Warnings: Spoilers for 'The Big Game' and 'Revelations' Minor spoilers for 'Elephant's Memory' Mentions of Drug use and Addiction, Death of a fictional nursery rhyme character.

A/N: Thanks to REIDFANATIC for beta-ing this. This is a repost of a story I wrote years ago on a different account. The original story has been deleted. Thus, this isn't my best work and I plan on updating this at some point.

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds, or Humpty Dumpty.

Original post date: 6/14/09

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.

Walls are dangerous places to be sitting. They are very easy to fall or tumble from. The view they offer might be nice, but the risks are not worth it.

Spence Reid sat on a wall.

It was his job. If you weren't careful, it could easily push you over the edge. Joining the BAU was a risk. Each case is a risk. Going to talk to Tobias Hankel was a risk. Spencer Reid didn't even know the wall was there, or that he was there, or that he was sitting on it. He didn't know how easy it was to fall off.

.

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

Lack of caution caused the fall. Gravity facilitated the fall. Lack of will didn't stop the fall, he could've grabbed onto something.

Spencer Reid had a great fall.

He wasn't careful. He let Hankel take him. Humpty may have fallen once, but Reid fell three times by the hands of Tobias Hankel. Then he fell countless times by his own hand, allowing the falls to continue to happen. He couldn't stop himself, even when he had six supportive people willing, practically begging to help him.

.

All the King's horses and all the King's men couldn't put Humpty together again.

No matter how hard they tried, Humpty stayed broken, he could never climb the wall again. He was never better. Maybe the King's men and horses didn't try hard enough to fix him; maybe Humpty didn't really want to be fixed.

Luckily, Spencer's tale went down a different path.

The BAU asked if he was alright, they knew something was wrong. Time and time again, Reid would give them a smile and answer with a lie. They saw all the signs, they knew what was happening, but they were at a loss of how to go about it.

It looked as if Spencer would stay broken, never being fixed.

But then he knew that it just wasn't worth it, and step by step he returned to his job. He scaled the wall, knowing that it was okay to fall again. His family would help him back up. When Spencer Reid felt the drug's urges and his job's stress push him, he would just look at his shiny one year medallion.

Humpty's tale ended with tragedy. The King's horses and men couldn't do the impossible, and Humpty stayed forever on the ground.

Reid's tale ended much more happily. Luckily for him, the BAU could best the king's horses, the king's men, and the King himself'.

And Reid was a lot stronger than a child's tale, after all.

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Spencer Reid sat on a wall.

Spencer Reid had a great fall.

And the BAU men and women helped Spencer put himself together again

.

And while they didn't live happily ever after, they certainly lived to fight another day. And that's really all that mattered.