"I swear to God I didn't know." The receptionist said back at the Police Department that afternoon. "Dr. Andrews never said anything like that before. He's a decent guy, a nice guy."

"Trust me, men like Dr. Andrews are highly manipulative." Hotch said, sitting with her, Rossi, and Emily. "He's probably fooled a lot of people."

"We need you to know, you're not in trouble here." Rossi added, handing her a cup of coffee. "We just need to get as much information on Dr. Andrews as possible."

"I always knew he liked her." She replied, cupping the drink in her hands. "He would ask me things like, what I was doing for the weekend. You know, just making conversation. He would usually mention how if he played his cards right, he could be dating Dr. Parker by Monday. Things like that. Personally, I always thought she was crazy because she wouldn't go out with him. I mean he's such a great guy. Well… he seemed like a great guy."

As the interview continued, J.J. made her way into the pitch black break room. Switching on the lights, she found Reid sleeping on the couch under a blanket J.J. had borrowed off one of the PD issue cots. Emily and Morgan had stuck him there once they made it back, in hopes to bring his fever down without going to the hospital.

Reid opened his eyes, feeling J.J.'s hand on his forehead. "How do you feel?" she asked.

"Sore… but a little better." He replied. "What do you think?"

"You feel cool." She said, smiling. She pulled her hand away, examining her hand. "Clammy, but cool."

Reid sat up as she went over and began rifling through her purse. "What's going on? Did they track down Andrews?"

"Not yet, Morgan and Garcia are working on it. Hotch, Rossi, and Emily are talking to C.J."

"Who's C.J.?"

"The receptionist. You've been going to that office every week for months, you didn't learn her name?"

J.J. handed him two pills and a glass of water. "She wasn't the girl I was focused on. What is this?"

"Ibuprofen. It'll help keep your fever down and it should help with the pain. At least take the edge off." She stood and watched him swallow his medicine; a motherly quality she had acquired. Once the pills were gone, she pulled over a chair and sat down. "Okay, while we wait for the others… why don't we try going over what you do remember."

Reid set his glass of water down and sat up. He had to admit, it felt wonderful to rest for a few hours. He rubbed the remaining sleep from his eyes. "I don't know how much I can tell you."

"I know, but you've got to try." J.J. said, reaching over to take his hand for comfort. "We need every detail we can find. You never know what's going to lead us to Riley."

At that moment, Morgan and Garcia entered, ready to reveal the results of their investigation. Seeing the look on Reid's face, neither said a word. This was important.

"Are you ready?" J.J. asked, watching the others sit down.

Reid nodded, staring at the floor. "Alright. Let's get some information. Before Friday night, when was the last time you and Riley spoke?"

"Monday," Reid said certain. "We, um… we had a fight."

"About what?" Garcia asked, curious.

"Nothing about this case," Reid answered, not wanting to relive it. "We spent the evening trying to prove Fueller's guilt… that was a waste of time."

"Okay, let's not worry about that." J.J. said. "So you had a fight and you didn't speak at all for the rest of the week."

Shaking his head, Reid continued. "I didn't even tell her we'd taken on the case. It was almost midnight when she came to my apartment. She was scared, she was… a little hysterical… I was holding her… she was crying, I was trying to calm her…"

"And then what happened?"

The memory was blurred. He closed his eyes, trying to see it better. His ears strained to hear the moment again. The sounds could make the picture lucid. He heard her crying, he felt her tears soaking through her shirt; he could recall how good it felt to hold her again. He'd give anything to hold her again.

The others didn't want to push him, though they waited in anticipation. Reid squeezed J.J.'s hand, trying to convince himself it was Riley's.

"She… she had stopped sobbing, she lifted her head off my shoulder… I wiped away her tears and smiled at her, trying to convince her it wasn't as bad as she thought… I told her I was going to get her something to wear to bed and make up the couch for myself… I was planning on calling Hotch… to keep him informed. Before I could even say that… there was a knock on the door."

"You're doing great," J.J. said, encouragingly. "Who was at the door?"

"Riley gripped my shirt, scared, I had to answer it… I should have gotten my gun."

"Don't worry about that, Reid," Morgan said.

"I answered…" He rubbed his eyes again, focusing, "I think it was him."

"Andrews?" Morgan asked.

"Yes," he answered. "I can't make out his face… but his voice… I'm sure that was his voice… when I saw him… I knew why he was there…"

"What did Riley do?" J.J. asked.

"She looked confused, but she stayed back… Andrews and I didn't say a word to each other, I knew I was going to have to fight him off…" He jumped out of his seat, furious. "Damnit, if I'd only had my gun…"

"That's when the fight started?" Morgan asked.

Reid nodded, turning slowly. "Yeah… it gets blurrier after that. I was trying to fight him off… he punched me several times, but I wasn't about to let him near her… and then I felt something pierce my stomach. I was blinded by the pain and fell over, smacking my head on the floor. He stabbed me twice more. I was gasping for breath and I could hear Riley screaming for me, and then… it sounded like he slapped her… I felt him move away from me and she screamed louder… I wanted to go to her, to call out to her, but I couldn't move… the pain was unbearable, I completely blacked out, I can't even remember when he stabbed me again." He ran his hand over his stitches at his memory. "There are a few misplaced sounds… I heard Holly's baby crying… I heard sirens, but… the next thing I can really picture was waking up in the hospital." He looked at his small audience. No one had a word of revelation. "I knew this was a waste of time," he said, rushing out the door in frustration.

He made it out to the bull pen where Rossi, Hotch, and Emily continued speaking with the receptionist. On Hotch's face, Reid could make out the usual expression of a predator. It didn't matter whether talking to suspect or witness, Hotch always looked like that in an investigation. This had to be ten times more personal now.

"I really don't know what else I can tell you," CJ said. "I really should get back to work."

"Wait," Reid said, going over as she stood up. "Andrews was supposed to be my doctor."

"You're still pissed about that?" she asked.

"No, it's not that. He switched me over to Dr. Parker because he claimed he went out of town… where did he go?"

"Uh…" she leaned her head back, trying to recall. "I think he said New York… I could check my log though."

"Does he go out of town a lot?"

"He didn't use to, but he has a lot lately. But it's not what you think, he said he's up for a teaching job at Penn State. He's been giving a few seminars and lectures there."

Reid glanced at the others. They seemed to be on the same page as him.

"I'll have Garcia contact Penn State, see if his story checks out." Emily stated standing up.

CJ was starting to look impatient. "I really need to get back to work. I wish there was more-"

Unexpectedly, The Office theme song rang through the room. Emily froze in her tracks, looking back at the group. CJ quickly reached into her purse and extracted her cell, checking the caller ID.

"Oh my God, it's him." She exclaimed. "He probably called the office for his messages."

"Answer it," Rossi said quickly. "Try to stay calm; don't tell him where you are."

Nodding, her shaking fingers opened the phone and lifted it to her ear. "Hello?" she asked quickly. "Yes, sir, I know… no, sir, I know I'm not supposed to leave in the middle of the day… I understand, I went to lunch with some friends and lost track of time."

Nice save, Reid thought. Still, Andrews might see through it. He watched Rossi scribble on a piece of paper. He handed the note to CJ to read, who responded to Andrews, "Did Dr. Parker give you a number of where she was going to be, I have a message I have to give her…" Panic filled her face as she listened. "I wrote it down, I just need to find it…" She covered the phone with her hand and whispered. "He wants to know what the message is."

Rossi wrote something else and she read it over to him. "A patient of hers was killed the other day and the BAU is investigating his murder… who was it? They didn't say. They said his death is being kept out of the media… What? I don't know what your talking about, sir. I'm not…" she pulled the phone away. "He wants to talk to you, Agent Hotchner."

Hotch took the phone, clicked a few buttons and put it on speaker. "This is Aaron Hotchner." He responded.

"That was a nice try, Agent Hotchner. You almost had me convinced." He sounded genuinely amused. "I know you can't understand my motives, but you have to understand, Aaron, this is for the best."

"Is Riley still alive?" Hotch asked, not wanting to aggravate him or indulge him.

He didn't answer at first. The only sound on the line was his breathing. "Yes," he finally answered. "I assure you, I won't kill her until I have to."

"I don't see any reason for you to have to kill her. She doesn't have anything you want, you haven't asked for anything."

"I know you care for her, Aaron. I know you didn't hurt her, like he did. I'm not going to let anyone hurt her again."

"You are hurting her." Hotch said. "Why did you take those other girls?"

"Stop searching for me, Aaron. Keep your team away from me. Riley is mine, she's always been mine. And tell Dr. Reid, who I know is listening…" Reid leaned forward at his pause. "I will not pursue him. But if he comes after me or if he tries to find her, I will pursue him, I will stop him… and this time, I will make sure he doesn't survive."

He waited a moment, as if expecting Reid to respond. The line was cut and the call ended.