Amazing grace
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind, but now I see

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed

My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending love, amazing grace - Amazing Grace, Chris Tomlin

It took both Gideon and Morgan agonizing moments to pull the half buried body out of the shallow grave. A low moaning sound negated the need for a pulse check, but Morgan checked anyway, while Gideon handed Reid off to Hotch, who cradled Reid's head in his lap. On any other day Morgan would have snapped a cell phone photo of the strict unit cheif sitting in the dirt, babying one of the team. But not now, not when that team member was on death's door.

Reid moaned as strong arms grabbed and dragged him from the dirt. Why couldn't Charles just leave well enough alone? But this, this wasn't Charles. Gentle hands combed back his hair and held him in a secure embrace, carefully avoiding the most painful part of his back.

"Just breathe, that's it. Breathe. You're safe now." The voice was almost familiar.

Just breathe? As if it was that easy- something as easy as breathing had no right being so damned painful. "Tobias?" Something wasn't right. The voice was gruff but gentle…comforting in a way that Tobias, even at his best, could never manage. If it wasn't Tobias…then who?

"He can't hurt you anymore. You're safe."

Safe? What did that even mean? He was safe? Tobias wouldn't hurt him. Why would they think Tobias would hurt him?

"We're here. The team's here. The ambulance is coming. Just hang on. Don't move."

Don't move? How could he possibly move…wait the team? Reid opened his eyes slowly, only to see a white dress shirt, marred with dirt. Hotch?

"J.J...?" Reid gasped for air, trying to push himself out of Hotch's lap. He had to make sure she was alright. Frantic voices erupted all around. What was that Hotch had said? Oh, right. No moving

"J.J. is fine." The relief that flooded over him was so palpable it was like a tidal wave. He felt himself relax for the first time in days. "Don't talk, Spencer, just breathe."

Spencer? Must be bad for Hotch to be using his first name. The man had the same gentle, scolding tone that his mother had. Odd to hear it from his strict team leader. Reid took a few painful deep breaths. There was only one reason for the team to be so calm and that was Hankel's death, which meant that relief was within reach. "Pockets...his..."

"Kid, tell us tomorrow." It was Morgan. Strong, steady hands rested on his shoulders, effectively anchoring him into Hotch's embrace.

Reid shook his head, causing Morgan pin his head to Hotch's arm. "Reid, what did Hotch say about not moving?" Charles must have hit him hard to make the team this worried about such a slight move. "Medi..Med..."

"Hankel has medicine in his pockets?"

"Yes."

Making sure Hotch had Reid's head stabilized, Morgan raced over to the still warm corpse. He rummaged through his jacket pockets before turning to his jeans. Inside were two vials. Morgan read the labels and his heart sank: Dilaudid. He took a deep breath, he barely restrained from throwing them to the ground. They were after all evidence, evidence that his buddy had been drugged...and from his begging he might even already be addicted. Don't think like that, Morgan. He's in pain, of course he wants relief. Wanting relief doesn't make an addict. Here he had been hoping Tobias had been sick with an antibiotic prescription he could give to Reid. He put the vials back in Hankel's pocket and walked back to his colleagues, kneeling down next to them.

"Sorry, kid. I didn't find anything."

Reid may have been in agonizing pain, but even he could hear the pity in Morgan's voice. He was lying. "Weak. Sorry." His breathing was now coming in short pants instead of long agonizing breaths. He had been stupid to think that Morgan would shoot him up. They were all sadistic bastards, the lot of them, making him suffer like this. The rational part of his brain told him that the team had witnessed his temporary death on webcam and didn't want to risk another cardiac arrest. The other part of his brain didn't care, an overdose would be such a nice, painless death. Hadn't he suffered enough?

"No, you're not weak. Weak people don't put up this much of a fight." Morgan sounded both amused and scared at the same time. Morgan was never scared.

"Where are the medics?" Morgan growled. He grabbed Hotch's discarded flashlight as well as his own and began waving them like strobe lights.

Emily Prentiss walked out of the cabin and into the cold night. She just had to trust that Garcia was sitting vigil by her computers and that she had gotten the message. Being the non-techie that she was, it had taken longer than she had anticipated to get the webcam back on so she could have a one-sided conversation with Morgan's 'Baby Girl'. Apparently it had taken far longer judging by the fact that J.J. had arrived back with the medics who had managed to get Reid onto the gurney without moving the knife. Hotch was talking to the medics while Morgan was, for lack of a better word, restraining the panicking J.J. Jumping back into action, she hurried to the gurney, slipping effortlessly between the paramedics and Hotch to check on Reid. He was shaking with the effort of holding back the tears. A few leaked out anyway. He raised a hand to wipe them away while the other kept a white knuckled grip on the bars of the gurney. He was lying down on his side, an oxygen mask on his face. His breathing had eased but the pain seemed to triple. She took his hand in hers and was surprised by the bone crushing strength he returned. "It's okay to cry. It's okay."

"Hurts," he whimpered. He closed his eyes not wanting to see her pity.

"Reid, look at me. What hurts?" The obvious answer would be the knife but she thought there might be more to it than that.

His face scrunched up even more, a sob escaping despite his best efforts at being stoic.

"Give me a thumbs up for yes and down for no. Is it how they are moving you?"

One thumb up. Once the jolting had gotten bad enough to break the dam, nothing had been able to stop it and good Lord did it HURT! Even crying hurt, but he couldn't stop.

"Okay, okay," she soothed, stroking away the wetness on his cheeks. "Can you stand on your own?" she asked, ignoring the protests of Hotch and the paramedics. She had found out the hard way that sometimes patients could control the pain best themselves because they knew which movements would hurt the most. Reid obviously didn't have the energy to explain, but if he could stand with help then they could walk him to the road. It would take longer but if the knife was jolted by the four wheels and uneven grass and rocks, then it was over - and judging by the knife position, anyone trying to carry him wouldn't be able to get a secure hold without moving it.

Reid nodded. With the oxygen mask securely in place, Emily lowered the guard rail and the gurney so that Reid could sit up and slide off. She wasn't expecting him to latch onto her like a lifeline, but that's what she and Hotch were. Reid took a deep breath of sweet oxygen. It still hurt to breathe, but at least he didn't feel like a fish out of water.

Emily wanted to hug him, put her arms around him and not let go but time was of the essence. So she limited her offered comfort to soft words of encouragement as she and Hotch moved in to support him on either side. She watched in amazement as the tears slowed and Reid took one slow step in front of another, guided by Morgan's and J.J.'s flashlights. It was just like breathing, just one more. The paramedics up ahead kept an eye on their patient, counting his respiration, rolling the gurney through the graveyard and clearing the path of any rocks. She wished they could just bring the ambulance to him, but they couldn't risk the ambulance getting stuck in the mud and there was no road leading through the graveyard.

"You are so brave, Reid. You're doing fantastic. Just keep walking."

Reid didn't know what she was talking about. This was the easy part. No digging, no talking, no painful jolting. All of his focus was on walking, he didn't have energy for anything else, especially since his walking was more like limping. With the overall pain level down, it was easy by comparison to the rest of the evening. He wanted to thank Emily for this wonderful idea, but he didn't have the energy, breathing still hurt and he guessed that his sudden lack of sobs was gratitude enough.

Emily kept a vice grip on Reid, her encouragement continuous as her eyes strayed momentarily to J.J.'s tear-stained face. J.J must have gotten one hell of a lecture from Morgan because she had regained her composure, kept her eyes on the ground and had not once approached Reid to apologize. In fact, it was a testament to Reid's pain and exhaustion that he hadn't even noticed J.J.'s presence, considering how he normally noticed EVERYTHING and with how worried he had been for her over the last two days. But any emotion that would come of their reunion at this point would just be a distraction - one that Reid could ill afford. For now, Hotch's simple answer of "she's fine" was enough to satisfy Reid's usually insatiable curiosity. No, their reunion and questions would have to wait until Reid was enjoying his jello and curling up with a good book at the hospital...and not a moment sooner.