Hi there! So, here we have another chapter of "Going Down". Thank you very much for reviewing and I'm really happy you like this.

DISCLAIMER: I'm tired of saying this, No, CM it's not mine!!!

ENJOY!!

Chapter III

SSA Dr. Spencer Reid had a split of a second to swallow and then he felt the strong force of the fall taking him down. The fall lasted just a matter of seconds, but in his mind, it seemed to last an eternity. When the descent was finally over, his body jumped in the air and then, he met the hard elevator floor with his hands, which saved him from kissing it with his face. He stayed there, lying on the cold floor, face down, eyes closed, begging his head would stop spinning around and his stomach would finally settle down. He heard someone crying. Moans filled the confined space of the elevator, but on top of all those sounds, he heard someone calling his name.

"Reid! Reid, are you OK?"

"Yes, I'm fine" he tried to answer to Hotch's worried words, but he just managed to nod. The movement was almost too subtle, but Hotch must have noticed it because he continued.

"Can you sit up?"

"In... in a minute" came Reid's whispered answer.

"Sebastian, Linda, are you OK?" continued asking the BAU Unit Chief.

"I'm fine... just a bit dizzy" said the smelly guy, now known as Sebastian.

"Linda?" Reid heard Hotch asking again. But there was no reply. So he pulled all his strength together, ignoring his whirling head, opened his eyes and tried to touch his female elevator buddy.

"Hey, are you OK?" Reid asked in a laborious manner.

Linda gulped a sob and nodded: "Yeah, I'm fine." She had lost all her cocky attitude in the fall.

"Hey, you, FBI man!" Sebastian was looking at the camera as if he could see Hotch on the other side. Reid got to a more comfortable sitting position and just waited for Hotch to answer. He really didn't know what to expect from this guy. One minute he was practically mute and now he was calling for Hotch.

"Yes, this is Agent Hotchner" came Hotch's reply.

"So, what's next? What are we supposed to do here? Is this some kind of joke or something?" asked angrily the smelly guy, moving his arms to enforce his words.

"They are doing all they can---" started answering Reid.

"I didn't ask you, boy. I asked him" interrupted Sebastian, pointing at the camera.

As Morgan watched this reaction on camera, he wished he was inside that elevator to put this kid in his place. He knew Reid was capable of defending himself, but as his partner and friend, he didn't like anyone treating him like that. But he just clenched his fists not to react, took one deep breath and let Hotch handle the situation.

"As Agent Reid said, we're doing everything we can to take you out of there. Just let us do our job and please, remain calm" answered Hotchner.

Now, it was Linda's turn to ask. "But... what now? Will it keep dropping?" Fear covered her words.

"We'll try to take you out of there before the next fall, but according to this person, the elevator will be falling down every hour. Next fall will be at 11 and it's supposed to drop 3 floors."

"4 at 12, 5 at 1 and 4 again at 2pm" continued Reid, sitting in a corner of the elevator. But then, he thought of something that Hotch hadn't explained to him before, but he wasn't sure to ask in front of two terrified civilians.

"I'll keep calling you. For now, just remain calm and let us do our job." Hotch ended the conversation.

Both, Sebastian and Linda looked at each other and Reid, but didn't say a word. They both sat down and let themselves be caught up in their own thoughts.

Reid took out his phone and dialed the number of his last answered call.

"Morgan."

"Hey, it's me." Reid had been in dangerous situations before, more times than he'd like, but he couldn't get used to the feeling of hopelessness that filled his heart every time something like this happened to him.

"Hey, kid, how are you doing?" asked Morgan, wondering why the kid was calling him, if he'd already talked to Hotch.

"I'm fine... considering" Reid gave a little smile. "Morgan, I need you to tell me something." Spencer was whispering by now. He didn't want the others to hear him, but he knew that would be almost impossible.

"I know Hotch didn't tell me all and I need to know everything."

"Reid, we're handling the case. Everything will be fine. We'll get you out of there" said Morgan, locking his eyes on Hotch, who was listening to Reid's words coming through the elevator's video image.

"I don't doubt you will, but I need to know everything. I deserve to know." Spencer paused, placed a lock of hair behind his ears and continued: "What happens if we make it to all the floor droppings? We get to ground level and what? What happened last time?" His voice sounded calm. He wanted the analytical part of his brain to take hold of the situation, ignoring his own fears.

"Kid---" started Morgan.

"No "kid", just tell me the truth."

Hotch nodded and gave Morgan the green light to tell Reid the whole truth of the matter.

Morgan sighed. "Reid, there's a bomb in the elevator shaft. After the last 4 floors, it's supposed to go off. That's what happened last time" explained Morgan, regretfully.

Derek and Hotch waited for Reid's reaction, but after several seconds, nothing came.

"Reid?" asked Morgan.

"Yeah, OK. Well, I guess I should leave you to continue working." Then without a goodbye, Spencer hung up. He placed the mobile phone in his pocket and closed his eyes, wishing to be somewhere else.

Morgan remained looking at his friend's image till he heard Rossi's voice: "We'll take him out."

At that exact second, JJ came rushing through the door of the BAU room. "The building has already been emptied and, Morgan, the bomb squad is on line 2."

"Morgan" said the FBI agent, answering the call.

"This is Agent McFay from the bomb squad. My men have already checked the shaft and we have bad news."

"What is it? "What else could go wrong now?" asked Morgan to himself.

"The device has 2 controls. Even if we manage to disable one, the other one is connected to a portable remote control. The UNSUB could blow it up any minute" explained the agent.

Morgan sighed, assessing the troubled looks of Rossi, JJ, Prentiss and Hotch. "OK, thank you" Derek answer to the other agent.

He knew it would have been too easy to disable the bomb and try to pry the elevator's doors to get the hostages out.

"So what do we do now?" asked Prentiss, putting into words the question going around everyone's head.

"We need to figure out this guy" answered Rossi.

"Garcia is checking elevator's accidents throughout the country, but they're still too many and we don't have enough information to pinpoint suspects" added JJ, unable to keep her eyes away from the image of her friend trapped in that enclosed elevator nightmare.

"OK, so he knows about bombs and he may work for the elevator maintenance company" said Prentiss.

"And he's a computer savvy." Garcia came quickly into the room, carrying her laptop. "He's controlling the elevator and all the cameras, in and out of it, and in the shaft, as well. He's watching and listening to every word said in there" she said pointing at the elevator's image.

"Can you track where the image is being transmitted?" asked Hotch.

"I've already tried, but he's rerouting the IP every 40 seconds" answered Garcia, almost apologetically. Morgan sensed his baby girl hated not being able to help Reid and placed a hand on her shoulder for support.

They heard a knock on the door and saw Agent Anderson standing there.

"Yes, Anderson" said the unit chief.

"Sir, there's someone on line 3 for you" uttered the agent.

"Can't it wait?" asked exasperatedly Hotch.

"No, sir, it's the UNSUB" explained Anderson.

Morgan looked at Hotch as he nodded to Garcia, as if telling her to be ready to track the call. Then, he answered the phone.

"This is Unit Chief SSA Aaron Hotchner."

"Hello there. I'm Delapsus Sum. I hope you're enjoying my work" said the voice on the phone. He sounded as if he was smiling. Morgan made a mental note to kick the guy's ass until he could no longer smile.

"Can you tell me why you are doing this?" asked Hotch, calmly, forcing himself not to let the man know how terrified he truly was.

"I'm doing it, because I can. I've proved it already. And as your bomb squad must have informed you, there's no point in sending anyone to that shaft. I've already let you look around, if I see another person there, I'll blow it up. And I guess you don't want that right?" asked tauntingly the UNSUB.

"You're right. I don't want anyone to get hurt. So why don't you tell me what you want. I'm sure we can find a solution that will satisfy us both. If you let the hostages out, we could give you something you want in return, maybe" conveyed the unit chief, trying to convince the killer.

"See? You're wrong there. Like I said, I'm doing it, because I can. I don't want anything. I just want you to see them die. It'll be your fault because you won't be able to prevent it, no matter how hard you try." Delapsus Sum gave a laugh.

Rossi whispered into Morgan's ear: "He feels he outsmarted the police last time and now it's the FBI's turn. His ego must be flying." Morgan nodded and closed his eyes imagining all the things he'd do to this guy when everything was over.

"Can you tell me your real name? If there's nothing we can do, you don't need to hide under a nickname." Hotch was trying to get as much information from this man as possible.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you? Well, maybe later" he answered.

"Why do you want us to see them die? Why not blowing up the elevator and put an end to this?" Hotchner knew this was a risky approach, but he needed to know his real intentions.

"And where's the fun in that? You see? I'm enjoying this, aren't you? Isn't it fun to see someone close to you falling in an elevator? I guess this time I got lucky and I won the lottery." With that, the phone call was over.

"Could you track him?" asked JJ.

"He was sending the call through different antennas all around the country. I'm sorry," apologized Garcia.

"Why call now? He didn't do it in Florida. Why change now?" asked Prentiss.

"Because he wants to show us he's smarter than us and wants to see us go in a wild goose chase. He knows he has something, or rather someone, important to us. That's what he meant by winning the lottery," explained SSA David Rossi in a matter-of-factly way.

All the BAU team turned to watch the image of SSA Dr. Spencer Reid, who had become the UNSUB's prize.

See you soon with more! Thanks for reading!