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Stark led Reid out of the room and down the hall to the computer room. Reid's hands were cuffed together and Stark followed closely with his Glock trained on the young profiler's back. The young man was being stubborn. He'd left his tray untouched and he'd refused to talk when Stark came back to the room. He had a look on his face that Stark didn't like.

"Remember, no tricks or someone you love is going to be very sorry!"

He shoved the gun into Reid's back and the young man stumbled a bit in the hallway. They turned right, then left and then walked for another five minutes before another right and then left turn. The first door to Reid's right was open. He turned inside and looked around the room. There were at least seven different computer monitors stacked around the only work station that was in use. The others were blank, as though someone had set up an office space and then abandoned it before completion. There were several office chairs and one large table to the right of the doorway. The room was windowless, just like Reid's room. It was dimly lit, but bright enough for them to see the face of the man with dark hair that was working at the computers.

He turned around when they entered the room and Reid's eyes went wide. "You…" He shouted at the man.

"Hello Dr. Reid," Kevin Lynch said.

Reid's eyes narrowed and Kevin flinched away. "Does Garcia know you're here?"

"No… and she won't know until it's too late."

"I knew something wasn't right about you."

"No you didn't, I fooled all of you."

Reid walked up to him and grabbed the front of his shirt with his cuffed hands. "I'm not a door buster like Morgan so I'll just say that when he finds out what you've done, he'll hurt you in ways I won't contemplate."

He let the man go and Kevin fell back against his chair. "You won't get the chance."

"Don't underestimate me. Garcia is my best friend! I won't stand by and let you hurt her."

"You can't do anything to stop it." Kevin was smiling up at him like a shark on the hunt. "When I agreed to help Calloway pull this off, he promised to pay me very well. When I realized that I'd get to bang your best friend, I almost told Calloway that I'd do this for free."

Reid tried to grab Kevin again, but Stark held him back. "Remember you've got a gun in your back and we have eyes everywhere Dr. Reid.

Kevin's arms were folded over his chest and the smile he wore reminded Reid of the students that tied him to the goal posts of his high school football field. It was that same predatory gleam all those the kids had worn to torment him.

"You see Dr. Reid, once this is over and I've blocked all your teams' attempts to find anything that would help locate you, I'm going to take Penelope away from all this. The money I'm getting will give us a new start. "

"She'll never leave the BAU!"

"Oh I think she will."

"She'll hate you for this!"

"Enough…" Stark shoved his gun hard into Reid's back, and yanked him away like you would a child from a hot stove. "Stop stalling and make your phone calls."

"I'm not doing anything with Lynch in the room."

"Yes you will," Stark shook him like a rag doll.

"No… tell Lynch to leave."

Reid stood his ground and stared down Stark for long minutes before Stark told Lynch to get lost. "Gladly…" Kevin said.

After Lynch disappeared, Stark gave Reid a cell phone. "Call Hotchner first…." He commanded.

----

Austin listened again to the last message she'd got from Spencer. It was stupid for her to listen to it over and over. After all he'd be there soon, so why keep listening to a message from the day before. It was like being in high school, but she couldn't help it.

"Hi Austin… It's Reid, I mean Spencer… So I got tickets for the noon flight out of DC. I'll been there around three thirty." There had been a long pause after that and she'd thought he'd hung up then he said: "I miss you," really fast before hanging up without a goodbye. She could almost hear him blushing over the phone. It was so cute.

She put the phone down and smiled at the empty room. She'd just finished cleaning the entire apartment from top to bottom. She'd only intended to clean up the eating nook, kitchen and living room, but as often happened, once she got started; she couldn't stop till it was done. And, she wanted to prove to herself that she could do something normal like clean without getting freaked out because of her kidnapping.

It had been hard to pull the Comet out from under the sink and clean the counter tops. The smell of the cleaning chemical had made her sick to her stomach. Then she'd remembered how Spencer had saved her. She thought about the warmth that had surrounded her when he put his arms around her to help her to her feet. His hair had smelled like baby shampoo which hadn't surprised her for some reason. She thought about the first time she'd seen him and how arresting his eyes were. It was like looking into the eyes of an innocent child, and the eyes of an old man who'd seen too much. It was a contradiction that fascinated her.

When she wanted to throw out everything that remotely smelled like cleaning chemicals, she remembered his voice and the cute little squeak it had in the voice message. So she got through the cleaning. Now that he was coming to see her, the nightmares would go away too, she was sure.

She tried calling him once more, but the call went right to voice mail again. She looked at the phone and wondered if he were okay. Maybe he wasn't where he could hear the phone, or maybe he was in the bathroom, or cooking and ignoring the phone. There were lots of reasons for him not to return her call. She wasn't going to let it bother her. He'd call her back and everything would be okay.

---

Hotch pulled into the driveway of the new, smaller home he'd bought in McLean, near to Haley. She'd been unhappy with his move, but he insisted on being near Jack. It was eight pm on Saturday night and he'd just returned Jack to his mom after a day of play and total immersion in his little boy's life.

He was opening the door to his house when his phone rang. He dropped the keys on the entry table and keyed off the alarm.

"Hotchner…"

"Hotch, it's Reid."

"Reid… I thought you were getting ready to go on vacation."

"I am… Something happened though; I got a call from Bennington an hour ago. My mom is sick and she's asking to see me."

"Is she okay?'

"Yeah… but she's giving her doctors and the nurse's trouble. She keeps asking for me and gets violent when they tell her I'm not in Las Vegas. I want to spend a few days in Las Vegas before I go to Atlanta."

"I'll get Garcia to book your flight."

"No… I already took care of that. Actually I'm already at the airport. I just got into the parking lot. My flight leaves at ten I'll be getting into Vegas after 3 am tomorrow morning."

"Alright Reid, are you sure everything is okay?'

"Yeah… I'm just a little anxious to see my mom."

"I understand… Let me know if you need anything."

"Thanks Hotch."

"Take care of yourself Reid…"

"I will…"

The phone went dead and Hotch frowned down at it. He'd walked to his bedroom without thinking about it and now stood in front of his dresser. There were several photos of his son and at one corner a group photo of the team at the last Fourth of July picnic for the Bureau.

It was the first time they'd all been together after the events of Reid's kidnapping in Georgia. He stood next to Hotch wearing a tee shirt and jeans which had surprised everyone. Hotch had put on jeans too and taken quite a ribbing from Rossi and Morgan. Both he and Reid smiled for the camera. It was the first time Hotch had really let go and smiled in front of the team. It was the first time Reid had smiled in months and he looked like a delighted child. Emily was on the other side of Reid. Garcia, JJ and Rossi were sitting in front of them and Morgan stood on the other side of Hotch. They all looked so happy together. It had been a welcome respite from all the horrors of the job.

His thoughts went back to Reid, who'd sounded very upset. "Of course he's upset… You would be too if your mother was in an institution!"

But there was more to it than just his mother, he thought, as he stripped off the tee shirt and jeans he'd put on to take Jack to the park. There was something else in Reid's voice.

He went to the bathroom and turned on the shower. There was something else bothering Reid. What was it?

"Stop worrying, you're not his father."

Well, that was true, but Reid's father had deserted him. His young agent didn't have anyone else but the team. Maybe that wasn't a good thing. Maybe they all needed someone outside the job. It was why he pushed Reid to go see Austin for a good long visit. If anything was bothering Reid, she'd help him get through it.

He got in the hot water and let it run over his back as he tried not to think about the new guy in Haley's life and how much Jack liked the guy. He let it pound on his head and tried not to think about how unhappy Reid had sounded. Everything would work itself out in time and then the team would be back and better than ever.

---

Austin ran to her phone. She'd just got out of the shower. Water dripped from her hair, and from her bare legs under the fluffy yellow towel she wore.

"Hello…" She was breathless and crossed her fingers that it was Spencer.

"Hi Austin…"

"Spencer…" Unreasonable happiness rushed through her, raising gooseflesh on her arms.

"I had an emergency come up… I have to go to Nevada to see my mom. She's sick and, well, I'll explain it when I see you."

Her heart dropped, but sympathy overrode her upset. She remembered when her beloved grandmother had got very sick and ended up in the hospital before dying from pneumonia related complications.

"Will she be okay?"

"Yeah… um, listen I didn't want to do this over the phone and I'll understand if you don't want to see me again. My mom is in a sanitarium. She has," Austin heard the click of his throat as he swallowed hard. "She's bipolar and has to have twenty four hour care."

"I'm sorry Spencer."

"So, I'll see you in a few days."

She could hear the question in his voice. She wanted to be mad that he would doubt her, but there was something in his voice…

"Yeah… Call me when you can leave your mom."

Relief was so palpable in his voice she could feel it seeping through the phone. "Thanks Austin."

"I'll miss you Spencer."

"Me too," and then the phone was dead and he was gone.