A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, keep them coming please. I am, for sure, going to make this at least ten chapters. I just worked out the entire plot.
Reid sat in the airplane's bathroom. His head resting heavily on the toilet's brim and his hand wrapped around the basin. When he thought he might be finished throwing up Reid gently laid back. The cool granite floor felt soothing against his burning flesh. He wanted to sit there for hours but knew that if he sat there for only another minute someone would come to check on him.
Trying not to jostle his head or stomach Reid slowly stood up, splashed freezing water on his face and exited the restroom. Everyone's heads quickly snapped away before Reid could catch them all looking at him. Trying to act calm he nonchalantly walked over to the couch and sat down with a giant 'humph.' He opened to the page of the case file that everyone else seemed to be on and followed along as Morgan began to continue what he had been saying, "Reid knocked out our last idea. What else do we have on this guy?"
"Might not be a guy." Reid's voice was hoarse from the acid that he had expelled from his stomach. He coughed, once, trying to rid the harsh noise but it didn't help. "I know that most serial killers are men but look at this picture. What do you notice?"
He slid a photo onto the table and Emily flipped it right side up and examined it. Everything seemed normal until she saw what Reid had noticed. "Everything is clean, perfect almost."
"Right, men don't usually clean up – women do. Plus the men who were killed might not be as random as we first thought. The way the victims were murdered all coincide with a crime of passion, which, are more common amongst women than they are men." Said Reid looking at the team who all nodded knowing Reid was correct.
"So, assuming that this is a girl – what else can we tell?" asked Hotch looking up from the folder.
"All the men are blondes. Maybe it's a fetish?" Emily suggested, "You know, like she goes for a blonde, he breaks her heart and then she kills him?"
Reid shook his head, "The murders are too perfectly spaced for that to be the case." As he spoke he started to feel the effects of moving his head. It felt so airy, like someone had popped a bottle of Champaign and all the bubbles were being released into his cranium.
"Reid?" he looked in the direction of where the person who was talking was but didn't know who had actually said his name. He mumbled something but wasn't sure what it was, "Reid?"
His head was swimming but things were coming back into focus, and he could now place the voice as one belonging to Rossi. "What?"
"Are there such things as chess conventions?" Not wanting to make a repeat mistake Reid verbally spoke instead of moving his head.
"Yes. There are usually ones that travel and then world conventions held in one location. Are we back to thinking this is Larry Mein?"
"Gary Klein." Hotch corrected while raising an eyebrow in concern, Reid had never forgotten anyone's name before, especially one belonging to a victim or UnSub "And no. But I'm wondering if our new UnSub plays chess. Every single one of the victims had a chess board in their houses too."
"There is no new UnSub." Reid said.
"So are you saying this actually is Gary Klein?" Asked Morgan, "Earlier you said…"
"No, I'm saying that Hotch just messed up the wording. There is no such thing as a new UnSub on the same case. Think about it, 'UnSub' means Unknown Subject. Therefore there is never a new Unknown Subject just the same one we have yet to identify."
"What's wrong with him?" Prentiss whispered to Morgan who was sitting next to her; he shrugged and watched as Aaron stood up from his seat.
"Reid, let's have a talk." He gently grabbed the upper half of Reid's arm and pulled the boy into a standing position. The two agents walked towards the back of the plane where, if they whispered, their conversation would be unheard.
"Is there something you want to tell me?" asked Hotch smoothly.
"No." Reid answered too fast for Aaron's liking. "I don't feel sick."
"I never said that you were feeling sick. But are you?" Aaron raised a questioning eyebrow.
"No, like I said, I'm fine." Said Reid leaning his head against one of the cabinets that was stocked with first aid supplies such as band-aids and Tylenol. Reid so badly wanted to reach in their and take a couple pills for his headache but there was no way he could manage that without being caught; on top of that he wasn't sure his stomach could handle anything. Plus he wasn't really sick and only people who were sick took medicine. He just hadn't slept well, that's all. He was perfectly healthy.
"Reid, I think you are hiding something and our team can't operate when one of its agents is acting the way you are. Do you understand?" Aaron asked in a stern whisper as to not alert attention. Reid nodded his head but like earlier everything began to blur. Things danced around him and he instantly reached out for Hotch's shoulder to balance himself.
"Easy kid, easy." Slowly he lowered the other agent down until they were both situated on the ground. The gasp Reid made when everything had started going out of focus had caught the attention of the entire cabin. Everyone watched as the two agents slowly maneuvered themselves to the ground. Derek was the first one up; he went to the other side of the plane and filled up a glass of water. He brought it over to Reid who had his knees drawn to his chest and hands wrapped around his head. Aaron had one had protectively on the boy's leg; the other one was rubbing his back softly. The two were situated around the corner just far enough so they weren't visible from where everyone else was sitting.
"Here" Morgan offered the water to them and Aaron reached out his right hand to grab it. Reid didn't make any sign that he currently wanted the beverage so Hoch sat it next to them.
"Thanks." Came a muffled voice as Reid stayed in the same position. Morgan was about to leave but a shaking hand shot up and grabbed his pant's leg.
"Hey, Morgan. Please tell me that you and Hotch were the only two people who saw that." Morgan leaned his head back and saw that everyone still had their eyes focused on the action that was taking place.
"Yeah kid, I think so." There was no point in getting him worked up, it's not like the other agents would mention seeing him nearly pass out like that.
His stomach flipped and he wished that there was an easy way for him to go to the bathroom but he was still trying to convince everyone this was just a headache. Migraines, people got migraines all the time. It was a flawless plan. He would admit to having a migraine and no one would question him anymore about being sick. Deep down he knew he was in for a rough couple of days. A flu bug had been going around his apartment and he was pretty sure he somehow caught it. Probably from the handle that opened the mail room. Almost everyone touched that every single day. Someone who was sick, or just a carrier of the disease, must have gotten their mail right before Reid did. Then he must have rubbed his eye before he had a chance to rub the germs off. His analytical brain went through the possible scenarios. But he had gotten the flu he wasn't going to admit it because he hated the attention; he hated people fawning over him. So the plan was simple Reid would tell everyone how he got migraines all the time as a child – sometimes as an adult too – and this was just a bad one, then he would pop a few pills, drink some water and relax. The next morning they would all think he had slept it off; he would be fine with taking care of himself if it was the flu.
"Sorry." Said Reid finally looking up. He squinted as the bright light hit his eyes.
"You have nothing to apologies for, you're sick." Said Morgan as he continued to stand above them.
"I have a migraine, that's all. I should have told you about them before. I used to get them all the time as a kid and into college. Sometimes I'll still get them but they usually aren't this bad." His voice sounded so sincere, nobody – not even two profilers – would be able to tell that the boy was lying through his teeth.
"I've never read anything in your records about migraines." Said Hotch sounding slightly suspicious but Reid knew the one thing that would dispel any questions either of them had.
"My mother would just tell me to sleep them off. She thought doctors were a waste of time." All Reid had to do was mention Diana and no one asked question, the topic was to sensitive and no body wanted to dabble in his life, "If it's alright with you I'll just go to sleep once we land and tomorrow morning I'll be back to work."
"Of course." Said Hotch nodding and finally removing his hand that had been resting on Spencer's back.
"Thanks. I promise I'll let you know the next time I get one." Reid smiled and with the help of Aaron he stood up and walked back into the cabin of the plane. He immediately slumped back onto the couch. His head was still feeling hazy and his stomach was still doing flips but he had an excuse for it now, even if it wasn't the truth. There was no way they would find out.
A/N: Please review and I'll update faster. : )