Author's Note!

I'm baaack. Long time no see, eh? Lol. Not much really happens in this chapter, it's more of just some angst and an introduction to another character. Seriously though, some of you guys are starting to scare me with the whole "Kill Seaver!" thing O.o You guys'll almost make me feel bad if I DON'T kill her. Although, I guess it's my fault for asking you who to kill... Anyway, thanks for the reviews and please read on! There's a lil' bit of language from Morgan but what were you expecting?

I don't own Criminal Minds or the characters. All mistakes are my own. There ARE definatly spoilers in here for previous seasons. Enjoy!


Supervisory Special Agent Derek Morgan has never really been good at holding his anger in. He was actually famous around the BAU offices for punching walls and knocking over boxes in fits of fury. But that anger was nothing compared to feeling he had when he watched Hotch being led out of the room at the hands of Starson and Gordon.

Hotch was his hero. Not that he would ever say that to his face, of course. Hotch had stayed strong, for the whole team. Even when the job had gotten too much. Hotch had always been serious, determined, and focused in his leadership of the team, and Morgan admired him for that. Even when Foyet killed Haley, Hotch stayed strong and that was something to look up to.

And then there was Reid. Secretly, Morgan was in awe at how the kid could handle so much in his life without breaking down at some point. But then again, Reid probably preferred to break down in seclusion. His own father abandoned him with the schizophrenic mother when he was ten for God's sake! Then he had to endure vicious bullying in school before he even hit his teenage years. He's talked down numerous UNSUBS in the past and has proved himself many times in the past and yet Reid still didn't feel strong enough to be on this team.

"They'll be fine," he heard Rossi tell him.

Morgan nodded and a ghost of a smile flittered across his face, "Yeah, they're strong."

Seaver sighed, "But being strong doesn't make you immortal."

"You know what?" Emily hissed at her, "You can just shut up! You haven't been on this team for more than three months and yet you walk around like you're all big and bad. But guess what. You're not. You're just a rookie who doesn't know what the hell she's talking about half the time!" she shouted angrily.

"Emily!" Rossi said.

Prentiss shrugged at Morgan and Rossi's shocked expressions, "Well, it's true!"

Seaver stood there, shocked that she had said that, "I-I'm sorry! I just… I was… Um…" she stuttered out an apology but Emily just glared at her.

Morgan sighed and looked over at Seaver, "It's alright. We're all just a little annoyed right now."

Seaver swallow hard and nodded but said nothing and kept glancing over at Prentiss nervously as if she was going to attack her with a knife.

Everyone sat there for what seemed like hours. They hadn't heard anything about Hotch or Reid and were beginning to fear for the worst. Nobody talked about them. Hell, nobody talked about anything. They all just stood around and glanced at each other every now and then just to make sure they were still alive and breathing.

Morgan sighed and sat down. What the hell were they suppose to do? Starson had them in a pretty tough spot right now with Hotch and Reid who knows where going through who knows what. Morgan was just beginning to drift off to sleep when he heard the door begin to creak open.

Every snapped into alertness immediately. Benny walked in with a very dazed looking Hotch.

"Hotch!" Morgan said as soon as he saw the condition his boss was in.

Hotch's clothes were slightly ruffled and his hair was shooting up in all directions. His eyes seemed to be unable to focus on anything and they darted around the room frantically as if he was preparing for a bomb to go off. When Benny pulled him along to his spot, Hotch stumbled along as if he had forgotten how to walk.

"What the hell did you do to him?" Morgan demanded. Emily, Seaver, and Rossi were all staring at Hotch with the same concerned and slightly frightened face Morgan was. Benny guided Hotch over to his chain and then securely locked Hotch back into place.

"Answer me!" Morgan practically begged. Benny turned to Morgan with an unreadable expression and then said, "He's a little broken, nothing to worry about." Then he hurried out of the room before the team could ask him any more questions.

Morgan rubbed his hand over his face and looked back over at his boss. Hotch was now sitting on the floor with his knees brought up to his chest and was slowly rocking back and forth like a frightened child. Morgan shared a look with Rossi and they basically said the same thing. What did they do to Hotch?


Pain. That was all he felt. An endless abyss of pain; whenever he tried to climb out of the black pit, it would keep pulling him back under. Drowning him with its black hands.

"It's okay, honey," a female voice said to him. Reid thought back to all the female that could possibly be talking to him. Emily and Seaver were the only two he came up with. Although, he had been hoping it would be his mother or even JJ. They were the ones that gave him the nurturing love only a women could give.

"It's gonna be okay. I'm right here, honey," the mysterious women said again. He could already tell that it wasn't Seaver or Prentiss. They would never talk to him like that. This woman's voice was soothing; it wrapped him up and defended off the pain trying to get their grasps on him.

Reid groaned and tried to open his eyes, but they wouldn't comply with his request for vision. It took him a few tries, but he finally got his eyes to open. He hissed as a bright light assaulted his pupils. He blinked a few times to clear his vision and looked up into the face of an angel.

She had warm chocolate eyes that spread warmth through his body just by looking into them. Her brown hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail with a few curls hanging out and framing her small, elf-like face. He nose was small and slightly unturned, adding to the cute elf look. She looked to be in her mid twenties.

"Hey," she said softly and her voice sent shivers inside him. He simply stared up at her and she smiled nervously back at him. That was when Reid realized he was laying in a soft bed. What the hell? Where was he?

He quickly searched his mind for an explanation as to why he was laying in bad staring up at a beautiful woman. The case, Florida, Michael Starson, the raid, the chains, the table, the knife… It all came back to him and he instantly panicked. He tried to move but instantly regretted it when pain shot all through his body.

"Gah!" he exclaimed and felt a burning flame move through his body. The girl looked at him, startled, before putting her hand on his shoulder and tried to calm him.

"Easy, tiger," she said, "You don't need to be moving around. I was actually pretty surprised you were even still breathing when Mikey brought you to me. You had lost a lot of blood. Good thing Mikey missed any major organs, or else we would have had a major problem."

Reid looked down over his body and gasped. His shirt was gone and was replaced by at least three layers of bandages covering his whole chest. His arms had a layer of gauze wrapped around the area that Starson had sliced into him.

"Where's… m'team?" he gasped out.

"There probably still in the room they were in before. Unless Mikey took any of them out." She replied.

"Who're you?" Reid asked.

She smiled, "I'm Nicole. Mikey is my older brother. I'm the, uh, "doctor" you might say." She gave a nervous laugh and averted her eyes.

"Mmm…" Reid murmured out, not having enough energy to form words. His vision was beginning to fade around the edges and his whole body began to shut down.

Nicole smiled down at him, "Sleep," she commanded, "You need you rest."

Reid fought to stay awake but eventually gave into the darkness.


I hope you guys liked Nicole. I tried to make her seem nice although I think she came off as kinda creepy... The next chapter will definately be more exciting. I've actually been planning it since the beginning, so I'm really looking forward to writing it. I'll give you a hint to what it's about: It involves psycological toture to each team member by bringing up... uncomfortable memories for them. That's all I'm gonna say! You'll just have to wait for tomorrow to see what I mean!

REVIEW! Pretty please?