A/N: Do not own Criminal Minds

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Colleen was sleeping in Reid's arms; she had refused to see a doctor. Reid noted some bumps and bruises but no serious injuries. The door to the stationhouse flew open and Miriam rushed in. Kyle had called her after Reid and Colleen returned to the sheriff's station. He told her not to come but there was no stopping Miriam if she thought her daughter needed her.

"Where is she, is she all right?"

Kyle got a hold on his wife. Shh, Miriam, she's fine," he pointed to their daughter sleeping in the arms of the young agent. Reid raised his free hand and waved at Miriam. She came over to them and put her hand on Colleen's head lightly caressing her daughter's hair. She looked at Reid and mouthed "Thank you."

Given the events of the evening, the group had decided to wait until the morning to proceed further with their investigation. State officials would be by in the morning to pick up John Hamil. He was being charged with assault, attempted rape and assault on a federal officer as Garcia had now chosen to press charges. Tonight he was a guest at the local hospital thanks to Morgan.

Everyone was getting ready to head to their accommodations for the night. Reid knew he had to wake Colleen. He gently shook her and she woke with a start and the fear showed in her eyes immediately. "It's okay, it's time to go back home, your Mom's here," Reid said indicating Miriam. She came over to hug her daughter which proved a little difficult as Colleen was reluctant to let go of Reid. He eventually extricated himself assuring the traumatized young woman that he was close by, allowing Miriam the chance to comfort her daughter.

Kyle came over to Reid, who was now leaning against the desk drinking a cup of his sugar laden coffee, "I don't know how to thank you for what you did tonight for Colleen. If it hadn't been for you, I shudder to think what could have happened to my baby."

"We were all there Kyle, the whole team, the whole group were all there for Colleen, and will continue to be."

Gideon and Hotch were talking in the corner, taking stock of the day's events. They felt that Reid was indeed on the right track with the Rafferty and the mortician angle and if they could get a break on finding the person inside Bluegrass Valley that was helping them; they'd have the case solved. Gideon gave Hotch a look that said thanks for stepping back and giving Reid this chance. Hotch returned the look saying, "I wouldn't have done it if he wasn't doing great work Jason."

Miriam and Kyle decided they would take Colleen home in their car and Roy could drive the cruiser back to Brookdale. Everyone came to say goodnight to Colleen and let her know they were all there for her. Reid was talking to her before she left. "I think maybe it would be a good idea if you stayed home tomorrow. You had a pretty traumatic day."

"Don't you think I can handle it, you didn't tell Garcia to quit working?"

"No, I didn't mean that at all." Here I go saying the wrong thing again. "I just thought that you've had quite a lot of stress tonight and I didn't want to add more to it." Everyone was watching and Reid looked at the floor willing it to open and swallow him up.

"I'll be here in the morning, ready to work like everyone else, that's the way I want it. I just want to put this behind me. Are you ordering me to stay home?"

"No, I would never do that, I was just trying to make things easier for you, I'm sorry if I was insensitive in some way. I, uh, better let you get going, good night Colleen." Reid turned quickly and left the room.

Reid was in the conference room getting his messenger bag when Gideon came in. "She wasn't angry at you, you know. I think she just doesn't want to appear weak in front of the others."

"You know how it is with me, poor social skills. So often I say the wrong thing, or what I'm saying comes out wrong. God, I never meant to hurt her or degrade her in any way."

"She knows that Reid, she'll be better in the morning, once she's slept on it. Come on let's go."

Reid was lying in bed for yet another night waiting for sleep to overtake him but it appeared sleep was losing the battle and he remained wide awake going over all that had happened that day. He heard a tapping sound and thought at first it was the wind but then realized it was someone knocking at his door. He looked at his watch; it said 3:12 am. He got up opening the door to find Colleen standing there. She walked past him into the room.

"I'm sorry; I never meant to be mean to you. I know you were only being kind. I don't know why I said those things. I've just been lying in bed and I couldn't believe I said that to you and you, you're the nicest guy in the whole world. How could I be such a…a…bitch?" She looked up at him, tears on her cheeks, and then she was in his arms, his lips on hers in a kiss that was at first tentative and gentle then became intense and passionate.

Sanity returned and Reid pulled back, "Colleen, we can't…we can't do this."

"Why not, I want to. Have I ruined everything now, because of what I said tonight? Do you hate me now?"

"Of course not, did that kiss feel like I hated you?"

"No, but…"

"Colleen, you went through a very traumatic experience tonight and sometimes after an experience like that, you're not thinking too clearly. Believe me, I know. I just don't want to do something that's a reaction to what happened and not a natural progression in our relationship. I don't want either of us to hate ourselves or each other in the morning."

"You've said that before, that something happened to you, something that affected you in a bad way. I asked Gideon about it but he said I had to wait for you to tell me. Will you tell me, please?"

Reid looked at the floor, he opened his mouth a couple of times but the words would not seem to come. He wrapped his arms around himself, as if to give himself a hug or to put up a shield against the world. He knew this moment would come and he was dreading it. He knew from rehab that to come to terms with what had happened he had to freely admit it, this was still the hardest part, to come right out and say "I'm a drug addict."

Reid sat down on the bed and patted the place beside him for Colleen to join him. He cleared his throat, twice, and said, "We were in Georgia in February after the Superbowl…" The story poured out of him, Tobias kidnapping him and taking him to the shack in the cemetery, being beaten, watching murders on the computer screen, being injected with Dilaudid, being told to choose a team member to die, digging his own grave and eventually killing Tobias. He told her about the subsequent addiction to the potent painkiller and the rehab that followed. He told her everything and watered nothing down. If she wanted to know, she would know it all, he thought.

When he was done, Colleen was kneeling on the floor in front of him, holding his hands in hers. She looked up at him and he could see the tears flowing freely down her face; she was making no attempt to stem them. She got up, went around to the other side of the bed, kicked her shoes off and crawled in sitting with her back against the headboard. He turned to look at her and she held her arms out to him, and he accepted their invitation gladly. She ran her hands through his hair. He felt her tears on his cheek. Eventually, they slept.