Prologue

Morgan and JJ walked briskly side by side.

"Are you sure it's him?" Morgan asked JJ sharply.

JJ nodded, her body shook. She still clearly blamed herself for that night.

lets split up

Stupid! So stupid of her to agree! So stupid.

"And all this time he was alive...Jesus Fucking CHRIST. I mean Tobias sent us that video of him dying...I mean he DIED in front of us. We all saw it."

"Yes, but then the screen went blank. Tobias must have revived him."

"And decided to let us think he was dead."

"Yes."

"I swear to God, if I get a hold of that sonofabitch..."

"I understand, Derek. I want to hurt him, too."

"What's the latest update?" Hotc demanded as he, Rossi, Emily, and Garcia caught up with JJ and Morgan.

"He's been held in a mental hospital for the several days as a John Doe, until they managed to match his prints with Spencer's," JJ explained. "Now he's in policecustody, for safety."

"Great," sighed Emily. "He gets out of that hell, only to be thrown into jail?"

"They seem to think he's mentally unstable, and a danger to society," commented JJ slowly.

That was when Morgan really blew up.

"Of COURSE he's mentally unstable! He's been held captive for the past 3 fucking years! By this rate, I bet they think everyone who's mentally unstable is a danger to society-"

"Morgan, that's enough," said Hotch quietly.

"Look, Hotch, I'm sorry...but to accuse someone like Spencer Reid of being dangerous..."

"I understand," Rossi interrupted. He was rather curious on meeting this young man that the others were clearly so protective over, "But Derek...you have no idea what that kind of captivity could do to someone..."

"You've never met Reid, so stay out of this," Morgan all but snarled. At the looks he got, especially from Garcia and JJ, he slowly cooled his breath.

"Look, Rossi, I'm sorry-"

"Say no more, i was clearly out of bounds. I apologize."

Before they could finish, they arrived at the interrogation room.

"Why is he being held here like some prisoner?" asked Garcia nervously.

"I told you," sighed JJ. "They think he's a danger, so they want to hold him,for his safety. And for others."

"Yeah, because handcuffing him is going to get him to feel really safe," muttered Emily, with an eyeroll.

"Look," said Detective Brown, who had come into the room. "If you want my opinon, he seems totally innocent. It's bosses orders, though."

"We understand," said Hotch, firmly, but politely. "We would like to look at him, now."

"Of course." Detective Brown lead the way to the mirror that viewed the small room.

All of them let out small gasps, even Hotch and Rossi.

In front of them wasn't Dr. Spencer Reid, but yet a fragement of what was left of him. There, behind the thick glass, was a young man, looking more like a terrified boy. His long signiture hair, had been chopped off. And was clearly unkept. There were bruises all over his face, and scars on his lips. What bothered them the most was his mannerims. As profilers they became experts at solving personalities through body language. His was similar to that of many of their scared victims that they had helped throughout the years. He shook, and squinted in the light. His head was kept bowed, and his eyes looking downward-as if to memorize the tiles of the floors. His foot tapped nervously. And they could almost detect a whimpering sound.

"Oh my God," whispered Garcia." They noticed his chest looked more bulky then before, and asked why.

"It's bandaged,"explained Browne. "Broken ribs, many broken ribs. Many times. Hit with a sledgehammer, I think."

They all inawardly cringed at that.

"Who should go in, first?" asked Browne.

"I want to," said JJ, her eyes still fixated on Reid,.

"Me, too," demanded Morgan.

Hotch nodded.

"Since he was the closest with you two, it makes sense. Try get him to open up. Say anything, I will try and come in later. We don't want to overwhelm him."

Garcia hugged both Morgan and JJ for support, her own thoughts drifted to the day they thought Ried had died.

"Oh my God! He's choking...oh my God, I think he's dying..." Gideon had squeezed Garcia's shoulder as they watched Reid flop back and forth on the floor with foam coming out of his mouth. The others rushed in, and watched in anticipation.

Reid gagged, and flooped some more, then his eyes rolled backwards.

"No!" Garcia cried softly, tears in her eyes. Morgan was shaking behind her. She could feel it. And then the screen went blank.

"NO!" She screamed, this time outloud.

She heard Morgan storm out of the room and smash a mirror as she starte to sob. She could also hear JJ break down, with Emily trying to comfort her. And Gideon's body started to shake too. Gideon. She'd never forget that moment. The moment she first saw Gideon cry.

Morgan and JJ slowly walked in. JJ carried a plastic cup with water as a peace offering.

Reid's eyes glanced upward, and then downward, quickly.

"Hey, pretty boy," said Morgan,trying to keep his voice calm. "It's been a long time, kid."

"Spence..."JJ swallowed, and a tear rolled down her cheek. "Here's...here's some, um...here's some water."

She placed the cup towards Reid's cuffed hands, but Reid jerked away.

"Whoa, easy there kid," said Morgan quietly as JJ jerked back with surprise, and a bit of hurt. "We're not here to hurt you."

"S...sorry," mumbled Reid. They both stared at each other. That was the first word any of the team had heard Reid speak since his capture. And his voice sounded...so un Reid like. So timid, and terrified of everything, and everyone.

"Hey, man, it's okay." Morgan tried to remain cheerful. JJ noticed Reid rubbing his wrists.

"Would you like me to get the detective to loosen the cuffs? I would love to take them off, but we can't yet. But we could loosen them."

Reid shook his head vigriously.

"No touching," he said, his voice still timid. But at least he was talking.

JJ and Morgan glanced at each other, pain in their eyes.

"All right," she said quietly. "I understand."

"Okay, kid,: said Morgan quietly. "This is gonna be really hard...but you remember how we have to ask the victims to retell what haooened?"

Reid slowly nodded.

"I'm going to have to ask you to do the same thing."

Reid started to shake his head.

"We'll just take it one step at a time-"

"Shut up! Just shut up!" Charles Hankel bellowed.

"I'm sorry!" Cried out Reid, as he trembled in the chair he was tied to.

"Just shut the fuck up!" Charles grabbed an iron rod from the fire.

"No, please no,I'll behave..I'll do anything, no,please!"

...

"I'll make it better. This drug can make it better."

"Please, Tobias, just let me go."

"Can't. Father would be so mad. But this drug helps, really."

"Don't give me more, I beg you. Don't...please.."

WIthout warning Reid began to scream.

JJ and Morgan jumped back as Reid jerked, and thrashed.

"Please, don't touch me!"

"We won't, man, we won't!" Even from behind the glass this scene couldn't stop a tear from springing in Hotch's eyes. Garcia was openly sobbing. JJ had already turned her back,unable to face reality.

Several officers raced inside the room.

"Hey, take it easy!" Shouted Morgan. He tried to fight the men off as they stabbed a needle into Reid's arm.

Reid finally slumped in the seat. The room fell silent, with the exception for JJ's sobbing.

The officers started to wrestle Morgan, who quickly backed off, and apologized.

The team stared in horror at what laid in front of them.

True, Dr. Spencer Reid had returned, but was it their Reid? And would they ever really see him again?

Kind of nervous about this one. I really hope that I got all the characters right! Especially Morgan's!