Well here it is folks

Well here it is folks! I have too much spare time as I am on summer holidays so I am posting as quickly as my muse will let me. Thank you to my lovely reviewers, -waves-, and I hope to have more reviews for this chapter. I pray everyone likes this chapter! Oh, and by the way, I have no idea how long it takes a person to begin having withdrawal symptoms and how addicted people become to drugs, depending on how long they have been using so if any of this is horrifyingly off track, I'm sorry.

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Criminal Minds. –sighs-

"Spencer?" Gideon whispered again when there was no reply. Hotch shot him a worried look and floored the gas.

"I don't know what to do Gideon…I'm so tired, it hurts all over. I don't know what I'm doing any more. My head's all messed up and I can't fix it. I keep hearing them, in my head. It made them be quiet but now there isn't any left and I'm – I'm not strong enough." Reid sounded distraught and started sobbing as he sat there on the floor of the bedroom. "Oh God, Gideon what have I done? I killed those people; I yelled at you, I ran away from all of you, I've had you chasing me all over the country. I'm – I'm so sorry!" The tears just wouldn't stop rolling down his cheeks now that he'd started. He had no idea where all this emotion had come from, but now that he had it he couldn't hold it in any more.

"Reid, Reid, shhh, it's OK. We're on our way; it's going to be OK. You don't have to be sorry Reid. You did nothing wrong." They were nearly there now. "What room are you in Reid? Hotch and I are going to come up and see you." Reid managed to gasp out a reply, he sounded like he was beginning to hyperventilate. Gideon and Hotch burst into Reid's room, and found him sitting on the floor, the phone beside him, sobbing his heart out and breathing shallowly and irregularly. Hotch sat down on the chair a few feet from him, while Gideon sat down beside him, and pulled him into a hug which Reid gratefully returned.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." Reid sobbed into Gideon's shoulder whilst Gideon held him and shushed and told him that it was OK, he had nothing to be sorry about and everything was going to be alright.

They sat like that for maybe an hour, until the shakes from Reid's withdrawals had passed and all his tears were spent. A little while later Gideon realized Reid had fallen asleep.

They gathered up Reid's few possessions, noting the half eaten pizza and the smell of vomit in the bathroom, and put them in the sedan before carrying the still sleeping Reid to the car. Gideon called the rest of the team who were waiting at the precinct and explained to them what had happened, to sighs of relief from the team. Everyone was just glad to have their youngest back under their wing, where they could keep him safe. JJ asked if they would want the plane clearing for take off.

"You can go," Gideon told Hotch "I think he should be checked in at the hospital, just in case and I will stay with him. We can get a commercial flight to D.C." Hotch nodded, not just to confirm what Gideon had said, but also what he hadn't. Reid would need some time away from the rest of the team; it would give them chance to talk. Once what had been decided had been relayed back to the team Hotch put the phone down, and they sat in silence for a minute or two.

"He hasn't been eating. That's something we're going to have to work on as well," Gideon said, glancing back at the unconscious man across the back seat. "He said he wasn't strong enough. Do you think that was to get rid of the drugs or get past this kidnapping?"

"Probably both, but he doesn't have to be, he has us to help him."

It was about now that Reid began to stir, waking up with a pained expression on his face from the soreness in his muscles after his withdrawal from the drugs. He looked confused for a moment, and then reddened with shame when he saw Hotch and Gideon.

"I'm sorry" he whispered again, and looked out the window of the car. There were tears in his eyes, but he didn't cry again.

"Reid" Gideon said softly, and waited until the young man was forced to look at him. "It's OK. We understand. We're not mad, you still have a job, and we aren't going to lock you up in rehab. We just want to help you get through this." Reid nodded at him, maybe a little sadly, maybe a little disbelieving.

"Where are we going?"

"The hospital," Hotch replied, and at Reid's sudden terrified look added "just to make sure you're OK to fly." Reid nodded, looking into the distance. He couldn't meet the eyes of his superiors.

Reid was checked into the hospital, and was told he needed to remain over night for observation and put on a drip since he was dehydrated and in need of food. Gideon said that he would check into a hotel around the corner but in actual fact stayed in the waiting area. When Reid was asleep, the hospital nurses allowed him to creep into Reid's room and watch over him. Gideon had been sat next to him for about an hour when Reid started shaking and crying out in the night, in the middle of a nightmare, and Gideon held him and comforted him until he calmed down again. It was not the shaking or tears that worried Gideon most, but the occasional "I'm sorry, Tobias!" that Reid yelled into the night.

Hotch returned to the airport where he had told the team to prepare the jet, despite protests that they wanted to see Reid. Hotch had managed to control them by telling them in his usual stern voice that Reid was in a fragile state emotionally and he didn't need crowding, especially since he was already so ashamed of himself. This meant that when Hotch reached the jet, they pounced on him.

"How is he?" Morgan asked with the concern etched in his eyes.

"He's in the hospital for overnight observation to get some food in him, and make sure the withdrawal symptoms don't become dangerous." Hotch explained that withdrawal from Dilaudid can cause muscle spasms, among other things, which aren't too bad in muscles in places like the arms, but if his heart was affected it could prove fatal.

"He and Gideon are going to take a commercial flight back when the doctors release him from the hospital, and when he is ready to come back."

JJ sighed deeply. "Oh, I'm so glad we found him. I couldn't imagine what could have happened if…"

"That doesn't matter now. We found him, that's the main thing. He has us to help him from now on. He doesn't have to get by on his own any more." Everyone was relieved to have Reid back, though they were still worried about him, and the atmosphere on the plane was considerably lighter going back than it had been coming in.

Gideon woke the next morning with Reid still sleeping beside him, after him having held him the night before. He slept peacefully, and Gideon couldn't help but smile at the site. He slipped off the bed, careful not to wake the unconscious man. He looked so young and helpless, his emaciated form drowned by the hospital gown and sheet, so that he almost blended into the bed. His cheeks and eyes were definitely sunken. I'm definitely going to have to talk to him about eating at some point Gideon thought as he exited the room. He went back to his hotel room around the corner and quickly showered and was back at the hospital by around half six. When Reid woke at just gone seven, he was sitting in the chair at the side of the bed, and smiled as he saw the man stir. Reid sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"Good morning" he said, smiling down on the boy who was so much like a son to him.

"Morning" Reid looked around, re-orientating himself. He lifted himself up on his elbows and asked, still somewhat groggily, "Have the others taken the jet back to Quantico?"

"Yes, it's just us. Do you want some breakfast?"

"Just coffee thanks."

"You must be pretty hungry."

"No, I'm OK." Gideon decided to drop the subject, for now. Baby steps, Jason Gideon reminded himself. Whilst Gideon went down to the café for breakfast, Reid changed into something more substantial than the hospital gown. When Gideon returned he was dressed back in his ordinary cords with a shirt and sweater vest, and Gideon smiled at the reincarnation of the old Reid, even in such a superficial form. They drank or ate in silence as slowly as possible, neither one of them wanting to break this moment of peace before the crunch time came, but eventually the food and drink was finished and they had no choice but to begin the dreaded talk.

"So, tell me what happened" Gideon asked simply. The next hour was spent eking as many details as possible out of Reid about what happened to him when he was with Henkel. Reid wouldn't have thought it possible, but he seemed to still have a few tears left inside him and released them when he was talking about the couple that he was still sure he caused the death of, and killing Tobias. Gideon tried to reassure him that it wasn't his fault, but Reid still seemed unconvinced. Reid would not talk about his nightmares yet, and Gideon tried to be understanding. He knew he had to be understanding, that it was still early days and Reid would need time to be able to talk about everything. Reid was also not yet able to tell Gideon why he couldn't eat, if in fact he knew, and he found it almost impossible to talk about the deep seated feelings he had inside him - the anger he felt, but wasn't sure why; the guilt that lay impossibly heavy inside him; how scared he had been trapped in that cabin, never knowing who it would he would meet and the unshakeable feeling that he should have been able to save those poor people. He could not admit any of this, not even to his mentor, who he could so often talk about anything to. But the most difficult thing for him to even think about was admitting was how, secretly, he had wanted the drugs – and he still did.

"It's alright Reid, we're here for you. You don't have to do this on your own."

"I know you are, Gideon, but I don't know if I can be strong enough. Not just about Henkel and those poor people, about the drugs too…It was so hard when I had that seizure in the motel room, and it will only get worse."

"I'll be there when it happens. I'd like to come and stay with you for a while if that's OK with you." Reid nodded. "I'd like that."

The doctors said it was alright for Reid to be discharged, as long as he promised to eat and take it easy for a while, which he did, and Gideon backed-up. They made the trip to the airport in a comfortable silence. Gideon looked over at him in the back of the cab and asked if he was OK.

"Yeah, Gideon, I'm good. I'm going home."

Reid knew that he was a long way from being good, but for the first time since Henkel knocked him over the head in that field he felt like he would be OK. Well, he did for now.

Hee hee, sorry couldn't resist. I hope this felt a little less rushed than previous chapters, and that you liked it. Oh, and by the way, people who review get brownie points for heaven if you catch my drift :D