JJ tried to keep as still as possible as the unsub started to rip the knife through the most sensitive parts of her body. She glanced up at the timer only to see that she had 30 seconds left. Don't give up, keep your mouth shut and power through this. It isn't even the worst yet. She told herself, trying not to scream. The unsub lifted up her shirt only high enough to see her stomach and he brought his knife slowly down her side, leaving behind a deep gash. JJ couldn't help it, her mouth came open and she let out another scream. It was the only way for her to get through this, the pain would be even worse if she didn't scream. At least when she screamed she couldn't hear the terrifying noise of the knife ripping through her skin. Tears formed in her eyes as she looked at the timer again. Only 10 seconds had passed since the last time she had looked. She hoped that she would just pass out either from a loss of blood or from the pain that he was causing her. Next he brought the knife down her right arm from her shoulder all the way down to the crease of her elbow. She screamed again, unable to keep herself quiet any longer. Reid took her left hand as the unsub moved to slash the knife into her other side and she was glad to have the feeling of Reid's hand squeezing hers. It was the only thing reminding her that she needed to hold on and keep going. The timer only had a few seconds left on it, but JJ was determined to go for longer so she could take time off of the next round.

"Had enough?" The unsub smiled, he didn't even break eye contact with her to look down at the knife that he was driving into her skin.

JJ looked desperately at the timer and saw that it read 2:40. She'd gone past the time that she had needed to make it to, but now she had to push herself so she wouldn't be struggling for the next round. Her eyes drifted over to Reid and their eyes met, his were filled with dread and she saw his eyes drift down towards the unsub's hands which were now drifting down her leg. Reid's eyes widened and she assumed that he saw where the unsub was about to cut her next, but she didn't dare to look.

"JJ. Tell him to stop, trust me."

JJ just shook her head; she couldn't bring herself to choke out the words. If she couldn't handle this how was she supposed to move on to the next rounds. "No." She managed, to answer Reid's question.

"JJ! Stop being stubborn!" Reid glared at her and she saw his eyes dart down to where the unsub was holding the knife. He cut her feet for a few seconds then stopped and she knew he was listening into their conversation since Reid had started yelling.

"I'm not being stubborn! I'm being rational!" JJ had wanted to raise her voice, but it came out in a soft tone.

Reid's icy cold glare almost made her flinch. She'd never seen him get this angry before and she wasn't prepared for what he was about to say. "Stop being selfish. Whenever situations get hard you start turning things on yourself! Stop doing this! Stop making this about you! You're trying to prove something to prove how strong you are and I know that, but you need to stop and think about other people. Let go, JJ and just stop thinking about yourself!" He yelled, "I thought you were better than this, JJ. You were supposed to be the one I could rely, but you're not. You're just selfish." He ended this part more softly, not looking her in the eyes.

JJ felt her heart pumping hard in her chest. Her face reddened and she glared straight at Reid who didn't dare to make eye contact with her. She saw no regret on his face and it made the whole situation seem
even more real for real. "Stop." She muttered to the unsub, who stood up and stopped the timer.

"I'm impressed Jennifer." The timer read 3:10, "Very inspiring." He glanced down at his knife which was soaked with blood and so were his hands, "I better go clean up before I start on Spencer…that will give more time for the pain to sink in." He muttered to himself before walking out and locking the door behind him.

JJ felt blood seeping through all of her clothes. She glanced at Reid and would have liked to have heard his encouraging words or hear him spurt out a statistic about their chances of getting out of here, but he was silent. Even now, the words he had said stung, she couldn't get his face out of her mind. His eyes blazing and his upper lip curled to form a scowl. She wished she could roll over so she wasn't facing him anymore, but the pain was getting worse with every second that passed. For 3 minutes and 10 seconds she had managed to push through the nagging pains that the unsub was causing her, but now, after the timer was off the pain was worse. Instead of the stinging pain that bothered her, but she could bear, it was a throbbing pain that seemed to pulsate within her body creating a searing pain. Just as she was about to create an inventory of her wounds she heard Reid speak.

"JJ…look," He started, but JJ cut him off in stubborn rage.

"No. Its okay, Reid. You made your views clear and I don't care. It's good…at least now I know how you really feel about me." JJ shot him a glare, but all he returned was a gaze full of regret. She felt cold and started to shiver, trying desperately to hide it from him, but from his gaze she could tell he had seen. He didn't reply to her comment and JJ assumed that it was because he had nothing to say so she clenched her teeth and started to roll over to her other side so she wasn't facing him. Once she finally managed to roll to the other side she let tears stream down her face and tried with all her strength to keep herself from trembling. Behind her she heard a shuffling noise and realized that Reid was getting up and walking around her so that he was in front of her again. His eyes were full of concern when he saw her condition.

"Let me explain." Reid started and JJ would have cut him off, but she was too weak to even protest. "He held the knife over your ankle and I knew what he was going to do. He was going to slit your Achilles tendon. If he went far enough that could have compromised your ability to walk…forever." He paused, "So I knew the only way to get you to stop would be to make you mad and to make you regret it." She looked into his eyes and knew he was telling the truth.

"I was selfish." JJ whispered, letting another tear race down her cheek.

"No you were brave." Reid told her, brushing her blonde bangs out of her eyes. "I can't even imagine how much courage it took to get through that. You're fearless, JJ."

JJ let herself smiled weakly, "Thanks Spence." She whispered.

"You're shivering." Reid scooted over to her and embraced her in a hug to help her get warmer. He lifted his hand up to feel her head and then just rubbed her back in soothing circles. JJ immediately felt better now knowing that she and Reid weren't mad anymore and that he would be there to protect her. She felt safe and hopeful with him at her side. They just might get through this, no, they would get through this.


Reid woke up to the sweet smell of breakfast cooking in the kitchen. He rubbed his eyes and laid there for a few more seconds to bring himself into deep thoughts. He stared at the wedding band around his finger and couldn't help wondering when he would get married or if he ever would. He's always had trouble with girls and he'd always assumed that one day he would find that one girl that loved him for him and all his awkwardness, but he was only a couple years younger than JJ and she was already married. He was just starting to get out of his bed when he heard JJ walking down the hall. She poked her head in the doorway, "Hey Spence."

"Good morning JJ." Reid stood up and walked into the bathroom, starting to brush his teeth.

"So I was thinking…" JJ started, walking over to the doorway of the bathroom and leaning against the frame, "we need to come up with another way to get the neighbors attention and meet the other ones around us." She looked at him for a suggestion.

Reid finished brushing his teeth before responding to her statement. "We could go get a dog and walk it through the neighborhood. By statistic that is one of the top ways that neighbors meet other than at social gatherings and by welcoming or greeting. So does a dog sound good?" He asked, but immediately he noticed her mood changed. She rubbed her arm uncomfortably and her gaze shifted towards the ground.

"I-umm…sure. If you really think that will work." JJ told him and then he remembered that JJ was still afraid of dogs ever since they had attacked her in Tobias Hankel's barn. He had forgotten since then, but he should have known better than to bring it up especially now because it seemed like she was getting over it.

"Actually that will take too much time." Reid noticed relief flood JJ's blue eyes. "Maybe we should just go over there and tell them we just moved in." He shrugged, "We'll figure something out."

JJ nodded and turned to leave.

"Oh and JJ," Reid added, making her pause and turn back around, "if you ever want to talk…about the dogs you know I'm here for you, right?"

JJ smiled slightly and nodded, "Yea you're always there for me. Maybe we can talk about it later." She walked out of his room, but in the back of his mind he was sure that she could make sure it wouldn't be brought up again.

Reid was still worried about her. He knew that even at the mention of dogs JJ would start to feel uncomfortable, it was a fear that still was overtaking her even though it had been a few years since it had happened. He would have to help her through this like she helped him through the tough times he'd had after that same kidnapping. For a moment he was silently thankful for the blonde woman's effect in his life, without her he had no idea where he would be right now. Reid got dressed with the clothes the agency had given him, putting on a pair of cacky pants and solid dark blue t-shirt. It was an outfit he would never think of wearing, but it actually suited him. When he walked out into the kitchen he was a bit surprised to see JJ dressed casually. She usually dressed so professional, but now she was wearing black leggings, a baggy light blue button up shirt and light brown boots. He was too busy observing the food on the table to notice her staring at him.

"Lookin' good Spence." JJ laughed lightly. "I actually really like those pants." She tilted her head, "You just might have to keep those after all this is over."

Reid laughed, "Are those yours?" He nodded to the clothes she had on. The blue shirt really made her eyes pop.

JJ shook her head, "Garcia picked them out, but I really like them." She smiled, "It's nice to have comfortable clothes on for once."

"I didn't know you cooked either." Reid glanced down at the pancakes that were stacked on a plate sitting on the table. His stomach growled and suddenly felt the desire to eat one so he grabbed a plate.

"I don't." JJ used a fork to flip over one of the pancakes to show that it was black and crispy looking.

Reid looked at the burnt side and smirked, "I can tell. Gosh JJ what were you doing while you were cooking these?" He chuckled.

"Carrie was outside and she walked across the street over to the house next to ours…maybe she was putting in a good word for us like we asked?" JJ shrugged, "All I know is that they must have had a short conversation because she left a few minutes later."

"So you just left the pancakes burning on the pan that whole time? Who cooks for Henry then? Will?" Reid asked her, smiling slightly at the blonde.

"Actually yea. Will makes the best macaroni and cheese." JJ rolled her eyes, "And I can cook other things, pancakes just aren't my strong suit." She glanced down at their earpieces on the table and picked hers up. "We should probably put these in now before we leave." She stuck hers in her ear.

"Wait, we're leaving, but I'm hungry and I'm definitely not eating that." Reid smiled at her before looking through the fridge and pulling out an apple which he ate hungrily after receiving a glare from JJ. He was halfway done with the apple when the door rang and JJ walked over to answer it. From where Reid was standing he couldn't see who it was, but he didn't recognize the voices so he quickly pushed his earpiece in and walked over to the front door. Standing in front of them was a couple, a blonde man with brown eyes and blonde woman with green eyes. They looked to be in their late 30's and Reid saw the platter of cookies they had handed JJ so he smiled.

"This must be your husband, Carrie and Fred told us that you two were cutest couple they'd ever met." The woman smiled, "I'm sorry. We haven't even introduced ourselves, I'm Gale and this is my husband Ray. We live right next door."

"It's so nice to meet you." JJ smiled her perfect media smile that she had mastered throughout the years, "I'm Jennifer and this is Spencer." She laced her fingers through his and he gulped. Yesterday in the dark it had been easy to hide the way his face turned pink whenever they showed each other affection, but in the daylight it was a lot harder. "I'm sure Spence is going to love this cookies." JJ chuckled and Spence gave a light hearted laugh.

"I sure am." Spence looked at the plate with hungry eyes and Gale laughed.

"Would you like to come in?" JJ asked, gesturing towards their living room. Reid noticed Gale glance back at her husband before nodding so Reid concluded that Ray had the most control in the relationship while Gale was the more social of the two.

"Sure." The woman in front of them answered, stepping into their house. Ray walked in behind her and they looked around. "Wow, I love what you've done with the foyer."

Reid looked up and the glass chandelier hanging from the ceiling and pieces of artwork sitting on tables.

"Thank you." Reid heard JJ say as she led them through and into the living room. "Do you guys want anything to drink? We have…water and…well we haven't exactly been on a shopping trip since we moved in so…the choices are slim." JJ smiled brightly.

"Water sounds great, thank you."

"So two glasses?" JJ's eyes shifted towards Ray, who smiled up at her.

"Yes, thank you." Ray responded, his voice was rough and raspy. It was the first time he had spoken since they had arrived.

"My pleasure. Spence could you take care of that?" JJ smiled at Reid, playfully.

"Oh anything for you, honey." Reid gave her a playful wink, causing Gale to smile. He walked into the kitchen and poured them out some water. Lowering his voice, he started to speak to whoever was listening in on the earpiece. "Hello, anyone there?" He asked quietly.

Reid, its Hotch. What's going on?

"Two neighbors came over to visit, Gale and Ray. I think you might want to check them out because Ray seems kind of suspicious." Reid told him feeling awkward speaking to Hotch in this unprofessional way.

Ok we will, try and get as much information as you can and Reid?

"Yeah?"

Stay safe. I didn't think this would be dangerous, but with all the neighbors you're meeting you might be getting more attention than we had planned so keep your eyes open, okay?

"Sure Hotch." Reid nodded and picked up the glasses, entering back into the room where JJ was sitting on the couch across from Ray and Gale. JJ looked up as he re-entered the room and she saw relief flood her blue eyes. It almost made him want to smile, but he stopped himself and handed Ray and Gale their drinks.

"Do you two have kids?" Reid asked, sitting down on the couch next to JJ. He smiled warmly at them.

Gale's eyes drifted to the ground and rubbed her hands together. Reid knew that behavior, the subject was definitely uncomfortable for her so he thought either they had lost a child or couldn't have any.

"We tried, but Gale…" Ray stopped himself, "Let's just say we couldn't, but we're still young so we might adopt." He gave them a smile, but Reid saw right through it. He didn't want kids. The man was lying straight to their faces and he wasn't sure why, maybe because Gale wanted kids or maybe she didn't even know herself.

JJ smiled and started to carry the conversation, but after a few minutes of small talk where he and JJ had tried to get information out of them, Gale and Ray told them that they needed to leave. JJ lead them out and then joined Reid back on the couch. "They were kind of weird…"

"Domestic violence." Reid muttered, looking up at JJ. "Maybe not physically, but I know that at least verbally he's abusing her. The way she looks at him for approval and doesn't contradict him in any way it all leads back to abuse."

"This neighborhood is just full of drama isn't it?" JJ sighed, "You don't think Ray might be the unsub do you?"

"No." Reid said, "He hasn't abused Gale physically yet which tells me that he's scared and our unsub wouldn't be. He would get off on causing her pain so it couldn't be Ray."

JJ nodded and he glanced at the clock. It was 1:00 now so they had plenty of time before the dinner they were going to.

"What should we do now?" Reid asked JJ, who shrugged.

Get outside and do something so that if you see anymore neighbors outside you can meet them.

"Yardwork?" JJ looked at Reid with a smile, but he just sulked. Physical activities weren't exactly his strong suit.

There are tools in the garage already. Get to work.

Reid could tell that Hotch was enjoying this. The unit chief knew that he hated physical things so he was just suggesting it for a amusement.

JJ stood up, "I'm gonna go change before we start and you should too. That shirt is nice." She smiled and walked down the hallways and into her room.

Reid got up few moments later and walked down into his room. He searched through the boxes and put on a pair of long basketball shorts he found and a t-shirt. He felt kind of dorky with shorts on, but he knew if he protested JJ would just make him wear them anyway. He walked out into the living room and sat down on the couch to put his tennis shoes on. JJ walked out and sat next to him, she was wearing a pair of tight yoga pants and a loose t-shirt. She sat down next to him and put her shoes on.

"Oh shut up." Reid rolled his eyes and stood up, walking into the garage. He glanced behind him as he saw her enter a few seconds later. He eyed the lawn-mower and gulped knowing he couldn't make JJ push it. "How do you…?" He looked at the cord on the lawn-mower and pulled it gently.

"Woah there tiger." JJ teased, "We have to fill that up with gas before you start mowing." She picked up a red canister of gasoline and he silently wondered how she knew that. She poured it into a small hole until it was full. "Now," She started, pulling it out of the spot it was in, "you hold this down," She took his hand and put it over a lever which he pulled down, "and then pull this cord as hard as you can. To make it move forward you have to hold down this second lever." She pointed to a blue lever next to the one he was holding down with his left hand.

"Okay…" Reid muttered, "Easy enough." He rolled the mower out of the garage and let our a deep breath before pushing down the first lever which he assumed let the fuel start running to the engine. He pulled hard on the cord, but nothing happened. He heard JJ giggled behind him and his face reddened.

"Harder Spence, you can do it!" JJ urged and he suddenly felt motivated.

Reid pulled as hard as he could on the cord and to his delight, he felt the mower vibrate and heard a loud noise he knew was coming from the machine in front of him. He pushed down the right lever with his right hand the mower jerked forward, but Reid quickly controlled it and started going through the yard. He heard JJ cheering behind him and he felt pride swelling within him. He glanced over to see that JJ had started to trim the bushes and work on pulling the weeds in the flower beds. When Reid finished mowing, he glanced up at the sun and from its placement in the sky he could tell that it had to be either 3:00 or 4:00 and the only person they had come across were too young kids riding their bikes down the street. Reid walked over to JJ who was now finishing up with the weeds in the yard. She looked up at him and shrugged.

"I guess people just don't walk around and socialize much here." JJ sighed and put her hands on her hips. "We should just start getting ready for our dinner then. It's 5:00." She told him after looking at the watch on her wrist.

Reid nodded and started pushing the mower back into the garage, but paused when he heard a woman's voice behind them.

"Jennifer! Reid!" Carrie called walking over to them from her porch. Reid could have sworn he saw JJ roll her eyes before looking up at him, but he wasn't completely sure.

"I got this, you put that away." JJ pointed to the lawn mower and then jogged over towards Carrie, meeting her on the sidewalk in front of their yard. The two women talked and Reid was impressed with how good JJ was at acting like she was interested in what other people were saying. Carrie was rambling on and on to her, but instead of not listening she nodded her head and kept herself engaged in the conversation. It had been 10 or 20 minutes before the women split apart and JJ started walking towards him. "She invited all the other neighbors to the dinner too."

Perfect.

Reid saw JJ jump and he laughed, not expecting her to punch him on the arm.

Sorry JJ didn't mean to eaves-drop.

Reid recognized the teasing voice in their ears to be the one and only, Derek Morgan. JJ rolled her eyes and let out a dramatic sigh just for Morgan to hear it, but he didn't respond.

"She also said to dress formal." JJ smiled at Reid, "Looks like you're going to have to wear the suit that they packed you."

"And you're going to have to wear the dress." Reid countered.

"They packed me a dress?"

"Did they?"

JJ stood confused for a moment before turning on her heels and walking into the house from the garage. He knew she was probably going to check and see if hed had been right.

Well played, kid.

Reid walked into his room and removed the earpiece, feeling awkward changing with it one because he wasn't sure how much it could hear. He lifted a well ironed suit out of one of the boxes and sighed. He put it on unenthusiastically, hoping that he would look good enough next to JJ. He had to pull off being her husband anyway. When he finished and looked in the mirror he just shrugged, not really impressed, but not dissatisfied either. The young agent walked out of his room and into the kitchen even though he knew JJ wouldn't be ready yet so Reid started his calculations. Assuming that JJ was going to do her hair, do her full make-up and get dressed, she would most likely get dressed first so that the clothes wouldn't mess up the hair and make-up. This would take anywhere from 15-25 minutes depending on how complicated this dress was. Next she would do her hair and if she was going to either straighten or curl it the process would take around 30 minutes either way, if was putting it up the time would be cut down by 10-15 minutes. Lastly, the makeup…he wasn't exactly and expert in cosmetics, but for normal women to put on the average amount of makeup it would take an average of 20 minutes. So the total would come out to be a range of 50 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Just as Reid was about to start calculating how much time had passed since she had started he heard the door to her room open and he turned around. When he saw her, calculations were the last thing running through his mind. The dress she was wearing was a simple tight red dress that hugged her figure in just the right way to compliment her curves. She was wearing red lipstick and her blonde hair was in large bouncy curls on her shoulders. She was stunning and Reid couldn't find words to come out of his mouth.

"Aww! I love your suit, you look great Spence!" JJ exclaimed, walking over to him. She fixed the collar on his button up and then smiled. "Now it's perfect."

Reid grinned back down at her. "You umm…you look, I mean…you…I like your dress." He stammered, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"So do I. I might have to ask the bureau if I can take this one home." JJ smiled and looked up at the clock on the wall. "Its 6:45. We should leave. Do you have your earpiece in?"

Reid nodded, still speechless from her appearance. He walked to the front door and opened it for her, before walking out after her. They traveled across the street and saw another couple out on the porch already that was being greeted by Carrie and Fred.

"Put your arm around me." JJ told him as they started to approach.

"W-what?" Reid asked, avoiding her eye contact.

You heard her.

Reid heard the voice and he nodded. It was time for them to put on a show; they had to be the center of attention. He lifted up his right arm and draped it around her shoulders comfortably pulling her closer to him.

"Well look who it is." The voice of Carrie rang out, "Just on time." The couple on the porch turned around to look at them and JJ smiled brightly.

"Hi, I'm Jennifer and this is Spencer." JJ outstretched her hand to shake the man's, but he didn't say anything or shake her hand. Reid noticed and knew that his reaction had thrown JJ off, but she had played it off cool. "What are your names?"

There was a brief pause before one of them finally spoke, "I'm Lauren and this is my husband, Brian. It's very nice to meet you two." The woman told them and Reid saw JJ relax slightly now that she had broken the tension.

"It's nice to meet you too." Reid smiled and looked at the man who smiled politely back at him. Carrie invited all of them in and shut the door behind them. He caught JJ's eyes just as she was giving him a look and then nodded towards Brian. He nodded back at her and walked over to him while JJ drifted over to some of the neighbors they hadn't met yet.

As Reid walked up and was about to bring up a topic he saw Brian smile, "Spencer right?" He grinned and the genius was confused by his sudden change in behavior. Brian held out his hand for him to shake.

"Yea and you are Brian, Lauren's husband?" Reid confirmed with him as he shook the man's hand. He noticed the strength and force that Brian used in his handshake. This man was muscular and Reid knew that he had to play a sport of some kind to be as fit he as he was. Lauren and Brian both looked to be in their 30s, around the same age as Gale and Ray, maybe younger.

"Yes sir, I am. We live next door to Carrie and Fred, so we're diagonal to you guys." He grinned, "We were going to come over and bring some welcome…food or something, but it just got away from us." He was lying, but it wasn't an important lie so Reid didn't pursue it further.

"It's fine. We've been trying to get around and meet some of the neighbors, but no one seems to be into socializing around here." Reid chuckled and the man laughed along with him.

"You golf?"

"I've been before, but I didn't take much of a liking to it." Reid glanced across the room quickly just to check on his partner who was still talking with some of their other neighbors.

"You play any sports?" Brian asked.

Lie. Build rapport.

"I played baseball in high school, varsity and for my freshman year in college." Reid smiled and looked away from the man, pretending to be caught up in the memories.

"Why'd you stop?"

Reid panicked; he didn't know much about baseball only a few of the basic rules. He knew he couldn't say he quit either because that would ruin the rapport he was building with this man.

Injury.

"Fourth game of the season, top of the ninth. I'm to bat and the winning run is at first base. There's one out so I know, I have to move them over…" He was struggling to remember the portion of the rule book he had read.

Base hit.

"I hit a ground ball and it got past the second base so I was safe at first and the winning run advanced to second."

Next batter watched the pitch and winning run stole third. You got the sign to steal and slid…there's your injury.

Reid was thankful for Morgan's help. "The next batter watched the pitch and the winning run stole third easily. My coach gave me the sign to steal so maybe they would try to throw me out and the winning run would have an opportunity to score. I took a lead and ran, but the catcher threw the ball well before I was there. When I slid my cleat got caught on the base and shattered my knee cap. I was out, the winning run scored at home."

"That's one hell of a story, you have a scar?"

Reid pulled up his pant leg on his bad knee to show him a scar that he had gotten. He saw Brian grin and he knew that the link was built.

Bring JJ back over.

"My wife actually has the most amazing story about one of her soccer games. You have to hear it. JJ!" Reid waved over to his partner who walked over quickly.

"Yes sweetie?" JJ put her arm around his waist he put his arm around her again. Brian eyed the both of them and Reid felt the tension rising again.

"You remember that amazing soccer story you told me about the other day?" Reid smiled, "Well it turns out that Brian is a huge sports fan and I think he'd love to hear it."

Before JJ could start, Brian shook his head. "Actually I don't."

"Umm…excuse me?" JJ smirked, "Do you have a problem with me or something?" Reid was surprised at how fast she was bringing this conflict up. She was obviously not afraid of getting into a confrontation with this man.

"Yes I do." Brian rolled his eyes at her and started to walk past her, but she stepped in front of him.

"What is it?" JJ asked, putting her hands on her hips. "What did I do to you? We've never even met." She gave him an icy glare. Reid gulped and stood back, he wasn't sure if he should get involved or not.

Keep pushing JJ, see how he reacts.

"I'm pretty sure all I did was introduce myself so you need to calm yourself down and stop acting all weird whenever I talk to you, okay? If you and Spencer are going to be friends then you can't act like that to me." JJ gave him a fierce look, "So what did I do?"

Brian sighed and walked out onto the porch so that they wouldn't disrupt the party. Reid and JJ followed. "You… you acted confident. The way you stepped in front of your husband like that and introduced him to everyone else was just…wrong. Women are supposed to be the less superior role to men!" Brian's voice was started to rise, but JJ didn't back down.

"No they aren't! Women's suffrage happened for a reason. We have rights and I can do whatever I want and you have no right to tell me what I can and can't do!" JJ yelled at him. "Besides when we met you your wife introduced you to us! Was that wrong?"

"No because I she waited until I didn't speak to start speaking. You just walked straight up and got right into the center of things. It was obnoxious and intolerable!"

"What the hell is wrong with you? Are you from the 1950's or something? You need to come back to the present and realize that women like men can do whatever they want! You're a scared little man that's afraid of women!" JJ yelled, pushing harder.

It all happened too quickly and Reid just wished that he could have gone back and changed how everything happened. After JJ finished her last sentence Brian lifted his hand and slapped her hard across the face. Reid saw her head jerk to the side and he flinched, knowing that it had to have stung. Before JJ could react Reid was charging towards Brian only to find that the man had yanked the door of the house open and slammed it shut behind him before Reid could reach him.

What's happening? Is JJ okay? What just happened? Talk to us.

Reid turned around and saw that JJ had lifted her hand up to touch her cheek. "JJ…" Reid started, ignoring the frantic voices in their ears.

"I can't believe…I mean, I didn't think he would…" JJ shook her head. "He just…" She was in shock and Reid sat her down on the couch that was on the back porch. Her hair was in her face so he couldn't see where he had slapped her.

"Where did he hit you?" Reid asked, slowly moving the hair out of her face. Her hand was on her cheek, but he didn't hear what she saw next because of the yelling in his earpiece.

That bastard hit JJ? HOTCH, GET DOWN HERE!

"His palm hit right here." JJ touched the top of her cheekbone tenderly, "The rest of his hand hit my eye." She told him.

"Yea…it's already swelling. Come on, let's go home." Reid put his arm around her helped her up out of the chair because she was still shocked.

"Why did he…? We were just talking."

"More like yelling." Reid smirked, "You're a very forceful woman, JJ. He just couldn't take the heat." He joked and was happy to see that the corner of her mouth twitched upwards.

I'm gonna kill that rat bastard.

JJ looked at Reid with her good eye wide, "Was that Hotch?" She whispered. Neither of them had ever heard their unit chief sound that angry, other than when Foyet had been threatening his wife.

Reid nodded, "Yep. Brian better sleep with his eyes open." He led JJ back into their house.


Reid stared desperately at the timer and saw that there were only a few seconds left. He felt relieved, but when he felt JJ still tense he knew that she was going to go past the set time and he didn't blame her. At least that would mean she would get the time off of the next round.

Reid cringed as the unsub started to tease her, "Had enough?" The man asked and Reid felt sick to his stomach. She didn't deserve to have any of this happening to her. The unsub made momentary eye contact with Reid before lowering the knife down to her ankle. First he was just cutting her foot, but the profiler knew what his next move was going to be and his eyes widened.

"JJ tell him to stop, trust me." Reid pleaded as the his fears were confirmed. The unsub lifted the knife up and held it above the back of her ankle. He couldn't let this happen to her.

"No." Reid heard JJ choke out and he bit his lip as he heard how hard it was for her to rasp that one word.

"JJ stop being stubborn!" Reid yelled, he knew he had to take a different approach if he wanted her to stop. He had to guilt her out of it, that was the only way to convince her.

"I'm not being stubborn! I'm being rational!" JJ's voice was soft, but firm so he knew she was weak and she needed to stop before the unsub cut. Luckily for her, the man had stopped when Reid had started yelling.

Reid gave her the coldest glare he knew how to give and he made sure to hold it out even after he saw the hurt expression on her face "Stop being selfish. Whenever situations get hard you start turning things on yourself! Stop doing this! Stop making this about you! You're trying to prove something to prove how strong you are and I know that, but you need to stop and think about other people. Let go, JJ and just stop thinking about yourself!" He yelled, "I thought you were better than this, JJ. You were supposed to be the one I could rely, but you're not. You're just selfish." It hurt him to say those words to him, but he tried to tell himself that it was the only way. She wouldn't stop for anything else and if the unsub cut that tendon on her ankle, she would never forgive herself.

There was a short pause in the room and Reid's heart dropped, knowing that the unsub would return to his work soon, but then he heard JJ tell the unsub to stop. Her voice was weak and full of sorrow and regret, but he knew that even in this state it was better than being paralyzed.

The unsub grinned, "I'm impressed Jennifer." The timer read 3:10, "Very inspiring." He glanced down at his knife which was soaked with blood and so were his hands, "I better go clean up before I start on Spencer…that will give more time for the pain to sink in." Reid was happy when the unsub left, now he just had to explain to JJ why he'd said all those things. He sat in silence for a few moments, trying to figure out what to say when he finally spoke up.

"JJ…look," He was going to explain everything that he had been thinking and was going to comfort her and encourage her, but instead she cut him off.

"No. Its okay, Reid. You made your views clear and I don't care. It's good…at least now I know how you really feel about me." He gulped when she used his last name. She had to be really hurt to be calling him. Even though he knew she was in a lot of pain she rolled over so she wasn't facing him anymore. Reid decided that now he had to take a chance and just try again so he got up, ignoring the pain that radiated from his ribs. He walked around to the other side of her and sat down against the wall. He noticed now that she was in front of him that she was deathly pale and that she was shaking violently, but before he could help her he had to make up with her.

"Let me explain." Reid started, "He held the knife over your ankle and I knew what he was going to do. He was going to slit your Achilles tendon. If he went far enough that could have compromised your ability to walk…forever." He paused, "So I knew the only way to get you to stop would be to make you mad and to make you regret it." He looked straight into her blue eyes so that she would believe him.

"I was selfish." JJ whispered and Reid saw a tear fall down her face. Great, now she was starting to believe all of the stuff he had made up.

"No you were brave." He brushed her bangs out of her eyes while making sure to be extremely gently. "I can't even imagine how much courage it took to get through that. You're fearless, JJ."

JJ gave him a smile, "Thanks Spence." She whispered.

Within a few seconds Reid saw that she was still trembling and he was concerned, "JJ…you're shivering." He scooted towards him, once again ignoring the protest from his ribs. He wrapped his arms around her to get warm, but it wasn't even that cold so he was worried that she was getting a fever. He lifted his hands up to feel her forehead and to his relief she didn't have one yet, but with all the dirt on the ground that they were laying on he was almost sure that her wounds would get infected if the medic didn't come soon. He rubbed soothing circles on her back, hoping that it would calm her down and maybe she would fall asleep before the unsub came back in. Reid heard the door open and glanced down at JJ, but he wasn't sure if she was asleep or not.

"Aww how sweet. You two made up…" The unsub smirked, "And I was soo hoping that all this fighting would just make rounds 4 and 5 more fun." He rolled his eyes. "Now loverboy scoot away from her, it's your turn now."

Reid tried to be as gentle as he could as he scooted away from her, but her eyes quickly opened and she realized what was happening.

"Spence, you have to be strong okay? You need to make sure that you keep your mind somewhere else…just stay strong." JJ nodded at him.

The unsub heard what she was saying he was filled with rage. He slapped her across the face and she didn't say anything else. Reid was reminded of the first time that the unsub had slapped JJ, in just that same manor while they were undercover. Then, neither of them knew that in just a few more days they would be at the hands of this maniac with no idea whether they were going to be alive by the end of the day. Or if they even wanted to be.