Title: There We'll Go Down
Author: Pants
Rating: FRT
Pairing: Reid/Gideon
Summary: Chasing and Getting wet.

***

~*~ denotes place or time change

~*~*~*~ denotes change in ficlets.

XD denotes my extreme happiness, XD!




Reid sat at his desk, trying to focus on the report he should be writing, but instead his attention was directed at the incredibly powerful itching sensation radiating from his heel. For the eighteenth time, he cursed his healing appendage and started typing again. As soon as his attention was sufficiently diverted from the itch, however, his left foot began to rub against the itchy right heel of its own volition.

As soon as he realized what his wayward foot was doing he hissed in frustration and assessed the damage. With his head between his knees he poked at the scab on his heel and the inflamed skin around it. Looking at the uninjured left foot he whispered vehemently, "Traitor."

"Who's a traitor?"

Reid bumped his head on the underside of his desk in his hurry to rise, "Ow."

"What?" Gideon asked, sitting on a corner of Reid's desk as the younger man finally straightened up.

"Nothing."

Gideon nodded and peered beneath the desk, "What were you doing down there?"

Reid cleared his throat and reached out to twirl a pen around in his hand while he spoke, "Nothing really, just, checking out my heel."

Gideon nodded, "How is it?"

"Itchy, actually," Reid said, as his left foot began to slide surreptitiously back towards his right one, beneath the desk.

"I can imagine." Gideon said, putting a hand on Reid's shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Reid looked into Gideon's eyes while feeling the hand on his shoulder with every fiber of his being.

"For letting him hurt you." Gideon said earnestly.

"Oh, no!" Reid babbled, trying to reassure him as quickly as possible, "No, if you hadn't-" held me so incredibly close, "you know, I'd have something more important than a shoe with a bullet hole in it."

Gideon seemed to accept Reid's reply, nodding once and then remaining silent, staring at the floor beside Reid's foot. Reid didn't notice, though, he was suddenly distracted by the top of Gideon's jeans. He had an inexplicable urge to grab the thick denim and hold it, maybe pull it closer. Then his eyes slid up and took in Gideon's abdomen. He'd never found another man's stomach attractive before that very moment.

"Reid?"

Startled, Reid snapped his eyes up and locked them with Gideon's, "What?"

"I asked if you wanted to come to the Globe and Laurel with the rest of the team tonight."

"Oh." Reid smiled, "Sure, that sounds really good." He found his eyes resting on Gideon's ass as the man walked away after clapping him gently on the shoulder.

"Traitors," He muttered softly at the butterflies in his stomach, ignoring his left foot as it scratched rhythmically at his right.

"Dr. Reid?" a girl, no more than 25, was looking at him hopefully and holding a digital camera.

"Hi." Reid said wearily, spinning his chair around to face her.

"Hi, I'm Adelaide Warhol, with security. We're updating the photos for the security badges. I'm sorry to bother you now, we got everyone else coming into the building, but I guess you got here a little earlier," She brushed a lock of hair out of her face, "a little earlier than we were set up. Could I just snap a couple shots right now?"

"Here?" Reid questioned, looking around the buzzing office.

"Well, we have a deadline, we have to get all the photos in by three."

Reid glanced at his computer's clock. It was 2:45. "Sure." he shrugged, "Where do you want me?"

"Just, right there's fine." She snapped a couple head shots and was gone before the giant white splotches had faded from Reid's vision.

Shaking his head, Reid went back to his report, waiting impatiently for the work day to be over.

~&*&~

Reid sat in the middle of the corner-booth between Gideon and Garcia, grateful that all the tables were taken. They all fit more spaciously around a table, yes, but tables didn't allow for the highly pleasurable experience of rubbing thighs with Jason Gideon the entire evening. He was waiting for his drink. He'd never had a real drink in front of the team before, but suddenly he wanted to make sure he didn't seem too young. So, he hadn't purposely picked the short, "designated driver" straw, and had, instead, ordered a glass of vodka, to the raised eyebrows of the entire team.

Reid liked vodka; it was the first alcoholic drink he's ever tried. He'd sneaked some from his grandfather's stash when he was eleven. The fist swig he'd taken had burned his throat and stomach, causing him to cough for five minutes straight.
Spencer had loved it.

Six old ties and a love of vodka were the only things Reid had to remember his grandfather by. He though Grandpa Joe would have liked Gideon.

"What are you thinking right now?" Garcia smile-whispered into Reid's ear. Reid nodded towards Morgan, who was chewing on the cap of his favorite pen. "I'm thinking we should order soon, Morgan's eating his pen.

Garcia chuckled, and everyone smiled as Morgan's slobbery cap bounced off Reid's forehead, "Hey!" Reid said indignantly, nudging the offending cap away from himself. "That's really disgusting." He said, as he eyed the slime trail it left on the table.

"That's not sanitary at all." Garcia wrinkled her nose.

"You're right." Reid crinkled his own nose and quickly flicked the cap back over to the other side of the table, somehow managing to make it into Morgan's glass of water.

As Garcia stole JJ's napkin to mop up the tiny puddle, Reid reached down to wipe the miniscule amount of slobber onto his pants, inadvertently brushing his fingers across Gideon's thigh. Reid brought his hand up quickly, tucking his hair behind his ear. In his peripheral vision, Reid saw Gideon watching him with thinly-veiled interest.

Reid's mind went whirring along ahead of himself. If Gideon was that interested in the way Reid had reacted to that accidental touch, he was likely to perform a simple experiment to gather more information. That was simply the way Gideon operated. Reid figured this out moments before the simple experiment was performed, which enabled him to control the urge to jump when Gideon placed a hand on his knee, but nothing could stop the blush that crept across his cheeks. Reid turned to the other man, letting his bangs fall across his face, partially obscuring the blush.

Gideon waited a beat too long before asking Reid, "Could you hand me a straw?"

Reid waited a beat too long himself, before nodding, "Yeah, of course." He reached over and plucked a straw from the pile in front of Garcia's plate, then handed it to Gideon.

"Thank you." Gideon took the straw and pulled off it's paper wrapping before slipping it into his water.

Reid watched Gideon's lips close over the end of the straw, and his eyes became unfocused as he thought back to every other time Gideon had had a glass of water in front of him.

When the server returned with their drinks and took food orders Reid couldn't keep the smile off his face. Gideon didn't use straws.



~*~*~*~



Reid was the last person Gideon dropped off. The time in the car with just the two of them had been quiet, strange, and oddly comfortable.

"Do I always sound like I'm reading out of a book?" Reid had asked, looking at Gideon with wide eyes.

Gideon thought for a moment, composing his thoughts before answering honestly, "No."

"Really?" Reid sounded surprised.

Nodding, Gideon had continued. "There are times, usually when you're reciting facts, that you sound like you're reading them, which I imagine you are, in a way. But you always sound better when speaking your own ideas."

"Better?"

"Well," Gideon shrugged as he turned a corner, "You sound like yourself."

Reid had taken this at face value, turning to watch the road through the windshield.

When Gideon dropped Reid off he'd remained parked long enough to watch the young man grab his mail and unlock his door. As he watched Reid slip past the door, Gideon was suddenly struck with a pang of protectiveness. He was so vulnerable.

As Gideon drove away he pondered the strange exchange at the Globe and Laurel. Reid's jump at accidentally brushing Gideon's thigh was surprising. He thought they'd gotten over the awkwardness of touching some time ago, and he made sure to periodically touch the other man on the shoulder to keep him used to physical contact. So, Reid's reaction was interesting, yes, but what had surprised Gideon most was the shock of electricity that had spread like lightening up his spine and into his stomach, making it flip flop pleasantly.

Confused at the sensation, Gideon decided to initiate contact, and see, or feel, what happened next.

When he placed his hand on Reid's knee he absently noticed that Reid was blushing and hiding behind his hair, but in the forefront of his mind he was occupied with the realization that he was, judging by the circus in his abdomen and the tingle in his groin, attracted to Dr. Spencer Reid.

Those thoughts ran through his brain the whole way home.

~*~

Spencer sat down his satchel and tossed the mail on the kitchen counter on his way to pour himself a glass of water. Once he had his refreshment he sat down on a stool and began to sort through his mail. Reid set the bills aside and tossed the junk mail into the trash. He noted his mother's weekly letter, and another letter from an old friend he'd met in school. What caught his eye, though, was the large manila envelope that had been taped shut. He picked it up and turned it over. There was no address or postage on it, just his name in block letters.

He quickly dropped it on the counter and retrieved a pair of gloves from his satchel, tugging them on as he investigated the envelope. He picked it up and turned it over, peeling the tape away. The adhesive strip was also used, causing Reid to raise his eyebrows as he picked at it and peeled it open. Obsessive, perhaps. He thought, peering into the envelope. He turned it over and emptied it onto the counter. Two strips of paper slid out and fell to the surface. The first was a slice of a picture, a horizontal strip just wide enough to show someone's lips. They looked oddly familiar, but he couldn't quite place them. He turned the other slip of paper over and read it with a furrowed brow.

You go with the fairest to the southern shores.


Squinting, Reid placed the line; it was from an ancient Chinese poem. He didn't have much time to ponder it's meaning, however, because shortly after he recognized the line a sharp blow to the back of his skull knocked him unconscious.

~*~

Gideon pulled up in front of his house and immediately noticed the manila envelope propped up against his door. Shutting the car off and getting out cautiously, he looked around and, seeing no one, proceeded up the steps. Knocking the envelope over with his right foot, he saw his first name printed in block letters.

He picked up the envelope, peeling off the tape and working open the flap. He pulled out a strip of paper with a single line of type on it.

We will ride on white turtles, goldfish attend us,


The words of no significance to him, Gideon pulled the other strip of paper from the envelope. The side he looked at first contained a hand-written note.

He's very pretty. I wonder what you would do to get him back?


Flipping it over, Gideon froze. It was a slice of a photo, about an inch thick, showing only someone's eyes. Gideon knew those eyes. Running back to his car, Gideon pulled out his cell and punched in a number. He was already on the road when he got the voicemail message.

"Hello, you've reached Dr. Spencer Reid, well, I guess you haven't really reached me since I didn't answer, but if you leave a message I'll probably get back to you. Um, thanks."

"Reid, this is Gideon, if you're okay I really need you to call me back." He clicked his phone shut and opened it again, this time dialing Hotch.

~*~

Gideon pulled up to Reid's place and got out. Drawing his gun, he crept quietly up the steps and peered through a window. Seeing nothing, he checked the door handle. It was unlocked. He pushed it open and entered cautiously, clearing the entire place before coming back to the kitchen, where Reid had obviously been last.

Noting the mostly full glass of water, Gideon was more interested in what was on the counter beside it. An envelope, like the one he'd gotten, lay open on the counter, with two familiar looking strips of paper on top of it.

He read the line of poetry on the strip. It seemed in keeping with the one he'd received. The other was a picture of Reid's lips.

He was startled out of his analysis by a horn honking. Through the window he saw an FBI issue SUV.

Gideon raised his eyebrows. Hotch was 10 minutes earlier than he'd predicted. Walking out to meet them, Gideon slowed when no one got out. Something seemed off to Gideon, but before he could turn around or even draw his gun he was knocked unconscious.

~*~

Hotch, Morgan, and Prentiss pulled up five minutes later. The front door was open, and the entire place had an air of foreboding. "Look" Prentiss pointed to the ground.

Illuminated by the headlights were two longs, shallow gauges in the dirt. "Drag marks." Morgan inspected closer, "They end by the SUV."

"Where do they begin?" Prentiss asked Hotch, who was following them with his flashlight.

"Here." Hotch pointed to a spot at the foot of the steps.

Prentiss hurried over, looking carefully at the ground, trying to decipher what had happened, and then, "Tennis shoes."

Hotch nodded stiffly, "Gideon." Morgan closed his eyes in frustration, before heading up the steps. Hotch addressed Prentiss in a low voice. "You check out Gideon's car and then join us inside." Prentiss nodded and headed for Gideon's car as Hotchner followed Morgan through the door.




~*~*~*~




When Gideon awoke he was tied to a chair in a brightly lit room. Before he could assess his surroundings, a voice spoke from just behind him.

"Well hello there, sleepy head. I was afraid you weren't ever going to wake up."

A woman. Well that would throw the team off, Gideon thought. He watched as she walked into his field of view. She looked familiar.

"Hello Jason." She smiled brightly and sat down on a chair directly in front of him.

"Hello."

"It's so great to finally get you alone." She began playing with her hair.

"There are easier ways."

She laughed, leaning forward, "Yes, but they aren't as fun," She dropped her hand from her hair to Gideon's knee. "Or as permanent."

Gideon eyed the hand on his knee, thinking. Where's Spencer? "What's your name?" He asked.

She smiled, and, blushing a little, replied, "Adelaide. But, you can call me Addy."

"Adelaide," She blushed further and looked down, moving both her hands to twist together in her lap. "Addy," Gideon tried again, "Addy, where's Spencer?"

Adelaide shut down. Dammit, Gideon thought.

"Dr. Reid." She said, her face tightening up. "Dr. Reid doesn't matter any more. I only needed him to get you." Adelaide clenched her fingers. "I didn't think you'd come after him so quickly. I didn't expect to get you alone so quickly."

Gideon took a deep breath, "Adelaide, I won't be able to give you my full attention until I know Dr. Reid is okay." He found the reassuring motions he was trying to make with his hands somewhat hindered by the fact that they were tied to his chair. When he looked back up at Adelaide her face had darkened.

"If I," She squeezed at the denim on her thighs, "if I let you see him for a while, can we talk afterwards?"

Yes "Of course, Adelaide, anything you want."

She looked closely at Gideon, "Okay. I have to get things ready anyways. I really wasn't expecting you, wasn't expecting you so early." As she spoke she stood up and began untying his bindings. Once she loosened the first one, she stepped back and drew a gun. "Get the other one." She said, holding the gun comfortably. Gideon complied and Adelaide motioned for him to stand up. Once he was upright, she cocked her head, "Take off your shirt."

Gideon paused, "What for?"

Adelaide looked taken aback, but she quickly recovered, "It's, it's a surprise."

Gideon watched her gun as he untucked his outer shirt and began to unbutton it. Once he had taken it off he asked, "What about the other one?" gesturing to his long-sleeved undershirt.

Adelaide took the shirt from his out-stretched hand, "You can take that one off too, if you want, but it's kind of cold down there."

Gideon nodded and started to walk where Adelaide gestured to with the gun. She led him to a door in what looked to be the laundry room. It had a deadbolt. "Open it." She said, waving the gun accordingly. He opened the door and stepped inside. The door clicked shut and he heard the deadbolt slide into place. The dark staircase was illuminated by a greenish, flickering fluorescent bulb as his fingers found the light switch.

"Spencer?" he called out, making his way down the stairs.

After a few moments of silence, a tentative reply came, "Gideon?"

Gideon smiled and jumped that last few steps, turning a corner and finding Reid tied to a wall-grate, sitting on the floor.

"Gideon." A smile lit up the young man's face.

"Hi." Gideon couldn't help but smile back, "I'm sorry I couldn't be here under better circumstances." He knelt down to untie Reid.

"What?"

"Well, I'm afraid I'm here in much the same capacity you are."

"Oh." Reid dimmed a little, but still remained hopeful, "Well, two minds are better than one, right?"

"That's true." Gideon said, helping Reid up. The arms beneath his hands were too cold. He began to rub his palms up and down Reid's arms.

"So, did you interact with him at all?"

"Her. And yes." Gideon nodded. "Her name is Adelaide, she's kind of shy, likes to say things twice, and I think she has a crush on me."

"Adelaide." Reid said, trying to ignore the completely inappropriate burn of jealousy in his gut. "Long, curly, brown hair?"

"You know her?" Gideon raised his eyebrows, pausing the movements of his palms.

"She works in security at our building." Reid stepped back and smacked himself on the forehead ," And she took two pictures of me this afternoon in the bullpen." Reid leaned against the wall and slid down, "They were my lips. She sent me a picture of my own lips and I didn't even recognize them."

"Why you?" Gideon asked, pulling Reid up again, "It's too cold on the floor. Why you?"

"Why me?"

"If I'm the one she wanted, why did she choose you to get me with, and why did she feel she needed bait, or a trap, in the first place?" Gideon asked.

Reid saw something over Gideon's shoulder and began moving towards the sink as he spoke, "She took two pictures of me, you said she says things twice, maybe she needed a pair of captives."

Gideon nodded, "Two envelopes sealed twice, with two strips of paper apiece." He followed Reid over to the far wall, "What are you doing?"

"I thought I heard something." He leaned down and peered into the half-open cupboard under the sink. As he nudged the door all the way open, he heard a whine. "It's a dog." Reid said incredulously. He squatted down and held his hand out, palm side up as a medium sized, black and brown mutt crawled out from under the sink on her belly. Reid made clicking sounds with his tongue and tried to look as non-threatening as possible, as Gideon grabbed a broken plastic bowl and filled it as high as he could without it leaking from the cracks. He set it down next to the dog, and Reid continued to rub up and down her back lightly as she began to drink.

As Reid pet the dog, they continued building a profile. "An obsessive-compulsive erotomanic stalker." Reid scratched behind the dog's ears as she rested her chin on his shoe.

"So how do we throw her off her game?" Gideon asked, falling into profiler mode.

"You make her realize that you don't love her."

"How? She's not likely to just take my word." Gideon was pacing now.

Reid got tired of squatting and flopped down on his rear, allowing the dog to crawl into his lap. "Convince her you love another." Reid looked up, "That's what I did with Lila Archer's stalker. She didn't know whether to hate me or Lila. Then she just decided to hate herself."

"Good," Gideon nodded, then paused, "Then whom shall I love?"

Reid smiled at the language, and thought for a moment. "It would be better if it could be independently verified." He frowned thoughtfully." It would also help if whomever you picked loved you back." Reid looked up at Gideon, who had stopped pacing, "Did she seem particularly jealous of someone else?"

Gideon nodded, "You."

Reid's mouth formed an "Oh." after a few moments he shrugged, "That might work to our advantage. The fact that you apparently like men would place you even further out of her reach, and there's plenty of independent verification to be had with me."

Gideon sighed, "However, her anger would probably be directed towards you."

"Well," Reid began, gently pushing the dog off his lap and standing up, "that could be a good thing too. As of right now I'm collateral damage. She only took me because she needed a pair. Elevated importance could only help me. Also, if she killed your true love, you probably wouldn't be very receptive to her advances."

They heard a thumping sound above them, and Reid turned to Gideon. "Do you know when she's coming back?"

Gideon shook his head, watching the ceiling as if he could see through it, "She said she had to get things ready. She didn't say for what."

Reid nodded and, before he could stop himself, yawned.

Gideon turned his attention from the ceiling to his companion, " We should try to get some rest."

Reid stifled another yawn as he nodded once again.

Gideon searched the basement for a bit, finding an old, dusty rug and dragging it to where Reid had been tied up before. Sitting down, he gestured for Reid to join him. "We should try to keep warm."

Reid nodded and made to sit down next to Gideon, but was stopped by an open palm, "It will also add to the illusion if when she finds us she does so while we're in a somewhat compromising position."

Reid's heart beat faster as he paused questioningly. Gideon patted the rug between his outstretched legs, and Reid thought for a moment the other man was enjoying his discomfort. After a moment's hesitation, Reid turned and plopped down almost-gracefully, scooting backwards ‘til his back was flush with Gideon's chest. He could feel Gideon's fast, steady heartbeat against him, which only served to elevate his own. A whine from across the room took his attention and he smiled as he called the dog, "Schnapps, here Schnapps."

"Schnapps?" Gideon asked as the dog hurried across the floor to them.

"It's on her ID tag." Reid replied.

"She's Adelaide's?" Gideon wondered.

"She's got two collars on." Reid confirmed, smiling as the dog once more crawled into his lap. A hand sneaked around him and scratched Schnapps' chin, and Reid sighed contentedly, leaning further back into Gideon and laying his head back on the other man's shoulder.

Pleasantly warm and excessively tired, Reid's eyes became heavy and he drifted off easily.




~*~*~*~




Morgan sat at Reid's desk, staring blankly at the computer monitor. Prentiss came up behind him and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Anything?"

Sighing and tossing a pen back onto Reid's desk, Morgan stood up abruptly, "Nothing. Not a damn thing."

"Is that… surprising?"

"No," Morgan looked at Prentiss, "since the unsub wasn't after Reid."

They both turned and headed towards Gideon's office, where Hotch was searching for anything amiss.

Hotchner was standing with his back to Gideon's desk, staring idly at the multitude of pictures and frames, when Morgan and Prentiss came in.

"Anything?" Morgan questioned.

Hotch shook his head grimly, "Nothing I can see is out of place." He turned to them, "You?"

Morgan shook his head, and Prentiss said, "The only fingerprints on the envelopes and contents were Reid's and Gideon's. Garcia and JJ are setting up the conference room now.

Hotch nodded and they made their way out of Gideon's office.

~*~

With you I will roam the river's nine channels,
when blasts of wind rise, driving waves across stream
we will ride my coach of waters, its canopy, lotus

We will ride on white turtles, goldfish attend us

Reid's mind winced. That wasn't right. That wasn't right at all. Then he heard it again, a deep rumbling seemed to be coming from inside of him as the words played out softly by his ear. That wasn't right, that wasn't how it went!

Reid awoke with a gasp, lurching forward only to be held in place by a firm hand splayed across his stomach. "Shh, you're okay."

Reid felt the rumbling again, but while it may have made his insides vibrate pleasantly, it was coming from behind him, "Gideon?"

"I'm here."

Not knowing exactly what to say, Reid focused on the subject of his dream. "Did she," He cleared his throat, "Did she leave a line of poetry in your envelope too?"

Gideon shifted minutely and Reid felt every nuance of his movement, "Yes; ‘We will ride on white turtles, goldfish attend us.' Mean anything to you?"

"It's from an ancient Chinese poem. I got a line from it too."

"You know the whole poem?"

"Yes." Reid said, resisting the urge to lay his hands on Gideon's legs. He decided to rest them on a heavily-sleeping Schnapps.

"Read it to me." Gideon whispered.

Reid cleared his throat and sat up a little straighter.

"With you I will roam the river's nine channels,
when blasts of wind rise driving waves across stream,
we will ride my coach of waters, its canopy, lotus,
hitched to paired dragons, by basilisks flanked

I climbed Mount Kun-lun, I gazed all around,
the heart flew aloft, it went sweeping off free.
soon the sun was to set, I, transfixed, forgot going,
and then to the far shore I looked back with care.

My roofs are of fish scales, halls of the dragon,
turrets of purple cowries, palaces of carmine-
why is the holy one here, down in the water?

We will ride on white turtles, goldfish attend us,
with you I will roam by the river's isles,
where the current is rushing, there we'll go down.

You clasp your hands, journeying eastward;
you go with the Fairest to the southern shores
where the swell of the waves is coming to meet us,
and the schools of fishes, will send off my love."

"Where the current is rushing," Gideon repeated softly, "Is there any significance to it?"

"Well, it falls into a popular category of poetry written around 300 B.C.E. They're, well they're almost chronicles, of a shaman's quest. The shaman feels spurned or neglected by the gods, and goes off in search of the gods or goddesses that he feels slighted by."

"What does the Shaman do when he finds the god?"

Reid turned around, shifting to a position where he could look Gideon in the eye. He leaned back against a steadying hand, "He exacted revenge."

Reid turned around and leaned further against Gideon, suddenly very cold. He shivered, and as Gideon's arms wrapped around his middle, he said quietly, "I don't think you should convince her you love-" me "someone else."

There was a sound at the top of the staircase, and Reid grabbed the arms around his waist, trying to pull them off and scoot away before she saw. But Gideon only pulled him closer, pressing his lips against the back of his shoulder. Reid felt and heard a muffled, "Too late." against his skin as Schnapps ran across the room to hide under the sink.

Adelaide made her way noisily down the steps, and Reid dropped one hand from Gideon's arm to Gideon's thigh. Just before she turned the corner, Gideon's arms fell loosely down, and the lips against the back of his shoulder were replaced with a warm weight on top of it and the sensation of hot breath against his neck.

Reid squeezed the hand beneath his to show he understood, and stared resolutely at Adelaide as she stepped onto the concrete floor.

She paused when she caught sight of them. She eyed Reid warily, and he looked defiantly back, "He's asleep?"

"Your observational skills are astounding." Reid deadpanned, and he felt the corner of Gideon's mouth quirk up.

"Wake him up." Adelaide ordered. Reid didn't move. "Wake him up!"

Reid lifted his hand and reached behind him to lay it on the back of Gideon's neck. Massaging the skin beneath his palm, Reid whispered into Gideon's ear, "Wake up, sleepyhead." his voice laden with sarcasm.

Gideon made a show of yawning and letting his hands wander as he woke up, and Reid was blushing when he called Gideon's attention to Adelaide.

Gideon looked at her blearily for a moment, before straightening and moving to stand up, pulling Reid along with him.

Adelaide's eyes never left the hand Gideon had on Reid's arm as she ordered, "Tie him back up." Gideon did nothing but share a glance with Reid, and Adelaide shouted, drawing her gun, "Tie Him Back UP!"

Gideon snapped back, shocking Reid, "Alright!" Gideon nodded at Adelaide, "Give me a minute." He turned back to Reid and rubbed his hands up and down the other man's arms, "You'll be okay?"

Reid nodded, and Gideon sneaked a look at Adelaide out of the corner of his eye. Aware she was watching him closely, Gideon un-tucked his shirt and pulled it over his head, leaving himself bare-chested. Reid raised his eyebrows but said nothing as Gideon nudged his arms up and slipped the shirt down over Reid's own clothes.

Gideon took his time fussing with the sleeves, rolling them up at Reid's wrists, then stepped back to look at the young doctor. He turned his face so Adelaide couldn't see it and mouthed, "Hug me."

Reid did, feeling something spark inside him as his hands rested on Gideon's bare skin. Then, Gideon walked him gently back to the wall, tying him the rope around Reid's padded wrists. With a wink, Gideon turned back to Adelaide and walked sedately up the stairs.

Reid waited a few minutes after he heard the door close before tugging at the sleeves of Gideon's shirt with his teeth.

Once he got the cotton cuffs out from under the rope, Reid was able to work a hand free. Quickly slipping his other hand out of the loop, Reid stood and made his way to the sink, relieving his aching bladder. He reached under the sink to reassure a whimpering Schnapps, before climbing quietly up the stairs and pressing his ear to the door. He heard muffled voices.

~*~

She slammed her head on the table and groaned, "This is ridiculous."

Morgan rubbed Garcia's back in small circles, feeling helpless himself.

"We need Reid and Gideon to find Reid and Gideon." She remarked sullenly.

Prentiss, who was tired of staring at blown-up close-ups of Spencer's eyes and lips, sighed and stood, addressing the back of Garcia's head, "I'm going to go check Reid's desk again, you're welcome to come help."

Garcia lifted her head and looked at Prentiss, "Okay."





~*~*~*~






"You looked…" Adelaide shrugged a shoulder nervously, "close."

Gideon sat down at the dining room table and nodded, "Yes. Spencer and I are very," He paused for effect, "Close."

Adelaide's lips were pursed, "I've watched you. You never-" she struggled with the words, "You and him, you never did anything." She sounded like she was trying to convince herself.

"Really?" Gideon replied, "You didn't think we would be obvious about it, did you?"

Adelaide shook her head, not in reply, but in denial.

"Have you been watching me every second of every day, Adelaide?" Gideon leaned forward. "What about when we're away on cases? Can you see inside the rooms we share? Can you see the beds we share?"

"Shut up!" She yelled, covering her ears with her hands, "Shut UP!"

"He loves me, Adelaide!" Gideon was standing now.

"You love me!" She was shaking her head frantically, squeezing the trigger of her gun dangerously.

"I love HIM!"

"LIAR!"

"Ask him!"

"Move!" Adelaide pointed the gun at him, "Basement, now!"



~*~



Garcia stared blankly at Prentiss as the other woman sat glumly in Reid's chair. The railing behind Prentiss' head was blurry, blending into the blue wall beyond it. Garcia observed this for a few moments before jumping up as if shocked. "Emily!"

"What?" Prentiss stood and looked around.

"No, sit down, I'll be right back! Stay there!" The excited blonde ran to her office and returned breathless, holding a digital camera. "Stay there, hold your head up a little." As the camera focused on Prentiss' face the background blurred and Garcia snapped a picture. She turned and ran once more to her office, calling behind her, "Get the others!"

Prentiss jogged to the conference room and retrieved the others. By the time they made it to Garcia's office she had uploaded the photo and was cropping it.

Morgan put a hand on the desk and leaned over Garcia's shoulder, "What is it?"

With a few clicks, Garcia brought up Reid's photo-strips and cropped out corresponding slices of Prentiss' picture, moving them next to each other, "Check out the backgrounds."

It only took a few moments for everyone to see it. "They're exactly the same." JJ whispered.

"The unsub was here." Hotch said, addressing the group, "Does anyone remember someone taking pictures of Reid recently?"

"Oh my god." Prentiss clapped a hand over her mouth, dropping it just as quickly. "That security girl, whats-her-face-"

"Adelaide." Morgan realized. "Shit, Adelaide Warhol. She wasn't here this morning."



~*~



"Now!"

Spencer heard her muffled command and bounded back down the steps. He debated whether or not to slip his hands back into the bindings, but decided to lean casually against the wall instead.

When Gideon and Adelaide entered, Reid found himself distracted from Adelaide's gun by Gideon's naked torso.

"Hello Spencer." Gideon said meaningfully.

Reid smiled, "Hi."

"Don't talk." She said tersely to Gideon. Then, she turned to Reid and demanded awkwardly, "What is your relationship?"

"My relationship?"

"With Jason!" Adelaide pointed the gun at Gideon for emphasis.

"We're lovers." Reid said simply, blushing slightly at Gideon's proud smile.

"No." She shook her head, "No. I don't believe you."

"It's true." Gideon said softly, stepping forward and taking Reid's hand within his own.

"You're lying." She began rubbing her ear against her shoulder, as if trying to wipe the sounds away. Reid and Gideon knew she was close to breaking. "You're lying.

"We're not lying." Reid's voice was gentle, "Adelaide, he loves me."

"No." Her voice was cracking.

Reid's voice was impossibly soft as he took a small step forward, "He loves me."

Every shuddering breath was exhaled as a trembling "no," as Adelaide stumbled backwards and sat down hard on the bottom step. Reid and Gideon stood silently still, painfully aware that she still held the gun. She lifted her hands and crushed the heels of her palms into her eye sockets, whimpering pitifully.

Suddenly, Reid felt a strange vibration in his hand, and he realized Gideon was shivering. Making sure Adelaide was still distracted, Reid quickly slipped off Gideon's shirt and handed it back to its rightful owner. Gideon smiled gratefully and pulled it on. Reid scooted closer, offering his somewhat meager body heat as a comfort. Adelaide was watching them again, and Gideon slipped an arm around his waist, drawing him even closer.

Reid noticed Adelaide's steadied breathing and straight posture and felt a small twinge of fear. Something wasn't right.

Gideon saw it too, pulling him into a full hug and spinning them around so he was mostly blocking Reid from Adelaide's view. Reid felt a kiss pressed to his temple and briefly inhaled Gideon's scent before the other man turned back around to face Adelaide.

"What are you going to do with us?"



~*~



Morgan and Hotch led the SWAT team to the door and assumed their usual positions. Hotch knocked on the door quickly as Morgan took hold of the knob. When no one answered, Hotch nodded and Morgan tried the door.

It was unlocked. Another nod, and Morgan went in high; Hotch low and close behind. The front room was empty, but as they moved to the hallway a dog scrabbled past them and ran out the open door. Hotch watched it go as Morgan kept his eyes on the doors in the hallway. They cleared the kitchen, finding a chair with ropes over the arms, and moved on to the master bedroom, where they found Gideon's shirt folded neatly on the bed.

It was Prentiss who found the basement, and the marks the bullets had made in the wall.



~*~



Reid flinched as the two rounds Adelaide fired shot past his ear and cracked jagged holes in the concrete wall. She moved quickly, now that she had their full attention, standing and walking around them until they stood between her and the stairs. "Put your hands on your heads and turn around."

They obeyed, and Reid felt a sharp kick in the back of his knee, almost falling, but grabbing onto Gideon in time.

"Go." She said coldly, "Up the stairs, go."

And they did. When Adelaide stepped through the door at the top of the stairs she slammed it closed so hard it clicked back open on the rebound, but she didn't notice. Her full attention was on the two men she was guiding outside.



~*~



Morgan eyed the rope that was tied to the grate, then looked up at Prentiss, who was inspecting the space under the sink, "No one undid this rope."

"What?" Prentiss straightened up.

"Someone must have slipped out, ‘cause it's not untied."

"Guys," JJ said from the top of the stairs, "Warhol's vehicle is out back, we think she's still in the area.



~*~



Reid tripped over a fallen branch and teetered a few moments before Gideon grabbed his arm and steadied him.

"Keep moving." Adelaide seemed intent on making her lack of sympathy known. Reid figured that she was doing so because while she was extremely upset at Gideon for loving someone else, she still loved him. Or thought she did. Reid was pondering psychopathic love when Gideon stumbled on the uneven ground.

Quickly reaching out to grab Gideon, Reid was pulled down as well, and they began to roll down a steep embankment. Every time Reid thought he was about to regain his footing, he was pulled down again by Gideon. After the third time, it occurred to Reid that Gideon might be doing it on purpose, and that this could be their only chance of escape. Reid continued his rolling with gusto, avoiding saplings and jagged rocks as best he could. After getting the hang of it, Reid though that perhaps rolling down hills could be fun, but the sticks and rocks that stabbed at him from time to time put a damper on it, and the fact that they could be shot at any moment by a gun wielding psychopath didn't help much either.

Finally, they reached the bottom; Reid found his footing and stood up, only to fall back down a moment later. The second time was the charm, and Reid was able to stumble over to Gideon to help him up. By the time they were both mostly upright, they cold hear something crashing down the hill not far behind them.

Holding on to one another for balance, they quickly began to make their way through the woods toward the sound of running water, more or less in a straight line. They soon reached a river, which was weaving drunkenly through the undergrowth and crashing into itself menacingly. They were contemplating methods of crossing it when two loud cracks echoed through the trees and gave them pause.

Adelaide was very close.

Very close.

"Don't move."



~*~



The entire team froze at the not-so-distant crack of gunfire.

"Where did it come from?" Prentiss asked, breaking the brief silence and taking the three front steps in one bound, walking quickly to Morgan.

"East." Hotch said, already moving in that direction. The rest followed suit, drawing their weapons and proceeding swiftly, but with caution.



~*~



Reid was getting tired of Gideon always standing in front of him, protecting him from Adelaide. Still, he couldn't help but feel somewhat naked when she ordered him to stand directly in front of her.

She stared at Reid though both of their tangled bangs, radiating anger and an indescribable feeling of off.

"You." She half hissed, half spat, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

Now, normally, Dr. Spencer Reid was a quiet, unassuming, all around nice kind of guy; Rarely sarcastic, never rude. But Reid had been locked up in a basement for a day, with nothing to eat and nothing to read, and been forced at gunpoint to do all sorts of trivial things that he might have done anyway, if Adelaide had bothered to ask. He had a lump on the back of his head that wouldn't stop aching, and he'd rolled over a rock on his way down the hill and received a particularly nasty charlie horse that had yet to go away. He wasn't, as you may have guessed, in the best of moods, so when Adelaide leaned in and accused him distastefully of being ‘You,' Spencer had had quite enough bullshit for one day, and leaned right back, hissing facetiously, "Me."

He was happy with himself for a few moments, until Adelaide digested what he'd said, then he found himself sitting down very hard with yet another injury. He was about to rub his abused skull when Adelaide pointed the gun at it.

Reid couldn't help but wish that he'd stayed awake longer when Gideon was holding him down in the basement, as he watched Adelaide cock the gun. He was getting ready for everything to start slowing down when it suddenly kept going at time's usual place, leaving no room for contemplation as a few things decided to happen all at once.

He saw something brown and black and furry jump at Adelaide's outstretched arm as he felt warm, wide hands grab him under his arms and pull him backwards. He heard a desperate cry behind him, urging him to "Breathe!" So he did. Then all he felt was cold and thunder as they crashed ungracefully into the rushing river.

The current pushed him under, tumbling him over and around and upside down, ‘til the only thing he knew was the firm grip across his ribs.

When they surfaced a few hundred yards down stream they could hear shouted claims of "Federal Agent!" And when they were able to climb, dripping and cold, onto the river bank, they saw Adelaide on her knees, surrounded by SWAT members, and their team running towards them.

Reid collapsed. His head came to rest on Gideon's soggy stomach, and the last thing he did before closing his eyes was smile.

***