I've had this idea for a while also!
Reid had always hated his eidetic memory. It was great for studying and remembering important information for cases but it wasn't great for remembering stuff he wanted to forget. It made it difficult to get a decent nights sleep.
He never told anyone but the reason why he drank too much coffee was because could never go to sleep without having a nightmare. Before it was those cases they would work on...now every night he visted that graveyard.
Each dream was different. Sometimes Tobias/Charles had buried him alive. Others he was forced to watch as Charles killed hundred of people.
Whatever the situation was he rememberd the smell of the dirt like it was yesterday, the clinking of the shovel. The fear of being buried alive.
He trembled at the memory of that fear. He didn't tell anyone but it scarred him more than they knew.
All he had to do was close his eyes and he could smell the dirt. Remember what he was feeling.
Even those naps on the plan were haunted by nightmares. He had grown so used to them that he didn't really know what a dreamless sleep was.
And because of that he had managed to train his body not to wake up shouting. Of course sometimes he still did.
Other dreams haunted him. The time the kid was killed...the time he couldn't save Adam. Both Adam and Tobias visited him regularly, taunting him about it. They would whisper into his ear that it was his fault he couldnt' save them, becuase he was so weak.
He was used to constantly being tired. He couldn't remember a time when he wasn't. He hated it whenever the team shared dreams.
Garcia always had big epic dreams filled with adventure. Morgan had just plain weird ones. Most of Emily and JJ dreams were fairly normal but he could never really participate in their discussion. He would lie had say he didn't dream.
He often wondered what their reaction would be if he said that night he dreamed about being buried alive by Charles.
They'd tell him to see a therapist. He shuddered. He was forced to see one after he was kidnapped and that was torture enough, trying to reveal his deepest feelings to a complete stranger was almost impossible.
This week had gotten worse, though. The nightmares were just more intense and the case they were working on with the missing children did not help.
He was like a zombie in the office.
"Are you okay, Spence?" JJ asked, concern flickering in her eyes. "You look like you're about ready to faint."
"'M fine," he mumbled into his coffe.
"Anything you want to talk about?" He shook his head.
Why did he still dream about Tobias? It was nearly 3 years ago. He should be over it by now!
How does one really get over something like that?
He put on his bravado face so well that the others didn't suspect a thing. That's how he wanted it, but at the same time it made him incredibly alone.
"Hey Reid, do you have that file on that Grace girl?" Morgan asked.
"Yeah sure thing," he said and walked over to his desk.
When he did was when it happened. It felt like the room was suddenly spinning, even though he knew that wasn't possible.
He saw the other's widened and concerned expressions before he hit the floor, and as he did so everything went blank.
"Reid?" Morgan shouted. Garcia gave a small yell causing Hotch and Rossi to run out from Hotch's office.
"Spence!" Cried JJ as they stared at the collapsed body of Spencer Reid.
"Emily call 911!" Morgan shouted to Prentiss who had her hand over her mouth.
She quickly obeyed as Garcia tried to control her sobs.
As Morgan leaned over Reid they all stood there in almost paralized shock as they began to realize that they didn't know Reid as well as they thought they did.
Kind of crappy ending but I hope you want me to continue!