First ~ business ~ as ALWAYS, I do not own Criminal Minds or any of their characters . Just my story & the OC'S in this story.

Secondly ~ Thank You so very much for the Reviews, Encouraging words, ideas, Favs & Follows. MUCH APPRECIATED ! Sorry it took so long for this chapter to post, I was having pc issues. PLZ Forgive !

This is not only my first CM FF story, but my FIRST story ever... so it means a lot to have you all along on this ride ! NOW:

~ Chapter 2 ~

The next morning, after a good night rest & a quick continental breakfast at the hotel, the team all gathered in the conference room to start going over the evidence again & to put a profile together. They no sooner gathered the local officers to give the profile, when the Captain got a call that another little boy, Jason Jeffries- age 6, had gone missing. His parents were being brought to the station with a picture of him.

Once they arrived they informed the team that he had gone missing after they put him in bed last night, & only discovered he was gone when he didn't get up for breakfast. They were very confused how or why someone would break in & take him. The Jeffries were considered "hard working, family oriented, good people; always ready to help their fellow neighbors whenever they could". They lived on the outskirts of the small rural town, with open fields full of growing crops & abandoned farmhouses scattered all around, due to the Freddie Mac foreclosure problems. While it gave the unsub a great advantage to do the abduction without being seen, it would have been hard to not be noticed driving anything away that late at night, because the only noise you hear are the sounds of nature at those hours. With cooler temps lately, the house had the windows open. They have a long gravel driveway, & a security system with surveillance cameras installed and trail cameras with night vision- mainly to capture wildlife.

Hotch immediately got Garcia on the phone & she was able to link into their video feed & see the abduction that happened at 2:38 A.M., hours after the Jefferies had gone to bed. Jason was a perfect match for the profile. Just like the other kids, he was the right age, brown hair, brown eyes, & loved being outdoors. One of the local officers recognized the unsub to be a local male by the name of Joseph Tillman. He's in his mid 30's, physically built, and had no problem carrying Jason out of his window. He had cut the screen completely out to gain access. The house was a ranch style & the windows were low enough to the ground no ladder was needed for him to get in & out without any problems.

The unsub wrapped Jason in a big blanket & then putting him into an army style duffle bag, & carried him over his shoulder & went into a nearby tree line. This told the profilers that he must be fairly close, if he was walking to his hide-out. They agreed he was probably hiding in an abandoned building fairly closed by. This also fits the geographical profiled area too, since all of the cornfields where the bodies were found are with in miles of this general location. They immediately headed out to the scene to look for clues or trampled grass to help indicate which way Tillman headed with little Jason.

Aaron flew over the area in the local PD's helicopter. They decided an aerial view might just give him a better look at the ground area that needed searched. Morgan & Reid left in one SUV, while Rossi & JJ followed in the other SUV. Once on the scene, Rossi & JJ went in to the house to search. Derek & Spencer headed into the tree line & the field it was adjacent to. They all knew time was of the essence if they wanted to keep little Jason safe. The profile dictated that Tillman would rather die than be brought in alive, making him extremely dangerous.

Rossi came across the radio that the house was all clear & then everyone joined Reid & Morgan in the tree line. Morgan was the first one to discover a path leading to a big open break in the trees. They all quietly followed behind him, and finally came close to an empty two story, big red barn; like what you'd see in a picturesque scenic calendar. It was so old & run down though that it truly looked like if a giant wind came along it would fall down.

As the barn became flooded with police & FBI personnel, JJ noticed Reid hanging back, allowing everyone else to enter first. Before she could approach him, he took off running towards the edge of the cornfield, which was located right next to the barn property line. JJ was close behind, radioing that they needed assistance… not really knowing exactly WHAT Reid was running after. When she finally caught up to him she smacked his arm & told him "Spence…don't do that to me, NOT AGAIN. YOU PROMISED." She was referring to the Tobias Hankle incident where Reid got drug out of a cornfield, kidnapped, beaten & almost killed. Spenser let out a silent chuckle & nodded in agreement, then motioned for her to be quiet & listen; as they listened for movement in the corn.

Shortly after, Tillman came out of the field thinking they had left; but got surprised when he found all law enforcement personnel surrounding them & aiming their weapons at him. He grabbed Jason at gunpoint threatening to kill him, if they didn't back off. Reid, who was closest, started talking with Tillman; pointing out that "it wasn't too late for it to end peacefully". Jason looked dirty & scared, but not beaten yet. Jason was looking intensely at Reid, crying silent tears, trying to be brave. The unsub screamed out of anger at Reid "you don't know what it's like, to be abandoned by your father at a young age because you aren't good enough, only to be left to an alcoholic mother who hates you because he left. These boys need to be removed before they end up tearing their families apart".

Reid continued trying to talk Joseph down, without bringing in HIS family history & how he could relate somewhat – instead he pointed out how killing Jason would only tear his family apart faster – not make it stronger. Even with all of his conviction, he failed to get thru to the Tillman. In one swift, spontaneous movement, Joseph pushed Jason to the ground, raised the gun to his temple & fired, killing himself before anyone could even respond.

Jason was covered in blood as Tillman crashed down on top him. Spencer rushed over to him, throwing the dead body off to the side & picked up a screaming Jason, who was traumatized & terrified. Reid took off his jacket & wrapped it around Jason, rocking him gently as he wiped Tillman's blood off of his face. They waited for Jason to settle down before moving him to the waiting EMT's over by the barn entrance. Reid started talking to him, telling him "how brave he was, how his mommy & daddy were waiting for him to get home and how proud they are of him." Spencer repeatedly told him in a very soothing & almost tearful voice, "you did nothing wrong, none of this is your fault. This was just a bad man who made bad choices. Sometimes even a bad man gets scared & don't really mean to hurt others, but they do. He was just scared, so he pushed you down so you wouldn't get hurt".

As Jason started to quiet down, Reid picked him up & started carrying him to the ambulance as the rest of the team walked slowly behind them, sharing worried glances back & forth between each other. They could see how clearly shaken Reid was, probably because of how Joseph chose to shoot himself - in the head, just like Diane did when she killed Maeve right in front of him. That image came flooding back to all of them like a bad nightmare, as they tried to shake THAT image from their minds too.

They could make out some of the conversation going on between Reid & Jason, while they made their way up the path. As they listened, Spencer was telling little Jason how "he use to have a very good friend named Jason too, who was very brave & who also saved kids from bad men & helped them to go home to their mommies & daddies". The team could hear Reid's voice wavering at the mention of Gideon's name, the sadness still very present even after all the time that has passed since his murder.

Once Reid gave Jason to the EMT's & made sure he was safely in the ambulance, on his way to the hospital to be reunited with his parents; he turned round to the concerned faces of his team, his family. Without saying a word, he walked over to the SUV, opened the door & got in, waiting to head back to the police station. Morgan was about to climb in to the SUV with Reid, when Aaron gently grabbed his arm & motioned he wanted to drive. Morgan nodded in understanding & climbed into the other SUV with JJ & Rossi.

The drive back to the station was a quiet one. Reid just stared out the window & Hotch observed the genius as his facial features showed a large range of thoughts going thru his mind. In the other SUV, it wasn't much different since no-one was talking. They seemed to be lost in their own thoughts about this case, all they've witnessed & the overwhelming concern for their friend & how all of this would be affecting him. They were actually relieved that Aaron was with Reid, knowing the unit chief had a way of knowing just what to say to him, in the correct tone & at the right time.

Once they arrived back at the station, the others went inside to gather their belongings. Reid still hadn't spoken when they pulled in. The unit chief decided to start the dialog before Spencer could get inside; thinking they would have more privacy in the SUV. Reid hadn't even noticed they were there yet when Aaron asked him if he was ok? Snapping out of his idle trance at the sound of Aarons voice, Reid looked at Hotch & nodded yes with a confused look on his own face.

The Unit chief slightly turned to face Reid & stared at him for a few seconds, then proceeded to say, "I know this has been a rather difficult case for all of us, but you just seem a bit distracted. You have done a great job on this case, whatever is bothering hasn't been effecting your work - I'm just concerned about you. If you have something you want to talk about, I would hope by now that you would know I am ALWAYS here for any of you to talk with. We have shared many things over the last 10 yrs & we are our own unique family unit. We rely on each other in lots of ways, & I just wanted to remind you of that".

Reid looked misty eyed & conflicted all at the same time, when he spoke to Aaron saying, "I do know that. Thank You. Over all these years, you have been there for me thru everything. You are more than a supervisor to me, you are a very good friend. Yes, I have something going on right now, that I am trying to deal with; AND I am glad that it didn't get in the way of my job performance on this case, BUT for now I just need to continue to sort things out for myself. IF I find I need you OR the others, I will definitely find someone. But THANK YOU again for the talk. DON'T WORRY about me, until I tell you to worry about me, ok"?

And with that Aaron nodded in his own understanding, still perplexed at what could be bothering him so much, but wanted to respect Reid's privacy, so for now- he dropped the subject. But resounded himself to still kept a watchful eye on him from a distance. He wasn't going to just walk away & leave him feeling abandoned like so many others have in Reid's past. They WOULD be there for him… no matter what or when. Family sticks together, good times & bad.

After everyone was ready, they said their Goodbye's & Thank You's to the local Law Enforcement Officers, then headed back to the jet. It was 10 pm on a Friday night. The ride home wasn't very joyous like other times, even though they were able to save little Jason. Because of the late hour, it being a long case, & paperwork that would need to be finished before they could start they relaxing weekend, they all settled back in the seats just waiting to get back to Quantico.

Even still, there was one thing that kept weighing on their minds… REID & their concern for him. No-one liked the idea of him being all alone, all weekend. This weekend though everyone had already shared that they had other plans already. Hotch, JJ, & Will were supposed to be taking the boys on a camping trip on Saturday morning. Morgan had get-a-way plans with Savanah, & Garcia was traveling to a tech convention, but somehow, someone would be available for him… if he need them.

*** on to chapter 3. As always please READ & REVIEW ***