Part 1: Discovery

"Every mad man thinks others mad." - Latin proverb

Aaron Hotchner loosened his blue tie, as he glanced at his watch for what seemed like the fiftieth time in twenty minutes. The B. A. U. plane had sat idly on the tarmac for almost forty-five minutes. They should have already left for Cleveland, Ohio by now; the local authorities were waiting for their help on a homicide investigation.

Aaron's face was worried, as he hoped this incident wasn't turning into a repeat of what happened several months ago. He couldn't afford one of his agents to just decide not to board a plane.

Aaron glanced out the window, before he glanced around the cabin to see where everyone was.

Jennifer "J.J." Jareau was standing in the back, making coffee, and chatting nervously with Emily Prentiss. They both seemed to be hiding faces of concern about their missing co-worker. They were trying to keep their minds from drifting by attempting to talk about pointless things like shopping.

David Rossi was sitting at the table, making notes on his little black leather-bound notepad, as he looked over the case file.

Derek Morgan was pacing frantically up the aisle, alternating between calling several numbers. Derek put his cell phone back in his pocket, a deep frown forming on his face. "He is still not answering any of his phones, it isn't like him not to answer. I even tried the work phone, incase he thought we were heading over there before."

"Has he ever been late like this before?" David Rossi asked, not looking up from the note he was making in his notepad. Rossi was sensing an unspoken secret about Dr. Reid that none of them were willing to talk about. As if the last time, if he had ever missed a plane before, wasn't a good time for any of them. Rossi didn't want to probe though because he sensed that the group had a lot of secrets that they didn't wish to discuss. He wasn't one to judge anyway, he had his own secrets and demons to wrestle with.

Aaron bit his lower lip for a second, not really wanting to have a discussion about Dr. Reid's previous drug abuse problem. He felt a responsibility in away to inform their newest co-workers of all the eccentrics of this particular group, but was saved from discussing any of the team's previous secrets when the laptop near Rossi chirped, indicating their tech goddess, as she called herself, Penelope Garcia had something for them.

Garcia's voice wasn't chipper as it usually was, and seemed almost on the verge of tears. "We have a huge problem." She said as Rossi hit the button that brought up the video feed.

Hotchner turned the laptop so everyone could see it. "What is it, Garcia?"

Garcia pushed up her pink-framed glasses. "I can't say it… " She took a deep breath, "I am just going to send you a copy of the fax we just got." The fax machine in the cabin started as she said the last word.

Emily picked up the piece of paper that had just come through, scanning it quickly. She had been trying to be calm as she said it, but accidentally let out a "Oh, crap." She was glad she wasn't holding her coffee mug or she was sure it would have shattered to the floor.

Emily forced herself to take a deep breath before she read the fax to everyone. "We have your nerdy doctor. We will contact you later, if we decide to give him back. – The Nerd Brigade."

J.J. took the fax as if she had to double-check what Emily had just read.

In a few minutes, Aaron had notified the Cleveland police of the situation, and the team was heading back to Quantico.

"There can't be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full." – Henry Kissinger

Dr. Spencer Reid woke up to a blur of colors. He also had a headache. He wasn't sure exactly what had happened but it seemed something had happened to his eyes. It seemed like somehow he had gotten a chemical in them, causing his vision to seem blurry.

It took him a few seconds to realize he was also tied up. Then, he remembered getting ready for work today. He had been buzzed that he had a delivery from a floral company, so had gone down to see exactly what he was getting. Sometimes, his friend, Lance, sent hanging plants to the apartment as a joke, so Spencer had just assumed that it was another one of Lance's jokes.

As Spencer had gotten down stairs, he didn't see anyone. The last thing he remembered was feeling someone behind him, and then connecting with the sidewalk.

Spencer wondered now, if perhaps it wasn't a headache he had but a concussion.

He squinted trying to figure out the pattern on the wallpaper.

A door opens behind him. Spencer sat perfectly still, trying to keep his mind calm, so that he could try to talk the person holding him hostage into letting him go. He was trained in hostage negotiation, and you would think after being held hostage at least three times that Spencer would be a pro. In truth, every time, Spencer was frightened, and always wondered if this would be the last time and that the person would just snap in kill him. This was even truer now, after he still had nightmares about his time with Tobias Hankle.

Spencer felt a cloth draped around his eyes.

A high mechanical voice said a few seconds later, "Can't take any risk that my formula didn't work and you can still see me, beautiful." The figure stroked Spencer's cheek, and played with a strand of the doctor's hair. Spencer stayed perfectly still, unsure what to do. The figure's hand felt like latex, so the only information that Spencer knew about him right now was that he had a voice modification device, and he was wearing gloves.

"See you later, Gorgeous." The figure kissed Spencer's cheek, and headed out of the room