Hello! Thank you for the reviews, I love to get them. PLEASE continue to let me know what you think. As you might have noticed, I do take suggestions to heart. Sometimes just reading what someone else comes up with sparks things in my mind.

I hope you enjoy the new chapter. I still haven't decided for sure how the compound people are going to react to Hotch. I'm not sure if I'm going to let him have all his faculties yet either. ;). So many decisions!

Susanne

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

"This man is a federal agent," Morgan growled. "He will not be left here unsupervised."

"This is a hospital. He will be fine," the doctor growled. Quietly, Rossi and the others began leaving. The last thing they wanted to do was prevent Reid from being treated any longer than necessary. But, he knew the doctor wasn't going to get Morgan out of the room. Not without giving him a sedative and dragging him out.

"He will not be left here unsupervised," Morgan repeated, folding his arms across his considerable chest.

"Ah, doc, could I talk to you for a moment?" the local sheriff asked. He had a good relationship with the doctor. He also know how pig headed the man could be.

"I thought the man's condition required immediate attention?" the doctor said.

"This situation is only going to escalate. Please, come outside and I'll explain it to you briefly," the sheriff said. He glanced over at the menacing agent standing by the back wall.

"Fine," the doctor huffed. He followed the sheriff outside and down the hall a little bit. As quickly and quietly as the sheriff could manage, he explained the situation as he knew it to the doctor. While it didn't improve the man's mood, he looked at the crowd in a different light. Heaving a sigh, the doctor headed back into the room.

"Okay, you can stay but the first time you get in our way, you'll be escorted out," the doctor stated looking at Morgan.

"That's fine," Morgan responded. Silently he watched as the nurses carefully moved Reid over to the bed before pushing the gurney out of the room. They needed all the room they could manage. Reid looked so small on the bed as the blankets were stripped off of him and the doctors and nurses set to work evaluating his condition.

OOOOO

As the trooper made the turn to pull into the rest area, he witnessed the SUV pulling out. The woman waved at him as she turned right on the highway. Instantly he turned on his flashers, trying to pull the woman over as he quickly turned his vehicle around.

Upon seeing the flashing lights, Mary pressed down on the gas. That was not in her plans for the day. The V-8 roared as she floored the accelerator and struggled to keep the vehicle on the road. The moisture was working against her.

Within seconds, the trooper was behind Mary and gaining speed. A quick glance in her rear view mirror was all she could manage as she fought the large vehicle. It kept pulling to the left, heading toward the ditch between the double lanes of traffic. Cursing, Mary concentrated harder. There was no way she was going to let the man take her in. She had to find Hotch, to punish him for trying to escape.

OOOOO

"Here we are. I'll pump the gas. You go inside, get what you need and pay for the gas. I'll pull around once the tank's full," Amanda said. Anxiously, she glanced over the seat to examine their charge. Well, it wouldn't survive close scrutiny but with any luck that wouldn't be a problem.

"Okay. I'll be back in a jiffy," Theresa responded as she jumped out of the car. Quickly she made her way to the convenience store where the cash register was. Stepping through the door, she scanned the options. Well, the place seemed to be very well stocked but it wasn't going to be cheap, just another reason for Michael to be mad at them.

A wire basket in hand, Theresa headed to the first aid section of the store. Within seconds she had everything she needed from there and began walking around the rest of the place to see if there was anything else they might need. By the time she was done, the basket was overflowing. Walking up to the counter, Theresa looked through the front window to see Amanda pulling away from the pump.

"Good morning," the cashier said from behind the counter.

"Good morning to you," Theresa responded. "I'm also paying for the gas on pump one."

"Sure thing," the cashier responded. Efficiently, the young man rang in the items in the basket and placed them in plastic bags. Totalling the register, he accepted the cash Theresa handed him and gave her the change. "Have a great day!!"

"You, too," Theresa responded as she headed over to the car. Carefully, she climbed into the back seat, Hotch's head in her lap.

"Did you buy the whole store?" Amanda asked, looking at the bags Theresa began to unload.

"No, just the important parts," Theresa responded. "Let's get going."

As the car pulled back out onto the highway, Theresa pulled a bottle of water and a face cloth out of one bag and began cleaning the filth off of the man's face. A large bruise covered one side of the man's face. It was kind of odd because it looked like an old bruise with a new bruise on top of it. Carefully, she wiped at it, trying to get the dirt and gravel out of it. Hotch reacted, trying to pull away but didn't show any signs of coming around.

"Sshh, ssshh," Theresa murmured as she worked. Gently, she pushed his dark hair out of his face so she could reach every inch of it. That face cloth quickly became soiled so she moved onto a new one. She'd thought about using paper towels but had decided they would be too abrasive. Now, she was glad she'd bought two rolls just in case. At this rate, she was going to run out of face clothes before she ran out of dirt.

"How's he doing?" Amanda asked. She couldn't really see what Theresa was doing in the rear view mirror but she could hear the man's ragged breathing and small moans.

"Someone's had a little too much fun at his expense," Theresa responded. She was down to his neck. "I think he'll live but he isn't going to be too happy about it for a little while."

"Was he hit by a car or something?" Amanda asked. Traffic had picked up on the highway. She had to make sure she paid attention to where she was going and who was around them. Getting into a traffic accident was not an option.

"I don't think so. The wounds seem to be more deliberate than that," Theresa said. Carefully, she pulled Hotch's arm out from under the coats and saw the cuts from the restraints. "I think he's been tied up."

"What? You mean like a slave or something? Do you think he's a convict or something?" Amanda asked. She glanced in the rear view to see Theresa's face. Her mouth open, Theresa held up Aaron's wrist for her to see. "Oh my God, that's horrible! Didn't Brian have those when he came to us?"

"Yeah, him and a couple of others. Damn but people are sick," Theresa breathed. Moving the coats further down the man's body, she found the graze and the brand. Anger burned in her stomach. "Son of a bitch."

"What?" Amanda hated not being able to see what was going on in the back seat. She fought down the urge to pull over to the side of the road. They needed to get home before two if she stopped they'd never make it.

Theresa wiped the dirt off both wounds, Hotch writhing under her ministrations. Her stomach dropped even more. What the hell at they been doing to this man?

"Whoever did this was one sick son of a bitch. Let's get him home, Thomas is going to have a lot to do with this one."

OOOOO

Hovering, Morgan watched as the doctors and nurses shifted Reid from his back to his side. They needed to complete their examinations. Even he noticed the dried blood on the young man's buttocks. Anger spiked through the roof. Feeling the need to rip someone's head off, Morgan watched as the medical personnel worked on evaluating the damage and cleaning him up.

As soon as the doctor touched Reid there, the young man stiffened, trying to pull away. The nurses were forced to hold him in place, despite his weak struggles. Low moans and groans issued from behind the oxygen mask.

"You're upsetting him," Morgan growled. It took every ounce of self control he possessed to keep from ripping the man away from Reid. He hated the thought of what had been done to Reid and the thoughts that were racing through his unconscious mind at being touched.

"I'd be upset too if I'd been raped repeatedly," the doctor responded off handedly.

"Repeatedly," Morgan echoed. Watching Reid writhe under the man's ministrations, Morgan had to force himself to take a step back emotionally. The man was a doctor. He was a trained professional. Surely he knew what he was doing?

"Unless of course it was consensual and got a little rough," the doctor stated with a smirk on his face.

"Reid is not gay," Morgan grated out. "And I would advise you to stop making such statements."

"Okay," the doctor responded as he looked at the large man. "I was simply making an observation."

"The next time something like that comes out of your mouth, I will take it up with you in the hallway," Morgan stated, every fibre of his being screaming out to smash the man in the face. The doctor looked up at him for a moment before turning his attention back to the squirming federal agent on the table. Few men scared him. The glowering man at the end of the table was drifting toward that category. He wished the young man were a little more cooperative. Right now he just wanted to get this over with, without resulting in serious bodily injury to his person. Silently, Morgan looked on. He wanted this to be over with too.

With his heart in his throat, Morgan watched as Reid continued to react to what was being done to him. The young genius's face kept scrunching up in pain and discomfort as the doctors continued to work on his thigh and the damage done to him internally. The one thing Morgan was grateful for was that Reid was still unconscious. The young man would be mortified if he were awake.

By the time the medical team were done, Reid had been pumped full of antibiotics and pain killers. They'd washed him up, patched everything that needed patching and wrapped him in one of those silly white hospital gowns. Morgan made a mental note to find the kid some real pyjamas ASAP. He wanted to decrease the discomfort of his associate as much as possible. Leaving Reid lying on his side, the team transferred him to a gurney and sent him up to a private room where he would be observed while he came around.

"You'll have to wait here until we get him settled," the head nurse said, gently placing a hand on Morgan's chest as he tried to follow Reid out of the room.

"I'm not leaving him alone," Morgan responded angrily. He knew the woman was just doing her job but he needed to be with Reid, to make sure no more harm was done to him in his helpless state.

"I understand but you won't be allowed in the room until he is settled," the nurse persisted.

"I've all ready seen everything that's been done to him," Morgan said as he tried to skirt around the woman to follow the gurney. "There's nothing else you can do to him that will shock me."

"We need to put a catheter in him and other things that he wouldn't appreciate anyone else seeing. I know you're worried about him. You have every reason to be but please, let us do our jobs. You can stand in the doorway until we are finished if you're worried about someone else coming in," the nurse stated.

The longer they argued, the further away Reid was getting. Desperate, Morgan gave in. "All right, lead the way."