WARNINGS: THERE'S SWEARING AND THIS IS LONG AND A BIT MESSY (SORRY)
TRIGGER WARNINGS: KIDNAPPINGS, TORTURE, PAST ABUSE, PAST SEXUAL ABUSE, TALKS OF R*PE, MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES, DRUGS, THIS WHOLE CHAPTER IS A TW!
"We almost always can point to that hundredth blow, but we don't always mark the ninety-nine other things that happen before we change."
― Maggie Stiefvater
"Here you go Archer." Ruth handed Crystal a box full of files, "These are the hardcopies of the files I sent you pictures of." Crystal nodded, "Thank you."
"You really are wasting your time, there's nothing wrong."
"Maybe, but I don't think so." Crystal countered and Ruth raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
"Jason was right that something seems off, there's something missing." Crystal answered, "I'll get these back to you later, bye Chief." Crystal walked back to her car with the files, she had stopped at the station before heading back home.
___
"You're here on vacation, but you're working?" Crystal's mom frowned and Crystal smiled at her, "Promise I'm just checking over some files mom, it shouldn't take more than a day."
Crystal's father walked over and handed her a mug of tea, "Don't overwork yourself." Crystal nodded, "I won't." There was a knock at the door and Crystal went to answer it, Jason stood there and smiled. "Thanks for doing this."
"No problem, I'm looking at the files right now."
They both walked to the table and Crystal pointed at a stack of documents, "These reports state that the fires weren't called in until hours later, but your friend Max claims to have called in immediately."
Jason nodded, "He tried calling, but for some reason his calls weren't going through." Crystal folded her hands, "Would I be able to talk to Max?"
"Chris, I know you suspect him but-"
Crystal held up her hand, "You asked for my input Jace, I have to be unbiased and do things like I would on any case. You've cleared him, but I haven't." Jason sighed and checked his watch, "He should be out of work right now, I'll text him to see if we can meet up."
"Tell him to meet us at the bar you first questioned him at."
"Why?"
"If the arsonist did hear you there, we need to see if he's stalking Max or not." Crystal answered and Jason looked at the files stacked in different areas, "You find anything else?"
"Yes, but I need to talk with Max before I can confirm things."
"You said arsonist instead of potential arsonist, were these done on purpose?" Jason asked and Crystal looked up from her file, "I'd have to get into the evidence room tomorrow at the station, but from what I've found your friend is wrong about these being an accident."
Jason sat up, "So I was right?"
"Yes, but you were also stupid."
Jason frowned, "How was I stupid?" Crystal sighed and took off her glasses to rub the bridge of her nose, "Jason, this guy has taken many precautionary steps to make sure he wasn't found out. That means he's a professional and that makes him dangerous, you should've told me first before even talked to Max because now the unsub knows you're onto him."
"You didn't even believe me."
"I did believe you," Crystal countered as she put her glasses back on, "I just needed you to find proof so that I could convince Chief to let me look at this case." Jason sighed, "This guy won't mess with me, I'm a firefighter."
"Jace, these guys are dangerous and it doesn't matter if you're a firefighter or not. Do you know how many arsonists I've seen? They start to develop tendencies to kill people, this isn't a joke." Crystal said firmly and Jason narrowed his eyes, "I know this is serious, that's why I called you."
"Do you?" Crystal asked and sighed, "I'm not trying to be the bad guy Jace, but there are messed up people out there." Jason still frowned, but nodded. "I get that Chris, but this is my friend and he needed help."
"That's why I need to talk to him, he refused help when he has a serious problem."
"Which is why you suspect him." Jason stated and Crystal nodded, "Exactly, but that doesn't mean he might be doing it willingly. He could be blackmailed into participating," Crystal showed him a picture, "Are these the most recent pictures of the evidence for these fires?"
Jason shrugged, "Should be, I wasn't the one documenting the evidence for the fires." Crystal hummed as she looked at the pictures, "I'll see them tomorrow in person, text your friend."
"I will," Jason stood up and walked away before turning around, "I know you don't think I'm being careful, but I am. I promise that if I find anything in the future, that I'll tell you first." Crystal turned to look at him and smiled, "I guess being in danger is also an Archer thing, right after having relationship issues."
Jason chuckled, "Yeah, I guess it is."
___
Jason parked the car at the local bar, Crystal exited the car and hugged her jacket to herself. They walked in and they sat at the barstool, Crystal rolled her eyes as someone sat next to her.
"Hello-"
Crystal showed him her badge and he stared at it before gulping, "Goodbye." Crystal gave a nod and he left, Jason chuckled as he ordered them drinks. "You're going to scare Max off." Crystal shrugged with a smile, "I was just showing off my badge."
Jason smiled as the bartender handed them their drinks, Crystal shook her head and handed it to Jason. "I don't like to drink Jace."
"More for me and Max then."
They waited for 20 minutes and Jason frowned, "He said he'd only be 10 minutes late, not 15." Crystal shrugged, "Maybe he got busy." Jason's phone buzzed and he checked it, "Max says he's not feeling to good."
"He's sick?"
"No, he means he's not feeling to good about meeting you. He doesn't want to make this a big deal." Jason sighed and Crystal raised an eyebrow, "Well, tell him after we get solid evidence we can meet then." Jason nodded, "Yeah, sorry for dragging you out here."
"No worries, it's nice to go out." Crystal smiled at him and he returned it, they walked out and Jason had run into a few collogues before they left. Crystal sighed when they finally exited the bar, "So I called Ruth and she's going to get all the evidence ready for us, but we're going to check out the buildings set on fire first."
Jason nodded, "Sounds like a plan."
"You know that we might both be wrong, right?"
Jason smiled, "I've learned to never question you or your opinion, if you think this is right too then it has to be." Crystal laughed, "That's not a good logic base to follow, but thanks I guess." They walked to their car and headed home, Crystal's mom frowned at them when they walked in. "Did you finish work Chris?"
"Sort of, just wrapping up some loose ends."
"And Jason's helping you?"
"Yeah."
"Really?"
"Really." Crystal replied and her mother sighed, "You two did always keep secrets, just don't do anything dangerous. You're on vacation and you should enjoy it, don't stress yourself." Jason smiled at their mom, "We won't mom, don't worry."
"I can't help but worry, I raised 4 gremlins who always get into trouble. Off to bed you two."
If Crystal went to bed and opened one of her bags and the frog jumped out, she laughed at his antics and shook her head before finally sleeping.
___
Crystal yawned as her alarm clock woke her up, she checked her watch.
10:45 AM
I accidently overslept, whoops.
She reached for her phone and smiled at Hotch's text.
Hotch: Got caught up with work, couldn't call last night
Crystal: That's fine, don't overwork yourself while I'm not there
Crystal got up and got ready, she went to Jason's room and jumped on him, he groaned and chuckled as he shoved her off of him. "Still all these years and you choose to wake me up with violence." Crystal shrugged, "It's the only way to wake up."
Jason threw a pillow at her before racing to the bathroom before she could retaliate, Crystal laughed at his antics before heading downstairs. Her dad looked up at her, "I thought we could go visit Pops when you're done with 'work' Chris." Crystal raised an eyebrow, "That's fine, but I am working dad."
Crystal's dad chuckled, "I don't have to be a profiler to understand my children Crystal, you two are up to something and if you don't want to share that's fine. Tell me where you two are headed to at least?" Crystal sighed and sat next to him, "Jason's found a possible arsonist and I'm just checking it out, we're headed to the past locations of the places he set fire to."
Her dad didn't respond, he took a sip of his coffee. Crystal knew he wasn't happy, but he liked to collect his thoughts before making an assessment on things. "That sounds really dangerous Chris."
"I know dad."
"You're here on your own? Your boss doesn't know?"
"It's not an official case which means I'm not officially consulting, Chief gave me permission to look at the case and there's no need for paperwork if there's no real case."
"But there is a real case, isn't there?" Her dad looked over at her and she gave him a small smile, "Just working on a theory dad." He sighed and patted her head, "Be safe."
"Jason bought a taser for some reason, and I have my gun." Crystal said and her dad nodded, "Be back before 4 PM or I'm filing a missing persons report." Crystal laughed, "Okay dad, I'll keep that in mind."
___
Jason parked at an abandoned building, he put the keys in his pocket. They had went to go get breakfast before heading down here and it was almost noon now, they were taking their time since Ruth had some trouble with some of the evidence. "This is the first fire, took 2 hours before the call was made." Crystal frowned and took out her cell, she hummed. "I see why, there's no cell service here."
Crystal looked around at how the building was about a decent distance from the nearby building, "In his panic, he probably didn't notice that he was out of range. What was this building supposed to be?"
"His new main office building, he's stuck at his old one now." Jason answered, "You wanna head inside?"
"Yeah, gotta see where the fire started." Crystal grabbed a flashlight and Jason grabbed his taser, Crystal gave him a look. "Really?"
"What? You have your gun and I have this, leave me alone." Jason stated proudly and Crystal smiled as they headed inside, she looked for traces of where the fire could've started and found that it started upstairs. "Could the fire spread that bad in 2 hours?"
Jason shrugged, "If it was an accident? No. If it was intentional? Yes if you use a lot of gasoline." Crystal hummed as they walked out the building, the next building was on the other side of town. When they arrived, Crystal raised an eyebrow at the gate. "Secluded and gated."
"This was supposed to be some kind of hotel or something, he wanted to make use of the gate."
Jason parked and Crystal didn't feel to good about this place, she turned to look around and the next building could barely be seen in the distance.
This place is really far....
"How long until the fires were called in?"
"About 3 hours." Jason answered and he took out his cell, "No cell service here either."
"That wasn't in the report." Crystal stated and Jason frowned, "Yeah, it wasn't. That's weird, guess they didn't check." Crystal made sure her gun was in reach as she grabbed her flashlight, "Let's find where the fire started."
They opened the door and Crystal felt her stomach drop, there in the middle of the room was a man bleeding on the floor. "Oh God!" Crystal ran over to him and put pressure on his neck, someone had sliced it. "Hey, can you hear me? You're gonna be okay." The man looked up at Crystal and tried to speak, she shook her head. "Don't, save your strength."
The man coughed and winced before whispering, "R..." He spit up blood and reached for Crystal's hand on his neck, "R-run." Crystal's eyes widen at his words and she looked over to see Jason trying to call for help, she looked around and then noticed it.
A man with a bloody knife.
"Jason!" Crystal screamed and ran for the door, the man was quickly after her and she barely made it to Jason when he realized what was happening, he dropped his phone and grabbed her. Jason tried to tase the man, but he stabbed his hand before twisting the knife. Jason screamed in pain and Crystal drew her gun, "Don't move or I'll shoot you."
The man was wearing a hood and mask, he raised an eyebrow and twisted the knife and Jason fell to his knees in pain. "If you don't empty your bullets, I'll make sure he won't have a hand anymore bitch so best listen to me."
Crystal gulped and the man shrugged and was about to move the knife again, "Wait!" Crystal's hands shook a bit, she slowly pulled the clip from the gun.
I can't shoot him fast enough before he stabs Jason repeatedly...
The man chuckled before slamming Jason's head into the car before taking the knife out to stab him in the chest, Crystal went to run for him and he grabbed her by her hair. "You're prettier than he said, how nice." Crystal glared at him as he grabbed his hand, "Let. Go."
"No."
Crystal didn't know when he got the taser, but she screamed in pain when she felt the electricity shock her body. She fell to the ground with a thud and she hugged her stomach, her whole body shook with pain. Crystal saw Jason look at her scared and in pain, he was cradling his hand.
Crystal smiled at him, "H-hey, I-I'm okay." The man rolled his eyes, "Shut the fuck up already." He kicked Jason in the ribs, this made Jason cough and start to spit blood after the third kick. Crystal grabbed his leg and yanked hard making the man fall, "Run!" Crystal forced herself to stand up and grab Jason, they were halfway to the gate when he grabbed her by her sweatshirt. Crystal screamed and jabbed her elbow backwards, the man grunted, "Fuck!" He used the back of the knife to smack her. Crystal saw Jason turn around when he heard her scream, he ran back and tackled the man to the ground and the man quickly overpowered him, he was on top of Jason and started to punch him.
Crystal shoved him off him and kicked him in his gut, the man yelled. "You bitch!"
They tried to run again but the man grabbed her foot. Crystal fell and the man pulled her up by her hair, Jason turned and was about to run back to her when she scream for him to go, "Run Jason! Get him! Get-"
Don't say his name or he'll be in danger.
"Get Mr. Agent! Bring him here! Tell him-" Crystal was cut off from another shock to her body, this time longer, and she collapsed in pain on the ground as she watch Jason force himself to keep running away from her. Crystal shielded herself when the man started to kick her, she winced in pain.
Tell him to save me.
___
Hotch was in his office when Strauss walked into her office, "Aaron, there's someone on the phone for you. They said it's an emergency, they called the BAU reception desk." Hotch frowned but nodded, he picked up the phone. "This is Agent Hotchner."
"Hello, I'm a doctor at the Matthews Hospital E.R. I have a patient who ran for almost a mile before someone drove him to the hospital. He refuses to get treatment until he speaks with you."
"Put him on." Hotch stated and he heard shaky breathing on the other end, "Who is this?"
"Mr. Agent, he's got her."
Hotch's heart fell, he didn't need to ask who 'her' was. "Jason?"
"You gotta come save her, this is all my fault."
"Where's Archer? Who took her?" Hotch asked urgently and Strauss's eyes widen, Hotch grew tense. "Where is she Jason?"
"I don't know, she was right behind me and then-"
Hotch heard Jason sob, Hotch's hands were formed into fists.
"Please, come here and save her. She asked for you, please Agent Hotchner. Come find my sister and save her, he killed my friend Max already. Please don't let her die."
Hotch's eyes widen when he heard a clang and loud voices, someone picked up the phone.
"I'm sorry Agent Hotchner but we need to rush this man to surgery, he's in bad shape."
They hung up and Hotch quickly stood up, Strauss followed after him, "Aaron, what's going on? What's wrong with Agent Archer?" The team looked up at Strauss's worried tone, Reid frowned. "What-"
"Archer's been taken." Hotch interrupted and Emily dropped her mug, it shattered on the floor. JJ and Rossi came out of their offices when they heard that, "What's wrong." Reid looked in shock, "Crystal's been taken? By who?"
Hotch shook his head and let out a shaky breath, "I don't know, but he's got her and her brother Jason's in the E.R." JJ gulped, "I'll grab Morgan and Garcia."
"Tell Garcia to pack everything she needs, she's coming with us." Hotch stated and JJ nodded before rushing to get them, Hotch looked at the team. "We leave now." Rossi nodded and went to grab his bag, Strauss sighed. "The director isn't going to like this, he's going to say you're to emotional."
"We've got this."
"I know you want-"
"Please." Hotch's voice broke and he turned to look at her, she stared at the raw emotion on his face. He looked devastated and Strauss shook her head, "I'll let him know that you're in control."
"Thank you."
"Find her, alive." Strauss walked away to go talk to the director and Morgan rushed over with his bag, Garcia came running with her laptop, and JJ was not far behind. Emily hadn't said a word as she grabbed her things and Reid snapped out of his daze, "Where-" He cleared his throat after his voice broke, "Where is her brother?"
"Matthews Hospital, when we land go there to see if you can question him when he wakes up. Her parents will most likely be there and emotional, be ready to try and calm them down." Hotch answered and Reid nodded, "What about her other brothers?"
"We'll inform them on the way there," Hotch replied and JJ had returned with her bag and so did Rossi, "Let's go, now."
___
The jet ride was tense, it was a 20 minute flight and Hotch was tense as his face showed no emotion at all. Emily cleared her throat, "Do we know why she was on vacation?" It was the first words she had spoken since the news of Crystal's kidnapping, Hotch shook his head. "She didn't say anything to me." He whispered and Rossi looked over at him, "She's a tough woman, she'll be okay."
Hotch didn't reply, he looked over at Garcia. "Have you contacted her parents?"
"Yes, and they said Crystal was looking at some files with Jason. They brought them to the hospital and they're..." Garcia let out a shaky breath, "Jason's lost a lot of blood, Tyler and Nick are on their way already. They were driving down to visit already and should be there around the same time we get there" Morgan rubbed his face, "What the hell is going on?"
JJ blinked away tears, "I don't want to ask, but what are the chances that..." JJ couldn't finish her sentence and Reid shook his head, "She's not dead, she's alive and she's waiting for us to save her so don't think about it."
"Uh guys?" Garcia looked nervous, "Ben's just been arrested as a suspect, apparently he was outside the Archer's home....blue irises were found at the abduction site." Hotch's jaw clenched, "I'll talk to him."
Morgan shook his head, "Not happening."
"It's-"
"Hotch. If he knows something we need him to talk and we all know that out of all of us, you're the one most likely to actually knock him out." Morgan said firmly, Hotch tensed up and tried taking deep breaths as he looked outside the window. "How long has she been missing?" Hotch's voice broke and Rossi rubbed his forehead, "It couldn't be more than 2 hours."
Emily's eyes were glossy, "There's a chance she could've gotten away." Hotch didn't look away from the window, "He's got her....she would've called otherwise." Hotch's heart hurt as he sat there not knowing if the woman who made him feel safe and warm was alive, he took a deep breath to stop himself from thinking that way.
I'm on my way....please stay safe.
___
Crystal winced as her side hurt as the man droved over another bump, she was currently in the trunk and she was trying to tug off her restraints. Her body was weak from taking all the shocks, but that didn't stop her from trying to break free from the rope that was wrapped around her hands and feet.
The car stopped harshly and Crystal's head slammed into the side, she groaned and the trunk was opened. She glared at the man and he chuckled, "Max did say that Jason's sister was feisty, glad to see you live up to that Miss Archer."
Crystal had a gag in her mouth, but that didn't stop her from trying to get her message across.
'Go fuck yourself you sick son of a bitch.'
The man rolled his eyes, "Not nice to mumble, and I don't feel like listening to whatever shit you've got to say." The man dragged her out of the trunk and Crystal landed hard on the ground, she looked around and noticed that she was at an abandoned building. Crystal frowned and the man started to drag her to the building by her hair, she tried to fight him off the let her go and he sighed before kicking her in the head.
Crystal's head was spinning and she felt like she was going to throw up, the man dragged her to the middle of the room and grabbed a chair. He sat her in the chair and grabbed some zip-ties, he looked at her deadly. "Try and run and I'll make sure you go back in pieces." He grabbed his knife and cut the rope, he zip-tied both her hands on either side of the chair and he did the same to her feet.
"I was expecting to just take your brother for all the trouble he's caused me, but who knew his younger sister would swoop in to save him? How sweet." The man darkly chuckled and Crystal wanted nothing more than to stick her fist into his disgusting face, she didn't have the energy to though and she was fighting off falling asleep.
Who knows what he might....do.
The man went to touch her face and she moved away, he shrugged. "I'm not going to rape you or anything if that's what you're so worried about, I'm not into that type of shit." Crystal didn't believe him for a second and continued to glare at him, the man shrugged before taking out the taser to tase her again. Crystal screamed in pain and he chuckled, "I am, however, into hearing you scream like this."
The man walked away to leave, "I'll be back later to take you to another location, I'm just leaving you here right now because I need to make sure I don't become a suspect."
The man was about to leave before turning around with a smirk, what he said left shivers down Crystal's spine and she started to struggle again.
"Should I go see our friend Jason in the hospital to finish the job?"
___
Reid headed to the hospital to talk the doctor's instead of Crystal's parents, apparently word of Ben's arrest made it's way to the family and they were....in a predicament. Crystal's mother was desperately trying to stop her husband from trying to hit Ben and Ben's parents were trying to protect their son, "You little piece of shit! Just let me find out you had anything to do with this, I swear you won't even get to your trial day because I'm going to-"
"David, we're friends!" Ben's mother cried, "My son wouldn't do this, please believe me."
"I don't give a shit if we're friends! My daughter is missing and my son is in the hospital dying!"
"David, stop." Crystal's mother pleaded as she sobbed in his arms, Crystal's father let out a shaky breath as he held his wife. Hotch rushed over and tried to calm the situation, he had never seen Crystal's dad get angry at anyone. He was always calm.
"Mr. Archer, I know this is frustrating. But I need you to stay calm, as much as I want-" Hotch was interrupted when Tyler entered the station and immediately decked Ben in the jaw, Ben's mother cried and Tyler was going for another punch when Morgan rushed over to grab him. "That's enough man."
"Let go of me! I'm going to beat this son of a bitch into a pulp! He took my sister!" Tyler tried to get out of Morgan's grasp and Nick rushed over to calm Tyler down, Tyler had tears down his face and Morgan turned Tyler to look at him. "Hey. Hey, hey!" Morgan screamed and Tyler finally stopped to look at him, he looked broken.
"I know how you feel man, I've got sisters too and trust me that if anything ever happened to them I'd be just like you. Crystal's family to me Tyler, she's like my sister and she's family to all of us. It's taking every bit of my strength to not drag this son of a bitch outside and get answers my way." Morgan stated firmly and Tyler sobbed, Morgan lessen his hold on his shoulders. "But we need him to talk, we need to know if he's guilty or not Tyler because if he doesn't talk.....Crystal might die."
Morgan swallowed when he said this and Tyler relaxed before breaking down, Nick was hugging his side as his shoulders shook. Morgan let go and Crystal's mom rushed to their sides, she was whispering reassurances and Morgan turned to look at Ben on the ground. He glared at Ben, "Get up, we're going to talk."
Ben's father glared back, "This is ridiculous, my son-"
"Has been sending blue irises to Agent Archer for almost two years now and a blue iris was found at the abduction site, this makes him a suspect." Morgan stated firmly and Ben's fathers eyes widen before looked at Ben, "Son, tell me this isn't true?"
Ben looked at his dad, "I sent flowers, but I didn't-"
"Enough. I'm getting you a lawyer." Ben's dad interrupted and Ben glared at his father, "I didn't do this dad!" Ben's mother looked at her husband, "If you call a lawyer on our innocent son, I'll give you hell Benjamin." She turned to look at Morgan sadly, "I understand your concerns, but my son is innocent. Ask him any questions and he'll answer, we want to find Crystal too."
Morgan gave a nod and led Ben to an interrogation room, it took everything in Hotch to not follow after them. Hotch took a deep breath before turning to look at Ruth who had been trying to keep control of the situation, "I'm SSA Hotchner, that was SSA Morgan, and this is our tech Penelope Garcia. Where can we set up?"
Ruth motioned to a room, "This way please, the Archer's have brought back the files Crystal had taken a look at." Hotch went to follow after her and Garcia when someone tugged on his sleeve, he turned to look at Nick who's nose was red from crying. "You're gonna find her right? You're...you're gonna bring her home?"
Hotch nodded, "I'm going to do everything I can Nick, I'm not going to leave anything unturned." Nick relaxed and nodded, Crystal's father walked up to Hotch. "I can explain some of what Crystal and Jason were doing, she told me a bit about what they were doing."
___
It was 3:45 PM and Reid had talked to all the witnesses who saw Jason, he talked to the man who drove him here and Garcia checked him out to be clean. The man had been driving home from work when he saw Jason struggling on the side of the road, he told the police where he had seen Jason and sure enough a mile back they found the car and the building with a dead Max inside.
Reid looked up when the doctor returned, "Jason's stable, but he's lost a lot of blood and his injuries look bad. He's got three broken ribs, a fractured rib, a punctured lung, his stab wounds not infected, but his hand was in bad shape and we're doing our best to close the hole. He'll be able to use it still luckily, overall he's very lucky to be alive because he could've died."
Reid nodded at the doctor's words, "Will I be able to speak with him?" The doctor sighed, "No, he's out of it right now and I don't want to force him to wake up."
"I need you to do that please."
"Sir-"
"It's Doctor actually and his sister's been taken and she's most likely just as injured. I need to talk with him, now." Reid said firmly and the doctor looked at him before sighing, "Follow me." They walked to a room and the doctor pushed some buttons on the machines, "The drugs given to him should ware off in an hour or so, that's the best I can do without letting him feel pain."
Reid nodded, "Thank you." The doctor left and a woman rushed in, "Jason." Her voice broke and she went to his side, she sobbed as she held his hand. Reid frowned, "Who're you?"
"I'm Amy, this is," Amy sniffled, "This is my boyfriend, who're you?"
"I'm Dr. Spencer Reid and-"
"You work with Crystal." Amy's eyes widen, "Have you found her?"
"No, we haven't. I'm trying to understand everything I can about what they were doing at that burnt building."
"I can tell you some of it," Amy wiped her tears, "Jason thought he had found an arsonist targeting his friend."
"Max Williams, he was found dead."
"Yeah, Chris came down to check it out and today they were going to check the old buildings that were burnt down for any clues. Jace told me that Chris found something weird and wanted to go check it out."
"Do you know what she found?" Reid asked desperately and Amy shook her head, "I don't, I do know that she wanted to see-"
"Sorry sir." Reid quickly looked out the door to see a nurse apologize to a man standing by the door, the man quickly ran away and Reid raced after him but lost him due to doctors and patients in the way. Reid grabbed his phone, "Hotch we need officers down here at the hospital, I think the unsub was just here."
___
"Where is she Ben?"
"I don't know."
"C'mon man, you think I believe you?"
"I don't care-"
Morgan slammed the table, "You should care! Because if Crystal dies so help me I will make sure you go down for this!"
"I can't help you! You think I'd do this?! I love her!" Ben shouted and Morgan shook his head, "If you didn't do this then who? Someone's trying to frame your ass and I need to know who!"
"I don't know Agent, I really don't." Ben said desperately and the door opened, Rossi poked his head in. "We need to talk Derek." Morgan sighed before walking out the room, Rossi closed the door and sighed. "Reid thinks the unsub was at the hospital, Crystal's friend Amy said Crystal found something in the evidence and was checking out a theory."
"Who's headed to the hospital?"
"Crystal's family went and officers were sent with them, Garcia's checking tapes." Rossi answered as they walked to the room they were set up in, Hotch stood by the board looking at Crystal's picture.
A/N: LISTEN TO THIS UNTIL IT CUTS BACK TO CRYSTAL AND THE UNSUB (SUFFOCATE - HAYD)
Hotch looked at the bright smile on her face, how her eyes shined, and it hurt him to think that she was in danger. It hurt him to know that she was out there waiting for him, and he couldn't find her.
I should've told her sooner, I should've told her what she means to me.
Hotch turned to look at Morgan and Rossi as they walked in, "Reid's on his way back, he's coming to see if we can find out what Archer saw in these cases to make her know it's an arsonist."
Emily sighed, "There's nothing that stands out, I don't see anything that indicates an arsonist except for how Max's story doesn't match up with the witnesses claims. He was definitely doing it for the insurance." JJ looked over at her, "Well he's dead, so there's no way to get answers from him." Rossi took a seat next to her, "Why kill him? If he was in on it, why kill him now after almost 3 years?"
"Maybe he was going to crack," Morgan stated, "Jason was trying to help him and the guilt was probably eating him inside, he must've wanted to turn himself in and the partner couldn't take the chance of being caught with him." Garcia was typing on her laptop, "If that's the case, how am I narrowing this down? I've got around over 200 buildings that Max has renovated, built, or assisted on in the past 5 years."
Hotch picked up a file and smiled sadly at the note written on it.
'If you see this, then I returned the files late Ruth! Sorry :)'
Hotch became choked up and sighed, "The building Max was found in was secluded and gated, he chose that area to kill Max." JJ frowned, "If I'm being honest, the area seemed so....planned out."
Morgan shrugged, "Yeah, for the murder."
"No, I mean the area seemed planned out not only for the murder but for the fires and the kidnapping. What if this place was chosen for a reason?" JJ asked and Reid walked in, "Where's the evidence from the fires?" Emily handed him a box and he quickly opened it and started to search through the box and pulled out the wires, "This is what Crystal's friend Amy was saying she noticed, I think I know why he took Crystal and try to take Jason. He knew Crystal was close to finding out who he was, she was looking for proof for a warrant."
Morgan stood up and inspected the wires, "The report says that the wires were destroyed and caused the fires, but these look cut to look like they sparked."
"This guy's obviously the dominant, but what if he wasn't the one who came up with the idea? That second location could've been where the unsub met Max and the idea of doing this scam came into a new light." Rossi stated and Garcia typed on her laptop, "Looking into fires that went down after the second building set ablaze, I'll cross-reference people in Max's life."
Hotch gave a nod, "We're ready to give the profile."
The team stood up and Hotch cleared his throat, "Before we go, I just thought I'd say this now. If-" Hotch's voice broke and he swallowed, "If Archer doesn't come back alive, I'm resigning as Unit Chief."
Rossi's eyes widen, "Aaron-"
"No Dave, I can't do this again." Hotch stated as his eyes grew glossy, "I almost lost everything because of this job, I lost Haley and almost lost Jack, and I feel that I'll break if she doesn't come back to me. This job's taken more from me without me realizing it and Archer gave those things back to me little by little, if she....is she dies I won't know how to go into the office without wanting to see her, how to go home without wanting to hold her, how to live without her beside me, and how to function with her gone. I've let her into my life more than I intended to, but I don't regret it. She's become someone who've I've grown fond of, but you all knew this."
Hotch smiled sadly and the team let his words sink in, Hotch cleared his throat. "She means a lot to me, and I know she means a lot to the rest of you, but I don't think I'll be able to survive if she dies. I can't do this again, I can't be a hollow person due to this job and I-" Hotch let out a shaky breath, "I can't do this to Jack, he's lost his mom and I don't want him to watch me crumble from losing the woman who's had my heart the moment she helped put it back together."
Garcia had tears down her face as she listened to Hotch's words, Hotch took a deep breath. "Let's go deliver the profile." The team watched him leave and JJ wiped her face, "I don't think this team would be a team without her." Her voice broke and Emily fought back tears as she walked out the room, Reid looked over at the board to see a picture of Crystal smiling and he swallowed before putting a hand on JJ's back for comfort. "She's going to be okay."
"Yeah, she's waiting for us." JJ gave him a sad smile and Reid swallowed, "I don't think I'll forgive myself if she dies because I'm to slow to put together what she saw....I can't see it."
"Because you're trying to think like Archer, you need to think like you." JJ reassured and Reid sniffled with a nod, they both walked out the room. Rossi stood there for a bit before walking away and Garcia knew he was struggling to hide his emotions, she turned to look at Morgan who was looking at the roof.
"I'm scared." Garcia whispered and Morgan sighed and looked over at her with glazed eyes, "Me too babygirl."
"It's almost 7 Derek, it's already getting dark and it's been hours since he's taken her." Garcia let out a sob and Morgan walked over to her, "It's scary, but we have to be strong for her Penelope. We have to keep it together," Morgan whispered, "We have to do this for her."
Garcia watched him leave and she sat back down at her laptop, she continued trying to narrow things down before having a thought cross her mind.
Why didn't Jason call someone? If the unsub attacked them when he did, wouldn't they have found the phone? Unless....Crystal has it!
___
The man walked into the building pissed, "Well Miss Archer, seems like I've found out who Mr. Agent is. He's watching that disappointing firefighter, your brother somehow survived." Crystal didn't respond, in fact, she didn't move.
The man frowned and walked over to her, "Did I kill you by accident?" He checked her pulse and she was alive, he shrugged. "Finally slept, good. Now I can move you." He took out a rag, it was soaked in chloroform. He forced it over Crystal's nose and she started to struggle when her eyes opened, she finally stopped and the man drew his knife to cut the restraints.
After he was done, Crystal kicked him in the face. He was still crouched to cut her legs free and he groaned. He went to stab her and Crystal forced his hand to stab himself, he screamed in pain and Crystal shoved him away as she raced for the door.
Crystal was never asleep, she had pretended to get him to let his guard down for her to try and escape. She hadn't expected the chloroform and her head spun as it started to take effect, she continued running as she dug out Jason's phone.
I gotta get service.
___
The team walked back in after giving the profile, Garcia looked over at them as she continued typing. "Did you find Jason's phone at the abduction site?" Rossi shook his head, "Not when we talked to the officers down there, we just found the blue irises."
Garcia frowned, "Well Ben bought his flowers yesterday according to his credit card. But if you don't have his phone, then that means Crystal or the unsub does. I'm tracking the phone's last location, I'm almost done."
Hotch picked up the files, "We're missing something....what did Archer see?"
"I looked into the areas sir and it turns out that the cell service at the buildings set on fire were nonexistent yet, the buildings were still in development and so were the cell towers."
Reid looked over at the files and flipped through them, "The second location is key." Morgan raised an eyebrow, "What's up pretty boy?"
"The second location was the building Archer was taken at, the respondents would've realized that this was suspicious."
Rossi nodded at Reid's words, "Fires like these aren't common." Reid grabbed another file, "Exactly, which means that someone noticed something and covered it." Reid stopped at a document, "Paul Laney was the respondent at the first fire and second fire, I'm guessing he's the same one who responded to the third and fourth one. He's our unsub."
JJ sighed, "He's a firefighter, no one questions them on their job or assessment." Emily's eyes widen, "He works with Jason."
"And he was at the bar where Crystal and Jason went to yesterday, Amy said they ran into his collogues there." Reid stated and Hotch looked at Garcia. "Garcia."
"Looking up right now- oh. Oh wow, he's got a messed up past. His father was a drunk who beat him, his sister, and his mom. Says here that his mom filed a rape charge against him, but ultimately dropped it when Paul was born. His sister, Lacey, was born 3 years later and they all had frequent visits to the hospital." Garcia continued typing, "His dad's in jail right now for a DUI and his mom....died in a car crash 3 and a half years ago with his sister inside."
"Was his dad the cause of it?" Emily asked and Garcia shook her head, "He was drunk, but the cause of the crash was Max Williams. Max ran a red light and he crashed into the car sending it into a ditch, the mom and Lacey died on impact due to their already existing injuries from their beatings. Max got away with parole, bail, and community service since Paul's dad was under the influence when the crash happened."
"So he caught Max doing this for the insurance and made a deal to not say anything as long as he got to set the fires, Paul got his revenge by making Max burn everything he worked hard for." Morgan stated and JJ nodded, "He had to watch himself lose everything like Paul did with his mom and sister."
"Oh."
"What is it Garcia?" Hotch asked and she gulped, "It says that Lacey was pregnant, the dad owed money and....yeah you guys know where this is going and I'm not going to imagine that. Garcia finished and she cringed, "That poor girl."
"Is he...." Reid whispered and Hotch looked over at him, "He gets off on fire because it allows him control and power, he won't touch Archer....but he might hurt her if we don't find him. Garcia, find me all the buildings Max had in development."
"On it."
A/N: LISTEN TO THIS UNTIL THE END OF THE CHAPTER (REPEAT UNTIL DEATH - NOVO AMOR)
Hotch's phone rang and he answered, "Hotchner." There was no reply and Hotch frowned, "Who is this?"
"H-Hotch."
Hotch's eyes widen, "Archer?"
___
Crystal didn't know how long she was running for, but she stumbled as she kept pushing her body to keep going. Crystal ran and finally stopped to catch her breath, she panted as she walked to a tree to hide just in case the unsub caught up to her. Crystal had an inkling on who the unsub was, but she needed to seem like she didn't know so that she could use it to throw the unsub off if he did catch her again.
He's still chasing after me.
Her hands shook as she checked the phone, she had finally found service and her eyes welded up with relief as she slid down behind the tree. Even in her hazy state, she knew his number by heart.
Please.
She held her breath as she listened to the phone ring, she closed her eyes as she waited.
"Hotchner."
Crystal let out a sigh of relief, she felt her chest squeeze.
"Who is this?"
"H-Hotch."
"Archer?" Hotch asked and Garcia started to quickly type away on her laptop to trace the phone's location, Hotch put the phone on speaker. "Archer, where are you?"
"I....don't know, he chloroformed me and I can't think right now." Crystal answered and swallowed, "Is..is Jason okay?"
"He's fine, he's in the hospital right now."
"That's good, I was really worried." Crystal gave a shaky laugh, "I'm glad he got my message across....hey Hotch, do you remember when I was pissed off at you and you came after me?" Crystal smiled at the memory as tears slipped down her face, "That night you came after me, you said I could go to you for anything. If I was sad, happy, worried, mad, or I just needed you. You said you'd be there, you also almost kissed me. You also almost kissed me on our date, why didn't you kiss me? I really wanted you to kiss me, I have for awhile."
Hotch tightened his hold on his phone, "I don't know, I'm a coward who's worried about doing the wrong thing at the right time." Crystal hummed at his words as she closed her eyes, "No, you're not a coward. We're both still hurt from our past, what was I saying? Oh, you said I could go to you."
Crystal let out a shaky breath, "Well uh, I really need you to come save me Hotch. I'm uh really scared right now." Crystal's voice broke as she hugged herself, "There's so much I need to say to you and that I want you to hear, I want to tell you these things in person and I want to stay next to you for a really long time."
Crystal gulped as she tightened her hold on the phone, "Aaron." She whispered his name, she had never said it before. Hotch's eyes welled up as he closed his eyes, he clutched the phone closer to him.
"Aaron I really want to see you right now, I don't want to die without telling you all these things I want you to hear. I-" Crystal sobbed, "I really miss you Aaron, please come get me." Hotch let out a shaky breath, he tried to control his breathing as he opened his eyes. A single tear rolled down his face, "I promise you that I'm coming, the team is coming for you. I won't let you die Crystal, I need you to tell me what you see."
Crystal opened her eyes when he said her name.
He's never said it....it sounds nice.
"I'm hiding behind a tree, lots of trees and dirt roads. I think I passed a sign? I don't see any buildings though, very secluded."
"What kind of sign?"
"Hmmm, not sure. It said something about a butler?" Crystal winced as her head started to feel heavy, she heard noises close by but her body was so tired.
I need to move, but I can't feel anything....
Garcia looked up from her laptop, "Got it! Signal is coming from the outskirts of Pineville sir." Ruth looked at the team, "That's only 20 minutes away." Hotch relaxed and nodded, "Crystal, I'm on my way to you. I'm going to bring you home, okay?"
There was no response and Hotch tensed up again, "Crystal?" There was chuckling on the other line and Hotch's jaw clenched, Paul picked up the phone. "I wonder, will you find us before or after I burn her alive?"
He hung up and Hotch's hands formed a fist, he looked at the team. "We're leaving, now."
___
Author's Note:
Hey! Hope you guys enjoyed this~ This was a bit messy so sorry for that, but if you have any questions please let me know so that I can hopefully answer them! I don't think the links for songs worked since I have to many words for this chapter (whoops) so I wrote in when you needed to listen to a certain song! Crystal and Hotch finally called each other on a first name basis, but is it to late?👀
Summary: Paul caught Max purposely setting the fires for insurance money (he lost a lot of money due to the bail he had to pay for the crash), so he told Max that he'd let him continue doing it but Paul wanted to set the fires now and he got to choose the buildings. Max started to feel guilty and with Jason's influence, he wanted to turn himself in. Paul couldn't chance Max selling him out too, so he killed him. (His mental state was already off the charts) He planned on kidnapping Jason, but he didn't expect Crystal to actually come down since he didn't think she'd find a connection with the fires. He took her and he didn't r*pe her because he has bad memories of how his dad treated his mom and gave his sister to the men he owed money to. Paul's a firefighter and he was the one who had access to the evidence since he filled out the reports (which is what Crystal noticed) and no one doubled check since Paul made sure to cut the wires open for the photos to be taken.
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