Façade//Spencer Reid

39. False sense of security

Spencer was released from the hospital around 3 weeks after he was shot. Y/N and Carter helped him out a lot, but remained in their own home to allow privacy for Spencer.

Deep down, Spencer wished that he and Y/N lived together. They had been dating for 7 months now and they had already said 'I love you' to each other. Spencer knew that the next logical step would be moving in together. Although he understood why he and Y/N hadn't yet talked about it. With the mystery person still unidentified, Y/N and Carter's safety was top priority and he hadn't really been able to talk to Y/N. It didn't help that the threatening messages, taunts and weird gifts stopped. The unidentified person hadn't made any contact in 6 months, which was both a good and bad thing. Good, because Y/N could try and go about normal life. Bad, because no one had any idea when the mystery person would strike next.

At first, Strauss denied Hotch's request for the investigation about who was targeting Y/N to be top priority. Because no murders had been committed, she found no reason for Y/N's investigation to be prioritised.

Hotch then spent an hour in a meeting with Strauss. He first explained that the BAU team once took a case that didn't involve bodies, but was taken because the woman involved - Keri Derzmond - had moved from her original home and the unsub followed her. The unsub also escalated his behaviour by taking Keri's dog and sending her gifts.

He then went on to describe everything the team knew about Y/N's 'stalker'. He told her everything necessary about Y/N's history and how this stalker would be someone apart of Marco's list of associates.

"Strauss, I wouldn't be asking you this if I thought it wasn't top priority." Hotch insisted as he stood opposite Strauss, who crossed her arms.

"I cannot allow the team to abandon other cases just to focus on one woman and her son's safety. I would allow you to work on her case alongside other actual cases, but what you're asking for isn't necessary." Strauss argued.

"With all due respect, we believe that the person who's been threatening Y/N and Carter may have infiltrated the FBI in order to gain power over them. This person has been able to access the security cameras inside the BAU conference room which is only accessible by FBI personnel." Hotch argued.

"Do you really believe that this person is a threat to the security of the FBI?" Strauss exhaled.

"Yes. Y/N is now associated with the BAU, so we have to assume that if this person is targeting her, they'll also target us." Hotch nodded.

"I'm giving you and the team a month. That's all I can give you before other cases will be top priority." Strauss warned.

"Alright." Hotch exhaled, understanding. He left Strauss' office.

———

Y/N was on her way to her car during her lunch break when her day suddenly turned south. When she said goodbye to Spencer and dropped Carter off at school, Y/N could feel someone watching her. Everywhere she went, she felt as if someone was around the corner.

Work was boring and Y/N felt safe for a few hours, being surrounded by people.

It was when she walked to her car that the feeling of being watched turned out to be more than true. She felt eyes on her as she unlocked her car. Turning around, she was met with a figure in all black. Their face was covered and any hair was unseeable. Y/N had no idea if the person was a man or a woman, considering the black outfit was mostly baggy clothes, making it difficult to figure out gender. Without warning, a cloth was shoved against her face, stopping her from making any noise. As Y/N lost consciousness, she thought about leaving anything behind - her wallet, her keys, her phone, anything to help identify her when someone came looking. Unfortunately for Y/N, she was shoved in the trunk of her own car, with ropes around her wrists and ankles, as well as a piece of tape covering her mouth.

———

3:30 PM came and went, Carter not seeing any sign of his mom. At 4:00, he checked his watch, thinking that maybe his mom had gotten stuck in traffic. It wasn't until 4:45, that the school receptionist - Miss Bertram came outside and saw Carter sitting on the school steps, eating a banana. She pulled him inside and sat him down, dialling Y/N's number. When she didn't pick up, she searched Carter's file for another number, finding a number belonging to Dr. Spencer Reid.

Spencer sat in Penelope's lair, trying to find any information on who could've been targeting Y/N through the site that Y/N gave Penelope access to. The site held at least over 1000 names of men and women who work or worked for Marco.

When Spencer's phone buzzed, he saw the unknown number, but answered anyway.

"Hello?" Spencer put his phone to his ear, curious.

"Hello. Is this Dr. Reid, one of Carter Y/L/N's emergency contacts?" A woman asked.

"This is he." Spencer confirmed.

"I'm Susan Bertram, the school's receptionist. I was just calling to let you know that Carter hasn't yet been picked up by his mom. It's 4:47 now and school let out at 3:15." Miss Bertram explained.

"Oh, okay. Have you tried calling her? She might be at work still, or on her way there." Spencer asked.

"I have called her, but it went to voicemail." Miss Bertram exhaled.

"No worries. I'll be there to collect him in 15 minutes." Spencer noted before ending the call, confused.

"Everything alright?" Penelope asked as she stopped typing.

"Carter wasn't picked up from school. The receptionist tried calling Y/N, but her phone went to voicemail. I'm gonna go and pick him up now. Can you pinpoint Y/N's location by her phone while I'm out, please?" Spencer asked.

"We'll get her location asap." Penelope nodded as Spencer left her lair, heading to go and pick up Carter.

Spencer called Y/N 3 times on his way to pick Carter up, and again 2 more times on his way back to the BAU office. He was 5 minutes away when he felt his phone buzzing. He smiled, thinking that maybe Y/N was returning his calls, but his face dropped when it was Penelope calling.

"What's her location, Garcia?" Spencer asked, answering the call.

"Here's the thing. I tried tracking her phone, but it's either dead or turned off. We both know she'd never let her phone die." Penelope explained, clearly worried.

"She'd put her phone on silent, sure, but she'd never turn it off...for any reason." Spencer tried to keep himself calm while Carter was around.

"Does this mean what I think it means?" Penelope started panicking.

"She's been kidnapped. Most likely by whoever was threatening her." Spencer nodded. He felt his eyes tearing up. Y/N, the love of his life and Carter's mother, was taken. She was God-knows-where and the team had no leads as to who was threatening her, so they wouldn't be able to find her before anything happened.

"How far away?" Penelope asked.

"I'm about to pull into the parking lot." Spencer exhaled.

"Alright. I'll gather the team and get JJ to bring Will and the boys. The last thing we need is Carter finding out his mom was taken." Penelope confirmed.

"He'll see that something's off eventually. But you're right. We need to distract him as much as possible." Spencer agreed before ending the call.