February 2nd, 2007.

It was cold today; it had been cold yesterday too. It was always cold… Did the sun every shine anymore? Reid thought absently, closing and locking the door of his apartment while slipping on his heavy winter coat, shivering already even though he wasn't outside yet. There was still a draft and it was bad enough to make him pull up the hood of his coat and lift his gloved hands to his mouth. He was shivering badly as he walked down the corridor, and hesitated before he opened the door to the outside.

It felt like an arctic wind was trying to blast him backward, practically screaming for him to crawl back in bed under his still warm covers.

Reid had almost never had that high of a tolerance for the cold, and he could never understand why. Nonetheless, it was there and he had to deal with it. Walking out to his beat up old junk-pile of an automobile, Reid suddenly felt eyes on his back yet again. His breathing hitched and a shiver that was completely unrelated to the cold around him wracked through his body, but this time he'd done what he hadn't dared to do for a while. He turned around and let his brown gaze lock onto that of a man dressed completely in black, standing in contrast to the white snow around him.

Standing completely too close to Reid for comfort, even though he had to be several yards away. Swallowing and clearing his throat so hopefully it wouldn't sound as shaky when he spoke, Reid suddenly called out,

"Who are you?"

No answer was forthcoming. Holding his car keys almost like a weapon, he waited a few seconds before trying again.

"What do you want?"

"For you to know we're watching you…" the answer finally came.

The deep voice sent shivers up and down Reid's spine, the cold momentarily forgotten in the sudden shock of fear and panic. The words had been spoken in a normal tone of voice, a calm voice at that, and they had been hard to catch. But there his answer was, and Reid didn't like it one bit. This time, as Reid called out, he couldn't keep his voice from shaking.

"Do I know you…?"

"No." the man replied, then turning around and starting to walk off.

Reid relaxed for just a moment before he saw the man stop, and turn halfway back to face Reid, then calling out,

"But you will."

Reid didn't wait for the man to turn around again before he was fumbling with the door of his car, trying to unlock it, thinking that if he was in his car, he was at least safer than he was out in the open…

* * *

Reid was still shaken up over the encounter several hours later, even though he was safely tucked away behind his desk in the bullpen, several federal officers surrounding him. That thought gave him no comfort, however, as he remembered that one man who had been watching him, acting like a janitor. Everyone could very well be following him; stalking him, and it was making him completely nervous to be anywhere now. Throwing anxious glances over his shoulder, Reid jumped back as he suddenly realized a dark headed man in black was standing at his desk, dangerously close. Uttering a cry of,

"Holy shit!" Reid fell over in his office chair, taking several case files with him, causing papers to fly out around the both of them.

However, it wasn't the deep voice of the man he'd met earlier today that penetrated his panic; it was the voice of his superior, Hotch, and he sounded irritated.

"Mind repeating that, Reid?"

Glancing up at Hotch, trying to right himself into a sitting position but failing horribly, as in his fall he'd somehow hit his shoulder and the stinging pain let him know he'd have a massive bruise there later this evening.

"I-I, uh, n-no sir… S-sorry sir…" Reid managed to stutter out, shaking visibly.

"What's the matter with you lately?" Hotch raised his eyebrow, and Reid couldn't help the fact that his breathing hitched once more.

He couldn't tell Hotch about the encounter he'd had before; Hotch would take him off the case! Desperately searching his oversized brain for an excuse that his superior might believe, Reid gave an inward sigh of relieve when J.J. called over to Hotch, being unable to see Reid as he was still cowering under the desk, where he had fallen.

"Hotch, we've got another body."

"Can it wait?" Hotch replied, his eyes still watching Reid closely.

"Actually, sir, it can't. The M.O.'s changed."

This finally diverted Hotch's attention away from Reid, and he turned toward J.J., his normally stoic face showing a bit of shock.

"It's what? How?"

"The body this time is female. It's the first female they've found since the killings began, and they're wondering if it's the same killer at all." J.J. replied, then reaching out to show him the picture of the victim.

Hotch took the picture from her and looked it over as J.J. suddenly realized that Reid was laying in a pile of papers and files, underneath the desk. Her brows furrowed and she asked,

"What are you doing down there?"

"I-I-" Reid started to stutter out, but Hotch shook his head, interrupting.

"I'd like to go see the dump site. It doesn't look like that much has changed, there's still a gunshot wound to the head that I'm assuming was the main cause of death, but I'll want an autopsy report on whether or not the victim was starved a week before death or not. Also, I'd like you and Morgan to come with me."

Hotch's voice left no room for debate, nor did he stay for one as he quickly moved away, obviously agitated. J.J. stuck around for all of five seconds, staring at Reid and opening and closing her mouth a few times, before quickly moving off to follow Hotch. Swallowing past the lump in his throat, Reid slowly yanked himself upright using the very desk that had hit his shoulder in the fall. Pain was shooting through his body and he grimaced, his heart still pounding.

And amid all the commotion in the bullpen, he could feel eyes on his back again…

Reid shivered convulsively and set about to picking up the mess around his desk before anyone else saw it.

* * *

February 17th, 2007.

Voices…

There were… voices. Above him.

Reid groaned softly, unsurprised when his voice cracked from non-use. It was cold again; extremely cold, and Reid's body shivered at the thought, though it had already been shaking slightly anyway. His stomach growled; he was in dire need of sustenance, otherwise he would soon die of starvation. In fact…

He could already be dying…

His eyes were already closing when he suddenly realized what his brain had registered a few minutes ago; or was it seconds…? Hours…?

Focus! He mentally scolded himself, then straining his ears. He'd heard voices before; maybe the team had finally figured out where he was…! Maybe they'd come to save him…!

Or maybe… Dire Trouble was back…

Fighting back tears, the information from the other kills suddenly flooded his brain.

Beaten severely; starved for about a week before abduction, degraded, shot in the head, disposed of.

Reid shivered as he continued to listen, his mind growing increasingly fuzzy no matter how hard he tried to fight it. And then he was reduced to tears; full blown, mind shattering and body shaking tears.

There were footsteps coming closer to the door that he couldn't see; and the footsteps seemed to slow and calm to be anyone coming to rescue him.

* * *

A/N : Alright, there you go, my loyal and desperate fans. Lol, no offence. Once again, don't forget to review!! I practically LIVE on your feedback. And also remember to pay close attention to the dates; they're the little bit of sanity in the mess that is my story. Lol.

- Lyon