forever and always [ spencer reid x reader]

XXVI - the woods

I get into the SUV: Morgan is driving, Strauss is sitting in the seat next to him; me, Reid and Garcia are behind. Garcia stands between Reid and me and quickly pulls out her laptop and holds it on her lap. As soon as she opens the laptop she starts moving her fingers rapidly across the keyboard. I tilt my neck to see on her screen and see a large map zoom in. She explains to me that we are the flashing blue dot moving north, while the yellow dot, a little ahead of us, is Hotch's team.

"this would be where we need to get to, where we'll find Gideon" Garcia continues explaining to me the position, pointing to the destination on the screen with her finger.

"Derek, could you go a little faster? at this rate Jason will already be on the ground dying" today is not exactly the day for Strauss, I understand that Gideon's life is at stake, but we have two different teams, they will arrive first, and then we don't have the certainty that the hitmen could strike right now, or tonight, or maybe they already did it days ago, or even months.

"ma'am, I can't go any faster than that, then we have two different teams-" Morgan says to Strauss.

"I don't care how many team we have, turn on the sirens and make yourself respected by these people. it's an order Agent Morgan." she continues.
Derek rolls his eyes, then he hits a button on the top and sets off the police sirens. He accelerates and overtakes all cars in front of us. Garcia's map says we're getting closer and closer to Hotch's team. Suddenly a phone rings.

"it's me, Hotch, I can see you're behind us. I didn't call you just to say that you have joined us, but that at the next exit you will turn right while we will continue straight, you will arrive before us. Then once there, Erin will split you up and you'll check the surrounding area. Is everything clear?" Hotch tells us on the phone. We nod and answer with a rather confident yes.

"good luck" and he hangs up.

it's almost evening, the journey lasted more than 3 hours, counting several stops to eat and change the guide. Strauss doesn't even look human, she didn't get out of the car for a second, not even to eat. JJ is right: if you look at her from the front, she doesn't even look human. Erin says it's a waste of time to eat and that Jason is already dead; after all the times she had told us, Reid was about to lose his temper and wanted to leave her in the middle of the highway.

the sun is setting and the car is on a dark lane in the middle of the woods. we have very tall trees around us and we often hear the sounds of strange animals. The map says to continue a little further and go straight into a patch of grass where there is a house. Morgan parks as soon as those immense rows of trees are finished. Strauss gets out first and runs for the house, without drawing his gun, which is unwise since anyone could be around, even wild animals. We get out of the car quickly, except for Garcia who stays to check the position of the others, since they should have been here a long time ago. I draw my pistol and protect Strauss' shoulders as I look around.

Reid stays to make sure no one approaches the car as I follow Morgan and Strauss.

"I'll take care of it here you go to Reid and Garcia" Morgan says stopping me and putting a hand on my shoulder. I nod and see him running towards the house which is a bit away from where we parked. I run back to Spencer and Penelope and I explain that Morgan and Erin will go into the house to check on Gideon's health.

suddenly from the headphone Strauss instructs me and Reid to walk around the block, checking that no one is there, and adding that the others are coming.

"what about Garcia? we can't leave her here all alone" Reid says.

"Agent Reid, it's an order, the others are coming, but first you two go check around the block, even in the woods if it's necessary" Strauss continues.

"you know what ma'am? that if Jason waits for us at this rate he'll already be on the ground dying, and that she could do it around the block too since I see trees and leaves and grass all around me. Oh and by the way it's Dr. Reid."
Reid takes the headphone and throws it on the floor. Then he asks me to call Emily or Hotch and ask to check Garcia. I don't even have time to pick up the phone, when Rossi comes running from the wood where we had entered by car.

"you can go, I'll stay with Penelope and the others are going to check other houses in this big area" Rossi says.

We start running towards the trees, then we go into the woods, probably after just two minutes we got lost but we didn't realize it since we were talking.

"do you know what time it is?" he asks to me

"almost 8:30pm, and it's totally dark in here." I reply looking around me.

"Do you think we'll find Gideon? Do you think he's really in danger?" Spencer asks.

"I don't know and I hope he's not in danger but that names, they must mean something" I continue.

"maybe you're just stressed, that makes you come up with these theories" he explains.

"I don't think it's just theories or nightmares but after all there must always be a connection under all this." I say.

"maybe you're right." He nods and we continue walking in the woods, checking if there's anybody here.

*CRACK*

"did you hear that noise?" I ask.

"what noise?" Spencer replies.

*FOOTSTEPS AND BREAKING BRANCHES*

"did you hear it?" I say. He nods and draws his gun. I do the same.

"put your back against mine, I continue forward you check behind my back and I check yours." I do what Spencer tells me to do.

After a couple of minutes we officially realize that we are lost. So I try to activate my phone, have Garcia guide me, when suddenly, as I'm trying to pick up the phone, there's a huge explosion in the distance and I see shades of orange and red fading into the night sky.

maybe there really was someone in the woods with us...