DOUBLE DIGITS! Chapter 10 has come so fast for me, I don't know about you guys. I have a good idea of where this fic is going and how it's going to end up. Sorry I was gone for a while but I'm back now. I get busy sometimes. Other times, I find new video games. I'm incorporating more than just ED!Reid because there's gotta be some depressing dynamics to this thing, if you know what I mean. This concept has taken over my thoughts. Seriously, it is the only thing I can think about, which is not healthy. If I take a break for a while, it's for the benefit of my own sanity. I can't say it enough: Reviews make my day so please if you have something to say then do say it. He says the f-word so if that offends you sorry.

The chapter is now finished! Sorry about that.

Reid had had quite enough of being hovered over. He was bring good; eating, sleeping, staying focused. It was just his luck that as soon as they thought they solved the case, another loose end popped up and they had to stay longer. He wanted nothing more than to get this nightmare over with. His team wasn't the nightmare, it was the case. It made him sick. He was weaker to these kinds of things now, he noticed. At least Prentiss also seemed more affected than usual by the raping and dismemberment of babies that were force feed to their mothers then cut out of their stomachs'. He couldn't stand the pictures any more than the thought. That guy had been hell to track down, and now murders were appearing suggesting he had a partner now doing something similar but with pets and fathers in the same area.

He knew the team had noticed his sensitivity and mentally thanked them for not bringing it up. Now it was time to hope they would continue to not bring things up. This case, when the partner became apparent, was the single most important thing in his life. For about 30 hours he didn't sleep or eat, and he didn't care if it could save lives. He had done things like this before, of course, especially on time-sensitive cases like this. This was the first time he was bombarded with chiding.

He felt like a child. He was being treated like a child.*1 Sure, it was nice to be cared for, but this was babying and he hated it. They wouldn't stop.

When they finally discovered an apprentice as the guy's partner, they headed back immediately. Reid didn't show up to work the next day. It was a Sunday, so it wasn't a huge deal-people took weekends off as a normal thing. It was only worrying because for his team it was customary to show up to work at least the one day after coming back from a case to discuss and get some paperwork done. He wasn't surprised to hear a knocking on the door after the normal work hours had passed.

He took his time in opening it and was met with the ever-smiling face of Garcia.

"Hey, sweetie, I just thought I'd stop by to see you. You know I miss you guys after long cases."

This improved Reid's mood greatly. He'd thought he needed to be alone after so long of having to act socially acceptable, but man was her smile comforting.

"I know, I'm sorry. I was just really tired. I barely slept those last few days." He gestured to welcome her in, the motion not seeming to fit when the welcoming was into such a small, dingy place like his. He connected that gesture with a grand mansion, doors swinging as they flew open with the motion of the master's hand. That was not him.

"Did you get some sleep today?" Garcia asked being motherly but not unnaturally so. Reid nodded obediently. "Then I forgive you for not coming to say 'hi' to me today."

"Oh, thank God. I don't think I would've been able to carry on knowing that I had committed such a treason unexcused." He feigned despair.

Garcia took it like it was and giggled, not reading too into it like the rest of the team might.

"Actually," Reid said, "I'm glad you're here. I got the computer and I am more or less confused."

"I'll assume more. Where is it?" Garcia offered, already starting to look by glancing around the room.

Reid led her to it while he spoke, "I know more about technology than people give me credit for. I can use it functionally... It's just..."

"Just that you can't." Garcia finished.

"Might I remind you; MIT. I can use a computer."

"Oh, I'll just go then." She spoke over dramatically with a fluffy actress-like voice, nose in the air as she threatened to leave.

"No, no, no!" Reid grinned a grin that reached from his face to his soul. He couldn't remember feeling so liberated with another person. Couldn't think of a time when he had had real fun like this. He could no longer trust his memory. It seemed that the older memories were starting to fade, though he could still recite back anything he had seen, read, or heard in the last ten years or so. Before that, things were disappearing and changing. Was he already hitting the low after the high? "No, don't go. I do need you. And I enjoy your company."

Garcia smiled victoriously with a smug tip of her chin, "It's good to know I'm needed somewhere."

"As if we don't count on you enough as a team."

Garcia paused and looked up from her examination of the sorry excuse for a computer, "That actually means a lot to me, jokes aside. Thanks." And she got back to work. Reid had never thought of Garcia as underappreciated-he appreciated her and he knew everyone else did just as much as him-but now that she thought about it she was kind of an outsider. She didn't go on trips with them and most of the time was just a voice over the phone. Underappreciated by people outside of the FBI, she certainly was.

"Sure thing. I mean it." He smiled.

They shared the moment and let it linger while Reid made his way to stand nearer Garcia so he could see.

"I can't really use a computer."

"I know."

"What spurred this sudden need for technology in your otherwise stone-age home?" Garcia said, finishing up on everything that was unneeded according to Reid but absolutely necessary according to 'the expert'.

Reid shrugged, "Not really sure. I'll figure it out soon enough."

"I bet you'll turn it on about once every three months, and only because you'll feel bad about not using it."

"That's probably not far off."

He suddenly figured it out-he did this so he could stop being a special burden. It was so easy to send pictures and reports, link, alerts, to the others, but not him. This was his first step to making it easier on them. Was it? Really? When he didn't think he would keep his job at all, would his subconscious really make him do this for that sake? Or was it to give them less of a reason to fire him.

"What's goin' on in there, hun?" Garcia watched Reid expectantly, "You were staring off."*2

"Oh, nothing. Just wondering what I am going to do with this lump of tech now."

Garcia giggled and stood from the old chair Reid had provided, "I would suggest for you... reading everything on the internet. What good is an eidetic memory if there are things you don't know?"

Reid gave a confused smirk, "Um, a lot of good, actually?" She did have a point. At least, in the first part of the sentence.

"I know, Boy Genius, I was joking." She smiled and collected her things. Reid didn't stop her. She said her goodbye. Reid nodded and waved too late as the door was closing.

Overcome with the notion that he hadn't done so in over two hours, he went and weighed himself. Still not up to par with code. What did he expect?

And how long did he have? Oh, wait... it was the week they were gone. Reid grinned with glee for having avoided that deadline, though he knew there would be another. He didn't want to ruin his good mood by putting food in his stomach. A day with nothing wouldn't make too much of a difference. He was allowed to be happy just for a day. And not eating for the last little while on the case? That didn't count. Nothing he did in terms of personal health counted while he was on a case. It seemed like a psychological rule. When he was out helping people, he didn't have to help himself.

He sat at the computer and stared at it. He couldn't think of a thing to do on it. What a waste. He closed it and decided to re-watch every Star Wars movie. He was tired but didn't want to sleep when he finished, so instead he re-watched Doctor Who until it was time to go to work. He was still tired, but no more tired than he was ten hours ago. Coffee was important nonetheless.

The drive went slow because of traffic despite seven o'clock being too early for a lot of people. Reid would hate to drive through a 'rush hour' hour.

His phone rang conveniently when he was stopped at a light. It was Hotch.

Reid answered with, "I am coming in today. It's a Monday."

"I figured you would be. I'm letting you know before you get here that your make up physical is scheduled for today at one. I couldn't get it any later."

"Fuck."

"Reid!"

"Sorry. Thank you. I have to go. I'm driving." He hung up and continued waiting at the light.

*1- My reasoning for including this so explicitly is to draw attention to the fact that he is the youngest and will therefore always be the baby of the team, and it's not fun to be the baby. It comes with an automatic sense of less-ness and warrants any disrespect someone might want to show you. Reid has these underlying feelings, according to me.

*2- Usually in writing, character's thoughts don't take up time in the world of the narrative. I had it take time here to show Reid's thoughts slowing down, which is something I noticed in depression (personally, I don't know if it's clinical fact). Those few lines of his thought took him enough time to think that Garcia was waiting for him outside of his head. Consider that.

This chapter took a really long time and I am so sorry for that. I know exactly where I want this fic to go from here, so I'm not worried about the creative flow, only my lack of time. Tonight I get to sit in the gym for five and a half hours so I will have plenty of time to start doing some chapters ahead of time. I also really really want to write one where Reid is the Doctor. So I will do that. Because I can. That might exist by Saturday the 20th. Can't wait. Thank you, thank you, for reading all the way this far and also for reading my notes. I love you all equally (for the most part).