A.N.: Hi there, I tried to write this sooner but I hadn't got too much time... my little cousins are here at our place and I have to look after them a lot, and besides I have to study for my exams too... however I try to do my best at writing...:)

Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews you wrote, I'm really glad that so many people is enjoying my story. Beta-read by REIDFANATIC. Here you go!

Chapter Five

Present

Reid didn't quite know when exactly he woke up. He had been emerging out of sleep just like others drift away into it. At some point he noticed that he was conscious again, lying on the bed in the same position that he was laid down hours before. It was growing uncomfortable but he didn't dare to move. The pain in his side was more bearable now; it was reduced to a dull, distant throbbing that only raised one level when he breathed.

He could hear the muffled chatting of the girl and the man from the kitchen. They sounded happy and free of problems. Reid let his gaze wander around the room once again, this time looking at things more carefully. Everything seemed peaceful as if he was in the house of a big, loving family.

The clock on the opposite wall showed a little before nine p.m. Was it really that late? As he tried to recall the events of the day, he came to the conclusion that it must have been about noon when the blonde-haired girl and her brother carried him to the house. That meant nine hours sleeping.

As much as Reid hated the idea of having lost so much time, he wondered why the team hadn't showed up looking for him again. Could it be that they had given up on him so easily? Definitely not. As he grew more and more alert, he realized that as much as he longed to see them and let them help him, he feared what would happen when he was finally found. He couldn't let them get him, not now. He needed more time…

Just then he heard footsteps approaching his room, and then Jessica entered, humming a soft melody to herself, apparently not noticing that Reid was awake. She opened the dresser and started digging through some clothes when she suddenly heard the man weakly calling her name.

"Jessica," Reid managed to say, his voice barely above a whisper.

She turned around and as her eyes met Reid's, her face lit up. "Wow, so you're talking to me now! What great progress!" She teased, but her voice was warm and kind. "I was afraid that you were dumb or something, but thank God you aren't. So how are you?"

"K'you brimme so' water?" The young agent croaked.

"Water?" Jessica echoed. "I didn't understand the rest but I assume you'd like to drink some." She grinned and hurried out to fulfill the request.

After Reid swallowed a couple of sips of the cool liquid, he felt his voice come back more. "Wha… what happened?"

Jessica laughed. "You're asking me? I should be the one asking what happened to you. I found you on the riverbank, with a bullet lodged between your ribs, chased by the FBI and who knows who else!"

"Have they come back?" Reid asked, anxiety growing inside of him.

"No," the girl answered. "No offense, I don't mind you being here, in fact I'm glad that I could help you, but… you could really tell why the FBI is after you… I mean, you must be a very…important person."

Reid smiled, for the first time in days. "I'm not wanted by them. I'm one of them."

Jessica's eyes grew wide. "Really? You're from the FBI? I can't believe it! I never met anyone from the FBI before. But then… why were you fleeing from them? Who shot you?"

"It's a long story…" Reid sighed. "Me and my team were hunting a couple of unsubs… um, unknown subjects, the criminals we're looking for, and well… they fired back. I fell into the river." Reid lied; for some reason he didn't want to admit that he was thinking it was his own colleague, his own friend that had shot him. Besides, he could have seen it wrong. Morgan could have been approaching him, but it could be someone else, one of the unsubs who had fired that shot.

"I need to visit the bathroom please," he announced. "Is it solvable somehow?"

"Of course, I'll call Andy," Jessica nodded and left the room. But Andrew didn't come in immediately, and Reid could hear the two talking softly in the kitchen.

"So, he's up? What did he say?" He heard Andrew ask.

"That he was with the FBI," Jessica answered, in a lot colder tone than she had used when speaking with Reid. "They were hunting down some criminals, and he got shot in the crossfire."

"Do you think he's telling the truth?"

"I don't know. What if he is that criminal? I know, he doesn't look like that, but if he really was, he would probably tell us the same tale."

"We have to keep a close eye on him," Andrew whispered before walking in to Reid, who heard every word. So they didn't trust him… that was somewhat understandable. But Reid knew (or at least he felt) that they wouldn't hurt him as long as he didn't give them a reason… and he definitely wouldn't.

"Well hi there, buddy," Andrew smiled at him and his voice was just as smooth and warm as Jessica's before. "My name is Andrew, what's yours?"

"I'm Reid," the young agent answered.

"Reid, it sounds like a last name. What's the first?" Jessica asked curiously, standing in the door and watching the two men. Andrew took one of Reid's arms and gently pulled the young man up, supporting him by the shoulders.

"It's Spencer," Reid answered, hissing as fresh pain stabbed through his chest in the process of sitting up.

"Careful, Spencer," Jessica warned. "One of your ribs may be cracked or broken. Don't move it out of place."

A broken rib? The thought alone made Reid sick. His condition may be worse than he felt. He needed to get to a hospital or to a skillful doctor sooner or later; this wound wouldn't just heal by itself…

His heart was heavy as he was slowly helped to his feet and escorted towards the bathroom. He wanted his team to be by his side more than ever, to support him, to help him in his helpless state, yet he couldn't count on them now. Having the team around him now would have meant that he was caught by the FBI, being accused of denying cooperation, running away, hell, maybe even murdering an old man.

The team was obviously trying to help him, but they weren't almighty. No one could save him from at least a couple of days of seclusion; and then it would be all over. Then he would be dead. He couldn't let that happen.

As he walked with the help of Andrew, he realized that his legs were actually working perfectly. They were weak and shaking a bit though, but the stiffness had gone, and if he could manage not to move his torso much, he could practically walk without pain. Reid almost smiled at this thought: it meant that he could get up and walk away any time he wanted.

Well maybe not really any time… when he arrived back to the bed, he felt so exhausted as if he had been walking miles. Even breathing became a bit harder, and he was grateful that he had a place to lie down.

"Are you hungry?" Jessica asked, smiling. "There's some chicken soup I cooked for lunch, it's cold now but I can warm it up for you."

"That would be great, thank you." Reid nodded, realizing that he hadn't eaten for about a whole day. He didn't feel quite hungry but the rational part of his brain told him that he must eat in order to get his strength back as soon as possible.

"Stay there, I'll bring it to you," the girl chimed and disappeared into the kitchen.

Andrew didn't follow her; he sat down on the edge of Reid's bed. "She just can't sit down for a minute," he explained, smiling. "It's a real blessing for me. I don't have to cook, wash, clean up… she does it all."

Reid smiled back, tiredly. "So it's just her and you living here?" He asked.

"Oh no, our parents live here too," Andrew said, "but they're on some meeting two states away this week. I have a house on my own too, in Stafford, but now I came here to take care of Jessica. Well, it's rather she who takes care of me, though."

Reid nodded again, not knowing what to say.

"So, you're from the FBI?" Andrew went on.

"Um, yeah," the young agent answered, feeling strangely ashamed due to the knowledge that the man probably didn't believe to him.

"Aren't you a bit too young for that? You look even younger than me."

"I know," Reid sighed. He was told that so many times, and he didn't feel like explaining it again. "I was lucky I could get in."

To his relief, Andrew didn't want to know more. He changed subject.

"Then you must have a gun and a badge too, right?"

Reid flushed even deeper. "I… didn't have them with me when I was shot."

"How could that be?" Andrew asked in a surprised tone. "I thought you were chasing a criminal."

That was the point where Reid didn't dare to risk more lies. "You said the FBI was already here before me," he spoke up, "what exactly did they say about me?"

To his surprise, Andrew grinned widely. "That you're not dangerous at all, and I fully believe them. They didn't say you were one of them, though… just that all they want is to question you about some murder that you may have witnessed."

Reid was silent, looking in front of himself, but his mind was working hard. Why didn't Hotch mention that he was an FBI-agent? Did he want to keep it a secret? Or… could it be that he was no longer working for them? Could it be that he was fired because he ran away and became a fugitive? He could easily think Strauss was capable of it. And with Hotch's hands bound, his situation was even more hopeless…

"Is it true? Did you really see someone being murdered?"

Andrew's voice pulled him back into reality.

"Um, no," he answered. "I visited an old man. It happened after I left. You have to believe me!" Reid felt suddenly scared that they would think he'd lied about this too and that he was a murderer.

"Easy, kid," Andrew calmed him down, "I believe you. If your people thought that you did it, they wouldn't have told me that you're harmless, right?"

"Dinner's ready," Jessica reported from the door, with a bowl of hot soup on a tray. She balanced the tray over to Reid's bed. He tried to sit up in order to eat, but that was a painful task. He could almost feel his injured rib move, and the dull pain was replaced with a lot sharper one. Jessica watched sympathetically, and as he was finished, she put the tray in the lap of the heavily breathing young man.

"Thanks," Reid moaned and started eating very slowly as if the hot meal was going to hurt his already sore chest. But it felt better as soon as the first couple of swallows reached his stomach, and now he could feel how hungry he actually was.

He couldn't eat the whole bowl; about half of the soup was enough for him, and he gave the rest back to Jessica

"Better now, huh?" The girl smiled.

"A lot," Reid claimed, his eyelids growing heavy after the warm dinner.

"You can sleep now," Jessica nodded. "We all can. It's getting late. See you tomorrow, then!" She gave him one last smile then walked out. Andrew had already left the room earlier, and Reid was left alone to his thoughts. His mind kept wandering back to himself being fired, but he was getting too tired to be worried. He drifted off to sleep without noticing, and without knowing that soon his team would come for him again.

Okay I know the chapters describing tbe past are more interesting:) So stay tuned for the next one!