The following morning, Reid woke up to see a set of large, green eyes staring at him. His first instinct was to recoil – a stranger to the notion of sleeping with another person. But then he remembered that those eyes belonged to Dakota, and then he felt himself pulling her closer, impossibly closer. Wanted to never forget the way he felt in that exact moment because he knew nothing else would ever feel this good.

"Did I startle you?" Dakota's voice was rough from sleep, and the first syllable she spoke was nothing more than a crack in her voice. Reid felt his heart stumble, like it had been distracted by her and had forgotten to do its job. He wondered if it were possible for Dakota to cause him a heart attack, and decided that it was best not to underestimate her. "I'm sorry…"

Reid shook his head quickly, so quickly, wanted her to know she never had to apologise to him. "Don't be. I didn't mind at all." Reid spoke slowly and softly because he knew his voice would be just as hoarse as hers, and he cringed when he heard the rasp. He didn't notice the goose bumps that rose on Dakota's skin because he was distracted by her hand running down the side of his jaw.

Dakota couldn't remember the last time she had been so utterly content with another human being. The thought made her sad, because she knew Spencer would be leaving tomorrow and he had a very busy life full of things much more important than her. He had killers to catch and lives to save and it was all very official. She wondered what he would say if she asked him to stay a little while longer, but decided that that was a selfish thought and it was best not to dwell on it.

Reid would never admit it to her or to himself, but he would have said yes in a heartbeat if she had asked. But she didn't ask and Reid didn't bring it up, didn't want to weigh down the feeling that was floating in the air between them as they breathed each other in.

He wasn't sure how long they stayed like that (Reid noticed that he tended to lose track of time around her), wrapped in each other's arms, but it was a knock at the door that finally broke them apart. The door was opened only a moment later, and so when the nurse poked her head inside she saw Reid and Dakota trying to untangle their legs and pull their hands away from each other.

The woman raised an eyebrow as she observed them and Reid let an awkward cough drift into the air as he tried to smooth down his dishevelled hair. He realised he wasn't wearing a shirt and tried to cross his arms over his chest, though he knew the action was pointless. He decided he would see about having a lock put on Dakota's door when he visited next time. Then, he wondered when he had decided that there would be a next time and, more importantly, how long away that would be.

"It's time for your pills, Dakota." The nurse finally spoke, splitting the tension in the air with her words like a knife.

Reid was confused for a moment, and had to take a second to remind himself that yes, he was in a mental hospital. And yes, he was lying in bed with a patient. He didn't like the idea of Dakota being referred to as being mentally unstable. Then, he had to remind himself that yes, she was mentally unstable… According to who? Reid wondered who had decided that and, more importantly, who decided on the qualifying criteria in the first place.

The answer pushed itself to the forefront of his brain and Reid nudged it away because it wasn't important right now. What was important, Reid decided, were Dakota's hands grabbing fists of the sheet on the bed in front of her. He turned to see her eyebrows were pulled together in disdain and her top lip was turned up slightly. Reid watched as she released the sheet from her grip and instead tightened her hands into fists, and he didn't need to see it to know that she was digging her nails into her palms again. Reid thought he would see about getting her nails cut.

Then, he watched in silent fascination as she slowly unclenched her fists and, hesitating only a moment, Dakota reached out and took a hold of Reid's hand tightly. He unconsciously gripped her hand with the same strength, then loosened his hold a moment later when the fear of hurting her registered in his hazy mind. Why was he hazy? He hadn't taken dilaudid in a whole 24 hours. Was that how long it had been?

Reid wasn't really sure, if he was being honest. But he knew that there was no drug in his veins and he couldn't explain the hum in his head and the lightness in his fingers but he thought it probably had something to do with Dakota. Everything he did had something to do with Dakota, these days. That was probably because he never stopped thinking about her, could always see her face in the back of his mind. He wasn't sure how to make it go away, but that was okay because he didn't really want it to.

Dakota had tried to stall as long as possible but eventually, the nurse shoved a small cup of different coloured pills at her. The woman watched her carefully as she swallowed them, inspected her mouth closely to make sure they were gone.

When the intrusive woman finally excused herself, Dakota explained that she did not like to take the pills because they made her feel numb, so numb. Reid didn't like the sound of that very much and he certainly noticed the change in her attitude. It was less than an hour later that Dakota's voice became softer and her opinions, quieter. She did not laugh and smiled rarely and Reid wondered how anyone could have thought that this was better. Wondered how anyone could have thought that any single part of Dakota had to be altered; wasn't already perfect.

He stayed with her for as long as he could and they spent most of the day in her room, talking about their favourite authors and which era was definitively the best. Reid tried his best not to ramble, but he did anyway. He couldn't help but notice that when his train of thought ran away from him Dakota followed it carefully and did not lose that curious glint in her eyes.

When she had rested her head in his lap some time in the afternoon as Reid told her about the evolution of silent films, he stumbled over his words and feared that she was sick of listening to him. Her hand reached up to run down the side of his face, her fingers lingering on the line of his jaw, and Reid was stunned for a moment before he hesitantly resumed his story. When he asked if he was boring her, she told him, "Never stop speaking. You could tell me anything and I would listen."

Reid almost decided to stay a second night, to extend his impromptu trip one day longer, but he knew that if he did that, he would probably never leave. And so he left at 6pm when visiting hours finished. He sat in the cab with his arm stretched out the window, Dakota's hand loose in his as she stood outside the vehicle, and he swore he could feel his ribs collapsing in his chest when her fingers brushed against his for the last time as the taxi rolled away.

Reid had promised her that he would keep in contact, and Dakota clung to the words. Sometimes if her hands started shaking late at night and the veins in her wrists ached to be cut open, she would re-read the letters that Reid sent to her. After two months, Dakota thought she had probably memorised every word he had ever written her.

They decided on physical letters as their means of communication because Dakota knew the nurses sometimes listened in on patients' phone calls and Reid didn't want his team to hear their conversations, either. They tried to write as often as possible, though Reid often found it difficult when they were away on cases. Still, he tried his best.

"I know you can tell a lot about a person from their handwriting, so if you promise not to profile me… I promise not to profile you." That was the first thing Dakota had ever written, and Reid could imagine the way the words would have sounded if she had said them out loud.

He wrote to her about his group rehab sessions and the cases he completed and at the end of every letter he included the name of the last book he had read, because Dakota had told him that she wanted to read as many books as she could so they would have more to talk about when he next visited.

Reid had tried to tell her that it didn't matter if she didn't know who William Faulkner was, or had never read an Agatha Christie novel. Tried to tell her that he didn't care how smart she was because he never felt more engaged in conversation than when it was with her and it didn't matter if sometimes she couldn't keep up with him because all that mattered was that she cared. She cared enough to interrupt in the middle of his speech about 19th century poetry in order to tell him that Annabel Lee was her favourite poem by Poe, and Reid thought that maybe she was just a dream because yes, that was his favourite poem, too.

Dakota wrote to him about the other patients, told him of each of their stories and the events that had led to their institutionalisation. Reid noticed that Dakota seemed particularly enthusiastic when she told him the story of an 86-year-old woman who lived in the Sanatarium.

Apparently, the woman's psyche slowly devolved into insanity after she lost her husband in a tragic fire. This woman – Dakota said her name was Ethel – still prepared a cup of coffee for her love every morning, and she would wait patiently for an hour afterwards in the hope that he would return to her. Ethel had told Dakota that sometimes, her husband did return. He would sit with her for several moments and tell her stories about the adventures he had been on. He never drank the coffee though, Ethel said.

Dakota liked to indulge the patient's in their fantasies and, though Reid had told her that reinforcing their delusions was a bad idea, he understood why she did it. He thought that if he were to lose his mind one day, he would probably like someone to tell him that he wasn't crazy, either.

She made sure to always tell Reid how his mother was doing, which he was very thankful for. Dakota also made sure to tell Reid that no, he did not need to worry about that doctor anymore because her therapy sessions had been rescheduled and, in the rare moments when Dakota and the doctor crossed paths, he would keep his head lowered and pass by quickly.

Reid was always relieved when he read her affirmations, though a part of him felt heavy knowing that he wasn't there to protect her if something did happen. He thought that for all the lives he had ever saved, none of them would really mean that much if he could not keep her safe. Reid couldn't dwell on those thoughts for too long though, because he knew what he would do if something ever happened to her and he had seen far too much horror in his time to suddenly become one of the monsters that he'd spent his life fighting.

Reid had planned to visit her in February of the following year, but had been summoned away at the last minute for a case. He had called her, a rarity for them, though Reid thought it the only appropriate way to break the news. He had tried to phone before he boarded the private jet that would be taking them to Washington, but had been informed that Dakota was in her therapy session and he would have to call back later.

So, much to his disdain, he snuck to the back of the jet half an hour later and dialled the number of the Sanitarium. He could feel eyes on the back of his head as he waited, muttering "Dakota Layne" into the receiver when prompted and waiting another moment while he was connected to her room.

"Spencer?" She asked, when she picked up the phone. She knew it would be him, always seemed to know. Reid bit his lip and was silent for a moment, let the sound of her saying his name sink into his veins like a drug and god, he was addicted.

"Hi." Reid tried to speak quietly, could hear his voice sounded croaky from the low pitch, wondered if she noticed. Dakota always noticed. "Sorry for calling…" He glanced behind him for a moment and saw Emily was looking at him. She glanced back down at the file in her hands immediately, though Reid knew she was still listening. He knew Morgan was listening as well, though the larger man wasn't looking at him.

"Is something wrong?" Dakota asked, and Reid's focus was pulled back to her voice on the phone.

Reid shook his head, then remembered that she couldn't see him and cleared his throat quickly. "No, nothing's wrong… I just wanted to let you know that I got called away for a case…"

Dakota was quiet for a long moment and Reid fidgeted uncomfortably with a thread on his jumper, could feel his foot tapping lightly as he urged her to say something. Hated knowing that she was upset because of him. Reid felt the urge to blurt out that never mind, he would be there soon, wondered what Hotch would say if he asked to be dropped off in Vegas.

"Okay. I understand." Her voice was quiet, so quiet, and Reid felt everything inside of him tighten at the sound. Wanted to shake his head because no, it wasn't okay. Why wasn't she angry? She should have been angry with him, should have been as angry with him as Reid was with himself because he had promised her that he would be there and now he couldn't follow through.

Reid raked his fingers through his hair quickly – god, his hair had gotten so long – and let a sigh drift through the receiver of his phone. Dakota could hear his annoyance and she bit down on her lip at the sound of it.

"Spencer." Her voice was louder again now, and it caught his attention immediately. "Please don't worry about me." Reid scoffed. He hadn't meant to, because he didn't want her to think that he could ever have been angry with her, was horrified that she could have misinterpreted his emotions. But then he heard her sigh quietly and knew that she hadn't misinterpreted anything, because she always knew what he was thinking. How did she always know what he was thinking?

"You have to go and do your job, I can wait a little longer to see you. But if you're distracted, then you'll get hurt or worse, and if that happened and I never saw you again-," Reid heard her voice break and knew that she hadn't stopped talking on purpose. Every bone in his body felt like it was shattering when he heard her sniffle quietly and god, he should have been there to hold her and tell her she didn't need to cry.

But he knew that Dakota was right and thoughts like that were exactly what would distract him, so he pushed it away and swallowed all the things he wanted to say to her because he knew he had been on the phone for too long and by now, the entire team was bound to be listening. He didn't want them to know about her yet because he didn't want to share her with anyone, didn't want her to exist in anyone else's thoughts but his, and he was never a very selfish person but nothing made sense when Dakota was involved.

"Please don't cry. You're right, I'm sorry." Reid whispered to her, and could hear her sniffing as she tried to pull herself back together. When she spoke a moment later, her voice wavered only slightly.

"So I'll see you soon, right?" She asked, and Reid nodded immediately. He had to remind himself for a second time that he was on the phone and she couldn't see him and oh god, he wanted to see her so badly. He breathed in deeply and tried not to dwell on the heaviness in his stomach – or was it in his chest? He couldn't tell but he knew that something inside of him was aching and the thought of hanging up made it so much worse.

"I really hope so. I… miss you." Reid hesitated on the words because was that okay to say? He didn't want to push any of her boundaries because he still wasn't sure how far in Dakota had allowed him and the last thing he wanted was to scare her away.

"I miss you too." Dakota mumbled back, and Reid felt his heart convulse in his chest but ignored the feeling because it was much too soon to think about matters involving the heart.

"Bye." Reid muttered quickly before he hung up. He slid his phone back into the pocket of his pants and reluctantly turned back around. He saw that the entire team was looking at him, as if curious of an explanation. Reid cleared his throat and sat back down, picking up his case file and looking at it as though he hadn't already memorised everything inside of it.

"Have we started on victimology yet?" He asked, and looked back up to see his team still looking at him unsurely. After a long moment, Hotch answered his question – a silent order that the issue was to be dropped. Reid breathed out a sigh of relief, and tried his best not to dwell on the idea of Dakota sitting in her room alone, crying over him.

It was a few days later, just as the case was finishing up, when Reid heard a knock on the door of his hotel room. He had been looking over some of the final pieces of the case, making sure they hadn't missed anything. It was late at night and, if all went to plan, they would be going home the following day.

When the door opened, Reid saw Emily appear inside his room. She smiled gently at him and Reid felt himself tense because he knew immediately what this was about. He glanced back at the files in front of him and watched from the corner of his eye as she took a seat on the end of his bed and, after a long moment of silence, Reid looked back at her.

"You're still looking at the case?" Emily asked, and Reid's eyes darted back to the paper on the desk in front of him.

"I'm looking over it one more time. Just to be sure." He shrugged, still looking absently at the files.

"…You know tomorrow is Valentine's Day, right?" Reid didn't answer her question because they both knew that yes, he was aware of the date. "Reid." He sighed, closed the case file on the desk and turned back to look at her again.

"Did you know that in the two week period leading up to Valentine's Day, sales of gold jewellery in America lead to-,"

"Reid." Emily cut him off and Reid shut his mouth, his lips forming a tight line. "Why haven't you told anyone you met a girl?"

Reid sighed. He hadn't told anyone because he hadn't wanted anyone to know. It was obvious, wasn't it? He wondered if he could change the subject somehow but knew it was probably too late. Emily looked at him expectantly and Reid bit his lip – when had he started biting his lip? He supposed it was probably a habit he had picked up from her.

He suddenly remembered the way her lips had felt against his, and the noise she had made when he sunk his teeth into her bottom lip. His blood started to rush and he could feel heat in his face and had to block his train of thought immediately.

"What's her name, at least?" Emily tried again, leaning forward on the bed to show that she was invested in the conversation. Reid sighed, knew she would not give up until he gave her something.

"Dakota." He gave in after a moment, felt wrong just allowing someone else to hear her name.

"Dakota…" Emily repeated it, nodding her head slowly as she contemplated the information. She smiled at Reid again and he gulped, realising that she wasn't planning to leave yet. His fingers tapped relentlessly against his thigh as he tried to look anywhere other than at Emily, but eventually he gave in. He looked back at his friend and immediately felt guilty for not trusting her, because she looked so genuine and Reid decided that maybe he could tell her a little.

"She… she's an artist. She paints – mostly landscapes. She… says that it's easier to paint landscapes because their beauty is genuine and can't be faked. She says people lie and th- that makes them difficult to paint because it's hard to see the truth behind something that can lie to you. She likes poetry, as well. And she- she plays chess. She's actually quite good. She beat me once… I'm still not sure if she cheated or not. She says she didn't, so she probably didn't.

She cuts her own hair and sometimes it's uneven because she can't reach the back properly but she says that's okay because it adds character a-and I think her hair is probably shorter than mine now but I don't think she minds – which is odd, b-because most women take pride in the length of their hair but then, Dakota is very different from most women and actually, I don't think I've ever met a woman like her and-,"

Reid stopped abruptly, realised that god, he was rambling again. Emily was smiling still and Reid sunk a little lower in his chair, embarrassed. "So… it's safe to say that you like her?" He nodded hesitantly, wasn't sure he wanted to admit to anyone that he had such strong feelings for her. Hell, a moment ago he hadn't wanted anyone to know that she existed.

"Quite a bit, I think." He divulged. Reid knew that Emily could be trusted with this information and that she wasn't the type of person to rush off and spill his secrets. He also had to admit that it felt good to talk to someone about Dakota, because his thoughts were constantly preoccupied by her and a part of him never wanted to stop talking about her now that he had started.

"Does she live in Virginia?" Emily asked, and she was surprised when Reid shook his head in response. Reid tensed again, because he knew that the next question would be an inquiry of where she lived and when he told Emily that she was in Vegas, Emily would ask how they had met. Reid knew that his teammate was a kind and sincere person, but he felt uncomfortable divulging that she was a patient at the same place as his mother.

It wasn't that he was embarrassed, Reid could never have been embarrassed by her. No, he just knew somehow that if Dakota were here, she would not want anyone knowing of her mental illness. He could almost see her eyes in his head, pleading with him not to tell Emily.

Emily noticed the shift in Reid's posture, the sudden stiffness in his shoulders, and knew that she had received enough information about the mystery woman for now. She was grateful that Reid trusted her with what he had already told her and wanted to make sure he knew that he had no reason to be uncomfortable around her.

"She sounds wonderful." Reid looked back up at her in slight surprise, having been waiting for the dreaded question. "I hope it works out for you." Emily smiled at him again, because she was so happy that Reid had found someone that he liked. She stood back up and patted Reid on the shoulder gently before she walked back to the door and exited his room, leaving Reid alone with his thoughts again.

His thoughts that, as soon as he was alone, were preoccupied with Dakota once again. He sat slumped back in his chair for a long moment as he replayed the feeling of her body pressed against his and her hands in his hair as her tongue slid inside his mouth.

He remembered the exact pressure of her lips against his and remembered the way their teeth had clinked against one another slightly as they had pushed closer, closer together. Reid bit his lip and without meaning to, pretended he was biting hers. His face felt warm and his breathing was shallow as he thought about the way she had whimpered against him, pulled him closer.

Reid gulped, his hand subconsciously moving down his stomach, resting at the waist of his trousers. He fidgeted with the buckle of his belt as he thought about her sighing out his name, Spencer, her breath washing over him as the word left her lips. Reid was contemplating the idea of flicking his belt open and undoing his trousers when there was a sudden knock at his door, and he immediately blinked out of his fantasy.

He listened to Morgan tell him through the wood of the door that the UnSub was trying to leave town and they had to go, but Reid wasn't listening. He was too busy thinking that god, he had never wanted to be in a mental hospital so much in his life. And it wasn't until he stood back up and was headed to the door, that Reid realised his pants suddenly felt a little too tight.

a/n

So it's been a little longer since my last update and I'm very sorry about that! I've been pretty distracted with uni at the moment...

Completely irrelevant to everything but I've been questioning whether I really want to make a career out of what I'm studying and now I'm wondering if I should drop out but if I drop out I have no idea what else I could do with my life and I've basically spent the last week having a crisis! If anyone has any words of wisdom they could share with me, it would be amazing right about now.

ANYWAY, back to Reid! I think I'm definitely going to put smut in a chapter sometime soon because the last part of this chapter was so fun to write and I almost decided not to have Morgan interrupt...

Let me know if there's anything you want to see happen in the future or any thoughts you have of what's happened so far!

I appreciate all of your reviews and feedback so much and it makes me so excited to continue this story knowing that people are enjoying it! Thanks guys, see you (hopefully) soon with another update x