Reid and his Voice

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.

'It is loneliness thatmakes the loudest noise, This is as true of men as it is of dogs.'~Eric Hoffer.

Reid poured himself a second cup of coffee. He felt well rested and for once he hadn't woken up with one of his headaches, ones that would increase in intensity as the day wore on. In fact he felt more well rested than he had in months. He took a sip of his coffee and seemed to be considering something, then he took the plunge. He closed his eyes and spoke to the empty room.

"Are you there?" he asked,

There was a distinct pause and then he heard it.

"Yup, I'm still here." a familiar voice answered.

Reid smiled in spite of himself. Usually he felt panic or distress when he heard it, but today he actually felt glad, There would be no denying it's existence today. He heard it, he wasn't alone.

Spencer sat down on his comfortable but shabby sofa.

"I just wanted to say thank you," Reid said.

"For what?"

"You know, for last night, for being there to listen." Reid replied.

"Any time old bean,"

"I had a dream about Emily last night, a good dream," Reid said wistfully.

The voice chuckled. "Yes, I know," it said.

Reid shook his head "Of course you do, that's pretty silly of me,"

The doorbell rang. Reid sat up "I'll be right there," he called. He spoke to the empty room. "I've got to see who it is," He got up and hurried to the door.

XXXXXX

Morgan and Garcia had been standing outside Reid's apartment door several minutes before they rang the bell. Morgan had told Penelope about Reid's distress during the last case and she suggested they check up on him. They were about to knock when they heard what seemed like half of a conversation.

"I don't hear anyone else talking," Morgan said.

"He's probably on the phone," Garcia suggested when she saw Morgan's worried expression.

Morgan pressed the doorbell, They heard Reid call out to them and then apparently address someone else. Within seconds the apartment door swung open and they were greeted by a smiling Reid, coffee cup in hand.

"Hi guys, what are you doing here? come in ,"

Morgan and Garcia entered the apartment and couldn't help but take a good look around. Reid looked at the two of them expectantly.

"It's not a bad time for you is it, are you busy," Morgan asked, his eyes scanning the hallway behind Reid.

"No, not at all, just sitting around drinking coffee." He answered.

Garcia and Morgan exchanged looks . "Um, we wondered if you wanted to catch breakfast with us. Theres a great place not far from here,"Garcia said.

Reid nodded, "Ok sure, let me put something else on," he said tugging at the ratty t-shirt he was wearing. He turned and walked down the hall into his bedroom. His colleagues stood waiting until they heard him speaking to someone. They crept quietly down the hall til they could see Spencer standing in front of his bed having a conversation with thin air.

"I don't care, I like wearing sweater vests, they're warm and they're comfortable. You can be such a nag sometimes," Reid said, unaware he was being watched.

The two agents in the hall backed away quickly so they wouldn't be seen. Penelope had her hand over her mouth and her eyes began to well with tears.

"Oh Derek," She said.

Morgan felt a little blown away himself. He had just recently reassured Reid he was fine. He forced himself to remain calm.

"Now look babygirl, Reid needs us now." He said.

"What are we going to do?" she whispered.

"First we're gonna stick to him like glue and see how bad this is. Let's suggest a movie tonight,"

"Ok, that's a good idea,"

"What's a good idea?" Reid said as he walked into the room.

"Making you pay for breakfast prettyboy," Morgan said with a grin.

"Hey, you invited me." Reid protested. He ushered his friends out of the apartment and gave a brief nod when he heard the voice tell him to enjoy himself

"Talk to ya later," he said as quietly as he could.

His small apartment was empty and silent.

Fin.

AN: Please read and review.