Close | A Spencer Reid Story

15. Megan

Spencer's POV

I finally made it to the BAU, and I wasn't that late. I arrived before Luke and JJ.

"Round table," Emily shouted as she bombarded out of her office and across the landing.

I grabbed my file notebook and pen, striding after her.

Sitting down at the table, Penelope slid a file towards me.

"It's a messy one, my fine friends," she sighed taking her place in front of the screen. "How's the Pacific Northwest this time of year."

"Wet," I mutter. "The western Olympic Peninsula can get as much as 160 inches of precipitation annually, making it the wettest area in the 48 conterminous states."

"Which is why this case is a mess? Most of the evidence has been damaged by the climate." Garcia went on to display pictures of the crime scenes. "Over the last 14 months, twelve children have gone missing in and around this 30-mile radius, surrounding the Olympic mountains." On the screen images of the twelve children popped up. "It took a while for local PD's to make the connection, but they called us as soon as they found out, and also when the twelfth child, Megan Kent,7 , was reported missing after she disappeared during a camping trip with her girl scouts."

"Any connection between the missing children?" Matt frowned at the screen. He had children. That made it much harder for him.

Emily shook her head. "No connections have been made yet. The children are of different ages, gender, socio-economic backgrounds."

"All these children are missing." I pondered out loud. "Chances of finding them after all this time..." I hated saying the words

"Which is why we need to get boots on the ground as fast as we can. Wheels up in 15."

I pulled out my phone to call Y/N. I had told that I would call her to tell her where we were jetting off to.

Before I could JJ cleared her throat.

I glanced up at her.

"Hi," she gave a small awkward wave before pushing her hair behind her ear.

"Hi." I rolled my chair back and twisted towards her.

"I'm... I'm sorry about that night."

"It's fine JJ. Consider it forgotten." I hopped out my chair and out the door, getting away from the conversation as quick as I could. I was trying to forget it and not thinking about it was my best solution at this time.

I continued to call Y/N.

"Hello." She sang through the phone.

My silence spoke a thousand words.

"It's a bad one," she sighed.

"Yeah," I crocked.

"Stay safe, okay?"

"Yeah."

"Call me when you get time. Oh, and Spencer?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll miss you."

"Me too."

"Bye."

"Bye Y/N.

The case was bad. Really bad.

One by one we found the children. But not how we wanted them. And the unsub seemed to elude us at every step.

That's how we walked into his trap being none the wiser.

He clung onto Megan Kent, like she was the only one that could save him. To be honest that was true. With Megan in such close proximity to him we had to be extra cautious to ensure her safety.

"Let her go," Matt called out to him clearly and boldly. "Lower your weapon. Step back slowly."

The unsub reluctantly conceded, releasing his tight grip on Megan's arm.

I cocked my head to the side in surprise. Surely it would take more than that. He had been so controlled, so forward thinking. Why was he surrendering so easily?

Since I was the closest Emily signalled to me get Megan.

I strode over to Megan, my eyes fixed on the unsub who was uncharacteristically cowering at the sight off all the gun trained in on him.

I pulled my gaze away from the unsub and softened my eyes. Megan needed to see kind eyes, not critical eyes.

I lowered down to the ground and beckoned her over.

She hesitantly stepped towards me, unsure that this was the right choice for her. Her survival instinct kicking in.

Some gut instinct overwhelmed her and she ran into my arms. Her tears seeping through the exposed collar of my shirt through my FBI vest. "You came," she sobbed.

"Of course, we did. Your mom and dad are very worried about you," I informed her keeping my voice gentle and calming. I squeezed her to comfort her. Then I held her at arm's length. "You knew we were coming?" I whispered, making my eyes follow hers to catch anything she might express.

"He said someone would come and try to take me away," her voice was small just like her.

"What else did he say?" I kept my voice low to avoid the unsub from overhearing us.

"That he would never let them take me away." Fear crept into Megan's eyes. "He's not going to hurt you, is he?"

The next few seconds went by in a blur. I snapped up and saw the immediate change in the unsub's demeanour. He towered now, brimming with rage and envy. His stance was no longer defensive but rather offensive. The aggression paramount. He whipped his gun towards us aiming directly at Megan. You see she had misinterpreted him. He didn't want to hurt who took her away. Instead, he would rather never let someone take her away, alive.

I threw my hands around Megan and turned her away, ducking to shield her, just as the bullet left the barrel.

There in my arms the frightened little girl made the pain that seared through my arm virtually unnoticeable.