Strawberry Kisses

Chapter 19

tw// kidnapping, violence, guns

Y/n's POV:

It has been three days since I last spoke to Spencer. I did some research into Dilaudid and discovered it's a highly addictive Narcotic that's only administered in hospitals for severe pain. I piece all the information together and gather that Spencer is, or at least was, addicted.

Now that I know the severity of the situation, I understand why he has kept his distance the past couple days. I can't help but worry about him, though, so I decide to take a trip to the fifth floor during my lunch break. Even if he isn't there, I just want reassurance that he is okay.

I exit the elevator and walk into the room, looking for anyone I recognize. The floor is empty, but I hear loud voices coming from somewhere. I stick my head into the offices but I come up dry. After searching for a few minutes, I finally found someone.

"Emily!", I call. She whips her head around, distress evident on her face. "What's wrong?"

"Uh...", she hesitates. I tilt my head in confusion.

"Where is everyone?"

"T-the roundtable", she points to the door with the blinds shut.

"What's the matter, Emily?", I ask, more firmly.

"It's Spencer... he's-"

I grab her by the shoulders and make her look at me. She trembles slightly under my hands, her knuckles whitening as they're balled into her suit jacket.

"What happened to Spencer?"

"H-he's being held hostage." My eyes widen and my stomach drops. I let go of her shoulders and run into the round table room. Everyone's heads turn to me.

"Y/n?", Hotch asks. "What are you doing here?"

"Emily said that Spencer is being held hostage. Where is he?"

"I'm afraid I can't give you that information. Only my team is authorized to work on this case."

I walk up to the table and look over the files and pictures laid out on the table. There are maps and aerial shots of the building Spencer is being held.

"Let me work on it with you", I plead.

"You're too close to this. It's not a wise decision, Y/n."

"I'm too close to this? What does that make you all, then?", I say, stepping closer to him.

"My team and I have experienced this kind of thing before. You coming in as an outsider from this team can serve as a huge liability", he says.

"I am just as capable as anyone else on this team, Sir. I can't, in good conscious, sit idly by while my boyfriend is being held hostage."

"That's enough, Agent Y/l/n", he said, raising his voice.

"No disrespect, Agent Hotchner, but if you don't authorize me, I won't hesitate to go over your head. I'm sure Strauss would be interested to hear how her supposedly competent unit chief refused to authorize a Counterterrorism agent for this case, especially when it seems like it has ties to terrorism."

Hotch looks taken aback. He crosses his arms over his chest, trying to assert his dominance over me. I mirror his stance and quirk an eyebrow at him to say Try me.

"Fine, but the second you step out of line, I won't hesitate to go to Strauss and tell her how you jeopardized a case because you can't trust anyone but yourself."

I smile at him with mock-sweetness before picking up the files and examining them. The room is painfully silent, the tension palpable.

"Spence's earpiece is still connected, but I'm not sure if he can hear us", JJ says quietly.

"What if we send him a code to start, and he can confirm if he hears us?", I say.

Emily takes out a Morse code key and writes out a message, which she then hands to JJ.

JJ connects to Spencer's earpiece and taps out the code on the receiver. Within a minute, we receive tapping back.

Dot-dot. Dot-dash dash-dash. Dot-dot-dot-dot dot dot-dash-dot dot.

"I am here", I say.

"Ask him if he can speak to us", Hotch tells JJ.

Dash-dot. Dash-dash-dash.

"He said no", Emily chimes in.

JJ brings the receiver to her mouth and whispers into the microphone.

"Hey, Spence. We need all the information you have. Tap once for yes and twice for no, got that?"

Tap.

"Great", JJ responds.

"I want to talk to him", I say. Hotch gives me a warning glace but does not stop me from accepting the microphone from JJ.

"Hey, doc", I breathe. "We're gonna get you home. Are you restrained in any way?", I ask.

Tap.

Behind me, I hear the scratch of a dull pencil on paper; Emily is writing down off of his answers.

"Okay, do you think you can get out of them yourself?"

Tap-tap.

"You're doing so well, Doc, you're helping us so much. Do you have your gun on you?"

Tap-tap.

"Do you know where they took it?"

Tap.

"Okay, this part is going to be a little more difficult. I just need one word. Where did they take it?"

"Safe", he rasped.

"Safe? So they're not using it for its intended purpose, and they want to protect it. They could be saving it as a trophy", Hotch suggests.

"Terrorists don't keep trophies", I reply. "This was a targeted attack, which means they'll most likely kill him"

Our conversation is interrupted by a tapping coming from the speaker. Hotch picks it up and speaks into the microphone.

"We're here."

"Y/n", he whispers. Hotch hands me the receiver and microphone.

"I'm here, Doc", I say softly.

Dot-dot. Dot-dash-dot-dot dash-dash-dash dash dot. Dash-dot-dash-dash dash-dash-dash dot-dot dash.

"What does that mean?", I say, looking at Emily. She looks up from her notebook, her eyes look slightly glassy.

"It means I love you."