Here it is, my first adventure into the land of Criminal Minds fanfiction!
The idea for this popped into my head when I was re-watching my CM dvd's and Reid talked about his nightmares becoming more frequent. That comment struck something, and I kept thinking, what if Reid had someone he could talk to about these nightmares? And boom, the result is what you see below :)
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Dr. Spencer Reid or the plot for season 1 episode "The popular kids" or anything affiliated with Criminal Minds. All I own is my OC Maya and an overly active and sometimes twisted imagination.
Dr. Spencer Reid was dreaming. He knew he was dreaming, because he was back on the train the day dr. Ted Bryar had taken Elle and the other passengers hostage. He had just moved in to remove the imaginary microchip from Bryar and was getting ready to perform the 'procedure' on the man's scarred arm.
As it had happened in reality, the procedure was quickly over and Spencer put the bloodied microchip in the clear plastic bag in his other hand and got ready to move out.
"Not so fast," he heard the strained voice of Ted Bryar say.
Spencer quickly sat back down, a feeling of unease gnawing away inside him. He and Elle both knew he had to get the hell out of the train carriage after performing the fake procedure.
"You were trying to trick me," Bryar said in a low, threatening voice.
Spencer's breath caught in his throat. Bryar had figured him out. He could only watch as Bryar rushed to the telephone that allowed him to speak to the agents.
"You were trying to trick me," he hissed down the phone, his facial ticks ravaging his face.
"But I was smarter. You tried to trick me, and for that, every last agent on this train must die."
With those words he slammed down the phone before shooting at it, destroying it completely. Spencer and Elle looked at each other, both realising how terribly out of hand the situation was.
One by one, Ted Bryar shot and killed his hostages, leaving Elle and Spencer for last. As he turned to them, Spencer noticed Bryar's eyes flickering back and forth between them, and Spencer knew he was trying to decide who to kill first.
Then Bryar locked his gaze on Elle and fired. The bullet between the eyes killed the woman instantly, and Spencer could only watch in horror as the gun was turned on him. As his last seconds ticked by, he kept hearing Morgan's voice over and over in his head.
"Spencer... Don't take that vest off, even for a second! You hear me Spencer? Spencer! Can you hear me Spencer?"
Spencer frowned. First, Morgan never called him Spencer, only Reid. Second, that voice was too high-pitched to be Morgan's.
"Spencer! Come on, wake up! You're having a nightmare. Come on, Spencer, sweetie," the voice said again, and Spencer realised someone was trying to wake him up.
He opened his eyes to see a familiar pair of green eyes look back at him with a worried expression that soon turned into relief. The mouth beneath the eyes curled upwards in a small smile.
"Hey, welcome back to the real world, doctor," the girl sitting beside him smiled.
Spencer sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes.
"Did I wake you?" he asked. The young woman shrugged.
"Well, you were trashing and talking quite loudly. That's kind of hard to sleep through, even in a different room," she replied.
"Gosh, Maya, I'm so sorry," Spencer said apologetically, earning him a reassuring smile from his friend.
"Don't worry your pretty little head about it. Besides, it sounded like a pretty bad dream," she said. Spencer shivered a bit at the memory.
"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked quietly, gently placing a hand on top of his.
He closed his eyes. He could still picture the scene from his nightmare. Sometimes that eidetic memory of his was more of a curse than a gift.
"It has something to do with that job of yours, doesn't it?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
He opened his eyes and his gaze landed on her hand on top of his own.
"We had a case a while ago," he began, his voice still slightly raspy from sleep.
"Dr. Ted Bryar shot a security guard and took five people hostage on a train, one of those hostages were a colleague of mine at the BAU. He was delusional, convinced that the U.S. government had planted a microchip in his arm. When the train stopped because someone had thrown themselves in front of it, Bryar snapped when he saw Elle ask the security guard what had happened. He shot the guard with his own gun..."
Spencer paused, only to have Maya give his hand a comforting squeeze. He took a deep breath and continued.
"I was sent in to remove the chip from Bryar's arm. Of course there wasn't actually a chip in his arm, but we needed to play into his fantasy. I had the chip hidden in my hand so I could pretend to pull in out of his arm."
"Like that trick you used to make? The one where you pulled a coin from behind my ear?" Maya asked. Spencer nodded and continued.
"In reality, Bryar was shot by one of his hostages who had a gun hidden in his suitcase, but in my dream... In my nightmare..." he trailed off. After another comforting squeeze of his hand and another deep breath, he continued.
"In my nightmare, he figures out that I tricked him, that we tricked him. He then shoots the other passengers leaving me and Elle for last. He then shoots Elle before aiming the gun at me... And that's when you woke me up," he finished.
"Spence..." Maya whispered and scooted closer to the young man next to her before wrapping her arms around him in a hug. Spencer's body seemed to be acting on its own accord as he found himself hugging her back, relishing in the wave of comfort that washed through his body at the embrace.
After a moment she pulled back slightly, leaving one hand on his shoulder while cupping his cheek with the other to make sure he looked at her.
"Spencer, the work you and the rest of the team do is so important. You have saved so many lives doing what you do. But not everyone can or wants to be saved. You did what you could to help Ted Bryar, you did everything you could! And I can't even begin to tell you how proud I am of you for doing what you do. But you can't let your job get to you, Spence. You need to allow that amazing brain of yours to relax when you're off," she told him looking him straight in the eyes.
He offered a weak smile in return.
"I'll try," he replied, earning a warm smile from his friend.
"Good," she smiled.
"You ready to go back to sleep?" she asked while stifling a yawn. Spencer nodded.
"Actually, would you mind staying until I fall asleep?" he asked, blushing slightly.
"My mother used to sit with me until I fell back asleep after a nightmare," he elaborated.
Maya smiled warmly.
"Scoot over, Boy Genius," she said.
Spencer did as she said and watched as Maya climbed in under the covers to him. She opened her arms, reaching out towards him.
"Come here," she whispered.
Spencer understood and moved closer to Maya to rest his head on her chest as she wrapped her arms around him, holding him tight. He immediately felt at ease listening to her heart beating calmly in her chest.
"Did you know that the reason we are calmed by the sound of a relaxed heartbeat, especially our mother's, comes from the early stages in the womb?" he said, "Even in the early months of a pregnancy, the foetus can hear, or rather sense, the rhythm of its mother's heartbeat, and..."
"Goodnight, Dr. Reid," Maya cut him off with a chuckle.
Spencer smiled to himself before snuggling closer to his friend.
"Goodnight, Maya," he whispered before letting himself fall into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.
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