A/N: Don't own Criminal Minds

Thanks so much for all the wonderful feedback, it's much appreciated

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Cory opened his eyes and saw a nurse leaning over him. She turned to someone else in the room and said, "It looks like he's awake." Cory followed her gaze and he saw Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid sitting in a chair by the window.

"What do you want?" Cory said.

"I wanted to talk to you."

"Yeah, well forgive me if I don't want to talk to you."

"We got a warrant and searched your house. We found the knife you used to kill Val Simms and Jeff Clisby along with some bloody clothes of yours. I'm sure when they're tested that blood will belong to the victims. We also found the DVD's and a bunch of other things related to your parents' "business". It seems you were telling the truth. I'm sorry for what happened to you."

"Yeah, well doesn't that just make me all warm and fuzzy."

"I know how psychological, physical and emotional abuse can make you lose perspective and harm your judgment."

"Cory sneered at Reid, "And how would you know that?"

"Just trust me when I say I do. Your lawyer should use those DVD's in your defense. They won't get you off but maybe they will get you the help you need. Please take that help, don't go on living with these demons in your mind."

"Why do you care?"

"I don't know, I just do. I'll go now, good luck Cory, I mean that."

"Somehow I think you do. Listen; tell Kyle and Colleen I'm sorry." Reid nodded, turned and went out the door.

Back at the sheriff's station Kyle, Roy and States Attorney Jared Fidrich were looking at the DVD's seized from Cory Campbell's home. Their faces showed the utter shock and disbelief they felt at what they were seeing. Reid walked in and had to admit to himself that, although he had seen many horrible things in his work with the BAU, the DVD's capturing what had been done to Cory were among the most disgusting things he had ever seen.

It was worse for Kyle and Roy. They knew Cory when he was that age and they knew the people they were seeing on those DVD's. They were their neighbors and friends. Fidrich promised to get warrants for all of their arrests immediately but Reid wanted them brought up on federal charges because sentences were longer and harsher for federal crimes. He assured Fidrich that when he called SSA Hotchner, a former lawyer himself, that he was positive he could secure the warrants. Fidrich agreed to leave it in Reid's hands and left.

Kyle had made a list of all the people involved and gave it to Reid, who left the station and went to his motel room to place the call.

The team was in the conference room when the phone rang. "Hotchner." Hotch said into the receiver.

"Hi Hotch, it's me."

"Reid, how are you doing? Wait let me put you on speaker." He pushed a button and said "Okay Reid go ahead, everyone is here."

"Hi Reid" the group said in unison.

"Hi guys, it's good to hear your voices."

"Garcia tells us you've been quite busy in Kentucky." JJ piped up.

"You could say that. Hotch, I called because I need a favor."

"Name it Reid." Hotch replied.

"We caught the un sub, one of the deputies, Cory Campbell. He stated he wanted his birth parents dead because he was given up for adoption and his adoptive parents used him for child porn and to sell to pedophiles for sex. They made DVD's of these sex acts and Hotch they are the most sickening things I have ever seen. I downloaded one and sent it to Garcia so you could see the kind of thing I'm talking about. What I need are federal warrants for the people who participated in accordance with the Federal Child Exploitation and Obscenity Statutes. If I fax you the names and description of the crimes can you get me the warrants Hotch. The state's attorney is leaving this up to me. This is really hard on the sheriff and deputies down here. They know Cory and the people involved. It's sad, these people thought they were living in Mayberry and they're finding out they live in Kentucky's answer to Sodom and Gomorrah."

Garcia called up the DVD on her laptop and the team looked with total disgust at the sickness displayed there. "Fax me the info Reid; you'll have your warrants before the end of the day."

"Thanks Hotch."

Gideon said quietly, "Hey Reid, great work, we're all very proud of you son."

"Uh thanks guys, bye for now."

Disconnecting the call, Hotch looked at the team, "He really is okay, isn't he?" Five smiling faces looked back at him in response.

Reid decided to go to the diner for some lunch. He got a lot of stares and whispers when he entered the diner. It was happening everywhere he went in town now. Everyone knew what had transpired at the diner and some looked on him as something of a hero while others looked on him as a stranger who came to town and opened a Pandora's box they would have preferred remain closed and if truth be told, he couldn't blame them.

He sat at the counter and smiled at Colleen as she came over to him to take his order. After giving it to her mother in the kitchen, she returned.

"So, how are you doing?" He said, "Are you recovering from what happened the other day?"

"I don't know; it's so hard to believe that Cory could do something like that."

"Trauma can make people do things very foreign to them, believe me I know. Cory needs help and I hope he gets it. I hope the community can get over this for everyone's sake."

"You're very forgiving."

"It's not so much a matter of being forgiving as it is understanding that trauma, abuse and torture can weigh heavily on the human mind, making one do things he never thought he was capable of doing." Reid replied, not sure whether he was talking about Cory or himself. He had to admit that his experience with Tobias had helped him gain a perspective of what it felt like to be the victim but also how being traumatized can lead a person to do destructive things and behave in a manner unusual to him. Reid hoped he could do as Morgan had suggested and use these experiences to make him a better profiler and a better person. That remained to be seen.

"You know I've wanted to get out of this town for a long time and now it seems I want it even more."

"So what's keeping you here, your family?"

"No, it's not that though I love Mom and Dad very much, it's just that I'm not a brainchild. I did okay in school but not well enough to get scholarships to colleges. It seems like education is the only way out of a small town."

"I don't think so Colleen, if you want to go then you should go. So you don't have a scholarship, you have a skill; you're a very good waitress. Start there; get a job as a waitress somewhere, save your money, go to community college, night school, get the education that you need to maybe get that scholarship, but whatever you do don't just sit here and wish your life was better. That's such a waste."

Colleen got his meal and new customers came in and she left to tend to them. Reid ate his lunch put some money on the counter and got up to leave saying good bye to Colleen and again enduring the stares of the townsfolk. Colleen picked up the money, looked at how much was there, gave Reid a questioning expression, he shook his head and left. Colleen put some of money in the till and pocketed the hefty tip!

Reid returned to the sheriff's station and almost planted himself by the fax machine waiting for the warrants from Hotch. About an hour after he came in the fax machine started to buzz and page after page of warrants, fourteen in all, spewed out of the machine. The warrants in hand, Reid went off to find Kyle and Roy and together they started the roundup of the citizens of Brookdale who had committed such heinous acts on Cory Campbell. It was a very hard day on everyone. Reid and company showed up at people's homes, places of business, shops, the park and even the diner to pick up the people on their list. Everywhere they went, the same looks of shock and dismay followed as people saw their friends and neighbors loaded into the cruiser and carted off to jail. After everyone had been hauled in Reid saw Kyle sitting in his office, his head in his hands. He entered the office once again without knocking. He could see the tears in Kyle's eyes, realizing how what he had done today was going to affect the families he knew. There were no words of encouragement he could offer Kyle, because that was often the case with this line of work; upholding the law meant you had to arrest those who broke it even if they were people you cared about.

Ruby came in and told Reid there was a call for him, it was the hospital. Reid took the call from a nurse saying Cory was asking to see him. Reid left for the hospital.

When he arrived in Cory's room, Cory was lying in bed with his eyes closed but Reid could see he was not sleeping. "You wanted to see me Cory?"

"I told you in the diner, that I didn't cut your brake lines. I was telling you the truth."

"I believe you Cory."

"Good, because I have an idea."