Reid looked at the plate of food he had in front of him. It seemed very inedible at that particular moment in time. He was too lost in thought to eat. The case over the past few days had taken it out of him and the fact that he hadn't been sleeping very well didn't help. He moved food around on the plate with his fork in hopes his teammates would think he had actually eaten something that way. It was then he realized he was being spoken to.
"Reid? Reid are you okay?" He heard Elle's voice ask. Looking up he saw a lot of concerned faces looking back at him.
"Yeah guys I'm fine. Just a little tired I guess. You know from the case today. I gonna go to the hotel and turn in. Night guys." Reid then proceeded to get up, grab his bag, and walk out of the restaurant. After he was gone Morgan looked at his plate.
"The kid didn't eat a thing off thing off there." He said. Morgan was getting concerned over the past few weeks. Reid just wasn't himself.
"What has been up with him?" Elle asked.
"Maybe the job's just getting to him. It happens to us all." Gideon said, continuing to stare at the mixed up plate of food Reid had left.
"Yeah Gideon but he's had problems like that before and he acted nothing like this." JJ said. She was also worried about Reid. She thought of him as a little brother and couldn't stand to see him in the mood he had been in.
Gideon shrugged his shoulders at her comment. "Alright lets all go to bed." Hotch said and everyone proceeded to get up and head to the Hotel.
Meanwhile, Reid was already in the room he was sharing with Morgan getting ready for bed. He laid down in his bed and sighed. Another night of restlessness was just what he needed at that point in time. It didn't help that Morgan would be in the same room as him. During his nightmares he tended to yell and It was pretty unnerving to think Morgan might hear that.
When Morgan finally walked in, Reid looked over and said, "Hey is everyone back?"
"Yeah we all decided to head back here a little while after you left." Morgan responded and laid down in his own bed.
There was silence between the two for a long time before Morgan said, "Reid I'm your friend and you know if something's bothering you its okay to tell me about it."
Reid groaned. He knew this would happen eventually but he wasn't wanting it to happen so soon. "Look Morgan It's really nothing. I've just been having weird dreams." He said.
"You're sure about that?" Morgan asked skeptically.
"Yes Morgan I'm sure! They're just nightmares!" Reid snapped at his friend.
Morgan quickly withdrew and left the kid alone. He knew he shouldn't push it too much. For Reid, the fact was that they weren't actually nightmares, but a nightmare. It was the same one each night and it was beginning to scare him. His mother had always said that recurring nightmares meant that whatever happened in that nightmare would happen to you in real life. Since Reid was just a boy he'd believed that, even though he was more a man of science. The night mare was terrifying, although it didn't start out that way. He would be walking in a dark alley type of place, then start to feel like he was being followed. He'd start walking faster, then running when he sensed something behind him. All of a sudden, he'd be cornered be a lot of mean looking gang bangers. But right as they were about to do something, he'd always wake up from the sheer terror of the dream. Reid shuddered just thinking about the dream. Then he figured he might as well try and sleep.
It wasn't like he had anything better to do. It seemed like not ten minutes later he woke up yelling "Please stop!" and in a cold sweat. Morgan jumped and sat straight up in bed.
"Kid what's wrong?" He asked. Reid shook his head and said,
"Just a nightmare…that's all." Morgan was getting scared for the kid. He'd never acted like this before and honestly it was scaring the hell out of Morgan.
"Kid?…I can't stand to see you like this…I don't want to pry or upset you but this seems more serious than 'Just a nightmare'." Morgan said.
Reid sighed and said, "Morgan you don't need to worry. I'm telling you I'm fine. I'm going for a walk."
"Kid we're in the middle of LA and it's 12:30 in the morning!" Morgan said.
"I won't go far I promise I just need to clear my head." Reid said rapidly and was out the door. He walked down the streets quickly and thought about the weird dream. "Why is this happening to me?" He thought. Then he saw a particularly large man standing not to far up ahead, so he headed down an alley next to him. He went for about ten minutes then came to a junk yard that was fenced in. "Great." He said. That's when he felt a chill go down his spine…like he was being watched. He started to hyperventilate and try to find a way out of the yard. It was no use. The gate was locked and climbing would take way to long. He flipped open his cell phone but there was no service. "Damnit!" He said to himself. Then he froze. There was somebody behind him. He ran back the way he'd came but was stopped in the middle of the alley he'd come through by a group of men who looked to be gang bangers. He opened his cell phone again. Still no service.
"This is a dead zone. There'll be no help from that." One of the tattooed men said.
"Please don't!" Reid said in a shaky voice as one of them pulled out a switch blade.
"That's what they all say." The guy with the knife said.
Reid dropped his cell phone and went for the gun at his…belt? "Crap!" he yelled, realizing his gun was the one thing he'd forgotten. The gang bangers laughed and then came at Reid. Only this time there would be no waking up from the terrible dream. The others held him down and punched him until he became too weak to struggle. Then, just when he thought it was over, he felt the blade cut seep into his stomach. Reid screamed and they laughed.
"Come on boys. This one won't last." Then there was the sound of feet running, and they were gone. Reid was cold and slipping into darkness.
"At least I'm not in pain." He thought to himself. His dream had been all to accurate, but this time it was all too real.