Hey guys, thanks so much for all the views and reviews. I'm going to try and update two more chapters, before I go on holiday. I've got a lot planned and I may leave this story on a teeny cliffhanger, before I go away;) anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter:)

chapter 36: relief

Spencer's POV

My mind was racing. Stella was missing. Taken. She had a bomb attached to her. I knew who Darren Harrow was, but I had no idea who murdered him. Darren Harrow, was a boy who lived across the hall to me at Cal-Tech. He was a fairly nice guy. The thing which was bothering me though, was that he died of heart failure. It was supposedly natural, there wasn't even any investigation into it. My mind burned, as I tried to think of anyone who had a grudge against him. Darren was a likable person and no one came to mind. I knew that I had to dig deeper, for Stella's sake. I thought back to his last few days. He did seem agitated and he seemed to be on edge. His appearance didn't show that he did drugs, which made me think he was a messenger to the dealers. I had seen him a few times with odd shaped packages. Maybe it was his job to just deliver them. I didn't know any drug groups around that time, so I knew I needed help from the team. Snapping out of my thinking trance, I took in my surroundings. Hotch, Emily and Rossi, were staring at me hopefully, whilst Morgan looked at the floor. I did feel a bit bad shouting at him, especially Henry, but I couldn't completely forgive them till Stella was safe.

"What have you got?" Hotch asked.

"Darren Harrow was a nice guy. He was across the hall to me at Cal-Tech. He died of heart failure and no one suspected anything at the time. He did however, carry around rather odd packages. His appearance didn't show off that he did drugs. This made me come to the conclusion, that he just delivered them. I suspect something went wrong, so he was killed. I need to look up drug ringleaders around the time." I said quickly.

"I'll get Garcia onto it." Morgan said, he didn't meet my eyes when he spoke.

"Reid, we have two hours. We need to be calm about this, and we will get Stella back." Emily said firmly. It did make me feel a bit better. Just then JJ emerged from her office. With Henry. His eyes were very red and puffy and it didn't take a profiler to know he'd been crying.

"I thought you were going to rest, kiddo." Rossi said gently to Henry.

"Can't." Was all Henry sniffled. As angry as I was, I hated seeing Henry upset.

"Reid, you're right. You may not of been aware, but Cal-Tech had quite a big drug network. Soon after you left, it was found out, however, the university didn't say anything because they didn't want to tarnish their reputation. The main ringleaders were Nathan Black, Jason Cartwell and Ross Victor, do any of those ring a bell." Garcia said quickly. My worries about Henry disappeared, as I tried to match those names to faces. In the end, I came to the realization that only Nathan Black could of drugged Darren Harrow. He was the only one with the knowledge and qualifications, to know what drug would give that side affect.

"It's Nathan Black." I stated.

"Are you certain Reid?" Hotch asked.

"It's the only logical answer, he's the only one with the knowledge to pull it off." I explained. I was just desperate to get Stella back.

"Okay, Garcia, ring the number back." Hotch said.

"On it." Garcia replied. I couldn't help but shake as the number rang. If this was wrong, Stella and god knows how many civilians, would be killed. It would be all my fault. Stella was all I had left and I couldn't bare to loose her. When the phone picked up, I gulped.

"Nathan Black." I said shakily. There was a deadly silence.

"I'm at the parade of shops outside the apartment, please help me." Stella whimpered.

"I'm coming." I practically shouted. "Garcia, do you mind staying on the phone with her."

"Sure, anything for my munchkin." She said tears in her eyes.

"I'll call SWAT, Rossi and Emily, go with Reid." Hotch ordered.

"If you don't mind, could Morgan come instead." I said trying to make it up to him. I would of asked Henry to come too, but he clearly wasn't well.

"Are you sure?" Morgan asked, taken a back.

"You're her godfather, now come on." I said quickly. Understanding the urgency, Morgan,

Emily and I, ran to the SUVs. We got into one quickly, and drove off.

"It wasn't your fault." I said.

"Thanks Reid." Was all Morgan said. The rest of the journey was silent. We were all anxious to get to Stella. As I turned down to the parade of shops, relief filled me. Stella was sitting on one of the benches. I pulled over as fast as I could. I got out of the car and ran towards her.

"Stella." I shouted.

"Dad." She cried back. Her eyes were full of fear. "Please get this thing off me."

"I've got to wait for the bomb expert. He's coming with SWAT. But I'm here Stella, I'm not going anywhere." I said, gripping her hand tightly.

"I know. I just want to get this thing off me." Her eyes were shiny. I could tell she was trying her hardest not to cry.

"Stella." Derek and Emily called out.

"Hey." She said, with a small smile.

"I'm so so sorry." Derek said apologetically.

"Don't be, it wasn't your fault." Stella said. Just then SWAT pulled up. They got out and checked the area for snipers. They also cornered off the area, to prevent public panic. I was relived to see the bomb expert. He quickly came towards us and looked at the device.

After fiddling around with it, he pulled it off. I quickly brought Stella into by arms.

"The device was deactivated. However, whoever did this, didn't make it easy. There was a secondary trigger, if the bomb was taken off by you, it would of triggered another explosion." The bomb expert informed us. It sickened me to think someone really wanted my daughter dead.

"Thank you." Emily said. The bomb expert left. Stella still hadn't let go of me, I could tell she was extremely shaken up.

"We'll sort things out here. You two can wait in the car, if you want." Morgan suggested. I was happy he did. I knew Stella wouldn't let out how she was feeling in public. I led Stella to the SUV. We both sat at the back and I looked deeply into her eyes. They were so much like Kazia's.

"Stella, it's okay. You're safe now." I said softly.

"I k-know." She shook. Her eyes were glistening. "I just felt so helpless. I wasn't even scared if you got it wrong, I just couldn't live with myself, if innocent people died because of me."

"No one were, or are going to, die because of you." I said hugging her. That's when she let the wall she was keeping up fall. I felt my shirt become damp, but I didn't care. It was important for her not to bottle up her emotions. I gently rocked her back and forth, trying to calm her down. After a while, she , managed to compose herself.

"Sorry about that." She sniffled.

"There's no need to be sorry." I replied.

"There is. Where's Henry, anyway?" She asked.

"I didn't think it was wise for him to come. He's still really sick." I said.

"Yeah, he didn't look well." She said, wiping her green, puffy eyes.

"You can see him when we get back to the BAU, but I need to talk to him first." I told her. I thought I should straighten things over with him.

"Okay." Stella said, she seemed distracted.

"What's wrong," I asked straight away.

"It's nothing, I think they were just a bit rough. I'm aching." She said, she did look in pain.

"I think we should get you checked over." I said concerned. The medic said that the drug which was being used, wasn't harmful, it just gave amnesia.

"I'm fine. I just need some paracetamol." Stella said. I wasn't overly convinced. There was a knock on the door and Morgan and Emily slid into the SUV.

"We can go now. Are you two ready?" Emily asked.

"Yeah." Stella replied.

I could see Stella shaking. She was obviously still shaken up. The whole car journey, she'd barely spoken. The elevator door opened, and the team were waiting on the other side. Smiles grew on their faces, as Stella walks out the elevator.

"I'm glad you're safe, kiddo." Rossi smiled, ruffling her hair.

"Just because I had a bomb attached to me, doesn't mean you can ruffle my hair." Stella joked. I could tell she'd put back on, her strong front.

"Doesn't mean you've lost your sense of humor, I see." Rossi smiled. Everyone gathered round her, happy she was back. The only exception was Henry, he seemed to wait at the back.

"Can I have a word?" I asked subtly, indicating to JJ's office.

"Yeah, sure." Henry replied quietly. He followed me into JJ's office and I shut the door. Henry looked so nervous, which made me feel bad. I was his godfather, he shouldn't dread talking to me. His eyes were also still red and puffy.

"Henry, I'm sorry for shouting at you earlier. It was unacceptable, I was just worried about Stella. I shouldn't of taken it out on you, you're ill and you couldn't help it." I said. Henry seemed a tiny bit relieved.

"S-so you don't hate me." He asked quietly.

"Henry, I could never hate. You're my godson and I love you." I told him. It made me feel awful that he thought that.

"Thanks Spencer." He smiled weakly. It made me think, something else was wrong.

"What else is bothering you?" I asked.

"Nothing, I just, I doesn't matter." Henry stammered.

"What's wrong Henry? You can tell me." I said softly.

"I just don't feel well and dads leaving tomorrow." He sighed. Instinct took over and I felt his forehead.

"You're burning up." I said concerned.

"I'll be fine." Henry lied. I was about to argue with him, when Stella came in.

"There you two are, I've been looking for you." She said.

"I'll be going." I said excusing myself.

"You sure?" Henry asked. I just nodded. As I left the room, I glanced around to see Stella already in Henry's arms.