Creatures of the Night: The Clockwork Boy, 9/?
Title: The Clockwork Boy
Rating: R
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Universe: Creatures of the Night (Part 2)
Pairing: Reid/Austin, Morgan/Prentiss; JJ/Hotch
Genre: Supernatural/Drama
Summary: Reid is searching for answers. JJ, Hotch and Morgan are searching for Reid. Prentiss and Rossi investigate a series of deaths that are related to an old case. Things are much more twisted than they seem. AU.
Chapter Nine
Looking at the multitude of data in Spencer Reid’s file, Garcia opens a document at random. She raises an eyebrow at the thoroughness of Bureau recordkeeping - the document is an essay from Reid’s first undergraduate degree, entitled The Rise and Fall of Humanity.
‘Interesting reading?’ a high voice asks from the door. She turns to see Kevin Lynch flying towards her, his wings beating furiously.
‘What are you doing here, hot stuff?’ she asks, not entirely disappointed at his presence. She likes the other fairy, his cheery disposition a ray of light in amongst the doom and gloom that’s been so omnipresent lately.
‘Well, technically speaking, a missing agent is of some concern to Internal Affairs,’ he says, adding after a beat. ‘I figured you might need some help.’
She gives a nod. ‘You take those machines - we’re going through his personnel files, looking for anything that might be a little hinky. You take his FBI years; I’ll attack everything through to college.’
‘That in itself seems a little strange, doesn’t it?’ Kevin asks, situating himself in front of a second keyboard.
‘What do you mean?’
He hesitates.
‘Go on, boy wonder, I’m not going to bite your head off.’ She balks a little - Kevin reminds her of Reid in some ways. A little nervous. Completely adorkable.
‘Well...if he’s a robot, then why would he need education - why not just...upload the knowledge?’
Garcia ponders the question for a moment. It breaks her heart to think of Reid as anything other than human. And maybe that’s the point.
‘To make him seem more human?’ she ventures. ‘After all, we’re nothing but a product of our memories, our knowledge, right?’
‘I guess so,’ Kevin concedes, his feet tapping away at the keyboard. ‘Huh...this is strange.’
‘What is it?’ Garcia flies towards him, hovering just inches above the space-bar.
‘There’s a whole section that’s been wiped completely clean. I can’t find any traces.’
‘Which section?’
He taps a few more keys, tiny brow furrowing. ‘The section regarding his recruitment into the Bureau. We have high school, college, more college, and then blank. Next think we know, Spencer Reid is a Special Agent at 21. Wow. I was still learning how to fry harddrives at FTech when I was 21.’
‘May I?’ Garcia asks, and Kevin steps to one side. She types a few commands in, confirming that what Kevin says is right. There’s a six month period in which, according to Reid’s file, he did nothing at all.
‘So do we think that this has something to do with why they took him?’ Kevin asks tentatively.
Garcia nods, and then shakes her head. ‘I don’t know. Maybe. It’s hard to tell. But I know that I do need to show this to the terrible trio.’
* * *
JJ meets them in the downstairs lobby - she’d been questioning the landlord, and anyone else that might have seen anything.
‘Anything?’ Hotch asks, and Morgan notices the inherent tiredness in the Unit Chief’s voice. This is taking its toll. He won’t be surprised if Hotch breaks down sometime in the near future.
‘A car,’ she says. ‘In the three days before Reid’s disappearance, both the landlord, and some of the residents reported seeing an unfamiliar car in the street outside the apartment building. The windows of the car were tinted, so they couldn’t see the occupants, but I have a description, and a plate number.’
Hotch lets out a quiet breath. If they can find the owner of the vehicle, chances are they should be able to find out who has Reid, even if it might not be enough to tell them where their colleague actually is.
Morgan takes to the driver’s seat, knowing that if he lets Hotch at the wheel, then there’s a chance they’ll end up dead before they find Reid. He’s not much better himself, he realizes, when taking a corner far too fast elicits a short gasp from JJ in the back seat. The media liaison is on the phone to Garcia, getting the tech to run the plates of the vehicle described by their interviewees.
They’re greeted at the elevator by a buzzing white blur - Kevin. Morgan raises an eyebrow at the IA tech’s presence.
‘Garcia’s in the middle of something,’ he says, darting figure eights around them. Like most fairies, he doesn’t seem to like sitting still, unless it’s on someone’s shoulder. Morgan gets that - it’s not unlike the quasi-freedom he has as a wolf. ‘She got all quiet and kicked me out.’
Hotch raises an eyebrow. ‘Do you know what it is she’s doing?’
Kevin shakes his head vigorously. ‘All I know is that we were going through Reid’s personnel file, and then someone else infiltrated the system.’ He gives a slightly forlorn look as he adds, ‘She wouldn’t let me help backhack.’
Hotch is gone in a flash, headed in the direction of Garcia’s lair. Morgan gives a slight shrug to JJ, and then follows the Unit Chief.
‘Garcia...’ Hotch starts, as the door swings open.
‘Little busy here, G-Man.’ Her voice is uncharacteristically sharp, and Morgan knows that it’s not just his imagination that there’s a little bit of hurt in her words as well.
‘What’s going on?’ Hotch asks, ‘Who’s trying to infiltrate the system?’
Morgan doesn’t need an answer to that. He’s pretty sure that they all already know what’s going on. He voices his thoughts anyway.
‘It’s Reid.’
Rating: R
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Universe: Creatures of the Night (Part 2)
Pairing: Reid/Austin, Morgan/Prentiss; JJ/Hotch
Genre: Supernatural/Drama
Summary: Reid is searching for answers. JJ, Hotch and Morgan are searching for Reid. Prentiss and Rossi investigate a series of deaths that are related to an old case. Things are much more twisted than they seem. AU.
Chapter Nine
Looking at the multitude of data in Spencer Reid’s file, Garcia opens a document at random. She raises an eyebrow at the thoroughness of Bureau recordkeeping - the document is an essay from Reid’s first undergraduate degree, entitled The Rise and Fall of Humanity.
‘Interesting reading?’ a high voice asks from the door. She turns to see Kevin Lynch flying towards her, his wings beating furiously.
‘What are you doing here, hot stuff?’ she asks, not entirely disappointed at his presence. She likes the other fairy, his cheery disposition a ray of light in amongst the doom and gloom that’s been so omnipresent lately.
‘Well, technically speaking, a missing agent is of some concern to Internal Affairs,’ he says, adding after a beat. ‘I figured you might need some help.’
She gives a nod. ‘You take those machines - we’re going through his personnel files, looking for anything that might be a little hinky. You take his FBI years; I’ll attack everything through to college.’
‘That in itself seems a little strange, doesn’t it?’ Kevin asks, situating himself in front of a second keyboard.
‘What do you mean?’
He hesitates.
‘Go on, boy wonder, I’m not going to bite your head off.’ She balks a little - Kevin reminds her of Reid in some ways. A little nervous. Completely adorkable.
‘Well...if he’s a robot, then why would he need education - why not just...upload the knowledge?’
Garcia ponders the question for a moment. It breaks her heart to think of Reid as anything other than human. And maybe that’s the point.
‘To make him seem more human?’ she ventures. ‘After all, we’re nothing but a product of our memories, our knowledge, right?’
‘I guess so,’ Kevin concedes, his feet tapping away at the keyboard. ‘Huh...this is strange.’
‘What is it?’ Garcia flies towards him, hovering just inches above the space-bar.
‘There’s a whole section that’s been wiped completely clean. I can’t find any traces.’
‘Which section?’
He taps a few more keys, tiny brow furrowing. ‘The section regarding his recruitment into the Bureau. We have high school, college, more college, and then blank. Next think we know, Spencer Reid is a Special Agent at 21. Wow. I was still learning how to fry harddrives at FTech when I was 21.’
‘May I?’ Garcia asks, and Kevin steps to one side. She types a few commands in, confirming that what Kevin says is right. There’s a six month period in which, according to Reid’s file, he did nothing at all.
‘So do we think that this has something to do with why they took him?’ Kevin asks tentatively.
Garcia nods, and then shakes her head. ‘I don’t know. Maybe. It’s hard to tell. But I know that I do need to show this to the terrible trio.’
* * *
JJ meets them in the downstairs lobby - she’d been questioning the landlord, and anyone else that might have seen anything.
‘Anything?’ Hotch asks, and Morgan notices the inherent tiredness in the Unit Chief’s voice. This is taking its toll. He won’t be surprised if Hotch breaks down sometime in the near future.
‘A car,’ she says. ‘In the three days before Reid’s disappearance, both the landlord, and some of the residents reported seeing an unfamiliar car in the street outside the apartment building. The windows of the car were tinted, so they couldn’t see the occupants, but I have a description, and a plate number.’
Hotch lets out a quiet breath. If they can find the owner of the vehicle, chances are they should be able to find out who has Reid, even if it might not be enough to tell them where their colleague actually is.
Morgan takes to the driver’s seat, knowing that if he lets Hotch at the wheel, then there’s a chance they’ll end up dead before they find Reid. He’s not much better himself, he realizes, when taking a corner far too fast elicits a short gasp from JJ in the back seat. The media liaison is on the phone to Garcia, getting the tech to run the plates of the vehicle described by their interviewees.
They’re greeted at the elevator by a buzzing white blur - Kevin. Morgan raises an eyebrow at the IA tech’s presence.
‘Garcia’s in the middle of something,’ he says, darting figure eights around them. Like most fairies, he doesn’t seem to like sitting still, unless it’s on someone’s shoulder. Morgan gets that - it’s not unlike the quasi-freedom he has as a wolf. ‘She got all quiet and kicked me out.’
Hotch raises an eyebrow. ‘Do you know what it is she’s doing?’
Kevin shakes his head vigorously. ‘All I know is that we were going through Reid’s personnel file, and then someone else infiltrated the system.’ He gives a slightly forlorn look as he adds, ‘She wouldn’t let me help backhack.’
Hotch is gone in a flash, headed in the direction of Garcia’s lair. Morgan gives a slight shrug to JJ, and then follows the Unit Chief.
‘Garcia...’ Hotch starts, as the door swings open.
‘Little busy here, G-Man.’ Her voice is uncharacteristically sharp, and Morgan knows that it’s not just his imagination that there’s a little bit of hurt in her words as well.
‘What’s going on?’ Hotch asks, ‘Who’s trying to infiltrate the system?’
Morgan doesn’t need an answer to that. He’s pretty sure that they all already know what’s going on. He voices his thoughts anyway.
‘It’s Reid.’