RESTLESS

Spencer sat stunned as Derek shot him a dirty look. "Derek," he said in a small, scared voice. "W-What did I do? Why are you m-mad at me?"

"Shut up, Reid, just shut up!" Derek yelled back. He glared at Spencer, scaring the man even more. "I hate you! I wish I never met you!"

Spencer burst into tears, covering his face with his hands. "But what did I do?! Derek, please! I love you! I love-"

"Dammit, man, I said shut up!" Derek yelled, suddenly grabbing Spencer by the arms and shaking him violently. "I don't want to hear you, just get the hell out!" He pushed Spencer, sending him and the chair flying backwards.

Spencer cried out when he hit the floor. He was terrified now, tears were streaming down his face in torrents. He looked up to see the rest of the team standing there staring down at him. "Guys…please, make him stop! I don't understand-"

"Maybe you should have just listened to Morgan," Hotch said suddenly, his expression unchanging.

Spencer gasped. He hadn't expected this. "No…I don't understand! I DON'T UNDERSTAND!"

"No!" Spencer yelled, sitting up in bed so quickly he got dizzy and fell back down again. He panted and covered his face with his hands, feeling tears welling up in his eyes.

"Spence? You ok, babe?" Derek asked, sitting up and looking down over his lover. He frowned when he saw Spencer shaking and crying lightly. "Baby, what happened?" He scooped Spencer up in his arms and held him close, feeling his tears soak his shirt.

"I…it was…it was just a b-bad dream," Spencer stuttered out through tears. He clung to Derek like there was no tomorrow. "You were there and…and the team…you said you hated me."

Derek frowned and pulled back from Spencer, forcing him to look at you. "Spencer Reid, I could never hate you. I love you more than anything in the world, you're my everything. I'd be nothing without you." He wiped away some of Spencer's tears. "I know we fight sometimes and I say things, but I don't really mean them. I hate myself whenever I upset you, please believe me. I love you."

Spencer sniffled and looked at Derek. "I love you too…I'm just so afraid I'm going to lose you."

"That's never going to happen," Derek said. He pulled Spencer close and kissed him, pouring his soul into it. After the kiss was over, he continued to hold Spencer and rock back and forth. After about five minutes he pulled back. "I think we should get ready for work."

Spencer nodded and released him grip on Derek. He felt a little better, but he was still upset about the dream. He wondered if Hotch would really say those things to him, and if Derek would really push him out of a chair.

Work was no less stressful than it had been the day before, except that Derek and Spencer hadn't fought yet. Spencer was hoping it would stay that way. He was hoping nobody noticed how agitated he was, he was still thinking about the dream.

Of course everyone noticed his discomfort. He gave everyone half frightened looks when he entered the briefing room. He even went as far as a startled jump when Hotch patted him on the shoulder as a greeting.

"Reid, are you ok?" Hotch asked.

"Um, yeah, why?" Spencer asked a little too quickly.

"You almost had a heart attack when I touched your shoulder," Hotch said, looking Spencer in the eyes. He noticed the dark circles under his eyes and how agitated the young man seemed to be. He frowned in worry. "Did something happen?"

Spencer swallowed and looked at the others in the room. Emily and JJ simply looked at him in mild confusion. Garcia flashed him one of her famous smiles, making him feel a little less nervous. "No, um…it was just…I didn't get a lot of sleep. You know…too much caffeine." He forced a smile and walked past Hotch to sit at the table next to Emily.

Hotch didn't believe him, and was about to call him out on it when Derek walked into the room. "Oh, hello Morgan."

"Hotch," Derek said, smiling respectfully. He spotted Spencer and winked at him, causing the man to smile for the first time that morning. Derek looked him over before taking a seat next to him. I wonder if he knows how strange he's been acting all morning, I hope he's ok. That nightmare must really be bothering him. He looked up when Hotch approached the white board in the front of the room.

"Ok, so our unsub seems to be flying under the radar recently," Hotch said. "No new victims in the past week."

"That's out of his pattern," Spencer said. "He must know we're watching him."

"Yeah, there doesn't seem to be any other reasons that stand out as to why he would change his motive all of a sudden," Emily said. She looked over at Spencer, who seemed more at ease now. "Remember at his last point of attack?"

Spencer sat up a little straighter. "He ripped down the camera we put up to watch him. When we got to the scene there were no bodies, but the camera was smashed to pieces on the ground with a note that said 'you'll never catch me.' He's definitely on to us."

Hotch nodded at the two agents. "Maybe we should try a different approach, a camera is a little too noticeable. And if he strikes again more than likely he'll look for cameras. He'll be more careful." He turned to the board momentarily. "We have some potential leads as to where he might strike next, given his pattern so far. JJ, Emily can you two go over the pictures of the crime scenes again to see if you can find anything else that stands out? Morgan, you and Reid can look into the victims' backgrounds again, dig a little deeper maybe. I want to talk to the owner of the building at this last crime scene, see if he can remember anything else about the guy."

The agents nodded and got up to go to their destinations. Hotch held Derek back for a moment. He waited until everyone else was gone before looking at him. "Derek, have you noticed Reid acting a little strange today?"

Derek frowned and nodded. "He had a nightmare last night. He said something about the team and me telling him I hated him. He didn't tell me much else. But whatever it was, it's really agitating him. He was practically shaking the whole ride here, and he didn't eat breakfast. He never skips breakfast." He peered out of the room, seeing Spencer already busy at work at his desk. "I'm worried about him, Hotch."

Hotch nodded and followed Derek's gaze to Spencer. "So it had nothing to do with too much caffeine."

"That's what he told you?" Derek shook his head. "He didn't have any coffee or anything all afternoon yesterday, and when he got home he went right to bed."

Hotch looked at Derek in confusion. "He got home later than you? I thought you left at the same time. Don't you ride usually ride together?"

Derek sighed and then told Hotch the story of how he left Reid in the parking lot in the rain. He had to take a cab home. "I feel really bad, Hotch, I shouldn't have acted like that."

Hotch nodded. "I assume you apologized?"

"Yeah, we're ok now, I hope." Derek looked out at Spencer one again. He noticed the young man seemed lost in thought about something totally unrelated to the case, based off the horrified look on his face. "I should get out there, he needs me." He looked at Hotch once more before leaving the room and joining Spencer at the desk. "Find anything interesting?"

Spencer shook himself out of his dream like state and looked up at Derek. "Nothing that we haven't found already."

Derek nodded and put his hand on Spencer's shoulder, shocked when the man tensed up and cringed under his grasp. "Spence, are you ok? You've seemed restless all morning, it's like you're not here."

Spencer hesitated and looked down. "I'm um, I'm just tired. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

Derek nodded. "That nightmare you had…you wanna tell me about it? Maybe I can help."

Spencer immediately tensed up again. He thought back to the horrid dream, of Derek pushing him to the ground and telling him he hated him. He shook his head, grabbing the arms of his chair for support. "No, I can't…I mean, I don't understand it, I-"

"Hey, hey, calm down, it's ok," Derek said, kneeling down next to Spencer. "You don't have to tell me right now, it's ok if you need time to figure it out."

Spencer sighed and relaxed a little in his seat. "Thanks, Derek," he said quietly.

"No problem," Derek said. He suddenly leaned over and quickly kissed Spencer on the cheek, causing the other man to blush and smile slightly. "I've got some more files back at my desk, I'll go get them and bring them over here."

Spencer watched Derek walk off to his desk. He sighed, wondering if the day would get any easier.

TBC

Ok, so clearly Spencer is afraid his nightmare is going to come true. Will it? Review and find out in the next chapter!