Hello!! See, I didn't forget about this version. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of action in this chapter. I have to get them healthy enough for the next part of the story. Please stay with me!!

Thank you for all the reviews!! I'm glad readers think this version is worth doing as well. I know I'm looking forward to delving into Hotch and Reid's psyches. Here's hoping I can keep it believable!!

Susanne

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

It was a much larger hospital than last time. Sheriff Hicks had learned from the last experience of multiple casualties and sent them to the nearest multi-doctor hospital. It also meant he didn't have so far to go. He wouldn't have looked forward to the long drive, being anxious about the agents, Rachel and Deputy Cullen. He'd made another cruiser come, bearing Doug. He didn't want to be any closer to the man than absolutely necessary.

Behind him, in one of the SUV's were the three female agents. They would leave the scene inventory to the CSI's. At the moment their main concern was for their friends. Hicks didn't blame them. He would have driven them himself but Emily had refused. She didn't want to get stuck in some hick town without a way of getting around.

Pulling into the parking lot, Hicks picked the nearest empty parking spot and parked. He waited for the three women by the front doors. It was getting dark. Glancing at the sky, Hicks realized why. A storm was blowing in from the west. The sky was black in that direction. It explained why it was dark this early in the day. As he watched, lightning flashed across the sky, jumping from cloud to cloud. It took several seconds before the thunder rumbled in the distance.

"Do you know where they are?" Emily asked as she, J.J. and Garcia came up to the doors. She glanced in the direction the sheriff was staring, almost expecting an attack. She saw nothing that concerned her so she looked back at the man in front of her.

"They're still in Emergency. Follow me," Hicks stated as he tore his eyes off the sky. He loved a good storm but now wasn't the time. Turning, he headed inside. Roy had kept him in the loop during the trip in. The hospital foyer was the same as any other one he'd ever walked into. Heading to the left, he walked past the reception desk, intent on entering the ER. The receptionist looked up, debating whether to challenge him and his friends but upon seeing the determination on their faces and the uniform the sheriff was wearing she changed her mind. Obviously they knew where they were going.

Striding up to the doors, Hicks barely gave them time to open before he slipped through. Unlike the calm of the reception area, once they were beyond the doors pandemonium reined. The nurses, orderlies and doctors knew what they were doing but from an outside observer it looked like mayhem.

Four rooms were set up. To Hicks left he could see Deputy Cullen lying down on a bed looking nonplussed. He didn't want to be there but he was following orders. His brown eyes caught sight of his boss, relief spread through his face. With a slight wave of a hand, Jack indicated he was all right. Jack was in the room by himself. The workers were satisfied he was stable and now in immediate danger so they'd turned their attention to the other victims.

The next room held Rachel. The ER workers had all ready put in an IV line, catheter and taken x-rays to determine the extent of her head injuries. As a precaution, they'd also taken full skeletal x-rays to make sure that she didn't have any broken bones. With the number of bruises, cuts, etc on her body, they weren't taking any chances.

The room across the hall from Rachel held Hotch. He too had lines coming out of various parts of his body. There were more people in the room, each responsible for dealing with a specific injury. Hotch was awake and aware but trying desperately not to be. The catheter had been particularly traumatic but necessary. If the swelling became too bad, he wouldn't be able to eliminate wastes on his own. He could still feel it, it felt like it was the size of a garden hose, but it was the least of his problems.

"Where's Reid?" Hotch asked the nurse hovering over his right shoulder. Around him people were barking orders, calling out stats and otherwise doing their jobs. He felt incredibly vulnerable lying here naked with all these people around him. While he knew it was necessary, it didn't quite feel right.

"The other agent?" the nurse asked. Getting a slight nod from Hotch, she continued. "He's in the next room. They're doing everything they can for him. From what I understand he's stable and not in mortal danger."

While not really answering his question, Hotch took solace in the fact that Reid was not going to die. He hadn't thought it was a possibility but having it confirmed made him realize just how close the two of them had come. Images of what they had survived began flooding Aaron's mind. The doctors were instantly concerned as his heart rate spiked.

"Agent Hotchner, are you all right?" the nurse asked as she placed her fingers on the side of his neck.

"Yes," Hotch managed, pushing the memories away. Now was not the time to try to deal with them. The last thing he wanted was to be kept here longer because they thought there was something more wrong with him. "I'm fine."

Breathing deeply, Hotch got his heart rate back under control. Just in time for one of the doctors to turn his attention to his genitals. It took every ounce of self control he had to keep Hotch from jumping off the table and throttling the man.

At the same time, another medic began abrading the wound on his side. While it was important to get it as clean as possible, Hotch desperately wished they'd taken the time to give him something for the pain first. As well, another person had begun swabbing at the brand. The pain was beyond anything he'd experienced so far. Giving in to the darkness that was threatening the corners of his vision, Hotch passed out. Rossi stepped in from the corner of the room. Now that Hotch wasn't able to protect himself any more, he was going to watch over everything done to him.

Moving over to the next room, Hicks spied Reid lying on top of the table. The boy looked absolutely miserable as he too was poked and prodded. There were various lines attached to his body as well. From his position at the door, Hicks could hear Reid asking one question after another. Most of them involved the status of his boss and Rachel but others were random facts that he kept spouting out. Standing off to the side, Morgan had his arms crossed over his chest and was watching everything. God help the person who did something wrong. Grinning, Hicks stepped back over to where Jack was waiting.

Garcia and J.J. moved into the room with Reid while Emily went over to stand by Rossi. They were very careful not to look at their associates' naked bodies but they wanted to be there for them.

"How's he doing?" Emily asked as she looked down at Hotch's pale face. The pallor of his skin made the bruises on it stand out all the more. The very sight of them brought tears to her eyes. Quickly, she wiped them away. Hotch and Reid were going to need them to be strong. So, hopefully, they won't have to be until they're ready.

"He's stable. Other than that I'm not really sure yet," Rossi admitted. He was still hovering at the end of the bed, watching. He hated to admit it but having the woman here was making him a little uncomfortable. He knew Hotch would be mortified.

"It's okay. I'm not looking," Emily stated. She'd picked up on Rossi's unease immediately. She just felt the need to be nearby. Just in case.

"I didn't think you would," Rossi replied, a small smile on his lips. Emily was nothing if not professional.

"You might want to ask J.J. to make arrangements for hotel rooms. I don't think any of us are going to be willing to leave until Hotch and Reid can go with us," Rossi stated. He for one, planned on staying at the hospital.

"Good idea," Emily said as she stepped out of the room. Rossi was right, they all needed to be ready to spend several days here if necessary. While their superiors might not appreciate it, the team was down two members and wouldn't be able to go out in the field anyway.

Walking into Reid's room, Emily hid a smile. Reid was still talking virtually nonstop. He was so uncomfortable it was contagious. The hospital staff, though, simply chose to ignore him. Taking J.J. by the elbow, the two women left the room.

OOOOO

"How is Rachel?" Deputy Cullen asked. He and Hicks had been sitting quietly in the hospital room. Jack was hoping that the next staff member who came in would tell him he could leave. He knew he had a concussion, his disorientation while trying to find the house proved that, but he wanted to get out of the bed. He hated hospitals with a passion.

"I'm not sure. The doctors are still working on her," Hicks stated.

"I was just a few feet away when Doug was raping her," Jack said as he studied his finger nails.

"It wasn't your fault. I saw the chains in the crawl space. There was nothing you could do to stop it," Hicks tried to reassure his deputy and friend. He'd also seen the marks in the filth on the ground. The woman hadn't gone down gently.

"I heard everything. Then she dragged herself over to me and set me free. God, I hope she makes it," Jack breathed. A disturbance at the end of the hall drew both men's attention. Doug had arrived and had decided to stop being cooperative.

"It's not your fault," Hicks repeated before leaving the room. Stepping outside, he saw two of his men struggling with Doug. "Keep it up. I'd love an excuse to shoot you."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Doug responded. Instantly he stopped fighting. He didn't want to make matters any worse for himself. Glancing around, he saw the two female agents speaking outside one of the rooms. Damn but they were pretty. Too bad it hadn't been one of them instead of Rachel. He would have given into the impulse a lot sooner and had a good deal more fun.

Walking over to a room closer to the beginning of the hall, Hicks peered inside. Seeing that it was empty he indicated to his men to put the man inside. "Keep him under control by any means necessary," Hicks stated as he moved away. Shooting the man would feel awfully damned good. But he wasn't sure he wanted to take the satisfaction from any one of the FBI agents. They had a lot more reason than he did.

"Sheriff Hicks?" a man in blue scrubs called from the end of the hallway. It should have been pretty obvious which of them was the sheriff but Hicks stepped forward anyway.

"That would be me," Hicks stated as he quickly covered the distance. "How are they?"

"Well, there's a long list of injuries on all three of them. You know that the female has been raped?" the doctor stated. Getting a nod of affirmation from Hicks, he continued. "We've taken the standard rape kit as well as pictures of all her injuries. The head injury was cumulative in nature. There shouldn't be any permanent damage, we expect her to wake up any time now.

"We took pictures of all the injuries on Agent Hotchner before we began treating him. None of his wounds was life threatening but if the gunshot wound on his side had been left much longer he would have had to deal with infection as well. The brand on his hip will probably need a skin graft to remove it completely but that will be up to him. He had a severe concussion but that appears to be healing on its own. He has taken significant trauma to his genitalia but that too should heal given time. There are wounds on his torso indicative of being beaten with something like a whip or belt. None of them are deep and should heal without scarring. His ankles and wrists are deeply cut by the metal bindings used on him. We've cleaned them and scarring should be minimal.

"Agent Reid has a deep gash on his left thigh. It will require some minor surgery which we're setting up right now. It was kept reasonably clean but we're going to give Agents Hotchner and Reid both a round of antibiotics just in case. There were some minor cuts and bruises that we've dealt with. His wrists and ankles are deeply cut by the bindings as well. Again we took pictures of all his injuries before we started treatment. Luckily none of them were in serious condition so we could do that without risking their lives," the doctor stated. "All three of them were suffering some degree of dehydration and starvation."

Hicks had glanced over at Emily and J.J. The two agents had moved closer so they could hear the prognosis on their friends. Hicks wasn't entirely sure why the doctor had chosen to tell him all of this. It should have been Rossi or Morgan that he informed but it was okay. He needed to know what they were looking at as well so he could figure out what to charge Doug with.

"How's Deputy Cullen?" Hicks asked.

"He has a concussion. We're running a few other tests just to make sure but he should be fine to go home later on tonight," the doctor stated.

"How long are Hotch and Reid going to have to stay here?" Emily asked. It would help if they had some kind of guideline.

"A few days at most. I want to keep them under observation to make sure infection doesn't set in and that no other injuries present themselves," the doctor said. He glanced down at his watch. "If you'll excuse me, the surgery should be set up by now. I'll let you know if anything changes."

"Thank you, doctor," Hicks said. Then he remembered Doug. "I have a detainee in the last room on the left. If someone is available he should be looked at as well. He took a hell of a beating."

The doctor cocked an eye brow at Hicks. "I don't suppose your men had anything to do with that?"

"No. Rachel did it," Hicks answered, a small smile on the corners of his mouth.

"I'll send someone out as soon as I can. Take a seat, it could be a while," the doctor said as he headed back into Reid's room.

"Now comes the fun part," Hicks stated. "Waiting."