OMG Thank you so much TheAdamBomb505 for letting me know that my chapters were not posting correctly! IDK what happened but thank you so much, hopefully it's fixed now! Anyways, onto the next chapter!

S1 E9

What if things hadn't gone exactly as planned during the train ep O_o

He could tell that no one liked the plan. Each of his team members was looking at him with fear and pity. But he knew it was the only shot they had.

Reid pulled the straps of the Kevlar vest as far as they could go around his skinny frame. Gideon's fingers were tapping the table insistently, but that was his only give away about how nervous he was for Reid.

"Reid. Do not take this vest off" Morgan ordered seriously. "In hostage situations SWAT sometimes won't even tell a negotiator when they're deciding to go in. Do you know why that is?"

"Because the slightest change in tone of voice or choice of words can give the whole thing away" Reid recited as if reading from a pamphlet. Derek patted him on the shoulder and Reid met his friend's eyes.

"That's right. Don't make eye contact with Elle." Reid nodded, "You're a technician, you've never seen her before."

"Got it."

"Now remember, play into the guy's fantasy. Believe it yourself."
Reid smirked slightly before speaking "Actually did you know that dentists and surgeons have been recruited to secretly implant these during otherwise normal medical procedures?" Derek stared at him with a confused look in his eyes. "This has been happening on and off since the late 1930s."

Derek tilted his head, smirking at the kid.

"You told me to believe." Reid chuckled.

"Let's go" Derek said, putting a hand on the kid's shoulder and escorting him towards the door. They stopped when Hotch came into the room, slightly flustered holding a small phone microchip.

"Alright, one government issued microchip." He handed it to Reid and the three of them plus Gideon made their way outside. Reid put on his gloves and attempted to keep his head down. He didn't need to see the concerned glances that the three older agents were shooting him. Shaking his hands out, he attempted his magic performance for the men.

He stuck the small chip between his fingers, but before he could do anything, it fell out onto the ground. Quickly, Reid picked it up and attempted once more with the same result. His hands were shaking from nerves and now frustration.

"You gotta relax man" Derek spoke nervously, rubbing his neck and Reid replied. "The chip's a lot smaller than I'm used to doing it with alright?" the chip fell to the ground once more and a collective sense of fear gathered on each man's face.

Gideon clenched his jaw, "I'm pulling the plug on this."
"No, no, hold on, one more." Reid adjusted his placement of the chip, blowing on it to clean it up. He attempted the trick for a last time, and finally was successful in his attempt. He looked up to meet the scared eyes of Hotch, Derek, and Gideon, but he knew he could do this. Gideon spoke up very seriously.

"Take this chip out then get off the train, you understand?" Reid swallowed and nodded nervously. "Tell him you need to get back to the higher authority, say you have guidelines to follow, whatever. Do not stay in there with him." Gideon paused, fear betraying his face. "That's an order."
Reid nodded with furrowed brows. He swallowed his nerves again, readying himself to do this. "Yes sir." As he turned to leave, the three sad and concerned eyes followed him and he found himself turning back around. "could you guys do me a favor?"

"Anything."
Reid sighed. "Could at least one of you look like you're going to see me again?!" The three men exchanged glances and Reid clenched his jaw. Finally, Hotch turned to him.
"See you when you get back." Reid let out a nervous laugh, smiling at Hotch before turning around and heading towards the train. He took a few deep breaths, trying to make himself look as though he had some authority, but that he wasn't a threat to the hostage taker. He walked up the stairs to the train, taking one more deep breath before entering with his hands up.

"THAT'S FAR ENOUGH" the man shouted, a twisted look on his features. Reid stopped himself from stepping forward anymore and glanced at the hostages.

"Hello everyone." He cleared his throat and started again, "I'm here to remove a chip from Dr. Bryar." The man gestured at him with his gun.

"Take the vest off."
Reid tensed; he knew he shouldn't be taking the vest off. He needed it on, and Derek told him not to take it off.

"I want to see you."

"I don't- I don't have any weapons. The higher authority doesn't authorize it for technicians."

"TAKE IT OFF."
Reid nodded, realizing the only chance of getting this man's cooperation was to comply to his rules. He began unfastening the Velcro and throwing it off to the side.

"Come closer, I wanna see both of your hands at all times." Reid approached slowly, hands in the air nervously chewing his lip.

"Sit across from me." He scooched past the man, taking a seat near the man. The man trained his gun directly on Reid. He felt a sigh of relief to have the weapon off of the bystander but immediately sweat began to gather at his brow. He'd claim it was from the heat, but that wouldn't be completely true.

Reid began opening the sanitizing wipe with shaking hands. The man recognized his apprehension immediately.

"Why are you so nervous." Reid glanced up, considering his response.

"I told you I'm not used to being around guns." He glanced up once more and clenched his jaw, continuing his work on the man's arm. His right hand quivered slightly, nervous that he'd drop the chip and ruin the whole ruse.

"This is, going to probably sting a little bit."

He sanitized a new area on the man's arm before grabbing the scalpel. Carefully as he could, Reid proceeded to make a small incision in his arm. Blood quickly gushed out and he had to swallow back a wave of nausea. His shaking hands began probing the wound and he managed to sneak the microchip in the wound without the Dr. Bryar noticing. A feeling of relief washed over his body as Dr. Bryar smiled.

"I knew it. I knew it." The man nodded his head. Reid remembered Gideon's orders and began to stand in order to make his escape. He kept his head down and began to speak, hoping Dr. Bryar would let him go.

"I've got to go to the higher authority. I was supposed to-"

"NOT YET!" Reid's nerves returned as he slowly sank back down into his seat. Shit. This is what they'd been afraid would happen.

"okay" he whispered in a small voice. The man positioned the gun against Reid's chest, and he felt his heart leap.

"Turn it on." Reid's eyes widened. He was not prepared for that. His mind raced while he attempted to keep his face impassive, trying to procure some excuse as to why he couldn't do that. "Turn. The chip. On." He stayed silent a few more seconds before he finally answered, still unsure of what to say.

"Excuse me?"

"Turn it on or I pull the trigger."

"I can't turn it on."

"Why not? WHY NOT?!" Reid's eyes bounced back and forth trying to acquire the correct answer to feed this man, but luckily Elle came up with something first.

"Because it has to be implanted." He quickly hopped on her theory.

"She's right." He remembered back to what Derek had said earlier. Reid had to believe in the fantasy as well. "The chip derives its power from tiny electrical impulses fired between neurons. It has to be in your skin to work." The man paused thinking about Reid's explanation and he once more tried to make his move off the train. "I-I really gotta-"

"SIT DOWN! You're not going anywhere." Reid sat again, fear making its way into his chest. His heart was pounding, and he had to swallow the lump in his throat. The gun was kept trained at his chest as the man moved away from him. When the phone began to ring, he knew it was Gideon. The man had not wanted him to go on the train in the first place, and now their fears had come true, he was stuck. There were two of the BAU team stuck with this man in the cart. Dr. Bryar ignored the phone at first but Reid decided to speak up, hoping he would take the call.

"I-it's probably the higher authority." He stated, attempting to keep his voice from wavering. "I told you I have protocols to follow, I was supposed to go right back out there. I-I have rules." He began to ramble as the man didn't say a word back to him, needing to fill the silence. "You want me to stay, I'm obviously going to stay, but, I mean, you're going to be the one that has to explain it to the man." Reid was scraping the bottle of the barrel, praying that Dr. Bryar would answer and let him leave.

"Why can't you all just leave me alone?" then another voice spoke up. One of the other hostages.

"Leave you alone?"

"Stay out of this." Reid warned. The last thing they needed was this clearly drunk guy encouraging Dr. Bryar's fantasies.

"No. The government does watch us. You got microwaves and satellites, I'm with you man."
"Do not agitate him." Reid stated again through clenched teeth.

"Screw you."

Reid sighed, turning his attention back to Dr. Bryar. "Dr. Bryar, answer the phone."

"My old man used to have tracking devices in his cars. He said it was for theft, but it's so he could find out where I'd go. And what about personal recordings and televisions? You don't think someone's monitoring everything you watch? You know how many patents are issued for devices to monitor people? Look it up man!" Reid and Elle shared an annoyed look but Elle repeated Reid's last statement.

"Answer the phone, Ted." He stood up suddenly and his doctor got up as quickly as he did, attempting to stop him in his tracks. She attempted to subdue the hostage who was agreeing with Dr. Bryar and tell him that he didn't know what he was talking about. A fight began to break out as the guy insisted he was with Dr. Bryar, but it only seemed to agitate the man further. Reid tried once more to calmly encourage him to take the call.

"Answer the phone, Dr. Bryar. It's the higher authority." Suddenly the doctor began to panic, and a gunshot went off. Reid froze, eyes wide, looking to see where the bullet went. It had lodged itself in the side of his own doctor. Reid saw the regret on the man's face as he had managed to shoot the only person he was connected to on the train. He watched as she fell to the ground and began slowly standing in order to help. When Dr. Bryar turned away, he immediately rushed to her side, applying pressure to the wound.

The phone continued to ring but the doctor wasn't answering. Reid was trying to stop the bleeding, but he was worried that the bullet may have hit some of the woman's internal organs. She didn't have a lot of time. He turned around, attempting to plead with the man.

"Dr. Bryar, we need to get this woman help."

"Who's going to help me."

Reid sighed slightly, taking a deep breath before answering. "The higher authorities can help you. Th-they're not what you think. They're not the enemy. They can help you Dr. Bryar." When the man stood and shot the phone, Reid's stomach dropped. That was their only source of communication with the rest of the team. It seemed as though the man had chosen an endgame. He was going to go out in a hail of bullets, and him, Elle, and everyone else on the train were in danger.

Reid glanced around, worried as to the situation they were in. He needed to come up with something, and fast. Turning back around to study the man, he realized that he seemed to be talking to himself. 'That's it! He has some form of psychosis; he must be hearing a voice.' The name Leo was dropped as the doctor continued to speak to himself and Reid realized what he had to do. Having a mother with severe schizophrenia, he'd read more than enough books about mental illnesses and psychotic breaks to realize that acknowledging the voice would probably throw the man off long enough to distract him and allow SWAT to help.

"Dr. Bryar."
"WHAT?" the gun was immediately pointed towards him once more, but he didn't feel fear. He felt determination.

"Reid!"
"it's alright Elle." Reid took a deep breath as the man stood abruptly, keeping the gun trained on his head.

"Is there another one?!" Reid tried to play it cool, chuckling slightly at the question as if it was a dumb suggestion.

"You know there isn't." He insisted. Reid took a breath and attempted his plan. "If there were, Leo would've told you." The man's brows furrowed in confusion and a smirk landed on Reid's face. The man suddenly brought the gun away from Reid, covering his ears.

"Make it stop!"

"I know what it's like-"

"MAKE IT STOP!" the man pointed his gun at Reid once more, but he continued anyways.

"I know what the voices are like. The voices, they won't stop. They've been talking to you since you were a child."
"You're lying to me."
"That's Leo speaking!" Reid laughed. "that's not even Dr. Bryar." Reid adjusted his eyeline, staring at the empty air beside the man, hoping to convince him he could see the voice he'd been talking to. "Why don't you let him think for himself, Leo?" The man looked taken aback, confused that someone else could see Leo. He could see his grip on the gun slackening, becoming more enthralled with Reid.

"You…Do you see him?" He asked, lowering the weapon once more.

"Yeah, he's right there" he claimed, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Why don't you let him make his own decisions?" he paused again. Dr. Bryar was visibly confused. "The voices, they helped you right? I-it's where you get your ideas from." Reid stood up, confident with his theory and began slowly approaching the man. "While the other kids were outside on the playground, you were inside reading, studying, learning. The voices wouldn't stop, t-they helped you understand things that other people could never realize. And then as you grew older it became a-almost a responsibility, right? A-a responsibility to use that ability, to use your knowledge."

"String theory. The theory of everything!"

Reid nodded. "Then M-Theory encompassing all the strings, unifying the theories. You know it's funny. Most people say that M-theory can never be proved, because the mathematical tools do not yet exist. But you see it, right? Am I right? You can see the different strings unifying the dimensions, the gravitational infinities, cancelling each other out, you see them, right Dr. Bryar? You see them because you have the tools. Your mind is that tool."
"SHUT UP" Dr. Bryar yelled at the air beside him. Reid smiled; he was clearly getting through to the man. He had this in the bag. All he had to do was get the weapon and they could subdue him without anyone else getting hurt.

"and I have to believe that i-if you put your mind to it, you'll realize that only you can make Leo stop. You can make him stop by understanding him, by understanding that he is a liar, and he only wants bad things for you. I need to believe that, Dr. Bryar." The man was hooked, but Reid and Elle could both see they didn't have a lot of time left. SWAT was lining up outside the window ready to come in.

Elle took the chance to kick the man over into the seat across from her and Reid immediately pounced. He wrestled with the gun in the man's hand, attempting to take hold of it. Before he realized what was happening, two shots rang out. Reid felt his body get thrown backwards onto the floor. He landed facedown, stinging filling his left shoulder.

He could hear voices but couldn't discern exactly what they were saying. Hands were on him now and he was being turned over. Reid felt his head lull to the side as he was in too much pain to register the movement of his muscles. A hand was tapping his cheek and his eyes opened to slits. A blurry Gideon appeared in front of him, Elle glancing at him from over his shoulder. Worry painted both of their faces, but Reid wasn't sure why. In face he wasn't sure why he was on the ground. Or where they were.

"What…?" was all he could come up with. Gideon was speaking, but his voice rang and bounced around as if Reid's head was submerged underwater. He suddenly realized the older man's hand was pressing hard on his shoulder and he groaned. Reid's arms clumsily tried to fight off the hand, but Gideon easily pinned both his wrists down with one hand.

It looked like he was speaking again, but Reid let his eyes slip shut. A hand tapped his face again, but Reid ignored it, darkness taking over his body. It sounded like there might be shouting, or someone calling his name, but he ignored it and fell into unconsciousness.

There were blips in his memory. He vaguely remembered being in an ambulance. Gideon's face kept swimming in and out of view. And he remembered waking up briefly in a hospital room with… Elle and Hotch? He wasn't sure. But Reid wasn't certain what happened or where he was.

He blinked his eyes open to a bright white room. Immediately he slammed them shut once more, his pupils not contracting quick enough. A hand appeared on top of his own and he turned his head to the right, slipping one eye open to a sliver.

Hotch was holding his hand, a rare smile on his face. Gideon was also there, staring down at Reid. He managed a small smile before attempting to speak. However, he found his throat was too dry to say anything and Gideon immediately raced away to get a cup of water.

"You had us worried kid." Hotch spoke. "Ted Bryar shot you in the shoulder after he was shot himself by one of the other passengers. The bullet missed your major arteries, but you were suffering from heat stroke and dehydration from being on the train, so all that combined caused with blood loss and pain made you to pass out pretty quick." Reid nodded and Gideon reappeared in the room.

The two older agents helped Reid sit up and drink some of the water. He sighed in relief as the cool water made its way down his throat.

"Thanks" he whispered, a small smile on his face. Gideon and Hotch shared a look, to which Hotch stood, making some excuse about using the restroom, and left the two alone in the room. Gideon took a seat besides Reid who furrowed his brows slightly. He sighed before beginning.

"That was some risk you took there, kid. You had us all worried. Seeing you talk to Ted for so long on the train and then you were bleeding out on the floor…" Gideon trailed off, shaking his head.

"Sorry…" Reid began but Gideon cut him off.

"It was stupid, probably the dumbest thing I've seen you do, throwing yourself in harm's way like that." Reid dropped his eyes. "I'm incredibly proud of you though." At that statement Reid's eyes snapped back up to meet Gideon's, confusion lacing his features. Gideon smiled before continuing. "If you hadn't said whatever it was you said to him, he might've fired on more than just you. Whatever you did saved a lot of lives on that train. He was preparing to go out in a hail of bullets and possibly bring down as many hostages as he could on the way. But because of you… well, there were no causalities, only a few injuries. So, great job."

Reid smiled, nodding at Gideon who reached up and ruffled his hair.

"Thank you, sir." Gideon stood, a small smile on his features, and turned to leave the room.

"Get some more rest, well get you out of here soon so we can head back to Quantico."

Reid nodded once more, eyes already drooping and settled back against his pillows. He was out within a few seconds.

Gideon smiled at the kid. Hotch reappeared beside him with the same look of compassion on his face.

"He's a great agent, we're lucky to have him." Gideon stated. Hotch agreed, passing Gideon and reclaiming his chair next to the now sleeping kid's bed.

"Sleep well kid."