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As Reid woke, he had to think to remember where he was. The dulled pain all across his body quickly helped him decipher his location and the dismal circumstances surrounding him, though. He must have passed out again, he realized, and this time it felt harder than the last to open his eyes. It would have taken much less effort to just give up his struggle to regain consciousness than to force his eyes open and deal with whatever plans Pierce had left for him.

But he couldn't do that. He couldn't let himself take the easy way out, so he forced his heavy eyelids open. The ceiling above him was one bright distortion. He blinked a few times, trying to clear the blurs from his vision. It took a lot of concentration to force away the grogginess that he felt. It was a good two minutes before he finally looked around the small room for Pierce's whereabouts.

At first, Reid thought Pierce must be standing by the wall near the head of the table, because he couldn't see him. But a movement on one of the computer screens caught his attention; Pierce wasn't even in the room with him. Reid watched for a minute as Pierce was putting a few items in a small bag. He had a small flashlight in his hand, which meant two things: it was dark outside, and Pierce was smart enough not to turn on a light inside the house. Pierce's actions also meant he was planning on leaving soon.

Reid tugged on the cuffs above him as forcefully as he could without making too much sound. Pierce would likely come back to the room the moment he heard any signs of him being awake. None of his restraints would budge, though. The straps on his ankles wouldn't loosen, and the cuffs stayed linked to the table above him. But Reid didn't stop tugging on his bonds, because this was his first, last, and only chance to attempt an escape. Once Pierce came back to the hidden room, he was as good as dead.

He hadn't bothered to struggle much with his restraints before because Pierce would have quickly put an end to it. Obviously, it wouldn't have been much use anyway; he was quickly finding that there was no way he could get out of the restraints by himself. He hadn't really been expecting to be able to.

He could tell his wrists were already bruising from pulling on the cuffs, but he still continued. He only stopped when he realized Pierce had finished packing his bag and was heading back towards the room. On a whim, Reid decided to pretend to still be unconscious, closing his eyes and stilling his movements.

A moment later, he heard the hidden door being opened and Pierce stepping inside. The door closed again, and he heard a soft thud, which he presumed to be the bag being set on the floor. Soft footsteps approached the table, and then moved in the direction of the desk. Reid couldn't quite tell what Pierce was doing at the desk, but it wasn't long before his footsteps were nearing the table again.

A sudden pain on his side caused Reid to involuntarily wince.

"Wakey, wakey, Dr. Reid."

He knew there would be no use in faking now. Pierce would cut him again until he woke; the man just leaving was simply too much to ask for. When Reid opened his eyes, Pierce was standing above him.

"I do believe it's just about time for us to part. Still certain I'm going to kill you?"

Reid didn't answer. Yes, he was still certain, and Pierce obviously wanted him awake when he did it.

"I'm not going to kill you."

It took Reid a moment to realize he hadn't imagined Pierce saying he wasn't going to kill him. There was no doubt that Pierce wouldn't let him live.

"Not yet, anyways," Pierce continued.

Reid didn't know what Pierce meant by that. Was he going to stay here even longer? He would have thought using the dark of night to help cover him as he escaped would have appealed to Pierce. But then, Reid realized, he had no idea what time it actually was, so it could still be dark for several hours yet.

Pierce didn't elaborate, nor did he do anything. He just stood there watching Reid for awhile, and Reid let his mind begin to wander to distract himself from the irksome feeling he got from Pierce's unwavering gaze.

He wondered what the rest of the team was doing right now. Even though it was night, he knew they wouldn't be sleeping. They would still be searching for him, for some sort of lead to help find him. They wouldn't stop for the night because they knew exactly what Pierce could do—what Pierce had done—to him.

There was no way they would find him in time now. No lead they could possibly find would lead them back to the house. They might decide to re-search it, but not in the middle of the night. By morning, it would be too late.

By morning, he'll only be a lifeless body.

Reid moved his thoughts back to the present and eyed Pierce nervously as the man finally moved. He stepped towards the table. Reid was too drained to even try to move his head away as Pierce put the piece of duct tape back over his mouth, though the act made him extremely nervous. Pierce had even said earlier that there wasn't really a need for the tape anymore, so Reid began to worriedly question the reasoning for using it.

Pierce was holding the knife firmly over Reid's stomach. Expecting him to begin to cut once again, Reid was shocked as an intense pain filled his abdomen. This was not a cut; it was a stab. There was no way Reid could stop the gasp that wasn't quite able to leave his lips as it was muffled by the tape. That was the reasoning behind using the tape. Pierce hadn't wanted to chance him screaming out in pain on impulse.

Because, at the moment, that was exactly what Reid wanted to do. All the cuts combined didn't seem to hurt this much. His eyes were closed in pain, and they scrunched shut even tighter as he felt the blade being pulled out. His body automatically wanted to curl up on itself in an attempt to alleviate some of the pain, but the restraints on his wrists and ankles made that utterly impossible.

Where the pain from his cuts had dulled relatively quickly, this wound just didn't seem like it was going to. He forced his eyes to open; he needed to know if Pierce was going to stab him again or let him bleed for awhile before finishing him off. The light and Pierce's face above him were blurred again, but he forced himself to focus and tried to slow his rapid breathing. Pierce merely watched his efforts with a content expression on his face.

"Don't worry," Pierce encouraged sardonically. "Eventually you'll reach the point where you won't feel anything."

Initially, Reid thought Pierce meant he won't feel anything once he kills him, but he began to think the statement had a double meaning as Pierce seemingly began to get ready to leave. He took the knife and wiped the blood off on the material of Reid's pants before tucking the object away. He then reached to the floor where his bag was setting and slung it over his shoulder.

Reid knew at that moment, before Pierce said it, that he was leaving him to bleed to death alone in this room. Even in Reid's wavering state, he realized that this form of action didn't make sense. He would have thought Pierce would want to make sure he was dead before he left. Though, they both knew there was basically no chance of escape or rescue even possible at this point. Pierce could leave with the knowledge and certainty that Reid was going to die soon, long before anyone would come back to the house.

"I'd say you've got a little over an hour before you bleed out," Pierce confirmed Reid's musings. "If you're lucky, maybe you'll pass out before then."

With that, Pierce turned around and left through the hidden door, closing it securely behind him. But not before saying, "Goodbye, Dr. Reid," in a tone that was much too light, much too happy, for the true direness of the situation he was leaving in the room behind him.