Reid briefly meets Alec's eyes to give a nearly imperceptible nod back before looking back at Marcus. "He's just remembering what Luke did to him the last time we were here," he says, and he would be smirking for show by now if not for the ever deepening concern he feels for his boyfriend and Alec's. "Isn't that right? You're remembering what it was like to have his heel at your throat. To test his limits a little more every time you threatened me."

With a soft but impatient sigh, Reid steps closer to Marcus the kneels, knowing Alec could cross the room in an instant if the vampire were to try anything. "I will do worse to you," he promises lowly, "if you know something and aren't telling me. I'm not walking away from this house tonight until I'm satisfied with the answers you give me. So tell me the truth. What do you know about where he is?"

Shifting under Reid's scrutiny, the vampire's eyes dart between him and Alec, as if trying to determine whether there could be any chance at all of escape. "Look," Marcus huffs, "I was just minding my own business when you came in here, okay? Aren't you a cop, aren't you supposed to be ethical or something?"

"Ethical," Reid echoes, letting out an empty laugh. "I'm happy to be ethical until it comes to the people I love being in danger. I won't ask you again. What do you know?"

"I'm not getting involved in shit just because you're pissed you aren't getting fucked tonight," Marcus counters.

In the brief silence that follows, there's a noticeable change in the air. The tension grows thicker, tenser, and when the first crack sounds through the room, Reid isn't sure whether it's due to Marcus's face or his own fist. All he knows is that after the second, third, fourth punch to the vampire, he feels for the first time while hurting someone that he never wants to stop.