Hi Everyone! Sorry about not posting the translation with the chapter. That was a big whoops on my part. Thank you to the two readers who pointed that out to me. For those of you who are NCIS LA fans, Allies is now posted. Be prepared for some serious suspense when Deeks is arrested and accused of being Reid's partner (Spoilers from the current seasons of both shows). I also want to point out that a poll has been posted on my profile page. I currently have seven ideas running through my head of stories to write after I finish 'Family Always' and I need your input deciding which one to write first. Please take the time to let me know which plot line y'all want me to start with.

To kbf: Glad you like the story. Sorry about not posting the translation. Thanks for pointing that out.

To hairbrain1947: Sorry about that. Blame the sleep deprivation.

To hippiechic81: But will he stay that way? Mwuahahaha ;)

To ahowell1993: I didn't either until I wrote it.

To everyone else: keep reading and reviewing! Hope you guys are enjoying this story cause it's far from over!

-Xoxo Elisa

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters. I just wish I did! This story is for my and others' enjoyment

Chapter 14:

"Reid?" Spencer attempted to locate the source of the voice, but found his focus greatly diminished by the intense pounding of his head. Almost twenty-four hours in almost-complete darkness would give even the healthiest of individuals a migraine. For Reid, however, it was absolute agony. He attempted to further cover his eyes, but the gesture only further irritated his battered body. "Reid?" the voice asked again, clearly agitated. Spencer opened his mouth to assure them that he was fine, but he found his throat was too dry to attempt conversation. Black spots danced through his vision, and then he felt nothing.

"Reid!" Morgan yelled, rushing towards his fallen friend. "Reid? Spencer? Pretty boy? C'mon man, answer me!" "What's wrong with him?" Garcia demanded. "I don't know baby girl!" Morgan snapped, his fingers flying toward the pulse point on Reid's neck, "but his pulse is extremely erratic! We need to call an ambulance!" His eyes flickered towards the agents still gaping at him, "Now!" "Right, sorry." one of the Boston agents whipped out her cellphone and dialed 911. "Hello? 911? Yes, my name is SSA Donna Matherson, with the Boston FBI Field Office. I need you to dispatch an ambulance to my location. The missing member of our BAU unit, out of Quantico, just turned up. He's been held for almost twenty-four hours, and has been badly beaten and tortured. He just lost consciousness and his pulse is very erratic. No, he's not convulsing. No, he does not appear to have difficulty breathing. Okay, thank you!" Turning towards Morgan she said, "The bus should be here in about five minutes Agent Morgan."

Morgan nodded, Hang on kid, he thought as a hand thrust a knife in his direction. "What's this?" he asked. "It's a knife Morgan." Rossi answered sarcastically, "unless you want to keep the kid's hands bound, you'll need it." "Right, of course. Sorry Rossi." Morgan's face flushed with embarrassment. In his haste to check that Reid was still alive, he had ignored the fact his friend's hands were still bound together. Morgan gently grabbed his colleague's flex-cuffed hands and carefully cut the bindings. Without the pressure of the flex-cuffs holding them together, Reid's wrists were subject to gravity and fell limply against his sides. "Oh my gosh." Garcia whimpered, pointing to his wrists. Morgan glanced down and could barely suppress his disgust. A series of dark purple bruises, deep grooves, and angry red welts wove their way around each of Reid's wrists. It appeared that the injuries were partially due to the kid's efforts to free himself, but mostly because the too-tight bindings had been left on during the duration of his captivity.

I'm going to put this son of a bitch's head on a stick. Morgan felt a sick sense of deja vu at his thoughts. The last time he'd thought something like that was when another psychotic freak had taken Reid hostage. The kid can't seem to catch a break, he thought bitterly, First Jackson, then Dowd, then the Fisher king and Hankel, then anthrax and getting shot, now this. Not to mention whatever it is he's been keeping from me these past three months. He and I are going to have a serious chat. He'll end up shoving his true emotions away, it's not healthy. I've got to show him that he can trust me. I thought he did. I wish I knew all those times he'd struggled, I would've been there for him. "Excuse me sir." the brisk voice of a paramedic interrupted his musings. "Huh?" he stared blankly at her. "I need you to move so I can examine your colleague." "Right, sorry." Morgan scrambled away, allowing her access to his traumatized friend.

"What's his name?" she asked, pulling a flashlight out of her kit. "Reid, Dr. Spencer Reid." Morgan answered, swallowing hard. "Dr. Reid? Spencer? Can you hear me?" the paramedic asked, shining her flashlight into each of Reid's eyes. "He's unresponsive." Morgan watched as she replaced her flashlight with a stethoscope and a blood pressure cuff. "Blood pressure is 90 over 60, much lower than what we'd expect. There's the possibility that the patient might be suffering hypotension." She removed the blood pressure cuff from Reid's arm, and slipped the stethoscope underneath his shirt. Morgan's blood turned to ice as he watched her impassive expression turn to a frown.

"Patient's heart beat is highly elevated and the pulse is arrhythmic. Get the stretcher!" She yelled, not removing the stethoscope from Reid's heart. "What's going on?" Hotch demanded. "I don't know but we need to get him to a hospital." "Can one of us ride with him?" Rossi asked. "No! We need to go now! You'll only slow us down!" she snapped, as her colleagues grabbed the sides of the stretcher. The team watched helplessly as Reid was loaded into the back of the wailing ambulance. One of the paramedics glanced back at the team in pity, and said, "We're taking him to Mass General if you want to follow us." "Thank you." Hotch whispered. The paramedic nodded before climbing through the door. With a shrieking wail, the ambulance sped off.

"Let's go!" Hotch ordered, racing towards the team's SUV. "Turn on the lights," Rossi suggested. Four pairs of eyes glanced at him incredulously. "What?" he demanded. "Reid being rushed out in an ambulance with an arrhythmic heart beat qualifies as an emergency." "Can't argue with that logic." Hotch muttered, switching on the flashing lights the team used while in the field. What should have been a twenty minute commute was struck down to ten minutes as the majority of Boston traffic moved out of their way. Once situated in the parking lot of Mass General, the team leapt out to watch Reid being pulled into the ER.

"Excuse me?" one of the ER nurses asked, noting the obvious attachment between the patient who had just been brought in and the seven individuals in her lobby, "are any of you the emergency contact for one Spencer Reid?" A tall, hawk-like man stepped forward, "My name's Agent Aaron Hotchner. I'm Dr. Reid's supervisor and emergency contact." "Great," the nurse answered, "you can answer some questions for me then." A shadow darkened the man's features as he scowled, it was extremely apparent that he wanted to be the one asking questions. "The more we know, the better we will be able to treat your friend." she reassured him. "Fine," he muttered, "what do you want to know?"

She smiled at him before firing off questions in a rapid succession. "What was the cause of your friend's injury." "Dr. Reid was kidnapped on his way home from work. He had been held captive for almost twenty-four hours. His hands and feet were chained, and I'm pretty sure he was knocked unconscious by some synthetic agent. We aren't positive about the full extent of his injuries, but we do know he has been beaten at least twice. Once by fists and another time by a cane. He probably would've been beaten further if he hadn't found a way to escape." "Wow," she said softly, "he must be very brave." The hawk-like man gave her a slight smile, "We make a point to ensure all of our agents are prepared for situations like these, but yes Dr. Reid is extremely brave. He's one of the best agents I've ever seen. I'm very proud of him." "I can see why," she answered with a smile of her own, "can you tell me what happened after he escaped?"

The man frowned, "I'm not sure exactly. We had arrived at the Boston Field Office two hours before and were running in circles. Every possible lead had turned up empty, we were all so frustrated. The team was about to take a break for dinner when we saw him. He was just standing there." his voice trailed off. "What happened next?" the nurse prodded. Her informant glanced at her, "we were all in shock." he said softly, shame creeping into his voice. "We were prepared to find the worse. We hoped we wouldn't, but the odds were against us. And yet, there he was, standing in front of us. His hands were covering his face, almost as if the ceiling lights were irritating his eyes, and was swaying slightly. He looked as if a single gust of wind would knock him over. Agent Prentiss called his name. He looked like he was going to answer her, but then his eyes rolled up and he collapsed. Agent Morgan attempted to wake him, and then checked his pulse. It was so erratic, we were terrified. Morgan yelled for someone to call an ambulance, I was certain we were losing him."

"Why?" The nurse asked, "has something like this happened before?" Her companion flushed red with shame, "yes," he muttered. "What happened?" she noted his hesitation, "Agent Hotchner, all of this information is confidential and will only be used to help Dr. Reid." The man sighed, "Something similar to this happened four years ago. Dr. Reid was investigating a tip with another one of my agents. Little did we know that the tip they were following up would lead us to the unsub. Dr. Reid and his companion split up to head off the unsub and he was taken as a result. We were greeted with the sight of him bound and beaten almost ten hours later. The unsub had split personalities that took turns abusing him. In one of those instances the beating knocked Dr. Reid to the floor, causing him to convulse."

"Convulse? Was he alright?" the nurse asked sharply. Agent Hotchner nodded, "He was given CPR and checked out later that night. The Atlanta Hospital told us that the seizure did not cause any long term damage." "Is there anything else I should know about Dr. Reid?" "He was shot in the left knee about a year and a half ago, and if possible, please do not put him on any narcotics." The nurse opened her mouth to ask about why she should not give her patient narcotics, because he would surely need them, when she saw the ER doctor enter the lobby. "Family of Dr. Spencer Reid?" he asked.

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