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Gideon stared at the number on his phone, unease building up within him as the device continued to ring. It wasn't anyone from the BAU, unless they had changed numbers in the time that he was gone, nor was it anyone he knew outside his former place of employment. Knowing that he would some day regret it, Gideon answered the phone.

"Gideon," he answered warily.

"The years haven't been good to you, have they Jason?" a sneering voice replied from the other end. Gideon recognized it, but for the life of him, he couldn't place it. "It's been so many years since we've last spoken, though I suppose our last conversation was like many of the interrogations you conducted through the years."

"Who is this?" Gideon demanded, not liking where the conversation was headed.

"I'm hurt Jason," the man said though he sounded anything but. "There is such...history between you and I, I'm distraught at the very thought of you forgetting who I am." That little phrase hit Jason Gideon like a Mack truck, bringing up old memories he'd hoped he'd buried and forgotten.

"Matheson? Rick Matheson?" he breathed, desperately hoping that he was wrong; and knowing he wasn't.

"There! I knew you'd remeber!" Matheson's cheery tone was darkened by the insanity that put an odd edge to his words. "I've waited many years for this day."

"What day would that be?" Gideon queried, unconsciously falling into his old profiler mode. "Last I heard you were locked away for life in a small, padded cell." Matheson did not take the bait.

"I've been recently...discharged to attend to a few personal matters."

"I find that unlikely, Rick. Who helped you escape? You aren't sane enough to have devised your own escape plan, that's why you always had a partner." Gideon heard a low, blood curdling chuckle echo eerily through the phone.

"That may be Jason, that very well may be. It won't stop me though. You took everything away from me that day, now I'm going to return the favor." Alarm bells went off in Gideon's head.

"That won't work, I don't have a family nor am I even associating with people," Gideon countered, hoping to outwit the lunatic.

"Jason, Jason," Matheson sighed patronizingly. "I'm well aware of your son and his family, don't worry, he's not the one I'm interested in. I'm more interested in your little protege in the BAU. Dr. Reid, is it?" Gideon surpressed any emotion and answered.

"I've had no contact with Agent Dr. Reid for years, he means nothing to me." Gideon winced as he said that, it had been extremely difficult to say. That unnerving chuckle echoed again.

"You may have not contacted him for some time, but I know he means a great deal to you, almost like a second son if I'm not mistaken." His voice hardened and became more sinister. "I'm going to take your "son" the way you took mine."

"Don't do this Rick," Gideon negotiated."Killing a Federal agent will only lead to your death, there is no need for it."

"I've already reconciled myself to death, even if your agents don't kill me or the government decides not to send me to death row, I will die."

"You'd kill yourself for no reason?"

"Not for no reason!" he exploded. "I've been merely a shell since you killed him, I've done my research, planning for this day for years. Now the opportunity has come, and I will finally be able to end this once and for all."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I want you to live in the fear that at any given moment, your precious Dr. Reid will be taken from you and there is nothing you can do. For all you know, I could have him here with me this very moment." Gideon swallowed the bile rising in his throat. "But I don't. I want you to be there, I want to see the despair in your eyes as you watch him die, I want you to feel the world crashing down on you as you realize that even though you knew it was coming, you couldn't have stopped it." Gideon was silent, listening to Matheson's harsh panting as he finished his impassioned speech.

"I now bid you good bye Jason Gideon," he continued, far calmer than he had been a minute ago. "I know we will be seeing each other soon. You might want to see your precious genius one last time and beg his forgiveness before the end." With that the line went dead. Gideon stood there, stunned into inaction by his fear. No, no no no! I can't watch him die again. Not now, not after all this! As if a switch had been flipped, Gideon was moving. His fingers, clumbsy with adrenaline, flew over the keys as they dialed a number that had been once familiar. He was in his car and firing it up when the other picked up.

"Hotchner."

"Hotch, listen to me, where's Reid?" Gideon demanded as he threw the car into drive and pressed the pedal to the floor.

"Gideon?" Hotch was clearly and understandably astonished. "I don't understand, what's..."

"Hotch! Where's Reid?" he all but shouted.

"He's here, at his desk," Hotch answered, the bewilderment coloring his voice.

"Is he safe?"

"Yes. Why wouldn't he be?" Gideon could hear the the hidden worry in Hotch's voice. He knew he'd be confused as hell if their roles were reversed.

"Hotch, I'm begging you, don't let him out of your sight, please. I'm going to meet you as soon as I can," Gideon answered, deftly swerving around traffic as he made his way to the intersate.

"Gideon, what's going on? Are you alright?" There was a deeper meaning to that question, Gideon didn't blame him but still felt his anger rise.

"Hotch, I may not be mentally stable enough to be a profiler anymore but I am not completely unhinged. I just received a call from an escaped murderer who is after Reid in a misguided attempt at revenge on me." He knew that sounded crazy, but it was probably the most coherent thing he'd said so far.

"What are you talking about?"

"Hotch, Rick Matheson is free and he's after Reid." He knew Hotch was familiar with the case, he hadn't worked it but he knew it as if he had.

"Are you sure?"

"Hotch, the man just called me and threatened to kill Reid."

"Alright, alright. What do you want me to do?" Gideon knew Hotch was taking this seriously and not attempting to appease a possibly mentally unstable man.

"For now, keep him near you until we know more. Lock him in your office or handcuff him to Morgan if you have to, just don't let him go anywhere alone. I want all of you to reivew the case so you know what to expect. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"You said "we"," Hotch said. "Gideon, you're not a part of this team anymore."

"I know, but I know this man better than any of you, you'll need my help."

"Alright," Hotch conceeded. "I don't know how he'll take this."

"I know," Gideon whispered as he manuvered around the cars impeeding him. "Just keep him safe."

"We will," Hotch promised as he ended the called. Gideon prayed that this would end well but had a feeling it wouldn't.

XXX

"Confrence room, now," Hotch ordered tersely. The team looked up at him in surprise then glanced at each other. Exchanging confused glances they made their way to the room. As they took their seats, Garcia bustled in with a stack of files. Hotch thanked her and handed them out.

"What is this?" Morgan asked. "This case was closed before Reid was born."

"I was three at the time," Reid protested. Rossi rolled his eyes.

"What's going on?" Prentiss asked.

"I just received a call from Gideon," he began slowly, letting the information sink in and judging their reactions. Most were surprise with a mix of hurt and anger. Morgan's features showed confusion and betrayal, Reid's showed the most heart wrenching mix of confusion, hurt, anger, betrayal, and even tentative joy. "He told me he received a call from Rick Matheson, the case is his." Their eyes immediately scanned the files.

"He was convicted of murder," Morgan read aloud. "He was found to be insane and sentenced to life in a sannitarium."

"He tortured ten people to death," Prentiss read, horror creeping into her voice. "He used almost every known form of torture from the Middle Ages to the present."

"How does an insane man do this to ten people and not get caught?" JJ asked. "Doesn't an insane man lack the capacity to do this that many times?"

"Yes, but he had a partner," Reid answered as his eyes flew over the words. "His partner, 28 year old Bobby Nells, picked the victims and disposed of the bodies."

"Matheson claimed to be doing research," Rossi continued. "He was at one time a professor at a local college, lecturing in ethics." He raised his eyebrows at the irony. "He survived a brutal robbery, his wife did not. He lost his job at the university because he was becoming more and more unstable, his lectures focusing on torture and retribution."

"He disappeared for a time," Prentiss said as she took up the narrative. "Then he published papers on torture and what a human being could endure. Somewhere along the way, Nells became fascinated with his work and became his student."

"A protege," Hotch added. "Nells worshiped Matheson, he gladly found the victims, documented every moment of their suffering, and disposed of the bodies. Most of the evidence used against Matheson in his trial was Nells' own notes. They documented everything, many things deemed too disturbing for the public to know."

"What happened to Nells?" JJ asked, flipping through the files.

"He was killed in the raid," Hotch answered. "Matheson wouldn't come willingly, he was armed and had fired at several shots at the officers, killing one. Before anyone could stop him, Nells leapt in front of Matheson just as Gideon pulled the trigger. Nells died almost immediately, the shock of his death immobolized Matheson and he was arrested. He was sentenced, but not before swearing revenge on Gideon. At the time, no one took him seriously." Nods accompanied this statement, they had all heard convicted felons swear vengence on the people who put them there, most times nothing ever came of them.

"What does this have to do with us?" Garcia asked.

"Matheson escaped and called Gideon earlier. He's back to make Gideon suffer the way he suffered, grieving the loss of someone he considered a son." The information took a moment to sink in, but when it did, all eyes turned toward Reid. The young genius squirmed under their intense scrutiny. "Reid, as of right now, you cannot go anywhere without at least one of us with you. Matheson is a sadistic killer, we cannot let him have the opportunity to get to you." He let Reid absorb that. Now for the hard part. "Gideon is on his way, we'll need his help with this." This was all too much for Reid. He got up suddenly and fled the room. Morgan exchanged a look with Hotch before following his friend.

He found him in the men's room, huddled in a corner, looking so lost and confused that it made Morgan's stomach clench.

"Hey kid," he greeted. Reid didn't answer, he just stared blankly at the floor. Morgan sighed. "Look, I know this is a lot to deal with, but you're not going through this alone, we're all here and have got your back."

"I know," Reid mumbled. "It's just, I don't know." He turned pleading eyes to Morgan. "This will all work out, right?" Morgan was stunned at the childlike plea.

"Yeah kid, this is all gonna be alright. I swear." He meant every word, so why did he feel like he had just lied to his friend?