"Pregnant?" Aaron Hotchner barked into the phone, "You're sure?"

He didn't miss the way Reid's whole body jerked at the word 'pregnant', his large brown eyes peering tentatively at Hotch from behind the chalkboard. Hotch noticed it, but turned away, choosing not to deal with whatever was currently bothering Reid and focusing on Morgan's update from the morgue.

"Yep. Apparently, Daniela Parish was going in for a checkup, she had just learned about the baby a few weeks ago when she disappeared. I know what you're thinking, I've already called Garcia and asked her to check the other ladies' medical history to see if there's a connection."

"Good job, Morgan," Hotch said. "By the way, have you been feeling any better?"

"Y-yeah, tons better. I think I just needed some… air," Morgan said vaguely. Something in his tone said otherwise, but Hotch decided to ignore it.

"Okay, I'll call you back soon. Reid's working on a geographical profile now, Rossi and Prentiss are still out checking the other crime scenes and JJ's working the press, so you don't need to be in any rush to get back."

"Okay, sounds good. Bye." Morgan hung up, far too quickly for this to be a normal call. Hotch sighed and put the phone back in his pants pocket. Derek Morgan was lying to him, that much was certain. But Morgan forgot one very important thing. His boyfriend was a terrible liar.

Hotch zeroed in on Reid during a moment of unusual silence. The young genius was paused in front of the map, holding a pin in front of him as though he had simply forgotten where to put it. Except Reid never forgot anything.

"Hey, Reid. Can we talk?"

Reid jumped and stared at him with eyes that were begging him to walk away. Reid's eyes were persuasive, but Hotch couldn't sit there and watch Morgan hurt himself any longer. It was time to go into lawyer mode.

He waited for Reid to say the word, "Sure."

"Have a seat," Hotch suggested, pointing to a chair across from the one he chose and watching Reid sink into it. The genius' hands were wringing each other, a sure sign of agitation. He had to change the subject, set Reid at ease, or he would never relax long enough to answer the question. "So, what do you have on the case?"

The tension drained out of Reid gradually, "Uh, sure. Well, the Unsub is definitely working around a center, but it's not a residential area, so it can't be where he lives. I've had Garcia cross-reference all the locations within this circle, and there's not a single building where the Unsub might live; it's more likely that he works within the hub or at least chooses one of these locations to stalk out future victims. But without further information I can't figure out exactly what the building is."

"And the timeline says he'll be taking another victim today," Hotch murmered.

"Within the hour," Reid agreed, twisting his lips in concentration. "Which means we're running out of time to save Aria Lambert."

"How sick is Morgan?" Hotch said.

Reid jumped and went back to full panic mode, his brain processing the question before automatically answering it. Darn genius.

"What do you mean, Hotch?"

"I mean that Morgan's been sick for weeks now and it's only getting worse. How bad is he?"

"I don't know." Lie.

"Reid, stop lying to me. I'm the unit chief here, I need to know if one of my agents should be taken out of the field," Hotch said.

"Derek doesn't want you to know," Reid said, looking down at his hands.

Hotch frowned, "Do you honestly trust Derek to make that decision?"

"I have to trust him, Hotch," Reid said softly. "I love him with all my heart, and if I can't trust him, then how am I supposed to get through this?" Reid's eyes were slowly filling with tears.

"Reid, I'm not saying that Morgan isn't trustworthy. But I've known him even longer than you have. If Morgan is as sick as I think he is, he's feeling scared, helpless, and utterly alone, and he'll do anything to avoid facing that. Even pretending that everything's okay. Derek needs you to protect him right now, and the only way to do that is to give me an excuse to pull him out of the field." Hotch said.

Reid's mouth was halfway open when the screen behind him blinked to life.

"Hello, my adorable man boys… wait, why the tears, Reid? Hotch, are you bullying my baby?" Garcia's normal cheery voice took on a dangerous quality.

"No, we were just talking," Reid said, wildly brushing the tears away. He and Garcia shared a long look, proving Hotch's suspicion that Garcia knew more than he did.

"What do you have for us, Garcia?" Hotch asked, slightly miffed that Garcia had interrupted them just as Reid was about to tell him what was wrong with Morgan.

"What do I have? Oh, mon cher, just watch me work. Turns out, all of the victims had medical issues in the weeks before they died. Daniella Parish was pregnant, Aria Lambert had a soccer injury, the list goes on and on. They were all kidnapped on the way from scheduled checkups on the way from the local hospital."

"Why didn't we see this before?" Hotch asked. Reid stood up and began frantically scanning his map, nodding and making notes with a permanent marker.

"My guess is, none of the family members brought it up. Daniella Parish never told her family about the pregnancy, and most of the women lived alone. Do you know when I go in to get my checkups?"

"Good point," Hotch said. "Alright, Garcia, I have to let you go."

"Au revoir, my tall, dark and brooding," Garcia blew a kiss and the screen blinked out. Hotch sighed. All that work, and his connection with Reid was broken in thirty seconds.

"Of course," Reid muttered, making another note. "The hospital is in the hub. The Unsub should be taking another victim from that area any moment. We'll have to call the local units and have them… oh, no…"

"What?" Hotch asked.

Reid turned back to him, brown eyes full of horror, "That's where Derek is."