Warning:

May contain slight language (but probably nothing THAT bad). Also, all non-canon characters are not based on any real life people (and in the case that I decide to do it in the future I would have specifically gotten consent from anyone whom a character may be based on). Names/descriptions were chosen randomly with personalities and professions chosen to fit their particular purpose in this story.

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As if time decided to make up for all the occasions it had slowed to a crawl earlier it now instead seemed to launch itself into fast forward, allowing everything to go over in a flash. The next few minutes passed with a brisk paced blur of activity and confusion. A moment in time which seemed to slip by so quickly, neither of the two elder agents could accurately recall the exact sequence of events later on. Unsurprisingly, Hotch and Rossi were forced to move out of the general area as paramedics made their way into the small hotel room and set to work. One of them - a fiery haired, middle aged woman with a straight-faced expression which could have given even Hotch a run for his money - made her way over to the two agents whilst her male comrades attended to Reid.

"I need to ask you a few questions. This shouldn't take too long. Please answer as accurately as possible." Despite the situation, Rossi could feel his profiler side kicking in, instinctively working to read her character. Her sentences were quick, simple and as straight forwards as they ever could have been. Her voice constantly remained in a serious monotone. Everything she said sounded like it was being read directly out of a textbook, no doubt due to extensive experience. Chances were she'd been doing this job for a long time, long enough for every word to come as naturally as breathing itself. Professional, hardworking, reliable. Good.

She continued to bombard the two men with questions about what had happened, each one as straightforward as the last. Though most of them were fairly simple - such as "What's his name?", "Does he have any allergies?" and "Are you family?" - there were still some which both men found difficult to answer. Questions like "Had he shown any symptoms yesterday?" caused silent internal debates on whether things like partial clumsiness and drinking at least seven cups of coffee were just due to Reid being Reid, or possibly something more. The knowledge that he probably wouldn't have mentioned anything even if he had been feeling ill only made it all the more difficult to be sure.

Meanwhile, an entirely different conversation was taking place between the other two paramedics as they attended to the fallen agent. Though both Rossi and Hotch did their best to keep their full attention on giving accurate answers, it was nigh impossible to not catch some bits and pieces of the other conversation. Here and there snippets such as "hypotension" and "rapid breathing" would still manage to slip through, and they couldn't help taking notice.

With time still shooting by, it felt as though they had barely spent a minute with the red haired paramedic when her questions began to die down and a stretcher was already being wheeled into the room by one of the others. With preparations swiftly being made to move Reid to the waiting emergency vehicle, neither of the other agents were really allowed a chance to thoroughly process everything that was happening.

Having caught a break from the questions, Rossi spared a moment to look over at Hotch, hoping to get a bit of insight as to what was currently running through the other man's head. What he found somewhat surprised him. Hotch stood frozen, his usual stern and collected look plastered on his face. And yet his eyes kept shifting as he constantly looked around the room, never truly staying still for more than a few seconds at a time. It was as though he was contemplating something very thoroughly, unsure of what conclusion to come to. It didn't take long for Rossi to catch on to what Hotch's most probable line of thinking must have been. He knew what an internal debate looked like when he saw one, two conflicting ideas battling it out inside a person's head. And considering their current situation, it wasn't exactly hard to guess which issue was plaguing the agent's thoughts.

It has never really been a secret that the members of the B.A.U. were more like a makeshift family than just a team of coworkers. Personally, Rossi didn't know where specifically he would fit into this mix-matched group, but that was beside the point. Right now, a member of their little family had been struck down, leaving him damaged and in need of support. Support which any member of a family would naturally feel obligated to give. No doubt Hotch would have been feeling that same obligation, and Rossi had picked up on the paternal way Hotch treated the youngest quite a while ago. Still, family or not, they had a job to do. This of course brought it's own responsibilities with it. They both had the responsibility to return to their work as soon as possible, and that was the perfect combination to cause an internal struggle.

On the one hand, there was still a murderer out there who needed to be caught. A serial who would certainly kill again if they didn't catch them soon. When on the job, the safety of the public should always be their first concern, everything else falling into second place. On the other, the wellbeing of their team could easily be deemed equally as important. Part of Hotch - the gentle and caring side of himself which he usually masked so well - wanted nothing more than to go with Reid to make sure the kid was alright. If something like this had happened under any other circumstance, such as a field injury, the conclusion would have been a lot simpler. Leave it to the paramedics, get back to the job. However, this time around the status of their current case wasn't nearly as urgent as it usually was when things like this happened, making it all the more difficult for Hotch to decide which course of action would be the most appropriate.

Rossi could imagine how torn something like this would make someone feel, having to choose between your duty and your emotions. Then again, he himself had never exactly been an expert at balancing the two, with three failed marriages as proof of that. Taking another thorough look at the man he made up his own mind to take action, placing a firm hand on Hotch's shoulder. Having been pulled out of his own thoughts, Hotch's eyes finally ceased to wander and focused on the Italian profiler.

"You should go with them." Rossi advised, aiming to help out with the decision. Hotch frowned for a split second, considering his words before his hesitation became evident and his gaze was averted yet again. He wasn't quite convinced yet.

"Alright look, no offence, but you're clearly not in any state to be going to work right now." Rossi pointed out with a little more seriousness, gesturing at the agent's less than professional appearance to further prove his point. "We'll manage. It'll be good for Reid to have a familiar face around when he wakes up. And besides, we had just made a promise that we wouldn't leave him, remember?"

After a final few seconds of turning the options around in his head, Hotch finally agreed. Rossi was right, about both things. It wouldn't be fair to leave Reid now, and even if Hotch did go back to work his lack of sleep would probably only make him a minor asset at best. The team would manage without them, it'll probably only be for one day after all. As the paramedics finally prepared to leave, Hotch gave Rossi a small nod of appreciation and a quick "Thanks" before swiftly following the group out of the room and down the hall.

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A smile curled around the corners of Morgan's lips as he pressed the 'play' button and the sweet sounds of Illmatic came flowing from his headphones. He allowed the rhythm of the music to wash over him, giving a boost to his already positive mood. In his opinion, the day had started out perfectly thus far. The morning sun was bright and warm, there had been no late night calls back to the station and for once he had actually gotten a proper night's worth of sleep, which was saying something considering they were still on a case. He lightly chuckled to himself as he tied his shoes, wondering if their team leader would be able to say the same. At first, he had almost felt guilty for insisting that Rossi and Reid switch out rooms the night before, knowing that it was likely less than fair to, well, most people involved. But having been able to finally get some sleep for a reasonable amount of time was just enough bliss to make up for any doubt he had felt earlier.

Having a break from sharing a room with Reid really did do him good. Don't get him wrong, he loved the quirky genius and he couldn't have considered him more of a brother even if they were blood relatives, but sometimes he was just a bit too much. Especially at night. For some reason, Reid had this habit of beginning to ramble right around the time they were actually supposed to sleep. The lights would be out for less than a minute when he'd usually start sharing random ideas or spewing odd facts about whatever topic his mind was fixated on at the moment. This could go on for hours, especially when they already had a lot on their minds with a case. Whether he was a bit of an insomniac or if his mind was just too active for his own good, Morgan didn't know. Either way, Morgan really didn't want to be kept up yet again, listening to detailed theories about nanobots and how they could be used to fix mistakes in DNA or something like that. He had just needed some rest. And thankfully, he was able to get it. Now he just hoped that the kid didn't have any hard feelings. Or anyone else for that matter.

Whilst playing with the idea that perhaps he should make it up to his young friend by buying him a cup of his favorite coffee, he went to grab his keys off the hotel's kitchen counter. Right now he was quickly getting some things ready before he'd have to go meet up with the junior genius for their shared ride to the station. He was just about to leave when an alien noise pierced through the music still coming from his headphones. For a second a surprised and confused frown creased his forehead, his mind quickly running through all the logical and obvious solutions for what it may have been. It couldn't have been Rossi, as the elder Italian man had already stepped out a short while ago. In fact, it didn't even sound like it was coming from inside their room at all.

Lowering his headphones to rest around his neck he turned in the general direction of the sound's origin, only to find himself facing the hotel-room window. With the music now out of the way he could easily identify what exactly it was - darn it if he hadn't already heard it enough times before - and stepping closer to look out of the window confirmed his suspicions. Ambulance sirens. From his vantage point he could clearly make out the white and red vehicle speedly making its way across the parking lot below and coming to a stop in front of the building entrance. Something was going on, that was a given. Hell, he just hoped it wasn't a result of the unsub attacking someone in the hotel. Right under their noses, he would never be able to forgive himself.

With his curiosity now peaked he hastily grabbed the rest of his things and made his way out of the room. If he moved quickly he may have been able to get some information from the ambulance crew before they left. He made sure that he heard the metallic 'click' confirming that his room was locked before he turned away. Apparently he wasn't the only one who had noticed the noise, with Emily quickly emerging from the room across from his.

"You heard it too?" She questioned as she adjusted her hair, obviously having left just as hastily as he had. Jay-Jay soon followed behind her, wearing the same expression of curiosity and uncertainty as the other two.

"Yeah, I saw the ambulance pull up in the parking lot." He confirmed, pointing with his thumb in its general direction. The sirens have taken a moment of silence for the time being, but were bound to start up again once the vehicle began its return trip. They could only just make out some of the disturbance taking place on the lower floor as it echoed up the stairwell.

"Wha- Do you know what happened?" Both Emily and Jay-Jay had been hoping that either Rossi or Morgan would have had a better idea of what was going on, as neither of them could have even seen the parking lot from their side of the building. Unfortunately, it appeared as though Rossi had already left and Morgan was just as out of the loop as they were.

"No idea."

"You don't think the unsub would have struck here, would he?" Emily's thoughts followed much the same pattern which Morgan's had followed earlier. She doubted that the cause for the ambulance would be due to their unsub, as his victims would usually already be dead long before they were even discovered. Still, there was always the possibility, and she didn't even want to begin to think of the repercussions that would stir up if he managed to kill someone in the same place they were staying. The media would no doubt have a field day with that.

"I don't know, let's hope not."

"Well, whatever it is, looks like it's on the ground floor." Jay-Jay pointed out, noting the evident lack of people making their way up to the second floor. With the spirit of inquiry burning bright as a flickering flame they started making their way toward the source of the fuss, anxious to find answers to their burning questions. Jay-Jay was right. Judging by the apparent distance of the noise, it sounded as though none of the ambulance staff had any intention of working anywhere near the staircase, let alone on the second floor. Whatever had happened to call them here was definitely taking place on the ground floor.

No doubt they weren't the only ones curious about what was going on. Reaching the bottom of the stairs they could see several half open doors, most of which were cracked just wide enough for heads to be poked out. Unsurprisingly, there were a few other people who wanted to know what was going on, but no one who actually wanted to get themselves involved. This resulted in an audience of silent onlookers who were quietly observing the scene from the safety of their doorways.

That, however, was not the thing which caught Morgan's attention. No, instead his eyes found themselves locked on the doorway to the room where the majority of the commotion seemed to be coming from. Shock and disbelief crashed down on him like a bucket of ice water once he took note of the room number. That was… oh no. For a moment which felt far too long yet couldn't have been more than a few seconds he froze in place, allowing the sudden shock to run through him and leave a pit of dread in his stomach. There was no mistaking it, that was Hotch's room number. Which meant…

He didn't have time to finish the thought as a group of people exited the room, obviously in a rush. Between the distortion of motion and dark blue medical uniforms he could just barely catch a glimpse of of whomever it was they were wheeling out on the stretcher. That didn't matter though, as he would have been able to identify that head of messy brown hair anywhere.

"Was that?" Emily started, but couldn't quite finish voicing her thoughts, uncertainty causing her to hesitate. The situation they had been thrust into had caught them all off guard.

no. Morgan could feel his heart accelerating within his chest, sense the unexpected shock-induced-adrenaline spreading through his veins as he watched the group move further down the hall away from them with a less than formal looking Hotch following closely behind. His mind scarcely had enough time to register all the information it had been flooded with before he already started to run after them, both Emily and Jay-Jay hot on his heels. No, please no.

This couldn't have been happening again. Not so soon. Not after what had happened to Penelope just a few months ago. How could it be, that a member of their little family was being rushed to an ambulance yet again after only such a short amount of time? It wasn't fair. The three of them made it about halfway down the hall when Rossi stepped out of the room and in front of them, blocking the way and forcing them to come to a stop.

"Woah, woah. Slow down." Rossi's composure was professional and collected, just as one would expect from him, his hands and arms slightly raised and spread out to form a sort of barrier to prevent the younger profilers - especially Morgan - from chasing after the group. Regardless of what was happening with Reid, they still had a job to do. Hotch was already out of the game, at least for now, and they couldn't afford being three or more men down, so there was no way he could let Morgan, or any of the others for that matter, follow them to the hospital as well.

"Rossi. What the hell happened man?" Morgan's voice rose with agitation, the shock and adrenaline getting the better of him. He tried to look at the group of medics over the other profiler's shoulder, but whenever he did Rossi would simply move in front of him again, obviously trying to keep his attention on him rather than on what was happening further down the hall. It annoyed him, adding fuel to his frustration which was already swiftly threatening to get out of hand. Rossi was relieved to note that Jay-Jay and Emily appeared to remain calm, though he was sure they felt equally concerned. At least they didn't pose the potential threat of punching a hole in the wall, unlike a particular ex-cop.

"Listen, Reid's sick. He had a seizure and their taking him to the hospital now to get him checked out." Rossi kept his voice level, trying to explain the situation as simply and calmly as possibly in the hopes that it'll help the others calm down as well. The last thing they need was for anyone else to start panicking.

"A seizure?" Emily repeated, as if to confirm whether what she was hearing was correct. Disbelief was strongly evident in her voice. The idea of something like that happening to the team Einstein was most certainly peculiar, especially when she considered that - as far as she was aware - he had never had a history of such things before.

"Is he alright?" Jay-Jay of course wanted to make sure of their friend's well being before they had the chance to move on to discussing something else. She told herself that he'll be fine, but she needed to hear it from someone else, needed someone to confirm that he'll be all right.

"I'm not sure." Rossi reluctantly admitted.

Morgan's brow furrowed in confusion, some of the new information he received just didn't quite fit. "Rossi, I spoke to him last night. He was fine. What the hell could have changed overnight for him to have a seizure?!"

"I don't know. That's why they're taking him to the hospital, to find out." It was unfortunate that Rossi couldn't answer all their questions. He would have prefered it if he could have put their minds at ease, put his own at ease. But right now none of them really had the answers they were looking for. "Look, Hotch is already going with him. We won't be helping anyone by just waiting around to hear something from them."

"Do you think this has anything to do with the case?" Emily finally decided to bring up the question she and Morgan had been tossing around earlier.

"I doubt it. Even if this is some kind of deliberate poisoning, it's a pretty big leap from our unsub's usual M.O." This allowed a collective touch of relief to settle in each of the team's hearts. Though it wasn't much, they could at least feel a little better knowing that their family wasn't being targeted again. Rossi allowed a moment for the other three profilers to better compose themselves before he spoke again. "The best thing we can do right now, is get back to the station and focus on the case. The sooner we solve it, the sooner we can all be there for Reid."

Morgan hated to admit it, but Rossi had a point. They wouldn't be changing anything by waiting around at the hospital. Still it annoyed the hell out of him that there wasn't anything he could do. Clenching his fists he took a few deep breaths, willing the air to drown out his frustration and revive reason. With his heart steadily returning to a normal speed he began converting his annoyance into determination. Determination fueling his motivation to work. Like Rossi said, the quicker they identify the unsub, the quicker they can all focus on Reid.

"All right." He said with a small nod, a strong sense of will burning in his voice "Let's go catch that creep."

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The entirety of the ride in the ambulance somehow managed to be stretched with tension. Hotch understood fully that the paramedics knew exactly what they were doing, but that still didn't help him rid himself of the feelings of guilt and the ever growing concern. He couldn't help but feel that this was somehow his fault. He really should have taken action sooner. He should have taken Reid to the doctor back when his symptoms were still mild. There were things he could have done to prevent this situation, and yet here they were.

"Contact the hospital, tell them to get the ICU ready, we'll likely have to move him there directly from the ER." Hotch was pulled out of his own thoughts as the loud and strict voice of the red haired paramedic boomed inside the small vehicle. Ann, he thinks her name was. Then again, he hadn't really been paying attention to such things. One of the other paramedics, a somewhat chubby young man with sandy blond hair - didn't dare hesitate in doing as she told. Clearly she was in charge. "Patient is showing multiple signs of SIRS, could possibly be sepsis. ARDS is suspected so tell them to have a mechanical ventilation system on standby."

Her words only served to intensify Hotch's concern. Sure, he wasn't a doctor and he didn't fully comprehend all the technicalities of what she said, but he knew enough to understand that it was not good. His eyes scanned the quiet, unresponsive young profiler in front of him and he wondered what the hell the kid could have ever done for life to keep handing him the short straw. It was odd, if it weren't for Spencer's unnaturally short and shallow breaths and the thin sheen of sweat that covered his face he would have almost looked like he was sleeping. Almost.

Ann meanwhile had her own concerns. Sure, she had worked this job for many years and she'd seen her fair share of bad cases. The town wasn't exactly big so usually things would be relatively calm, but on the odd occasion when something serious did happen she was always on the scene. She knew what she was doing and she'd be damn well willing to prove it if someone told her otherwise. But, out of all the fires, assaults and car wrecks she had dealt with in her time, she had never came across a case quite like this one. The particular combination of symptoms were unusual, needless to say they don't typically get cases like this in a town like theirs. That especially bothered her, not knowing the exact ins and outs of the situation.

All the attention in the small vehicle was snapped to the ill profiler as he began to stir, shifting his position slightly in a futile attempt to be more comfortable on the wheeled stretcher. Though he didn't open his eyes, it was a small relief to everyone involved that he was at least showing signs of consciousness again, albeit only slight.

"Reid, Reid can you hear me?" Hotch questioned hopefully, anxiously awaiting a response, any kind of response, from the younger man.

"...hdge.." Reid slurred, vocalizing what could barely be described as a word. His voice was weak and raspy, sounding incredibly exhausted. Still, it was enough. At least he was speaking, and that was certainly better than nothing.

"Sir, can you tell me your name?" Ann questioned. Yes, she already knew his name from what Rossi and Hotch had told her, but from her experience it was always a good idea to asses a patient's mental state when they come around. Names and dates were generally good questions to ask.

"..-tch...don'..wahn…"

"Reid?" Hotch tried to get his attention, though it didn't seem to be working. He doubted whether Reid even knew they were there with him. He didn't appear to be making an effort to answer the previous question, heck he didn't even really appear to respond to their voices.

"...don'..le..mm…..don'..w'nt...i'..."

"His speech is completely nonsensical." Ann concluded, realizing that they weren't going to get anything comprehensive from him.

"Reid, I can't understand, what are you trying to say?" Hotch tried again, truly hoping that the kid would speak up. It would be good if they could get a general idea of how he was feeling.

"..no..d'ld….."

"Reid?"

"..."

"Spencer, can you hear us?" The space was once again filled with silence as Reid was apparently pulled back into the realm of the unconscious. They were back to where they started, and nothing new had been achieved, which was rather disappointing and discouraging.

"He's unresponsive." Ann finally confirmed, pinching the patient's arm to check for any reaction to painful stimuli. There was none. He was out cold.

"Don't worry, we're almost there." The blond haired paramedic tried to reassure Hotch, having picked up on the ever so slight tone of concern in the man's voice. Honestly, his words didn't do much.

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The following is an overly long author's note:

You people are amazing! Thank you all for the support!

Oh my word, you guys have no idea how much research I've been doing for this story alone. Trying to make this story scientifically accurate, but I've never been to America, nor have I had any kind of first person experience with this sort of thing, so I may have made a few mistakes. I apologize for that.

Did you know that Septicemia and Sepsis are not the same things? Or that dilaudid can cause people to have very VERY weird dreams (also it takes 15 min for it to take effect and can last up to 6 hours!)? Apparently brain tumors are one of the most common forms of cancer in young adults. There is no cure for Ricin poisoning. And Jell-O is not vegan friendly, possibly not even vegetarian friendly at that. I'm not going to tell you which of these bits of info are actually relevant to the story though ;) Because that would spoil things.

Emily's speech pattern is a bit hard to represent with text.

Currently I'm debating with myself on whether or not I want to throw the unsub into this mix. I mean, it could be interesting. But on the other hand, do I really want to complicate things?

I did change some mistakes I made in previous chapters (the changes are relatively small and have no impact on the overall story - eg. turns out Hotch is actually taller than Reid, so that's a thing)

Again, sorry that it took so long, heh heh. Only a few more chapters to go, so full speed ahead (I'm already working on upcoming chapters)! Thank you all so much for the support, it really means a lot. I'll do my best to make the story worth it. I hope this chapter isn't too bad.

Feel free to leave any thoughts in a review (only if you want to).

Have a wonderful day/night. Cyber high five (for those who want)! Munchkin out *poof*

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