"Do not too hastily conclude that silence is indifference. Indifference is not to care, not to act, not even to think or breathe. Indifference is inhuman and inhumane. Silence, on the other hand, is almost always premeditated, a willful act. Without silence there would be no sound." -Justin Bryan Snider

Spencer Reid tore his eyes away from the screen before him; he could stand to watch no more. The naked body of a beautiful redhead lay beneath a tree, staged as if with great care and affection, but the BAU wouldn't be involved if affection were part of this woman's recent past. Void, empty eyes stared up at the leaves above her as the wind played with a lock of the woman's ginger hair. Evidence of torture was heavy on her body, and around her pale, cold lips was a black cloth...as though the dead needed a gag.

"Abigail Turner is the fourth in six months," Hotch was saying as Reid shook his head, bringing himself back to the present conversation. "Just like the others, she was found under a tree just outside of town, naked, and gagged. As with the others, she was tortured in various ways, but the fatal wound was the deep cut to her throat. She would have bled out in minutes."

"Are we looking at a sexual sadist?" Morgan spoke up, his brow furrowed deeply.

"It doesn't appear that way," Rossi shook his head. "None of the victims have shown evidence of sexual assault. Most of the wounds are either cuts or burns. There are also needle tracks from where the UnSub drugged them."

At this, Reid visibly flinched. Garcia reached over and rubbed his back softly.

"All four women have been white and in their early to mid-twenties with red hair," Hotch continued, mentally noting the exchange, "but otherwise, the UnSub's MO is all over the board. Katelyn McAlistair was a bar tender at a pub down on Potomac Avenue. She went missing in August of last year. Emily Roland was a flight attendant. She went missing last March and turned up in October."

"So this guy kidnaps women, keeps them for months, tortures them, and leaves them naked and gagged under trees," J.J. stated, disgusted.

"Yes," Rossi nodded, "and since the timelines of the missing women overlap, I think it's safe to say that this UnSub has more women held hostage. God only knows what they're suffering as we speak. It's up to us to find him, and set them free."

~#*H*#~

Reid had been more than grateful for the horrific meeting to come to an end. He loved his job of helping people, but for some reason this case was bothering him. Perhaps it was because the women were being drugged during their torture. He shivered at the thought, eyes wandering regretfully to his elbows.

Hearing a roll of thunder in the distance, Reid quickened his steps. It seemed that the temperamental weather of May in Virginia was staying true to its predictable lack of predictability. With another clap of thunder, Reid found himself drenched in a chilling rain. His shoes splashed through the puddles on the sidewalk as he began to run, holding his messenger bag over his head.

Reid turned to the right, deciding at the last second to take a shortcut home through the park. He could almost feel a cold settling in as the freezing water soaked through to the skin that lay beneath his clothes. He would definitely regret opting out of bringing his umbrella in the morning.

Suddenly, though, as Reid ran past the playground, something caught his eye. He skidded to a halt and his eyes grew as round as they fell on a figure just at the edge of the light from the street lamp.

There, wandering aimlessly as though she didn't even feel the night's chill on her bare skin, was a young woman. As naked as the day she was born, she stood looking around with eyes that observed the world around her but didn't really see it. Her body was covered in garish cuts; rope burns on her wrists were evidence to restraints that had been there. Loose around her neck hung a black, silk scarf, and in the dim light of the street lamp, Reid could just make out the reddish hue of her hair.

With only a moment's hesitation, Reid moved forward. He looked around as he went, hoping not to see any sign of another person in the area. When she saw him, the woman jumped as though coming out of a trance. She gazed at him with wild terror in her eyes and moved to back away.

"No, No!" Reid put up his hands, "It's alright! I'm not going to hurt you! My name is Dr. Spencer Reid. I'm with the FBI." Here, Reid fumbled for his badge.

As he came closer, the woman glanced around like a cornered animal. She then looked down at herself, and started breathing quickly and heavily. She crossed her arms over her bare chest, shaking her head. It was difficult to tell in the rain, but Reid thought he saw tears streaming down her face alongside the precipitation.

"Here!" Reid threw his messenger bag to the ground and removed his coat. Holding it out, he closed the gap between himself and the frightened woman. Carefully, he placed the coat around her shoulders and pulled her against him, attempting to share his body heat with her.

"Come on," he whispered through chattering teeth, "let's get you out of here."

Reid stooped quickly and picked up this bag and began walking back in the direction he'd come, ushering the young woman along with him. Looking around to be sure the UnSub wasn't still around, Reid pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"Come on, come on, come on," he mumbled impatiently as the phone rang in his ear.

"Damnit." He cursed when Hotch's voicemail picked up. Hurriedly, with shaking fingers, he dialed again. This time a voice answered.

"Hey, Reid! What's up?" Morgan's voice sounded amused. "I figured you'd be watching Doctor Who reruns by now, man."

"Morgan, I need you to come pick me up at the park by my house. NOW." Reid's voice was strained.

"Reid, what's wrong, man?" all humor was gone from Morgan's voice.

"I think I found one of them," Reid looked over his shoulder half expecting a shadowy knife to be coming at his back.

"Found one of what, Reid?"

"One of the victims," Reid huffed impatiently. He didn't have time for questioning. The woman under his arm shivered more and more violently with each passing moment. He could hear Morgan shuffling to get out the door as they spoke, however, so he answered the queries.

"WHAT?"

"One of the kidnapped women!" Reid snapped. "I think I found one of them in the park!"

"Is she..?." Morgan's tone was suddenly very dark.

"She's alive," Reid answered before Morgan could say the word. "She's hurt, and she's naked, but she's alive. I'm getting her out of the park now, but I need you to pick us up. I can't get a hold of Hotch."

"Did you see the UnSub?" Morgan returned to his questioning.

"No. She was alone. I'm not sure how she got away. She hasn't said a word since I found her," Reid glanced behind again.

"Okay. I'm on my way," Morgan stated. Reid heard the engine of Morgan's vehicle rev in the background. Close after, a siren wailed. "I'll keep trying Hotch. You just focus on getting that girl out of there."

"Alright. I'll see you soon," Reid breathed.

"Be careful, Reid," Morgan's frown was all over his voice. "The UnSub is probably still close. He may even be tailing you. Keep your gun ready."

"Always," Reid mumbled back, hanging up the phone. He put it in his pocket hastily and replaced it with his revolver.

Slowly, the woman turned her head up to look at Reid. When he met her gaze, it was full of questions and fear. Her green eyes were dark from exhaustion. Reid tried in vain to smile at her reassuringly. He ended up with a pained grimace instead.

"My team is on the way. We're going to keep you safe now," Reid promised.

Suddenly, the woman stumbled forward. Her knees hit the pavement hard. She opened her mouth as though to cry out, but no sound came. Reid dropped to the ground in front of her.

"Hey, are you okay? I'm sorry, but we've got to keep moving."

He helped her to her feet, a knot growing in his stomach as he noted the blood streaming down her legs from the ruined knees.

"What's your name?" Reid mumbled the question absently as a way to distract the woman from the terror around her. Though he waited, she didn't answer. After enough seconds for the delay to be purposeful instead of hesitation, Reid looked down at the woman again.

She met his gaze with agony in her eyes. Reid watched as she slowly, intently pulled the silk scarf up and put it around her own mouth as the gag it was designed to be. She shook her head sorrowfully. It was then that the horrible truth smacked Reid square in the chest, and his heart ached like it never had before. He suddenly knew why the women had been gagged.

"You can't speak."

As Reid looked at her, a flash of lightening illuminated the woman's haggard face, gagged with a black, silk scarf and naked in the dark...

and the silence around her was deafening.

~#*H*#~

AN: Well, gang, I'm trying something completely different! Most of my readers are used to my anime fanfics. Some of you are following my LotR one. This is my first glance into the realm of reality, and I have to say, I'm pretty stoked. I've loved Criminal Minds for years, and this story is one that I've carried around in my head almost since I started watching it. I finally decided I had enough of a story to write it down. I hadn't intended on sharing it with anyone, but I'm a narcissist, so here it is. It's going to be a dark road. Probably the darkest I've ever written. I hope you are intrigued by it! Let me know what you think!