Take Action or I will!
Part 10
By Kalnaman and Malinga
As/N: Thank you for great reviews and to the anonymous reviewer thank you for your concern, but as Malinga and I aka Kalnaman can see right from wrong and that we know this story is JUST FICTION then no we don't need therapy. And we won't stop writing it either, so if you don't like this story we don't mind as we can't please everyone. So please stop reading this story and let others who really likes and love this story, as some do, which we can read in our many positive reviews we've got, let them read it in peace, while you find another story to read that fit your needs better, as there is enough out here to find, thanks.
Thank you VirginSerpent for your beta.
Now to the story.
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Gideon had fallen asleep too as he'd been on the road for hours. Hotch and Gideon woke up at the same time. He wondered if the baby monitor had stirred while they were asleep. What if it had and they hadn't heard it? "Hotch, I'll go check if Spencer is okay."
"Yeah, good idea."
Gideon was surprised to find Spencer sound asleep with a teddy bear in his arms. He then silently went back to Hotch. "Hey Hotch. Since when does Spencer sleep with a teddy bear?"
"Since last night," Hotch answered, "he was having a pretty disturbing nightmare and I gave him Jack's teddy bear, hoping it would calm him down and it worked, so I told him Jack wouldn't mind if he kept it." He propped back on the wall, crossing his arms over his chest and shrugging, "it seems to be helping."
Gideon nodded. "If it helps, then let him."
Hotch nodded, then he became dead serious, his lips pursing in a tight, thin line and eyes taking on a darker hue.
"He probably didn't have one when he was a child."
"Probably not," he answered absentmindedly.
"Maybe we shouldn't tell anyone about it. He would probably be too embarrassed."
Hotch nodded his head, his thoughts still wandering somewhere else as he answered. "Yeah, Spencer asked me to keep it a secret, so... yeah, that's a good idea."
"Do the others know?"
Hotch shook his head slowly, "not yet, no."
"Then I think we should call them now and ask them to come before Spencer wakes up. He'll probably be too embarrassed to talk to them in person."
"Yeah, that's a good idea. They need to know and I need to talk to you about what just happened on the road and I think it's best if they all hear it at the same time."
"Okay."
Gideon called in the rest of the team and they promised to come right away.'
Some time later the rest of the team showed up at Hotch's doorstep; luckily Spencer was still asleep.
Hotch opened the door, dreading the task ahead of them of explaining the situation to the rest of the team. It hadn't been easy for him to absorb and he bet it would be just as hard for them to accept.
"Hi, Hotch," greeted Morgan, "you said you wanted to see us, urgently?" Morgan asked, with obvious dread in his voice.
They all showed worry on their faces.
Gideon went to the kitchen to make some coffee for them all.
Hotch took in their long, worried expressions and knew he'd been right in his earlier assumption; this was definitely not going to be easy. "Yes, come on in, please." he said as he stepped aside.
They all went inside and they dreaded what Hotch and Gideon had to tell them.
"Please, take a seat people. We need to talk." Hotch urged.
"Why do I have the feeling it has something to do with our boy genius?" Garcia asked.
"It does." Hotch confirmed.
Garcia nodded sadly. She'd hoped that she had been wrong.
"How serious is it?" JJ asked worriedly.
Hotch waited until they were all sitting down, then took a seat himself before answering with a grim expression. "I won't lie to you. It is serious, and it's not something that can be fixed over night, people."
Both JJ and Garcia showed tears in their eyes.
Hotch turned sympathetic eyes on them, knowing exactly what they were going through and wishing he could tell them it was all a misunderstanding; that Spencer was well and everything was just fine. He sighed, summoning up the courage to continue. "It will be hard, but not impossible." Hotch tried to reassure them as best as he could, "he will need all of our help, and that's why we've called you all over."
Hotch explained the situation to them, the problem Spencer was facing, their visit to the therapist and what would be needed of them in order to help him overcome this new crisis.
But he wanted to wait for Gideon to return before he went into the road incident and Spencer's anguished-filled revelation
Gideon went back to the living room with the coffee.
Hotch nodded his thanks, grabbing the proffered steaming cup.
Gideon took a seat.
"There's more, isn't there?" asked Morgan, taking a sip from his coffee mug and pinning his superior with a worried stare.
"Yes, there is." Hotch concurred.
Hotch rested his hands on his thighs, entwining his fingers and lowering his head, prepping himself for the long talk. "While we were on the road, I had to pull over in order to..." Hotch hesitated, fishing for words, "have a talk with him, and what he revealed in that talk worried me, a lot."
"What did he reveal?" Garcia asked worriedly.
Hotch turned to look at her "It seems after the Hankel case," he took a deep breath, "let's say his troubles run even deeper than we'd thought." He stopped for a moment, trying to decide how to proceed, but not having much luck at it.
Gideon wanted to help him, but sadly he hadn't heard everything that had gone on outside the car.
"How deep?" Garcia asked worriedly.
He took a moment to organize his thoughts. "He thinks we'd be better off without him," He ended up blurting it out in the end, "that his life is worthless and that he's a burden to us." He added afterwards, not being able to stop the flow of words once he'd started. "He even said he'd be better off dead."
Garcia gasped and put her hands to her mouth and tried to control a sob. And JJ looked shocked too.
Hotch pursed his lips and placed a hand on Garcia's shoulder. "I know, that's exactly what my reaction was when I heard that." he tried to calm her down.
Gideon was shocked too. He knew it was serious but not that serious.
"What?" Morgan exploded.
"He can't truly think that?" Morgan fumed, "doesn't he realize how much we care about him?" He dropped his coffee cup on the table hard, his temper getting the better of him. "I hope you knocked some sense into him, Hotch." He demanded, visibly angry.
"Please, Morgan. I know how you feel but try not to make too much noise, I don't want Spencer to wake up," Hotch addressed his distressed agent and friend seriously, "and to answer your question, yes, I did try to set him straight. I tried to explain to him that he was wrong, that we all care for him deeply, and I think I managed to ease some of his worries, for the time being." His expression changed suddenly to deep sadness, "but for some reason I don't think he believed me, not truly."
They all let out a desperate sigh.
"Maybe we should tell Dr. Nimoy about it and tell him that Spencer may need the antidepressants after all," Gideon said.
"Indeed, that's what I thought, Jason." Hotch sighed, "though I don't think Spencer will be very happy about it."
"Well that's tough for him, but he'll need to suck it up. I'll rather have him arguing about it and then forcing them in him than risking him in a deep depression where he'll kill himself!"
"Better an arguing Reid than a dead one!"
"Absolutely" Morgan agreed resolutely.
Seeing everyone agreed, Hotch nodded, comforted in the fact they were all in on this and confident Spencer would pull through with all his family at his side.
"Maybe we should call Dr. Nimoy right away. And see what he thinks?"
"Yeah, that's a good idea, better talk to him now that Spencer's asleep." Hotch agreed, picking up the phone and dialing the number to the doctor's office.
"Dr. Nimoy's office. How can I help you?"
"Hello, this is Agent Aaron Hotchner. My friends and I had an appointment with the doctor earlier today and I needed to ask him for some advice on a matter regarding the patient, Dr. Spencer Reid."
"Okay. I'll get you through to him. Just hold on a sec."
"Thank you."
A few seconds later, Dr. Nimoy was on the phone. "Dr. Nimoy here. Is something wrong Agent Hotchner?" The doctor asked worriedly.
"I'm afraid so," answered Hotch,
"What's wrong?" The doctor asked worriedly.
"He made some very troubling comments earlier." Hotch elaborated, and proceeded to explain the situation they were currently facing with Spencer, and the conversation they'd had on their way back from their session.
"He was talking about being better off dead, and only being a burden to us and not being worth our attention." Hotch sighed, and lowered his voice considerably, "I'm afraid he might even consider suicide, doctor." Hotch was close to desperation again.
"... I see. Okay tell you what. I think it would be best if he started on antidepressants... I know that Spencer doesn't want to, but to me it sounds like he needs them badly."
Hotch nodded, but then remembered he was on the phone and that Dr. Nimoy couldn't actually see him. "I feared as much." Hotch sighed
"To which drug store shall I send the prescription?"
"Could you send it to Quantico Pharmacy at 3089 Roan Street, please?"
"Of course. I'd better give you the direct line; it's 555 286722. And don't ever hesitate to call me, day or night."
"Thank you very much, doctor." He jotted the number down on a notepad he always kept near the phone.
"You're welcome." Dr. Nimoy then hung up the phone.
Hotch walked back into the living room, tucking the phone number he'd written down in his pocket and told the others what the Doctor had said. "So we will be able to go pick up the antidepressants at the Quantico pharmacy as soon as he sends the prescription over."
"We can go pick up the medication in about half an hour." Hotch added
"I'll go." Morgan offered, eager to have something to do and get his mind off this nightmarish situation. Spencer was like a little brother to him, and he just couldn't believe he'd never noticed his pain before; he was mad and disappointed, at Spencer for not trusting him enough to confide in him. But mainly at himself, for not seeing his bro's pain in time.
"Okay, thank you, Morgan." Hotch smiled tiredly.
He then reached inside his pants pocket for his wallet, handing it to Morgan.
Morgan handed the wallet back to his superior and hastily walked out of the room, eager to get away from this nightmare.
TBC