The fire had been one thing.

The haunted and slightly wild look in Emily's eyes had been another.

But what finally set Hotch off, was the fact that Dresden seemed so nonchalant.

"Calm down Agent Hotchner, we've got it all under control."

"I can see that. Or at least, I've been trying to." He turned to Murphy. "Your boss called us here to help, but since I've been here I can see that our assistance is very much unwelcome. This whole unit has been looking at you and Dresden for tip-offs on how to treat us. It's obvious that you've got a secret and I would appreciate it if you would tell me.

"And in case you're thinking about refusing, you'd better know that I'm not asking. With one phone call I can have you, Detective Murphy, on suspension for the rest of your life." Hotch turned back to Harry. "And I can have you locked up in either jail or a sanitarium, it's up to you to choose."

Harry sighed and scratched his head, then he turned to look over at Murphy. Something told Hotch that this wasn't the first time they'd been faced with an ultimatum.

"A bed, three square meals a day, and hey, maybe they'd even put me in one of those nice, comfy padded rooms." Dresden said, rising slowly to his feet. He took one more step and was now towering over Hotch. "I don't appreciate you threatening Murphy though. She's got nothing to do with this."

"Then I guess you have some explaining to do." Hotch's voice was as steady and hard as his glare. There was something in his eyes that Harry recognized, and something that he liked.

"I'm a wizard. I fight supernatural monsters and end up saving the world at least once a year. I'm pretty sure that this guy you've been after is into dark magic. And since I work for the magic cops, then I've gotta do something about it. I might be able to get done faster without you people in my way." Harry gave Hotch a glare to match his own.

"Well it's too bad you can't send us home then, isn't it." Hotch sighed. "Look, I don't want to be here any more than you want me here right now. Whatever it is about this case it's draining my agents more than I would like. I may not believe you right now, but I can tell that you're not lying. Right now we're a liability, if you tell us what's actually going on here, then you won't be accountable for anything else that happens while we're here."

Like hell I won't be, thought Dresden. Curse his damnable conscious.

"Alright, but I don't know much either. I was kinda in the process of figuring out how much power a transportation spell takes when," he cast a sidelong glance at Emily. "Some guests decided to pop in."

Emily looked about ready to faint. Morgan, as if finally noticing the state of his friend and colleague, darted over the help. Though she shrugged off the hand that was meant to help her to the car, she did lean heavily on him.

"First off, I'd like to hear what happened here from Emily."

Emily looked up at the sound of her name. There was a stupor about her. The unreal circumstances had grounded themselves firmly in her psyche, making them more real to her than to anyone else on her team.

So, how should she explain this? Her entire world had been shattered and rebuilt in a matter of minutes, how could she explain things to make them seem the realness, the danger?

Turns out, she didn't have to.

Just as Emily opened her mouth to speak, Spencer screamed.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

One second, he was waiting for Emily's explanation, the next, he was burning.

Everything inside him was on fire, there was nothing that didn't hurt and there was nowhere he could go to get away from the pain.

It didn't dull over time, it wound itself so tightly inside him that there was nothing but the pain. No relief, no pause, no single thought that it ever could or would get better, just the pain.

There was this tugging though. This little insistent feeling that simply refused to go away. It was this feeling that was keeping Reid from falling into the sweet oblivion that was unconsciousness.

This tugging, was Richard's way of making sure that Reid felt all this pain.

The pain though, was Richard's anger at finding out that he had been wrong.