GOLDEN || S. REID

𝟷𝟾: 𝙽𝚎𝚠 𝚈𝚘𝚛𝚔, 𝙽𝚈

The video feed went through at midnight, approximately six hours after the abduction of Spencer and Eliza. In that time, Garcia had been flown in from the comfort of her Bat Cave and Julia had been alerted and had booked a flight set to arrive anytime within the next two hours. There were perks of having a private jet, the ability to fly across the country at the drop of a hat being one.

The first thing Riley did when he saw the state of his sister was faint. If it wasn't obvious before, he didn't do well around blood and gore.

The video feed was choppy and very low quality. There was almost no light, which made it tough to see that both Eliza and Spencer were, in fact, in the same room together. Eliza looked battered and bruise, though she had somehow managed to fall asleep while Spencer held her. They were leaned against the far wall, just in sight of the cameras.

"At least they're together," James said, watching the video feed intently. "If it were just Eliza, she would have died by now. She has no self-preservation skills on her own but Spencer's being there is preventing her from making any risky moves."

"He's not wrong," Noah piped up. "She nearly got herself killed when it was just her and Meredith on the stairs all those years ago. If Riley hadn't rounded the corner at the last second, she would have tossed them both out the window in order to get rid of the bitch."

Riley had woken back up by then, pressing a hand to his forehead as he tried to regain his bearings. The Hamilton family couldn't catch a break, it seemed. Some could even call it a curse, which probably wouldn't be too far from the truth. They were just extremely unlucky in the worst way possible.

"So what's the plan?" James asked. "I know that when Julia gets here, we better be closer to finding Eliza than we are now or else we'll have to deal with a different kind of bitch upon her arrival."

"Must you always be so horrible?" Riley asked, rubbing at his temples. "And can I get a Tylenol or something? James is making my brain hurt more than it already is and I don't think we need another missing persons case on our hands." He glared at his older brother, shooting ice-like daggers into his soul.

"How much longer until Julia gets here?" Noah asked. She had looked away from the live video feed, not wanting to watch any longer. Suddenly, the concept of watching Big Brother was no longer appealing to her. Her perception on twenty-four hour live feeds had changed drastically within the past six, moving onto seven hours.

"The plane lands in an hour, I think," Riley said, chewing on his nails. The members of the BAU had moved away from the family at this point, opting to give them space. Their technical analyst was hard at work while the rest of them were trying to pinpoint who exactly Eliza's abductors were. It seemed they were struggling without their resident genius, which was a shame.

And so the Hamilton siblings waited in silence, the occasional ping of one of their phones going off as the nerves built around them. No matter how much they hated each other, no matter how terrible they are to one another, each of them would admit that life wouldn't be the same if one of them just died. It was a scary thought to have and each of the Hamilton siblings were grappling with this very real fear that there was the possibility of losing one of their own tonight.

Noah put her head down and prayed, something she hadn't done in a long time. She murmured the words under her breath and prayed to God that Eliza would come back to them alive. A world without her older sister wasn't one she wanted to live in and even experiencing it made her heart clench. Her hands clasped tighter together as she ran Eliza's probability of survival through her mind.

Riley closed his eyes and tried not to cry. His older sister, the one that had actually killed a person for him, was in trouble and he couldn't even do anything about it. He felt like he had failed as one of the protectors of the family. As a Hamilton, he was honor bound to protect those he loved and the fact that he couldn't do that was tearing him apart inside.

James was... well... he was contemplating what he'd do after if Eliza wound up dead. His entire life had been centered around this sibling rivalry with her for so long that if she died, he'd simply no longer have a reason to live. It was difficult admitting that Eliza had been more successful than him in every way, her expansive company, her marriage (even if it was mostly fake). He'd have to find out how to be okay on his own after this, which was very unappealing to him.

But in the face of it all, they remained unflinching even when Emily Prentiss came in to check on them. Noah just smiled and told her that they were holding up just fine. "We trust you to bring our sister home," is what she said. The distrust carved into her heart said otherwise, but Prentiss didn't need to know that.

"We'll find her," Prentiss tried again, looking between the three siblings. Riley, who was normally friendly in every situation, didn't bother to respond. He stayed looking forward, afraid to make any other moves. It was the only way he could prevent himself from breaking down.

James looked back at the video feed, watching as Spencer talked to someone off camera. He seemed to hold onto Eliza tighter, pulling her frame into his chest as he argued with whoever was off screen. "Find her faster," he remarked, looking closer at the screen. Another figure entered the frame, no distinguishable features except for one of the patches on their jacket that read, MITCHELL STONE PRODUCTS, LLC, in bold.

"Though, I might have just done your job for you," he continued, pausing the video and turning the laptop for Prentiss to see. Noah and Riley leaned in to look as well, recognition flashing across the youngest twin's features.

"They're either at the Tahawus Mines or Tupper Lake," she said, squinting at the patch. There was more, an image of forestry within the patch. "The Tahawus Mines have been abandoned for years, the city around it is a ghost town. We went every year for the school trip... Riley, you remember the shack Eliza found?"

"The one she got grounded for going near?" Riley asked, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, that was the only time she'd ever been grounded for something. Dad yelled at her before cutting off her credit card."

Emily looked at the siblings in surprise. "You guys really think this is where they'd be?"

"I mean, it can't be Tupper Lake," James chimed in. "That's where I went for Spring Break one year." He tapped on the table twice, trying to remember the details of Eliza's grounding. He furrowed his brows when his mind trailed down the path incriminating his father, reminding him of a very crucial detail to Eliza's life. "I think it should be worth noting that dad also was the one to initially propose the merger between Hamilton and Abernathy."

"He probably wanted his best asset and his back up under one company in case his plan failed," Prentiss said, catching up on what he was trying to say. She researched enough about the Hamilton family to understand the conversation enough to participate. "But what plan?"

Noah slapped her forehead, groaning as a realization overtook her. "Dad probably framed Thomas! Think about it--who owned the Crescent beach house before Thomas's family did?"

"Dad," Riley replied. "And it's convenient he wasn't there the night Eliza was shot. He probably wanted to stay as far away from the action as possible."

James shook his head. "But that doesn't make any sense. Adeline shot Eliza, not some random sniper. I just think--

"And who do you think gave Adeline the fucking gun?" Noah argued. "I doubt that dumbass would have known where to get one on her own. Dad probably paid her off, which is why she probably didn't fight against her deportation more."

"But you guys are sure it's Tahawus?" Prentiss asked for clarification. "We only get one shot at this. We have to be right."

"We're sure," Riley and Noah answered in unison. Riley took Emily by the hand, looking her in the eye before squeezing tightly. "Please bring our sister home to us."

She looked between the three siblings, reading their levels of desperation before looking Riley in the eye. "I will do everything in my power to make sure Eliza is brought home to you."

"Thank you."