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Reid heard Sam's voice in his head asking him if he had made his choice. He glanced longingly at the phone and wished the decision he was about to make was easier. In the end, he knew the right choice was to go along with these guys for now, and hopefully buy enough time to figure a way out of this situation. Looking Sam in the eye he nodded his head in an affirmation that he would help.

"Use your words, Dr. Reid. I want to hear you say it," Sam demanded.

"Ye..yes. I will help you," Reid said as his stomach crawled at the implication of what he had just done.

Sam quickly snatched up the old-fashioned flip phone, flicked it open, hit the speakerphone button and put it up to Reid's face.

"He….hello?" Reid said into the phone with a crack in his voice.

"Reid? Sorry to wake you, but another body was just called in. I am recalling everyone back to headquarters so we can analyze the new information. How fast can you get down here?" Hotch asked.

Reid looked up at his captor for guidance in how to answer this question. Sam held up a finger and mouthed "one hour" to him. Reid nodded his head in understanding and said, "It's going to take me about an hour, sir."

"See if you can make it faster. Oh and Reid, we haven't informed Garcia about this yet, but the victim was Kevin," Hotch said in a perfectly controlled voice.

Reid almost choked out a sob in response to this revelation. These men who were holding him captive had killed a man that he knew and respected. He was the former love of one of his co-workers and a genuine all-round nice guy. Reid felt a tear trickle down his cheek in a form of mourning over the bureau's loss. He pulled at his bonds again in frustration hoping to jostle something loose, knowing that his attempt was futile.

"What was that noise?" Hotch asked when he heard the clinking of metal in the background. "Reid, what's going on over there?"

"Noth…nothing Hotch. It's just that my ceiling fan needs to be oiled, it clinks all night long," Reid made up on the fly after he saw Sam give him an angry look for making the noise.

"Uh huh…," Hotch replied disbelievingly. "Well, like I said try to make it quicker than an hour, I want us all there when we break the news to Garcia. She is going to need all of our support and strength to get through this."

Reid nodded, but then realized that Hotch couldn't see him through the phone. "I'll try Hotch. Bye," Reid responded in a small whisper.

Sam snapped the phone shut and gave Reid a grin that reached to his eyes.

"So the boss man told you who we offed before we got here? I tell you what, the guy really didn't put up much of a struggle. It was pretty easy to slit his wrists and put in him the tub," Lou bragged.

"Why Kevin?" Reid asked with a bit of desperation behind his voice while a few more rogue tears made their way down his cheeks.

"He had a purpose and he served it. I already told you that once you serve yours, you will be disposed of too. It was just his time to go," Sam explained matter-of-factly. "So anyways, let's get this show on the road. We don't want you to be late and have your team start worrying about you too."

Sam held the vest out to Lou and gestured toward Reid. Reid cringed at the thought that these men were going to touch him and closed his eyes bracing for their unwanted touch. He felt Lou unbutton his nightshirt and push the shirt and sleeves down to bunch around his restrained wrists, leaving his chest exposed.

"Luckily, I designed this like those bullet proof vests that we wear at work. All I gotta do is strap it on you. What's even cooler is the sections that fasten together are controlled by sensors. Once I get this on you and input my code it activates the vest. At any time if you try to remove the vest via the straps it will know and explode. So I suggest that you just leave it alone. Think of it like a bee, if you don't bother it, than it won't bother you," Lou said with a bit of joy in his voice at being able to boast about his brilliant device. Throughout Lou's dialogue he worked on fastening the vest around Reid's torso and chest. He secured the vest as tight as he could; he pulled the straps to their straining point and then buckled them in place. He had replaced the traditional Velcro with buckles to make it easier to tell when someone was attempting to take the vest off. With his last few words Lou had inputted the code into a panel on the back of the vest and Reid could feel it hum to life.

"Get used to the feeling against your skin. It's going to be the last thing you ever feel wrapped around your torso," Lou said with a smirk.

"Nice work Lou. He looks ready to hear the rules," Sam stated. "Pay close attention, because if you break any of these rules we will kill you instantly."

"For starters," Lou began, "you will be driven to and from work by one of us. We will walk you into the building and escort you out. If for some reason your boss requires you to leave the building we will be tailing you to keep an eye on your activities. Don't forget that we will be able to hear and see everything that you're doing too."

"Next, one of us will be staying with you every night. You've got two new roommates," Sam said with a sinister smile. "We will be locking you up at night in your room and confiscating your phone and firearm."

"You are not allowed to hang out with your friends after work or go out to lunch with them. You must do you absolute hardest to stay in the office."

"And finally, if we feel your friends are getting suspicious we will give you a warning. We will give you two chances to steer them back on track and after that we will take matters into our own hands. And you know exactly what that will look like," Sam ended on a threatening note.

"So, starting today you need to start sowing seeds of doubt into the current profile that your team is creating. We want you to start planting ideas that the unsub is a single white male in his mid-50s. He is a man of power and likes to make sure everyone knows that he is in control. He has money and is able to buy help to accomplish his ultimate goal. We will feed you more information over the next few days, but this will do for now," Lou explained slowly to make sure Reid didn't miss a bit of the information.

Reid was so out of it at the moment due to the shock of losing Kevin that he could only find it in himself to nod his head. This was getting more and more real as the night progressed. He could now feel the scratchy vest irritating his skin. Even if his hands were free he couldn't scratch the material in fear of setting off the bomb prematurely. The vest felt stiff and tight, making breathing difficult. Every time he took a breath in it felt like the vest was constricting around his chest even tighter. How was he going to hide his discomfort from his fellow profilers? Zoning back into the moment Reid caught the last few words that Sam had just said, "…release you now so you can get dressed."

"Now don't get any heroic ideas when I uncuff you. We have control of the vest now and while we wouldn't detonate it while we're in the room, we do have a gun to point at you too," Lou backed up Sam as he went to release Reid.

Reid rubbed his freed wrists to regain circulation once they were released. He stayed in the same position on the bed waiting for further instructions. Lou gestured the gun toward Reid's and said, "What are you waiting for? Get ready for work. Oh, don't be shy. We are going to be getting to know each other really well over the next few days."

Reid really did not like the idea of undressing in front of these men. So, he gathered his clothes instead and made his way to the bathroom to change.

"No, no, no. You're going to do that out here. Didn't we tell you that we would be watching your every move? Come on now, it's not like you got something I haven't seen before," Lou said in a mocking tone.

Reid hesitated but shuffled back over to the right side of the bed. He sat down on the bed and stripped off his pajama bottoms and boxers with as much dignity as he could maintain. He quickly changed out his bottoms for fresh underwear and a clean pair of khaki slacks. He put on his mismatched socks hoping for once the good luck they imparted would shine through today. He then removed his nightshirt completely, having never rebuttoned it since Lou put the vest on him. He selected to put on a t-shirt, a purple button down shirt, and a navy sweater vest over the bomb. He figured the more layers the better. If someone was to put their hand on his shoulder the likelihood of them feeling the bomb would be reduced. Once he was put together he looked up and said, "I have to do my hair and brush my teeth."

"No problem, I'll keep an eye on ya from here," Sam said as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

Reid sighed and shuffled off to the bathroom to make himself look presentable. Taking his time he meticulously fixed his hair, all the while trying to sort out his thoughts. As of right now he did not have even a semblance of a plan worked out. He needed to get away from these guys and clear his head. He knew it wasn't going to happen, but at least at work they wouldn't be breathing down his neck.

Reid could hear a clanking sound coming from the kitchen and a few minutes later he smelt the intoxicating scent of fresh brewed coffee. By the time he got out of the bathroom Sam and Lou were sitting on his bed enjoying a cup of his specialty brew.

The two agents exchanged a look of mirth when they saw the forlorn look on their newest victims face. "Sorry, Dr. Reid. We don't have time for you to make yourself a cup. Perhaps next time," Lou teased.

"Oh yeah, we almost forgot. You didn't put on your tie yet. Here, I picked this one out from your closet," Sam held out for Reid to take. Once Reid had put the tie and placed it on the outside of his sweater vest Sam came forth and installed the tie tack with the hidden camera. "We couldn't let you go to work without looking your best," Sam declared as he tightened Reid's tie around his neck and strung the camera wires from the tack down his shirt.

Reid remained silent, staring at the men and internally seething at their audacity. Also, he couldn't shake the overwhelming feeling of being trapped. It was all too much for his psyche to take at the moment, and he allowed his mind to shut down to process everything that had occurred over the last few hours.

All at once Lou stood up and grabbed Reid's upper right arm in a bruising grip and escorted him down the hallway. Sam followed the two out of the apartment and locked it up tight. They got to the government issued SUV that the agents had commandeered for their escapades and sat Reid in the back seat. Just for added security they cuffed Reid's wrist to the door handle.

Once the agents pulled into the parking lot they turned in their seat and looked straight at Reid. "Do you understand your mission?" Sam asked firmly.

Reid nodded.

All of a sudden a searing pain ripped across the left side of Reid's face. Sam had backhanded him. "Dr. Reid, I am not going to tell you again. USE. YOUR. WORDS."

"Yes, yes I know what I need to do," Reid responded, wishing he could rub his soar cheek to assuage the pain.

"You understand the consequences of failure for you and your family?"

Reid almost nodded again but he managed say, "Yes."

"Excellent. Now, once we walk through those big glass doors leading to our floor we will separate. If anyone asks tell them we are your new friends. We have been conversing in the break room for a while and eventually we started hanging out. This way when Lou or I have to approach you during the work day it won't look as suspicious," Sam explained.

"Alright, I get it."

"Good, good. Okay, one of us will be around when you and your team call it a day, so don't even think of leaving without an escort."

They got out of the SUV and Lou released Reid from the door. They walked on either side of him into the building and joined him in the elevator. When the doors dinged open on their floor Reid had to steady himself and take a deep breath. He really didn't want to be doing this. He didn't want to deceive his team, he didn't want to withhold information about the case, and he didn't want to help two criminals get away with whatever they were plotting. He knew though that his participation was no longer his choice. The only thing he had control over now was when the bomb went off, and if he had his way none of his friends will be in the vicinity.

The glass doors opened before him and Reid looked around. His friends were gathered around Blake's desk and they all glanced up at him expectantly. Lou and Sam made a beeline for their side of the office, giving him one last look that clearly said, "Don't fuck this up."

"Hey pretty-boy, what took you so long to get ready?" Morgan asked as he slapped a hand down on Reid's shoulder in a form of greeting.

Reid bristled at the contact and hoped to God that Morgan didn't feel the threat that lay underneath his clothes.