A/N: Almost done... only the epilogue left. Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

Ch. 10: A Bloody Scene

Garcia came rushing back into the room moments later, her eyes wide. "Audrey shared a dorm room with a Jillian Brenan when she was in college," she said quickly. "Jillian was the only girl at the school who was deaf and the they were best friends. Her address is 451 West Plane Ave."

"Let's go." Hotch said, standing up quickly.

The drive seemed to take hours in Morgan's mind. He tapped his hand against the passenger door rhythmically, silently urging Hotch to drive faster. They had to get there in time. Reid could not die. He couldn't let his best friend down again.

"C'mon, Hotch, go faster!" Morgan snapped after five minutes.

"Morgan, calm down." Hotch ordered. "I'm already going 80. We'll be there in a few minutes."

"What if Reid doesn't have a few minutes?" Morgan demanded.

"We've already called the paramedics and given them the address. If he needs help, they'll be there when we get there. Now calm down."

He tightened his jaw and gripped the door handle, impatient. At least they were doing something now, instead of sitting around reading files. That was better than nothing, right? But what if they were too late already?

He stopped the thought before it could continue. They couldn't be late. Reid was depending on them, and he wasn't going to let him down again.

She was watching him with tears in her eyes. He'd be unconscious now for almost a half hour, but he was still alive. Still alive… She wondered if she should shoot him again, but shuddered at the thought. She'd hardly been able to do it the first time.

She had tried to shoot him in the head, had aimed for his head. But right before she pulled the trigger, she jerked the gun downward, unable to make the fatal shot. He would just have to bleed to death the same way Charles had.

She heard footsteps running down the stairs to the basement and frowned, picking up the gun. Was it Brenan? No, Brenan hadn't been home in almost a week. She was on vacation with her family in Hawaii. But then, who was it?

The door was forced open and the members of Spencer's team filed into the room. She felt her anger boil slightly at the sight of Agent Jareau. Hadn't she taken care of her earlier? But that didn't matter at the moment. What mattered were the four guns trained directly on her.

They ran down the stairs to the basement. Audrey's car was parked in the driveway, but all the lights in the house were off. Jillian Brenan wasn't home. The door was locked from the inside. Morgan had forced it open, desperation clear in his eyes. He had to get to Reid.

They rushed in on a bloody scene. Reid was handcuffed to a chair with his back to them, a pool of blood at his feet. It was hard to tell from that angle whether or not he was still alive, but it didn't look good at all. He head was slumped back on the chair and he was unconscious at least…

Audrey stood in front of him, holding the gun tightly in her hands. Her eyes flared when she saw JJ, but then, with a look of hopeless desperation, she lifted the gun and pointed it at Reid.

"Don't do it, Audrey." Morgan said, finger resting on the trigger of his own gun. "You don't have to kill him."

"But - he, he rejected me." she said, her eyes focused on Reid and no one else. "I l-loved him and he re-jected me!"

"We know, Audrey." Hotch said, inching closer to her. "We know you didn't want to kill Charles or any of those women, you were just trying to make it easier for you and Reid to be together. But it's over now, Audrey. Put the gun down."

She looked up at Hotch, her eyes wavering between him and Reid. She was considering what she should do. "He didn't love me." she said, anger flaring in her eyes for a moment. "He never did."

Morgan saw her finger twitch and didn't wait to find out if she would rethink firing or not. Four separate guns went off, hitting the young woman in the chest. She stumbled backward slightly and crumpled to the ground.

As if from somewhere far away, Reid heard gun shots. Had Audrey shot him again? He didn't feel pain though. A hand was at his throat. Feeling for a pulse, he realized. "Reid?" he heard his name being called, but he couldn't respond. It was like he was paralyzed.

"Reid, c'mon, kid, don't do this to me. Reid?" He recognized Morgan's voice then. Was he dreaming? Or had the team shown up? Had they saved him? Where was Audrey?

"Reid?" That was JJ's voice. She sounded so broken. Wait, JJ? Hadn't Audrey said she'd killed her? Did that mean… was he dead? Was that really possible?

Then he heard Hotch and Rossi. "Reid? Reid can you hear me?" Rossi asked. "Reid?"

"Reid?" Hotch said, sounding more worried than Reid could ever recall hearing him. And almost as broken as he had when they'd found him after Haley had been killed… but not quite.

So maybe he wasn't dead. But he still felt… heavy. Like he couldn't move. Couldn't speak. He could barely breathe.

"Get the paramedics down here now." Hotch ordered.

"His pulse is weak," Morgan said. "Hotch, is he gonna make it?"

Reid felt panicked then. Was he going to die anyway? After all that had happened? No. He couldn't die. He couldn't just give up like that.

"Hey, Hotch, he's moving." Morgan sounded relieved. "Kid, are you in there?" he heard him ask. "Can you hear me?"

Reid forced his lips to move, made himself respond. "M-Morgan…" he mumbled.

Morgan's face broke out into a grin. "He's awake!" he said, sounding elated. "Hold on, kid, the paramedics are coming. We're gonna get you to the hospital. You're gonna be ok."

"Wh-what about A-a-audrey?" he managed to ask, forcing the words out past the pain and weakness.

"She's gone, Reid." JJ answered slowly.

Reid's eyes fluttered for a moment, then he sighed in relief. She was gone. That meant she couldn't hurt him again.