Hey everyone, here is the next chapter for you all and I hope you enjoy it. I know that I haven't updated in the last week or so but I was preparing for a local comic con last week which I went to on Saturday. It was brilliant and I had an awesome time. I got a little pop vinyl Crowley which I love and a gold Tardis necklace. It has completely drained my batteries though as my neurological condition means I get tired easily and even a few hours out leaves me in a bad way for days. I am doing all my updates over this week though so I hope you will all bear with me. I'm making them a little longer to make up for such a gap. Anyway, enjoy and I look forward to hearing what you think.

Thank you so much for all the reviews. I was so nervous about what you would all think about the goodbye scene. You're superb and wonderful. Thanks!

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All mistakes are my own (there might be a few more than usual)

Jessica decided to give Reid time to process everything as she drove towards New Orleans. It was a long journey ahead and she knew that saying goodbye to everyone was taking its toll on him. An hour into the journey, she broke the silence. "Do you prefer being called Reid or Spencer? We have another thirteen to fourteen hours ahead of us."

"You can call me what you want," Reid said quietly.

"Spencer, it is," she said. "Aaron will catch this man and you'll see them all again soon."

"I don't think it will be that soon," he said before leaning back in his seat. Reid was aware of the long journey ahead and he didn't know Jessica as well as the team. Something about not knowing her that well made it easier to talk in a way. "I'll never forgive myself if they get hurt trying to protect me."

"They can take care of themselves," Jessica tried to assure him. "Protecting you is the most important thing in the world to them. I know that Aaron sees you as a son. He's always tell Jack about how smart you are and how you helped solve a puzzle. Aaron replaces the word case with puzzle. He's been struggling since you got attacked. He remembers finding you that day."

"I don't understand why I'm the target of this unsub's rage," Reid shook his head gently. It still throbbed with pain but it was more manageable now. "He just stabbed my eyes and then laughed with glee."

"He's a sadistic man whom has chosen the wrong family to mess with," she said before reaching her hand over and giving his hand a gentle squeeze. "Things will get better."

Reid stayed silent for a moment before taking a deep breath. "I'm a little tired. Is it okay if I sleep?"

"Yes," she smiled before reaching behind her. She pulled a small pillow from behind the seat and handed it over. "This will make you a little more comfortable."

"Thank you," he said gently before managing to put the pillow against the window. Jessica watched him from the corner of her eye as he fell into a quick slumber. She turned the heat up in the car to make sure he was kept warm.

Garcia sat on the edge of her bed and found the empty feeling inside of her growing. Reid was getting further and further away from his family with each minute that went by. She looked at the picture of Reid and stroked the frame. The picture was one of her favourite ones of her genius. She had caught him off guard in the BAU kitchen and snapped a picture of him as he saw her. She loved it because of how natural it was. It wasn't staged and the smile of Reid's face was a lovely one that she was so glad she had caught.

JJ came and sat down next to her. "I miss him so much already, JJ."

"Me too," JJ nodded sadly. "I miss him too."

"Emily will keep him safe," Garcia said as she put the photo down on her bedside table. "I've seen that woman kick ass. Reid couldn't ask for a better bodyguard. JJ, I wanted to ask if you would help me with something."

"Anything."

"I want you to help me learn how to shoot a gun," Garcia said. "I've only ever done it once and I want to be able to protect myself. We don't know what this stalker may do and I want to be able to take him down if he came near me."

"Garcia, are you sure about this? I'm happy to help you learn and we can get you qualified to carry the gun with the FBI. I know that you've never been comfortable with guns and the last time you shot someone, it had a big effect on you."

"I won't feel anything if I shoot the son of a bitch that hurt Reid. The sooner he's caught the better. Reid can come home then."

"We'll start tomorrow at the range," JJ said before bringing out her own gun. "I can show you a few things now though."

Jessica looked at the letter in her hand as she sipped her coffee. She had pulled over at a truck stop after driving for two more hours after Reid had fallen asleep and put more fuel in her car. Reid was still sleeping peacefully in the car so she had grabbed some coffee and some food for them both before returning to the car and opening his bag. She opened the envelope and pulled out a small letter.

Dear Jessica,

I know you are taking a huge risk by doing this and I promise that you'll be kept safe when you come back. Thank you for doing this.

Inside Reid's bag is an envelope with more than enough money to make sure he can live comfortably in New Orleans. There is over $30,000 which I want you to give to Emily when you get to her. He means the world to us all. Please, keep him safe.

I've put some things inside his bag too. They're all wrapped up in brown paper. They're things that I managed to collect from his apartment. They belong to his mother. He needs her more than ever and this is the only way that can happen.

If he loses control on the journey, just remind him of his family and especially his godson. He'll always have his family. I just want him to know that.

Thank you again, Jessica.

David Rossi

Jessica looked inside the bag and pulled out the brown envelope. Inside of it was bundles of money that made the envelope bulge. She closed it and placed it back inside the bag before giving Reid a gentle shake. "Spencer, wake up. You need to have something to eat and drink."

Reid groaned before waking up and reaching out till he found her. "What is it?"

"You need to have something to drink and eat," she smiled before handing over a coffee. "It's only a small one but you should be fine to drink it. Do you feel up to a tuna salad sandwich?"

"Yeah," Reid sighed as he slid up in his chair. "My head hurts."

"Eat and drink and then I'll get you some Tylenol," she said before sliding into the car. She opened the sandwich and placed one half into his hand before putting the coffee in his other hand. "You can go back to sleep after if you want."

"I'd like that," he sighed before taking a sip of his coffee. "I know I'm not the best company."

"Try being in the car with Aaron," Jessica said cheerily. "His taste in music is awful."

Jessica saw a small smile grace Reid's lips and she knew she was doing something right.

Eleven hours later

Jessica yawned before she finally saw the sign for New Orleans. The journey had been long with only a few short stops and Reid had slept for most of it. The times he had been awake had been filled with conversation that focused on everything but what he was going through.

She travelled for another half hour before finally reaching the address she had been given. It was a nice house not far from the city and night life. She pulled up onto the curb and got out of the car. She locked it and left Reid inside to sleep for a few minutes. Walking to the door, she knocked and waited until the door opened. The door opened to show a man. "Jessica, I presume?"

"Are you Ethan?" she asked.

"I am," he nodded before stepping out and holding out his hand. She shook his hand. She recognised Emily as she stepped out from behind the door.

"Hello, Jessica. It's nice to see you again. I just wish the circumstances could have been different," Emily said before glancing to the car. "How is he doing?"

"Not good. He would barely speak about what has happened and I only managed to get him to eat a sandwich and drink a coffee. He completely avoided talking about all this after a while. Shall we get him in?"

"Yeah," Ethan said before walking down the steps and over to the passenger side of the door. Jessica unlocked the car as Ethan opened the door. He gently shook Reid's shoulder and watched his friend stir from his deep sleep. "Spencer, it's Ethan. Wake up."

"Ethan," Reid moaned gently as sleep still held sway over his mind. It broke Ethan's heart as Reid reached out to try to find him. He could see the state of Reid's eyes and knew he would kill the bastard that had hurt his friend this way. Ethan reached out and brought Reid's hands over to him till they touched his shoulders. Reid's scarred eyes wandered for a moment before staring ahead. "Hey, Ethan."

"Hey, Spencer. Let's get you inside."

Ethan helped Reid out of the car and supported him as they made their way to the house. He told Spencer when their was a step and brought him inside as Jessica and Emily went to the car to get everything from the trunk. Jessica grabbed the rucksack from the passenger seat and made her way inside with Emily who had collected the items from the trunk. Ethan had settled Reid in a chair and had covered him with a blanket.

Emily rushed over to Reid and wrapped her arms around him. He tensed slightly before relaxing. His arms wrapped around her. "Emily," he said happily.

"I'm here," she said happily before kissing the top of his head. "I'm so sorry, Reid."

Reid stayed silent but continued to hug her till she came away from it. She held his hand and sat next to him. "I'm here to keep you safe. I promise I'll keep you safe."

"I don't think I'll feel safe again," Reid admitted before squeezing her hand. "I've missed you so much."

"I missed you too. No-one will hurt you again. Garcia would kick my ass if I let anything happen to you," Emily said before looking at the silver ring on his finger. "I've never seen you wear a ring."

"It belonged to Garcia's mother," Reid said as his voice began to shake with sadness. "She said her mother was protective and that I needed that protection. It's also a promise I'll see her again. Morgan gave me his father's cross too. It's a promise that I'll see him again too. It was so hard saying goodbye."

A lone tear travelled down Reid's cheeks which Emily swiftly wiped away. "Don't cry. You'll see them again. We both will."

Jessica stepped forward with the rucksack. "There are some important things in here for him. The things inside are from the others."

"There is a box that Morgan said to give to Emily. He said it was to protect me," Reid said. Jessica brought out the box and handed it to Emily. Opening it, Emily couldn't help the small smile. She lifted the unloaded gun out of the box along with the two clips of ammo.

"There was a gun in there?" Jessica questioned.

"I couldn't bring my gun with me because I was travelling under an alias," Emily nodded. "Morgan knew that I would need this."

Reid reached out and ran his fingers along the gun. "It's his spare side arm. I would know it anywhere. Emily, there's also a letter from Rossi for me that he wants you to read to me. We'll do that later though."

"Okay, I'll be back in a moment. Jessica, we have a bed set up for you."

"I don't need to sleep," Jessica tried to shrug but Emily rose up and shook her head.

"Jessica, I'm guessing that you've been up for nearly a day. You need to sleep before going back to Virginia. Come with me and we'll get you settled."

"She's right," Reid spoke up. "Thank you so much, Jessica, for bringing me here. You need to have a long sleep before attempting such a long drive back. I would never forgive myself if anything happened to you driving back to Virginia."

"I'll go and sleep," Jessica relented after Reid word's rang true. She was tired and some sleep would help refresh her and keep her on alert. Emily guided her upstairs.

Ethan stared at Reid before Reid broke the silence. "I know my eyes look horrible. The surgeons did what they could."

"Hotch couldn't go into much detail about how it happened. He just said you got attacked and because of it had lost your sight."

"Two sharp but thin rods were shoved into my eyes while I was still awake," Reid began to speak. His voice growing angry. "Then I was left to wander an empty office with blood dripping down my face. He'd already beaten me severely by then but he taunted me with escape. He dragged me back and tied me to a chair. He cut into me like I was meat and laughed when I screamed."

Ethan came over and put his hands on Reid's shoulders as he began to hyperventilate. "Spencer, calm down. You're safe here. You're not back there."

"He laughed though," Reid cried. "So many taunts and so much pain. Every step I was trapped in the dark!"

Reid broke down and bowed his head. "Now, people stare, call me weak and I hate it. I even made my own godson cry."

He didn't flinch when Ethan pulled him into a strong hug. He had known Ethan for longer than he had known his team and he had come to Ethan when the drugs had began to spiral out of control. He trusted Ethan and knew his friend would never judge him or break their confidence in each other.

"You're going to be safe here," Ethan said in a soothing manner. "That bastard won't touch you ever again."

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