#like the writer would be arrested immediately if they were an unsub in their own show

[lad-boyo]

.

[stxrrywildflower]

for better or for worse (3)

pairing - spencer reid x reader

summary - when the people they love the most are kidnapped and ripped out of their hands, the bau does everything they can to get them back before it turns dire

warnings - mentions of case, injury details, angst

series masterlist

bloody jewelry and seven smashed phones.

that’s all the bau team had to go off of in the investigation.

just like hotch had offered, he stepped up to take charge of the situation. emily was thankful to be able to step down for the case, the stress was bulding up and she was ready to crack.

hotch fell back into his leadership role naturally, already pulling someone up from the tech department to do their research and computer work. morgan focused on getting everyone back in the mindset they needed.

luke and spencer were most difficult.

for luke, he felt extremely guilty. morgan did the best he could in helping the agent, though penelope missing did affect him as well.

spencer was a whole different story. he couldn’t think straight, they caught him shaking more than once. sure a walk emily had sent him on did help, though coming back started the cycle all over again.

“hey pretty boy,” morgan started. that nickname alone made spencer flinch. “mind if we go and talk?”

the two men stood up, nodding towards emily and hotch who waved them off.

“i feel like a lot of conversations are happening in here,” spencer commented upon entering morgan’s old office.

“what can i say, it’s a good space,” morgan smiled.

morgan sat on the edge of the desk while spencer took the couch, immediately grabbing a pillow to hold against him. “i’ve already talked to alvez but i figured we need to sit down one on one.”

“it’s not your job to be the team therapist.”

both laughed at that. “yeah well as your friend and honorary older brother, it’s my job to check up on you. and i know how hard this case is for you. i may not be a profiler anymore but your body language is all over the place. and i’m sure that-”

“you know what the last thing i said to y/n was?” spencer interrupted.

morgan stayed quiet, not wanting to say the wrong thing to potentially set him off. “i told her i loved her too,” spencer revealed quietly. “i was dropped her off at her apartment and she kissed me goodnight before telling me she loved me.”

the older agent hugged spencer, not exactly knowing how else to console him other than that. it broke his heart at both the confession and the tears that had started to flow down his cheeks. morgan’s hugs were comforting, they always were. “we’ll get her back kid. that way you can tell her you love her again.”

they stayed in there for a little while longer, talking to refresh their minds of the situation. “we should head back. who knows what the team has discovered by now,” morgan offered. spencer accepted the extended hand to help him up and the two headed back towards the bullpen.

all bets must have been placed on the unsubs making contact sometime soon and through a phone call. a phone incase of ransom or demands was set up on luke’s desk, another machine set up to help trace a call.

hotch and emily remained by the desk while the others work, though main focus was on the device.

the second the phone rang, all members of the team’s attention immediately went to the device. hotch held his hand out, letting them know to keep quiet before signaling emily to pick up the phone.

“hello?” the unit chief answered.

a staticky voice, obviously altered in some form, played over the speaker of the phone.

“you will be receiving a note in exactly fifteen minutes. i expect you to choose wisely.”

sixteen words. sixteen words was all the communication they had from your captors. and it still didn’t feel like enough. “good and bad news,” the new tech analyst announced. “i didn’t pinpoint an exact location but i did narrow it down to areas. they’re no where in the city, somewhere west.”

“choose, what do they mean choose?” j.j. rushed out, panic evident in her tone.

“i need everyone up in the conference room.”

just like the unsub has said, anderson entered the office holding a long office envelope. he handed it over to hotch, who placed it on the round table for examination.

a piece of paper was the first thing pulled out, folded neatly and sealed with wax. with gloved hands, hotch pulled at the folds, breaking the seal. inside, in perfect red ink, was the promised note.

seventy million in twenty dollar bills for their safe return. ten million for each person

or,

ten million for one. your choice. you have 24 hours.

“they want us to choose?”

hotch frowned, reaching back into the envelope

spencer held his hand over his mouth, not even close to being prepared for what he, and the rest of the team, saw.

seven polaroids, all glossy and crisp, were layed out on the table. each was a different picture, all from the neck up. you, along with the others, occupied a square. your injuries were shown, displaying the level of injuries everyone had suffered.

you, andrew, and will were easily the worst. your face was bruised and bloody, dried blood on your nose and dripping from a cut on your forehead. andrew had a similar cut, this time on both of his cheeks. will had a split lip and swollen eyes.

the others, had just a few knicks and bruises. they looked relatively fine, just in shock from the situation.

“oh my god,” j.j. was the first to speak, reaching out to pick up the photo of her husband. the rest did the same, no one knowing how to react to the pictures.

spencer was seconds away from running out of the room, his stomach was flipping and he just overall felt sick. he wanted to rip the photo up, never wanting to see it again.

“we need to start from the begining,” hotch announced. “they’re obviously a team. there’s no way they could have taken seven people without assistance. but that does raise another risk, they could potentially split if something does go wrong.”

that sentence didn’t ease the team at all.

“let’s focus on what they left. broken phones is to let us know they’re missing. but i think we should be focusing on the word love,” morgan added.

“that’s obvious,” matt spoke up. “they’re the people we love the most. by taking them away from us, they want us to experience a certain type of pain.

“we could be looking at siblings!” emily exclaimed.

j.j. nodded at that. “that does make sense. usually partnerships like this wouldn’t have the same level of hatred unless they shared the exact same experience. abandonment or losing someone could be a trigger.”

“we need to look at triplets and siblings who experienced some from of loss in the family. it’s going to be a long list but we can reduce it by the property owned,” hotch ordered.

while the tech analyst did their own digging, the rest of the team went through a box of every case involving families in the state.

it was a painful process, taking seven hours before anyone actually found anything. by then, the conference room was a mess of papers scattered around and empty coffee mugs.

the team narrowed it town to triplets, one girl and two boys. their parents had passed when they were teenagers, the oldest boy gaining custody of them. they were forced to live on their own, fending for each other. they had it out for the bau ever since they denied looking into their case.

besides motive, they owned a ranch a bit further outside of the city. a perfect place to conceal their plans. adding on to the lack of paper trail and trigger, it was more than likely that they were the unsubs.

no one from the bau team was allowed to go on the raid, their emotions could greatly alter the arrest. hotch and morgan led it, accompanied by swat.

instead, they were sent to the hospital. it was inevitable that all of you would need medical attention, it was the best option for them to go and wait, hoping for your safe return.

almost an hour went by without any news.

the team sat in one of the designated waiting rooms, all having some nervous quirk to help calm them down.

with little warning, a flood of doctors and nurses passed the room, a few police officers and swat agents as well. at the end of it all were hotch and morgan, both taking off their kevlar vests as they entered the room.

in an instant, everyone was standing up. emily was the first one to attempt to leave the room. hotch blocked the doorway, using his hand to prevent her from going anywhere.

“hotch what the hell. let me through,” emily demanded.

one flick of the eyes back and forth between the two former agents was all the team needed to raise further questions. it was and has always been a telltale sign that they were either lying or hiding information.

“what aren’t you telling us?”

hotch let out a sigh. the tense silence in the room did nothing for anyone’s nerves.

“we only got four of them.”

☆ ☆ ☆

teaser

tags - @zozoleesi @emxlyprentxss @spencerreidfanatic00 @mrs-dr-reid @irjuejjsaa @ogmilkis @sageellesworth05 @mortallythoughtfulgurl @brainyreid @ah-blossom @kissessforharryyy @ssareidbby @spencersglasses @spenciepoo338 @mggstyles @emilouu @loki-an-idiot @reidsmyhusband-emilysmymistress @pianofirepirate @ssa-morgan @afuckingshituniverse @spencerslatte @reminiscing-writer @kianagilder-blog @ssaic-jareau @theatrenerd101601 @drprettyboyreid @emilyxprentiss

[actuallyspencerreid]

Follow My Lead

A/N: I don’t know what it it, but I’m not as confident in this one as I am in all of my other fics. idk. I might pull this one completely and rewrite it, but I physically couldn’t work on anything else while this was still a wip, so here it is. 

Requested by technically me, but prompts/title provided by , @suckonmybalz @dracosparselmouthprefect , @ultrarebelheart , @cjameswrite , @dontshootmespence. -- I tried to incorporate all the prompts into one cohesive fic but honestly, i think i just made a mess. 

Word Count: 1k

Tags: @the-unfortunate-fangirl @cynbx @princesswagger15 @obsessivereader36 @hearts-to-the-sky @mantlereid @dreamxcollide @qu3n-elizab3th @hiya-imthatgirl @literallyprentissstwin @bauboywonder @everyday-imfangirling @spencerreidreads @alixcharmedworld @writer-of-camelot @grubler @10kcriminalsatthedisco @extremeobsessions101 @spideysstarks

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“This is Agent Spencer Reid with the Behavioral Analysis Unit. I need a SWAT team to 2995 Jefferson Davis Highway in Stafford, Virginia immediately.”

“He called for SWAT in Stafford half an hour ago.” Emily finished strapping her vest on as Penelope spoke. “It looks like they’re headed to a storage facility. I’ve already sent the address to your phones.”

“Thanks Garcia!” Emily hung up her phone before dialling Spencer. He answered on the first ring.

“I’m not leaving her in there Emily.”

“Reid, we’re on our way, just give us five minutes.” She looked over at a Luke, silently begging him to drive faster.

“I can’t do that.” Spencer didn’t wait for her response. He hung up, dropping the phone and stepping on it as he made sure his gun was loaded.

His head wasn’t straight. It’d been almost a day since you’d been snatched. Of course, Chief Cruz had ordered that the BAU not work your case, as it would be a violation of protocol and Internal Affairs was an absolute nightmare to deal with. He couldn’t accept that though.

Emily had ordered that he not be left unattended all day, but he’d previously memorized everyone’s routines and patterns and slipped out during JJ’s watch. He’d left his badge on his desk, knowing that his actions would cost him his job, but he couldn’t let this job cost him the love of his life.

“Agent Reid.”

He turned to the lieutenant and his team. Taking a deep breath, he addressed them. “Before we go in there, I need everyone to understand that I am technically a rogue agent. This operation is very delicate. The orders that I make are purely professional opinion and anyone who fails to listen will be met with disappointment, not to mention a high fatality risk. That being said, does anyone want to pull out?”

They looked around at each other, but no one said anything or left. “Alright then.”

It was at this moment that Spencer realized how the next few minutes of his life might play out. Placing one foot in front of the other, he began his slow journey through the hallways. Nearing his destination, he heard a muffled voice saying something suspiciously close to his name.

--

“You’re a fighter. I like that.”

You stared down the sleaze who’d grabbed you, fists raised. His team lay around you, all unconscious by your hands. You ignored the burn in your knuckles and the soreness all over your body. The adrenaline pumping through your veins made you a lot bolder than you’d normally be.

“You have two choices.” You snarled. “Surrender. Or shut the fuck up and prepare to die.”

“I’m going to--”

You’d charged at him, fist connecting with his jaw before he could finish his sentence. Your knee came up into his groin, making him cry out. You weren’t completely right in the head at this point, swinging and kicking in an effort to keep the upper hand. By the time he finally slumped onto the ground, near dead, you were covered in blood.

“Asshole.”

You reached down and grabbed the keys from his pocket, stepping over him and dragging the door up. Your ears picked up the soft sound of boots.

“Spencer?” You called.

“(Y/N)!” You ran through the dark towards his voice. When you turned the corner, you were greeted by a group of guns pointed directly at you.

“Stand down!” He called immediately. He took in your appearance, a mix of relief and fear -- and arousal -- washing through him. “You’re okay.”

“You didn’t have to bring the whole FBI.” You joked, slowly moving towards them.

He wrapped his arms around you. “Apparently not.”

“Can we please get out of this cold, dark ass hallway?” You muttered, suddenly fatigued.

He laughed, waving the SWAT team to continue looking for the unsubs. “The rest of the team are on their way.”

He led you out. The SUV’s were pulling up as you stepped into the cool autumn air. Wiping the blood from your cheek, you gave your boss a meek smile.

“Unit 268. I don’t know how many of them are still alive.”

No one would ever actually admit it to you, but seeing you like this gave them all a chilling feeling. You were never the person to lead the charge; you stayed at the station when arrests were made and if you had to go into the field, you lingered in the back. You were appalled by death, but you were even more appalled by people who prayed on others. It’s why you joined the FBI.

“Who knew she had this in her?” Emily stood with Spencer, watching you get checked out by the medics.

“Definitely not me.” He chuckled, shifting on his feet.

Looking around, she gave a tired sigh. “Internal Affairs is going to have one hell of a case. Again.”

“I’m sorry, Em.” His voice was low.

“Don’t worry about it.” She slid his badge into hands. “I expect to see the both of you in the morning, bright eyed and bushy haired?”

“You got it.” He plucked the blue folder from her fingers and headed over to you. “How are you feeling?”

“Sore.” You chuckled. Gently dismissing the medic, you stood and wrapped your arms around him. “I’m glad you came.”

He rested his chin on your head, rubbing a hand over your back. “I’m glad you took up Morgan on his offer of fighting lessons. You did some serious damage back there.”

You pulled away, seeing your assailants being led away on stretchers. Tears filled your eyes. “I didn’t have any choice, Spence. They kept yelling at me and hitting me and touching me. I just wanted to get away.”

“Shh.” He pulled you back into his arms. “No one is blaming you for whatever happened in there.”

“I shouldn’t have followed that lead on my own.”

“No you shouldn’t have.” He was quiet for a moment before leading you to one of the SUV’s, grabbing the keys from Dave. “At this point, that’s irrelevant. Now we have to go home and get ready for the shitshow that is IA combing through the unit again.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” He reached over and took your hand in his, offering you a small smile. “I’m really proud of you.”