodbye." Before he could finish Gideon was yelling into the phone, Reid's breathe rattled in his chest and he coughed again as he waited for Gideon to stop yelling. "Please, it's important. Can I talk with JJ?"

Reid waited as he heard the shuffling of movement and the soft breaths that he equated with JJ.

"Reid?"

"Hi JJ. I wanted to tell you that even though our date didn't go very well, I really think of you as a friend. Thank you for being there for me."

He could tell she was crying, her soft breaths had a hitching sound in it as she mumbled how much she cared for him, and that they would find him in time. Reid shook his head painfully and licked his lips once she stopped speaking.

"Can I speak with Elle now?"

"O-okay Reid."

While he waited for Elle to answer Reid looked around the basement which was his prison, he couldn't help but wish that this wasn't the way he was going to die. But the statistics in his head were not helpful and his chess board was all out of spaces, even thinking outside of the box.

"Reid. It's me."

"Hello Elle. You are like the sister I never had growing up, I wanted to thank you for letting me feel how it was to have a family. Thank you for caring about me, don't think you've failed me in anyway."

"Oh, Reid. You are like a brother to me, I can't stand that this is happening. We'll find you and then you can beat me at cards again okay?"

Reid shook his head, he could tell she had started to cry as well, he knew she would hate to cry in front of Morgan.

"It's okay Elle. Let me talk to Morgan."

The shuffling of the phone was faster this time, like she was sitting directly next to Morgan and he had yanked the phone from her.

"Hey genius. Don't worry we'll find you and I'll kill the mother fucker for you."

Reid chuckled weakly and coughed, wincing as the unsub started to run his hands up Reid's thighs and pinch harshly at his skin.

"Morgan, remember what you are always telling me? That I'm always right? Listen to me on this okay?"

"Shit Reid . . . I . . ."

"Just listen. I've never had a friend like you and I regret that we didn't get to do the things I wanted because I was to awkward to talk about them with you. I'm sorry that I made you so crazy, but I'll never regret knowing you. Don't beat yourself up for this alright?"

"We'll find you in time Reid. Just stop okay? We'll find you."

"I'm always right Morgan. Now give the phone to Hotch."

Morgan sounded choked up, but he knew the other man wouldn't cry, it just wasn't the way Morgan was. Listening as the phone was practically thrown, the whistle of air and the tiny thud as it landed against something telling him of Morgan's anger, Reid coughed again.

"Reid."

"Hey Hotch. Take care of Morgan for me huh? He can't handle his ego sometimes without me."

The sound of Hotch's strangled laughter made it easier to bear the hands wandering over his chest and stomach, the stinging bite of metal as the unsub did things that Reid tried to ignore.

"Thank you for being my mentor Hotch. You don't know how much it means to me that you took the time to be there for me and teach me things. I'll always think of you as my teacher and friend."

"Jesus Reid. We'll find you, just hang on a little longer okay?"

Reid gasped and choked as the unsub twisted and pinched at a sensitive part of his anatomy and he almost dropped the phone before he was able to hold still once more.

"Reid? What's happening Reid?"

"Just take care of the others for me, please. Please, I need to talk to Gideon."

His stomach was clenching and cramping as Reid clenched all of his muscles in a futile attempt to get away from his molester, if only he could just escape what was happening to him. Reid longed to find a nice place in his head, to escape into a fantasy where he wasn't being hurt. Safe behind his facts and statistics he couldn't feel what the unsub was doing to his body, the pain that was being continuously inflicted upon him would go away.

"Reid!"

Jerking with a whine in the back of his throat, wondering how long Gideon had been yelling his name. Reid blinked and swallowed before he could speak, ignoring the unsub's laughter at his plight.

"Gideon, I need you to take care of my mother."

"Reid, Reid, please."

"Don't tell me you'll find me in time. Jason," Reid closed his eyes when Gideon made a strangled sound at his use of the older man's first name.

"Spencer."

"She's schizophrenic, no one else can take care of her once I'm gone. I need you to promise me you'll take care of her as well as you take care of me."

"Jesus Spencer. "

"Promise!"

"I promise. Just hold on Spencer."

Coughing and whimpering as the unsub slapped at his skin and pulled the phone away, Reid rolled his eyes back and closed his eyes. He didn't want to see anymore, didn't want to hear anymore of what was going on around him. The mumbled sound of the unsub saying whatever it was he was saying to Gideon was slowly fading away as Reid simply let go of his consciousness.

And I remember every word you said...

"Reid. Come on Reid, wake up."

Reid hurt everywhere, his skin felt like it was on fire and all he wanted to do was slip back into the blackness that had cushioned him so peacefully. The voices around him were not enough to pull him out of his mental safety and he prepared to slip away.

"Come on genius. Come back."

"Spencer."

At the sound of the two men who were very important to him in life, the two men who he felt the safest with, Reid couldn't run away from them. The beeping of machines and the soft rustle of sheets slowly filtered into his pain and drug fogged brain as he spoke. Voice raspy and painful, Reid coughed a few times before he could speak, even quietly.

"Gideon? Morgan..."

"He's awake! Come on genius, open your eyes."

Coughing, Reid slowly opened his eyes and winced at how bright the room was. Morgan and Gideon stood on his right side, Hotch, Elle, JJ, and Garcia on the other side, all of them looked relieved and concerned at the same time. Looking around he recognized a hospital room, he wondered how he'd gotten there and the look of confusion must have shown on his face because Morgan smiled tentatively.

"We burst in just as he was- he was about to kill you. That cell phone call led us right to you."

Reid nodded in understanding, closing his eyes as his memory provided him with reminders of what exactly he had wanted to slip away from. He didn't remember anything but listening to the others speak he knew that for some part of it he had been awake. Reid understood that his mind was probably hiding some of his experiences from him, due to the stress he had endured.

"I don't remember."

Keeping his eyes closed tightly, head aching as he tried to remember and at the same time suppress the memories cascading into his brain from the horrifying ordeal. Reid heard shuffling and felt hands pressing gently on his own as the door opened and closed. When he opened his eyes again the only people in the room were Morgan and Gideon.

"I'm glad you're alive, genius."

Reid tried to smile at Morgan, startled when the older man leaned over him and hugged him gently. Lifting his arm as best he could, Reid clutched at Morgan's shoulder for a moment, shocked at the strangled sob he heard the older man stifle quickly and his shaking shoulders. He squeaked slightly when Morgan pressed his face against Reid's neck and inhaled deeply, his tears wetting his throat and surprising him deeply. It moved something in him to see such a strong man reduced to tears over him, his control snapped by the thought of losing Reid, it was unimaginable.

"Morgan..."

"No, I'll see you later."

Watching as Morgan pulled away and wiped at his eyes as he hurriedly walked out of the room, Reid turned his head painfully slowly to look at Gideon.

"Is he going to be okay?"

Gideon's strangled laugh made Reid blink, the tears in the corners of the older man's eyes surprised him twice in one night. Why was everyone so upset? He had never seen Morgan so overcome, and he had never seen Gideon so close to tears before. He couldn't comprehend that the people he had thought so annoyed with his presence really cared so deeply about him. Reid was almost brought to tears himself by the thought of the emotion which had been evoked in the team by his plight. He was simply too exhausted to react completely.

"Gideon?"

"We thought we'd lost you Reid. It's hard to handle."

Flinching minutely when Gideon touched his cheek, subsiding slightly when he had convinced he was safe with the older man, Reid looked at him wide eyed.

"I'm okay now. You saved me."

Gideon laughed again and leaned down to gently kiss Reid on the forehead, a single tear sliding down his cheek and landing on the younger man's skin.

"Yeah. We saved you."


I'll remember every word you said
This time I won't look away

***

Next story in series - Ask.