Hello everyone, the site had some issues with uploading stuff so I was only able to post this chapter now. Also I want to apologize to all the people who find it confusing to jump between past and present events; in this chap I had to do it because I'm planning to catch up with the present soon:) Thank you again for the nice and motivating reviews, I really appreciate them! REIDFANATIC did the beta-reading so half of my credits go to her! Now have fun:)

Chapter Nine

Present

Reid had been awakened by the fact that he was freezing. Sleepily and weakly he groped around, searching for the blanket to pull back over himself, but for some annoying reason, he couldn't find it. He had no other choice but to force himself fully awake.

He felt better than he had the day before as he sat up in the bed. Andrew had come back a couple hours ago and given him the medicine. Now his side wasn't hurting so badly and even his fever seemed to have dropped a few degrees. But his bed and the new shirt Jessica had given to him were still soaked with sweat; that was probably the reason he felt cold after he kicked the blanket off in his sleep.

Sighing, he started to get up. The sleepiness had gone and he felt like he needed to walk, to breathe some fresh air. Jessica and Andrew were nowhere to be seen; Reid curiously started looking around the house. It appeared to be afternoon; sunrays were shining through the windows and a deep, peaceful silence reigned throughout the home. Reid couldn't remember if he'd ever heard such a deep silence having spent almost his whole life in big cities.

The kitchen was neat; a pot of something delicious had been left steaming on the stove. Reid moved further, into the living room which was relatively small but very cozy. Two big leather armchairs and a sofa filled the room, with barely enough room left for the coffee table and a homey fireplace in the corner. On the other side of the living room was a door leading out into the garden, and Reid could see Jessica's back through it; the girl seemed to be quite busy with something.

The young agent stepped out and took a look around. The ground was freezing cold to his bare feet but he took no notice. The strangest thing about this garden was that it had no fence. Neat, green grass covered a large section of earth surrounding the house and it was gradually turning into untidy weeds at the far ends. The garden even had a small flowerbed; Jessica was working with it at the moment.

"Hi," Reid addressed her shyly.

The girl turned back, eyes wide in surprise. "Spencer!" A moment later she was on her feet, hurrying over to Reid and pushing him forcefully back into the house, nearly knocking him over in the process. "You shouldn't come out just like that, barefoot and everything!" She chided him as if he was a child. "It's cold outside, some 40 degrees or so!"

"Okay, I'm sorry," Reid apologized as he regained his balance. "I'm feeling better; I just wanted some fresh air…"

"Sure, you can, as soon as you've dressed up warmly," she nodded with a strict expression. "I could give you some of Andy's clothes but I assume you insist on your own…"

"Yes please, if possible," the young agent hurried to agree. He was counting on leaving soon anyway; he couldn't expect the siblings to help him more and besides, his team could show up in any moment, and he still hadn't decided what his next step would be.

Past

Reid had an extremely hard night. He'd never thought that sleeping on the backseat of his car would be this uncomfortable. He felt like he'd woken up in every ten minutes to change position or glance out of the window to see if he'd been found, but so far he hadn't.

Reid's mind had been working hard since the moment he'd received the second e-mail. There was no question as to whether he would attend that meeting or not; he wanted, he needed to face the man who had attacked him before he could unite with his team and, according to the first message, wanted him dead, with no clue as to who he was or what he wanted from him. The question was, should he tell the team about the meeting or not? He had no idea what was waiting for him at the old tourist house; maybe just a man, maybe the black-suited guys with the intention of abducting him again, maybe a whole damn army of gunmen or even worse.

He wasn't afraid for his team, that they might be hurt; he knew they were well-trained, experienced agents who had dealt with a lot of hard-ass criminals before. He was actually worried about himself. What if the team didn't believe him? What if they thought that he was losing it, seeing things and believing in things that weren't real? If he called them to cover him would they arrest him instead of his assailant before he could even show up?

But I can't do this alone, he said to himself. I'm just a kid. I don't even have a gun. Since when don't I trust them anyway? We're like a family, and I know everyone of them thinks exactly the same. If I can't trust them, I can trust no one in the world.

Reid awoke the next morning after finally falling asleep in the midst of his inner storm, glanced at his watch and shot up immediately; it was 8:50, almost time to start searching for the meeting place. Reid ran his fingers through his messy hair, thinking; the next moment he climbed over to the driver seat, ready for action.

It was exactly 9:02 a.m. when Garcia's phone rang. The number was unknown to her.

"Hello?"

"Hey Garcia, this is Reid." She heard the familiar voice that was equally full of confidence and anxiety.

"Reid, honey, where have you been? I've been so worried! And Morgan… he's freaking out!"

"I'm really sorry, Garcia. But please call the others and put me on speakerphone. I have news."

As soon as everyone was gathered around her, Reid went on. "I've received a second e-mail. From the same sender, P.D."

"Second e-mail?" Rossi murmured. "I haven't even heard of the first one."

"I'm sorry; I didn't tell all of you about it. I thought it wasn't a big deal. The first one didn't say much, only that I'd be dead if I ever went to prison."

"Come on man, you don't believe this bullshit?" Morgan asked, still angry.

Reid ignored his question. "Now the second one told me that he wants to meet me this morning, at ten in some tourist house west of Quantico."

"I think I know that house," Prentiss interrupted. "I've been there before. You just have to follow the tourist path, you can't miss it. It was a popular wandering spot before the new look-out tower was built."

"Who did you say the sender was?" JJ asked suddenly.

"P.D. Just these two letters, his initials I presume."

"P.D…" Hotch spoke up. "Like Phillip Dowd?"

Reid frowned at the other end of the line. The others stared at Hotch confusedly, except for Rossi and Prentiss to whom the name didn't seem to ring any bells.

"He's dead." Reid said eventually. "It can't be him."

"I know," Hotch replied dryly. "Reid, what do you suggest we do?"

"It's not a question!" Morgan said in disbelief, looking surprised over the fact that his boss asked for his subordinate's opinion. "Kid, you stay right there where you are, we'll go there and get that bastard…!"

But the team leader motioned him to be quiet. "Let him speak."

"It's not that simple," the young agent continued, "he also wrote that I shouldn't even think about calling you, because he has his men with him. They're probably armed. But I wouldn't have called you if I had thought that I could handle it on my own. Just let me talk to him, okay? You can't be seen by him or his men until it's safe. Then, we'll arrest him."

"But what about the others?" JJ asked in a worried voice. "His men will probably be hidden too. How do we catch them?"

"If we have the leader he won't be able to give orders. Without orders, they won't know what to do, or at least they'll be a lot less confident," Rossi answered her question.

"Let's hope so," Reid said. "See you in an hour then."

"Wait…!" Morgan shouted but it was too late: the line went dead. "Reid, dammit, once I get you…"

"Save it Morgan, we don't have time," Hotch said. "As Reid said, he's in need of our help. Let's go."

As the concrete road ended, Reid stopped his car. The road continued in a path among the trees of the forest; too narrow to go further with a vehicle. He had no choice but to continue on foot.

He left his bag in the car; there was nothing in it he could use against a criminal or whoever this person was that wanted to meet him. It didn't even cross his mind that he wouldn't get back here; either he'd be arrested or not, his car would be taken care of.

The old tourist house was a good twenty minutes walk from the road. Though it was a bit cold, Reid enjoyed walking in the forest. It was so silent and peaceful everywhere, only the birds were singing, and the air was fresh and emanating all the scents of nature.

Suddenly, without warning, he found himself on the edge of a small clearing, facing an old wooden house that stood just as silent and peaceful in the early sunlight, as the forest itself. Reid stopped short in his tracks, feeling his heart start beating faster. He stood there without making a sound, turning his head around and listening for any sign of someone lurking around, but there wasn't any. No footsteps, no figures behind the trees. It was as if he was the only human being in the whole county.

He looked nervously at his watch. It was exactly ten o'clock. His mysterious assailant appeared to be late; and if Hotch and the team was hiding somewhere nearby, they were doing it perfectly as Reid didn't see any sign of them either.

He waited another minute then set off slowly towards the house. Well it was rather just a hut: three walls and a roof made of wooden boards, with a wooden picnic table and benches. It was only able to serve as a shelter a family could sit in and eat their sandwiches while waiting for the rain to stop.

Reid went inside and took a look around. His eyes were unconsciously scanning the hut for any clue, any message the mysterious man could have left for him after possibly deciding that he wouldn't wait for the young agent. But there wasn't anything. No paper tag, no words scratched into the walls; the table and the benches were covered in thick dust as a sign of having not seen anybody in a very long time.

Okay, I'm here. Now where are you?

Walking around the table, Reid stepped outside and looked around again, still nothing. Could it be that the guy had actually pulled a prank on him and had never even intended to meet him? Was it only a means of making his team think that he was losing it? It seemed a perfect plan. They would arrive here, find him standing alone, looking for some non-existent enemy.

He was debating about what he'd say to explain it all to the team when he suddenly heard a crack from behind the hut. This is it, now I'm hearing things too. He closed his eyes for a moment only to open them again to the strange feeling of not being alone.

Heart beating wildly in his throat, he sneaked to the corner of the hut. His hand was unconsciously searching for his gun on his belt, but then he realized he didn't have it with him and whatever he was going to meet in a moment, he'd have to face unarmed.

So he took a deep breath and with sudden determination he stepped around the corner.

The sight that met his eyes took him by surprise. He wasn't quite expecting to find a young girl standing there, leaning against the wooden wall, looking at him a bit frightened as if his sudden movement may have scared her.

They stared at each other for a couple of seconds, unable to find the words, but then the girl who didn't seem much older than he, spoke.

"Hello, Agent Reid," she said with a velvet tone. The scared expression had already disappeared from her face and was replaced by a wide, content smile. "I've been waiting for so long to meet you."

Any guesses?:)