Twisted Vengeance

Command

"He's not going alone. I'm not risking one of our best agents to catch Elle. We all know what happened last time he went in alone, and we are not letting that happen again. Elle's unpredictable. She probably wants to lure him in to kill him and then herself. There's no guarantee she'll keep her word." Hotch's voice spoke before anyone else got the chance to.

"Hotch, we all know that's ridiculous. Reid should be able to decide if he wants to go in or not. You really want to let an unsub get away. I want to protect Reid as much as anyone, but we have to play our cards right. We might have to give her what she wants from us." Morgan defended Reid. After all, Reid could decide for himself. Yet no one was asking Reid what he wanted.

"I agree with Hotch. I don't want Spence getting hurt by Elle. I know we used to trust Elle, but she was capable of this." JJ pointed to Emily.

"Glad I could help," Emily said, and pretty cheerfully, too for someone currently in the hospital for being shot.

JJ looked at her girlfriend and turned her attention back to the rest of the team. "I'm just saying, Elle is as bad as any unsub we've ever faced. It doesn't help that she has this weird vengeance, obsession thing with you, Reid."

"Well, JJ, I'm just saying that maybe you aren't always right. I don't understand why you won't let me make the decisions about my own self. Elle wanted me. Who else has to die before you understand that I don't care about my own life enough to risk someone else's. Better me than any or all of you." Spencer's anger rose.

Rossi spoke up. "I don't know this Elle, but she doesn't sound that bad. Reid, it doesn't make sense for you to go in alone. What could she possibly have planned?"

"Well, she shot me and I didn't know her either. I'd say she's pretty unpredictable for an unsub because again..." Emily gestured to herself. "I'm shot. And no one really saw that coming. We wouldn't even know who she was if she didn't want us to. She could have a plan to wipe us all out, and we wouldn't be able to do much about that. Even if we did send Reid, who's saying she would stop. We all thought she'd stop after me."

"Guys, stop arguing. Spencer is old enough to decide if he wants to do this or not. I knew Elle, and I was close with her. The Fisher King hacked my computer, and that's why she got shot in the first place. I think I know Elle well enough to say that she's not gonna shoot, Reid."

The team stared at Garcia, as though waiting for her to finish her sentence. "Well, I'm not a profiler, but she seems as though she's in love with Spencer. I know most stalkers tend to kill their victims and then themselves, but Elle doesn't profile like that. I really think Spencer would be ok if he went in."

"When I told Elle about Reid and Tobias Hankel, she seemed to be genuinely upset. It wouldn't be out of the cards for her to turn around and save Reid. Garcia, you're right. We need to send Reid in." Emily's perspective had apparently changed with Gracia's reassurance on the touchy subject.

"Thanks, Emily. Now, will you guys please let me do this? I think I'm the only one who's going to be able to stop her. She could escape, but instead, she's turning herself in. We have to give her what she wants."

Hotch pursed his lips and stared at the wall before finally answering. "Fine." His answer was basic and only one word, but it meant a lot to the team. Because now they could catch the woman that had caused them so much pain.

They drove in the vans again, hardly having gotten any sleep in the past days. After driving for only four minutes, they saw the warehouse Elle must have been talking about. A rickety warehouse lay in the distance, obviously, the one Elle had been talking about.

Spencer got out of the car, his hair blowing in the slight wind that was swirling. It was everything you'd see at the start of a horror movie, including the serial killer waiting behind the closed doors. It was their own personal hell.

Spencer took a flashlight and pushed open the doors. "I'm going to end this. If you hear shots, come in for backup. I'll see you when I'm out." The question looming in everyone's head was the same. Was he really going to be back, or would Elle kill him before he got the chance to see them again?

Reid examined the first floor, peering at the brown walls that were half to shambled. The only thing there was a dead rat in the corner, some peeling wallpaper, and a set of stairs. Deserted boxes from whatever company that was there before remained strewn around like their final goodbyes.

Reid stepped up the stairs, creaks coming from the steps, threatening to drop him. It was like a barn, almost, but not quite. The stairs led to a second floor, a landing with the same nothingness before. The only thing different was the cardboard sign with words that couldn't be read. This seemed like a place that kids would hang out. If he ever really got a childhood he would have hung out here.

Reid climbed the final stairs before seeing a woman standing there, a mere silhouette, though he knew exactly who it was. Elle. "Hi, Spencer. It's been a while. I bet we have a lot of things we could talk about.

Author's Note:

Elle's finally having another face-to-face interaction with a team member. I hope you enjoy this chapter, as it was really fun to write. Poor Reid barely got a break. The time frame in this is the season 4 finale, so Reid just had an anthrax attack last episode... This story makes me feel even worse for Reid. Maybe I should have been a little nicer to him in this story.