Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds

Warning: Has mentions of rape. If this offends you please don't read.

And That is Why

Prentiss struggled against the ropes that bound her wrists, twisting her arms this way and that as an attempt to loosen them but to no avail. Her head was pounding and the heavy breathing that came from somewhere across the room did nothing to soothe her blaring headache. The room was filled with complete darkness and if not for the shallow breaths Prentiss would have believed she was entirely alone. The breathing began to quicken, almost sounding as if the person were on the verge of a panic attack. That is when her brain made the connection, who else would be nearly hysterical in the dark room. "Reid?" she questioned although she was ninety-nine percent sure he was indeed the other occupant in the room.

"Prentiss!" Reid replied, the relief in his voice evident.

"Ya, are you okay?" He didn't reply for a moment which concerned Prentiss and just when she was about to ask again she heard his answer.

"Ummm ya, I just have a hard time with the dark." It was no secret to any member of the team that Reid's greatest fear was the dark.

"Why?" Prentiss asked. His breathing had slowed so Prentiss figured if she kept him talking that perhaps she could keep him calm until help arrived.

"Why what?" Reid asked.

"You know for a genius, you're easily confused," Prentiss laughed. If not for the darkness that surrounded them Prentiss would have been able to see Reid wrinkle his brow in confusion. "Why are you afraid of the dark?" Prentiss asked, clarifying for the young genius.

"I don't know, I just am."

"There has to be a reason," Prentiss urged, her headache almost completely forgotten.

"Why? I mean tons of people are afraid of the dark and I doubt that a large percent of them has any specific reason."

"Yes, but a large percentage of the people who are afraid of the dark are under ten Reid. You must have a reason to still be afraid of the dark at 26 years old." Reid shrugged in the dark before replying,

"When you have a job like ours, how could you not be afraid of the dark?" Prentiss thought about that, the kid made a good point. She still wasn't convinced that it was the actual cause of his fear though.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. I just thought it might help," Prentiss said as she leaned her head back against the wall. The room fell into silence as Prentiss again became distracted with loosening her bounds. Slowly Reid's breathing began to pick up once again before he finally blurted out,

"It's what I can't see!" Prentiss stilled her hands and turned her head in his direction as if she could actually see him.

"What?" she asked slightly confused.

Reid took a deep breath before continuing. "It's not the dark that I am afraid of, I'm afraid of everything that is hidden in its depths." Prentiss nodded understandingly, a pointless action of course. Remembering that she couldn't be seen she spoke instead,

"Go on," she encouraged.

Reid sighed; obviously Prentiss wasn't going to let this go. "I never used to be afraid of the dark. In fact I loved the dark because I was invisible, no one could see what I was thinking or feeling. I preferred to be concealed by the shadows because people left me alone, and as much as I hated to be alone it was always better than being the centre of attention, tied to a goal post or something equally as embarrassing." After his short monologue Reid was quiet for a few moments.

"What changed?" Prentiss prodded.

"You really want to know?" Reid asked obviously still unsure if he wanted to share.

"I really do," she replied sincerely. Reid seemed to think it over slightly before continuing.

"You see the problem with an eidetic memory is that as helpful as it can be sometimes there are things you wish you could forget." Prentiss leaned forward listening intently as Reid began to tell her of his most horrific childhood memory.

"After my father left, it was just me and my mother. I was left to cook and clean and care for her. Every day I had to encourage her to get out of bed. It was a lot of work for a kid like me, no matter how smart I was. And not only did I have to take care of her, but I had school work to do, it wasn't easy being the only eleven year old in the twelfth grade you know." Prentiss wasn't really sure where this story was going. She knew about his childhood, that he had been left to care for his mother but she had no idea how any of this could relate to a fear of darkness. Instead of questioning where all of this was going she decided to let him take his time.

"We had this neighbor who lived a couple houses down; he always seemed to be at home, sitting in the rocking chair on his front porch. He must have worked to be able to afford a house in our neighborhood and yet he was always there," Reid recalled. "One day when I was hurrying home from school, I wasn't watching where I was going and I bumped into him. He was getting his mail off the sidewalk and I just ran right into him. I mumbled my apologies and went to step around him but he stopped me. I looked up at him and he just smiled at me. It was comforting. No one ever smiled at me except my mom. Everyone on our block new my situation, but no one seemed to care. So when he offered his help I accepted it immediately. He would come over to the house at night and help with cooking and cleaning. And while I did my homework he would help my mom with anything she needed. We had a system and it worked really well, he was like a second father to me. It never occurred to me though that he might want something in return." Reid got quiet then, as if suddenly deciding that the rest of the story was irrelevant. The room was silent for awhile.

"What did he want?" Prentiss wondered aloud. Reid sighed. He had been hoping she would drop the subject but he should have known better. Prentiss had always been too curious for her own good.

"Me."

"What?" Prentiss questioned slightly confused.

"He wanted me," Reid exclaimed. "One night after I had been in bed for nearly two hours he crept silently into my room and shook me awake. He told me to keep quiet and kept reassuring me that everything was going to be okay. And then he just climbed on top of me holding my hands above my head and began undressing me. He would whisper quietly in my ear shushing me and making me promise to never tell. I was so scared and I couldn't see anything, never knew what he was going to do next, where he was going to touch next. When it was over he just left, never said a word until the next time and the next time and the next time…" Reid explained as his voice began to trail off. Prentiss was crying now, silently of course. How could anyone ever do that to Reid?

"Did you ever tell anyone?"

"Ya…. you," Reid said sadly.

"Reid how could you let him do that to you and never tell a single soul until now."

"Because he helped her in ways I couldn't. He took care of her and he took care of me. It felt like a small price to pay to save my mom. But that's why I eventually sent her away, I couldn't have him in my life forever and it seemed the only way to get him out was to get her out."

"He assaulted you for seven years?" Prentiss asked completely astonished that Reid would allow it to continue for so long.

"What, no! He stopped when I was fifteen. I don't know why, I never really asked. Maybe younger boys were more his thing. But I still wanted him out of my life, to not be reminded of our history every day of my life. I sent my mother away Prentiss! I sent her away to live in a mental institution all by herself. How selfish was that?" Reid was full out sobbing now. Prentiss hated to hear him cry, especially when she couldn't even walk over there and comfort him.

"Reid you were in no way being selfish. You shouldn't have had to deal with that ever, let alone for seven years. I'm so sorry Reid."

"Don't be. He helped her. But ever since then I have hated the unknown, hated not being able to see when he snuck into my room, hated not being able to escape from his tight grip. I hate the dark."

"Reid, I…" Prentiss was cut off when the basement door was busted through and streams of light filled the room. Hotch ran to Prentiss, untying her bloodied wrists quickly before helping her up as he took in her ragged appearance.

"Are you okay," Hotch asked concern written all over his face. Prentiss looked over to Reid who was being helped up with the aid of Morgan. He was looking at her pleadingly with an expression that could only be understood as 'please never tell, I trust you.' Prentiss nodded in his direction with a slight smile, a silent promise, before turning back to Hotch. "Ya, I'll be fine."

A/N: Just a short little fic that I wrote in order to procrastinate from homework. I am sure that many fics have been written regarding Reid's fear of the dark but I just wanted to add my own twist. Hope everyone enjoyed, please review.