House of Mirrors- The Most Unfortunate Ending

No one saw it coming-well, no one even knew how it had happened.

Derrick was in the bloody pool now after having rushed passed the other two circus 'employees' and straight into the bloody pool. He threw himself on top of Cole and forced the older man under. He spotted Reid out of the corner of his eye and immediately let go of Cole. Reid wasn't breathing. "Damn it!" Derrick hissed. He swam as best as he could over to him and pulled him out of the pool. Alec came dashing to the side of the pool and took Reid from Derrick. "Get him breathing!" the redhead shouted. Before he could pull himself out of the pool, however, something- or rather someone- grabbed hold of his leg and pulled him back under again.

"Derrick!" Frankie screamed as he jumped into the pool. "NO!"

But he was too late. The younger man had gasped before he had been pulled under, and as a result he was now choking on blood. Frankie tried pulling him up, but it was already too late. He had been under too longer- but so had Cole. Frankie felt as the fighting halted, his heart sinking. Cole was dead….

And so was Derrick.

Reluctantly Frankie pulled himself out of the blood pool. After wiping the blood from his eyes he focused in on Reid and Alec, the latter of which who was staring at him with wide eyes. "I'm so sorry," Frankie whispered, "but I couldn't get your brother. Derrick- he's dead."

"It's not your fault," Alec whispered grimly. "It's not….your fault."

Morgan, who had been frozen in the doorway with the rest of the BAU, finally made his way toward his agent. He watched as Alec leaned away from Reid, obviously trying his best not to break down right then and there. Morgan came down to his level and put a hand on his shoulder. "It's over now," he said. "You don't have to be in this circus anymore."

Then, as David Rossi and the SWAT team entered the room, Alec finally turned his gaze over to Morgan.

"Good."

~*HoM*~

Aaron Hotchner and JJ ran through the halls of the circus, opening every door in sight until they finally reached the end of the hallway. "He has to be there," Hotch mumbled breathlessly.

"Jack's fine," JJ nodded. "He is in there." She wasn't sure if she was trying to convince herself or her boss, but as he opened the door of the room, she smiled. There Jack was in what appeared to be someone's bedroom- safe and sound. The toddler was laying down on an oversized bed with some sort of game on his lap. As they looked around the room they realized saw a piece of paper with the name 'Derrick' on it. It had to be Derrick's room- and at that moment Hotch realized that his son was most likely still safe because of the red-headed man. He ran over to his son and hugged him. Jack yawned tiredly before returning the hug. "Can we go home now, daddy?"

"Not just yet, Jack," Hotch sighed. "We have to make a quick stop really fast…"

"Hotch, maybe that's not such a great idea," JJ frowned. "I don't think we should take him down there, just in case…"

'Just in case someone's dead,' Hotch filled in the blanks grimly. "Right, of course," he nodded. "Can you take him outside? I have to make sure-"

"Go help Reid," JJ nodded, taking Jack from him. "We'll be fine."

~* Two Days Later *~

"We normally don't do this, but under the current circumstances, we believe an exception should be named."

SSAs Aaron Hotchner, Derek Morgan, and Emily Prentiss all scanned over the crowd of nine before them. By now they knew the horrid story behind what had happened at the circus and knew that they were actually the victims. The courts wouldn't see it that way, of course.

"We thank you for you generosity, then," the red-eyed Alec said, regret oozing from his every word.

Prentiss ignored the comment and kept up with the momentum of the interview. She already knew the answer to the question she was about to ask, but she also knew she was legally obligated to ask it again- this time with a recorder on and ready. "Could you please tell us how you all ended up in the circus with Colby Matterson?"

"It wasn't by choice," Benjamin James replied quickly, his voice hoarse. "I knew Cole Matterson. He and I grew up in the same foster home. But then one day he ran away, and he begged me to go with him. And I did. Eventually, however, the couple who wanted to adopt me found me and took me home and Cole back at the orphanage. I never knew what had happened to him after that. But I suspected the worse, and I didn't want to think about that." The older man then turned his head toward Frankie, who nodded in understanding. It was his turn to tell his part of the story.

"And then he met me a few years later. Benjamin had gotten his life in order, but then the world came crashing down again after he turned 25. His wife and daughter were killed in a car accident, he slipped into depression, and he ended up losing his job. The world hadn't been any kinder to me or Cole, however. Cole had become a druggie, and I had become his dealer. And one day, the unthinkable happened: all three of us met at the same time- me to sell, the other two to buy. By this point, sadly, Cole had completely lost it. He started talking about these fantasies with circuses and bloody pools….The thing was, however, it wasn't a fantasy. Benjamin and I had always assumed it wasn't real, but one day the three of us had gotten high together and discovered how wrong we were. Cole told us that he wanted to show us his circus. The two of us decided to prove him wrong once and for all and prove that he was making it up, so we agreed to go along. Unfortunately, it had been us in the wrong. Sure enough there were four people there, that same bloody pool- just not as filled, of course- with the same acts as before. We got spooked and tried leaving, but Cole pulled out a gun and told us, 'welcome to Hell, boys'. And we never left again."

"What about the rest of you?" Hotch frowned.

"We were hand-chosen for the most part," Silas answered. "Cole had came to the circus that Jamie, Alec, Genevieve, and myself had been apart of. He threatened to hurt us and our family. Of course we all went- we didn't really have a choice. He took Sarah and Nicholas from the same circus under the same conditions as well. The only two who I'm really unsure about are Clement and Derrick," he admitted.

"And earlier you said that Derrick was your brother, right Alec?" Morgan questioned. "Do you know who they were chosen?"

"Derrick was my brother, yes," Alec nodded, "but no, I don't know how Cole got him, because I hadn't seen Cole since I was seven and he was two. My parents split. I got lucky, though, and got my mom. The courts split me and Derrick apart, however, and he wasn't so lucky. My heroine-junkie of a dad worked with his friends in the system to get him, and I never saw either of them again," he sighed. Benjamin and Frankie were the only two people who even knew we were related. Hell, I don't even think Derrick recognized me at the circus."

"I remember the day Clement came in," Jamie suddenly blurted out. "Cole had drugged Clement in unconscious, mumbling something about how he'd be so much better off with him. That was about two years ago, I believe, but to this day I'm still unsure of anything more than that."

Clement, for his part, remained silent. It was well-established that he had no memory of his 'past life.' What could he contribute to the conversation?

"What about Derrick?" Hotch asked, his eyes focusing away from Clement.

"I'd never seen him before until I wandered into the kitchen one day," Nicholas said. "That was over five years ago, but to be honest I think that he had been there longer."

"Why do you say that?" Morgan questioned.

"The tallies on the back wall," Sarah piped it "I remember that now," she agreed.

"How many were there?" Prentiss frowned.

"Well over 3,000 at lowest count," Benjamin answered through gritted teeth.

The three BAU agents exchanged glances before turning back over to the circus group. Immediately they all realized they were hiding something from them, and they were starting to think that the BAU knew more about the situation than they were letting on.

Finally Clement cleared his throat and immediately earned the attention of the agents. He had been lied to all his life just like the others- it was time they knew the truth. "You know what really happened, don't you?" he accused. When he was met with no reply he calmly nodded his head and tried again. "Tell us what happened- tell us the whole story."

"Clement, we can't tell you-" Morgan started, but Prentiss cut him off.

"Colby and Benjamin were both raised together in an orphanage called 'Children of Hope'. One day, a man came in and said he wanted to adopt Colby. Maybe you remember how Colby was a bit off that day back in '85, Benjamin. You were 10- he was 15."

Benjamin looked thoughtful for a moment before something clicked. "It was in December, a week before Christmas. I remember now," he nodded. "Cole- he was so hopeful and so happy, though I think deep down he didn't think that he'd actually get adopted. And…And I remember that after the interview he got really quiet. He didn't talk for weeks."

"Was someone from the adoption agency in the room with him during the interview?" Prentiss asked.

Benjamin's face suddenly paled. "They hurt him, didn't they? He-he wouldn't take baths for weeks, wouldn't even change…"

"He didn't want you to see the bruises," Prentiss sighed. "This company, the 'Children of Hope', closed down two years ago after at least thirty-four confirmed cases of children being 'interviewed', like Cole had been by these strangers. They found out that the company was being paid by numerous different child molesters in exchange for having an hour alone with a child of their choice," she explained with a frown.

"On that list of confirmed cases were Cole, Clement…and, and Derrick. The abuse started for Cole when he was 15, the first being that one day we just talked about. Clement was around the same age. But Derrick-Derrick was eight," Morgan said.

Alec's face dropped. His father had abandoned his brother and left him in an orphanage of pedophiles. Sarah threw an arm around him for support, knowing it was all she could do.

"The abuse drove Cole to alcohol and drug abuse. He finally ran away from the orphanage a week before his 17th birthday. Ever since he'd worked on finding some way to get revenge and save those other boys. And then he found the abandoned circus. It was the perfect cover, and no one would suspect it," Prentiss said.

"He ran test trials to create the most beneficial way for him to get his revenge. He killed dozens of people on these trials, and he kept every ounce of their blood as part of his fantasy. It was his MO, and that's how local police made the connections. Cole left the bodies drained of blood out at local dumpsites until he finally perfected his make-shift circus," Hotch supplied.

"And then he created fliers and left them on the steps of the orphanage. They came out, he took the three boys, let the other boys go, and attempted to kill the owners of the orphanage. They recognized him, though, and immediately left the circus. They didn't leave quick enough, however, because he was still able to kidnap both Clement and Derrick." Prentiss ended the explanation there. They didn't need to know what else happened after that; they already knew.

"Derrick….Did he, did he…?" Alec started to stammer out, but he was interrupted by the sound of a door opening.

"I'm sorry," a female officer frowned, "but your time's up."

The three BAU agents didn't know if they should be relieved or saddened. No one deserved to go through what the nine individuals in front of them had. The courts wouldn't see it that way, however, and that thought alone was enough to make the case seem like a 'lose'.

Finally Benjamin stood to his feet and extended his hand to the three of them. "Thank you," he said, "for listening to our side of the story, and for telling us the truth."

"It's our job," Morgan replied, nodding.

"Yeah well, I think we all know that that's not always enough for some people to do it," Benjamin mumbled. They ignored that comment, though, unsure how to respond or take it. "I trust that agent's okay?" he added as the officer who had knocked on the door placed handcuffs on him.

Hotch only nodded his head before darting out the room.

His son was waiting for him, after all.

~* HoM *~

When Spencer Reid woke up he was greeted by darkness. Almost immediately he started freaking out. His mind automatically thought over the events of the last few days, but as soon as he thought of the bloody pool, he automatically paled. He was going to be sick…

Suddenly the lights flashed on and his desire to vomit increased. Luckily the nurse entering seemed to catch on to his distress fairly quickly and placed a small garbage can underneath the agent's mouth. "It's okay," she shushed.

"Is he awake?" another voiced asked as it made its way into the room. Penelope Garcia frowned once she heard the retching noises coming from the room and immediately paused in the doorway. JJ and Will found their way to the room shortly after as well, both of them frowning as Garcia had just seconds earlier.

"Unfortunately," the nurse sighed. "It'll be happening a lot after all that he's been through today." Finally Reid stopped vomiting, and the nurse took the garbage bin away.

"Hey," Reid mumbled, his cheeks bright red.

"How's it going?" Garcia asked as she gave her 'junior g-man' a big hug.

"I've seen better days." It hadn't been the first time he had said those words, which bothered his team members the most. "What, what exactly happened after…after I was thrown in?"

JJ frowned before nodding, mentally preparing herself to tell her friend what had happened. "After you went under, Derrick jumped in after you. He got you away from Cole, and he was able to pull you up, but unfortunately…" JJ shook her head. 'Here comes the fun part,' she thought

"He didn't make it, Sweetie." Garcia said grimly. "Alec and Silas tried helping, but it was just too late. Cole dragged Derrick under, and neither of them survived."

"Oh," was all Reid could say. Finally he seemed to process what had happened and sighed. "How's Jack? What happened to him?"

"Cole had been an orphan," Will said, "and he was abused. He wouldn't touch Jack, so he had him locked up in Derrick's room. He's with Hotch right now."

"Everyone else is okay, too," JJ smiled. "We made it."

"Good," Reid almost smiled. But his energy was very limited, and he was still in pain. He had just been thrown through a window and drowned in a pool of blood, after all. A little fatigue was a small price to pay.

"Knock, knock," Morgan grinned as he walked in the door. "Lookin' good, Pretty Boy."

"Thanks," Reid scoffed with a smile.

"You guys got room for a few more?" Prentiss asked as she walked into the room with the rest of the team. The standing BAU agents in the room scooted over to make room for the new comers. Finally their hellish nightmare was over, and they were all back together.

"I wonder what will happen to the other circus guys," JJ mumbled, breaking the silence.

"They're being prosecuted with murder, kidnap, and aggravated assault. They'll be spending life in prison," Hotch frowned.

"But they were forced into it," Rossi argued.

"The courts didn't see it that way," Hotch sighed.

"After all that's happened to them, they don't need jail to add to that," Morgan shook his head. "I mean, yeah, I'm pissed that they helped fueled the torture, but they didn't have a choice. They had to feed into his fantasy to stay alive."

"It's not up to us," Hotch cut in. "Talking about it won't change the results, either."

"Right," Prentiss nodded. Morgan, and the rest of the team, could tell that that hadn't reassured her very much. Instead of pressing the matter, however, she changed the topic. "I think Reid fell to sleep."

"We should be heading home," Hotch nodded. "Jack's with Haley's sister now, but I'm sure she's getting tired of babysitting, and I'm sure all of you are getting tired by now."

"I'm not leaving," Morgan said. Any other day, any other agent, and Hotch would have argued- and everyone knew it, too. But not today. So Hotch just nodded, and with the rest of the team, he stood up.

"Good night, Morgan," JJ said. "Take care of yourself…..and him."

"Don't I always?" Morgan grinned in return.

JJ and Will just shook their heads. "See you tomorrow."

Then, as they walked out of the room, Morgan did what he had wanted to do since he'd gotten to the hospital. He turned off the lights, shut the door, and went to bed.

It'd been one hell of a week, after all.

-The End-