When he woke the next morning, Reid found himself alone and confused. Rossi had been there when he fell asleep. He had closed the curtains and, at Reid's request, lay beside him on the bed, putting himself between the other agent and the window. The silence grew around them and Reid again became swallowed up in his thoughts. He curled into himself, sobbing into a fistful of blankets. The last thing he remembered was Rossi gently rubbing his back until Reid finally tired himself out and fell asleep.

Now, the other side of the bed is empty. Panic begins to set in. Reid shoots up and doubles over from the surge of pain going through his ribs. He takes in a deep breath in hopes of holding back the tears. With a grimace, he looks at the door. It's not that far, Reid tells himself. He can easily leave. It's all a matter of getting started.

Reid slides to the edge of the mattress and sets his feet down onto the cool floor. The room spins. The young agent closes his eyes for a moment to still it. Once the spinning has stopped, Reid opens his eyes and slowly pulls himself up off the bed. The doctor was right when she said he'd be feeling sore; it seemed to only get worse over night rather than better. It's almost enough to convince him to lie down back down again, but the silence is starting to wear down too heavily. He has to find Rossi.

With hurried, pained steps Reid makes his way into the hallway, ending up at the top of the stairs. Below he can hear people speaking. Their voices are hushed and tones serious. They must be talking about him. Reid bites the inside of his lower lip. He is in no mood for a large amount of company, especially if he is going to be the topic of conversation, but it would be better than being alone.

Reid finds the source of the noise in the kitchen. At the kitchen table sits Rossi and Hotch. There is no one else. Reid sighs to himself, feeling relieved. Both men turn and stare at him. Reid looks quite the sight with his bed hair sticking out in every direction. He blinks, still feeling tired and not completely sure of what he is doing. His co-workers exchange looks and smile. "Well, good morning, sleeping beauty," Rossi says. "I didn't know if you would be getting up any time soon."

Reid frowns. "What are you doing here?" he asks Hotch.

"It's nice to see you too."

"I-I didn't mean-."

"Spencer, relax. I know," Hotch says with a smile. "Strauss gave us the day off. Jack is at school, so I thought I'd stop by and see how you were doing."

"School?"

"It's two o'clock in the afternoon."

Two in the afternoon? Reid looks around the room for a clock. He has never slept this late; not even when working on long cases.

"Sit," Rossi says. "I'll get you something to eat."

"I'm not hungry."

"Spencer, when was the last time you ate?" Hotch asks.

Reid shrugs. "But I'm still not hungry. Really. I'm fine."

"At least let me make you some coffee," Rossi says as starts up the coffee machine. "You need to get something in your system. Now sit."

Reid opens his mouth, prepared to protest, but quickly snaps it back shut. With a sigh, he sits down n the chair next to Hotch. He taps his fingers against the table top. Even in the company of his friends he cannot shake this feeling of anxiety. Everything is closing in.

Hotch watches his young coworker closely. "How did you sleep?"

"Fine."

"That's his new word," Rossi says.

Reid frowns. "I don't know what more you want me to say. It's true. I'm not trying to be difficult."

"You aren't," Hotch tries to reassure him. "We are only concerned about you, and want to make sure you're okay."

"But I am!" Rossi and Hotch look at each other again, both concerned. Reid scowls.

"Don't do that. You're patronizing me," he says. "I'm fine, and that's it."

"How's your head?" Rossi asks.

Reid hesitates for a moment. "It's not as bad as it was."

"And everything else?

Everything else was painful; worse than his head, but Reid didn't want to admit it. "Better," he lies.

Rossi hands him a cup of coffee. "Are you sure you don't want anything else?"

"This is good. Thanks."

They sit quietly for a few minutes until Hotch speaks again. "Strauss would like to talk to you sometime today."

"But I've already talked to someone," Reid says as he takes a sip of coffee. "Can't they talk to whoever did it yesterday and get their notes?"

"She wants to go through it again in case you remember something new."

"But I remember everything! There isn't anything new!" Reid pauses for a moment before quietly adding, "I don't want to do it again."

"It will be quick," Hotch tries to reassure him. "I will be there the entire time if you need me. Dave too."

Rossi nods. "We're not going to let you go through this alone."

"I want to stay here though," Reid says.

"She can do it over here if it will make it easier for you."

Reid sighs. He didn't want to see her at all. Hotch's phone goes off and vibrates across the table top. Reid jumps at the sudden noise.

"Sorry," Hotch apologizes as he quickly picks up the phone. Reid becomes impatient as his boss reads the message. It must be Strauss, he thinks. She wants to talk to him. The pounding returns to his head. What little coffee he took in began to feel like acid, tearing him apart from the inside out.

With a groan, Reid covers his face with his hands. Rossi reaches over and rubs the young man's back. "Are you okay?" he asks. "Do you want to lie down again?"

Reid nods. "I really don't feel well."

"Come here," Rossi says, rising from his seat. He gently helps Reid up and leans the trembling body against him for support. Rossi looks at Hotch. "Who was that?"

"Garcia," he replies, his eyes still focused on the phone. Reid relaxes a little. "She wants to know if it would be alright for her to stop over. She wants to see you." Hotch glances at Reid. "Is that alright?"

"I-I don't kn-."

"Why don't you lie down first and see how you feel," Rossi says. "God know what she has planned."

"She's two minutes away already," Hotch says.

Rossi chuckles. "Well, let's get you down anyhow. You're going to need the rest. We'll deal with Penelope."

People are stupid. People are incredibly stupid. If I could be rid of them all, I would do it in a heartbeat. No one ever listens. No one ever pays attention. It's just a bunch of idiots continually running around in a circle. The only way to get one's attention is to beat them over the head, and by then it's too often too late for any sort of true progress. Mine as well finish them off.

I could have killed the doctor. Should have. It was the original plan after all, and would be so much easier to deal with than this mess. It probably would have been a lot better for my health as well. Too much stress is not a good thing. A few more good whacks and I could have cracked his skull nicely.

But the past cannot be changed. I can only move on from here. Besides, there are many more ways to destroy a man.

There is no doubt that the doctor's life is in shambles now. It will take some time, years possibly, for him to get back to where he was. I can find some peace in that. He would be taken to David's house no doubt. Only David Rossi would be so arrogant and foolish to do so. But I would not bother with attacking them there. It's too obvious, too boring. I have a better plan, one that is much more fun. I will get to have my little chat. I will ruin them both.

While Garcia's visit has brought little rest, it has helped ease some of the growing tension. At Rossi's orders Reid lied on a couch in the living room. Reid settled down, resting his head on Garcia's lap. She brought over several movies with happy endings. Reid has little interest in all of them and lets Garcia have the final decision. He was just pleased to not have to talk about what happened.

"I can't believe you've never seen Cinderella before, Spence," she says as she hands the DVD case over to Rossi. "It's a classic!" Garcia tucks a fleece blanket up around Reid's shoulders and pushes some stray hair from his eyes. Her pinky finger lightly grazes the edge of his stitches. She recoils for a moment, but then continues stroking. "You're going to love it! Do you want me to get you anything?"

"No."

"Not even water?"

"I'm fine." Reid glances at Rossi and almost smiles.

"Just let me know if you change your mind, sweetie. It'll be no trouble at all."

Although he had never seen the movie, Reid is familiar with the story line, and as much as he appreciated Garcia's attempt to ease his mind, it did very little help. The bright colors and light coming from the television seemed to stand out more so than usual. Reid squints at the screen. The intensity has brought back the throbbing in his head. He is tempted to ask to stop the movie all together, but Garcia is still enjoying it and he doesn't want to take that away. Instead, Reid closes his eyes and tries to block it out.

Rossi, who has been watching Reid more than the movie, is quick to notice. "Are you alright, Spencer?"

"I'm fine," Reid mumbles. "Just tired."

"Are you sure?" Garcia asks.

Reid nods, but says nothing more.

"Do you want to go to bed? Will that be better?"

"No. I'm good here."

Garcia looks at Rossi and shrugs. She places her hand back on Reid's head and carefully continues to stroke his hair. Rossi turns down the volume on the television in hopes that it would allow Reid to fall asleep faster. There are questions he would like to ask Garcia, but not while Reid is able to listen.

It has been nearly 24 hours since they had recovered agent Reid, but little to no progress had been made in finding his kidnapper. At least not as much as Strauss would like. She paces around the floors, going from one agent to the next, demanding any bit of new information they have. Her phone has been left on vibrate and even when it doesn't go off she checks it continuously.

The only good thing to happen in the past few days was that they were able to get Reid back alive. He had been damaged terribly, but she counted it as a blessing considering how often they find their victims dead by the time they reach them. But, even with a mad man on the loose, Strauss knows that Spencer is safe. Just as she had hoped, the young agent ended up staying in Rossi's home. It would be good for the both of them. There was no way Rossi would allow anything to happen again, and even if he did let his guard down Strauss had set two agents out to keep watch.

Strauss sighs. She can only go so long with barking orders at people. She needs to do more. She needs to keep moving.

Just as Strauss is about to make another round, she sees one of her agents quickly walking towards her. It's Rod Reuter, one of the better agents on the other team. He is a quiet and observant man; a far cry from the alpha males that dominate the main team. But what he misses in force he makes up for with his quick wit. Judging by the grin on his face, Reuter had something good. Before he even had the chance to reach her, Strauss was already demanding answers.

"I may have something," he says. He holds up a folder, which Strauss snatches away.

"What is it?"

"I was going over some of the papers the professor brought over and I noticed something."

"What?" Strauss interrupts as she flips through the papers in the folder.

"He gave us the sign in sheets for both lectures he had where agent Rossi was speaking. There were a few names that showed up both times, but this." Reuter takes back the folder and pulls up the attendance sheet. "This name, Alec Clark, is not only on both sheets, but that is also the name that the man living in the apartment gave agent Jareau."

"Do you think it's the same guy?"

Reuter shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe? It could be a fake name, I mean but-."

"Is there any way to trace him? Does Lastine have any student records?"

"I can ask-."

"Why haven't you?" Strauss snaps. "Go do it now!"

Reuter stutters as he closes the folder. "Y-yes. I was just about to. I thought I'd let you know first."

"Find out if that creep knows anything about this Alec Clark. If he can remember what he looks like or anything useful."

"Of course."

"Take the name to Garcia and see if she can turn anything up too."

"Um, she left already, Ma'am."

Strauss scowls. "Is Kevin here still?"

"I believe so."

"Then go see him. Now."

"Yes. I'm right on it.

As Reuter hurries off, Strauss yells at him. "Nice work, agent!" Reuter looks back and waves quickly before disappearing into the next room.

Strauss sighs loudly. Maybe this will be finished soon.

Uh. Hi. I realize that I haven't updated in quite a long time. It's not because I'm lazy, I swear. From early November up until mid January I had been without Internet for personal reasons. It was not by choice. But now that I am back in the real world, I've been spending the past few weeks playing catch up in school. It's been a long, long three months. But I'm glad to be back writing! It helps a lot!

So, I'm sorry that it took so long for me to update. The next chapter should be up much sooner than this one. And hopefully longer in length. I try, but some content in this story is very personal to me and is proving to be much more difficult to write than I thought it would be and, if this story stays on track, it may only get worse. But it helps too in its own way. I'm sticking to it! I promise!

Thank you to those who still continue to read and review this story. Again, I am so sorry for the long delay.