Author's note: I am so sorry this has taken so long. It's been crazy and rough and everything, and also in a superstitious way I was almost afraid to post anything else on this until Doc was back in the country safe and sound, and did I mention it has been a little crazy? Anyone interested in hearing quite a story, PM me. I think most of you are more interested in what I'm doing to our friends at the BAU, so I'll shut up now and let them take over. Please review!

Morgan was amazed at how well Ben Newswanger was able to get around. He and Reid had arrived at the house he shared with his brother, Doc, to talk to the young man. It was doubtful that he would know anything about the abduction (It had been almost twelve hours, but until he saw a body, Morgan refused to think of it as murder). He had expected to see an invalid in a wheelchair. Instead, they were greeted at the door by a young man moving with a smooth, practiced motion on a pair of crutches. The young man had short hair the same pale blond as his brother's, longer than it must have once been for the army, but still short and spiked. Doc was thirty-two, so Morgan estimated Ben to be about 26. He looked anything but fragile even without his legs, muscled arms balancing him on the crutches. Every part of him was solid muscle, as opposed to Doc's slight frame. It was hard to picture Doc as the big brother. Ben still looked capable of snapping Reid in half, and giving Morgan a run for his money.

His smile broke the illusion that they were still talking to a hardened soldier. Like his older brother, when Ben smiled, he looked ten years younger. "You must be the Feds Bobby told me about. Have you found him? Is he okay?"

Morgan hesitated only a second, having temporarily forgotten that Doc had a given name, and that was all it took. The smile left Ben's face in an instant as he mistook the hesitation for bad news. "Oh, God! No! He's not…he can't be!"

Reid's eyes widened. "What? No! I mean, we haven't found him I-we…um…just had some questions for you."

Morgan had recovered from his momentary lapse, and said quickly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you think…that. I just-"

A grim smile that was only a shadow of the one from earlier crossed his face. "You've never heard him called Bobby before." He stepped back on his crutches, clearing the doorway and motioning for them to come in. They followed, Reid closing the door behind them.

"Only once," Morgan agreed.

"Twice," Reid put in. "Teri referred to him by name when Hotch asked, and then when he introduced himself…"

Morgan shot him a look that clearly stated 'not the time, genius', and he trailed off. The two of them followed Ben into the living room. "Surprises me that either of them would. Teri or Trevor neither one has called him anything but Doc since the day they met him, and he took to it quickly." He flopped down onto the sofa. "Have a seat. Want something to drink?" Before either of them could reply (and before either of them could process how Ben intended to get around on his crutches and carry drinks) Ben yelled, "Sara? Can you bring us some iced tea?" In a normal voice, he turned to them. "Iced tea okay? We have lemonade too…"

"No, that's fine," said Morgan. "Thanks." Reid thought about saying that he didn't like iced tea, but he figured now wasn't the time.

A lady in nursing scrubs came into the living room carrying a tray with three glasses on it. "Hi," she said. "Here's the tea." She ran an almost-maternal hand through Ben's spiky hair. "I'll be in here finishing the laundry."

When she was gone, Ben looked to the agents. "That's Sara. Bobby…Doc, if that's easier for you…hired her to come help me get around. Now that I don't need that much help, she mostly does stuff around the house, laundry and dishes and stuff. I've not gotten that good on these things yet, and Bob- Doc's not home enough to worry about it. He pretty much runs the ER, did you know that? He's the only full-time doctor they have. Plus being the medical director of the ambulance service."

"He sounds like a very busy man," said Morgan.

"And very focused," Reid agreed.

Ben nodded. "Yeah. He is. I'm just so glad he can focus on medicine again. It has always been what makes him happiest."

Morgan took a sip of his tea, and shuddered. It was strong enough to stand up without a glass. He discretely put it down, and when Ben was looking the other way, he made a covert motion to Reid, signaling to steer clear of it. "Again?" said Reid. "He wasn't focused on medicine for a while?"

Ben looked down. "When I got hurt, things changed, of course. We moved out here to the middle of nowhere. He took several months off when we first got here, and just about drove me nuts." He smiled almost wistfully. "I know he was just trying to take care of me. But he was just so angry."

Morgan was confused. "Angry?" He couldn't picture the gentle man who had joked with the Mitchells and tossed popcorn into Teri's mouth from five feet away the night before being angry enough to make an impression on the wounded soldier.

Ben nodded. "He would have nights when he would just go into a rage. He would try his best to hide it from me. He bought a .9 mm pistol, and would go out back and shoot at the target he put up for an hour or so. He would go downstairs and beat the punching bag until his hands bled. He even talked about joining the army himself. Said he wanted to go over there and kill every raghead he could find." Ben was back to staring at the spot on the floor. "But he's so much better now. The Mitchells helped him a lot, brought him back into reality. He went back to practicing about six months ago, and he met them. He slowly stopped being so angry, and about a month ago, he was back to being his old self."

"What was he so angry about?" Reid asked. "Just you being hurt, or the change in lifestyle, or what?"

Morgan winced at the way his friend had worded the question, but Ben didn't seem to notice. "There was an ambush. That's how I got hurt. One of the men who helped plan it was in our custody at the time. He knew all about it, and laughed as it was going down. Bobby thought we should have been able to get the information out of him and prevented the whole thing."

Morgan looked up sharply to meet the former soldier's eyes. "Torture? You're brother thought the guy should have been tortured?"

Ben nodded. "He was just upset, because it was me that got hurt. He didn't think that our interrogation techniques were enough." He finally met Morgan's eyes again. "Look, don't hold it against him. Do you have any siblings?"

"Two sisters," Morgan replied.

Ben shrugged. "Well, think how you would feel if one of them got maimed, and you felt like someone could stop it."

Morgan bit his lip. "I'd feel like killing someone."

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Gideon was at the nurses desk making a phone call when Trevor's cell phone rang. He fumbled for it for a moment with his broken hand before getting it open. "Trevor," he said, trying to sound both strong and official.

"Kid, it's me," a broken voice said. "It's Doc. Listen to me. We don't have time to screw around, okay?"

Trevor nodded, then realized Doc couldn't see him. "Ok." He wanted to ask more, wanted to know if Teri was okay, but he trusted Doc. He would know soon.

"We're safe now," said Doc. "We got away. But I'm hurt bad and Teri's worse. We're right outside, around the dumpsters, but I can't carry her anymore. You have to come help us."

It took all Trevor's resolve not to sob with relief. "Ok. I'll tell Gideon, and we'll be right there!"

"No!" Doc exclaimed. "We don't have time. She's bleeding badly. Trevor, she might die! I can't tell for sure, but he may have nicked her spleen. Hurry! It'll take too long to explain it."

"Ok," said Trevor jumping to his feet. "I'm on my way. Do I need any supplies?"

"She needs an OR, kid! Now hurry!" The phone beeped in Trevor's ear as Doc disconnected."

Seeing Gideon still absorbed in his phone call, Trevor raced toward the back door. The heavy door slammed behind him as he ran to the dumpsters. "Teri!" he called. "Doc? Where are you?!"

He felt a sting in his shoulder, and fell to the ground as his entire body became paralyzed.