A/N: Greetings my wild and wacky fanfic buddies! Hope you are all well. I'm back again! I gotta tell ya, this story has been in the works for so long that I actually had to go back and change up several things because of all the casting issues. To give you an idea of how long I've been working on this, when I started it JJ was already gone with no signs of AJ Cook ever returning, Prentiss wasn't 'dead' although we knew Paget Brewster was on her way out, also with no signs of a return, and Seaver was still a cadet, with Rachel Nichols looking like she was here to stay. Good grief, CBS is making me dizzy! Because of all this, JJ is not in this story, though she is mentioned. Seaver is in the story, but I've made adjustments to work with the exit of her character. Also, I guess since Prentiss is in this as well, you can say this takes place sometime before "Lauren".

Now, I feel I should explain the premise of this frightening little story. It's based around the song "Nightmare" by Avenged Sevenfold. The lyrics are in italics at the beginning of each chapter. Each character has their own chapter. To warn you, this is a VERY dark story, revolving around the nightmares each team member has during the course of this case. I've also written this in second person POV to make each chapter feel more real. Like I said, this story is dark. Very very dark. You have been warned. Read on at your own risk.

Why don't I let Garcia get us started...

NIGHTMARE SCENARIO - PROLOGUE

GARCIA

Nightmare!

Every case is bad. You've known this since your first day on the job.

Sometimes you can stem the impending darkness by helping them save the would-be final victim, by bringing home the missing child and reuniting a family. You can help ease the heartbreak by providing families with closure and bringing their tormentors to justice. But you can never take away that heartbreak completely.

And sometimes, sadly, you're moments too late. Sometimes the piece of information you need to break the case comes through just as the clock strikes zero. And you will say to yourself, "If only I had put the puzzle pieces together more quickly. If only I had been faster. If only my systems and equipment could be faster."

If only. If only.

And you know, as you sit in your office in front of the most high-tech, state of the art computer systems available, that your team will ask the same questions and berate themselves for what they view as failure. You know this case will haunt them. All of them. You know you'll see it in their tired, haggard appearances when you meet them at the airstrip. You'll see the exhaustion, the sorrow, and the pain in their eyes.

Every case is bad, especially this one.

The victims are all children. They range from as young as infants to twelve years old. Their attacker is a paranoid schizophrenic, who himself was abused and neglected as a child. When your team caught him, he said the voice in his head told him to do it. He's convinced it was the voice of God, that he was doing God's work by bringing him these children.

You know this will affect them all. You worry about them.

You worry about Prentiss and Rossi. You know how sensitive the topic of religion is for them.

You know how Prentiss sometimes struggles with her faith. You saw it when her friend was the victim of a rogue priest. You know there's a much deeper story, but you'll never ask and she'll never tell. But you'll be there if she needs you.

And you know how firmly Rossi still believes in the power of that same faith. You've seen it many times over the last three years. You admire how he can still believe so strongly despite the countless horrors he's seen over his near 30-year career. Especially when it comes to the victims he was too late to save.

They will both struggle to process how someone could do such heinous things supposedly in the name of God. You struggle with it yourself.

You worry about Morgan and Reid, who both see similarities between themselves and the Unsub.

You know this will bring back Morgan's insecurities about his own experiences with abuse. He'll try to put up a strong front. He'll try to be hard. But you'll see right through him. You always do.

You know Reid will play out every statistic he knows regarding the possibilities that he is genetically disposed to schizophrenia. You know he'll ask himself, "Could that become me?" And you know he'll retreat into himself to protect himself from his own fears and from everyone's scrutiny.

Both will find a way to move past this. They will see that they are better, stronger, than this man. But until then, you'll worry anyway.

You worry about Seaver and Hotchner; one who's seen too little of humanity's horrors, and one who's seen too much.

Seaver will be unquestionably shaken by this case. She hasn't seen enough to prepare herself for something like this. She'll question herself and her abilities. She'll wonder if she's really cut out for the BAU, or for the FBI at all. She'll wonder if she's good enough, or if the demons of her past will forever cloud her judgment.

You know Hotch will blame himself. He always does when they come up short. He'll question every decision he made, scrutinize every move. He'll search for anything they could have done differently to make sure they don't come up short again. And you know he won't sleep until he sees his own little boy safe and sound in his arms. He will not willingly let the others see him break down. But you know once he's alone, he will.

You know the rookie and the boss will both ask themselves the same questions. You only wish you had the answers for them.

And as much as you miss her, you thank God that JJ isn't here to see this one. You know she'd blame herself for not bringing this case to the team sooner. She'd see little Henry's face in every victim. And a little bit more of the light from her eyes would fade away. Yes, you're glad she's not here for this one.

Every case is bad, some worse than others.

As you shut down your systems and prepare to leave, you hope your family will be able to bounce back from this one. You wonder if there's anything you can do or say to help them. You know there isn't.

Every case is bad. This was the worst.

As your nightmare comes to life.