Thank you, thank you, and thank you for the reviews. I admit I've become a bit of a review junky, the more reviews I get the faster I seem to write. Not that I don't write if I don't get reviews. Well, that doesn't make a lot of sense. Must be getting late (hangs head and shuffles off to bed). ;)

I hope you enjoy the next chapter!

Susanne

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

"This isn't your fault," Rossi said to Dave. The two men were standing outside the cabin while Morgan and Sheriff Hicks did a more thorough search of the building.

"I should have waited," Dave said. Shame had finally stopped burning in his stomach and mind but he still felt like crap. He'd made things that much harder.

"People can spend a great deal of their lives worrying about the 'should haves'. Let's deal in the here and now. Now we need to find a way to get down there," Rossi tried to reassure the younger man. He chose to not add 'before Mary kills everyone below'. Somehow he figured that wasn't going to help with the man's guilt.

"Sure, man, whatever you say," Dave said. He wasn't comfortable talking about feelings, especially with a man he barely knew. "What the hell are they looking for?"

"A way in that doesn't involve the trap door. They've all ready pulled up a section of the floor but the ground is too hard to dig in with what tools we have," Dave stated. He understood why Dave had chosen to change the subject and chose to allow him.

"You know? When I was over in that direction, I heard voices. I didn't get a chance to explore it much but there might be a tunnel or something over there," Dave said, his dull eyes suddenly taking a livelier lustre.

"Show me," Rossi said.

OOOOO

"So, what are we going to do to pass the time?" Mary purred. She still held the gun in one hand and was advancing toward Hotch.

For his part, Hotch carefully lifted Reid's head off of his leg and shuffled sideways. He wanted to get as far away from the young profiler as possible. The last thing Reid needed at the moment was another injury. Besides, he needed to have a little elbow room. "What were you shooting at, Mary?" he asked.

"Rats," Mary responded. "They're going to play with you later on."

"I don't believe you. Are my people outside? Is that what you were shooting at?" Hotch pressed. He was hoping to either distract her or push her all the way around the bend.

"Well, I'd hope your people would wear better shoes," Mary stated. She was standing one foot in front of Hotch's feet. He'd tried to get up to his feet but had again been unsuccessful. There had simply been too much damage done to his body. The loss of blood from the bullet wound certainly didn't help.

"Lie down," Mary ordered. To emphasis she waved the gun in the direction she wanted him to go, away from Reid. She was still trying to decide what to do with the man. This was going to be her last chance.

"No," Aaron said. He was tired to letting Mary push him around, doing things to him that he'd never let anyone do before. Now that Reid as at least relatively safe, he was ready to take a stand. Well, a stand from a sitting position anyway.

"Oh, you're being feisty. I like feisty," Mary responded. She took another step closer, putting her in range of Aaron's feet. She had the gun up and aimed at his chest. Absently she considered just pulling the trigger. The honest truth was that she'd never killed anyone before and she wasn't sure she wanted to start now.

Growling to himself, Aaron managed to get up to his hand and knees for a whole three seconds. Laughing, Mary brought her foot back and kicked in him the left side. Hotch collapsed onto his stomach. His breath rushed out of his body in a whoosh. Sparks of light flickered before his eyes as the Unit Chief desperately tried to draw air into his oxygen starved lungs.

Mary caught hold of Aaron's injured shoulder and roughly rolled him over onto his back. With a flourish she pulled the blanket that he'd used as cover off and threw it as far away as she could. Smiling, she looked down on Aaron's naked, heaving form. He truly was beautiful. But not for long.

Stepping up to Hotch's side, Mary pulled the bandages off his shoulder. The man's dark eyes were focused on her, watching her every move while he continued to try to recover. Still smiling, Mary ran her hand from his chest to below his hips. She revelled in the sensation of his skin and his other parts. No wonder men never had sex with her more than once. She enjoyed the feel just a little too much. All ready welts with spots of blood were appearing under her fingers. The fact that she dug her finger nails into Aaron's flesh thrilled her.

Ignoring the pain now that Hotch had managed a whole five breaths, the Unit Chief brought his good arm up and struck the woman in the throat. He was trying to crush her larynx but his aim was a little off and he didn't have much strength behind the blow. Mary was caught completely unprepared. Gagging, she rolled away from Hotch and tried to not throw up.

Before Mary had a chance to recover from the blow, a loud voice boomed from above. "This is Special Agent Derek Morgan. We have you surrounded. Come outside with your hands up in the air."

"Well, that's rather cliché, don't you think?" Mary gasped as she turned to face Hotch. "Let's give them something else to think about."

Not bothering to warn the dark haired man, Mary moved toward Hotch, rolled him over onto his back and dug her fingers into the exit wound.

The pain was beyond anything he'd experience so far. A scream was ripped from Hotch's throat as he writhed on the ground. Mary dug her fingers in a little deeper, producing a longer scream from the man.

"How does that feel?" Mary asked. She was leaning over Hotch's back, her fingers slick with his blood, whispering in his ear.

Another scream was the only answer Hotch was about to produce as Mary's fingers probed and dug.

OOOOO

Rossi and Dave were standing in the clearing where the young bounty hunter had heard the voices. A closer examination of the area didn't uncover where the sounds had come from. Then Hotch screamed. The sound of his friend's torment sent a chill through Rossi's spine. The older man was rooted to the spot. But Dave continued looking over the place.

"Here," Dave said. He'd located the epicentre of the sound. It was in a rocky area of the clearing. There was no obvious hole but Hotch's screaming could be plainly heard.

Tearing his mind away from his friend's torment, Rossi joined Dave to stare at the rocks. Aaron's screams were even harder to listen to here because they came through so clear. Unshed tears tried to blur Rossi's vision while he began moving the rocks aside. Maybe they were hiding something.

Three layers of rocks later, the two men had uncovered a narrow tube that was sticking up in the dirt. It was three times the size of the average straw. It was too small to see through but wide enough to hear perfectly.

"Had enough?" a female voice asked just loud enough to be heard over Hotch. He'd stopped screaming but was moaning and panting in the after effects of Mary's attention.

"That's the bartender from the bar, Mary," Dave breathed. If it were humanly possible he'd reach through the tube and strangle the woman. "Where's Jared?"

"Just because we can't hear him doesn't mean he isn't there," Rossi tried to reassure the younger man. They were speaking in whispers, just in case the sound moved both ways. "I'm going to go get the sheriff. You stay here."

"Sure thing," Dave replied. He knelt down beside the tube staring at it as if he could see through it to the underground tunnels below.

OOOOO

"Can we dig without Mary hearing us?" Sheriff Hicks asked. Rossi had filled him and Morgan in on what Dave had found. Morgan continued to speak through the megaphone. He was trying to keep Mary occupied or at least intimidated while they came up with a plan. It was better than sitting around waiting for something to happen.

"We can't see any light through the tube so it must make at least one turn. If we can dig without getting too close to it we would be able to get into the room Mary and Hotch are in," Rossi said. It wasn't a great plan but it was better than trying to break in the trap door, especially since they found it had a lining of steel between the layers of wood. Whoever had built this place didn't want to take a chance of anyone dropping in unannounced.

"It's worth a try," Hicks stated. He got on the radio and ordered more men to the area along with any digging tools they could find.

OOOOO

Images, feelings and sounds were flashing through Reid's mind. Things he didn't want to see, hear or feel. Pain permeated everything, even his dreams. His perceptions in the dreams were skewed. Objects were out of focus or not the right size or dimension. Was he drugged again? Reid was desperate. That was the last thing he needed. The dreams were bad enough.

Earlier Reid could have sworn that Hotch was nearby, watching over him. Now, though, he was alone, lying under a blanket, completely naked. The memories were trying to surface, to tell him how he came to be here and in such pain but he shoved them away. He wasn't sure he was ready to deal with them yet. Not before the pain was gone. Not before he had clothes on.

Reid hated being naked. His clothes were a physical shield against the outside world. Without them he felt vulnerable and young. That was another thing Reid hated, feeling young. Pain would be a close third. Where was Hotch?

Reid tried to open his eyes but they refused to cooperate. He was forced to lie exactly as he was because it was the position that caused the least amount of pain. Dimly he could hear voices. One was Hotch, the other was the bartender. The woman that whispered horrible things in his ear while she... No, he wasn't going to think about that. He tried to move his hand, his finger with no response at all. It was like he was trapped inside his own body.

Then Hotch started screaming. To escape the awful sound, Reid escaped back into his mind. He couldn't help Hotch, he couldn't help himself. Reid was completely helpless and he hated that too. Then his finger moved.