A/N: My sincerest apologies for the wait- if indeed anyone is still following this little ditty. Explanations will be made at the end of the chapter for anyone curious. If you don't care, go ahead and skip the second author's note.

This one's quite a bit longer, and I attempted to reference previous chapters as well, so hopefully I've made up for the wait?

Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies.

"I gotta' go." Reid noticed Dr. Kimura enter the small 'lab' with a couple others and gratefully hung up with Garcia before he started blubbering into his cell phone. He'd nearly lost it there a couple times, throat clenching painfully on the words he so desperately needed his mother to hear, but he wouldn't have been able to swallow down the tears any longer were it not for such a timely interruption.

"You look nice," he said by way of greeting, trying to start out on a positive note by lightening the mood a little. Kimura laughed politely but it was clear she could see right through the false smile he'd plastered on. She wasted no time getting down to business- which, considering the situation, was certainly to be expected- but what did surprise Reid was not only the Doctor's genuine concern for his well being, but that she was doing nothing to hide it. The woman hardly knew him, had only met him that day, and yet the way she was looking at him… somehow, the worry shining in her deep brown eyes was different than it had been for the others infected in the hospital. While a small part of him appreciated such attention, the last thing he wanted was to become the priority when there were four others in far worse condition than he.

Were it coming from Morgan, he could understand it. The older agent had taken it upon himself to provide a one-man protection detail for the young genius from his first day in the BAU, he was a good friend, and, if you're being completely honest, not entirely stable when it came to his emotions. When Derek Morgan felt something, he felt it intensely and with every fiber of his being. Anger, sadness, guilt, fear- Reid would have to guess that at that very moment his friend was struggling against all of them along with a heaping side of helplessness. There was no doubt that, in his mind, he'd not only failed to protect his young colleague, but he couldn't even be there with him, help him search, make him feel better. For such a take-charge, rush-into-action guy it had to be frustrating as hell to have to sit on the sidelines.

I actually feel bad for everyone that has to deal with Morgan, right now, and I'm the one infected with anthrax. If I make it out of this alive, maybe he and I can sit down and have a talk about his anger issues…

…or maybe not. No sense making it through this only to commit suicide.

Hoping to keep everyone focused on the true task at hand instead of himself, Reid tried to dismiss the doctor's unusual concern with a simple but hopefully believable "I feel fine". It sounded convincing enough to his own ears, but clearly not convincing enough for Dr. Kimura. To her credit, she didn't so much as blink at the obvious lie and proved her own decent acting abilities by forging ahead with an offer of painkillers later down the line to keep him "comfortable". In retrospect, she had been understanding and kind enough that a firm but polite 'no, thank you' would have been enough. Instead, a brief flash of panic had him biting out a rather harsh dismissal that actually made her flinch a little.

Whoops. Speaking of over-reacting… she's just trying to help, do her job. Just calm down and help her out instead of biting her head off. It's bad enough you were so blunt with Hotch, earlier.

"Don't bother, it won't do me any good, I'm already infected." So much for being a genius; that was one of the stupidest things you've done all day- inhaling a deadly bioagent, included. He was clearly worried, and you practically threw it back in his face. He may not say as much, but you know better than anyone how protective Hotch is of the team, whether the cause is work related or not. As the boss he feels responsible for us, for our well-being- which technically he is- but he's always made it clear he takes that responsibility far beyond the duties of Unit Chief.

Becoming a dad didn't really didn't help, either.

Or working with Morgan and his rampant hero-complex.

Or my own penchant for being a hostage. Or held at gunpoint. Or kidnapped. Or blown up. Or beaten and drugged and… well, all the trouble I seem to get into.

Yeah, definitely be a little nicer to Hotch next time you talk to him. An apology wouldn't hurt, either…

For now, maybe you should focus that genius brain of yours on the nice doctor you just snapped at for no good reason. Oops. Again. Pay attention, Reid!

Kimura was eyeing him warily, clearly hesitant to provoke any further outbursts, but she gamely plowed ahead and asked what to do to help, clearly willing to chalk his strange behavior up to being sick and stubborn.

This woman gives you entirely too much credit. Panic? Yes, absolutely. Got plenty of that, if we're being honest- but sorry, it's not the proud, too-tough-to-admit-weakness, macho FBI Agent kind of panic you think. More like the I-want-to-live-to-receive-my-five-year-chip-please, kind. Much more respectable…

Damnit, Reid, what happened to focus? Pay attention, already! Take a deep breath,- when did that get so hard?- do your job, and remember to add Dr. Kimura to your list of apologies.

Cure… cure… where would he hide it? Former government employee, obviously a little paranoid- the profile practically writes itself.

To his surprise, it also practically explained itself- he was already telling her that it would likely be hidden, to look for something innocuous without so much as a second thought for what he was saying. It was a relief to know that even though his thoughts were wandering every which way without his permission, he could still fall back on what he did well so easily. Now, if only his phone would stop ringing and let him do something useful…

Morgan. Figures. Checking up on me? I'm surprised it took you this long…

"Well, you got me and Garcia." Reid felt another wave of panic surge through his insides. Garcia? No, no, please not Garcia. Not after… I only just hung up with her! Please tell me she didn't-

"Hey, Reid." The panic ebbed slightly. Oh, thank God. It wasn't chipper by any stretch of the imagination, and it was no 'witty Garcia greeting', but it was a good try and mercifully free of tears and for that, Reid could have kissed her.

Whoa- where did that come from?

His fraying nerves settled just a little more as Morgan got down to business, laying out what the team had come up with and asking for a bit more insight from the BAU genius. Normalcy was key. It was good. It kept his brain geared to the task at hand… except, his brain wasn't being much help. Hadn't he already told them everything he could? Apparently not.

"Come on now, kid, I know you're not thinking straight," Ha! You have no idea, "but the Reid I know wouldn't give up." A guilt trip? Really? That seems pretty unfair, considering the circumstances. What exactly have you been doing out there all this time- besides playing phone tag and terrorizing the nice hazmat people? Give me a break, I have anthrax. My genius brain is in the process of turning into Jell-O… wow, Jell-O actually sounds really good right now… and my thoughts are all over the place like with the Jell-O- cherry, definitely- and I think there might be an elephant sitting on my chest because it's starting to get a little hard to breathe and did I mention I have anthrax? And why is it so hot in here, anyway?

Reid bit back a sigh and tried to coral his scattered thoughts.

Fine. Profile. You can do this- not that you have much choice. You are in the best position to get into this guy's head, Jell-O brains and lack of oxygen aside. Man, why do I keep thinking of-

No, concentrate! The partner. Need to find who Dr. Nichols was working with. The question is how…?

Blinking rapidly in an attempt to regain his focus, Spencer sucked in as deep a breath as he could muster and switched into autopilot. It felt a little pointless and somewhat wasteful to be going over everything again, starting from scratch, but once he got on a roll he found that answers were indeed beginning to form. Things he'd overlooked before stood out starkly in the sterile white room- photos, binders, papers… the thesis. Eureka!

Between he, Morgan, and Garcia they were able to spitball ideas, work up a theory, search it out, and produce a name and address within minutes. It was the most productive he'd felt in hours, which frankly wasn't saying much.

"Kid, you did real good- now get the hell outta' there." If only. Not going to do me much good being in the hospital if we don't find the cure. I may not be of much use, but an extra set of eyes certainly can't hurt.

"Dr. Reid," Kimura called out to him as she hurried over looking cautiously hopeful as she held up a plastic bag. "You said the cure would be hidden somewhere we wouldn't suspect. What about Nichols' inhaler?" Reid blinked and felt his eyes grow wide.

Damn.

I never would have thought of that…

You heard the man- let's get the hell out of here.

A/N: So... As a reader, I know how frustrating it is to get caught up in a multi-chapter piece only to suddenly have the author seemingly fall off the face of the earth. Now, I'm certainly not going to flatter myself by thinking anyone's really hanging on my every word or anything, ;) I'm just saying. Thing is, my health has been rather in flux as of late. Some rather serious and long term issues have cropped up despite my best efforts, and between these problems and the treatments I've been pretty worn down.

However, I've been doing my damnedest to be sure I work a little on this every day, and I've already got the plots for three more worked up- they just need to be written. If you guys are still reading, I'll still be posting. Just continue being patient, and I'll continue serving up the angst.

Your patience and kind words are much appreciated. Many thanks to all who have reviewed so far.