A/N: I didn't want to leave you guys on a cliffhanger for too long, so here's the next chapter, where they find out whose body has been found. And please note, there is a bit of a description of the body, and some more torture. You've been warned!

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds.


The two black SUVs drove for the dumpsite as fast as they could possibly go, sirens and lights blazing. Morgan and Prentiss were in one SUV, Hotch and JJ were in the other one with Garcia who had refused to stay behind. If this body was Reid… they all had to know.

JJ sat in the front passenger seat, praying with all her might that somehow Reid wasn't dead. She couldn't have had the revelation she'd had, finally realised what she felt for Spencer, and then have him turn up dead. It was completely tear her apart.

The two SUVs screeched to a halt outside the park, and the agents scrambled out. Hotch stopped them before they could go any further. "I know this is hard, guys," he said. "But we've got to treat this like any other crime scene if we want to convict this one. Which means Garcia, you're gonna have to wait here."

Garcia began to stammer in protest. "I will tell you as soon as I know anything, baby girl," said Morgan. "And besides even if… even if it is Reid, do you really want to see this?"

Garcia swallowed and nodded, leaning back against the SUV for support. Normally she was so together, so calm, but now she was falling apart.

The team left Garcia with the SUVs and headed through the park to where the Medical Examiner was waiting for them by the body. He looked up when they approached.

"I know you guys are used to this, but I heard this could be one of your own?" Hotch nodded. "Then prepare yourself. It's pretty nasty."

Hotch went down to the body first, Morgan behind him. Prentiss made to follow, but JJ stopped her. "Prentiss, I- can you stay here with me?" she asked. "If this is Spence, I- I just can't look."

Prentiss nodded and moved closer to JJ. "Of course."

Hotch and Morgan had now reached the body, and the ME pulled the sheet off the body. There were deep lacerations in one of the victim's legs, and burn marks all over the other. There were needle holes in his right arm, and bruises all over him. His clothes were ripped and bloody, and his face… his face was bashed beyond recognition.

"His fingerprints were burned off too," said the ME.

"He doesn't want him to be identified," Hotch said.

Morgan swallowed. "Either he's just trying to confuse us, scare us, or…"

"He doesn't want anyone to know he killed a federal agent," Hotch finished. He turned to the ME. "Take the body back to the morgue, check dentals and see if you can find a match. Oh, and cover the body," he added. "We don't want the others to see this if it is him."

JJ and Prentiss were now back at the SUVs with Garcia, and they watched as the gurney was wheeled past them and Hotch and Morgan reappeared. "Is it… is it him?" JJ asked.

Both Hotch and Morgan hesitated. "You gotta tell us, guys!" Garcia exclaimed. "Please… we gotta know!"

"We can't tell," said Morgan. "We couldn't make a positive ID."

"What?" JJ gasped. "But… but why?"

"His face was completely bashed in, and his fingerprints were burnt off," Hotch said matter-of-factly. JJ gasped and began to cry, tears falling fast from her eyes and sobs escaping from her throat as Garcia held onto her.

Prentiss moved closer to Hotch and Morgan, so Garcia and JJ wouldn't be able to hear her. "It sounds like the UnSub doesn't want this victim identified," she said. Hotch nodded. "So either he's just trying to mess with us, or-"

"That really is Reid down there," Morgan finished. Normally, Morgan would be angry about this situation, but calm and trying to figure out the UnSub. Now he just seemed… broken.

"JJ," Hotch whispered, moving over to her and Garcia. "We've gotta get back to the BAU, so we can be there when the dental records come through."

While JJ nodded, she made no move to get back into the SUV. "JJ," Garcia replied. "Jayje." JJ looked up. "We've gotta be there. Even if it is him, we've gotta try and catch the guy. Reid would want us to. He wouldn't want us to fuss over him, right?"

JJ managed to choke out a small laugh. "No. He wouldn't." She agreed to let Garcia lead her back into the SUV, and they drove back to the BAU.

Many agents looked up at the team as they walked back into the bullpen. The word had spread by now that the serial killer the BAU was hunting had taken one of their own. No one on the team, however, made contact with another agent as they walked across the bullpen and into the BAU meeting room, closing the door and drawing the curtains. Nobody spoke. They knew that they should still be working the case, but they had to wait until they knew for sure whose body was in the morgue. Only Hotch was still trying to work, but even he found it hard.

It was quite a while before Hotch's phone began to ring. He looked at the caller ID, nodded to the others, and answered. This was it. The call they had been waiting for.

"Hotchner," Hotch answered. "You did? Are you absolutely sure? Okay, thank you." Hotch hung up. "They ID'd the body."

"And?" said Morgan, although he and everybody else was afraid of finding out who it was.

"And we're still looking for a kidnapped agent," Hotch replied.

Despite the still grim situation, the relief the team felt was enormous. The body wasn't Reid. Reid wasn't dead. He was still alive somewhere. And now they had to get back to work.

JJ, however, wasn't ready to do that. After finding out the body in the morgue wasn't Spencer's, she had broken down again. Excusing herself, she went to her own office and closed the door behind her.

JJ thought she had lost her chance, her one chance, of ever telling Spencer that she had meant every word she had said that night. Now, all she could think about was the fact that he was still out there somewhere, fighting for his life, trying to find a way back to her. We'll find you Spence. Hold on. We'll bring you back to us.

There was a soft knock on JJ's door, and it creaked open. "JJ?" Prentiss's head appeared. "Can I come in?"

JJ nodded, wiping her eyes quickly with the back of her hand. "Yeah, sure. Come in."

Prentiss entered the office, softly closing the door behind her. "You okay?" she asked.

"I will be, when we find Spencer and catch this guy," JJ replied. "I just… I feel so useless, like I can't do anything to help."

"Look," Prentiss began. "I may not have been with you guys for long, but I can already tell you're his best friend. He'll be thinking of you to get him through. You're already helping him."

JJ gave a weak smile. "Thanks, Emily," she said. "Is that why you came in here?"

Prentiss shook her head. "Actually, Morgan might have something."

JJ wiped off the rest of her tears and followed Prentiss back to the meeting room. "What have you got, Morgan?" she asked with a surprisingly strong voice.

"I called the hospital Reid's mother is in," Morgan said. "Guess who committed her?"

"Reid committed her?" Prentiss gasped.

"When he was eighteen," Morgan replied. "He couldn't take care of her himself, and she wasn't taking care of herself, so he had her committed."

"Shaila Cain was the one who sent her mother to prison, and Denise Richard's mother used to live with her…" Hotch mused. "Garcia, can you see who put Monica Rymer's mother in rehab?"

Garcia typed. "Monica did. And before you ask, of course I'm looking up who put Caroline Myers' mother in a nursing home, and… yes, Caroline put her there."

The team was stunned. Could this be the connection they'd been looking for?

"You said they'd found an ID for the body," Prentiss said. "Who is it?"

"Rhys Hudson, 28," Hotch replied. "Garcia?"

"Already on it. Okay, Mr Hudson… oh."

"What did he do?" Hotch asked.

"He put his mother in the hospital because he burnt down her house, and now she has to move out of town to live with her sister," Garcia replied. "No wonder the UnSub was so angry at him."

"So the UnSub is mad at people who sent their mothers away, no matter what they did…" Prentiss said. "Could he be angry at himself?"

"Not this much anger," said Morgan. "He's gotta be angry at someone… a sibling. A sibling who sent his mother away."

"Can you look that up Garcia?" Hotch asked.

"Yeah, but it could take me a while… it's a more obscure search. I'm gonna need all of my parameters." She got up out of her chair and walked out of the meeting room, back to her office. Morgan took one glance at the team before following her. Hotch told the two remaining agents that he was going to go get a coffee and left the room. Prentiss moved closer to JJ. With a compassion she had not yet seen from the newest team member, Prentiss took JJ's hand.

Reid had no idea how long he'd been chained to that table. It could have been days, weeks, months; it could have only been hours. The unbelievable pain that filled his leg from the cuts he'd lost count of, to the bruises the UnSub had inflicted when he had bashed Reid. And now he was moving onto the burns.

The UnSub was using some sort of altered cattle prod, which Reid barely got a look at before the UnSub pressed it into his leg. Reid cried out in pain; he'd long since given up trying to hide it. It was too much.

Three more times the UnSub pressed the cattle prod to Reid's leg, and three more times Reid screamed louder than he thought possible. He hadn't even known that it was possible to feel this much pain. Please let my team be coming. Please let them know I've been kidnapped. Please…

"Time for a little pain relief," the UnSub laughed, before coming at Reid with a needle. But this time, Reid didn't try to pull away. This time, Reid didn't plead with the UnSub. This time, he welcomed the drugs. This time he wanted them.


A/N: Well at least that wasn't Reid, right? I still feel so sorry for the poor bugger, though. This case won't go for too much longer, cos I want to get onto how it affects Reid, and start the whole Reid/JJ relationship that was the point of this story. Unfortunately I have to go to work now, but I have the next two days off so hopefully the next chapter will come soon! As always, please review, I love to hear what you guys think!