"Stand still!" he yelled at her before addressing Tanya again, "And that judge. That bitch! She took away all my rights!" He was extremely agitated now, and Reid feared for both the captives' lives. He drew his own gun and crept forward carefully, quietly, waiting for the opportunity to present itself.

Franklin saw Tanya's focus briefly shift from himself to their daughter and he lunged forward, reaching to grab her by the hand and intending to force her to come along with him. His movement gave Reid a clear shot, distancing Franklin a little from his daughter, and the profiler leveled his weapon and fired.

Franklin fell to the floor, releasing Amy from his grasp as he died, his gun clattering across the floor. Sirens sounded as the other team members, and the city police arrived. Amy stood transfixed for a moment. Reid moved forward to kick Franklin's gun further away from his body and checked to make sure he was dead. He found the last two knives from the set in Franklin's coat pocket, set them aside and then hurried to see if Hotchner was okay.

His boss stirred and indicated he was all right. Franklin had struck him across the head with the gun. Reid called for an ambulance anyway and stood up to see Amy and Tanya holding each other in a fierce hug.

"Basketball practice ended early cause the gymn was needed for the older grades." Amy was explaining to her mother. "I was almost home. He grabbed me right outside the house, Mommy. I'm sorry."

"Oh, baby, it's not your fault. He made you come in here!" They hugged again.

Reid released a huge sigh of relief just as Amy launched herself at him, throwing her arms around him in a bear hug.

"My hero! My hero!" she exclaimed, over and over and it was all Reid could do to not cry himself as he returned the grateful child's hug.

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Hotchner, sporting a bandage on his head, walked down the aisle in the jet, smiling and nodding at JJ as he passed. She was chatting with Will on the phone, telling him she was on the way home and regretting it was too late to be speaking with her sons. Agents Rossi and Morgan were sleeping; Lewis was reading a romance novel. Reid sat at the back of the plane, subdued and deep in thought. Hotchner slipped into the seat across from him.

Reid looked up and smiled, "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine. Not even concussion worthy," Hotchner began. He made eye contact with his youngest team member, reached out and touched his arm, "You did a really great job today, Reid. I'm very proud of your work on this case."

"Thank you," came out barely a whisper. He looked back down at the floor. Hotchner was smart enough to see that Reid wanted to be alone with his thoughts and he rose to relocate, choosing to sit by himself at the front of the jet.

Reid checked his watch. It was far too late at night to be calling Melissa now, and it was two hours later back in DC. He felt terrible; he hadn't called her at eight like she'd asked. At that time, the team had been knee deep in paper work after the Franklin takedown. By the time they'd liberated Hotchner from the hospital, it was after ten. Hotch had asked them all whether they wanted to stay in their hotel rooms for the night and get some sleep or if they'd prefer to fly home immediately and all five of them chose to go home.

It was after one a.m. when Reid arrived home and unlocked his apartment door. They'd had an extremely long couple of days and he was grateful when Hotchner told them all not to come into the office until noon the next day. He sat down on the edge of his bed, took off his shoes and before he knew it, it was morning. He'd fallen asleep in his clothes and still wearing his contact lenses.

"Ugh," he muttered, realising it was definitely going to be an eyeglasses day. Rifling through his messenger bag he found them then padded into the bathroom to remove his contacts and clean them.

In the kitchen, he absently pulled out two tumblers, two cereal bowls and the Cheerios, pouring the cereal into both bowls. Realising his mistake, he groaned and returned one bowlful to the box, setting the empty bowl in the sink. Good God I miss Anna, he lamented. He filled the kettle with water and turned it on. Spencer opened the refrigerator to retrieve the milk and discovered there was none. Sighing, he shut off the kettle, poured the second bowl of cereal back into the box and resigned himself to the fact that he was going to have to go out for coffee and breakfast. Again. And he decided that was just as well. His apartment was too quiet. And lonely. He missed the hustle and bustle of Melissa trying to get Anna to eat breakfast, brush her teeth and get ready for school, all while she made sure the child's backpack was ready with school essentials. Melissa had managed all that and been able to make coffee. And he couldn't remember to bring home milk, laughing at himself, "Profile a killer, yes. Remember to pick up milk when I walk right by the store on the way up here, no."