Façade//Spencer Reid

18. One step closer

JJ walked up to the hospital room that held a sleeping Carter and a worried Spencer. Elle had returned to the BAU only hours ago, a smile on her face, clearly from having caught up with Spencer about their lives since she resigned.

She knocked on the door, watching as Spencer turned his head, directing his attention to her. She gestured for him to come outside the room, which he hesitantly did. He walked outside the room and closed the door, giving Carter some privacy while he ate.

"Did you find anything?" Spencer asked, hopeful.

"No, not yet, but Spencer...Hotch suggested that I trade places with you." JJ looked up at her friend, who furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"JJ, I can't. I have to be here for Carter. Y/N would never forgive me if I stopped watching over him." Spencer shook his head.

"Spencer, stop worrying. I'm gonna be right in there the entire time. You need to focus on helping the team find Y/N, while I stay here and take care of Carter." JJ insisted.

"Alright, fine." Spencer exhaled, opening the door.

"Hey, Carter? I gotta head out for a little while, but my friend JJ, she's gonna stay here and look after you. Is that okay?" Spencer asked, smiling at Carter, who nodded.

"I'll be back." Spencer sighed before leaving the hospital room, allowing JJ to sit down on the chair next to Carter's hospital bed.

———

Spencer arrived back at the BAU, his heart racing with anxiety. From the moment he exited the hospital, Carter was on his mind. He wouldn't forgive himself if something happened to Carter, but then he remembered that Carter wasn't alone. JJ was with him, making sure that he was safe and sound.

"Nice of you to join us." Morgan exhaled, smiling at his skinny friend.

"How's Carter?" Emily asked, curious.

"He's slowly eating, but mostly sleeping." Spencer explained as he sat at his usual seat in the conference room.

"That's something, at least." Rossi smiled.

"Okay. Let's get back to work." Hotch insisted, holding a tablet in his hands.

"So, this is the area in which boy wonder found Y/N's phone on the floor." Penelope put up a satellite image of the area onto the screen.

"Are you sure that there are absolutely no houses in this whole forest area?" Elle asked, confused.

"None that are registered, anyway. If Marco did build a house in this area, it's well hidden and was built by private contractors who were paid under the table, if you know what I mean." Penelope frowned.

"But it's not a huge assumption that there might be a house somewhere in that forest?" Morgan asked.

"Maybe." Spencer exhaled.

"Hold up, how about we focus specifically on where we found Y/N's phone?" Rossi suggested.

"Good idea." Hotch nodded.

"Okay, because Y/N was taken from this specific spot, we have to assume that she got close to where Carter was being held, or she got close to Marco's house." Hotch pointed to the small spot on the screen, identifying Y/N's phone location.

"Penelope mentioned that Y/N had only ever seen his house, and never how to actually get there." Morgan shrugged his shoulders.

"I think it's better if we actually go back to the location. It'll make finding her a lot better." Emily smiled.

———

35 minutes later, the BAU team stood in the same spot where Spencer found Y/N's phone. They all looked around, confused.

"Okay, so this where I found her phone. Right there is where Morgan found the desire path." Spencer pointed to the path.

"If I were an American Mafia leader, where would I hide my home in a forest?" Morgan eyed the forest around him, trying to concentrate.

"His house would have to be somewhere close by. I mean, to keep a woman like Y/N under my finger, I'd have to make sure that my leverage against her is easily accessible, just in case the police, the Feds or even Y/N herself comes snooping around." Elle reminded the team, all of whom nodded, understanding.

"I've got into contact with S.W.A.T. They're on their way. Elle, you and Spencer head North. Morgan, I want you to head East. Rossi, you go West. Emily, you and I will go South. Once S.W.A.T. gets here, we'll each get an Agent coming with us." Hotch informed the team.

15 minutes later, S.W.A.T. showed up, one Agent going with each member of the team. Once everyone had been instructed, they split up.

At least 2 hours passed before someone made an announcement over the comms system.

"Elle and I think we have something. It's a large structure in the middle of the forest. Our coordinates are 38.589876204681296, -77.3948511133737." Spencer spoke, waiting for instructions.

"Are you guys a safe distance?" Hotch asked.

"Yep. We're at least 15 to 20 meters from the house." Spencer confirmed.

"Alright, we have your location, so wait for us to come and find you. We all need to see what we're dealing with." Hotch instructed. Spencer exhaled, both him and Elle trying to get a semi-full view of the structure without being seen.

At least 25 minutes later, Rossi, Emily, Hotch and Morgan, plus at least 4 S.W.A.T. Agents showed up, each of them getting a look at the structure.

"How did no one come across this house?" Morgan questioned, confused.

"We're incredibly deep in Prince William Park. It was a good...2 hour hike through a pretty thick forest, plus, it looks like some trees are covering parts of the house, so it could be partly concealed." Elle looked at Morgan, who shrugged his shoulders.

"This man must be rich, and I mean really rich. Not even I'm rich enough to have a place like that. It's at least double the size of my house." Rossi scoffed.

"Mansion." Emily coughed.

"Pardon me?" Rossi eyed Emily.

"Admit it Rossi. You don't have a house. You have a mansion. But, you're definitely right about the size of this mansion." Emily explained.

"Alright, I guess we have to breach this house. Morgan, you and Reid take the front of the mansion. Elle, you and Emily take the back. Rossi and I will back up Morgan and Reid. S.W.A.T. will be close behind. If there are any armed assailants, try to take them down without shooting them. We need as many people alive as possible." Hotch exhaled, clearly worried about the mission ahead.

"Once we're in the house, Reid and Morgan will focus on finding Y/N, while the rest of us will focus on taking any armed assailants out alive." Hotch gave out jobs, watching as everyone nodded.