Hey guys! I am so sorry that took so long! I was so busy and then when I finally finished the chapter, I didn't have internet access for a while so I couldn't post it! Oh excuses excuses! Anyways this chapter focus's more on the case then the other 2, sorry if you don't like that. But anyways I hope you guys like this chapter and I don't own anything so don't sue me!

Hotch called the team back to work despite Reid's circumstances.

"He is in the best hands possible and we have work to do." Hotch explained to the exhausted team. "We know the unsub Morgan shot down has a partner. According to our profile, it's the submissive partner and he was in an abusive relationship with the dominant, so he will either back down, or more likely, increase the killings to prove to us he doesn't need someone to rule him. These killings are likely to become more and more violent. Remember the profile, he is likely to be in his mid-30s, white, and in a job that emasculates him or makes him feel inadequate compared to his coworkers. Get to work." Hotch wrapped up his briefing, having reminding the team of who they were after and that there was still unfinished business. "JJ- call the local authorities and give them the profile; we don't have time to waste catching them up. I wouldn't be surprised if there was already a body count." He hurried off to his office to work some more, his inner workaholic tendencies blocking his mind from the events that took place the previous night or the fatigue they left him with.

Morgan and Prentiss went to go check out the crime scene from the previous night, hoping to find clues they had missed in the rush and panic. JJ was on the phone with the local authorities, and Garcia scurried back to her office to dig through files to find the remaining unsub.

The car was silent as Morgan and Prentiss drove to the woods. When Morgan turned on the radio to an upbeat rap song, Prentiss turned the music down. Morgan smiled a little and turned it back up. Prentiss turned the radio off and crossed her arms.

"Are you mad at me too? I know Hotch thinks this is all my fault." He asked, a small chuckle hiding the hurt in his voice, but his expressive eyes dark with guilt and pain.

"No." She replied. "I'm just thinking. I know we have to go back to work and catch this son of a bitch- but it just feels wrong, leaving Reid there alone."
"He's probably asleep." Morgan reassured her, his words failing to sooth his own fears. "He'll be fine. We can go see him later."

"Yeah, but still." She replied quietly, sinking back in her seat. The rest of the ride was silent, the car filled with awkward tension.

The car pulled over against the thick woods. Daylight painted it in a new picture, golden sun twinkling through the outstretched tree branches and squirrels chasing after each other. Prentiss stepped out of the passenger side, door slamming behind her, and Morgan got out a second after. They made their way through the woods. Morgan stayed a few paces ahead, recalling where the cabin was. When Morgan finally saw the cabin through the trees, his shoulders tensed up a bit and he grabbed his gun tighter. He was not going to make the same mistake twice and let Prentiss get hurt this time. They stood to either side of already broken down door, peering in. It looked clear. Prentiss held up her hand and counted down on her fingers. Three... two...one. They stormed in, guns held in front of them and eyes scanning the interior of the cabin. After a few moments of searching Prentis put down her gun. "It's clear."

"Yeah." He replied, nodding. He put his gun down slowly and began to fish around for clues on the unsub's whereabouts. Prentiss walked across the room slowly. Thunk. She noticed a louder sound when her foot struck a section of the floorboards.

"Hey Morgan, we have a hollow spot." He walked over as Emily found a small hole big enough to put her thumb in and used it to pry open the concealed trap door. Now exposed was a large square pit with a rusting metal ladder leading down to darkness.

Morgan went down the ladder first and Prentiss started heading down herself when she heard Morgan's feet hit the hard floor beneath. When she was down the ladder, Morgan was waiting next to it with his flashlight already scanning the underground room.

"Holy shit." Morgan breathed out quietly, surprised by the strung up bodies across the room. Prentiss was speechless. Morgan called Hotch, "Hey Hotch, I'm gonna need backup and forensics down here." He hung up and kept looking. The walls had a row of thick metal hooks going around the room. On about 8 of those hooks, a body hung as if it was a picture frame. Morgan got closer. Each body appeared to be intact with no defense wounds and they had a similar level of decay. Prentis walked towards a metal table in the corner with a tray of surgical equipment.

"Look at all of this blood." She remarked, gesturing at pool on the floor and the streaks across the table. "It looks fresh." She gestured at a large puddle dripping from the nearest body.

"I don't see any lacerations, do you think they were drained."

"No, not by the pattern of the splatter, check the back maybe?" she inquired.

Morgan put on his gloves and gently turned the body so he could see the backside.

"Hey Prentiss, check this out. It looks like he cut into the back and then sewed it back up." There was a large, oozing gash on one of the victims backs that had been meticulously stitched up again. "I think he did this all recently, it appears like he is in the midst of a psychotic break and won't stop until he reaches his goal."

"If he is able to stop." She paused. "This all doesn't fit with the previous MO, with the partner, it was by gunshot to the head execution style. Are all the bodies like that?" Morgan walked over the the next body over.

"It appears so." He turned towards Prentiss, "Possibly without the partner, he can murder them with his own technique that would fit his own fantasies."

"That would make sense, it looks like he is trying to create his own identity to get away from his old identities."

"It's strange, based on the profile, I would assume he would just continue the work of the partner." Morgan paused. "He may be stronger than we originally thought."

Backup and forensics arrived, Prentiss caught them up to speed and Morgan continued to look around. Samples were being collected and bodies were photographed before they were transported in large crinkly, black bags. Hotch, who had come in with the forensics, watched over every aspect as if trying to find something to critique. It took several hours for the crime scene to be combed through and it took even longer for Morgan, Prentiss, and Hotch to head back to headquarters.

It was 19:58 by the time they got back to the BAU. Morgan, JJ, and Penelope all got ready to head out at the same time and headed out the door together. Hotch emerged from his office, "Where are you guys heading to?"

"The hospital." JJ responded matter of factly, hoping her boss wouldn't insist they stay to work.

Hotch stood for a second at his doorway, "Wait for me." He walked back to grab his briefcase then walked out with the team. They all rode in Hotch's car, expecting to carpool on the way home or more likely stay in the waiting room until morning. Penelope rested her head on Morgan's shoulders, her eyes threatening to close from exhaustion. Hotch noticed the silence and drooping heads of the others. "After we see Reid all of you need to get some sleep." He ordered, yawning and trying to keep the car from drifting off the road. The parking lot to the hospital was relatively empty so they parked close to the front entrance. Hotch felt like it was all a dream, everything that had happened seems so unreal. This couldn't have happened. Exhaustion made his head feel fuzzy and all of his thoughts blur together. He zoned off as the others got permission to visit Spencer and his current location from a nurse.

"Come on." JJ beckoned, guiding Hotch towards the elevator. Again with the awkward elevator silence, there was no random facts or remarks that Spencer would usually make to break the tension. They got to his room and peered in, to nobody's surprise, Spencer was reading.

Disregarding orders from earlier, they all came in at the same time.

ooo

"Hey how are ya doing?" Morgan chirped, he altered his mood immediately to make Spencer feel more at ease.

"I'm alright," Spencer replied weakly as he set the book down on his stomach, he cleared his throat, "is there anything I can do to help on the case."

"We've got it covered." Hotch said in a tone that was somehow stern yet gentle.

"Really, let me help," Reid blinked up, "it's my fault we are so far behind..." his voice trailed off and his fingers itched to pick the book back up and continue reading. Reading had been such a great distraction from his now useless legs.

"Maybe tomorrow but you need to get more sleep." JJ mothered.

Reid blushed from the compassion that was so unusual for him, "I think you guys are the ones who need the sleep, come back when you have the time." He responded quietly. "After all, where could I go?" He joked gesturing down at the lower half of his body. His teeth clenched down from the reminder he gave himself.

"We will be back tomorrow, I promise," Garcia assured, stifling a yawn. "Goodnight my love." The team left to get sleep and Reid picked his book back up. He tried to read but focussing seemed impossible so he placed the book down and closed his eyes.

Sleeping felt impossible. Reid tossed and turned, unable to get a comfortable position. All the sudden, the world began spinning around him. His eyes squinted trying to make the ceiling stop moving but it didn't work. A wave of fatigue followed by chills overwhelmed him as his heart jumped into his throat. Reid grabbed the arm rail and fumbled to press the call nurse button. Something wasn't right. He couldn't find the button and losing control of his body, he began swimming through blackness and into unconsciousness.

ooo

Nurse Paulette strode through the halls with the confidence of a cheetah surrounded by a pack of gazelles. Even though she was holding a urine sample and was on the way to the lab, her hips swung back and forth and she carnivorously scanned each room for hotties. She peered into the room that held the skinny yet attractive doctor of some sort. His heart monitor was beeping all over the place and he looked like a dead fish. Shit he's seizing! Her instincts overrode her need for feminism and she ran in, screaming for a doctor. She frantically pressed the nurse button on the side of the bed for added precaution and grabbed his head to keep him from hurting himself or choking on his own tongue. The young man's arms were thrashing his upper body continually jerked upwards. C'mon, stay with me here. The doctor ran in, he began calling out orders and all of the sudden, everything went still. Too still, the heart monitor flatlined.

"Starting CPR, someone get the defibrillator ready." The doctor began pounding on the skinny man's chest as an intern squeezed a blue, inflated contraption continuously to simulate breathing. A nurse brought the defibrillator over. "3..2..1...clear." He pressed down on the dying man's torso, his chest lifted from the electrical current but the machine continued to flatline. "Come on buddy, you gotta fight." The doctor mumbled. "3..2..1..clear." This time the heart monitor began beeping again at a regular pace. "Lets get him a breathing tube to be safe." The doctor sighed out in relief and walked away taking off his gloves. The nurse inserted a breathing tube and attached it to a ventilator, the man gagged as it went in but then relaxed.

"I'm going to call his emergency contact," a fellow nurse told Paulette.

"Good plan, I'll go get you his chart." Paulette responded, sashaying off towards the nurse's area.

ooo

Hotch was lying in bed about to turn his reading light off when his cellphone buzzed across his nightside table. He looked next to him at his sleeping wife Haley and slowly moved his hand across so he wouldn't wake her.

"This is Hotchner." He answered quietly, racking his brain on who would call so late.

"Hello Mr. Hotchner, this is Nurse Susan. Dr. Spencer Reid has placed you as his emergency contact. Is that correct?"

"Yes, what happened?" He asked worriedly.

"He had a seizure and went into cardiac arrest. He is currently stable but on a ventilation tube, we thought we should let you know."

Hotch's stomach jumped to his throat. "Ok, umm thank you very much." He hung up, not needing to know more or having anything else to say. He turned the light off and laid back, deciding not to tell the rest of the team this until after work tomorrow. He can't have them anymore distracted than they already are. After all, it's not like there was anything they could do other then worry.

Beep beep beep... Hotch swiped his arm at his alarm clock, turning it off. Sleep had been an impossible task the previous night, his eyes were glued open and his mind raced through a highway of random thoughts and pent up nervousness. Most of the thoughts went back to the same source: was he doing the same thing by not telling the team about Reid's present condition. He groaned as he sat up and rubbed his hand across his sore neck. Hotch tiredly put on appropriate work attire and walked into his sleeping son's room, giving him a kiss on the head before heading to work. Anxiety filled his stomach with angry hornets and he wondered if he was making the right decision.