A/N: Hope you guys are enjoying, thanks for the support. Ifyou are reading, please review... it makes me happy :D

Disclaimer: Don't own Criminal Minds, CBS does! I own Cameron Mansfield.


The next morning, Cameron was the first one in the room to wake up. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was already 9:30 am. But since they weren't leaving till noon, she rolled over and gave sleep one more shot. About five minutes later she rolled out of bed to answer the door.

It was Emily standing there looking surprised, "You're…not Reid."

Cameron smiled nervously and started buttoning her sweater, "No I'm not, but the heater in my room was broken and there were no other rooms available."

Emily looked at her curiously, "Okay... We're going to get some breakfast, do guys want to come?"

Cameron looked back at Reid who was still sleeping, and based on last night, he needed it, "He's actually fast asleep. I think I stay and make sure he gets up on time to catch the plane."

"Alright, well see you at 11 then." Emily said with a smile and walked down to the car.

An hour and a bit later Reid woke up to the sound of singing coming from the bathroom. He smiled, it was a nice sound to wake up to. He sat up and felt that his sheets, pajamas and his hair were soaked with sweat. This is what he had to look forward to, he felt weak from lack of sleep and not eating.

A few minutes later she walked out of the bathroom, she was consciously dressed casually, in a pair of jeans and a navy blouse.

"Good morning." Cameron said with a smile as she combed her hair.

"Mmhmm," He stood up and rubbed his head. He hadn't felt this bad before. He tossed and turned all night, he wasn't sure when he finally fell asleep but it was after 6.

Cameron looked concerned, "Are you okay?"

He nodded, grabbed his bag and headed into the bathroom. The shower started up and she sat cross legged on the bed eating a granola bar. A few minutes later the water stopped and she could hear Reid vomiting through the door.

Cameron bit her lip and knocked softly on the door, "Spencer?"

A few seconds later Reid opened it, looking white as a sheet. Her eyes saddened as she pushed wet hair off of his face. "So," she asked as she sat on his bed, "how long has it been?"

He dragged himself over and sat down, "Uh… night before last." He rocked his legs up and down.

Cameron realized that she figured that out that when his demeanor had gone from aggravated to considerate the night they had cracked the case.

He looked at her with foggy eyes, "I'm sorry. I know we were still working the case, I— just couldn't think and I felt l—"

Cameron shook her head and held up a hand, "It's alright. I can't imagine what this is like for you." She paused for a moment. "But I know you'll get through it. You're in better shape then you should be for 36 hour's withdrawal."

He mumbled downwards, "Great."

"I hate to do this, but I just want you to know that you're going to feel worse as time passes."

He nodded, trying to fight off the shivers. She handed him a bottle of water and ordered him to drink while she rummaged through her purse on the floor.

He was dehydrated from sweating and downed the water a little too fast and his hand flew to his mouth, and he made a few little gasps "I think I'm going to t—"

She jumped up and sat beside him, "No your not." She rubbed his back soothingly.

When he felt better he turned to her and smiled weakly, "Thank you."

She smiled back and handed him a few pills, "We need to catch our plane soon. So, here, take these."

Reid squinted, "What are you giving me?"

She pointed to one pill, "Gravol, hopefully it will keep you from puking your brains out on the flight home." She pointed to the second one, "It's Ativan, it should help calm you down."

His curious nature made him ask, "What are you doing with Ativan?"

She ignored the question, "You're pulse is racing, you've hardly slept, you're jumpy and you're shivering." Cameron knew giving him Ativan wasn't exactly the most responsible thing she'd ever done but she knew it would help for the time being. "It will minimize some of the symptoms for the time being, it won't stop the withdrawal."

Reid nodded, "I know that."


It was a quiet flight back to Quantico, Reid had covered up the withdrawal with a story about the flu, and the team seemed to buy it. He was handling himself considerably well, thanks in part to the medicine.

They arrived back at Quantico at around 4 that afternoon. Reid was in a panic because he didn't know what to tell Hotch, so Cameron assured him that she would deal with it. He didn't want her to tell him and so she promised that she wouldn't.

Reid was also determined to finish his report like everyone else and since Cameron didn't have a report to write, she mostly stayed with Garcia in her office.

It was nearly six before everyone was ready to head home. J.J. and Emily were the first to leave. Reid and Morgan sat in the bullpen waiting for Garcia, Morgan's ride home.

"You better not get me sick kid."

Reid shrugged, "It wouldn't be my fault if I'm contagious." He hated lying to Morgan, but after months of doing it, he was relieved that this would be the last time.

Cameron stood anxiously outside the slightly opened door to Hotch's office. "May I come in?"

He waved her in and offered her a seat, which she took.

"I suppose you're going home now."

She nodded, caught her breath and launched into the apology she had been anxiously practicing with Garcia in her office, "Aaron, I am so sorry about last night. It was completely out of line, you were doing a me favor. You're my friend and I should have never spoke to you that way, I was just—"

"Frustrated?" Hotch interrupted. "You had every right to be and truth be told, I didn't help the situation." He could tell that whatever was distressing her hadn't gone away, but he could also tell when a person wasn't ready to talk. This was one of those times.

Cameron smiled, "So, we're still friends?"

He nodded and after a moments consideration he asked, "How're you doing?"

"It's been a long few days." She held up her hands, "I don't know how you guys do it."

Hotch shrugged, "You get through it, there's always a light at the end of even the longest, darkest tunnels." He paused, "Cameron I want you to know you did good work here."

"Aaron, I'm not saying that if this case had ended differently I would have changed my mind. But I brought the FBI this case. I was convinced that I could help and I failed. That's just proof that I don't belong here."

He frowned, "Failed? No. Cameron, catching an UnSub who is spiraling out of control, that's a long way from failing around here. We couldn't get to a victim in time, but we stopped him from hurting another. Sometimes that's all we can really do."

Cameron stood up, "Yeah, well, I guess I can't handle that." She gave a faint smile and extended her hand, "It was good seeing you again Aaron."

He shook her hand, "I hope you'll give my offer some more thought."

Cameron stopped at the door before leaving her hand resting on the doorknob, "Just so you know, I'm going to take Dr. Reid home. If it is the flu, then he's contagious. He'll be fine, but he wants to play it safe. I'm going to drive him home and I wouldn't expect him to be in for the rest of the week."

Hotch was grateful they decided that, unless she felt it was absolutely necessary, he would continue to 'not know' about the drugs. He nodded, "Okay, I'll make a note in his file."

"See you around Aaron. If you need anything, I'm not leaving Virginia just yet."


A/N: Hope you liked! Please read and review :D The next chapter should be a bit heavier and longer, have a nice day