Hotch was in the conference room going over Gideon's statement with Emily and Gideon when Agent Green got him. Hotch walked out to the main room careful to close the door behind him. He walked over to a handsome blonde man in his mid thirties with a military bearing who carefully scanned the room as he walked through it.

"Mr. Hale thank you for coming in, I'm Agent Hotchner." Hotch said as he came over to him

"Agent Hotchner what is this about?" He asked shaking his hand

"Let's go in here and I'll explain." Hotch said leading Hale into an office he had borrowed for the meeting

David sat down with a quiet self assurance in front of the desk in complete control of the situation. Hotch sat down behind the desk carefully analyzing Hale's every move, expression, and tone

"Can you please explain why the FBI needs to talk to me again, if this about my father I've cut all ties with him since his arrest I didn't even talk to him after my mother's death." Hale said coolly his blue eyes locking with Hotch's demanding answers

"This isn't about Richard Hale; three months ago you went to Clatter looking for William Rhoades is that correct?"

"It is my employer James Dewitt ordered me to find him." His tone still calm but with a questioning lilt

"While you were looking for Rhoades you worked with Jason Gideon." Hotch said watching Hale for his reaction to Gideon's name

"Why do you care that I worked with him." Hale said calmly but his eyes had narrowed slightly and his hands clenched barely perceptibly at the mention of Gideon

"I just find it surprising that you could work with a man responsible for putting your father in jail."

"My father is a murderer who killed five people; Jason Gideon was just one of the many people responsible for bringing him to justice." Hale said evenly

"That's true but not many people would be willing to work with the person who put their father in jail."

"I'm a soldier I've had to work with many people I don't like."

"What did you think of Dr. Reid?"

"Gideon's apprentice?" Hale said making the word apprentice sound like pet "not much he's intelligent but lacks social skills or athletic ability I'm surprised he's allowed to be an Agent." Hale said with slight disgust

"When the two of you were tracking down Rhoades did Gideon talk about him at all?"

"A bit, we tried to keep our conversation to a minimum." Hale said shortly

Hotch's phone suddenly rang he checked the caller ID and quickly excused himself. After the call Hotch went back to the conference room

"Emily Morgan called I need to go to the hospital; I need you to finish the interview."

"Of course, what's wrong?" Emily asked looking up from a map of the cabins in the mountains she was going over with Gideon

Hotch shot a hard look at Gideon before answering "Morgan didn't say he just said I was needed their as soon as possible."

Emily nodded, stowed away various papers and the three left the room. Hotch escorted Gideon out of the building who had not spoken a word.

"Aaron I would never hurt Reid, please is there anything I can do to help?" He asked as they walked to the car

"No, but the information you gave us is very useful and I truly believe you're innocent. Reid may be up for seeing you tomorrow and I will have more questions for you as well."

Gideon nodded and the ride Gideon's hotel was silent. After dropping Gideon off Hotch went to the hospital when he got a nurse escorted him to an exam room by a nurse. He entered to find Reid curled up on the exam table his left leg drawn up to his chest, his right leg stretched out; Morgan leaning against the counter.

"What's going on?" Hotch said removing his coat

Reid curled up tighter and put his head on his knee.

"They want to have Reid committed for a 72 hour psych hold. I was able to persuade them to wait until you got here." Morgan answered straightening away from the counter

"What did you tell them?"

"We came to the hospital and I asked to see a doctor. After a ten minute wait we saw Dr. Swingle who examined Reid's arm, he put in stitches and then asked what had happened. I told him I wasn't sure and Reid hasn't spoken a word since the restaurant. Dr. Swingle did a few more quick examinations and saw how malnourished and weak Reid was. I explained about the mountain and how Reid was stranded there for three weeks. He asked if Reid had talked to anyone yet and I said no, that was when he ordered the psych hold. I managed to talk him into calling you and we were escorted to this room by a nurse and a security guard to wait for you." Morgan said barely managing to keep his temper in check and his tone mostly calm

Hotch walked over to Reid "Spencer I need you to talk if you don't there is little I can do to help you."

Reid raised his head and looked Hotch in the eyes "You said if I thought more and acted less on my emotions things would be fine. You said if I trusted you, the whole team I wouldn't be locked up and now." Reid couldn't go on and dropped his head back down on his knee

Hotch put his hand on Reid's back but didn't speak. They stayed that way for a few minutes before Reid spoke

"Hotch what if I said I was cleaning my knife and it slipped would that work?"

"I'm sorry kid if it was that simple we wouldn't be here." Morgan said gently

The door opened and a short balding man in his fifties came in.

"Agent Hotchner, I'm Dr. Swingle it's good to meet you." He said walking over to Hotch and extending his hand

"It's nice to meet you. Dr. Reid is not a threat to himself or anyone else this is a mistake."

"Dr. Reid seems like a good man the cut could have been accidental but the lack of speech, severe weight loss and the prolonged isolation gives me cause for concern."

"Dr. I was cleaning my knife when I felt a bit dizzy and it slipped. As soon as I saw how deep the cut was I called Agent Hotchner and he came in and helped me bandage my arm." Reid said his voice low and desperate.

"Dr. Swingle I assure Dr. Reid is a not a threat to himself or anyone else. Agent Morgan and I will personally keep an eye on him make sure takes care of himself and is slowly starting to recover."

"Okay I need him to speak to our therapist Mr. Burns if he clears him he can go." Dr. Swingle spoke after examining Hotch and seeing how far he could push things

"That's fair thank you Dr. Swingle."

Dr. Swingle left and Hotch's phone rang; he answered it and then hurried out of the room.

"Morgan I need you to go to David Hale's home JJ's found evidence that she thinks links Hale to Reid but she needs helping going through it."

Morgan nodded and after clapping Reid on the shoulder left. Hotch then called Rossi and told him to leave the office to the forensic teams and to go back to the field office and assist Emily in the integration.

"David Hale? That's Richard Hale's son isn't it." Reid asked swinging his left leg over the table

"Yes, we think he's responsible for your kidnapping."

"I didn't do anything to him though, why would he kidnap me?"

"We think it was to get back at Gideon. Mary Hale died six months ago and we think that the stressor for Derek. It seems that Derek blames Gideon for his mother's death and wanted to make him pay."

"Gideon did press her hard, Mrs. Hale didn't do anything wrong she had no idea what her husband was doing but Gideon kept pressuring her. The last time we interviewed her she actually started crying saying she should have known."

"Gideon can be intense and Hale's case wasn't easy. If she hadn't told us about his past we might never have caught him."

Reid didn't say anything else and moved his right leg over the edge of the exam table. The therapist Mr. Burns came in just then and Hotch left the room. After twenty minutes Mr. Burns exited the room and walked over to Hotch who rose to meet him.

"Dr. Reid's answers are rehearsed he knows the right answers to every question. I kept trying to get him to actually talk to me but he just hid behind stock answers and vague sentences. I have no reason to keep him but he needs to talk to someone he trusts, he's hiding a lot of pain and he needs to deal with it before he breaks."

"Thank you Mr. Burns as soon as we get back to Washington I'm going to help him find a therapist."

Mr. Burns and Hotch went to the exam room, before he could enter Reid exited leaning on his crutches. Reid signed his discharge papers and they left the hospital. Hotch stopped by a diner slash grocery store and picked up bread, soup, chicken, and other groceries. They got to the hotel and Hotch helped Reid into the hotel and up to the room. As soon as the door was closed and the groceries put on the table Reid turned to Hotch and punched him in the eye, then across the jaw. Hotch staggered back but it Reid who almost fell thrown off balance by the loss of Hotch's support. Hotch caught him before he fell and helped him onto the bed. Reid was shaking slightly though from over exertion, anger, fear, or something else Hotch couldn't say.

Before Hotch could demand an explanation Reid gave one "You promised me if I listened to you, if I used my brain, if I was calm and rational I'd be safe. I was I controlled myself around Gideon, I restrained myself from attacking him verbally or physically. I went with Morgan as you wanted and didn't ask any questions about the case until you brought it up. And yet I was almost committed, I almost lost my job, my freedom because I trusted you." Reid said his voice trembling, his hands clenched

"I'm sorry you needed to go to the hospital you couldn't afford to lose any more blood. We swept the room and confiscated anything you could use to hurt yourself. We're almost done with the case in a day or two we'll all be going home I promise." Hotch said keeping a respectful distance, his tone warm and gentle

Reid didn't answer but curled up on the bed in a ball shaking finally allowing himself to cry. Hotch put a blanket over him and put the food away. Once he was done he came over and rubbed Reid's back until Reid fell asleep. Hotch got out some work, he worked for thirty minutes before getting a cold washcloth and applying it to his jaw and his eye both of which had started to swell. After twenty minutes Reid suddenly spoke causing Hotch to drop the cloth

"You should really use ice, it works better." He said sleepily

"I didn't want to leave you alone."

"I'm not a baby I can be left alone for five minutes." Reid retorted

Hotch nodded and left the room, it took him twice as long as expected. When he came back he found Reid trying to wipe up soup with his right hand, his left hand cradled in his lap.

"I was hungry but my arm couldn't take the weight and the container fell." Reid said looking up at Hotch

Hotch quickly helped him to his feet and then into the bathroom. Reid's pants were covered in soup so Hotch handed Reid the clothes Morgan had got him. Hotch then cleaned up the soup; after Reid came out dressed in sweats and a t-shirt Hotch helped him to his bed and tucked him in. Hotch handed him bread and chicken. As Reid ate Hotch called JJ

"JJ how are things going?"

…..

Hotch shot a quick look at Reid before entering the bathroom. When he finally came back out he found Reid asleep again propped up against the headboard. At six thirty the entire team again converged on the hotel room. Garcia and JJ had soup while the others carried various food and drink. Reid was awake and Morgan helped him to the table. After they ate Hotch left Reid with JJ and Garcia and went to speak with Morgan, Rossi and Emily in Rossi's room.

"We didn't find much at work though we did confirm that the camera we found in the cabin was one ordered by the company, we also learned that James Dewitt privately looked into the disappearance of Miles and Angela Davis." Rossi reported

"I tried to interview Hale after you left but as soon as I started to press him on his feelings about Gideon and Reid he ended the interview and told me to talk to his lawyer." Emily said

"We confiscated his home computer but it's severely encrypted Garcia needs more time to through it. We also found as we told you notes with Gideon's handwriting including a few detailing how long a person could survive alone in an abandoned cabin."

A/N Reid's walls are finally starting to come down. Evidence is piling up against Hale but Gideon is not entirely in the clear. Please let me know your thoughts all praise, questions, criticisms welcome or just Favorite, Follow.