A.N.: I apologize for updating this relatively late. My computer stopped working and I had to look for an unoccupied one every time I wanted to write. And my brothers don't like very much when I'm sitting in front of theirs for hours... but well it's a challenge:)

Thanks to paper creations, 1111littlem, SpyingBirdsagain, Keira15, rinswan, myers1978, cyn23, the-vampire-act, Calantha Iolanthe and ColoradoKiki2007 for reviewing and to REIDFANATIC for beta-reading!

Chapter 24: Welcome to Madison

It was a dark and ugly winter evening as Sally Finnegan drove home after a long day. She'd spent almost her entire day at a business conference, and although they'd served quite a hearty meal, she was tired and she wanted to get home to her family as soon as possible.

Night had fallen early, one of the things she hated most about winter. It made her feel that days were passing quickly, too quickly for her to have time for her beloved ones. She had two children, a twelve-year-old boy and a seven-year-old girl and a handsome husband. She loved them more than anything in her life.

About half an hour ago it had started snowing so she'd taken her pace back a bit. She was a very careful person and knew that one could easily be involved in an accident when driving too fast on a slippery road.

But she just couldn't resist it. She had promised to call her husband after the conference was over but she'd wanted to surprise them when she arrived. After a long debate with herself, she reached for her cell phone and pulled it out of her bag.

"Hi, Tom... Yeah, it's me. It's over; I'm on my way home. I know honey, I'm sorry. I'll be there in about half an hour… Okay, okay, bye!"

Relieved, she put the phone back into her bag on the passenger seat. When she turned her gaze back to the road, she felt her blood run cold. There was someone standing on the road. She pushed the brake with full force, the car slowed down, the tires screeching, but not fast enough. The person in white clothes in front of her raised his hands, as if trying to protect himself, and a half second before the impact Sally noticed some strange thing hanging from one of his wrists. Was that a shackle?

Fortunately, thanks to the lowered speed she hadn't hit him too roughly, only seemed to knock him over. Heart beating wildly in her chest, she got out of the car and hurried to the front. There she saw him lying just a couple of yards away. He was obviously not unconscious, only stunned a bit, as he was moving his head and legs. He was also shaking from the cold. As Sally approached him in fear that he might be seriously injured, she had to admit that this kid was the strangest person she'd ever seen. His longish brown hair was messy, he wore a white robe which was unmistakably hospital issue. There were handcuffs on his left wrist and both of his hands were bandaged. His face seemed young, even despite the slight bristle. Sally wouldn't have estimated his age more than twenty-five.

When Reid opened his eyes, the brightness was still there. For a brief moment the inane thought that he'd gone to heaven crossed his mind but a little after that he realized it wasn't very probable, unless there were rough and cold asphalt roads in heaven too.

His whole body felt stiff but as he turned his head to the side to spy the source of the white light, pain exploded in it and he had to close his eyes against the brightness. He'd managed to hit his head right on the spot where he'd hit it before while falling off the couch, and it was killing him now. Groaning, he tried to turn to his side in order to get up or at least sit, but just then he heard a female voice.

"Hey, don't move, don't move your neck," she said in a very anxious tone, and Reid felt soft hands touching his neck and holding it in place. As he opened his eyes, a woman's face appeared in his blurry vision. She had the same anxiety on her face that her voice betrayed. Glancing sideways, Reid discovered that he was lying in front of a standing car with its headlights on. Slowly he started to understand what had happened.

"Can you talk to me?" The woman asked. "Please, say something!"

"'tsokay," Reid managed to mumble and he tried to move again. His knee hurt, but other than that, he couldn't feel any new pain yet.

"Okay, now listen to me," she continued, "I'm going to call an ambulance. I'll just get my phone from the car. You stay here and don't move, okay?"

"No," Reid groaned, then coughed, "please." His hand grabbed the woman's. "Don't go away."

"I won't leave you here, sweetie, I just have to grab my cell, it's in there…"

"Take me to a hospital, please!"

"You're gonna get to a hospital, I promise," the woman almost begged. "I'll just call the ambulance. You need medical attention."

Reid was struggling. He had to talk this woman into letting him get into her car. "You don't understand," he said, "someone's chasing me, a lunatic. He wants to kill me. It takes minutes for the ambulance to arrive. I don't have that much time…"

Sally was still unsure. "You could be hurt. What if you have a spinal injury? You shouldn't move or you may cause more damage!"

"I'm not hurt that much," Reid hurried to calm her. "I think I can get up. I'm freezing here. Could you please help me?"

Sally couldn't say no to him. The young agent slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position, wincing from the pain that exploded in his ribs. He wondered if the impact had added some broken bones to his other injuries. With Sally's help he was soon on his feet, realizing that he was barely able to stand. His knee hurt more than ever and his bleeding feet felt like they were on fire.

"Careful," Sally said as she helped him sit in the passenger seat.

"Can I borrow your phone?" Reid asked as soon as he was placed somewhat comfortably on the seat. "I have to make an important call."

"Of course."

Reid dialed the same number as last time. The number he'd never forget; even if he forgot everything else, this number would be burned in his mind forever.

"Hotchner."

"Hotch, it's me again," he said tiredly but couldn't suppress a smile.

"Reid, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm safe. I'm on my way to the hospital."

"Where?"

"Wait a minute," Reid turned to the woman, "um, I'm sorry but could you tell me where we are?"

"On road 38, south of Madison. We're heading there now."

"Okay, thanks, so it's Madison, I'll be there soon," Reid said in the phone.

"We're on our way."

"Hotch, wait, you can get Hanson. He has a place in the forest, um, west of the road I'm on. He had been chasing me but now he'll probably go back to gather his belongings. You have to hurry."

"I"ll call Garcia."

"Thanks Hotch. See you soon."

Once finished with all duties, Reid closed his eyes and leaned his head back. For the first time in days he felt really safe.

"You okay?" Sally asked as she threw a glance at him.

"Yeah," he murmured. The truth was that he felt extremely dizzy and if he wasn't sitting, he would have collapsed. Various parts of his body ached with more or less intensity, but it didn't matter now. Help was on the way or rather, he was on his way to help.

"Don't go to sleep," Sally's voice broke the silence again. "Your head is injured. I bet that's a long story you have. How about telling me? What are those handcuffs supposed to mean, for example?"

Reid grinned. "I know, I must look scary, but don't worry, I haven't escaped from a prison or anything."

"I hope so, because you really are an interesting phenomenon," Sally smiled too. "You were talking about a lunatic but at first I thought you were delirious, or even that the lunatic was actually you."

"No, um, well I'm actually a federal agent," he explained. "I work for the FBI."

"Really?" There was a hint of doubt in her voice; as if she wasn't really sure that the trauma had left the kid's sanity unharmed.

"Yeah, I know I probably don't look very much like that," Reid continued, smiling. "We were working on a case, and um, I was kidnapped. The guy who took me didn't give me any other clothes, and he used these handcuffs to prevent me from escaping."

"You can't be serious," Sally smiled. "How did you manage to get away then?"

"I..." Reid started but he didn't finish the sentence as a wave of dizziness swept over him.

"You...?" She asked, waiting, but she didn't get an answer. "What's wrong?"

Reid closed his eyes against the dizziness that he tried to fight down unsuccessfully. For a moment he thought that he would just pass out. His breathing got faster and cold sweat broke out on his forehead. When he opened his eyes again, everything was blurry and he couldn't seem to focus on anything. "I..." He tried to continue but he just couldn't remember what he'd been about to say, no matter how hard he tried.

"Are you alright?" Distantly he heard Sally's voice.

"I don't... feel so good," he managed to say with ragged breathing.

"Hold on," she told him, "it's not much longer. Keep talking to me"

"Am I about to go into shock?" Reid asked, dazed, his voice barely above a whisper.

"How on earth would I know?" Sally broke out. "We should have waited for the ambulance."

"No," Reid breathed, "he would have found me. He would have killed me. Don' wanna go back there."

Sally could tell from his gibberish talk that he'd started losing it. She stepped on the gas pedal with a bit more force; although she was a very careful person she knew that the kid needed help and fast.

"Okay, calm down, you're not going anywhere and no one's going to kill you. Do you hear me? Say if you do."

"Mm," was Reid's only answer.

Dammit, Sally thought. It really wasn't too far now. Five minutes, maybe ten. Hold on.

Buildings and street lights started appearing just as the car passed the big white sign that read Welcome to Madison.

Well all I can say there really isn't too much left... keep reading & reviewing!:)