Reid left the prison utterly disturbed, agents Lee and Jensen flanking him on either side. He noticed that the other agents were looking surreptitiously around the parking lot, but at the moment, Reid was just too exhausted to care. This visit hadn't been a pleasant experience. Not that much that had happed this last week had been pleasant. As so often his thoughts went to his missing teammates. Was he doing all he could for them? What was he missing?

The visit with Garcia had been disconcerting, to say the least. He didn't know if he was strong enough or experienced enough to be the only one on her side, her sole defender. Not that he had any hesitations, he would be there for her no matter what, but he could already feel himself stretched too thin. The events of the last couple of days were pulling him in every direction, and in every direction he only met more resistance.

Agent Lee opened the back door of their SUV for Reid, ushered him in over the bench and climbed in behind him, while Jensen got into the driver's seat. Jensen and Lee did try for some light conversation, but Reid mostly tuned them out. He sat staring out the window, mulling darkly over Garcia's dejected attitude.

Jensen turned the key in the ignition, but the engine only sputtered. She frowned at the sound.

"What's wrong?" Lee asked, leaning over into the front seat.

"I don't know," Jensen said, trying again. "It worked fine on the way here."

"I don't like this," Lee said. "In movies, this is always when…"

Lee and Jensen looked at each other, Jensen's eyes big. "Let's get out of here."

Jensen already had her hand on the door handle. Not having paid much attention to their conversation, Reid was a little slow on the uptake, but Lee had already leaned over him and popped open his door. Luckily none of them had put on their seatbelts yet. "Let's go, let's go, let's go," he chanted, pushing at Reid to get out.

Reid stumbled out of the car, Lee's hand insistent on his back as he urged him further and further away from the car. Jensen rushed the other way. They still hoped that it was just a false alarm, that it was just a problem with the car, but they weren't taking any chances.

And then the explosion rocked the air. The deafening sound reached Reid's ears a mere fraction of a second before the full force of Lee's body slammed into his back with the speed of a freight train. The concussion wave sent them both crashing to the ground. Reid landed hard and Lee landed even harder on top of him, knocking every ounce of breath out of him. Metal, glass and fire rained down on them, hot and heavy, but Lee's body sheltered Reid from most of the debris.

Reid felt like he was trapped in a vacuum for an eternity, but once he regained his senses, he realized that not even a minute had passed. Chaos still reigned around him, burning hot and loud. "Lee?" he wheezed arduously. "Lee? You okay?"

There was no answer and the heavy body on top of him didn't move. Something smashed into the pavement beside him, making him flinch as sparks and embers filled his line of sight.

"Lee!" Reid called louder, finding his voice again. He put a shaky hand on the ground and tried to push up to dislodge the heavy bulk, but Lee was a dead weight pressing down on him. The only reward for his efforts was a limp arm that slid off his shoulder and thumped onto the ground, lying palm up, its fingers curled into the hand. Reid stared at the hand and at the blood rapidly running down the arm and pooling in the upturned appendage, forming a rising lake that inevitably ran over, slowly trickling onto the ground. Reid had to force himself to tear his eyes away from the ever increasing tendrils running towards him. Worry and shock gave way to panic and fear, and he started a forward motion as he tried to slither out from underneath his human shield. "Lee?" he tried again.

Suddenly someone grabbed his wrists and pulled hard. Reid cried out in pain as he felt something snap in his left wrist, but the effort was working and he was slowly being pulled out from underneath Lee's protective embrace. When his body was free from his prison he looked up, expecting to see a worried face, prepared to thank his helper. Instead he saw a black balaclava, pulled up above the nose and a pair of cold eyes met his. Instantly he tried to pull away from the death grip on his wrists, but a second masked man came up from the side and grabbed him underneath the arms. Together they pulled Reid up on his knees and then they each grabbed one of his arms, pulled him the rest of the way up and started dragging him across the parking lot.

"No, let me go," Reid protested. "Lee!" He dug his heels in and struggled with all his might. Looking back over his shoulder he saw the other agent lying on his stomach and Reid's knees buckled at the sight. A large piece of metal was protruding from Lee's back, too large not to be fatal. His jacket was saturated in blood, and his sightless eyes were staring at Reid. No one had to tell him what that meant.

"No," Reid breathed, and then he started to struggle harder, his instinct telling him to go back to his fallen comrade. His captors, however, weren't giving an inch. Reid was taller than both of them, but they easily out-muscled him. Half-dragging, half-carrying Reid, they jogged towards their own car, which wasn't an SUV, but an old, red, beaten up Ford. They weren't hindered the slightest by their struggling burden.

"Lee," Reid called, shouted, screamed. "Lee!" He managed to pull away from one of the men holding him and was rewarded with a resounding blow across his cheek that blurred his vision and sent him stumbling into his other captor, who shoved him away again. The first man's hands were back around his bicep and they were dragging him again. Disoriented Reid stumbled with them, not knowing which way he was going.

The gunshots surprised all of them, but perhaps Reid the most. The shock of the explosion and seeing Lee had made him forget about Jensen. She was crouched behind a car a few feet away, firing above their heads so she wouldn't accidentally hit Reid. One of the men immediately let go of Reid and pulled his gun, while the other started pushing Reid even more forcefully towards the car, which was only three feet away.

More shots suddenly came from another direction. The man and Reid both turned towards the shots and saw several prison guards that had been alerted by the explosion and were now rushing in to lend back up. The momentary confusion served Reid well. As the kidnappers ducked to avoid the bullets, Reid managed to tear away, ripping apart the seams in his jacket in the process. He ran towards the guards, hunched over to get out of the line of fire and it wasn't until he was behind them he turned and pulled his own gun. But the kidnappers were gone. They had jumped into the car and sped away, leaving behind a line of burnt rubber. The prison guards had lowered their guns, one of them requesting back up and roadblocks over his radio. Jensen, however, was still firing furiously as she ran after the car. The back window shattered, and then the car was out of firing range. Jensen stopped, screaming in frustration, before turning around, looking towards Lee's body. Reid turned too and swallowed hard. This shouldn't have happened.

"Hey, kid, are you okay?"

Reid turned to the prison guard talking to him and nodded mutely in response and then started walking towards Lee. The guard let him go.

The blackened, twisted skeleton that had once been a car was still burning hotly in the parking lot, fire rising high, smoke rising higher. The wreck screamed and groaned in the oppressive heat, the metal twisting in on itself, glass and rubber melting. A deformed and charred door lay on the ground, rocking lightly in the heat waves the car emitted. Reid almost tripped over it as he hurried back over the parking lot.

Reid reached Lee before Jensen did and clumsily fell to his knees on the ground next to him. He reached out, letting his fingers touch the neck, knowing full well that he wouldn't detect even the faintest flutter underneath his trembling fingertips, but he had to check anyway. The skin was still warm to touch and he realized that hardly any time at all had passed. Blood still ran freely from the wound on Lee's back.

Jensen reached them and stood behind Reid. She tentatively touched his shoulder and he looked up at her.

"Are you okay?" she asked, but her eyes weren't focused on him.

"Yeah," he said, his voice sounding muted in his own ears. "You?" She had soot on her face, an ugly burn on the back of one hand and her coat was singed, but other than that she looked unharmed.

"I-" Her voice broke and she took a moment, her lips pressed hard together. "Yeah, I'm okay. The, uh, the EMTs are on the way. It's… Oh, god, I can't believe this. Reid, are you sure you're okay."

"As much as I can be." Reid stood up and took two steps back. "I'm sorry."

"Not your fault," Jensen said quickly.

"No, yeah, I… uh… I- I didn't mean that." Oh god, he hadn't even thought about that. "I'm- I'm sorry for your loss. I liked Lee. He was a good agent."

"Yes, he was," Jensen agreed. "He was a good partner. He didn't deserve this."

"No one ever does."

The next time the door opened, the bound agents steeled themselves for whatever their kidnappers had in store for them. But half a minute later the door was shut again.

"Uh, guys?" Prentiss said. "The guy just cut me loose."

"Then what are you waiting for, girl?" Morgan asked. "Help us."

There was a rustling sound as Prentiss took off her hood, then "Yes!"

"What?" Hotchner asked.

"Reid's not here," Prentiss said and they could all hear the smile in her voice.

Morgan grinned widely under his hood. "Way to go, Reid," he whooped.

JJ raised her head. "Hey, do I smell hamburgers?"

TBC…