spencer reid's daughter

five

Colette counted with Tate in her head until reaching thirty, and still unable to find a hiding spot. She stumbled down the hallway, her fingertips running against the textured walls as she searched for a place to hide. From behind, she heard Tate whistle a taunting tune as he descended from the stairs.

Colette locked eyes on an halfway open vent, large enough for her to crawl though. She kneeled down and began to climb into the dusty vent, sitting as far back as she could with the vent door closed back to its original state. She was always the best at hide-and-go-seek.

Tate disappeared for five minutes before Colette eventually heard his footsteps getting closer from down the hallway. Colette kept her hands cupped over her mouth to silence her heavy breathing, refusing to muster a sound.

Tate's legs came into view through the vent, where he stood and looked around the empty hallway. "Colette, I know you're close," he called in a teasing sing-song voice, laughing at himself. "I will find you, I have something you want."

Colette froze, but refused to climb from the safety of the vent. "I know what really happened to your mother today, I'll only tell you if you come out."

Tate opened the vent, kneeling down to stare at Colette who was trembling and crammed in the metal space. "I won't even punish you for hiding, it was a good hiding spot in my opinion. You're so much smarter than the others, you're just like your father."

Colette watched as Tate extended a hand as a peace offering, which Colette reluctantly took to slide out from the vent. She sneezed from the dust, brushing off her clothes before looking up towards Tate. His face seemed less stern, almost genuinely apologetic for the situation they were in.

"What did your father tell you about this day, years ago? What do you think happened to your mother?" Tate walked Colette down the hallway, his hand pressed against the back of her neck to keep her in place.

"Dad told me that she just left us in the middle of the night, she couldn't take care of me anymore." Colette narrowed her eyebrows, stopping in the middle of the hallway and turning towards Tate. "Is that not true?"

"Children are so gullible," Tate clicked his tongue as he continued to stroll down the hallway. "That's not what happened at all, your father is a liar."

Colette frowned, continuing to walk with Tate as she caught a glimpse to the police forces outside. She watched her father stare at the school, his face pale and full of fear.

"Your father and I, we go very far back as he murdered my brother." Tate smiled as he watched Colette's expression as he spoke. "I had to get my revenge somehow."

Before Tate could begin his story, a telephone ring echoed throughout the empty school, filling the silence. Tate sighed and followed the sound, finding the phone source to answer the call. He put the phone on speaker, pulling his gun from its holster and pointing towards Sarah to make sure she stayed quiet.

"Tate Hankle? I'm Agent Aaron Hotchner, is Colette Reid alright?" The familiar fatherly voice calmed Colette's nerves as she listened in on the phone call.

"I'm not saying a word until I speak to the man himself, Doctor Spencer Reid," Tate teased, approaching towards the window. He looked down at the team standing underneath the tent, before waving in a childlike manner. A silent gunshot fired into the window, shattering the glass into hundreds of pieces onto Colette and Tate. The bullet missed Tate only barely, but the glass still remained to do damage.

Colette examined the few shards of glass sticking from her arm, blood oozing from the cuts in her skin. She clenched her jaw as she gingerly pulled them out, trying to keep Tate's staring from her vision. "You're doing more harm than good, you just hurt your precious Colette, now let me talk to Doctor Reid."

A few moments of shuffling exchanged over the phone before the familiar clearing of the throat of Colette's father blasted through the speaker. "This is Spencer Reid, now let me talk to my daughter."

Tate inhaled sharply, shaking his head when Colette opened her mouth to speak. "Not so fast, Reid, you act as if we're in some kind of rush."

"I'm offering you an exchange, Tate, me for her. That's all you wanted in the first place, do not hurt her for the mistakes I made in the past," Colette could hear the rest of the team arguing with Spencer over the phone, he obviously made a decision that was undiscussed.

"Dad, please—." Colette began, her sentence being interrupted by Tate firing a gunshot that nearly grazed by her ear. She squealed in pain and collapsed to her knees, her ears ringing by the piercing sound of the gunshot.

"Tate, you do not have a deal if you hurt her, I know what you want. I know you want me and you can do whatever you want to me, I'm all yours. You just have to let my daughter go."

Tate pondered for a minute, tilting his head back and forth to weigh his options. "Deal."