Eidetic - A Criminal Minds/Spencer Reid Story

Chapter Twenty-Four - The Prodigal Son With a Psychotic Break

"Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence." - Plato

*Vivian Santos*

Okay, definitely did not see that coming. Rushing out of the interrogation room, I pulled out my cell phone and called Garcia. If anyone was going to have eyes on my parents' house, it would be her. "Viv! Thank god, I was just about to call you!"

"There's a neighbor across the street from my parents that I know has a security camera that's pointed in the direction of my parents' house. Can you access it?" I asked quickly.

"That was the whole reason I was going to call you first! The camera recorded two men in black hoodies break into the house. It looked they were carrying some kind of explosive," she explained.

"God dammit," I muttered under my breath. "Okay, thanks, Garcia. I think it's time that we finally end this whole thing."

"Be careful, Viv. You were almost killed by a bomb on your first case. I don't want you dying from this one."  I hung up the phone and ran back to where everyone was.

"The two accomplices are already at the house. We got to go," I reported back.

"Right, now let's get a move on," Hotch said. "If they detonate that bomb, the whole neighborhood is going to be exposed."

As everyone rushed to get their gear together, my mind was racing at a million miles per hour. I was so confused and angry at the entire situation that part of me wanted to scream, but the rational side of me told me to focus and end this nightmare. I was definitely going to need a few drinks after this.

During the drive to the house, I was hoping that my parents weren't already dead. If there was one thing I wasn't going to let Daniel take away from me, it was Mom and Dad. I had no idea what to expect or how this would turn out, and in all honesty, it scared me shitless.

When we pulled up to the house, I jumped out of the SUV and drew my gun from the holster. I hadn't even noticed that my hand was shaking until I felt Spencer take it in his. "Come on, Viv. Now is not the time to be scared," he said in a comforting tone. I nodded in reply and did my best to pull myself together.

Just as he was about to go into the house, I grabbed Spencer's arm and he turned back around to look at me. "Spence, no matter what happens in there..."

"I know, Viv. I love you too." I smiled and let go of his arm. It was go time.

All of a sudden, there was the sound of a gunshot and a muffled scream. "Shots fired! All units proceed!" Hotch shouted and everyone proceeded to put on their gas masks in case of anthrax exposure. Running up to the door, I kicked it down and rushed into the living room. There was no sign of anyone in the lower level, but I could hear muffled yelling coming from the attic.

"Hotch! They're in the attic!" I called out.

"Viv, Reid, and Morgan go up! We'll stay down here in case they try to escape," Hotch ordered. I nodded and quickly ran up the stairs with Morgan and Spencer close behind. When we approached the narrow staircase that would take us up to the attic, I stopped and aimed my gun up above me.

"This is the FBI! Come down with your hands up!" I yelled.

"There's no way in hell we're coming down!" someone yelled in a thick Russian accent. "Either you come up with your clowns, or we start shooting!"

"Viv, don't do it. They want you in their sights," Morgan said.

"I have to. We all heard that gunshot and my parents are up there. There's no time," I replied. Without a second thought, I ran up the small staircase and came face to face with the two unsubs. They both had their guns drawn and I did my best to keep my hands steady. Taking a quick look to the side, I saw my parents were bound and gagged on the floor and a bullet hole right above their heads. The gunshot must've been to keep them quiet. Near their feet was what looked like a bomb. My guess was that it was the anthrax bomb. It looked small, but if I knew my brother well enough, he was able to engineer it well enough to give them a bigger bang. It didn't have a timer, but one of the unsubs had a switch and it looked like he was going to push it and any second.