Reid's POV

The team crept stealthily towards the decrepit barn. Reid could see Morgan on his left and Rossi on his right, and he knew that J.J. and Hotch were leading a team of agents around the back. They had already cleared the nearby house, although they had found plenty of bloodied clothing and disturbing photographs. As he approached the main door of the barn, Reid could see light filtering through the broken weatherboards. Somebody was talking loudly inside, completely unaware of the scores of agents getting into position around them. Reid glanced at Morgan and Rossi, who both nodded. Steadying his gun, Reid pulled open the door.

He immediately focussed on the two Un-Subs. They were standing in the middle of the room, and they appeared to be arguing. Bryn was standing upright, although she looked ready to drop to the ground at any moment, and the older man, Robert, was holding a knife to her throat. His son was staring at Robert in horror, but both men turned around in surprise when Reid and the others burst into the barn. Robert immediately pressed the knife harder into Bryn's throat, and Reid saw a trickle of blood slowly trail down her neck.

"Don't come any closer!" Robert snarled. "I'll slit her throat!"

"Robert, my name is Spencer Reid, I'm a Federal Agent," Reid said calmly, although he was itching to shoot the man in the head. "I need you to put down the knife and let Agent Sidney go."

Robert glared at him. "I know who you are. You're the one who let your pretty little partner get snatched from right under your nose. That was a little careless, don't you think?"

"Look, Dad, maybe we should just let her go, she's not like the others, she didn't hurt anybody," Patrick implored nervously, his eyes darting between his father and Reid's gun. Reid knew that he had been right about Patrick being the submissive one in the partnership.

"Shut up," Robert growled. "She's just as bad as them. She was helping them to escape justice, just like that lawyer did."

Reid decided to try a different tact. "Robert, I know what Palmer did to Patrick."

Robert gritted his teeth, while Patrick's face betrayed his fear.

"That piece of crap got away with everything he did, just like the guys that we killed," Robert's eyes were glinting manically. Reid had seen that look on killers before, and it was never a good sign.

"I know, and I know that you were just trying to show people that those other men were guilty too. They did horrible things, Robert, and they deserved to be punished. But Agent Sidney was just doing her job, she's not guilty."

Reid could see that Robert's hand was shaking, and Bryn winced in pain. This wasn't going to end well.

"Robert, please," Reid implored him. "Just let Agent Sidney go and we can talk about this. You can give us names, and we can try to get justice for other children."

A calm look settled on Robert's face, and Reid knew that he had failed. Robert barely had time to press the knife deeper into Bryn's throat before Reid's bullet pierced his forehead. Bryn fell to the ground as Robert dropped backwards, his eyes glassy and staring. Agents rushed forward and cuffed Patrick, who was sobbing uncontrollably. Reid and the others sprinted towards Bryn. She was conscious, but one of her bandages had come loose and she was losing a lot of blood from her wounds. Reid heard Hotch call for the paramedics. He took Bryn's hand and felt her pulse in her wrist. It was faint and irregular, and he knew they didn't have much time.

"Bryn, I'm so sorry, you're going to be okay, the paramedics are on their way….." He trailed off as she closed her eyes.

"I knew…You would find me," She whispered. Her voice was hoarse, her lips dry and cracked. A small part of Reid wondered if she had been fed or given water during her captivity.

"I'm sorry it took us so long, I should have been faster, better, I should have realised there were two Un-Subs-"

"Shhh," Bryn wheezed. "It's…..Okay."

"Bryn-" Reid was interrupted by the arrival of the paramedics, who began preparing Bryn for transport. Morgan pulled him gently out of the way.

"Come on kid, we'll meet them at the hospital," He said, pulling Reid towards the door. Reid wanted to go with the ambulance, but Rossi was already holding the door open for the paramedics, his eyes clouded with concern. J.J. and Hotch were waiting for them at the SUV, and Morgan sped towards the hospital while J.J. filled in Garcia, who was frantic.

Bryn was in surgery when they arrived, and Rossi hadn't heard anything yet. Time dragged on in the delivery room as they waited for news. Reid hated hospitals, and he couldn't count how many times he had waited to hear if his friends were okay. Garcia had been shot, Hotch had been stabbed by Foyet, Emily Prentiss had been wounded so badly by Ian Doyle that the majority of the team had thought she was dead. Reid himself had been hospitalised for anthrax poisoning and a gunshot wound to the leg. It was a high risk job, and people got hurt. It never got any easier though.

Six hours and numerous coffees later, they finally received some news.

"Agent Sidney made it through her surgery," the surgeon told them. "She's going to need a lot of rest, but she'll make a full recovery. She should be waking up now, if you want to see her."

They thanked the doctor and followed her directions to Bryn's room. She looked tiny and sickly in the huge hospital bed, but she had more colour in her cheeks now that she was no longer losing blood. Her eyes fluttered open as she heard them enter the room. They crowded around her bed, and Reid saw a solitary tear roll down Rossi's cheek as he looked down at her.

"What a way to start a new job, huh?" Bryn said weakly. She tried to sit up and winced.

"Just try not to move, the doctor says you need to rest," Rossi said, putting a protective hand on her shoulder.

"This is probably going to sound ridiculous under the circumstances, but how are you feeling?" J.J. asked.

Bryn's expression turned guarded. "I'm pretty sore, but I guess that's to be expected. Um, how much did you guys see? On the videos, that is."

Her expression changed to one of relief as Hotch relayed what they had seen, in as little detail as possible. Reid suspected that he knew why, but he would wait for Bryn to bring it up. It was her decision whether to reveal it to them or not, after all. As he looked down at her, the bruises on her skin even darker under the bright hospital lights, his sense of guilt threatened to overcome him. If he had just followed protocol, Bryn wouldn't be recovering from major surgery and psychological torment.

Bryn yawned, and the team took that as their cue to leave, assuring her that they would come back in the morning. Reid was nearly out the door when Bryn called to him.

"Spencer? Can you come here for a minute?"

He pulled out the chair beside her bed and sat down. Bryn reached out and he took her hand. She squeezed it lightly.

"Spencer, what happened to me is not your fault, do you understand? They would have got to one of us eventually."

Reid didn't meet her gaze. He didn't want to look at her, to see all the damage that his carelessness had caused.

"You know what happened, don't you," Bryn said quietly. "You figured it out."

He shook his head, but his expression must have betrayed him. Bryn sighed.

"I might be inexperienced, but I'm still a profiler, Reid. I can tell when someone is lying to me. Please, just say it out loud."

Reid met her gaze. She was scared, but she was trying to put on a brave face. Obviously she hadn't wanted the others to hear this conversation, but Reid could tell that she needed to have it. He took a deep breath, hating what he was about to say.

"I realised when I watched the second video. Your clothes were ripped and dirty, like you'd been in a struggle and had fallen on the floor of the barn. You had strangulation marks on your neck, like you'd been held down. Between that and what the Un-Sub insinuated, it wasn't difficult to deduce."

"Say it, Reid."

"You were raped," Reid said quietly. "Robert beat you and raped you."