Story title: Sleepless Nights

This is a JJReid fic

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nada. And so therefore I would beg that I am not sued!! Although with Christmas coming up, if anyone wanted to be nice, I certainly would not say no to Reid!!!

A/N: This is my very first fanfic, so I would RELLY appreciate it if anyone who spots any way for me to improve my writing/ story would leave a review!!!

Spencer Reid slowly cracked open a tired eyelid, letting out a groan of frustration as the incessant blaring of his alarm clock. Sweeping a nimble hand wearily in the general direction of the noise, he quickly calculated through the fog of fatigue that he was aiming several degrees too high. A quick adjustment saw his clock knocked to the floor with a heavy clunk. He simply lay where he was, tangled up in his sheets, and slowly recalled the dreams that led to this entanglement. It had begun with his customary nightmare. Once again he was staring down the barrel of a gun, once again he could feel the ropes aground his legs and wrists biting into his flesh, and once again he felt overwhelmed by the sense of paralyzing fear, helplessness and resignation. He could still recall with appalling clarity the distinct click of the gun, the feel of his heart seemingly stop beating, and the crushing expectation of pain that he had experienced in those excruciating moments. However, his dreams had slowly morphed into a much more pleasurable, albeit exotic one, which, he reasoned, was much more likely to be the cause of his current position. He suddenly felt the need for a cold shower, not only to wash of the sweat from his dreams, but also to wake his wandering brain up to the true way of life

Not even waiting for the temperature to regulate, he jumped straight in, and instantly regretted it as the scalding hot water burnt his flesh, then left it bitterly cold. Jumping out of the spray, he leaned his head against the cool tiles until it became a steady nippy temperature. As he stood relishing the feel of the water, he allowed his feelings to surface. He could feel, as ever, the lust that coursed through his veins at the very thought of her, but this was followed, as usual, by an agonising understanding that she was simply too sassy, too sophisticated and simply too good for him. The reality crushed him as he committed his dream to memory, knowing once again that this dream was as good as he would ever get.

Across town, Jennifer Jareau lay awake, staring blankly at her ceiling. Glancing at her clock, she saw it was barely six am. She knew the rest of her team would be getting up soon, and again felt relieved that her job at least allowed her to come in at a more reasonable time. Flopping over quickly, she scrunched her eyes closed, in yet another attempt to get some sleep. But, not surprisingly, they fluttered open barely minutes later. For months now, her dreams had been plagued with thoughts of him. She knew, with a great deal of certainty, that she would never forgive herself for what he had been forced to endure due to her total incompetence in Georgia. The image of Spencer on his back tied to that chair, with foam around his mouth from his fit and dead to the world was one that had haunted her ever since, and showed no sign of ceasing. But, even worse, she was feeling a feeling totally different to the guilt. It was a feeling she had absolutely no control over, and yet she could feel it become even stronger each time she saw him. She had denied her feelings for him ever since he had taken her to the Redskins game. It had been….disastrous. She could feel her lips slowly curve in a smile at the memory, knowing that there was simply no other word to describe it. But when he had been kidnapped, and she had insisted on watching the heart breaking footage of his torture, she had realised that what she felt was not just a fling, not just attraction, but love. And she had felt her heart break a little more each time she saw him, knowing that she had been the one to force him to move on, and so she was the only one to blame for loosing her chance.

Spencer draped himself over his chair as he nursed his third cup of coffee, wrapping his slender fingers around it to try and coax a little more heat out of it. Bringing it up to his nose to take in a long whiff of the soul sustaining caffeine, he noticed JJ sauntering into the bullpen, and noted with a touch of satisfaction that she had left her hair down today. He loved her hair. It intoxicated him, made him want to reach out and run his fingers through it. As she drew closer however, he saw that she looked tired, even with the make-up she used to try and hide it. He felt a surge of concern for her, and, as she hurried straight up to her office, he stood and crossed to the small kitchenette, quickly fixing her a strong cup of coffee, with cream and sugar, just as he knew she liked it. He carefully carried it to her office, wondering as he went how best to see if she was ok.

Deciding an honest approach would be safest, as she had picked up many tips from the profilers she spend so much time with, and would certainly know if he was hiding something, he knocked on the door before he could allow himself to over think anything.

JJ jumped in surprise as she heard the knock at her door. Quickly calling out for whoever it was to come in, she silently cursed to herself. She had a fair idea who it was. She had seen him watching her with a concerned look on his face, but had hoped he wouldn't pry. As he stepped in though, bringing with him a delicious smell of coffee, she couldn't help but smile. Even though she had hurt him, he still was willing to help her and still cared. Gratefully accepting the cup, she looked at him inquiringly.

"Did you know that caffeine wakes you up by binding to adenosine receptors in your brain, and therefore reducing the effect that the sleep inducing adenosine enzyme can have on your brain?" he quickly blurted out, suddenly forgetting what he had planned to say. JJ simply laughed, shaking her head. It never ceased to amaze her how he could always come up with a random fact, no matter what the occasion.

Spencer cautiously opened his mouth again, wondering how best to approach his question.

"How are you, JJ" he asked hesitantly. She instantly recognised where he was going, and help up her hands defensively.

"I'm fine Spence, really. Thanks for the coffee." She hoped he would take the hint, and turned around, walking to the seat behind her desk. However, he simply took a rather tentative step towards her.

"I didn't say you weren't. But you look tired. Are you sleeping ok?" He didn't want to push, but he knew that, if she was suffering from nightmares, it would be easier if she talked about them. Not that he could really talk though, under the circumstances it was rather hypocritical of him, he mused. Tuning back into his surroundings, he realised JJ had swung round to face him, and she didn't look happy. He gulped.

"Would you go and look in the mirror Reid! Everyone can tell that you aren't sleeping properly, and we all give you space. So do the same for us!" Suddenly she stopped. Crap. What had she done! He looked lost, looking anywhere but at her. It wasn't his fault, and it was only to be expected that he would suffer from nightmares after his ordeal. Now he would never talk to them about them.

"Spence, I'm sorry. Really, I am fine. I just didn't have such a great night last night. I didn't mean to take it out on you. And I'm sorry for saying that, it was out of line." He looked at her, still in shock. He hadn't realised that it was so obvious to them. He realised he was going to have to try and hide them better, especially around her. She had always been slightly more astute at reading his mood than the others. Slowly he began to move towards the door.

"No, its ok, I get it. I shouldn't have interfered. Don't worry, I won't mention it again. I don't think the others will notice; it's well hidden." Then he was gone, and she was just staring at the empty space. She knew he would hide it all the more carefully now, and kicked herself for being so harsh when he was only being nice. She was going to have to apologise to him. But for now, they had work to do.

So, hope you like it! Go on, press that button and tell me!!! I'll try to have the next chapter up soon!

Thanks