Hi everyone!

first of all, thanks for all your reviews, you are so awesome and always make my day! Without your wonderful reviews I wouldn't have half as much fun writing!

Sorry for not updating yesterday but I came home from work late at night. Soooo, here's a new chapter for you, hope you enjoy it!

xoxo

ReidsGirl

Chapter 25

Walking into the elevator in Quantico the next day, Spencer's thoughts were still with Annie. She had fallen asleep pretty quickly, which hadn't surprised him. After he had spent the first hour trying to get comfortable on the chair, nurse Megan had offered him a folding cot the hospital provided for cases like this and he had gladly accepted. His sleep had been light and Annie had woken twice during the night after the events of the day had invaded her dreams again. He hoped things would get better in time but knew she would need all the support she could get. But he had vowed to himself that they would get through this. He knew how she felt, after being abducted by Tobias Henkel he had gone through hell. He had hidden his fears which had made it even worse and he promised himself he wouldn't let Annie do the same thing.

Entering the bullpen JJ, Emily, Morgan and Garcia came rushing to his side.

"How is she?" Rossi enquired as he joined them.

"I wish I could say she's okay, but she's not entirely. She woke up twice tonight because of her nightmares. But she's strong, she'll get through this." Reid replied.

Patting him on the shoulder, Rossi gave him a smile. "I'm sure she will kid, with you by her side. If you need anything, just say something. We're all here for both of you."

This was met by nods from the other team members.

"Thanks guys." Reid said, thankful for having friends, no, a family, like them. Looking up at Hotch's office, he grimaced. "Guess I should go, Hotch wants to talk to me."

"Don't worry Spence, he'll give you one of his speeches because he has to. But he of all people understands why you did what you did." JJ encouraged him.

Walking up to his unit chief's office Spencer hoped she was right. After knocking on the door and Hotch's "Come in" he entered the office.

"Reid.", Aaron briefly looked up from his papers and nodded to the chair.

As Spencer sat down, Hoch closed the file he was working on and crossed his hands on the desk.

"Reid, I know you probably want to get back to Annie as soon as possible so I'm gonna make this short. You disobeyed my orders yesterday, and while I can understand why you did I still have to give you a warning. This will go in your file, so make sure something like that doesn't happen again or I'll have a hard time defending you in front of Strauss, even if you're an extremely valuable member of this team."

When he didn't continue, Spencer asked: "That's it?"

"Yes. I will give you the next couple of days off so you can be there for Annie."

Spencer felt relief wash over him. "Thanks Hotch, I really appreciate it. And I'm sorry." Standing up, he walked to the door. As his hand reached for the doorhandle, he turned around when his boss adressed him again.

"And Reid. Between the two of us, I would have done the same thing." Giving him one of his rare smiles he continued. "I'm happy you found someone Reid, Annie seems like a great girl and if you two need any help in getting over this horrible experience just let me know." And with that he faced his paperwork again.

Leaving the room, Spencer was met by his team members.

"And?" Morgan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's fine, he gave me a warning and told me to be careful. Um, I should probably go back to the hospital. Annie's parents should be there by now and, um, she wants me to meet them."

"Mind if I go with you? I mean, it is customary to visit your friend's girlfriend in the hospital, right?" Derek asked with a grin. He knew Reid would be nervous about meeting the parents and while he would be thankful for having him there he would never outright ask him to come with him.

Spencer gave him a nod. "Sure, why not." He was grateful for the offer, he could do with the support. Walking to the elevator with Morgan he already felt better.

After Spencer had left Annie tried to occupy herself with watching TV. But she didn't even noticed what she was watching, her thoughts drifting back to the nightmares she'd had. In the dreams, she was back in the kitchen of the farmhouse and she was reliving everything. Her face had throbbed in pain when she had jolted awake. Spencer had been wonderful, he had held her hand and recited one of the books he had memorized in that eidetic brain of his. She smiled at the memory of him. She knew she would get through this with Spence at her side. She was still lost in her thoughts when the door was opened and a nurse peeked in.

"Ms. Barker, you have visitors. Robert and Caroline Barker, your parents?" she said.

"Mom! Dad!" she cried, as her parents appeared in the doorway.

Giving her a gentle hug, her mom looked at her with tears in her eyes at the sight of her daughters face. "Sweetie... How could this happen? I couldn't believe it when we got a call from the FBI..."

Her father was more composed as he gave her a kiss on her uninjured cheek, but Annie could see the anger in his eyes when he said. "I always told you that guy was bad news."

Rolling her eyes, she looked at him. "I know dad. But no one could have known he would do this..."

20 minutes later her mom had somewhat calmed down. They had both asked her what had exactly happened but she had told them she wasn't ready to talk about it, although her dad had protested at first. "Promise me you'll deal with this okay? We're here for you shortcake.", he had told her, using the pet name he had given her when she was a little girl. She had nodded and promised him so.

"But now tell me Annie, why was the Behavioral Analysis Unit involved in this? As far as I know they only get called in for special cases?" her father asked.

Annie chuckled to herself, of course her Dad, the lawyer, would ask about this. She knew this was the time to tell them about Spence, especially since he should be back from the office soon.

Looking at both her parents she said. "Well, um, the thing is... I've met someone."

Her mom gave her a surprised look. "You met someone? What does that have to do with the FBI? And why don't I know about that yet? You usually tell me stuff like that?"

"I know mum. Just let me explain. I would have told you, but we just met and you guys were at the cabin so I didn't have a chance to do so. His name is Dr. Spencer Reid and he's part of the BAU. Well, things have been moving quite fast between us... and when I went missing his team took the case."

"A Dr.? How old is this guy exactly?" her father asked, afraid his daughter had yet again made a questionable choice.

"He's 28 dad..." Annie replied, rolling her eyes again. "He's... he's very gifted. And he's sweet, and warm and... if it wasn't for him I might not be here...he saved my life..." she continued, lowering her eyes.

Seeing her husband raising an eyebrow at her, her mom jumped in, giving him a warning look. "I'm sure he is sweetie. It's just a lot of news to take in. Are we going to meet this Dr. Reid anytime soon?"

Knowing dad would always be protective of her, even if she was dating an FBI agent, Annie gave a huge smile. "Yeah, you will. He had to go to the office but he should be back soon."

Seeing his daughter smile Robert couldn't help but smile back. "Well, I guess anyone who can make my daughter smile like that can't be that bad."

Just then, there was a knock at the door and Annie looked up, her smile growing when she saw her boyfriend enter the room.

"Spence!"

That's it for today! Sorry guys! :D Don't forget to review!