The Shadows We Dance With

ch16: The Longest Night

The atmosphere in the precinct had shifted from one of concern to one of palpable dread as the hours ticked by with no sign of Spencer Reid. Initially, the team had given him space, understanding his need to process whatever was troubling him. But as minutes turned into hours, the tension in the room grew heavier, each agent silently battling their own worst fears.

Hotch sat at the head of the table, his eyes fixed on the door, willing it to open with Reid's familiar lanky frame. But it remained stubbornly shut. Across from him, Morgan paced restlessly, his usual calm replaced by a simmering anxiety that he couldn't shake. JJ sat with her hands clasped tightly in her lap, her knuckles white, while Garcia typed frantically on her laptop, searching for any sign of Spencer's whereabouts. Prentiss and Rossi were quiet, their expressions grim as they exchanged concerned glances.

Another hour passed, and then another, each one feeling like a lifetime. By the time four hours had come and gone, the team could no longer sit idly by, their worst fears gnawing at the edges of their thoughts.

"I can't just sit here anymore," Morgan finally snapped, breaking the heavy silence. "Something's wrong. We need to find him."

Hotch nodded, his face a mask of controlled worry. "Agreed. We've given him enough time. We need to start searching."

Without another word, the team gathered their things and headed out into the night, the bustling chaos of Las Vegas a sharp contrast to the gnawing fear they carried with them. The city was alive with lights and sounds, partygoers thronged the streets, and the steady flow of traffic created a cacophony that only heightened their sense of urgency. But the vibrant atmosphere was lost on the team; their focus was singular, their mission clear: find Spencer.

They split up, each agent taking a different part of the Strip, asking anyone and everyone if they had seen a young man matching Spencer's description. Morgan approached bouncers and doormen, showing them a picture of Reid on his phone, while JJ and Prentiss spoke to groups of partygoers and pedestrians. Garcia, with her usual flair for connecting with people, chatted up taxi drivers, hoping one of them had given Spencer a ride.

But every inquiry was met with the same answer: a shake of the head, a sympathetic but unhelpful "Sorry, haven't seen him."

As the night wore on, their desperation grew. Each dead end felt like a punch to the gut, and the team's hope began to dwindle. The fear that something terrible had happened to Spencer loomed larger with each passing minute.

Then, as Prentiss questioned a group of people waiting in line for a club, a man nearby overheard her. He turned, curiosity piqued by the description she was giving.

"Excuse me," he interrupted, his tone cautious. "Are you looking for someone? A guy with longish hair, looks kinda young?"

Prentiss's heart leapt into her throat. "Yes, that's exactly who we're looking for. Did you see him?"

The man nodded slowly. "Yeah, he bumped into me a few hours ago. Looked like he was in a hurry. I saw him duck into an alley near that bar over there." He pointed down the street to a neon-lit establishment, the sign above it glowing brightly in the night.

Prentiss's breath caught. "Did you see where he went after that?"

The man shook his head. "No, I didn't. I went into a different bar. But he definitely went into that alley."

Prentiss nodded, her heart pounding in her chest. "Thank you," she said quickly, her hand already on her earpiece. "Team, I've got something. A witness saw Reid go into an alley near a bar down the street. I'm sending you the location now."

The team converged on the alley within minutes, their hearts heavy with the grim knowledge that whatever they found here would likely confirm their worst fears. The alley was dark and narrow, lined with dumpsters and shadowed by the towering buildings on either side. It was the perfect place for someone to disappear.

"Spread out," Hotch ordered, his voice tense. "Check every corner, every inch."

They moved methodically, shining their flashlights into every dark crevice, searching for any sign of their missing teammate. The air was thick with the stench of garbage and the faint smell of urine, but they pushed through it, driven by the need to find Spencer.

After several minutes of fruitless searching, Rossi, who had been scouring the area near one of the dumpsters, suddenly froze. His flashlight caught a glint of something metallic on the ground, partially obscured by a crumpled piece of newspaper. He squatted down, pulling a glove from his pocket, and carefully picked up the object.

It was a pocket watch, old and ornate, with a brass chain attached. Rossi recognized it instantly, as did the rest of the team when they gathered around him.

"Is that...?" JJ's voice trembled, her face pale.

Rossi nodded grimly, holding up the watch for the others to see. "It's Spencer's."

They had teased him about it before, the way he always carried it with him, a reminder of his eccentricities. Now, that same pocket watch was a symbol of something far more sinister.

"No," JJ whispered, shaking her head in denial. "He could have just dropped it. It doesn't mean..."

But the words died on her lips, the reality of the situation settling over them like a dark cloud. Spencer hadn't just dropped his watch. He had been taken, and the unsub they were hunting was responsible.

Morgan clenched his fists, his jaw tight with anger and fear. "We need to find him. Now."

Hotch, his face ashen, nodded. "Garcia, get into the city's traffic cameras. I want every angle of this street, every feed you can find. We're going to track him down, and we're going to bring him back."

Garcia's voice crackled over the comms, her usual bubbly demeanor replaced by a hard edge of determination. "I'm on it, Boss. I'm going to find him."

As the team steeled themselves for the search ahead, the pocket watch dangled from Rossi's gloved fingers, a chilling reminder of how close they were to losing one of their own.

And somewhere in the darkness of Las Vegas, Spencer Reid was fighting for his life.

The longest night of their lives had just begun.