SPENCER - spencer reid

T W E L V E

CHAPTER 12: BUT REID'S NEVER LATE...

The Next Morning

[January 27th, 2010]

Agents Hotchner, Rossi, Prentiss, Jareau, and Morgan stand and sit in the conference room. They glance at each other and their watches, impatiently awaiting the arrival of their youngest colleague, Dr. Spencer Reid.

The young agent's reputation of always being on time to work tips from perfect to tainted as the hour hand lands squarely over the 7 of the clock hanging near the door.

"But Reid's never late..." Prentiss mulls, tilting her head to the side to rest in her hand, elbow firmly on the table before her.

"I'm calling him now." Derek says, raising his phone to his ear, crossing his free arm over his torso comfortably.

After a few moments, the chiseled features of the man's face drop into a slight frown, his eyebrows dipping in confusion and worry.

"What is it, Derek?" Hotch asks, noticing the change of expression.

"No answer." Morgan replies, glaring at the screen of his phone before letting it clatter onto the table.

"Maybe he slept in?" Rossi suggests, but he knows that it isn't the case.

"This is Spencer Reid we're talking about, Rossi." is Derek's completely valid response.

"He could be sick?" JJ offers, but her voice gives away that she doesn't believe that either.

"He always calls if he can't come in." Prentiss says, latching her teeth around the corner of her bottom lip as concern plagues her usually smooth and calm features.

"I'm going to check on him." Derek stands up, grabbing his coat from the back of his chair and tucking his cellphone into the pocket.

"We'll all swing by there on the way to Alleyville," Hotchner takes control of the situation, referring to the area of town where the homeless population had been most affected by the UNSUB. "We'll see what's going on with him and then hopefully find some more leads concerning our case."

In under 20 minutes, the team pulls up to Dr. Reid's apartment complex, looking up to his level only to see his door hanging open. The tenants in the neighboring apartments are not yet awake, so there was nobody to notice the young man's apartment door had been left open during his struggle to escape from Mr. Greenwood.

Derek curses loudly, throwing the SUV that he and Prentiss were riding in into park before practically flying out of the vehicle and bounding up the stairs. With Prentiss and Hotch hot on his heels and JJ and Rossi just behind them, Derek draws his weapon and enters the apartment.

The first thing that the agents notice is the small pool of blood on the floor just over the threshold, following the trail up he doorframe to where Spencer's attacker had bashed his head. The second thing that they notice is Spencer's gun lying on the floor, glinting in the morning sunlight pouring through the open doorway.

"Call Garcia," Hotch demands, the thought of Reid being attacked in his apartment reminding him of his own encounters with previous UNSUB George Foyet. "Tell her to tap into this apartment complex's security cameras including their parking lot cams."

"I'm on it," JJ says, grabbing her phone and carefully stepping over the puddle of Spencer's cold, coagulated blood on the floor and trying to remain calm. "I'll get forensics down here while I'm at it."

Hotch nods his approval, holstering his weapon and briefly resting his hand on Morgan's shoulder. Derek's tense body slightly relaxes - but not by much - as he lowers his gun.

"We w-" Rossi begins to speak, but he is cut off when a phone begins to ring in the house.

Hotchner traces the sound to the corner of the entrance, seeing Spencer's satchel resting sloppily against the wall. He approaches the bag, unlatching it and retrieving Reid's cellphone.

He looks down, seeing Rosemary's name and a photo of her and Spencer taken by Garcia on Christmas Eve flashing on the screen, the cheerful expressions on their faces making Aaron cringe as their smiles seem foreign and almost sinful in the weak morning light.