AN: Not sure how many people are actually reading this, but to those of you who have left reviews, thank-you! The last chapter of the story is written already and will be posted sometime this week. Everything in the case gets wrapped up in this chapter - sorry didn't write any of the interrogation as I wasn't brave enough to attempt it.

He was back in the cabin. Alone except for the three personalities of Tobias Hankle. He could hear "Charles" telling him confess his sins. There was darkness around him. A darkness not just from the lack of light but a spiritual darkness. An oppressive feeling that pressed down on him.

This wasn't right though. He wasn't really here. He was in Kentucky. On the Fort Knox Military base, with his team members.

The vision and voice of Tobias Hankle was still there. Which one was reality?

"Get them off," he said, the cold metal of the handcuffs feeling like it was burning his skin.

"I will Reid. Just try to stay calm," Rossi replied, holding Reid's shaking right hand in his own, the key for the handcuffs in the other.

He saw the computer screens before him. On each one was a different house. With each house a different group of people that called that place home. He heard the voice telling him to choose one to die. He couldn't do it. He wouldn't do it.

He was alone again. Alone in the darkness.

"Spence," JJ said softly, reaching out to touch Reid's shoulder. The FBI agent jumped at the touch.

He felt the hand on his shoulder but he was alone. It didn't make sense. JJ's voice sounded in his ears. She wasn't here though. They had split up at the barn. He was left alone. Alone with the murder taking place on the screen before him.

This isn't right. I'm not here. This is in the past.

"Reid, you're safe," Rossi said, as he turned the key to unlock the second cuff. By looking in the other agent's eyes he could tell that Reid wasn't completely there with them. "Focus on my voice," he told the younger agent as he took the second handcuff off.

"Can't . . . breathe," Reid just barely managed to get out.

"Take some deep breaths," Hotch said, standing next to Reid, trying to block him from the view of the others in the room. The last thing they needed was an audience.

Rossi put his hand on the back of Reid's shoulder and gently applied pressure. "Lean forward and take some deep breathes," he told him calmly. "You're okay. You're just having a panic attack."

Rossi kept talking, repeating the same things over and over. The words didn't much matter at this point, but he needed to provide something for Reid to focus on other than whatever it was that was haunting him.

Reid tried to do as his fellow agent was telling him to do. Focused on Rossi's voice as he tried to banish the images of Tobias Hankle, the cabin and the horrors he had endured there. Eventually they faded away and he was able to breathe easier. He became aware of the sounds in the room around him. Became aware of where he was.

"You feeling better?" Rossi asked, not moving his hand from where it still rested on Reid's shoulder.

"Yeah. Just give me a minute," Reid replied, looking down at the floor in front of him as he rested his head in his hands.

"So much for this being the easy part," Rossi said, looking up at Hotch.

"They're outside with Phillips now. Are you guys ready?" Major Morgan asked as she entered the room from the same direction Hotch had not long ago. Her cell phone was in her hand.

"No. I think we might have to improvise," Hotch responded, turning his head to look at her but not moving from his position.

"No, its fine," Reid said sitting up straight. His face was still pale but the fear was gone. "I can do this. I just wasn't prepared the first time." Once again, all three federal agents looked toward Reid. "Really. Rossi, put the cuffs on."

Rossi looked over at Hotch. He saw the same doubt in his supervisor's face as he felt.

"No," Hotch said. "There's no need to put you through this, Reid. Morgan and I will just have to get the confession without this ruse."

"Hold up. We might be able to pull this off. This is a ruse after all," Rossi said. He looked at Reid, whom he was still kneeling in front of. "I want you to speak up at the slightest feeling of uneasiness, you understand me?"

"Yeah," Reid said, nodding his head.

Rossi picked up the cuffs he had dropped to the floor. Slowly, he fastened the one cuff around Reid's left wrist, which was closest to the door. As soon as it clicked into place he stopped, leaving the cuff loose. "You doing, okay?" Rossi asked. Reid nodded. "Okay, just rest your hands in your lap. I'm not going to fasten the second one," he told him, as he encircled Reid's other wrist with the metal. He had been watching Reid for any sign of distress. The younger agent seemed a little tense but none of the previous symptoms were there.

Rossi looked toward Hotch and motioned for him to step out of the way. "Prentiss, does it look like both cuffs are fastened from your vantage pint."

Prentiss took a moment to judge and then nodded. "Yeah. From this distance it does."

"Let's get this over with then," Hotch said, with a nod to Major Morgan, who put the cell phone up to her ear.

JJ had returned to her position across the desk from Reid. Rossi had got to his feet, ready to act as a guard. Hotch leaned in close and lowered his voice so only Rossi could hear him.

"I don't care if they're in the middle of walking Phillips through this room, if Reid shows the slightest hint of distress again, you get that hand cuff off of him."

"I will," Rossi assured him.

Hotch headed in the direction of the interrogation room. He planned on being there waiting for them when they brought Phillips in.

Three hours later:

Reid tried to stifle the yawn, but across the desk, JJ noticed it anyway. Both agents had changed into their own clothing, and had retreated to Major Morgan's office. The others were watching the interrogation. Given the situation, Reid couldn't take the chance of being seen by Phillips and JJ just had no interest in watching any of it.

"Spence, maybe you should head back to the hotel and try taking a nap," JJ suggestion, looking across the desk at Reid in concern. He had probably gotten the least amount of sleep of any of them through all of this and had been the most active with being under cover as a cadet. The attempt on his life this morning and the panic attack had taken a toll on him two, both physically and mentally.

"No, I'm fine," Reid responded, starting to reach up to tuck some hair behind his ear. He caught himself in mid motion but JJ had caught the gesture. "You'd think after four days of this new hair cut I'd be use to it by now," he told her, looking down at the desk.

"Your hair will grow back."

"What, you don't like this look?"

"Let's just say that particular style looks better on Morgan than it does on you," JJ told him, with a smile. "The longer hair suits you better."

Reid nodded and looked toward the door. Out the window in the top half of the door he could see the other soldiers going about their normal routine. They had done what they had come here to do. The incidents that had been plaguing the base were solved. The question that still remained though was if they could get what they needed to make sure that the man responsible for those incidents paid for her actions.

"I kind of feel sorry for, Captain Phillips," Reid said, breaking the silence.

"How so?"

"Well, he gave up his parental rights for his only son. Probably didn't really even know him before he loses him. I couldn't imagine what that must have been like for him, but it obviously was enough for him to lose touch with his reality. When he attacked me this morning, he called me Jones. In his mind, all he saw was the man responsible for his son's death."

"That doesn't make what he did right," JJ said, refusing to feel any sympathy for a man who would take the lives of innocent people.

"I'm not try to say it does, but maybe it didn't have to be like that. Maybe if he . . . " Reid pause, trying to figure out the words to express what he was feeling inside. He couldn't. He reached out and picked up a framed photo from the desk. The photo was of all four of the Morgan siblings. From his estimate, it was probably a few years old. Instead of continuing what he had been saying, Reid brought up another line of thought. "Other parents suffer the sudden loss of their child. Experience other tragedies. Ever wonder why some people learn to move on and others just lose it? Are we all capable of doing what Phillips did? Was there someone who could have intervened before it got to this point."

JJ reached across the desk and rested a hand on Spencer's forearm. "I don't think we're all capable of doing what Phillips did. Of letting life break us, maybe, but not all people who can't cope with a loss strike out at others."

The sound of the office door opening brought an end to the conversation. Reid and JJ looked toward the door to see Rossi coming in, three coffee cups in his hand. The soldier who had opened the door for him, pulled it closed again after Rossi had entered.

"I needed a coffee break and I thought you guys might like some too," he said, handing the single cup in his right hand to JJ.

"Thanks," JJ said, as Rossi handed another cup to Reid, who had replaced the photo.

"How's the questioning going?" Reid asked, before taking a sip of the hot beverage.

"Slowly, though we finally did get a break through. He's admitted to being behind the incident that injured Cadet Magnunsen. Claimed it was an accident. That he didn't mean for an innocent girl to get hurt."

"They were all innocent. Every last one of his victims," JJ said.

"Not in his mind. They've showed him pictures of every victim, and all he sees in them is Private Rex Jones. Even if we get a confession from this guy, I have a feeling he's headed for a mental institution and not a jail cell."

JJ nodded, as she leaned back in the chair. Rossi looked toward Reid. "How are you doing?"

"Fine," Reid replied, staring down into the cup he held in his hands.

Rossi glanced toward JJ. The blonde FBI agent saw the unspoken message asking her to leave them alone for a bit.

"I think I'm going to take a walk. Stretch my legs a little," JJ said, getting to her feet. Coffee cup in hand, she headed toward the door and slipped out of the office.

Rossi walked over the desk and perched on the corner of it. He gazed at Reid, who was still looking into his coffee cup.

"I think you should know that I was told about what happened to you in Georgia," Rossi told him. Reid quickly looked up and Rossi caught a mixture of emotions on his face before he returned his gaze to the cup he was holding. "Just the facts of what happened. Nothing I couldn't have gotten from a report," Rossi assured him, not wanting he to think any confidences between him and other team members had been betrayed.

"Why are you telling me this?" Reid asked, his voice only slightly above a whisper.

"Because I think you should be aware that I know and that I realize how hard this was for you to do."

"And if you had known before hand you never would have made the suggestion that I go undercover, right?" Reid said, a trace of bitterness in his voice. It was good to know that the team had his back, but he hated that they were overprotective. It made him feel like a kid with a bunch of overprotective parents.

"No, I probably would have still made the suggestion," Rossi told him. Reid glanced back up at him. "It's part of the job and you've proven that your strong enough to handle the this job. You wouldn't still be a part of the team if you hadn't. Knowing did help me understand the others reaction more though as well as yours earlier today," Rossi said, hoping he could get Reid to talk about the panic attack. He and JJ had tried earlier but Reid hadn't been willing to open up.

Reid reached out and placed the coffee cup on the desk. "The handcuffs triggered memories from the time I was held captive. It was like I was back there though some part of me knew I wasn't. I didn't anticipate it," still unable to look at Rossi.

"No one would expect you to."

"It's been awhile since those memories have haunted me. You would think by now that I could have put it all behind me. Not let it frightened me. I mean, I survived. I'm still here. I'm still doing my job and yet . . ."

"The brave man fears only what is right for him to fear, and it is not right for him to fear all these things, but only some of them,*" Rossi quoted. "We all fear different things and its our experiences which dictate what those things are. You don't necessarily get over things that scare you but you learn to go on with your life and deal with them. There's nothing to be ashamed of about your reaction this morning."

"Easy for you to say," Reid said, who couldn't imagine Rossi being afraid of anything. The guy always seemed so calm and in control.

"I'm afraid of the water," Rossi said, causing Reid to finally look in his direction. "I try to avoid any body of water if at all possible. Haven't been to the beach or near a swimming pool since I was eight years old and I don't know how to swim. I was eight when my mom decided I should learn how to swim. She enrolled me in a swimming class at the local pool. Things were going well, until about three weeks in. A couple of other guys and I were goofing around after a lesson. I'm not exactly sure how it happened now, but I do remember ending up in the deep end of the pool. I panicked. Everything we had been taught in lessons completely left me. I remember looking up and seeing the high dive and the ceiling above me, through the surface of the water. Remember how far away it looked."

"The coach ended up pulling me out of the pool. I hadn't been under even a minute but it seemed much longer than that. I never did go back to swimming lessons and I avoid water as much as I can to this day. I chose to avoid what scared me. Not to face my fears. You're at least trying to face them. The fact that you didn't resign after what you went through is proof enough of that. You may not be successful the first time, or the second time, or even the time after that but your trying. That's all anyone can ask, even yourself. You chose not to let your fears control your life. I respect that."

Reid nodded, understanding exactly what Rossi was trying to tell him. "Thanks," he said, reaching out for his coffee cup.

"I think I'm going to go see how things are going," Rossi said, standing up. He headed for the door. As he reached out for the door knob, Reid's voice stopped him.

"Hey, Rossi. Thanks for earlier."

Rossi nodded, knowing that Reid was referring to what he had done for him during the panic attack. All he had done was show support for a fellow agent. "You're welcome," Rossi said before reaching for the door knob and opening the door.

As he stepped through the door, he noticed JJ standing nearby. He gave her a nod as he headed toward the room where Phillips was being questioned. As Rossi walked away, JJ slipped back into the office.

"I thank-you for all you and your team has done for us, Agent Hotchner," Colonel Jackson said, holding out his hand to the federal agent.

Captains Phillips had been transferred to a holding cell. He would under go a psychological evaluation before facing a court-martial hearing. After that, he would face trial in a civilian court for the deaths of the five people whom he had killed. It had taken awhile, but just when they had been ready to give up, they had finally gotten Phillips to admit to the six incidents before the attack on Reid.

Not only had he admitted to them but he had revealed how he had carried each of them out. All the while he had insisted that Private Jones had to pay for what he did. His conviction that the attacks had been carried out on Jones had not wavered throughout the entire interrogation.

"We were just doing our jobs. If you need anything from any of us when this all goes to trial just contact Agent Jarreau," Hotch told the army colonel, shaking his hand.

"I will. I'm just glad you were able to get the confession out of him. We wouldn't have had much to go on without it. It'll be good for the families to get some sense of closure from everything."

"I'm glad we could provide that for them."

"I wish you and your team a safe trip," Colonel Jackson told him, before Hotch headed for the door to the office. He found Rossi waiting outside for him.

"I sent the others back to the hotel already," Rossi told him as the two headed for the exit.

Hotch nodded, glad that he had thought to do so. ~I should have told him to head back before I met with Colonel Jackson.~

"I think we'll wait until the morning to fly back. I think we can all use the evening off," Hotch commented.

"An evening relaxing at the hotel sounds nice," Rossi replied. "Not to mention I can catch up on my sleep. One of us pulled night watch last night."

"You look awake to me," Hotch commented, as the reached the SUV. The dark haired agent grasped the door handle and opened the door.

"I'm running on coffee," Rossi told him, he climbed into the passenger seat. The ride to the hotel was silent.

* Philosopher Aristotle