I apologize for the delay in publishing this chapter. I went back and reviewed some of the early episodes before writing the parts with Gideon in them. Despite my best efforts there is still a lot of jumping around in time between different people's points of view so I hope it all makes sense. I wanted to get this chapter out now because early access to a game I pre-ordered begins tommorow so the next chapter might take a little longer. I'm trying to get as much of it written as possible today but apparently I'm required to attend my own birthday celebration. Anyways enjoy this chapter. Thank you for all the reviews/favorites/follows so far.

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds nor any of the Criminal Minds characters. I do however own George Stanley and the soon to be named "unidentified man"

He picked up the phone after the 3rd ring. "No one was supposed to call me. I told you I needed some time off. "

"Hello to you too" replied Hotch. Despite the dire nature of the call he couldn't help but poke fun at Jason's surliness.

"I told you I was going to the cabin. This is my escape. You weren't supposed to call–"

"Gideon." Hotch tried to interrupt the older man but Supervisory Special Agent Jason Gideon had had a tough year and didn't really want to hear it.

"You guys managed 6 months without me in the field, now you can't you even manage one case."

"Gideon!" Hotch nearly yelled into the phone. After pausing a second and hearing nothing on the other end of the line Hotch got down to the real reason he had called. "Listen we need you on this case. Reid's in trouble."

Gideon gave a sigh. "I'll be there are soon as I can."

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

As soon as he got into his car the man turned on his accessories and tuned his radio to the local news station. After listening for a couple of minutes he was surprised and angry to hear not a single word about the FBI kid he had kidnapped. Slamming his hands into the steering wheel he began to rant even though he was alone in the vehicle.

"This is all your fault Georgie. If you had just kept off that stupid website the FBI would never have closed in on you so fast. You can't do anything right. You couldn't even take care of that stupid female agent."

Slamming his fist into the steering wheel again he knew he would have to take care of everything himself. Fishing a pair of latex gloves out of his pocket he pulled them on before ripping at sheet of paper off a notepad he kept in the glove department. After hastily scrawling a note on the sheet of paper he got out of the car and went to the back of the vehicle. Opening the trunk of the car he stuffed the note in between the corpse's teeth before slamming the trunk shut again. His package ready, he returned to the driver's seat and started the ignition.

He would deal with the other agent later. It was time for a delivery.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

"What do you mean you don't know how long he's been missing." The passengers around Gideon shifted uncomfortably as they couldn't help but overhear the old profiler. Gideon, on his part, didn't care. He was fuming at the news he'd received. Neither Reid nor Elle would have gone back to the hotel without checking in while out in the field. One bad judgment call and they were left with a 12 hour time window within which the attack could have taken place.

While Gideon paused to listen to what Hotch had to say a nervous looking flight attendant approached him. "Um... sir you can't use a cell phone on board. I'm...uh...going to have to ask you to turn it off."

Gideon glared at the woman a second before fishing his credentials out of his pocket. "Official FBI business" he grunted.

"Sorry sir" the young woman managed to squeak before she fled down the aisle.

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

"All right, someone will meet you at the airport." Hotch hit end on his phone and walked back into the conference room where Morgan and Detective Stanfield waited.

"So I just got off the phone with Gideon. As you might have expected he wasn't too happy to hear that the last time we heard from Reid was yesterday night. He also told me his plane will be landing at Knox County Regional Airport in about 3 hours and I think he may have scared a young flight attendant into quitting her job."

"Sounds like Gideon" Morgan commented.

Before Gideon had called they had been discussing whether George Stanley's bloody artwork was a manifestation of an underlying obsession with blood and if that obsession would have been strong enough for him to actively seek out a reliable source. Now Hotch was set on steering the conversation back in that direction. "If George Stanley was in his late 30s when he started using human blood it's highly unlikely he started killing at that time."

"Unless something retarded either his mental age or behavioral age. " countered Morgan. "We know he doesn't have a criminal record but he could have been institutionalized at some point."

"I think we need more information." Hotch declared.

"Information is my middle name sir." At the sound of Garcia's voice all three men turned to look at the FBI laptop sitting on the conference room table. The laptop Reid had set up yesterday. At some point during the conversation the tech analyst had established a video connection and her familiar face was now on-screen. Despite her cheerful greeting the two profilers in the room could see the strain Reid's abduction was putting on her.

"Have you come across any indication of the source of the human blood Stanley was using in his paintings?"

"No sir but–"

"Have you managed to find anything that happened 10 years ago that would have triggered the erratic change in his behaviour?"

"No sir but just listen for a second. I've been looking into Mr. Stanley's medical history and I found something interesting regarding his psychiatric history. Don't ask me how I know this because you really don't want to know."

"We'll talk about it later." said Hotch. Morgan recognized the stern disapproval in the tone of his voice. Whenever Hotch used that tone of voice it usually spelled trouble but Morgan hoped that his boss would be lenient with the technical analyst, especially if the information helped find Reid.

"Turns out when he was 15 George Stanley tried to check himself into a nearby mental hospital complaining of hearing voices. The hospital turned him away because they thought he was faking. That was in–

"1973" Elle finished for her as she walked into the conference room. "That was right after David Rosenhan published his article 'On Being sane in insane places' detailing an experiment where 7 sane individuals covertly gained access to 12 psychiatric hospitals. After the article was published hospital administrators were on the look-out for non-existent imposters and legitimate patients were turned away. Reid was telling me about it just the other day. Speaking of which why isn't he hear telling you this himself?"

"Elle... Reid wasn't at the house where we found you."

JJ followed Elle in just in time to catch what Morgan said. Some part of her had to ask, had to make sure she understood what her ears had heard. "We can't find Reid?"

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Reid's captor had returned the woman some time ago though Reid wasn't sure exactly how long it had been. The windowless room and endless darkness in which they were held made accurate timekeeping impossible but judging by his internal states Reid felt he had been there less than 24 hours. His wrists had long since gone numb while the rest of his body still ached.

When they heard the door opening Reid tensed up and the woman began to whimper again. Although the woman hadn't appeared to have been harmed physically last time the UNSUB had taken her that didn't mean that she hadn't been psychologically tortured. Reid was determined to keep the UNSUB away from her no matter what.

When the man approached him rather than the woman Reid was relieved that he wouldn't have to put his plan into action. Reid couldn't get suspects riled up the way Morgan and Gideon could. I wonder if he even knows I'm missing. All thoughts of his mentor fled from his mind as the man approached.

Reid had promised himself he wouldn't let his captor see him struggle but when he saw what the man had his hands his upper body began to thrash this way and that trying to get as far away from the man as possible. He stopped his struggles though as soon as he felt cold steel pressed against his neck.

"That's better Spencer." the man said before he proceeded to place a blindfold over Reid's eyes which he tied tightly. Unhooking Reid's arms from above him he actually undid the cuff on one of Reid's wrists but only so that he could cuff the young man's hands behind his back. The continued presence of the knife at his throat provided extra assurance for Reid's good behavior.

"Move" commanded the UNSUB and Reid felt the cold metal of a gun barrel pressed against his back. As Reid walked forward the man walked with him, pressing the gun firmly with one hand while using the other to both guide and control the blindfolded agent.

Reid kept walking until the man ordered him to stop. Opening the door the UNSUB shoved Reid in. "You have two minutes" the man told him before he slammed the door shot.

Reid walked slowly forward until he bumped into something fairly low to the ground. Turning around so that he could use his hands to feel it out he realized it was a toilet. Awkwardly because of the handcuffs he managed to pull down his pants enough so that he could go to the bathroom.

Reid had managed to get his boxer's back up but was having trouble finding his pants when the unsub opened the door. His two minutes were up. The captive genius could feel himself turn red at being caught in such a compromising position.

Reid heard footsteps and then suddenly felt the UNSUB's hands on him. Reid's heart started instantly racing as his fight or flight response kicked in. Had Reid not been blindfolded the Unsub would have seen Reid's pupils become completely dilated. Before Reid could move to get away from the man he had pulled up Reid's pants and the barrel of the gun was once again pressed against Reid's back.

The unsub guided Reid up the staircase and through the door. Unable to see the steps before him Reid tripped about 4 steps up and with his hands bound behind him he could do nothing to catch his fall. Reid went face first into the wooden staircase and he felt wetness dripping down his face as his nose began to bleed. An ache in his jaw told him he would probably have a pretty nasty bruise there soon. The UNSUB had roughly yanked the young doctor back to his feet, admonishing him to be careful.

Upstairs the UNSUB dropped the gun from Reid's back and grabbed his arms by the handcuffs instead. The man dragged him by the cuffs until he pushed him into a chair. First the man used some sort of straps to bind the agent's legs to the legs of the chair. Then he uncuffed his hands and used more straps to bind his wrists to the arms of the chair. From the feel of the straps Reid guessed that they might be leather. As soon as he finished the work Reid heard footsteps as the man walked away.

Reid waited in silence, his breathing coming more rapidly as his mind started to delve into all the possibilities of what the UNSUB might do. When he heard the UNSUB return Reid thought his heart might beat right out of his chest. He was close to a full panic attack when the blindfold was ripped off his eyes.

Reid blinked a few times as brightness replaced darkness and when he could see again his eyes went wide at what he saw: the woman before him, wearing only her underclothes with her arms and legs bound to posts on either side of her, forcing her spread eagle. The UNSUB stood next to her with deadly-looking knife in his hand.

"Now Dr. Reid, we're going to play a little game."

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

Morgan and Hotch stood before the viewing window, once again staring at George Stanley through the glass. When Hotch moved towards the door to the interrogation room Morgan stopped him. "Hotch, let me do it."

With a concentrated stare the unit chief looked his agent over. "Are you sure you can keep your head cool?"

"Yah Hotch. I'll admit I'm angry but I know anger won't help Reid. I have to do this. Man I need to do this."

After looking Morgan in the eye and seeing the determination there the team leader somewhat reluctantly nodded his consent. "If I think you're losing control I will step in. I can promise you that."

Morgan brushed past his boss and pushed open the door to the interrogation room. Crossing his arms in front of him he stood staring at Stanley for a minute before finally taking the seat across from the man.

"The way I see it George, you're in a whole lot of trouble. Right now you're facing two counts of kidnapping a federal agent. That's a possible life sentence right there. If one of those agents dies? I'll personally make sure you get the needle. "

George Stanley just stared, unblinking, completely unaffected by Morgan's threats. The angry agent continued anyways. "Tell me where the other agent is and you might even get parole someday."

When his words once again produced no reaction Morgan decided to try a different tactic. He stood up, placed his hands on the table and leaned forward so that his face was mere inches away from the man he was interrogating. "Where is Dr. Reid." he said, his voice like cold steel.

Instead of reacting, Stanley blinked once, yawned, and asked "Who?".

"The male agent you kidnapped" spat Morgan. "Where is he?"

"Oh" replied Stanley with a giggle. The completely unexpected reaction set Morgan back on is heals. What Stanley said next stunned the experienced agent and made him literally take a step back.

"He's dead. I killed him you know."

-PTTR-PTTR-PTTR-

All remaining members of the BAU team sat in the conference room along with Detective Stanfield. Even Garcia was present via video conference. It was Garcia who had retrieved the video feed from the interrogation room at the station and was now replaying it for everyone.

Even though they had heard second hand what George Stanley had said JJ and Elle still looked stunned at hearing it firsthand. "Play it again" ordered Hotch when the last word had faded.

"Sir?"

Hotch was about to repeat the order when an officer knocked on the open door of the conference room to announce his present. Every one turned towards the newcomer. "We just got a call from a local reporter claiming to have gotten a package that the FBI might want to check out."

Hotch sighed. "Elle, come with me to check it out. Detective Stanfield can you send an officer to pick up Agent Gideon from the airport? His flight should be landing soon."

"I'll pick him up myself" volunteered the detective.

"Are you sure you don't want to check out this package with us?" Hotch was clearly surprised by the offer.

"Nah. The reporter asked for the FBI. Might not even be connected to our case. I'll pick up your agent and fill him in on the latest." Hotch thanked the detective.

Hotch and Elle set off in one of the SUVs for the office building the local paper worked out of. While Morgan and JJ stayed back at the station in case Hotch needed them elsewhere, Detective Stanfield set off in a department vehicle to pick up Agent Gideon.

The 20 minute drive to Knox County Regional Airport passed uneventfully. The agent's flight had just landed when the detective arrived and despite having never met the man Stanfield picked out the special agent easily. Jason Gideon's photo had been all over the papers a while back after Adrian Bale had blown up a warehouse and murdered 6 agents who Gideon had sent in.

When Gideon approached Detective Stanfield stepped up and introduced himself. "Agent Gideon? I'm Detective Stanfield. I've been working with your team." He quickly shook hands with the man then led him outside to his car.

In the car Gideon wanted to know everything that had happened in the past 4 hours since he had received the file. Detective Stanfield took a deep breath before dropping the bombshell. "Agent Morgan questioned the suspect shortly before I left to pick you up. According to George Stanfield Dr. Reid is already dead."

Thank you for reading. I would appreciate it if anyone would take the time to review. Also I apologize for the way I left the scene between Reid and the unsub and for George Stanley "killing" Reid. The scene with the unsub was supposed to end at an entirely different point but I got carried away when I started writing the scene and then I just couldn't resist leaving that cliff hanger. As to what George Stanley said, I had originally planned to have him admit to all the murders instead but then I realized he has no idea how many murders there actually are ;)