They call it vacation for a reason

[anchor_on_heart]

Who: Aaron Hotchner and Sid
What: An interview of the cognitive sort
When: Backdated to January 6th, 2010
Where:Bod's room at The Five Seasons Hotel
Rating: PG/PG-13?
Status: Closed / Incomplete

Comments

[uselessandcrap]

Pulling on his pair of jeans and t-shirt again, only having had the heart to borrow a pair of Bod's shorts for the time being, Sid pulled his beanie down over his greasy, messy hair and headed down to the lobby of the hotel. He was supposed to meet Agent Hotchner and, for whatever reason, the other man thought that interviewing Sid would help Sid find Cass. Whatever worked, he supposed dully, as he went out of Bod's room, pocketing the key, and getting into the elevator.

Sid wasn't sure what the point of interviewing him was. He'd already told the copper everything he knew about Cass's whereabouts. If Sid bloody knew where she was, he wouldn't have been looking by putting out that post, yeah? But, he missed her and if this bloke thought he knew how to find her, Sid was in.

He sank down onto one of the couches in the main lobby. It seemed like a bad idea to invite someone else up into Bod's room, even if it was for a cause like this, without asking Bod and the battery for Sid's mobile was dying already. He didn't dare use it if he didn't have to, just yet, until he was able to get himself a charger for it. Never knew when he'd need it, really, and it'd be his luck - as was his luck when Tony had been trying to phone him not to buy the dope off Mad - that it would die right before he really needed it.

When a man walked into the hotel and took off his sunglasses, bt seemed for the briefest moment to be looking about, Sid looked up at him. That, it seemed, was enough for the man to approach and introduce himself.

Taking his hand to shake weakly, Sid nodded and shrugged. "Sure," he replied. "So what...exactly...is this going to accomplish? You think it'll help me find Cass?" he inquired, eyebrows raised slightly.

[anchor_on_heart]

"It's possible." Hotch said with a slight downturn of his lips. He was used to people doubting profiling as a useful skill. "It also might give a clue as to why your own memory has been affected." He motioned towards the elevator. "Is there somewhere we can go that's private?" A part of him couldn't believe the coincidence of being able to see into Bod's apartment at the same time he was interviewing Sid. He was certain that whatever he saw would help understand both young men better.

"In moments of great stress, the brain often doesn't recall things as accurately as it could. By conducting a cognitive interview we'll be able to reconstruct your memories more accurately. Our subconsciousness keeps track of almost everything we see and experience, and by accessing that information when the brain isn't under excess stress, you might remember something you haven't been able to before. It's a fairly common interview technique for witnesses to any kind of crime." Hotch added reassuringly, although he could understand why Sid might not be very assured.

[uselessandcrap]

Sid wasn't quite sure how the agent thought that talking to Sid was going to help find Cass, especially since the other man seemed to think that Sid had some sort of amnesia which Sid knew was not true. Although, the more the man mentioned it, the less Sid was certain it wasn't real. The people on the forums had said that sometimes people left one year and ended up in this one. Sid knew he wasn't crazy...but he was starting to second guess it.

Clearing his throat, Sid stood and shifted his weight. "Er, as I said, 's not really my room to be inviting people into," he pointed out for a second time, his eyes shifting toward the elevator, over to look at the secretary behind the front desk, and then back to Agent Hotchner again. "'m sure she's a bit too busy to be bothering eavesdropping, yeah?" he suggested. The secretary, after all, seemed to be the only one around, save the two of us..."

Brow knitting slightly, Sid listened to the agent pitch the interview. Then, the further the other man went in his explanation, the higher Sid's eyebrows rose, instead. "...but I haven't witnessed a crime, mate," he said slowly. "'m just looking for my girlfriend, yeah? She's run off because that's what Cass does best and I think if I'd've woken up that morning still in New York, I'd be able to find her eventually. Because, y'see, while Cass is good at running, she's not as good at hiding. Sometimes I think she wants to be found." Just then, his voice had a tinge of bitterness as he thought about the time when she'd left the webcam on and he'd seen her get into bed with that twat from Scotland. He shook his head just slightly to rid himself of the memory. Now was not the time.

[anchor_on_heart]

Hotch had conducted enough interviews to pick on when someone was extremely anxious and hiding it, so Sid's reluctance believe his own (potential) condition was understandable. It would be easier to convince him to see a doctor, but as he technically wasn't on the job and Canada wasn't exactly in his jurisdiction, all Hotch really had to work with was what Sid told him.

He'd like to say he'd worked with less, but aside from the Matloff case, with no surviving witnesses and a suspect who didn't remember anything...this was probably the most unsubstantial case he'd ever taken on. Hotch trusted his instinct though, and they were telling him something was very, very, off.

"Alright, over there, then?" There was a corner of the lobby where the shades were drawn, and a high, decorative bookshelf sheltered what looked to be two worn leather seats. Hotch motioned towards the small onclave and let Sid sit first.

"You probably haven't, it's just my job to make sure, and to help find Cassie. Grief can make people do...very foolish things and if she was consumed by it enough to hop on a plane and come to a different country then it stands to reason she isn't thinking straight at all." And there was the idea that if she wasn't good at hiding then why hadn't she turned up with friends or family? Hotch knew this because he'd had Garcia run a check earlier, claiming it was part of the Owens case. Her family hadn't been contacted.

"My analyst was able to tell me she hasn't tried to contact her family or friends in quite some time. Now I need to ask a few preliminary questions. How long have you know her, and how long have you been together?" He would start off with the easy ones, reconstruct the relationship and the circumstances that lead to her disappearance.

"

[uselessandcrap]

Sid looked over to where Agent Hotchner was gesturing and nodded. "'s fine," he agreed easily enough, heading in that direction and dropping heavily and lazily down into one of the chairs. His slouch might've been telling of depression, if Sid didn't always sit that way. He pushed his glasses up on his nose slightly as the other man started to talk and he listened as best he could. Quite honestly, Sid was a bit bored with the concept of something bad happening to Cassie, because in his heart of hearts, he didn't think anything had. If he let himself consider it, it might be disquieting that she still hadn't returned to Bristol in a year, but he wasn't going to think that way.

"Chris, Michelle, and I were her best mates. She was upset with me, I think. Chris is dead. Dunno where 'chelle went to University," he replied in a low voice. Sid hadn't even considered the fact that Cass had parents she may or may not have been in contact with. Cassie wasn't terribly close with her family, from what little he'd gathered on his own. For one thing, they didn't seem to realize she was still an anorexic even though she'd been released from the clinic. One of the most fucked up things he'd ever seen was that day in the cafe when Cassie had shown him exactly how she hid the disease. Christ, he'd even told her as much. If he hadn't known what she was doing, he'd even have been fooled.

Clearing his throat, Sid shifted into a more comfortable position. "Er...two years, though she was a friend of my best mate's girlfriend for longer, so we ran in the same circles," Sid replied to the first question and to the second, "on and off for about a year, or so...?" It was more of a question in response than an answer because Sid's relationship with Cassie had always been...complicated.

[anchor_on_heart]

Hotch listened, paying acute attention to how Sid carried himself--beyond the expected levels of exhaustion and frustration there was a deep-seated sadness. He knew that bringing up the possibility that something had happened to Miss Ainsworth wasn't necessarily a good thing to do, but it was the right thing to do, and an integral part of Hotch's own nature.

"How did Chris die? Were the circumstances such that she'd feel guilty in anyway...more guilty than would be expected at least?" People handled death in different ways, if Cassie was already troubled, as Sid seemed to be alluding to, then she was most likely taking harder than most. Hotch himself had the uncanny ability to work through death, like Kate...

Haley was another matter of course, but only because of Jack. If he didn't believe it was absolutely necessary for the two of them to adjust to each other, then he would be working a real case right now.

"And then, id you could tell me, in as much detail as possible, what happened the last time you saw her, and then we can get to the next part of the interview." As much as Cassie's disappearance bothered Hotch, Sid and his memory were the more important mystery at the moment.

[uselessandcrap]

Upon being asked how Chris died, Sid shifted uncomfortably. "We all did," he said in a low voice, looking down. His fingers fidgeted against his knees, then. "Chris was sick. He had...a heart condition or something. I heard later that his big brother died of it when Chris was a kid. He'd been in the hospital. Chris. But then he got out, yeah? And things were okay. We thought everything was all right. So...things went back to normal. We got him spliff because he missed it...he went back to his pills. Chris took a lot of pills. Not, y'know, the kind you take when you're sick...Chris took anything and everything," Sid explained, still unable to look up at the other man. "None of us ever thought anything was wrong with it, if that was what he wanted to do, you know? So we let 'im." He paused and finally looked up. "I can't remember for sure, but I think he had an anuerism burst or something."

Taking a deep breath, Sid sighed. "The day before Chris died, Cass had an exam. Before she left, she asked what I had to say to her. 'm not sure I remember what all I said, but I apologized for Michelle; that upset her. Michelle...er, when Cass and I broke up, I was with Michelle for a bit, yeah, and when we got back together, Cass never really let it go. Anyway, so I asked her if she had anything to say to me and she said she'd love me forever and that was the problem. I don't rightly know what she meant by that..."

Sid looked up, finally, then. "We had a dinner party that night. After Cassie's exam. Everyone was supposed to be there, yeah, celebrating exams being over and Chris being alive and all. But Cass got upset that Michelle was there and Cass started a row at the table and then she went to bed. I went, too. ...and then we shagged... And then we went to bed," he explained with a shrug. "The next morning, I woke up...gave Cass a kiss, and went on my milk round. I haven't seen her since," he replied. "Few days later, I got that post card in the mail with my results. She didn't write a note. Just my first name and my address. No return address, either. Then, after Chris's funeral, Tony and Michelle pitched in and bought me a ticket to New York. I was there for a few hours. Met up with a bum who shared his bottle of whiskey with me...I fell asleep on the street. I woke up in the park here, the next morning, in the same bloody clothes, stinkin' of piss - not mine - and liquor," he finished.

[anchor_on_heart]

If Aaron had one thing to be impressed by, it was with the relative candor with which Sid spoke--he'd had multiple murder suspects who wouldn't admit to rampant drug use as quickly. However, quite a few things caught in Hotch's mind that made his forehead wrinkle deeply. An unsigned postcard and falling asleep on the street.

"Are you sure the postcard was from her? Do you still have it?" If he did, there was a chance Reid could do a hand-writing analysis. "And, that night in New York, I'd like you to walk me through it again. I'd like you to close your eyes and remember as much as you can. What did you hear, what did it smell like? I know it might not seem important, but if Cassie was likely to do the same things you were, it will help us find her." Hotch could understand Sid being dismissive of what had happened to him, especially if a part of his mind was purposefully locking away the memories.

[uselessandcrap]

"Well, it was her handwriting," Sid replied quickly, keen to get off the subject of his inadvertant role in Chris's death. "I do still have it," he said with a sheepish grimace of sorts, "but I left it at my mum's..." he admitted almost apologetically.

Sid frowned and let out a sigh when Agent Hotchner asked Sid to close his eyes and walk him through the night in New York again. He wanted very badly to roll his eyes. This was a sodding waste of time. Sid knew he hadn't "forgotten" a year and a few months from his life; they'd said on the forums that he wasn't the only one who had woken up here in a different time from where he'd started. He wasn't bloody mad and while he didn't think that the copper was intentionally trying to insult Sid, he felt it just the same.

Still, he humored the other man and closed his eyes, feeling completely ridiculous. "I got off the plane and took a train to Grand Central Station. I walked out of Grand Central Station and into the street. Cass does whatever she bloody wants to do but I know she likes pretty, shiny things. She likes to blend into a crowd. So, I went to the only place I've ever seen on telly. I took a cab to Times Square because it seemed like as good a place to start as any. It smelt like shit and piss and smoke and pollution, because it's a bit city and that's how they bloody smell in my experience," he explained. "I walked around for a few hours, showing a picture of Cass to everyone I saw, asking if anyone saw her. This one, actually," he said, opening his eyes again and shifting, reaching into his back pocket, pulling out a folded, slightly crumpled picture of his girlfriend lying posed in bed with the sheet pulled up around her chest. "Only one I've got," he said quickly, remembering the comment made by someone else on the forum when he'd posted looking for her. "Scanned it for that posting," he explained.

Taking a deep breath, Sid sighed again as he held out the picture for the agent to take if he wanted. "Some people gave me funny looks. Some people were rude or violent, but really only in that annoying, trying-to-intimidate-me sort of way; getting up in my face and the lot. One woman gave me a bloody dollar, like I was begging or something," he muttered. "Most people just said they hadn't seen her."

He took the picture back, then, and looked down at it. "I got tired; it was getting late. So, since I had already spent the last of my money on the cab ride to Times Square, I didn't have a place to stay. So, I went down a quiet alley thinking maybe I could just get a bit of rest and I met up with a bum on the street. He shared his whiskey, we got pissed; I passed out. I woke up in what I thought was Central Park, ducked into the library and saw an icon to a public forum, so I asked for directions back to Times Square and was told I was in bloody Canada and that it was 2009. It's still on the forum if you look. 'm not crazy; I didn't miss a year, mate," he insisted, frowning.

[anchor_on_heart]

Listening to Sid recount his search for Cassie reminded him painfully of William Hightower, haunting the streets of Detroit every night looking for his sister. Hotch took the picture when Sid offered it, almost pocketing it...then he stopped and handed it back.

"My analyst has a picture of her. I'll be sending that and notes on everything you remember to the New York Police Department." In reality it was the most he could do. Memory was a tricky thing, and it looked as though Sid really had no idea what had happened to him or how he's gotten to Aternaville. "And I doubt you're crazy, Sid, but you have missed a year." Even if it didn't seem that way, it was the only way to explain the fact that the young man claimed it was 2008 when he came to New York and a full year later when he arrived there. "I know it's...easy to believe in something that can't be explained when you have nothing else to go on, but there's always an explanation." It was something Aaron held to as a profiler--even when presented with a case involving exorcism, something straight out of the Twilight Zone--there had been an explanation.

Smiling tautly, Hotch put a hand on Sid's shoulder. "That's all I can really do for now, but if you remember anything, don't hesitate to get in touch with me. I'll be in contact with the NYPD and let you know the moment anything turns up about Cassie." He took a card out from his jacket pocket and handed it to Sid.

[uselessandcrap]

Sid's jaw set and he was angry. Why wasn't this bloke listening to him? It was right there on the bloody forum; he wasn't the only one this had happened to. Did they all have some sort of bloody amnesia? He highly doubted it. The way Sid saw it, Agent Hotchner could do whatever he wanted and it wasn't going to change a sodding thing. Cass was missing because she wanted to be. If she didn't want to be found, he'd have a fuck of a time finding her, even with the help of the local police department where Cass had last been known to be. Even that was a loosely used term. Sid didn't know Cassie was in New York, he just assumed she was based on the postcard.

"Right," he said in a clipped voice, taking the business card and pocketing it unceremoniously without even looking at it. He wouldn't ever be contacting Agent Hotchner again because he wouldn't remember anything new. There was nothing to remember. "Thanks," he added in the same tone as he got to his feet and immediately shoved his hands into his pockets. "Just so you know," he said in a low voice, "you ought to check into the people on the forums as well. From what they say, there's loads of us here with this amnesia bollocks you're talking about because I'm not the only bloody one who came from a time before or after what year it is now. You'll have loads to research...if you need something to do," he said. With that and an annoyed, dismissive nod of his head, Sid turned and headed toward the elevator again. Bloody coppers, thinking they knew everything. Worse than parents, they were. The whole bloody lot of them. Hotchner, Sid decided, was no exception.