𝓶𝓪𝓻𝓪 𝓳𝓪𝓷𝓮 ➢ 𝓼. 𝓻𝓮𝓲𝓭

𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓉𝓎-𝓈𝒾𝓍

The team raced down the stairs, pulling their guns from their holsters, exiting the building.

There he stood right in front of them.

Reid was the first to move, holstering his weapon and grabbing the man by the front of
his shirt. "Where is she you son of a bitch?"

Paul Fox only laughed as Reid yelled at the man. He pulled his gun from his holster, pressing it against his head as his smile faltered for a second. "Where is she?"

The team hasn't moved yet, only watched their friend become something they'd never seen before. Reid pressed the gun harder against his head, letting out a grunt. "Tell me."

"Reid." Morgan set a hand on his shoulder and pulled him back.

Emily put him in handcuffs and dragged him inside, shoving him into an interrogation room.

"I'm going in there," Reid said, trying to push past Hotch. "That sick son of-"

"Reid, you need to calm down." Hotch ordered him.

Reid stopped and took a deep breath, panicking. "Why is he here? The only reason he's here is because she's dead and he wants to throw it in our faces."

"You know that's not the only reason," Hotch replied. "He thinks he's smarter than us. Don't let him think he can outsmart us."

"That's why you need to send me in there."

"No, that's what he's expecting," Hotch said. "We're sending in Rossi."

"This better work."

Reid watched from the window as Rossi sat in front of one of the most prolific serial killers of all time, trying to get an ounce of information out of him.

"Good evening, I'm SSA David Rossi-"

"I've read your books."

"Then you know I'm very good at my job."

"Not good enough to catch me."

Rossi looked up at the man and watched as he smirked. His body language was relaxed, he wasn't hiding anything.

"Mara is very important to us and we're going to stop at nothing to get her back."

Paul laughed. "Important to us? Important to Doctor Spencer Reid. Where is he anyway?"

Rossi didn't answer the man. "We figured out two of your alias': Jeff Campbell and Jake Harrison. We've already searched your houses and she's not there."

Fox's smile only widened. "You thought I would keep her in my own house?"

Reid stood at the window. "I'll always remember us this way.."

"What'd you say, kid?"

"She quoted our movie," Reid replied, continuing explaining at the look on Morgan's face. "A Star Is Born. We'd quote it to make each other laugh."

"It doesn't fit the conversation, why?"

"She wanted me to realize that she was giving me hints and not just being sentimental," Reid said. "She brought up her brother. Our love isn't fraternal. The clue she was giving us relates to her brother."

They moved to Garcia, giving her the information they gathered. "What did Alex Tate do once he got out of the system?"

Garcia typed away as she started reading off her screen. "He dropped out of school, started doing drugs, his drug of choice was heroin. When he was twenty, his friend admitted him to a rehab center by the name of Last Chance-"

"Is the rehab center still active?" Morgan asked.

"Um..no," Garcia answered. "It closed down in twenty-fifteen because the staff was giving their patients drugs under the radar."

"He goes to get help and ends up worse than he started," Reid said. "She could be there. If they were giving him drugs under the table, then what if Paul is giving Mara drugs there right now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why would be give himself over?" Reid quickly said. "To distract us from looking for you. To get us to think the answer was him but really, she already gave us the answer we needed."

Reid pushed past Morgan and Hotch and right into the interrogation room, slamming his hand down on the table and meeting Fox's eyes. "We found her. Taking her back to the place her brother gave his life to drugs, pretty ironic, you think?"

Paul Fox's eyes widened as he realized he hadn't outsmarted them. They really had found her. "Get him out of here and into prison where he belongs."

"You'll never get to her in time."

An officer arrested him and moved him out of the room while the rest of the team suited up and quickly drove to the rehab center. Reid's hands were shaking, sweat coated what felt like every inch of his body, his heart was pounding, he knew it was a slim chance they'd get there in time.

They pulled up to the center and Reid jumped out, pulling his gun from his holster. He moved inside with the team behind him, realizing there were hundreds of rooms, they needed leverage.

Morgan dialed Garcia's number. "Hey, babygirl, what room was Alex Tate's?"

Everyone could hear her keyboard clacking through the phone. "Room 104."

Reid took off running and Morgan followed as he ran around a corner, following the numbers.

99, 100, 101

He could feel the tears burning his eyes as he prayed that she was okay.

102

He needed her to be okay. She couldn't end up like Maeve. He couldn't go through that again.

103

If he lost her, he's not sure he would make it through it again. He loved her.

104

He stopped in front of the door, Morgan and Hotch appearing behind him. Morgan kicked down the door and Reid moved inside, his gun ready to shoot.

No one else was in the room, it was only Mara, tied down to a table, an IV attached to her arm. Reid moved quickly over to her as Morgan tried to figure out what he was pumping her up with. 

Reid choked on a sob as he took in her appearance. She was pale and sickly, tears staining her face. Morgan suddenly reached over and snatched the IV out of her arm. "It's ketamine."

"We need an ambulance!" Hotch yelled.

Reid's hands moved to her face. "Mara, please, open your eyes."

Morgan pressed two fingers into her throat, searching for a pulse. "There's a faint pulse. Extremely faint."

"Mara, please," Reid sobbed as the medics moved inside the room. "I can't lose you."

"Sir, you need to move." The medics instructed Reid.

Morgan pulled Reid away, letting the medics work on her. They moved her onto a gurney and the rest of the team started to head to the hospital they were taking her to.

Once they got there, everyone else was there, even JJ. Reid pushed everyone's hands off him and paced the hallways.

She had to be okay.