A/N: Hey everyone, thank you once again for those who enjoyed, favorited, followed, reviewed this story. Your support means so much. Once again, I apologize for last chapter which was just an authors note. It became necessary when my cover was blown and I wanted to stay under the radar. This is just a better way of saying I had some, lets say...technical difficulties. But whatever.

Hope you guys enjoy and please when you reach the end, do leave me a note. :)

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JJ looked over at Reid unsteadily, her hand positioned to knock on the wooden door. "Reid?" She asked, gazing at his calm, indifferent expression. His brow furrowed and his forehead creased but his concentration seemed to focused on something different from the matter at hand. Something different entirely. "Reid?" She called again, this time more forcefully. She watched him blink a few times as he turned to face her. His eyes focusing on her slender frame.

"What?"

"What do you mean, "What"? JJ questioned. "You need to focus. You looked distracted. Are you ready to do this or not?

"Yeah, I'm ready," Reid said curtly, his eyes seeming to narrow in frustration. "You gonna knock or what?"

JJ was taken aback. " Are yo-"

"JJ, come on! We can't stand here all day," Reid spat irritatedly. He moved in front of her, shoving her knocking hand aside, and proceeded to pound on the oak door. He didn't let up until the sound of movement could be heard inside. The sound of a lock being undone. A few moments passed before the door opened slightly revealing the shriveled, frail frame of Mrs. Donna Samson, the mother of the most recent victim.

She gazed at the two agents through sad eyes, that of which were red rimmed and puffy. She clung tightly to the door frame, her knuckles turning white, her lips were pressed together in a thin line.

"What do you want?" She asked, her voice raspy. Tears fell from her eyes as she spoke, betraying her emotion. Her despair. "I already talked to the police and the-"

"Mrs. Samson," Reid cut in. "We are from the FBI"- he pulled his badge from his pocket, flipped open the flap and showed her his credentials. JJ did the same, though hesitantly-"and we have to ask you more about your son, Manuel Samson, who was murdered two nights ago."

The woman made no move to respond, though Reid continued. "He was murdered on your porch having suffered multiple stab wounds to the abdomen. He was also missing vital organs including the lung, kidney and the heart, correct?" Reid gestured to the marked up balcony, emphasizing the blood stains that littered the speckled concrete. "I need you to explain what occurred that night."

"Please stop," Mrs. Samson mumbled, tears rushing faster down her wizened face. "I can't do this right now. It's too painful."

Reid continued as if she had not spoken, "Mrs. Samson, your personal preference on whether we should preform this interrogation does not influence our plans. We need you to answer our questions. And we need you to answer them now."

"Reid I think it is time for us to go," JJ warned, pulling at her colleagues arm. She turned to Mrs. Samson as she began moving toward the porch steps. "Ma'am I apologize. We do need you to answer our questions. But it can be done so at a later time."

Mrs. Samson looked at her quickly before motioning to close the door. A bony hand stopped her, pulling the door to a halt. Reid leaned in to the frail woman where JJ could not hear what he was saying. "Your son was murdered Mrs. Samson, that does not mean the rest of the world is going to stop. Get over yourself. Get over your grief and answer our damn questions."

"Please stop..."

Reid leaned in further and whispered once again. The woman beginning to quiver and shake as he spoke. Her fingers that gripped the door frame only tightened. What had he said...

Reid straightened and glared at the woman, "People like you are the reason our world is such a disgusting place. I hope you remember the dead empty look in his eyes, his motionless decaying body. I hope he rots in Hell."

"You-"

"Enough!" JJ shouted as she walked forward and grabbed Reid's arm. She pulled him down and away from the woman who had begun to sob unbearably in her hands. She pulled him, dragged him until they were far enough that Donna Samson was no longer in sight. Far enough that her sobs could no longer be heard.

JJ stared at Reid. As she gazed at his dark eyes and hardened expression, JJ didn't see her friend, her family. For the first time JJ viewed this man as a monster. An insensitive cruel monster. Someone she did not recognize.

She found her self thinking, "Who is this man?"


"JJ?" Hotch asked softly, gaining the young woman's attention. "Do you remember?"

JJ nodded the memory clear in her mind. She had not forgotten. She would never be able to. It had been the first time she had viewed Reid as an outsider; the first time she saw him as something other then the sweet, compassionate man he had always been. She had never forgotten that day, that moment. For it was the one time, ever, that JJ had viewed her colleague as a, as...

"I could never forget."

"What happened?" Morgan asked quietly. JJ turned to look at him hopping to meet his gaze, see his kind reassuring face. But Morgan's attention was focused on Reid. The man who had still yet to say a word. She could see the pain it brought Morgan to see Reid like this, and for the same reason she evaded her gaze. She could not bear it.

"He-he..." She trailed off, her voice fading in the silence. "He was a monster."


"Reid what are you doing!?" JJ yelled. "You can't do something like that!"

Reid looked at her innocently, "What do you mean?"

"What do you think I mean?! You go up there banging on the door, and then you make that poor woman recall her most painful memories. And then you say something to her, after she starts begging for you to stop, that makes her break out in tears. What do you think I mean?!" JJ fumed, her lips curved in a snarl.

"JJ would you stop. We need the information if we are going to catch the killer. And sometimes you can't always be the nice guy," Reid retorted calmly.

"Reid that was more then not 'being the nice guy'. You can't do something like that!"

"Sometimes you have to."

"NO. That-" JJ gestured angrily to the small house behind them, her fingers quivering with the motion-"is not okay. You made that poor woman break down. Made her feel more pain on top of what she was already feeling." JJ dropped her hand to her side and looked Reid straight in the eye. "What did you even say to her?"

Reid returned the stare, he spoke in an enlightened tone." I told her the truth."

As JJ peered into his eyes she recognized something that had been playing on his face this entire time now. It was what she had seen before. His eyes betrayed an underlying emotion. What? It couldn't be...She thought. But now as she looked, it seemed almost unmistakable.

His eyes brighter, his lips curving just the slightest bit.

Did Reid look...

No that couldn't be right.

And yet...

JJ looked at her colleague and knew she was not mistaking.

Satisfaction.

That is what she saw.


"My dear JJ, do you have an answer?" Ben cocked his head to the side, staring intently at the young woman. His hazel eyes gleamed.

JJ took a deep breath and exhaled shakily. She looked to the rest of the team for the slightest bit of reassurance before beginning. "Yes. I do remember."

Ben rolled his eyes, "Well that's great. Would you care to enlighten us then?" He moved from leaning against the brick wall and walked closer to the circle. Swiftly, he maneuvered around the chained team members, stepped over Reid's unmoving body before taking a seat in front of JJ. She couldn't stop her body from tensing.

Another deep breath. JJ raised her glance and stared Ben straight in the eye. His demonic hazel eyes making that moment come alive. "We were interviewing Mrs. Samson after her son had been murdered. And you-you were..." She couldn't seem to find the right words. "You verbally abused the poor woman to the point where, you whispered something to her, and she broke down. Th..." Her voice trailed off.

Ben sighed before plastering a wide grin on his dark face. "Correct!" He shouted, pumping his fists in the air. "I'm so happy you hadn't forgotten. That was a fun day, don't you think?"

JJ remained quiet her eyes trained low to the ground. Ben continued.

"Did you ever wonder what I said to her?" JJ remained silent, though she couldn't stop her eyes from widening slightly. Had he noticed? "Good, I knew you had." Ben affirmed. Then to her horror her leaned in toward her body, close enough that JJ could feel his warm breath on her neck. Her body tensed, her stomach lurched. She didn't like this monster being so close to her. She desperately wanted him to move away, she was repulsed by the bony hand that gripped her thigh, the fingers that thumbed through her golden hair.

Her mind clouded with fantasies of escaping, of murdering this bastard. Oh how she dreamed... But then he began to speak and those thoughts faded as she heard what he was saying. Her eyes widened with horror, her mouth fell open.

Ben pulled back a few minutes later, but not before giving her chest a firm squeeze. And rocked back on his heels, grinning. "I knew you would like that." He cooed. He then turned his attention the rest of the team members, those of which had remained silent. Ben pushed his skinny frame into a standing position, and began moving around the circle, stopping in front of each individual agent. His attention rested on Hotch as his voice reappeared, "JJ tell them what I just told you. What was it that I said to that woman, oh those so many months ago?"

JJ's voice quivered, her body as well. "He said-said that he was the one who murdered Mark Samson..."

"And?" Ben kept his attention trained on Hotch.

"And," JJ started, not wanting to continue, " that you would come for her next."

Ben crouched in front of Hotch, "You want to know what the best part was." Ben paused, seemingly for effect. "The night we left, I finished her off. And then I flew home with all of you. If I remember correctly it was one of my best kills yet. Oh Mrs. Samson...boy was she a screamer." He cocked his head to the side, eyes illuminated with delight. "And never once did you suspect a thing."

Silence, the shock consuming them. No one dare ask a question.

"You son of a bitch..." Hotch breathed. Ben grabbed the front of Hotch's shirt and pulled him close. "You never cared about him. If you did, then you would have noticed the change. You would have seen the signs." Ben's eyes alit with rage, though the shadow of a smile appeared on his handsome face. "Now prove to me that I'm wrong. Show me that you do care about Reid, SSA Hotchner. What happened on the Khan case?" Ben shoved the unit chief away from his hold. He then delivered a hard kick to his stomach.

"Rule number one Aaron," Ben snarled as he disappeared in the shadows. "Your time starts now."

A/N: I hope that you guys enjoyed! Thank you to all that have favorited, added, and reviews. Much appreciated. Now come one guys click that little button bellow and tell me what you thing. I know you can do it! :)

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