PT2

In this episode, Reid finds out what family means, and I hope is as cute as I think it is because I'm so proud of how this turned out, haha.

When Reid awoke it was dark out. He suddenly realized the need for his awakening and shot to the bathroom. On his knees before the toilet he expelled the small amount of fluid he had ingested. Tears involuntarily flowed down his face as he dry-heaved. Hands began rubbing comforting circles on his back. After a few minutes of heaving out nothing, his stomach finally stopped seizing.

He was laying limply against the cold toilet bowl, exhausted from all the energy he spent. He was so hot, and the coolness of the porcelain felt good. The hands on his back continued tracing shapes. It calmed him down substantially. The only time he'd experienced something this comforting was with the team. When he was sick as a child, he took care of himself. Then he decided he'd just pretend he wasn't sick rather than attempt to comfort himself.

With the team he'd found now, it was different. When he'd been injured or sick, or even just sad, the team seemed to care. He couldn't quite understand it, but they'd try to help. He supposed it was hypocritical in some fashion. He had always considered himself the protector but didn't think he deserved protecting. But the team treated him like a little brother, someone who needed a lot of guarding. Maybe that's why he didn't complain when they called him 'kid' or were worried about him going into a dangerous situation. He had never had that before. It was nice.

The hands stopped moving on his back and were pulling his limp body away from the toilet.

"Come on kid, let's get you back to bed." Reid was too exhausted to acknowledge Derek, but he appreciated the help. He had planned on just staying there all night. When Derek tried to pull him up, Reid couldn't get footing, he felt too weak. Instead, Derek managed to swing the kid into his arms, carrying him bridal style to the bed.

When he deposited Reid in the bed, his head lulled on the pillow. He didn't seem to have much control over his muscles at the moment. Seemed like too much effort.
"Hey kid, let's get some liquid in you, okay? Then you can sleep, alright?"

"Mmmph."

"I'm taking that as a yes" Derek propped the still very limp Reid up against the headboard and opened a bottle of Gatorade. Luckily JJ had popped by the store and gotten some necessities for dealing with a sick Spencer. Some Gatorade, saltines, sprite, ice packs, and some flu medicine. They weren't sure exactly what he had, but it seemed like some form of flu or cold.

He helped the kid down a few sips of the drink before allowing him to lay back down. Taking out the thermometer, Derek placed it under the Reid's tongue. After a minute it beeped, reading 102.7.

"Shit." That was substantially higher than it had been. Derek stood to get the flu medicine and ice packs. "Hey, kid, wake up for one more second, you need to take some medicine."

Reid pulled his eyes open into slits. It felt like someone glued his lids shut. Derek gave him some weird tasting liquid and he grimaced as it entered his mouth.

"Swallow the medicine pretty boy, come on." Reid managed to get it down without gagging too much. When he finished, Derek helped him lay back down and he curled up under the blankets. Suddenly the room was freezing. Curling into a ball, he tucked himself under the covers. A cold item appeared on his forehead and he flinched away from it.

"stop… 's cld."

"Kid that's the fever talking, you're burning up."

"no… 's cld… 's lke wre in nt'artica."

Derek shook his head. "Antarctica?" Reid nodded. "Alright kid get some rest. Hopefully the medicine will bring down that fever." More cold spots appeared around his body and he tried to burrow away from them, but soon he didn't seem to care anymore.

Reid drifted in and out of consciousness from there. He vaguely remembered the cold, and then feeling like his body was on fire. He was fairly certain he vomited again and was forced to drink more of that foul liquid. There had been multiple voices at one point, whispering through what sounded like cotton, and then hands stroking his hair. When he eventually pulled his eyes open, soft light was filtering through the hotel window.

Reid's head lulled to the side. There was a body next to him in the bed. Looking the other direction, he saw another body in the second bed. He gently pushed his aching body into a sitting position. Squinting at the light, he swung his legs over the side of the bed. He felt a million times better than he had the day before. His vertigo was pretty much gone, and his stomach felt more nauseated from lack of food than from being sick. He still had a small headache, but his throat and nasal passages felt better as well. The only thing that had stuck with him was the phlegm in his lungs. He figured he'd probably have a cough a while longer.

He gently stood and walked to the bathroom. The clock on the wall read a little past 5am. He must've slept the whole last day. Shutting the door to the bathroom, he quickly relieved himself before looking in the mirror. He had a definite case of bedhead, hair sticking up in every direction. His skin was still pale, but less grey and sickly than it had been. He turned to walk out the door only to find Derek standing on the other side.

"I was making sure you weren't sick again." He stated immediately. Reid smiled.

"I wasn't."

"Here kid let's get you back to bed, are you feeling better?" Reid nodded, taking Derek's help back to the bed. It might only be a few steps away, but he was still feeling fairly weak. He sat down on the bed, realizing that the other body had awoken as well, a disheveled looking Hotch was watching him from the other bed.

"Open up." Derek said, shoving the thermometer in Reid's mouth before he could process the action. Reid gave a small scowl but didn't protest.

"Ah well if you're able to pout then clearly you're feeling a little better" Hotch smirked. Reid rolled his eyes at this comment but didn't retort back. When the thermometer beeped Derek smiled.

"99.1, alright kid looks like your fever's almost gone. What are your other symptoms?" Reid opened his mouth, but Derek cut him off, "And NO downplaying it, alright? We worked too hard yesterday getting your fever down to have to deal with a delusional Reid another day." Reid blushed at this comment. He couldn't remember much of the previous day, but he was sure Derek probably wasn't exaggerating. He cleared his aching throat before starting.

"Throat's still sore, bit of a headache. That's about it though." Reid gave a small smile and the men exchanged glances.
"Up for eating something?" Hotch asked and Reid paled slightly but nodded. Derek's eyebrows raised in surprise. Perhaps they assumed he was downplaying it too much. Which, with his track record, wouldn't have been surprising, he supposed. Derek walked towards his bag to grab the crackers they'd gotten for him and Hotch took a seat next to Reid on the bed. He placed his hand on his back, rubbing small circles. Reid unconsciously leaned into the touch, closing his eyes.

This was something Hotch and Derek had talked about the previous night. It was clear that the kid was starved for attention and touch, yet he tended to push the two things away. They'd talked about attempting to slowly give him these two things, introduce them in his life. Maybe it would help him. He clearly had little to no self-esteem and maybe a little bit of praise and attention about something other than his brain, which they were sure was the only complement he'd ever received from the way he acted, would help boost his confidence. Maybe introducing touch into his life would help him loosen up and trust the team a little more. Then, when they were in situations like this, maybe he'd ask for help before he fainted.

Derek approached the two, a sleeve of crackers and bottle of Gatorade in hand. When Hotch's hand left Reid's back, his eyes immediately shot open as he shook himself out of the comfortable trance he'd fell into. He rubbed his eyes and took the crackers. It was obvious that he felt uncomfortable with all eyes on him, so Hotch and Derek moved to the chairs beside the bed, discussing the case, but keeping an eye on Reid while doing so.

He carefully unwrapped the crackers, attempting not to spill the salt onto the bedspread. Carefully, he took a small bite out of one. It didn't really taste like much, but that was kinda the point, he supposed. He took a few more bites before taking a swig of the unnaturally colored drink. When his stomach didn't instantly revolt, he continued, taking small nibbles of the crackers. Reid found his stomach actually began to feel better with some amount of food being put into it and managed to eat about half the sleeve before stopping.

Hotch and Derek had been carrying on conversation but kept tabs on Reid. The kid was looking better but was still much to skinny and clearly still sick. Someone needed to teach this kid to look after himself or he was going to collapse one day and never wake up. They were both happy to see him eat a fair number of crackers before stopping. Hotch realized that was the most he'd seen the kid ingest in the past few months. Maybe he'd have a talk with Reid when they were back in Quantico.

Derek stood to take the items from Reid.

"Stomach feeling okay?" Reid nodded. Derek's brow shot up in confusion. "Voice stop working or something pretty boy?"

Reid cleared his throat. "No, just hurts a bit" he whispered, voice gravelly. He coughed a few times and Hotch immediately handed him a glass of water. He took it gratefully, gulping it down before whispering "how's the case?"

Hotch and Derek shared a look as Reid continued.

"Guys, please? I feel bad enough that you're stuck here with me rather than out-"

"Kid we aren't stuck with you." Derek interrupted, "We're here because you're sick and needed help. Plus, we WE'RE out working the case until midnight and unlike SOME people, the two of us know when it's time to stop and get some rest."
Reid blushed, looking away. Once again in a quiet voice he started "but the people out there need help and I-"

"So help me Reid if you say anything about not mattering as much as the victims I will slap you in front of Hotch."

Reid's mouth clamped shut and eyes dropped to his lap. Derek shook his head and Hotch's face took on the signature Hotch frownTM.

"how do you just shut it off?" Hotch moved from his chair to the bed, once again initiating touch between him and the young doctor. He lightly placed his hand on Reid's shoulder, causing the boy to look up from his lap making eye contact once more.

"We can't, not completely at least. None of us can. And not being able to doesn't make you weak, Spencer. But you need to realize that the weight of the case and the victims does not souly fall on your shoulders" Reid's eyes began to water, Hotch could see all the guilt and pain behind his eyes. Realizing he'd struck a nerve, he continued, "I know you think you should be able to figure it out fast enough to save everyone, but you can't always do that. We can't always do that. All you can do is try your best to save as many people as possible, but that doesn't warrant constantly running yourself into the ground. We'd rather you get a few hours rest and come back the next morning with a clear mind than stay up all night wracking your brain for an answer you may or may not find. Okay?" Reid didn't move for a moment, but eventually he nodded, a tear escaping his eye.

Hotch reached up and wiped it away but almost immediately Reid reacted to the secondary touch by throwing himself into Hotch's arms. His thin arms wrapped tightly around the man's frame as Reid shook with silent sobs into his chest. Hotch wrapped his arms around the kid in reciprocity. He and Morgan shared a surprised look, but quickly the other agent took a seat on the other side of the kid and engulfed them both in a hug.

Reid felt embarrassed, crying into his boss's chest. But he had no control over his tears at this point. The guilt he'd held onto for so long had caused him too much sorrow to just be completely dismissed. Hotch's words were reassuring, and he knew he wouldn't be able to let go completely, but he now knew that someone actually understood his pain. That in itself was comforting to know.

He let out tears that had been held back for years. The guilt for each of the victims that he felt like he'd let down. The guilt he felt for putting his mother in the sanatorium, and even the guilt of forcing his father to leave because he'd been too much. Reid sobbed for what seemed like forever into Hotch's chest, but, for the first time in a long time, he didn't feel alone.

He could feel the man's arms around him, and a second pair wrapped from the other direction. He was suddenly hit with a seemingly obvious realization that he'd been oblivious too. This was his team, but more importantly, this was his family. Coworkers wouldn't sit and let you cry into your chest for hours. They wouldn't drop everything to take care of you when they were sick. And they certainly wouldn't seek you out to make sure you were doing okay. That's what family did. Reid had a family.

When the tears finally stopped, it had only been about a half hour. To Reid it felt like days, his head pounded, and nose was stuffed, throat sore once again. But at the same time, he felt like a weight that had been sitting on his chest for six years had finally been lifted.

The three separated, Reid immediately collapsing against the bedframe, feeling exhaustion fill his body. Derek smiled at him, patting his knee before standing up. He looked at his watch, moving to grab his jacket.

"It's 8:00 so I'm gunna go meet the team at the station," he paused, turning to face Reid, "rest a little more and, later, if your fever completely breaks, maybe we'll debrief you and let you back in on the case, okay?"

Reid's face immediately lit up at this, he nodded enthusiastically at Derek, watching the man smile and turn to go out the door.

Hotch patted Reid's knee before standing up himself. He'd be staying with the kid this morning, working from the hotel room to make sure he continued to rest, but he figured he should probably get dressed. Before he could though, a small voice stopped him.

"Thanks, Hotch. I… just thank you for understanding" Reid whispered, grinning. Hotch turned, a small smile gracing his face, and ruffled the kid's hair.

"Anytime. Now get some more sleep, you heard the man" He joked, turning away.

Reid chuckled lightly before reburying himself within the comforter. He silently prayed that when he woke up, he'd be well enough to help with the case, but decided he was grateful for the help he'd received from his two family members. Spencer smiled, quickly drifting off to sleep.