DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS OR ANY RELATED CHARACTERS

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The amount of times over the last week I have sat down to write this chapter….. I've had a case of the old 'knowing what I want to happen but not finding the words'. There's a note at the end of the chapter to explain something. I couldn't put it here cos I didn't want to give anything away. Nothing major, but, well… you'll see. Anyway, here we go:

LABYRINTH – Chapter Twelve

Reid wasn't an idiot. He knew what was happening. He knew the others knew too. He had read about things like this in medical journals. Patients seemingly improving for a while – be it weeks, days, hours or even minutes, before succumbing to whatever illness or injury ailed them. But he'd be damned if he was going to waste his new found energy. If there was a way to help the others out of here there was no way he was going to pass that up.

The tunnel they had been traveling down had lowered suddenly, constraining them to a belly crawl the remainder of the way, in the dark and on the bare earth floor. Reid's hands were pretty much useless to him at this point, forcing him to pull himself along using his elbows. Hotch was in a similar position. Slightly in front, the unit chief was using what he considered to still be his 'good' arm to drag himself. The advantage he had over both Reid and Morgan was the fact he could still use both his legs.

Prentiss was at the rear of them. She had tried to help Morgan, but he had refused. She could tell that pulling himself through the dirt was taking its toll on both his ankle and ribs, but he didn't complain. Or even make a sound. The light was getting closer. They had to be nearly there. She didn't know how much longer they had until it wouldn't be all of them leaving this place.

She had the distinct feeling that they were now crawling along a slight decline. "Guys?" She called, a little out of breath. The tunnel hadn't seemed this long when she and Hotch had investigated it. "We're going down." She felt a little silly, pointing out the obvious.

"I know." Hotch said, stopping in his tracks. They were almost out. He looked up at the ceiling of the tunnel, bringing his knees up into a crouching position. He raised his good arm to see how much head space there was. Touching nothing but emptiness, he stood slowly.

"What are you doing?" Morgan asked, his voice barely portraying any pain. They had been in the tunnel for what seemed like an eternity which had allowed his eyes to adjust slightly to the dark.

"It's high enough to stand again." Hotch answered looking around. He looked towards the end of the tunnel. The light was coming from above. Not too surprising considering they had had to climb down into the tunnel in the first place. Although he doubted the UnSub would have made it an easy exit for them. He placed his bandaged arm around Reid's waist to help support him. The fact that the younger man was so alert scared the hell out of Hotch. He was half expecting to hear Morgan or Prentiss call him half way down the tunnel to tell him that Reid was gone. He tried to stop himself from thinking like that. They would all be fine. They were almost there.

Prentiss helped Morgan to brace himself against the wall, "There's no ladder." she said, looking around. They had reached the end. It tapered off into a triangular shaped area. The trapdoor above was open, but out of reach. She squinted a little in the seeming hash light, after the complete blackness of the tunnel.

Morgan used his arm to shield his eyes from the sudden intrusion of light. "There." He said, pointing. A small rope hung from the edge of the trap door opening, hanging down just over a foot, but also out of reach.

"You have to jump for it." Prentiss said, sighing. "The UnSub knows by now that the victims are injured, tried." She ran her hand through her hair, wincing a little as she felt the matted blood. "It's his final test."

Morgan swore under his breath. Normally, something like this wouldn't be a problem, but with a broken rib and ankle, he knew he wouldn't make it.

"I'll try." Prentiss said. She knew she was the shortest of the four, but she was also the least injured. Hotch looked for a second as if he were about to protest, but then nodded silently. Prentiss stood to stand under the rope, her eyes now adjusted to the new lighting levels. She walked a ways back down the tunnel, hoping a run up would help her gain some extra height. She was wrong. She missed. She tried again, and missed again. "I'm too short." She said, defeated. "I'm sorry, I can't." She could feel herself begin to cry, but pulled it back. She looked around at everyone.

Hotch was upright, looking at the rope. His bandaged arm was dripping blood again; his other arm was cradled protectively to his chest. He looked tired. Morgan was leaning against a wall, slouched forward slightly, his right arm tenderly around his broken rib, his broken ankle held slightly off the floor. Reid was leaning against the wall next to Morgan in a similar stance, but his head was back against the wall and his eyes were closed. His arms were down by his sides. He looked pale. Prentiss felt panic rise inside of her. Morgan had told her about the phenomenon he'd called 'The Surge' and she was worried it was coming to an end. She was pulled from these concerns when she saw Hotch move to stand under the rope.

Without a word, he jumped. His fingertips brushed to bottom of the rope before he fell back down. He let out a gasp of pain as he landed, the jolt sending waves of pain through his shoulder and down his broken arm. "Damn it!" He almost shouted, looking at the rope as if he was going to try again.

"Maybe you could lift me?" Prentiss suggested. She wasn't sure how. Hotch had injured both of his arms and Morgan couldn't stand unassisted. Reid's hands were burnt to tatters and his leg was pretty much useless too.

Although Reid was aware of the others talking he wasn't listening. He opened his eyes to look around. He saw the elusive rope. He took a moment to weigh up the options. He knew he was the tallest. The rope didn't look too hard to reach. One good jump and he should have it. He realised that was easier said than done. He only had one leg to jump off of, and he wasn't sure how much grip he could manage with his hands. But what did he have to loose.

Worst case scenario was that he would fall. His broken leg may snap and then he'd be stuck in the tunnel until the others came back to reclaim his body. But he felt he had to do something. He was starting to feel tired again, and knew he didn't have long left until he was unconscious or worse. He coughed a little. The others were still talking. He pushed himself off the wall and somehow managed to make his way over to stand under the rope.

"Reid?" Morgan asked, watching the younger man move. He had that look on his face like when they were working a case and he was trying to put pieces together that nobody else had seen. Usually, he loved seeing that expression on Reid's face. It meant some kind of breakthrough was close. Now tough, it worried him.

Reid never spoke. He knew if he told them what he was up to they'd stop him. But none of them were in much better condition than he was. Without a word, and only a split second before the other's realised what he was doing, he made a jump for the rope.

Somewhere his brain registered a burning pain in his leg as he did so. The same fire shot through his hands and down his arms as he grabbed the rope. He somehow managed to pull himself up enough to get his one elbow over the edge of the trapdoor. He heard the others below, but wasn't sure what they were saying. He leaned heavily on his elbow, pulling the rest of his body up behind him. He collapsed onto the floor.

Everything hurt. It was hard to breath. He heard the others again. Managing to get himself up onto his knees, he looked around. He wasn't outside, it was another room. It looked more like a cave than anything. Maybe he was outside. He didn't know. He coughed harshly. There had to be a way to help the others out. Then he saw it.

There was a rope ladder, rollup up, tucked behind the lip of the trap door. He pushed it in, unrolling as it fell. He heard the other shout again, before he felt his body fail him, and everything went black.

(((((())))))

I know Hotch and Reid are the same height, give or take a few millimetres, but I saw a promo photo of the whole team (season 4-ish, Reid has longer hair), and on that photo, Reid is a good few inches taller than Hotch. So now, in my mind forever, Reid is the taller of the two. I don't care what you say :p.

Also, I love hero Reid., no matter how unrealistic. And it is my story ;). Plus, he needs to be a hero for something I have planned later.

Chapter was going to be longer, but that felt like a good place to leave it, keep you all interested! xxx