Just a heads up that I won't be able to update any more this week! I will hopefully get more than one chapter up when I get back in town, though! But for now, enjoy! And thank you to my lovely reviewers! I love you all in that non-creepy way.

"Everyone keeps telling me that time heals all wounds, but no one can tell me what I'm supposed to do right now. Right now I can't sleep. It's right now that I can't eat. Right now I still hear his voice and sense his presence even though I know he's not here. Right now all I seem to do is cry. I know all about time and wounds healing, but even if I had all the time in the world, I still don't know what to do with all this hurt right now."

-Nina Guilbeau, Too Many Sisters

"I told you all to stop talking!" Reid shouted at his trio of hostages. His gun was pointed at each of them, though not aimed at their heads. Like the group had suspected, he would not shoot to kill.

"We were making a plan in case you were out of it for awhile," Rossi spoke up. It wasn't the truth, but it was something they could roll with if Hotch and Morgan went along with it.

"Like hell you were," Reid argued. "You all think I'm crazy, don't you?!" he shouted louder. He narrowed his eyes at Hotch. "You've thought I was crazy for awhile!" he accused as he pointed the weapon at the man.

"No one here thinks you're crazy, Reid," Hotch said calmly and evenly. He shot a look at Morgan that clearly stated for him to keep his mouth shut. "Especially not me. We work with crazy people on a regular basis, remember?" he reminded the younger man. Even if he did think Reid wasn't all there, it was irrelevant to the situation. The situation revolved entirely around the need for Reid to calm down and let them go. And if it did not happen soon, they would have to change their course of action. "I do, however, think you're being manipulated."

"I'm not being manipulated!" Reid responded quickly, almost too quickly. "I'm not."

"Reid, if you can cooperate with us, we can try to work something out, you know that," Rossi spoke up, coming to Hotch's aid. "I have to agree with Hotch, I don't think you're working alone. And I think someone on the outside claiming to be trying to help neutralize the situation is the one using you. Now who is it?"

"I already said it's nobody!" Reid insisted. "Now shut up!" Hotch nodded slightly at Rossi, and the two men backed down.

"So why haven't you blown us up yet?" Morgan asked as he looked up at the youngest member of the team. "We've ticked you off enough times, that's for damn sure. You have the capability. So why haven't you done it?"

Rossi started to tell Morgan to be quiet, but Hotch stopped him. "I want to hear this," he said to the man. Rossi nodded silently.

"It's none of your business," Reid answered vaguely.

"Really?" Morgan questioned. "Because the last time I checked, my life was on the line here! So why haven't you done it? Is it because the person we think is using you told you not to? Is it because he wants it done on his terms? Our job is to read the minds of people who do things like this. You aren't working alone. You know we know that. But you also know you can't tell us because you're afraid. You're nothing but a coward! Admit it!"

"Too far, Morgan," Rossi cringed when Reid aimed the weapon at Morgan's head.

"Mention anything like that again, and I'll shoot you without a second thought," Reid threatened. But something was off about him as he spoke, as if he didn't mean it. He was shaking, and he was nervous, that much was obvious even to an untrained eye.

"Then why haven't you done it yet?" Morgan questioned as he crossed his arms over his chest. It sounded like a challenge.

Reid's finger brushed against the trigger of the gun for a second, before he lowered the weapon. "I already said I don't have to explain myself to you." He was getting tired of all of this, much like he was tired of everything around him going on. He couldn't give away the name, though. The person was his friend, his ally. Without him, Reid was nothing. He wouldn't be able to do anything meaningful or memorable, and God knew this stunt was memorable. No one else was able to understand. He jumped when the phone rang. "What?!" he snapped into the receiver.

"Now is that any way to answer a phone?" the person on the other side of the line asked. Reid relaxed if only slightly. He knew that the person wouldn't do anything. After all, he was the one that organized the entire thing. "Have you done it yet?"

"No," Reid answered, trying to make it seem as though he was communicating with a negotiator and not to the criminal alpha to his beta. "No, not yet."

"Why are you waiting then, Spencer? You know you have to."

"I know. But I can't. Not yet."

"When then?"

"Soon, I promise," Reid said calmly before hanging the phone back up.

"There's only one person he would talk to and be that at ease in a high-stress situation," Hotch said to Morgan, keeping his voice low. "And we both know who that is."

"So you think they brought him in to negotiate knowing Reid would listen to him?" Morgan asked. He doubted that was the case. That was a risky move. But it was still possible, wasn't it?

"I can't be certain, but I think so. But I also think the person negotiating is the one manipulating Reid," Hotch answered.

"But if you're talking about who I think you're talking about," Rossi butted into the conversation. "I think there's some serious doubt. This is a serious accusation, Hotch."

"But right now it's all we have to work with," Hotch reminded him. "He's smart enough to do it and not get caught too."

"But what did we do to piss him off this much?" Morgan asked.

"I think I have an idea," Hotch responded darkly.

"If I know that look," Rossi began. "And I know that look; you have more than an idea. You have everything we need to make a case."

"Yeah, but that information won't make a difference if we all die with it," Morgan pointed out.

"Like I said, it's an educated guess," Hotch sighed. "For all we know, it could just be someone who sounds trustworthy."

"That's bullshit and you know it," Morgan argued.

"But for the moment, it's all we have," Rossi sighed. It was beginning to become very doubtful that they would get anywhere. It was becoming increasingly doubtful that Reid would make it out alive. The minute he screwed up and stepped into an open area, a sniper would get him, which was almost a guarantee. But what was becoming extremely doubtful was the hope that any of them would make it through the day.

"No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart."

-F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby