AN: Sorry about the delay. Real life got in the way for both me and my beta. As it is, I had a friend look this over for typos before posting (you know who you are and thanks!) but it wasn't beta'd by the friend whose been doing the last couple of chapters. Still, I wanted to get it up for you all. I do appreciate your support. As for next weeks update - no promises. We'll have to see what Irene says about that.

SSA Jason Gideon pulled into the parking spot outside of their hotel. It was with a mixture of both relief and disappointment that he pulled the key out of the ignition. He was relieved that this case was finally over. They had caught the UnSub and got one more dangerous person off the street. The Alabama State Police had thanked them for their help and said that they could handle things from this point on. Given the UnSub's reluctance to talk and the delusional nature of his statements when he had, Gideon didn't envy them that task. The BAU unit chief also had a feeling that the guy was heading for a mental facility and not jail, which given the number of people he had killed and the close call with Agent Reid, didn't sit well with the federal agent. Other than provide whatever testimony was requested when the case went to trial though, that decision was out of his hands.

As both Gideon and Nichols reached for the door handles, Hudson pulled the second SUV into the parking space next to them. The three federal agents climbed from the vehicles and head toward the entrance of the hotel. Given the lateness of the night, and the update from Morgan that Reid was being held for observational purposes, Gideon had decided not to head to the hospital. Not only was he sure the hospital staff wouldn't want the hassle of three more FBI agents hanging around but he knew that Reid would need his rest. It would be better for the three of them to drop in on their teammate at a more reasonable hour. Not to mention, glancing at the two agents he was walking with, Hudson and Nichols needed some rest themselves - the physical and emotional toll of this case showing in their posture and on their faces.

~We're all going to need some recovery time after this one,~ Gideon contemplated, as they walked. As much as he wanted to leave Alabama he also wondered if he shouldn't delay them returning home. As long as they were still down here, his team would have a bit of a break from the responsibilities of the job, though no decision could really be made until he knew when Reid would be released from the hospital at least one of them was going to have to stay behind with him. ~And if it's going to be a short hospital stay, I can justify keeping us all down here until he's ready to come back with us,~ Gideon said as the sound of a car pulling into the parking lot drew his attention.

Given the time of night, there wasn't much activity in the hotel parking lot, and all three federal agents looked to see the dark sedan pull into an empty parking place. As they stood watching it, two familiar forms emerged from the vehicle - Hotch and Morgan. At the sight of their teammates, Nichols, Gideon and Hudson came to a silent agreement to wait for them.

Morgan headed immediately in their direction, while Hotch paused only momentarily to grab his bags from the backseat of the sedan, on loan from the Alabama Police Department.

"Before you say anything, Reid sent me away," Morgan said, as he neared Gideon's position.

"Did I say anything?" Gideon replied, having anticipated Morgan wanting to stay at the hospital but not requiring it. The senior profiler noted that the dark-skinned agent did not seem happy about the arrangement. "Any word on when they'll release him?"

Morgan shook his head. "The doctor said he'll re-evaluate Reid in the morning and make a decision at that time, though I get the feeling that if they don't release him in the morning Reid is planning on leaving anyway."

"We'll see about that," Nichols commented softly as Hotch joined them.

The other federal agents glanced toward the computer specialist with amused expressions on their faces. From the look on Nichols' face, they all got the distinct impression that if he had anything to do with it, Reid would not be leaving the hospital until the doctor said it was okay.

"How about we all get some rest and we'll see where we stand later this morning?" Gideon told them all. "I'm sure you're all as tired as I am. I'll give you a 'departure time after Reid's doctor has given me an idea of when he'll be discharged."

Feeling too tired to argue, there were nods all around as the group continued into the hotel.

"We'll just share a room tonight," Gideon said to Hotch as the two of them followed Nichols, Morgan and Hudson across the lobby. "There are two beds and there's no reason to get a hotel room for what could turn out to be less than a twelve hour stay."

"You won't get any arguments from me," Hotch replied.

"So how did Reid get the two of you to leave the hospital anyway?" Gideon asked.

"He elicited the help of a nursing assistant believe it or not. It's kind of hard to argue with hospital staff who are asking you to leave because you're disturbing the patient."

Gideon allowed himself a smile. After the last week, it felt good to find something even the tiniest bit amusing.

"Well, he's resourceful. You've got to give him that," Gideon commented as the two reached the elevator and crowded into it with their other teammates. Gideon reached out and punched the button for their floor and the elevator began its ascent.

Hudson headed right for the bathroom upon entering his hotel room. Turning on the cold water, he cupped his hands and splashed the liquid onto his face. It had been a long day and he was feeling it - more emotionally than physically at this point. Sure, he had accepted the fact that he had been a jerk when it came to Spencer Reid, and it wasn't anything that the younger agent had control over. Reid hadn't done anything to him other than annoy him from time-to-time as the young genius couldn't be held responsible for taking a good opportunity when it was offered to him. Who wouldn't?

Hudson had been more than willing to leave things as they were. He had apologized to Nichols and Morgan already. Telling Gideon that he appreciated his patience with the situation wouldn't be hard after the conversation in the café the other day. After much internal debate, Hudson had decided not to go further than that with apologies and simply start treating Reid like he would any other agent in the bureau. He felt that would be enough. Or at least he had thought so until tonight's events. When he thought about how close it had come to Reid being seriously injured, Hudson felt as if the guilt was crushing him. If the UnSub had gotten a chance to swing that mallet . . . well Hudon didn't want to dwell on that too much.

Drying his face with a towel, Hudson was soon walking back out of his room. Walking the short distance to Morgan's room he was knocking on the door. It didn't take long for his teammate to open it.

"What is it?" Morgan asked, in a concerned and perplexed voice. As he wasn't wearing a shirt Hudson assumed he had caught his co-worker in the middle of getting ready for bed.

"Can we talk?"

Morgan looked at Hudson for a moment trying to size up the situation. Deciding that asking his teammate if this could wait until wasn't a wise choice, he opened the door further. "Come on in."

Hudson walked into the room and walked toward the room's desk as Morgan shut the door. Reaching the desk, Hudson leaned against it.

"How is Reid? And don't just give me the doctor's prognosis again."

Morgan looked at Hudson closely, trying to gauge the reason for the question. Given Reid's concern about Hudson talking about him around the office, he was hesitant to answer the question. Morgan took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Before I answer that, we need to discuss something," Morgan said, walking into the room and sitting on the end of one of the beds, facing Hudson. The other agent nodded his consent and waited for Morgan to continue. "What happened out there in the woods, it needs to stay between the three of us. Don't go spreading Reid's reaction out there around the office."

"Of course not. You really think I would do something like that!"

"I honestly don't know what to expect from you when it comes to Reid," Morgan told him. "I know we've talked about the situation, and you said you were going to start treating him better, but well . . .Reid's concerned about what you're going to be spreading around the office when you get back and I need to know you're not going to do that."

"About the only thing I would say to the others is how after going through a very intense situation Reid was able to pull himself together and reason out where the UnSub would go next. Reid's the reason that we caught that guy tonight!"

"That's good to know."

"So, how is he?"

"Physically, pretty banged up but he'll heal from that. Other than that, like I said he's concerned about how people are going to view what things happened. Worried that he didn't handle the situation in the manner an FBI agent would and that it will affect how he fits in with this team. He actually apologized to me for letting himself getting kidnapped."

Hudson shook his head and looked down at the carpet. "Man, I've really screwed up. First I don't even give the guy a chance and now because I didn't want to deal with how he would react to a situation, he's in the hospital, blaming himself for a situation he couldn't control."

"Well, I can't argue with that sentiment," Morgan said. "You know though, it's not too late to change things. To start making Reid feel like he's accepted by every person on this team."

Hudson nodded. "I know. I intend to start doing that, though I'm not sure how."

"You'll figure out a way," Morgan assured him. There was a brief moment of silence between them which was broken by Morgan speaking again. "Was Carrie the only Stephen King movie you've watched?"

"No. Why?"

"Have you seen Misery?" Morgan asked. At Hudson's nod, he continued. "Was the UnSub really intending on breaking . . ."

Morgan let the question trail off not wanting to put it into words.

"Let's just say, that scene got to me the first time I saw it, and I'll never be able to watch it again. How about we leave it at it was a good thing we found Reid when we did."

Morgan nodded as Hudson got to his feet.

"I think we both need to get some sleep. I'll talk to you in the morning," Hudson told him as he started toward the door.

Hudson left Morgan's room but didn't go back to his own room. Instead, he found his feet carrying him toward the elevator, thoughts tumbling in his mind. He knew Morgan had felt responsible for Reid getting taken by the UnSub tonight, which was why he had gone against protocol and gone searching for the younger agent right away. As easy as it would be to let Morgan shoulder all of that responsibility, Hudson knew that he couldn't. After all, it had been his suggestion that they leave Reid at the vehicle. Though he had used Reid's reaction to just the thought of seeing yet another dead body as an excuse, he knew that wasn't the reason. He knew that he just hadn't wanted to deal with Reid at that point. The younger agent had been with them all day and after alienating the rest of his team with his treatment of the younger agent and subsequent apologies, he had been trying to be nicer to the younger agent. Hudson had wanted a break from him and he honestly hadn't thought Reid would be in danger being left at the vehicle. They had all been convinced the young genius was being paranoid with his feeling of being watched.

~Apparently, we're going to have to take Reid's feelings a bit more seriously,~ Hudson thought as he pushed the elevator button for the lobby as the doors closed. He recalled one of the few things the UnSub had told them tonight - that he had been watching their group for the opportunity to strike. ~He realized that we were being watched when the rest of us didn't. He noticed Carmichael coming back to the tailor shop before the rest of us did and whether I want to admit it or not, that drunk who crashed into the crime scene a couple of weeks ago would have hit me if Reid hadn't shouted that warning.~

Hudson sighed. He had been called jealous by three other members of the team and regrettably they were right. He had been jealous though he had fought admitting it to himself. After his struggles to get into the BAU and the lack of support from his father on his career choice in general, the fact that someone else, especially someone so young, was getting in on his first try, hadn't sat well with him. He had wanted Reid to fail from the very beginning. Had been afraid that with Reid on the team, he would soon find himself being transferred out. ~All this time, I thought I was competing with Reid, and the only place that competition really existed was in my own head. This isn't some western. This team is big enough for the both of us.~

Hudson thought over the last few days and the case. They had all contributed to solving it, despite the personal tensions that had been present. Tension that for the most part had been his fault. He had apologized to both Morgan and Nichols but though neither had said it, he knew he still owed an apology to Reid. An apology for not giving him a fair chance. For subconsciously hoping to make things so miserable for the younger agent that he would quit. Coming back and finding Reid gone had made him realize just how much a part of the team the genius had become despite his behavior toward him. Looking at the signs left behind from the struggle that had ensued had made him realize that it wasn't just his intelligence that had gotten Reid to where he was at. Despite his looks, the kid must have paid attention to the physical training portions of the academy. Hudson had also realized that Reid should not have had to face that situation alone. They were supposed to have one another's backs.

It had been that guilt that had spurred him to follow Morgan into the woods in search of their teammate against protocol. They hadn't been there for him, when he had needed them, the least they could do was find him before the UnSub had gotten too far with him. Before the guy had a chance to carry out whatever he had planned for the young agent.

~And we got there just in time. This was one time where Morgan's more reckless approach paid off,~ Hudson admitted. He had reached the SUV he had driven to the hotel. Though he hadn't really consciously thought about doing so, he was feeling drawn to go to the hospital despite Gideon telling them all to get some rest.

As he climbed behind the wheel, Hudson's thoughts went to his altercation with the paramedic. ~I probably could have handled that better,~ Hudson admitted to himself as he recalled the incident. At that moment though, his own guilt for even putting Reid in that situation had overcome his practical thinking. When the medics had gone to secure the younger man to the backboard, Reid had panicked. Given the situation that he and Morgan had stumbled upon, Hudson had thought justifiably so. The medics' first response had been to simply try to sedate him. Granted, he had no medical expertise but it hadn't made sense to Hudson to deal with the panic of being restrained by restraining him in another way. ~When the drug wore off, the situation would have still been the same. I probably shouldn't have pushed the guy out of the way though,~ Hudson admitted, wondering briefly if he was going to have to deal with yet another complaint against him.

~Oh, well. It'll be worth it this time,~ Hudson thought, the sentiment surprising himself.

It wasn't long before Hudson reached the hospital Morgan and Hotch had left not long ago. After using his badge to talk his way past the nurse at the desk who had tried to stop him as it wasn't visiting hours, he made his way toward the room of the teammate that he had been giving a hard time to since Reid had joined the team. Chances were, Reid wouldn't even be awake or if he was, wouldn't want to see him. Still, once the idea of apologizing had gotten into his head, Hudson had felt compelled to go through with it. Reaching the room number the nurse had given him, the profiler paused and stared into the semi-darkness within. The door was open and the only light within the room came from the nightlights on the walls. Now that he was standing there, Hudson wasn't so sure he wanted to go through with this.

~No one said I had to apologize. I could just start treating the guy better,~ Hudson reasoned with himself.

He stood in the almost empty corridor a few more minutes, staring into the room. Reid was probably asleep anyway. He should probably be back at the hotel asleep. However, Hudson knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep if he returned to the hotel. Feeling the eyes of a few of the hospital staff on him, Hudson finally willed himself to take a few steps forward.

Approaching the doorway, he knocked softly on the door to announce his presence in case Reid wasn't sleeping. He didn't receive a response as he continued into the room. After taking a few steps, he stopped to let his eyes adjust to the lower light. It wasn't long before he could make things out in the glow cast by the two wall night lights. Glancing toward the bed, he could make out the lanky form of his newest teammate. From the stillness, Hudson figured he was sleeping and was going to walk quietly out of the room. Before he could though, Reid spoke up.

"Who's there?"

"It's Hudson," the older agent replied, realizing that a quick retreat was no longer going to be possible.

"Did you decide to come give me a hard time about ruining your night by letting the UnSub kidnap me?" Reid asked, the bitterness evident in his voice.

"I deserved that," Hudson replied. "Mind if I turn on the lights?"

"No, go ahead. Couldn't sleep anyway."

Hudson reached out, and flipped the light switch on the wall. As the room was lit up, both agents blinked a few times as their eyes adjusted. As he walked closer to the bed, Hudson could now make out Reid clearly. Even though he had seen Reid out in the woods, the bruises looked worse in the glow of the artificial lights of the hospital.

"You're definitely not going to win any beauty contests any time soon," Hudson commented to break the silence.

"Yeah, the window of an SUV isn't exactly forgiving," Reid commented.

"Probably not," Hudson commented, having reached the bed side. He noticed that Reid held his cell phone in his right hand. "Getting ready to call for help there?" he asked lightly. He had wanted the comment to ease the tension between the two of them. As he saw the part of Reid's face that wasn't bruised flush a deep shade of pink though, he realized it wasn't working.

"No, I just . . ." Reid started to say, before letting the words trail off. Giving up even trying to explain, Reid reached out to place the phone back on the beside table, stifling the groan that wanted to escape his lips.

~This is not going well,~ Hudson thought, finally really seeing what the last two months of him giving Reid a hard time had caused. He took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. He needed to do this. It might not instantly solve everything, but Reid deserved the apology even if he didn't deserve forgiveness.

"Look, Reid I'm sorry and not just about not having your back tonight. I'm sorry I've given you such a hard time these last couple of months. Sorry, that I didn't give you a fair chance when you joined the team. We wouldn't have caught that guy tonight without you," Hudson told him.

Reid gazed at him with a neutral expression. As he didn't say anything, Hudson had no idea what the younger man was thinking. Whether he believed what he was saying or not.

"I've been a jerk, these last few months," Hudson continued, the admission hard for him to make. "It's kind of hard to explain why, and that's not really important I guess, but it's not anything you did really but mostly because of you coming onto the team at such a young age, after I tried for quite awhile to get here, it made me angry so I took things out on you. I didn't think it was fair that someone should be able to come into the BAU and onto my team so easily. Selfish, I know but that's how I felt. Maybe there was a reason it took me so long to get accepted into the BAU," he added with a shrug. "Still, I shouldn't have taken it out on you, so for that I'm sorry and I hope you'll give me a chance to prove that I can be a decent teammate, but if you can't then I understand that too."

Hudson fell silent. Reid remained quiet as he looked over at Hudson, who lowered his gaze under the scrutiny. ~I wish he would say something,~ Hudson said. ~Even him telling me he can never forgive me would be better than the silence.~

"Okay, well I've said my piece," Hudson said, when he couldn't stand the silence any longer. "I guess I'll see you in the morning. As long as we can spring you, the plan is to head home tomorrow."

Reid finally nodded, but still didn't say anything.

Turning, Hudson headed back toward the door. Though he didn't feel great, he at least felt as if a burden had been lifted from his shoulders. He had apologized and what was done was done. He couldn't change the past, but he did plan on not giving Reid such a hard time in the future whether the younger man could find it in himself to forgive him or not.

He had almost reached the door when Reid's words made him pause mid-step.

"It wasn't easy for me."

"What?" Hudson asked as he turned back around. Reid had moved into a sitting position and was looking directly at him.

"You said you didn't think it was fair that someone should be able to get into the BAU so easily. I may have gotten here on my first attempt, but it wasn't easy. I graduated high school at the age of twelve. I dealt with more people like you every day I stepped through the doors of that school. College didn't get any easier and once I decided that I wanted to join the FBI, I knew I'd have my work cut out for me to meet the physical fitness entrance requirements but I worked hard to get there. Even after making it to the academy it wasn't any picnic. Granted my fellow trainees weren't quite as ruthless as my classmates from school, but I didn't make any friends. The closest thing I had to a friend during training was Agent Hotchner and you can't exactly count an instructor as a friend. I didn't ask to be put into the BAU right out of the Academy, and I definitely didn't want to make anyone mad to get here, but once given the opportunity I wasn't going to turn it down, though I did almost decide to quit at one point."

"That would have been our loss if you had," Hudson said sincerely, surprised at how open Reid was being with him, and looking at the younger man in a whole new light. He thought of his conversation with Nichols and realized just how right the computer specialist had been.

"Yeah, well your stuck with me now. I don't plan on going anywhere."

Hudson smiled. He walked back toward the bed. "Then what do you say the two of us start over. Hi. I'm SA Fred Hudson. Welcome to the team," he said, holding out a hand.

Reid allowed himself a small smile as he shook the proffered hand. "SA Spencer Reid."

"Didn't you forget a title in there somewhere," Hudson joked.

Despite everything, Reid found himself laughing at that, an action that he quickly regretted as his sore ribs protested. The laugh turning into a groan, Reid laid back down against the pillows.

"Sorry," Hudson told him softly. "Perhaps I should let you get some rest," he said. "I'll see you in a few hours." Picking up Reid's cell phone, he handed it to the younger agent. "Sometimes knowing someone is just a call away is just as good as having them right there with you."

"Thanks," Reid replied softly, glad that Hudson understood.

Without another word, Hudson headed out of the room, glad he apologized and even more relieved that Reid was willing to give him a second chance.