Reid felt stupid and helpless sitting in a chair by Amy's side. He should have done more to help her… It literally broke his heart to see Amy staring blankly at the glass ceiling above them, her hands in the air and clenching and unclenching slowly. To anyone who came in the room, it might look as though she was having a hallucination. But she'd talked to Reid… she'd all but told him what she was doing. Reid could still remember her voice as it washed over him a few hours ago, though she hadn't said anything since.

"They took my contacts out…"

It had been her first statement to him as the rest of the agents cleared out of the room and he'd sat down. Reid had tried to calmly explain why she couldn't wear contacts, and then asked her why she'd put them back in. She'd looked at him guiltily before looking back at the glass ceiling and clenching her hands slowly again.

"I lied to you…" she'd said, and Reid had patiently waited until she spoke again "I… I need different eyes. These… the blue eyes… they remind me too much of Danny. Dead, blue eyes… staring up at me… accusing me… Every time I look in a mirror, I see him… and now… I see Phillip, too."

Startled, Reid had looked up at the mirror above them, then back at Amy, laying a hand on her shoulder to hopefully comfort her, but she was talking again.

"I used to feel really, really bad about it. The guilt was almost unbearable. I mean… I killed a man, and I didn't mean to!" Amy shook her head, unclenching her hands, then clenching them again. "It… wasn't supposed to happen that way with Phillip. I wasn't supposed to shoot him… I wasn't supposed to keep shooting him but…"

"I know, you don't have to say it," Reid had told her, but she'd lowered her arms and looked at him, her blue eyes distant.

That had scared Reid the most.

"Yes I do, Spencer… please, you have to understand…"

And even though his heart skipped a beat at the usage of his first name, Reid felt a cold chill run down his spine at her words.

"Morgan was right…" she finally said slowly, and before Reid could respond to that, she'd raised her arms again and was clenching and unclenching her hands slowly. "I'm crazy… because… only a crazy person would want to do that again…"

"Do… what again…?" Reid asked, his voice shaking, afraid of the answer.

"Kill him…" Amy answered lightly, as if it were the most simple and logical explanation in the world. "I want to kill him again… I want to wrap my hands around his throat… and squeeze the life out of him… drop… by crimson drop…" at this, her brows furrowed, and she clenched her hands even slower, still watching the mirror above her.

It was then that Reid realized what she was doing.

She was seeing her reflection, and she was pretending to choke herself. Or was she choking Phillip, or Danny…? Reid supposed who, didn't really matter, because all three of those choices scared him to death.

Coming back out of his thoughts, Reid watched Amy sadly as she continued to clench and unclench her fists, her eyes riveted on the image of herself and her blue eyes as she did so. And it broke his heart to know there was nothing he could do, made worse by the simple fact that Reid knew one day she'd end up killing herself. Maybe therapy would help; maybe there was some kind of drug that could help, like an anti-depressant or something. At this point, Reid was game for anything to stop seeing her choke her reflection…

Reid heard someone enter the room, even though he was sure they had tried to be quiet. But instead of turning around to see who it was, Reid continued to sit with his legs drawn up to his chest, watching Amy silently. Watching her hands…

"Hey man…" Morgan's voice washed over him. "You doing alright…?"

Unable to help it, Reid finally glanced at Morgan, who had walked just a little ways into the room, and was watching Reid with worry etched around his eyes. Then Amy's hands unclenched and Reid watched as Morgan's eyes were drawn to her. Morgan's brows furrowed, but before he could say a word, Reid said softly,

"She's choking herself."

Reid watched as Morgan stiffened and looked up to the mirror, then glanced back at Reid, his eyes watching the younger man with sadness mixed with panic.

"Can you… get her contacts back…?" Reid said softly, looking at Amy instead of Morgan as he said that. "She… sees the eyes of Danny and Phillip when she looks at her own eyes… It's… not good."

Reid swallowed, knowing that wasn't the right thing to say, but if Morgan got the point and got her the contacts back, maybe she'd go back to normal. Maybe then she'd be regular Amy again… or maybe he'd just be disguising a monster with a mask…

Reid shook his head quickly, not even noticing that Morgan had already left the room, intent on doing something for the both of them. Reid sat in that chair for what seemed like an eternity, watching Amy's hands clench and unclench themselves before they suddenly dropped to her sides. Blinking the sudden sleepiness away, Reid looked at Amy just as she turned her head to stare at him. Then Reid heard her voice softly whisper,

"Reid…?"

Swallowing, he said in the same hushed tone as she had,

"Yeah…?"

"I never… got to… feel it." she said slowly, her brows furrowing and her tone becoming thoughtful as Reid replied,

"Feel what?"

"Your lips…" she said, then suddenly blinked and clarified. "On mine… um… like a kiss. I never got to kiss you…"

Then, suddenly self-conscious, her hands gripped at the sheets as she turned her head away from Reid, though she didn't look back up at the ceiling. Self-conscious as well but willing to do anything to make her feel better, Reid shifted in his seat before leaning forward, watching her closely as she turned her head to face him, her eyes wide at first before they slowly drifted shut and she waited. Closing his eyes, Reid leaned in just a little further, and a little further still, and then their lips touched.

It was just a soft kiss, only a mere touching of lips, but even then Reid felt a jolt of electricity flowing through his veins, causing his heart to speed up in his chest. Suddenly unsure of himself, Reid pulled back, blushing furiously and opened his eyes quickly, only to find Amy watching him with a wondering look. He inwardly cringed, knowing he must have done something wrong, and damned his social skills, especially with girls. Reid had just opened his mouth to apologize, however, when Amy spoke up quickly.

"That felt… really nice. Thank you… Spencer…"

For the longest time, both of them just looked at each other, as if studying something they'd missed for a long time, or committing something to memory. It was at that point that Morgan rapped at the door, and Reid turned around, looking at the large man who seemed so much like a brother to him before his eyes dropped to a small box in Morgan's hand; it was the contacts Amy had bought at the drug store before.

* * *

Reid remembered waking up slowly that night; things had been peaceful and nice after Morgan had brought the contacts in. As soon as Amy'd put them in, both of the men had seen a difference in her. She'd looked up at the mirror more, but instead of gaining a lost look and starting to strangle her reflection, she'd smile, even flip or adjust a bit of her hair and then she'd just… look away. She was… halfway normal again. She talked to the both of them, even gave a few half smiles to Morgan when he said something that was funny.

Reid himself smiled at the thought, moving slightly. The hospital chairs were never really that comfortable, but in his moving around, he felt something float off his chest; something like a piece of paper…? Glancing up to make sure he hadn't awoken Amy, Reid started out of the chair when he realized that Amy wasn't even in the hospital bed. Swiveling his head so quickly it hurt, Reid looked around, trying to figure out if she was just playing a trick on him, and he backed up slightly, his eyes trying to adjust to the darkness of the room when he stepped on the piece of paper.

Pausing, his eyes wide and his heart pounding in his chest, he slowly stooped to pick up the letter, his eyes scanning over the page quickly. And even with his eidetic memory, Reid found himself reading the short page over and over again, thinking he might have missed something, until his eyes were too clouded with tears to read any longer. Reid backed up until the back of his knees hit the bed Amy had vacated earlier, and he sat heavily on the stiff mattress. Lowering his head into the hand that wasn't clutching the small paper to his heart, he was unable to stop the flow of words through his head, as if he were still reading the letter over and over again…

Dear Spencer,

If you're reading this, I'm gone by now. I'm sorry, but it was the only way. I know your friend, Morgan, was trying to make up for it, but in truth he was right. I need help, and I'm going to find some. I can't let Gideon help me, because you're too close to him, and I don't know what I'll do. I live in fear of my anger constantly. Please tell Gideon and Mr. Hotchner I am very sorry, and that I mean well. Now that Phillip is gone, I do not think that I have much to worry about from others, so please do not try to follow me, Spencer. I do this for your good as much as my own.

I never said it before because I was afraid of your reaction, Spencer, but I love you.

Maybe we'll meet again; I hope we will with all my heart.

Love,

- Amy Vaughn

* * *

Hunched over, tears running quietly down his face, a piece of paper clutched in his hand to his chest; that was how Morgan found Reid later that morning. After a while of coaxing him, Morgan had gotten Reid to give up the paper so that Morgan could read it, and when he did he felt his own eyes misting with tears. Over all, he'd done this to Reid. He'd chased Amy away from him, but when he voiced his apology for that very reason, Reid's head snapped up and he shook his head vehemently. He'd told Morgan that it wasn't anyone's fault; that Amy felt she had to do this.

"In fact…" Reid had said, his voice cracking slightly, "I'd… had a feeling this would be coming. I just… didn't want to believe it. I know she'll probably be better off, and when and if we do meet again, maybe… maybe things will last longer; be better…"

Morgan understood how tough Reid was trying to be, so before Reid could object, Morgan's arms were around the young man's small frame and he hugged the kid tight.

Outside, the world itself was just waking up from it's slumber, completely oblivious to one man's turmoil and another's heartbreak. A new day was dawning, the sun was shining over small expanses of earth as it rose over the buildings and trees. And somewhere, in the streets of Quantico, a young man was dying of a stab wound to the chest.

* * *

"Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win." - Stephen King

* * *

END.

A/N : Special thanks to a certain Rayne Wessel, if you've decided to go ahead and read this far. Thank you for your opinions despite my constant nagging and fangirlism. And thanks also to myers1978, tookyourbook, Wing Omega, ghostdolly, and tiger35, also including all those out there who's names I do not know. Thank you all so very much for sticking with the story, and now perhaps I'll be able to get back to my eariler series, The Price Of Living, and finish that one as well. Also, if you have any story or one-shot requests, don't be afraid to let me know. I'll gladly take on any challenges you might have for me. Thanks once again, and I hope this story was fun to read.

And also, yes. I AM planning on making a sequel to this. ^_^