Summary: Being saved and rescued by his Behavioral Analysis Unit family was just the beginning. When Dr Spencer Reid woke from his nightmare, he found himself in another horrific one. But this time, he could no longer feel any sort of sensation, and kind of pain, except for the ache in his heart every time his brain failed to interpret a message from his nerves.

Disclaimer: How can I own all of this wonderful things, CBS?

A/N: Well, hello! This is my first Criminal Minds fanfic. I am both excited and anxious about it. Well I hope this will not be another clichéd story for all of you and I hope you enjoy reading it.

P.S. I suck on first chapters. Every single fanfiction I have written has a sucky first chapter so I am sorry.

My IG: gublerbaby


Chapter 1

He was running. As fast as he feet could. The pounding of feet against the pavement was the only thing he could hear. It was dawn. The first light of the day could be seen at the line where the sky met the earth. But he had no time to look at the sun he had not seen in a while. No time to take in the wondrous view. No time for anything besides running.

The blood sliding down his skin was ignored. His back that had been inflamed because of the beating he got with a steel rod did not even register in his head. All he knew was he needed to run, he needed to drag his battered body and abused mind away from the nightmare that he had faced for the past three days.

He ran.

But he was never fast enough.

He was tugged by his collar with a force so hard he was jerked back and slammed into the body of his captor. A muscled arm slid around his neck and another was wrapped tight around his chest, locking his arms at his sides.

"Where the hell you think you are going?" the words were whispered right next to his ear in a sing-song tune by a hoarse voice.

"Please…" he faintly begged in vain for the hundredth time while he was hauled back, his bare feet sometimes scrapped against the rough pavement, sometimes he lost his footing.

Crushed by those arms holding him, Spencer Reid let himself went limp as the little spirit he still had deflated. His chin dropped onto the forearm of his captor as he struggled to breathe. He was so tired and drained. With eyes that barely open and hazy, he tilted his head – for the first time willingly lean against his tormentor – and looked at the horizon, where the earth was outline by the ever rising sun. His honey brown eyes were glazed by the light. A weak smile he did not think he could manage formed on his lips.

Spencer Reid was already lost in the mercy of a dreamland when two SUVs and two police cars came from both sides of the road. He did not know he was used as a shield for Jason Summers, his captor, against the multitude of guns being pointed at him. He did not know how he sagged down to the pavement into a heap of limbs as the Unsub freed him from his death grip and surrendered with a bloodcurdling smirk on his face.

He was oblivious in that moment, and maybe it was for the better, because the nightmare had just started.


"In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present." – Francis Bacon


Derek Morgan leaped forward as soon Reid's body hit the ground with a thud. He cuffed the Unsub harshly before passing the man to the local authority. He went back to his best friend, who was half on Hotch's lap by then. Rossi was on his knees next to them, calling for the medics. JJ and Emily were waiting at the precinct.

Morgan could feel tears pricked his eyes as he stared at Reid. Hotch was cradling the young man, whispering comforting words and apologies, with one arm holding him close in a comforting way, while his hand caressed Reid's hair.

Reid's hair.

Morgan was going to kill Jason Summers from the first day Reid was taken. But, seeing Reid now, he wanted to do more than just murder the man.

Just four days ago, Morgan had bothered Reid about his hair being too long, going over his shoulders. And now, all of those long, brown locks were almost gone. Reid's hair had been cut, chopped, possibly ripped by the sociopath. What was left was short, uneven hair that Morgan knew Reid would feel ashamed about. Even without saying it out loud, everyone on the team knew that Reid's hair was also his personal sort of defense mechanism. Somehow, the Unsub knew about this. Taking that away from the young man forcefully was like shredding away his shield, his refuge behind the curtains of his hair.

Such minor things, and suddenly it meant so much.

The EMT arrived then, and Morgan and Hotch personally lifted their youngest team member on the gurney and the unit chief hopped into the ambulance, quickly grabbing Reid's hand and held it tenderly. The two FBI Supervisory Special Agents left there stared as the medics took their friend further and further away from them. Only when the vehicle was out of side did Rossi and Morgan each took an SUV and drove them to the precinct to pick up Emily and JJ.


"Why are they not back yet?" JJ was getting frustrated and Emily was running out of idea on how to calm her. The brunette placed her hand on top of JJ's for the third time in the hour, patting it three times before taking it in and gripping it tight.

"JJ, they will be back soon. It's been an hour. They are going to walk in soon with our genius and everything will be fine," Emily was trying to reassure herself as much as she was trying to comfort the media liaison. They were both feeling anxious.

They had packed all of the crime scene photos and autopsy reports into a box while they were there and though they were all in the closed box, the pictures of all the dead victims had burnt in their head. And every autopsy report was tormenting them, all the information they had on how the victims were tortured been harassing their attempt to believe Reid would be fine.

Their attention was caught by two policemen bringing in their Unsub. As they passed by the table the women were sitting, Summers smirked again, and though she glared back, being a profiler, Emily knew that was a smug look of a won man, not a criminal that had lost.

"I had a good time with him. Thank you," Summers shouted from the other end of the room before he was shoved into the interrogation room.

Before the fume inside of JJ could boil over, Rossi walked into the precinct but stopped near the entrance. Without Reid. The two women hearts dropped but they got up and wasted no time before walking outside to the SUV which Morgan was waiting in. The ride to the hospital was eerily silent, none of them willing to say a word or ask question.


Hotch's head hung down, his hands clutched together between his knees, as he sat in the waiting area. He had just given permission for the surgeons to perform a needed surgery. Not long after that, the rest of the team except Garcia arrived. JJ quickly flung his side and stared at him with unshed tears, demanding an update about Reid. Hotch shook his head, "Nothing yet for now. They are about to perform a surgery because there are some nerves that are damaged."

And the silence fell over them once again. They sat there for hours, none of them wanted to go back to the hotel. None of them could close their eyes. Garcia arrived after the third hour passed, already in tears which contradicted her colorful outfit. Morgan held her as they continued to sit together in the chilling, fake calmness.

Another hour passed before the surgeon finally emerged from the operation theater and approached them, "Mr. Reid's?"

"Dr. Reid, actually," Garcia felt obligated to correct as she stood up quicker than the others.

"I am his Supervisor and am given the right to make medical decision when he cannot. You can speak in front all of us," Hotch said as he shook the surgeon's hand.

"Dr. Reid," the man nodded towards Garcia with a friendly tugged at the corner of his lips, "Is now stabilized. A gash on his head needed five stitches. He had a couple degrees of burns on his back and legs, both from being exposed to fire and what seemed to be an electronic prod of some sort. There were multiple cuts littering his face, arms and legs but they were mostly superficial." The surgeon's expression darkened considerably, "His back was the worst. Multiple range bruises littered his entire back. We ran an MRI and his spinal cord was injured critically. Some nerves were put under intense pressure, pressing the nerves down and disrupting the sense. The surgery we performed was to lose the pressure and some of the broken bones that compressed the nerve. The surgery was successful but please be prepared for any news."

"You said he is now stabilized and the surgery was successful," JJ said, confusion clear in her voice.

"Our nerve system is highly sensitive. Although our neurosurgeons have done their very best, we are afraid that the trauma Dr. Reid's nerves suffered may lead to other complications. But we cannot be sure until we can run some physical test when Dr. Reid wakes up. He is stabilized and his physical injuries will be fully recovered in three to four weeks."

It was silent for a moment as the team took it all in. It was Emily who asked, "Can we see him now?"

"Follow me," the team fell into step behind the doctor leading them, "He has yet to weak up and it may take up to another twenty-four hours before he does. All of you can go in at the same time though, I advise you to only have one or two of you with him overnight. The rest can look from outside or come back tomorrow."

Hotch said 'thank you' and shook the doctor's hand again before he followed the team filing into the room. Garcia had a hand over her mouth in a silent cry, JJ's eyes were impossibly large, Emily and Morgan's eyes were red and Rossi looked older than he really was as he stared at the young man on the bed. And Hotch closed his eyes.


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