Disclaimer - I own none of these characters and make no profit from this work.

Chapter 2

Strauss' sparse retelling of the news about the upcoming "48 Hours" episode had drawn more curses from Hotch. He was certain the few choice words he left hanging in the air as he stormed out of her office would provide juicy fodder for his personnel file.

He could not have cared less.

Learning that the Hankel case was going to be re-enacted, scrutinized, and broadcast on public airwaves had undoubtedly upended Reid's world. The only thing worse would be exhuming Hankel's corpse and shoving it in Reid's face.

Finding Reid quickly was imperative. Hotch knew word of the "48 Hours" special would soon sweep through the BAU and the rest of the FBI like wildfire. And once again Reid would find himself the object of stares and awkward silences. The same "you could hear a pin drop" silences that followed Reid around after the incident in Georgia.

Hotch remembered how Reid had tried to shrink deep inside himself. Hotch knew it had drawn upon every ounce of his inner strength to come to work each day. Until even this tenuous lifeline had snapped, hurtling Reid temporarily into the abyss. An abyss no one had yet dared to openly acknowledge.

Hotch could understand the FBI's position. If the "48 Hours" story was a done deal, the FBI naturally wanted to shine the best possible light on the whole sorry episode. But no one seemed to have given the least regard to Reid himself.

Given the extent of the psychological damage, Hotch was certain Reid's intellectual shield was still undergoing major repair. How precarious was his state of mind? Was this enough to send him careening off on another crash course?

As he searched the building - more and more frantically - for Reid, Hotch tried to imagine the anxiety Reid must be feeling. To be ordered to recount his horrifying experience was bad enough. To expose his living nightmare to an audience of millions...

And Reid was scrupulously honest. If asked, he would admit to being terrified, to doing whatever was necessary in the moment to survive. To someone as private as Reid, the prospect must be almost as terrifying.

Terrifying enough to seek any escape, no matter how drastic?

Dammit, where was he?

Reid had rushed out of Strauss' office in a mounting panic. He had been vaguely aware of someone in his path, but his immediate need had been a hiding place. How his mind would react to the shock he had received was unpredictable. He didn't want witnesses to the emotional and mental turmoil that unexpectedly, if less frequently, disabled him from time to time.

Ever since Georgia, there had been a fear in the pit of his stomach, like a tuning fork, like a violin string, that he had begun to believe would always be there and would always vibrate.

Strauss had said his role on the show would be minor.

"They'll ask you a few questions. You answer them." Child's play, her glare said.

Just the facts, yes ma'am. Devoid of any messy human element. Reid wondered if Strauss had any soft spot apart from her favorite son.

Reid knew it was a lie. He would be the "star," the only one still alive who had direct experience with Hankel's bloody delusions. They would want to root out every violent, titillating detail about Hankel, his three personalities, and his almost three days in captivity.

The speculation and rumors that continued to swirl through the FBI remained simply that. Not even his teammates knew more than Reid had reluctantly divulged. He couldn't control what they had no doubt guessed in those dark weeks and months after his life has supposedly return to "normal."

No, if he had to do this, he was determined to shield as many secrets from the spotlight as possible.

By the time he found a secluded spot, Reid was close to hyperventilating. He felt as if he had run up all 1,455 steps to the top of the Las Vegas Stratosphere.

Panting, he dropped his head below his waist. Without warning, he was back strapped to a wooden chair.

"I don't care whether you're weak or strong. Scream all you want, nobody can hear you."

Hankel's roars had been deep enough to shake the cabin timbers, send shock waves pulsing into the atmosphere, rattle the stars. Deep enough to pierce him through, pulverize his courage, shatter hope.

"Liar! When I am done with you, boy, you'll beg to confess."

Reid covered his face with his hands and slumped against a wall.

That was how Hotch found him.