Front Lines| Spencer Reid + Anne Grey

twenty eight

Anne Grey stares at the man standing in the middle of the bullpen. Her goddamn bullpen.

It had only been a few minutes, but to Anne, it felt significantly longer. She had been going through a million different potential plans in her head, and none of her thoughts were coherent anymore. Vague images would just pass by in her head, somehow making perfect sense while also seeming like pure nonsense.

She had finished taping up everyone's wrists by now, and did her own as well. She was now sat on the floor next to Morgan.

Suddenly aware of how silent it was, she asks, "Who are you?" When the man with the M16 shoots her a glare, she adds, "I don't know your name."

He seems to think on it for a moment."Charlie," he responds, adjusting the gun and aiming it at Grey. That was definitely the only way that he felt in power.

She doesn't look even the slightest bit affected. "Charlie what?" she returns, wanting his last name. Maybe that would ring a bell.

"Charlie Gravitt. He tilts his head. "You know that name?"

Grey did, of course. So did Morgan, and maybe even Anderson.

Gravitt was the last name of an abductor they had arrested a couple months ago. Anne had still been the unit chief, so she had practically taken the lead on the local case. 

Richard Gravitt was the unsub's full name. He had been taking women, then torturing and killing them. As it turned out, he had no agenda, other than wanting to 'hear their screams'. He hadn't resisted arrest, and he confessed instantly.

"Gravitt," Grey repeats, making sure Charlie was certain that his name was known. He didn't look quite like she had remembered. "You want me to guess or are you going to explain why you're here?" In all honesty, she hadn't much of a clue for the reason of his presence, but assumed that revenge was part of the plan.

"Where's my brother?" he asks, trying to act tough and angry. It had worked, sort of. To Anne, though, it just seemed off. He didn't look to Morgan, or Anderson, just to her.

If he liked his brother (which he seemed to), it made no sense for him to acknowledge a woman in charge. Richard Gravitt was a classic misogynist, why would Charlie be any different?

She makes a quick decision to take the road of denial, responding, "What do you mean 'where is he'? They should've called you by now." Her voice was far more domineering than Charlie's, although he had the upper hand by a landslide.

Derek stares at Grey, wondering what the hell she was on about, and how she came up with it. He knew how to handle emergency situations, damn straight, but he still hadn't even started to process what the man wanted, let alone how to reply. What he wasn't aware of, though, was that Anne wasn't too sure of how to reply either. 

"What? Where is he?" Charlie asks, feeling as though the response was over his head, a joke among the agents. One that no one laughed at.

Grey looks slightly pained through her next sentence. Maybe the man thought it was from pity, but it was really just from anticipation. "Dead, Charlie."

His eyes flicker with irritation. "You're lying," he instantly returns, swinging his gun around and causing numerous people to flinch. He swings along with his gun, starting to loosely pace the floor.

Anne tries to draw the attention back to herself, demanding, "Look at me." When his eyes meet hers again, she slowly says, "He's dead."

"Oh, yeah? What happened to him, then?" Charlie asks. He sounds as though he doesn't believe it in the slightest, but Grey (and Morgan) can see the underlying concern.