AN: Haha, hi... So, whenever I see HappyNerd92 has reviewed it makes me really super happy (I post a chapter like "will they review this one?!") so I owe you an explanation... I wrote about half this chapter and literally despised it. I ended up deleting it, writing it again, and deleting it again before settling on this, which I still don't like very much. It didn't turn out how I wanted. Also, Wednesday was the last day before Christmas Break, so I had a ton of projects and tests (senior year sucks). So, I know, sucky excuses, but I didn't give up on this. Instead I've been writing the first few chapters to the sequel I had planned, so two more chapters of this (probably, maybe more) and sequel! Please don't kill me. I'm really happy if you've stuck with this fic this long. I'll try to finish this before New Year's. I'm so sorry I haven't been able to keep my update schedule, but I hope you like this chapter even though I don't.

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He couldn't stand the begging, the screaming, the crying. The sound of flesh against flesh. Knowing what his friend was witnessing, and knowing what would happen if his colleagues didn't make it in time. What was worse was it left nothing to the imagination, he could hear it all. He wanted to hang up the phone, but he knew he couldn't. He had to verify they were still alive. He was selfishly glad and immensely guilty that he could tell it wasn't happening to Reid.

"You have to hurry, Aaron," Rossi urged into his cell phone, trying to keep hold of what little composure he had. "I don't know how long they have. I just know one of them said they're leaving as soon as they're finished and bailing out of there."

"Driving regularly it's an hour away, Dave, it's going to take time no matter what," Hotch responded even as he urged Morgan to step on it. Prentiss was looking distinctly sick, and JJ was forcing back tears. She had gotten close to Juliet and Shawn, and knew more about Reid than most of them, but Hotch was glad to see her keeping her composure.

"No!" Rossi suddenly heard Reid let out in a heart-lurching shriek, and he felt his hands begin to shake. He braced himself against the table, his knuckles white. "No more! I don't want it! I don't want it!" Shawn was sobbing somewhere close to the mouthpiece, hysterical, and Rossi felt some of that hysteria himself.

"Hotch, something's happening! You need to get there!"

"Morgan!"

"I'm going as fast as I can, Hotch! We're on a mountain, it won't do them any good if we crash."

"No no no-" Shawn was mumbling weakly, desperate sobs cracking his voice. "Stop it, get away. Get away from us. Don't touch him-" His voice held no strength and Rossi felt his heart breaking.

"Hotch-"

"We're five minutes out, Dave. What's happening?"

"I don't know. Something bad."

And suddenly the line went dead and Rossi felt his stomach lurch. "Hotch, get there fast. The phone just died."

"Morgan, take that five minutes and make it two."

"I'm trying, Hotch."

Then the area in front of the small cabin was filled with a flurry of movement, people leaping out of cars and pulling guns, and Lassiter arguing with Henry Spencer, who had somehow found out about the whole thing. Hotch and Vick called orders and vests were strapped in place. Juliet, JJ, and Lassiter took the back door, and Morgan, Hotch, and Prentiss took the front.

There were bursting doors and shouts of "Clear!" and a muffled wailing beneath their feet that none of them wanted to think about. Lassiter and Hotch took positions on either side of the doorway to the basement, with four other guns trained on the as of now closed entrance. It wasn't closed for long, and the shotgun was only pointed at Lassiter's nose for a moment before Juliet's instincts made her pull her trigger quickly, twice, and the man dropped like a stone. Lassiter knelt to check his pulse and muttered "Gone. It's Bernard." He stepped back from the doorway to let the agents pass.

Shoulders were tense as they stepped over the corpse and crept down the stairs. Reid's crying grated on the BAU's ears, while Shawn could be heard grunting and coughing. JJ flicked on the lights while Hotch trained his eyes on the figure strangling Shawn Spencer, psychic detective, to death.

"This is the FBI. Step back and put your hands where I can see them."

That did not happen.

Lassiter and Morgan both shouted warnings, but it was Prentiss who pulled the trigger, shouting "Are you going to let him die?!" The man collapsed with a shriek on top of Shawn, who gasped in a breath and immediately began to sob.

"Get 'im off me get 'im off me get 'im off me-" Morgan and Juliet rushed forward, rolling the groaning unsub off the hysterical psychic. The tirade did not stop as Shawn sat up and started rubbing at the places on his skin where the man's blood had splattered, his eyes screwed shut.

"Shawn!" Henry rushed forward, kneeling next to his son and putting a hand on his arm. "He's gone, he's off you-" He involuntarily moved away when Shawn flinched hard. Reid was sobbing.

"Let me out, please let me out guys..."

It took Morgan a total of five minutes to find some tools and remove the shackles, during which Juliet sought out a blanket and wrapped it around the still trembling and hysterical Shawn. Reid leapt up, scrambling to Shawn.

"Shawn... S-Shawn, it's okay now." Shawn nodded, then shook his head, groaning and clutching it tightly. He had his eyes closed. He was noticing too much again, his mind couldn't handle the overload.

"Stop," he said weakly. "Stop talking. Turn off the light, please." He leaned over, suddenly noticing the smell of blood, and vomited. The sound and smell set Reid off, and then he was heaving up his stomach as well, clutching Morgan's arm.

Both were weak and shaky. Shawn flinched whenever a male touched him, and kept his eyes closed tightly and his hands over his ears. Reid stood unsteadily, stumbling to Hotch and clinging to his shirt, his eyes closed tightly as well.

"I knew it," he whispered. "I knew you'd find us."

"Spencer-" Hotch caught Reid's elbows, keeping him from tipping over, and squashed his own panic. "Spencer, what's wrong?" Rossi was yelling in his ear but he couldn't answer, focusing on Reid. JJ and Emily were next to Juliet, trying to calm down Shawn, who had begun to draw pictures in the dirt at his feet, his eyes glazed over.

"Meth," Reid breathed, and Hotch felt his heart jump.

"Is it an overdose?" He glanced over at Morgan, who was on the phone and looked just as worried, mouthing 'I called a bus,' but Reid shook his head, moaning.

"Sensory overload," Henry Spencer gasped, and Hotch was surprised he was still standing considering he looked like he had aged ten years in two seconds; though he doubted he looked any better. "It happens to Shawn with some ADHD medications - the have amphetamines in them. I don't know why it's happening to the kid though." Hotch nodded, understanding, and Prentiss stood.

"I'll go get some cloths with water to put over their eyes," she whispered as Hotch quieted the room.

"Hats," Shawn mumbled, glancing at his dad, who blinked in realization, looking at Hotch.

"Does the kid have photographic memory?" The nod in response was enough, and Henry nodded back. "That's why."

"Shawn?" Jules whispered quietly, rubbing the psychic's shoulder. "Shawn, are you hurt?" He nodded in response, looking near tears and broken. Juliet bit her lip and JJ put a hand on her arm.

"Shawn." JJ spoke now, very softly. "In a few minutes, there are going to be paramedics in here. They might make a lot of noise and touch you a lot. Is that okay?"

"No," both Shawn and Reid said firmly, looking over at her, seeming panicked.

And it was then that everyone realized this was much worse than it seemed.