The flight home was exhausting. His back and joints ached. The migraine he had been sporting for the past 23 hours was now a dull hum. He just wanted to go to the quiet apartment he called home and crawl, fully dressed, into his twin sized bed.

Slowly he made his way up the four flights of stairs to his apartment. The elevator in his building had been out of order since before he moved in. It never mattered to him though. He would have taken the stairs regardless.

He put the key in the lock, pushed open the door, and moseyed his way inside. Dropping his messenger bag on the desk by the window before making his way to his bedroom and collapsing face down on the bed.

If he could just get a descent night's sleep.

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"Darling, you know I don't like it when you fight me. Now be a good lad and take your medicine."

He tried to do as she said, but swallowing a spoon full of bleach without choking and vomiting was something that was beyond his control. Still, he knew he had better learned to be as graceful with this task as he could if he was going to please her. And he knew pleasing her was the only way to keep his family safe.

His family.

His mother likely didn't even know he was missing right now thanks to her uncontrollable illness. And his father. Well, indirectly or not, William Reid was partially the reason Spencer was in this mess to begin with. William was the one who insisted that Spencer go to see her in the first place. And then when he left it was like an open invitation for her to stake her claim.

But still, angry or not, Spencer loved his family. And he would die to protect them. Which was looking like a real possibility at the moment.

"That's more like it." She said as she wiped his damp forehead with a cool, wet cloth. "There, that wasn't so bad now was it, love?"

Weakly, Spencer just shook his head no.

"Answer me!" she demanded.

In what little voice he had left he managed to rasp out, "n-no…not that bad."

She smiled at his response and slowly leaned down and kissed his mouth and brushed his hair off his face.

"Sleep now, baby. We have a busy day ahead of us." And with that she produced a hypodermic needle and proceeded to inject a clear liquid into his arm. Instantly the lights dimmed and he was shrouded in a fuzzy warmth.

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Reid woke up to the sound of a buzzing noise. Kind of like a chain saw. But that didn't make any sense. Groggily he forced himself out of bed before taking a stumble back down on the mattress. Now that made more sense. His migraine was back. It was going to be a long day. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, which he didn't bother removing from his pants the night before, and saw that it was only 5:23 in the morning. So much for getting a descent night's rest.

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Author's Note: Yeah, so I just spent the last half hour trying to figure out how to install this chapter. For some reason updating was not as easy as I thought it would be. Anyway, another short "chapter", sorry... I DO have the next installment ready, however, and in it I will be setting up and staging our villainess.

Also, OMG! Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who reviewed, alerted or faved. I am overwhelmed by the amount of readers who have taken an interest in my little twisted fic here. As a newb, I honestly didn't expect hardly anyone to even glance my way much less actually express any interest in it. Reid hugs to ALL!

Lastly, I do not own anything. Nothing is mine and no infringement is intended.

Love, hate and/or constructive criticism is always welcomed, though I must warn you, in no way do I claim to have any talent in writing as this is not an avenue I have ever visited before. I'm just merely here for fun and because of my love for Criminal Minds and of course our adorkable Dr. Reid.