Resident Genius 2.0 (Spencer Reid)

38. On the clock- AJ + Team

AJ
I raced back to Quantico, getting to the FBI building as fast as I could. As I guessed, the team had come back to Quantico as well.

Standing in the BAU's bullpen, my left hand played with the VISITOR badge on my jacket, while my right hand straightened out my clothes, something that I did whenever I was nervous. I stopped playing with my clothes when I saw Morgan, JJ, Emily and Hotch walk out of the elevator, Rossi not far behind them.

We all hurriedly walked up to the conference room, Hotch stopping at his office on the way.

"How are you feeling, AJ? You want coffee, water maybe?" Morgan offered as JJ gave me a hug.

"I'm feeling like shit, Morgan. Spencer, my ex-boyfriend who murdered three people, found me and my kids. He took them and could be anywhere by now!" I snapped, feeling overwhelmed.

"I- I'm so sorry, Morgan. I'm not angry at you - any of you I just- I want my kids back." I exhaled, rubbing my forehead.

"Hotch, what's that?" Garcia drew attention to the object in Hotch's hand as he walked into the conference room.

"I don't know." He shook his head as he sat down, opening the envelope. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he felt a small phone fall into his hands.

"Garcia?" He handed the phone to Garcia, who hurriedly connected the phone to the screen, pulling up the recording. My heart dropped when I saw Bailey trapped to a chair, her eyes red from crying and her cheeks puffy. The recording started, and as much as I wanted to look away, I couldn't.

Bailey sat on the chair, tied up. She spat the cloth out of her mouth.

"W- Why...why are you d- doing this to me?!" She screamed, letting more and more tears slip down her cheeks.

"Smile." I heard Spencer's gravelly voice as he spoke.

"AJ! PENELOPE! SOMEONE HELP ME!" She screamed out before Spencer hit her head, knocking her out before putting the cloth back into her mouth.

Once she was silent, the recording stopped.

"AJ, are you okay? You look pale..." Emily worriedly looked at me. I could feel the contents of my stomach begging to come up. Knowing that I wasn't going to make it to the bathroom, I stood up and quickly identified a nearby trash-can, bending over it. I let all of my stomach contents out, leaning back once I knew I was done.

"Okay, if you're up to it, can you try and identify where they could be?" Hotch asked as he helped me to my seat.

Nodding, Garcia played the recording but sped past what wasn't necessary to look at.

"Stop! The wall behind her. It's a white wall. If I'm right, there should be a small patch of grey from when her chair accidentally hit the wall." I looked up and close at the recording, Garcia zooming in.

"There! Right there!" I pointed to the scuff mark on the wall, gasping.

"Where are they, AJ?" Rossi asked as I felt sic again.

"They're at Bailey's apartment." I held the nausea down.

"Okay. It's nearly dark out, so if we want to bring Spencer in, we have to do it now." Hotch instructed as we all stood up.

"AJ, stay here with Garcia." Hotch looked down at me.

"No. He's got my kids." I refused to stay back and watch. If he wanted me, he was going to get me.

The team and I suited up. Was wearing an FBI bullet-proof vest the best idea when I wasn't an agent? No, but I need to help.

———

Within the hour, we stood outside Bailey's apartment, each of us having a gun in our hands. I put the earwig in my ear and listened for instructions.

"We clear on the plan? AJ will lure Spencer away from the kids and Bailey. While she's distracting him, the rest of us will go and get the hostages. Once they're safely out, AJ will lure Spencer out int the open, where we can then arrest him. But, remember that we're on the clock." Hotch instructed as I handed my gun to Morgan, who nodded, taking it.