TRIBULATIONS

By hatochiisai

Disclaimer: I do not own "Criminal Minds" or any of the characters of the show.

Reidcentric

WARNING: This work includes nonconsensual homosexual intercourse.

Chapter 1

Reid stared at the back of Morgan… He was flirting with one of the female agents. Reid smirked and took aim… Then, he fired

"HEY!!" Morgan yelped, whirling. Reid's eyes widened and he grinned, ducking down behind his desk. "Oh, no you did not!" Morgan's voice thundered across the Bull Pen. "Reid!"

Reid burst into 'oh shit' laughter and stumbled away from his desk. "No no no! Garcia! Help!" He shouted, scrambling to get away from Morgan, who was leaping over desks. Garcia gasped as Reid jumped behind her. She stood there, screaming and scolding Morgan and Reid as they danced around her, Reid trying to keep her between Morgan and himself, and Morgan trying to tackle Reid. Emily sat at her desk, laughing and grabbing the squirt fun from Reid's desk.

"Okay boys, enough. Stop where you are and put your hands on your head!" She called, trying not to laugh. Rossi appeared in the doorway of his office and raised an eyebrow at the… juvenile scene unfolding in the BAU office of the FBI.

"What's going on?" JJ called, poking her head out of her office.

"… Apparently a childish war." Rossi responded and JJ grinned, watching as Garcia had finally had enough and started beating Morgan and Reid off with her handbag.

"I am NOT home base in a game of tag! I am a lady, I am your Mistress of Knowledge!" She shrieked, swinging her bag and whacking Reid in the shoulder. Reid grunted and ran. "I will NOT be disrespected!" and she brought the bag down on Morgan's head.

"Ow! Garcia!"

"Do NOT use me in your games!" Garcia scolded.

"Sorry, baby girl." Morgan said, kissing her cheek. "I'll make it up to you. But first, Brainiac is going DOWN!" And he charged after Reid.

"Oh shit!" Reid giggled, running up the stairs and across the walkway past JJ, Rossi and Hotch's office. Agent Hotchner was on his phone. He blinked and made a double take, watching Reid run by. A moment later, Morgan followed. He frowned, lowering the phone and standing. He hung up and walked to the door, opening it and leaning out.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"Morgan is trying to kill Reid." Rossi said, smirking and watching through the windows as Morgan chased Reid around the meeting table.

"JJ…" Hotch sighed. "Do we have a case yet? I think they need something to do."

"Come on, boss." JJ said, grinning. "We're all in a good mood. Vacations do that for people. Speaking of which, I wish I had your tan, Emily!" She called, and Emily grinned, waving. JJ looked back at Hotch. "There's nothing wrong with cutting loose from time to time." She said, watching as Morgan launched himself over the table and tackled Reid.

"OW!" Reid yelped as he disappeared from view.

"… I don't need Morgan breaking Reid's arm." Hotchner snorted.

"He won't." Rossi chuckled, watching as Morgan stood, Reid tossed over his shoulder.

"Nuh uh, pretty boy. It's payback time." Morgan said, walking out of the room, holding tightly to Reid who was flailing desperately.

"No! No no no no no! JJ! JJ! Help!!!"

"Sorry Spence. You're on your own." JJ laughed, watching the pair pass by before walking to Hotch's office. "Here's the new case." She said, eyes laughing. Hotchner watched as Morgan carried Reid over to the mini kitchen and opened the refrigerator, Reid begging for mercy.

"Come in." He said, and JJ stepped into his office.

"This one is pretty sick." JJ said. "He's targeting law enforcement. Somehow, he knows all about them. Different people all over the country. The victims have nothing in common other than their link to law enforcement. He looks into the cases they've worked in the past. Finds what cases affected them more than others. Then he creates a whole new case, combining elements of the most traumatic cases in these peoples' careers. There are two victims, ultimately. The one he's tormenting, and the one he abducted to torment them with. Hotch, this one is really scary." Hotchner looked at her.

"Get everyone in the meeting room." He said, just as Reid's shrieks filled the BAU office.

Five minutes later, Hotchner stared at his team sitting around the table, Reid with dripping wet hair after Morgan had dumped a pitcher of water over his head.

"Man, don't even go there with those puppy eyes." Morgan snorted, giving Reid a look. Reid's eyes widened, feigning innocence. "You got what you had coming to you, pretty boy."

"Don't look at me, sugar." Garcia said. "I will NOT help you here."

"Face it, Reid. You asked for it." Emily said, grinning.

"Alright, children, enough." Rossi called, trying not to smile.

"JJ?" Hotch prompted.

"Right, sir." She said, and the screen behind her lit up. "This UnSub has been active all over the country. He targets members of law enforcement. He becomes familiar with their career… the cases they've worked. He takes bits and pieces… key details from the cases that stood out in their lives. He combines these key elements into a whole new, mutated crime. He takes someone close to them. Abducts them. And they become the focus of his sick mind.

"He gives his target a disposable cell phone and a video receiver, and he streams a live feed to it of what he does to their loved one… and the target sees every haunting detail of past cases in this… twisted amalgam… When the UnSub is resting, the target can talk to the victim over the disposable cell… it's a psychological torture… they are able to comfort each other, give false hope... No one has been able to trace either the cell or receiver signal. Ultimately, he kills the loved one. He waits until his target has reached the breaking point. And then, when he knows the target is watching, he kills the victim

"So far, the bodies have been dumped on the doorstep of the victim's residence, left in their offices, on the outside steps of the building where they work. And the UnSub disappears. Until he takes a new victim and starts to torment a new target."

"Targeting law enforcement, figures of authority… this is about power." Reid said, flicking his fingers and looking around the table.

"Victims have been of different ages, genders, different relations to the targets… spouses, parents, children, best friends…" Emily listed off.

"Same with the targets." Rossi said, leaning back in his chair.

"He's taunting them." Reid said, running a hand through his wet hair. "Someone in law enforcement believes that their positions gives them some sort of protections against crimes like this. And even if it does happen, that they will have some sort of control over it. They will be able to easily handle it. This UnSub is destroying their safety, and showing them that not only are they just as vulnerable as everyone else, but that their so called "position of safety" is what made them a target in the first place."

"So he's trying to scare them." Emily said.

"No, it's more than that." Reid said. "It's making them feel completely helpless. Doing this to someone will destroy their sense of security. I mean… these people will never feel safe again! It's their job to keep people safe, but they can't even protect their own loved ones."

"Victimology won't help all that much… The only relation between them is that they're in law enforcement, and have had a handful of more interesting cases that the UnSub can play with." Morgan added in. "No geographical profiling will help either. He's hit all over the country. Dallas, Houston, Orlando, L.A, Vegas, Portland, Kansas City, Chicago..." He looked up. "Eleven cases… and no one has caught this guy?!"

"Why weren't we called in sooner?" Hotchner asked, frowning at JJ.

"I… I don't know." JJ said with a meek shrug. "There's been one a month for the past year."

"Have any of the local law enforcement managed to find out WHERE the UnSub took the victims?" Reid asked.

"Only one." JJ said. "It was in a small rural community in Wyoming. They found the crime scene in a barn. On accident. The property was for sale. When it was finally purchased, a couple of months after the incident, the new owner found it." Hotchner nodded.

"Alright. Garcia, man your station. We are going to split up the crime scenes, I want to send those of you who are familiar with an area TO that area. Reid, take Vegas. I'm also giving you the case files from the smaller towns to look over." Reid nodded. "Morgan, Chicago. Rossi, take Dallas and Houston. Emily, take Portland and L.A. I'll take Kansas City. We meet back here in two days. Try to find the crime scenes. Good hunting, everyone." And the team took off.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Reid had no problem flipping through the files and memorizing their contents, but there really wasn't anything helpful. When he got to Las Vegas, he met with the local Bureau Head. They spent several hours going over the case, but they didn't have much luck.

"The crime scene CAN'T be too far out of town… Are there any abandoned properties within a hundred miles of the city, Garcia?" He asked the woman over the phone.

"… Uh, you and the others are SO gonna owe me for this. The others are all asking me the same thing. I'll do the same search for you that I did for them, only for the Las Vegas area." She said, and Reid smiled.

"That's great, Garcia. When we close this case, I owe you dinner."

"I'll hold you to your word, sugar."

"I know. Later Garcia."

"Bye honey. Time to talk to the boss man. I'll back with your information." And their line was disconnected. She had called back almost an hour later, sound VERY harassed. "I'm faxing it now. Don't bug me unless you need it." And she hung up abruptly. Reid blinked at the phone, then smiled to himself, pocketing it. With five people out in the field in different places, all calling her for different information, she was probably going out of her mind. Reid had a feeling that they would all be hearing about it later.

There were seven secluded properties outside of town that were abandoned and/or for sale. The fourth one, and Reid hit pay dirt.

"… Wow." Gasped the deputy with him.

"Hm." Reid said, looking around in focused interest.

"This reminds me of that one case…" The deputy said, slowly wandering in. "This guy insisted that women were no more than… livestock. And he treated them as such. Kept them in a stable, had them eating and drinking from troughs… hobbled them like horses if they tried to escape. If they disobeyed, he would beat them."

Reid nodded. "I read about that case." He said, looking over equipment that was used to care for horses, but was instead used on innocent women. "And this one… he carved his name into his victims, messages all indicating that he was branding them as his own… only this victim had the TARGET'S name carved into her skin… And this crime scene…" Reid continued, flipping through photos of the crime scenes that the UnSub had been mimicking. "A girl died, a victim of some psycho thinking he's a vampire… so YOUR victim was found with puncture wounds on her neck and drained of blood…"

"Well… here's your crime scene, Dr. Reid."

"… Call in CSI."

"Reid…" Garcia said flatly. "All of these cases are creepy. But YOURS creeped me out more than any…" Reid smiled slightly.

"Riding crops scare you, Garcia?"

"Ooh… Kinkiness from the good Dr. Reid."

"Enough." Hotch said. They had just finished going over what crime scenes they had found. They had been unable to locate the ones in Kansas City, Portland and Dallas… Local authorities were still searching, but…

"The problem with this case is that this guy doesn't have his own M.O." Reid said, frowning and tapping a pencil on the table. "He's… stealing the M.O. of other killers. And not just ANY killers, unique ones. There's no… pattern regarding location… just… members of law enforcement who had worked strange cases…"

"He leaves no evidence behind… he knows to take forensic counter measures to avoid detection." Hotch said slowly.

"So now what?" Emily asked, leaning back.

"We get some rest." Hotchner said. "Look at it again in the morning."

"Let me take all of the files." Reid said. "Look over them tonight. See if I can find any pattern."

"Our boy has NO life." Morgan murmured to Garcia.

"… Don't over work yourself Reid." Hotchner said, watching Reid gather up all the information into a box.

"Yes, sir." Reid said, picking up the box and shuffling out.

"Reid!" Garcia called, following him. "You can't take the subway home with that thing. Come on, I'll drive you."

Reid sighed, sitting on his sofa and staring at the floor. He had moved his furniture and had crime scene photos scattered in organized chaos before him. He sighed, frowning, then removed his glasses and leaned back, rubbing his eyes before setting them aside and letting his head rest on the back of the sofa, closing them for a few seconds. The crime scene photos were starting to blend together. There were the pictures of crime scenes… and the pictures of the crime scenes that were a recreated mixture of the first crime scenes… now THEY were blurring together. Crime scenes combined with crime scenes combined with crime scenes.

"… This is mind numbing." He groaned, then slowly stood. He had loosened his tie earlier, but now he pulled it off completely and headed into the bathroom, turning on the shower. He removed his clothes slowly, blinking tired eyes and yawning. He dropped his clothes on the floor and stepped into the shower, sighing as the hot water poured over him. He closed his eyes, relaxing for a moment before grabbing the soap. He blinked and stopped when he thought he heard a creak…

"… Hello?" He called, poking his head around the shower curtain. The door of the bathroom was ajar, just as he had left it. The hallway was empty. "Hm." And he ducked back into the shower. He shampooed his hair, and tilted his head back under the stream, rinsing it out. He lowered his head again, wiping water from his face and opened his eyes. He froze, his heart nearly stopping. He was staring down the barrel of his own gun…

"Hello, Dr. Reid." Came a voice, smooth as velvet… Reid slowly looked past the gun, to the black gloved hand, up the arm of the jacket and to the man's face. But it was covered. The man was wearing a plain black mask covering his entire face. It was a cheap plastic thing, the kind that you could buy for a dollar around Halloween from Wal*Mart or something… Reid swallowed thickly. His eyes darted back and forth between the gun, the mask and the video camera in the intruder's other hand.

"Step out of the shower, please." The voice said calmly, and the man backed away, pushing the shower curtain aside with the hand holding the gun. "Hands where I can see them, Dr. Reid. And don't talk. If you think that you can talk me into 'doing the right thing' and 'redeeming' myself, don't. You'll just make my finger… tense up." Reid nodded slightly, putting his hands up and stepping out of the shower, glancing longingly at the waiting towel.

"Dry yourself off." The man commanded. "Slowly. I'm watching you."

"What?!" Reid yelped, eyes wide. There was a pause, then the man barked out a laugh.

"Not like that." He snorted. Reid flushed and averted his eyes, grabbing the towel and drying himself off. "Turn off the water." Reid nodded and turned, leaning over and turning off the shower. "The bedroom. Go." Reid turned and stepped around the man and walked down the hall and into his bedroom. He was thoroughly relieved when the man told him to get dressed. He went to the closet and pulled out a button up shirt.

"No." The man said. "Not for work. For bed." Reid stared at the man.

"What? Why?" He asked. The man's eyes flashed behind the mask, and Reid yelped as the man hit him… He fell back against the dresser, lifting a hand to his temple. A trickle of blood ran down the side of his face.

"Don't ask questions. Just do as you're told." The man snapped. "Get dressed." Reid nodded, hands shaking, and pulled on gray sweat pants and a navy blue T shirt with the FBI logo on it. He turned and eyed the intruder out of the corner of his eyes, rubbing his arm nervously.

"Good. Now let's go." The man said, flicking the gun towards the door. Reid paused, but then decided not to push it. He walked out of his bedroom and out into the living room.

"Keep going." The man instructed. "Out back of the building." Reid blinked, but nodded and walked out into the apartment corridor and down the stairs.

The ground in the alley was ice cold on his bare feet, and the wind made him shiver. He blinked. A black Dodge Ram pickup sat there. It was nondescript. It had a silver chest in the bed of it, right behind the cab.

"Get in the back." The man said. Reid turned his head slightly, then faced forwards again. The tailgate was open. He crawled onto it and slid into the bed of the pickup, his heart racing. "On your knees, face the front." The man growled. "Hands on your head." Reid obeyed. He focused on the window on the back of the cab, and his own reflection, pale and frightened, and behind him loomed the black figure. Reid blinked. The man had put down the gun, but was pulling something out of his pocket. Reid heard a crackling sound at the same time he saw electrical sparks. Then, there was a sharp burning pain in his lower back, and everything went black…

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*