Ok, ok. Due to popular demand, I am back writing on my Copycat series. If you haven't read the other stories, fear not. This one should be different enough that you won't be lost… I hope… if you do want to read the first two (Copycat and Superheroes) feel free to visit my page and look them up.

We are skipping ahead in time to the present, so Prentiss is back, but she had been "dead". I might make references to the first two, but nothing too extreme to where new readers will get lost. Idk exactly where this is going to go, but that's usually how I do things. Let's just give it a whirl, shall we?

I don't own Criminal Minds.

Reid sat straight up in bed, choking back a half-scream. He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his palms against his temples. His sheets were a mess and drenched in sweat, as were his pajamas.

His head was pounding and brought tears to his eyes. One hand reached out and grouped on his bedside table, over the books, through the papers, until he found the small beaded bracelet. He held it tight, praying to whatever god would listen to make the pain stop.

"…What about my team? How many more times will they be able to look into the abyss? How many times before they won't ever recover the pieces of themselves that this job takes?"

~Aaron Hotchner

Ten minutes, fifteen seconds. That's exactly how late Reid was. Luckily, everyone else was running later.

"Reid, my man. Where were you last night?" Morgan asked as he and the girls entered the room.

Reid squinted as he looked up, suddenly remembering that they had all had plans to go out to dinner the night before. "Oh, sorry… I guess I forgot."

"No worries, my puppy dog. There will be many more chances to party with the queens of the BAU on another day." Garcia dropped a folder in front of Reid as the rest of the team took out their iPads.

Hotch and Rossi came in and took their seats, deep in discussion. Garcia lowered the lights in the room to put on her PowerPoint, which was a godsend to Reid.

"Today's show is brought to you today by the letter 'M'. Murder is the word of choice. Three dead, killed over the course of a week. All three were black males and had diamond-like cuts on their foreheads."

"Any other connections?" Hotch asked.

"None yet, but I'm running background checks on all of them as we speak," Garcia assured.

"Sounds good. Wheels up in thirty," Hotch said before leaving.

Garcia flicked up the lights as she left, causing pain to shoot through Reid's head. He covered by rubbing his eyes and yawning. He stretched as he stood, keeping his eyes shut tight until the rest of the team had left.

His migraines had disappeared for a few months, but they had returned in the past week with a vengeance. Reid opened his eyes a smidge, but the light forced them closed again. Fumbling through his messenger bag, he found his sunglasses and slipped them on. Of course, now he would have to head straight for the door. No stopping for coffee, or else it would look suspicious.

Reid shoulder his bag and grabbed the case file, making a beeline for the door through the noisy office.

"Kid, you headin' out already?" Morgan called, stopping Reid in his tracks.

"Yeah, I was going to go get some coffee before going to the jet." Please don't offer to come with me. Not today. Please, please, please-

"I'll come with you. We can take my car, save a little gas."

Reid forced a smile. I probably shouldn't be driving anyway.

Reid slid into the passenger seat of Morgan's car, squinting even behind his sunglasses as the light bounced off the hood into his eyes.

"You okay, man?"

"Yeah," Reid assured. "I just stayed up too late reading a book on psychology that just came out."

Morgan laughed. "I bet that made one great bedtime story."

Reid half-smiled. "It's quite interesting. Actually-"

"And we are at the coffee shop. What can I get you?"

"Something with lots of sugar and caffeine."

"I shoulda known." Morgan slammed the door behind him with excessive force, or at least that's how it seemed to Reid.

As he waited, he opened up the case file. The words swam before him into a jumbled mess on the page. Reid leaned his head back and closed the file. His left hand wandered to his right wrist, where the beaded bracelet was hidden under his sleeve.

Alright. That sounds like a great first chapter to me, mainly so I can figure out what the heck is going to happen next, but I already have a pretty good idea ; )

Also, it's pretty late and I am going to start writing gibberish if I stay up any longer XD

Hope you think this is good enough, yes you kc1997kc. I got your message and this is the result. I'll try to update every other day at least.

Reid and Review!

~MyDarkAngel710