White light. Blinding, white light.

Faces, unfamiliar faces.

Pain.

His head was going to explode, or maybe implode. What ever happened would have to be better then what was happening now.

"Hey, Hotch." Morgan asked, his voice light and soft. "How ya feeling?"

"Ugh."

"I guess that was a stupid question." Morgan cleared his throat.

"What's wrong?" Hotch asked, his voice containing only a hint of lucidity. Morgan gave a half laugh, angry and bitter. Leave it to Hotch to think of others before himself.

"You had us scared man." At Hutches confused look he continued. "The doctors couldn't wake you up after your surgery. They thought you might have drifted into coma."

"How lo-ng." He asked, his voice cracking.

"Just over twenty hours." Twenty hours. Hotch's face only contorted into a more confounded expression.


"You don't remember." It was a statement, not a question. The shake of his head just once sent spikes of pain throughout his head, clouding his vision. He gasped slightly, after all it was still his job to set the example. To be the strong one. Under all circumstances, no exceptions.

"The doctor said if-" Morgan cut himself off, his eyes closed trying to hid the pain that flashed through his eyes. "-when you woke up, you might have some memory loss. Honestly, I'm surprised your this coherent.

"You and Reid were in a car accident, You're both pretty banged up. It was a close call." It was rushing back to him, as the damns in his mind opened.

Reid. His face terrified as he turned to Hotch. Pleading and begging with his eyes for Hotch to know what to do, to make it all simple. Too get them out of this mess. I'm sorry, Reid, not this time.

Crash, metal bending under the pressure.

Shattering glass cutting his skin, the burn of his skin opening under the sharp edge.

Scream, what that his or Reid's? Or was it someone else completely?

Blood. The familiar taste of pennies in his mouth. On his hands, on the car, on the window, on Reid.

Reid.

"Reid?"

"He's is surgery right now."

"Oh god."He buried his aching head into his hands.

"Hey." Morgan said climbing to his feet.

Hotch stayed silent.

"I'm serious, Hotch. The truck driver was drunk, you could not have prevented this. This was NOT your fault."

"He was trying to help me and I ignored him."

"What?"

"Reid. He was trying to help me. In the car, he asked if I was ok. I blew him off, he asked if I wanted to talk. I hurt him, I could see it on his face. He thought it was personal, that I wouldn't explain it to him. I hurt him."

"Hotch," Morgan started, stopping to collect his thoughts. "I know Reid, and if anything he's just worried. Not angry. Come on man, you know Reid, he has to take on everyone else's problems."

Either Hotch believed Morgan or he just didn't want to discuss the matter further because he switched topics.

"Was anyone else hurt?"

"The driver of the second car had a couple broken ribs, and a slight concussion. She walked out."

"The first driver?"

"That son of a bitch is in jail. The only injuries he had were from falling out of the truck on to his fat ass." Morgan's voice was hard, bitter. Pure white rage buried underneath. He turned back to Hotch, and watched the senior agent fight to keep his eyes open.

"Go to sleep, Hotch."

A garbled sigh, that sounded distinctly like an 'I'm fine' escaped his lips as his eyes slid shut.


"Blood pressures dropping."

"I just need a couple more minutes."

"Doctor." The nurses voiced echoed through the room, right before the shrill sound of the heart monitor muffled the young blonde.

"He's flat lining!" A different voice cried.

"Charging 350"


"What are you thinking Gideon?" JJ asked her voice soft, an obvious attempt to break the silence.

"It was too perfect." Gideon mumbled half to himself.

"What?" JJ asked "What do you mean?" He didn't answer, but she watched as he jumped to his feet and paced around the room.

"Don't you see?!" His voice was loud, and JJ straightened her back against the chair immediately. "The car accident… the report said the guy wasn't even legally intoxicated, just impaired. A man his size would generally be more in control of his actions. It's almost like he was waiting for us, waiting until Hotch passed by. He would have to excellent timing a high IQ, with a great deal of luck. It would be nearly impossible to have all the right factors, but not completely impossible. The way it happened… knew we would be divided… close enough for the use of vehicles'… choose strategically…"

"Wow, Gideon calm down." Her voice was calm yet laced with anger.

"Why can't you see this?"

"Stop! You said it yourself 'nearly impossible'. Hotch and Reid are in the hospital, hurt. Isn't that enough? Don't go making this into a case." Turning on her heels she walked out the waiting room door, slamming it shut behind her.

Not 30 seconds after JJ walked out, Elle walked in.

"Is JJ alright?" Ella asked. Gideon didn't seemed to hear her, nor did he acknowledge her presences. "Are you alright?" He didn't answer her second question either, instead he followed the same route JJ had taken out the door.

"Oh, really?" Elle said to the empty room, her voice light as if she were talking with an old friend. "No, nothing is bothering anything here. No, no I'm fine. Everyone is just fine."

The room didn't answer.


He had meant to go back to headquarters and get a start on his suspicion. However crazy the idea was. It was impossible, at least nearly so but he had to do something. However illogical to those around them.

His feet were walking, moving on there own accord. Somehow he had ended up at the wrong place, at least a different place then his original intentions. Somehow he had ended up at the chapel. The beige carpet and wooden seats, reflected the candles light onto the entire room. It seemed to glow with peace.

His feet where moving again, his legs were shaking. His knees gave out after the second step. The shaking in his legs escalated to the rest of his body. Horrible, silent sobs caught in his throat as he fought for control.

It was spinning, fast and out of control. No matter how hard he tried, he was losing it. Losing everything. Losing everyone. Please, God, anyone but them.


I know I said a longer chapter in my profile but I wouldn't have time to write more for about two weeks and I didn't want to keep you guys waiting any longer. I hope you enjoy this!

Reviews make me want to right faster, I love CC and I love new ideas. So if theres anything you want in this story, send a reveiw. :)