Retribution, A Spencer Reid/Criminal Minds Fanfic

Chapter 67. Psychic Fire

Reid was feeling torn again.

The cab he, Prentiss, and Morgan had grabbed in the airport’s loading zone was passing by Bellevue Medical Center in midtown. Ana was there. He could feel her. He sent a thought out and found her still in panic mode. Her mind jumped when she felt his touch.

Spencer!! Did you find her??!! Is she okay!!??? Spencer!!??!!

For a split second, Reid had to block himself from his wife as the thought flashed through his mind…If I don’t find Melinda, how can I ever face her mother again?... He recovered enough to override his own fear in favor of quelling Ana’s.

I’m on my way to her now! I’ll find her…I’ll find her…I promise…

Even with rush hour long gone, the traffic in Manhattan crawled at a sluggish pace. They were headed toward the city block that contained the office of Melinda’s pediatrician. Reid held firm to the belief, bolstered by Garcia’s findings, that his daughter was somewhere in one of the thousands of apartments surrounding that particular address.

Morgan and Prentiss huddled a little closer together, giving their colleague some breathing room. Whenever his eyes closed and a look of fierce concentration creased his brow, they wondered what he was seeking, or with whom he was communicating. That strange, old doctor? Ana? Melinda? The two agents exchanged worried glances, but didn’t do anything to interrupt whatever Reid was doing…or tracking…or thinking…

When the cab was two blocks away from their destination and halted at a stoplight, Reid threw open the door. Rocketing out of his seat, he sprinted around grid-locked traffic, clambering over hoods and trunks as necessary, much to the loud, vocal displeasure of drivers.

“Hey!” The cabbie roused himself. These passengers had been extremely quiet. He hadn’t expected them to make a break for it, possibly bilking him out of his sixty-five dollar fare.

“Go!” Prentiss gave Morgan a shove. “I’ll settle up here.” With one eye keeping track of the path Morgan and Reid were running, she flipped open her wallet. She spared a quick glance for the meter clocking their mileage. Extracting a sheaf of bills, she exited the rear of the cab, tossing the money through the front window into the driver’s lap. Before he could thank her for what turned out to be a very generous tip, Prentiss was gone, wending her way through the maze of vehicles, in pursuit of her teammates.

She caught up to them on the sidewalk.

Reid had come to an abrupt stop. Breathing heavily, he scanned the skies, turning in small circles and earning himself a few annoyed glances and exclamations as he disrupted the flow of foot traffic.

Morgan looked up, too, before realizing this was one of those ‘creepy things’ he wouldn’t be able to help with. All he could do was stay close and lend support of the non-ESP-er variety, if required. He found the situation frustrating in light of how much he wanted to help, to fix, to make things right for Reid.

“What are you looking for?” Prentiss spun around, frantically trying to see if anything out of the ordinary would grab her attention. “Reid! What?”

A fine edge of panic was beginning to insinuate itself into the young agent. “It’s…I’m…there’s nothing here!” His voice cracked with despair.

As leery pedestrians began to give the three a wider berth, Morgan grabbed Reid’s shoulders, shaking him just enough to pull his focus. “Reid! I don’t know about this kind of weird stuff. But I do know if we were in the field and you were acting like this…this scattered…I’d pull you and send you back to base. Calm down, Reid!”