A/N: This was just something I was thinking about when I was watching 'Revelations' the other night. This is a prequel to my other story 'Come back to me', it's not necessary to have read it first, but you might understand a bit more if you do.

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds, any recognizable characters or the words I borrowed from the episode 'Revelations', the only thing I do own is Holly.

Consequences

"Holly, it's for you. Someone named Derek Morgan"

Holly looked up from the book she was reading, and frowned. "Huh. Wonder what he wants."

For the past week, Holly had been visiting a friend of hers in Atlanta, and hadn't spoken to Reid or anyone on the team since before she left.

"Hello?"

"Holly?" Morgan's voice sounded distant and scared, which was very uncharacteristic for him.

"Morgan, what's wrong?"

"You might wanna come down here...it's Reid,"

Holly's felt a knot in her stomach. This was what she had been worried about. Something happening to Reid was her biggest nightmare.

"What happened?" she asked, her tone cold as ice, and she heard Morgan sigh on the other end of the line.

"I'll tell you when you get here. You're in Atlanta now, right?"

"Yes, I am. Are you coming to pick me up?"

"Yeah, I'm on my way. I got the address from Reid last week. I'll be there in 10 minutes,"

Hanging up, Holly looked up at Lacey with tears in her eyes.

"Holly, what's wrong?" Lacey asked, concerned for her friend.

"It's Spence. Something's happend to him, I don't know what. Morgan's coming to pick me up in 10 minutes,"

Pacing around the room for the next 10 minutes, Holly nearly jumped in the air when the doorbell rang. She opened the front door and came face to face with Morgan, who looked troubled.

"We should get going ASAP," was the first thing he said, and Holly nodded.

"I'm ready, let's go,"

After grabbing her jacket, Holly and Morgan made their way out to his car. They drove in silence, Holly spending most of the time looking out the window, worrying about Reid. When they had been driving for almost an hour, Morgan turned in the car on a smaller road, and Holly could see the outline of a barn behind a lit up house.

When they walked into the house, she was immediately jumped upon by JJ. She looked at Holly through teary eyes, and Holly became more and more worried by the minute.

"Holly, I'm so glad that you're here,"

Holly nodded, and flinched when a police officer came up to her.

"This is a crime scene, and off limits to civilians,"

"It's okay, officer" JJ told him. "She's Dr Reid's girlfriend"

Hearing Reid's name brought Holly's thoughts back to where he was. "Where's Spencer?" her first instinct when Morgan had called was that Reid was wounded, but now, when she saw the looks on everybody's faces, she felt fear go through her body. "Where is he?" she demanded to know, and looked up when Gideon touched her arm.

"Holly, I want to speak with you in private,"

Following the older man, Holly became more and more worried by the second.

"What's happening Gideon? Where's Spence?"

Gideon sat down on one of the chairs and waited for Holly to do the same before he spoke up.

"We've been solving murders where there was more than one unsub. We found out later that there's only one unsub, his name is Tobias Henkel. He suffers from Multiple personality disorder, and has three personalities. Himself, his father, and the archangel Rafael. JJ and Reid came out here unknowing that he was the unsub, and things didn't go as planned,"

Holly had a vague feeling on where this conversation was going, but when Gideon finally said it, she broke down in tears.

"He kidnapped Reid," seeing the distress the young woman was in, Gideon moved closer to her, and spoke to her in a gentle, yet subtle, tone. "He's gonna be fine Holly, he's a fighter."

"You don't know that," Holly cried. "You don't know if he's still alive."

"Yes, we do," Gideon said, and Holly looked up at him.

"How do you know?" she inquired to know, and Gideon stood up.

"I'll show you, come on,"

Holly followed Gideon through the house, and gave a small smile when she saw Emily Prentiss sitting at the kitchen table with Morgan and JJ. When she came into the room Gideon was leading her into, she gasped and clasped her hands over her mouth. On the opposite wall was atleast 20 computer screens, all of them having the same picture on them; Reid, tied to a chair in a dark and dank room.

"Oh, my god," she gasped and walked further into the room, mesmerized by the sight on the screens.

Garcia watched the young woman as she walked further into the room, the light from the computer screens illuminating her pale face. Her big blue eyes were full of tears and her hair was a mess, a follow up from driving her hands through it.

Looking up at Reid through the screen, Holly gently touched it with her fingertips. A shiver went through her when she felt its cool surface against her fingers, and tears fell down her face.

"Holly," Holly looked down at the blonde woman sitting in front of the computer screens. "He's a fighter, he'll get through this."

Looking back up at Gideon, Holly cleared her throat before speaking. "Do...do you mind if I stay in here?"

Gideon shook his head. "I think it's for the best if you do. I'll let you know if there's something new."

Holly nodded before sitting down next to Garcia. Her eyes were still fixed on the screen, and she was muttering words under her breath, like a mantra. You can do it baby, you're stronger than him. Please honey, fight it.

"Holly, wake up,"

Holly woke up with a jerk, and when she looked around, she saw that everybody on the team was in the room, she quickly sobered up. She cursed herself for falling asleep, and stealing a quick glance on her watch, she learned that she hadn't been asleep for more than half an hour. When she looked up at the closest screen, she noticed that a man had joined Reid in the room. Not really hearing to what was said on the screen, the only things she could make out was that Reid had to chose one of the team members to die, he had chosen Hotch, and that he was now quoting Genesis 23.4. Hotch left the room, and Holly looked after him before standing up.

Everybody went after him, finding him in the kitchen, holding a bible. He looked up when they came in the room.

"I'm not a narcissist," he said, and Gideon was the one to answer him.

"Now, come on. Look. You can't think anything from that. He's not in his right mind, Hotch,"

"No," Hotch interrupted. "Stop. Stop. All right, everybody right now - what's my worst quality?" No one said anything. "Okay. I'll start. I have no sense of humor."

"You're a bully," JJ said, unashamed of her opinion.

"I'm a bully," he replied.

"You can be a drill sergeant sometimes," Morgan said, and despite the situation, Holly had to stifle a giggle.

"You don't trust women as much as men," Emily said, and Hotch nodded.

"Okay, good. I'm all these things, but none of you said that I ever put myself above the team, because I don't. Ever. Reid and I argued about the definition of classic narcissism, and he knew that I would remember that, and he also quoted Genesis, Chapter 23, Verse 4. Read it." He handed the bible to Holly, who read it out loud.

"I am a stranger and a sojourner with you. Give me property, forbear a place among you that I may bury my dead out of my sight,"

"He wouldn't get it wrong unless it was on purpose," Hotch explained, and Morgan raised his eyebrows.

"He's in a cemetery?" Holly asked, shocked, and Hotch nodded.

"We need to find where he is. Holly, stay here. The rest of you, in the computer room. Now," Gideon ordered, and everyone did as he said.

Holly sat down in one of the chairs, feeling nothing but numb. Every memory she had of Reid and herself flashed before her eyes. The first time they kissed. The first time they confessed their love for each other. The first time they argued. The first time they made love. Burying her face in her hands, Holly started to sob.

"I can't do this without you," she whispered through the sobs. "I need you, please. I'll die without you,"

She looked up and dried of her tears when Gideon walked in.

"We know where he is,"

Holly stood up. "I'm ready,"

Gideon shook his head. "Holly, it's too dangerous, you have to stay here,"

"The hell I am! I'm coming with you," she protested.

Gideon sighed. "We don't know exactly how dangerous Henkel is, and we don't know what we're gonna face when we get there,"

"I don't care!" Holly shouted, and as she continued to speak, the other team members came into the room. "I'm not just gonna sit here while the man I love is being done God knows what to by some psychopath! I'm coming with you and that's final."

Gideon sighed again, knowing that there was no way they were leaving without her. "Fine, but stay close to Aaron the entire time,"

"I will,"

And with those words the team and Holly left the house, leaving Garcia with the police men. Holly rode in the back seat with JJ while Gideon and Hotch were riding up front. Mogan and Prentiss had taken a separate car.

"Now Holly, remember; stay close to me and if there's any signs of danger, move behind me. Understood?" Hotch said, looking at Holly through the rearview mirror.

Holly nodded. "Understood,"

They had only been driving for a half an hour when they stopped. Looking out the window, Holly was shocked to see a cemetery in front of her. When she stepped out of the car, she noticed that a thick laying of fog draped itself around her feet, and she unconsciously shivered. Something about being at a foggy cementary at night was scary.

They paired up, and Holly become even more scared when Hotch pulled out his gun, holding it in one hand and his flashlight in the other. She tried her best to hear any signs that Reid and his captor was there, but all she could hear was the whirring wind and her own heartbeats.

Hearing a squeak, she stopped, her heart pounding so hard that she was sure the others could hear it. Nervously, she looked behind her, but saw no signs that someone was following her. When she looked back, her eyes widened. Hotch were no where to be seen, and neither was any of the others.

"Hotch?" she whispered, not wanting to draw attention to herself. "Gideon?" she tried, but she still didn't receive an answer. "JJ?" she was becoming more and more scared by the second, and started to take slow careful steps. Knowing that they would find her eventually, she started to walk, looking around her the entire time, trying to locate the other members.

She felt relief flood through her system when she saw flashlights in front of her, and started to walk a bit faster. She stopped however, and her entire body shook when a gunshot rang out in the dark night.

"No!" she gasped as images ran through her mind. Reid being shot, Reid laying dying; calling out her name. "No!" she said in denial, and started to run towards the sound of the shot. When she thought about it later on, it really was a stupid thing to do, but at that moment; she thought about nothing else but Reid's safety.

As she came closer to the light, tears started to fall down her face and clouded her vision. When she crashed into something hard, she screamed; but calmed down when she recognized the object as Morgan.

"Holly, calm down. We've been worried sick about you, you just disappeared,"

"Spencer, where is he?" Holly panted, out of breath from running, and Morgan…smiled?

"He's okay…well, as okay as you can be after being tortured, but he'll be okay,"

Morgan moved out of her way, and Holly now had a clear vision about what was happening. The first thing she saw was a young blond man lying on the ground, obviously dead. The next thing she saw made her heart flutter, and fresh tears form in her eyes.

Standing only a few meters away, was Reid. He was limping, crying, and had dried blood on the left side of his face, but he was alive. She watched him embrace Gideon, JJ and Hotch before she finally took a step forwards.

"Spence?" she whispered, and as if he'd heard her; Reid looked up straight at her. Her eyes once again flooded over with tears as she lay her eyes on her broken lover. "Spence!" she called out, and started to run towards him.

"Holly," Reid said in a broken voice, and walked as fast as he could towards his girlfriend.

The very second they came into close enough distant, they wrapped their arms around each other. Both of them cried, whispering soft and promising words to each other.

"I thought I lost you!" Holly wailed. "I felt like I was dying."

"I thought about you, all the time. You're the biggest reason I kept on fighting,"

"Come on honey, let's go back home,"

Supporting his weight on her, they started to walk towards the car. As they sat in the back seat, Holly cuddled up as close to Reid as she could. She leaned her head on Reid's shoulder, and took his hands in hers.

"We're gonna get you to the hospital baby, you need to be checked over,"

Reid only hummed in response, to physically and emotionally drained to answer her properly.

"Hey," Holly sat up straight and looked into her boyfriend's tired eyes. "Don't you fall asleep on me, you might have a concussion,"

Morgan and JJ stepped into the car, and the group started to drive towards the hospital. They rode in silence, giving each of the passengers a chance to think.

"Spence?" Holly whispered, as low as she could so that Morgan and JJ couldn't hear them. "Are you gonna be okay?"

Reid looked at her like she had grown a second head, and when he spoke, his voice was cold as ice, and lined with rage.

"Well what do you expect? I've just been tortured and pumped full of drugs, but I'm gonna be right as rain, just give me a few minutes,"

Holly's eyes widened and filled up with tears. "Well I'm sorry if I'm lacking in the experience of tortured boyfriends," her tone was as cold as his, if not more, and she quickly scrambled away from him, pressing her body against the door.

When they arrived at the hospital, Morgan and JJ followed Reid into the emergency room. Holly excused herself to the bathroom, she didn't want to be around Reid right now. She had been so worried about him, and now she couldn't stand to be in the same room as him.

After splashing some cold water on her face, she dried off her face, and then stood and just studied her face in the mirror. Feeling herself getting nearer to her breaking point, she was on the verge of a breakdown when the door opened, and a nurse stepped in. When she saw Holly, she smiled.

"Ms. Taylor?"

"Yes, that's me," Holly said, and the nurse held the door open.

"Dr Reid wants to speak with you,"

Holly sighed, and nodded. "Thank you,"

She reluctantly started to walk towards Reid's hospital room and when she was standing outside, she stopped. The entire team was there, and all turned to look at her as she walked into the room. She managed to press out a fake smile, and sat down on a chair next to Reid's bed. Looking down at her hands, her inner voice started to scream when Reid spoke up.

"Uh, you guys, I'd like to talk to Holly alone, if that's okay with you,"

Knowing that there was no way she was hiding how uncomfortable she was to a room full of profilers, Holly just kept her eyes on her hands. Hearing everybody leave, she didn't look up until she heard Reid's voice.

"Holly," his tone was soft and apologetic, but when he reached out to touch her knee, Holly flew of the chair as if she'd been burnt. She paced around the room, wiggling her hands. "Holly, please listen to me..."

Holly looked over at him with tears in her eyes. He was sitting up with his hands in his lap, and his eyes, which she could spend hours looking in to, were watching her intensley.

"I don't want to," she said, knowing that she sounded like she was 12 or something, but didn't care.

"I'm sorry, all right?" Reid coaxed, and Holly shook her head.

"You really hurt me, Spence. I know that I might not have been doing what I should...but I don't really have a lot of experience with people who's just been tortured,"

"I'm sorry for snapping at you...everything just came out at the same time, you know?" when Holly didn't answer, he continued. "The first thing I thought about when I saw the flashlights was you. I knew that they would call you when I was abducted, and that you would be with them. I also knew that you're too stubborn to stay behind, so you would have gone with them to rescue me,"

"I couldn't just stay in that house, not knowing what'd happened to you," Holly said, and then, finally, she broke down. Reid held out his arms and Holly threw herself in his arms, sobbing uncontrollably. She felt like she was gonna combust, and she struggled to breathe.

"It's okay sweetie, it's gonna be okay," Reid whispered in her ear, letting her cry out all her feelings, all the things she'd been carrying for so long. This was what he was afraid would happen to her. She would carry around so many emotions, until one day it just would become too much for her to handle.

"I'm so sorry Spence, I never meant to hurt you. I love you so much," she sobbed, and Reid looked into her tear stained eyes.

"I love you too, Holly. More than you can ever imagine,"

"I just was so scared when Morgan called and said something had happened to you. It was my worst nightmare, and it came true,"

"It okay now, I'm gonna be fine," Reid assured her, and she looked up.

"Oh, my god. I'm the worst girlfriend ever," she pulled away, and Reid raised an eyebrow. "I mean, my boyfriend's just been kidnapped and tortured, and all I can think about it myself. God, I don't deserve you!"

Oddly, Reid felt like laughing at her outburst. "You're making this a bigger deal than it is, Holly," he snickered, and Holly looked at him as if he'd gone mad.

"Have you completely lost your mind?"

"Not the last time I checked," he replied, and then pulled her down in his lap again. "It might take some time, but I'm going to be just fine. With you by my side, everything is going to get a lot easier,"

Holly gave a small smile, and inched closer to him. "I'll always be here for you,"

"I know,"

"So..." Holly said cautiously. "You're not mad at for coming with them?"

Reid looked at her, and when he spoke, a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Mad? I'm furious. But I haven't decided how to punish you yet,"

Holly giggled. "Well, I might have to persuade you not to punish me,"

"And how are you going to do that?" Reid said in a teasing tone, and Holly smiled.

"Like this," she said, and then pressed her lips again his for a kiss that was sweet but still filled with passion.

The next few minutes they spent enjoying each others company, sharing a few kisses. The rest of the team came back in, and said that they were leaving, and that they'd be back in the morning when Reid was released.

"I love you," Holly whispered, her voice thick with sleep as she snuggled deeper into Reid's chest.

"I love you too," he replied, and held on to her tighter, as if he was afraid she would disappear if he let go.

They fell asleep just like that; curled up against each other in the narrow hospital bed. As the night-nurse came in, she didn't have the heart to tell the young woman that she couldn't stay, so she just let the young couple sleep. With a smile on her face she quietly closed the door behind her.

"If only I could have something as beautiful as that," she sighed to herself, and then continued on with her chores.

THE END