Rossi is finally here! I'm so excited, this team is low key my favorite. I hated Rossi at first the first time I watched the show because he's such an asshole in the beginning, but he's easily a favorite as the show continues. I wanted to do a take on Rossi being a dick to Reid though. He definitely took a while to warm up to the kid and I was kinda sad there was never any part of the show where someone told Rossi he needed to stop being so mean to him. I want the team to stick up for the little brother and have Rossi come to realize how amazing he is. This is a two parter because once again, I accidently made this much longer than intended. Enjoy :)

S3 E7&8-ish

PT1

Reid had been incredibly excited to meet David Rossi. The man was a legend. He'd read all of his books multiple times and knew a ton about him, seeing as he was one of the people who'd started the BAU. Gideon had told him many stories about Rossi, and he sounded like a fun person.

However, Reid became weary of the man once he actually met him. He wasn't as approachable as Gideon had made him seem. Or maybe it was just with Reid. The man seemed uncomfortable around everyone at first but warmed up to the team quickly. However, he tended to avoid Reid, sending him judgmental looks and questioning him at every turn.

He supposed maybe it was because of his age, he was the youngest of the team by quite a bit. Rossi seemed disturbed when Reid quoted his books or spewed facts about the man. Really, he seemed uncomfortable anytime Reid spoke.

When Hotch had suggested Reid pair off with Rossi on their latest case, he wasn't sure how to feel. He knew the man had probably done it on purpose, easily reading the hurt on Reid's face every time the older man shot down one of his ideas or gave him a disapproving look.

The two had loaded into the car, in an awkward silence. So, Reid did what he always did during an awkward silence, he tried to fill the space.

He began asking questions about Rossi's books, which the man answered begrudgingly. When the man's answers became truncated, Reid decided he'd just ramble to fill the silence. He began speaking at a fast pace, speaking about the parts of the book that had interested him, some of the stories Gideon had shared, and even why he wanted to become an FBI agent.

It was about fifteen minutes into his ramble when things went to shit.

"Would you just shut up for five minutes? God, kid, it's a wonder anyone can get a word in around you, you never shut up! You don't have to prove how smart you are all the time, we get it! Now be quiet!" Rossi shouted, interrupting his ramble. His hands had tightened around the steering wheel in frustration and his eyes blazed with anger.

Reid shrank back into the passenger seat, embarrassed. He let his eyes drop to his lap, clenching his jaw. "Sorry" he whispered, wringing his palms.

"Thank you." Rossi stated harshly, turning on the radio and cranking the volume.

Reid turned to look out the window at the bland Montana landscape. His mind wandered, thinking of Rossi's words. He remembered the conversation he'd been having with Morgan earlier that morning. It had been mostly one sided, himself speaking about various Star Wars theories. Morgan had gotten up and left in the middle of his sentence, clearly bored with what he was saying. His brows furrowed as he remembered back to other times that had happened. Reid was able to recall every member of the team doing that at one point, getting annoyed with his incessant rambling and making some excuse to leave. Sure, not all of them had been as rude as Rossi, but maybe the man had a point.

He did talk too much. That much he knew.

Reid had been told that in grade school, by every teacher he had. He never really made any friends, but he'd attempt to befriend teachers, and eventually they all said the same. He knew his dad had felt this way, he'd told him to shut up all the time.

But when he'd got to the FBI, it felt like things were different. He'd thought that people actually cared what he had to say. That's why they'd hired him, wasn't it? Because he could spew facts like a computer?

Reid's hand wandered unconsciously to the crook of his elbow, itching at his old scars. Maybe that's all he was, just a helpful tool in the field. He bit at his lip, causing it to begin bleeding slightly. Reid made a silent promise to himself.

From now on he'd only speak when he was spoken to. That why no one could get annoyed at him for talking. This would be better for everyone, he decided. As much as he loved to ramble random facts, he was sure his team would appreciate his silence. He'd be less of an annoyance this way.

The rest of his time with Rossi was better now that he'd figured out the problem. His plan had worked incredibly well. He'd only spoken when it was absolutely necessary. He managed to bite his tongue when the civilian had called him a "pipe cleaner with eyes" and said he could "snap him like a twig."

I mean, to be fair, the man wasn't wrong. He was awkwardly skinny and weak to be in the FBI, but usually he would've come up with some retort. Instead, he took the blow, and it seemed like their investigation went better because of it.

'Rossi was right' Reid thought to himself, 'people will like me better this way.'

On the way back to the station, he didn't make a sound, staring out the window at the horizon, thinking about the case instead. This was another good thing, Reid decided, less random rambling meant he could be a better use to the team.

Reid continued on like this the rest of the case, and it seemed to work. They were able to catch the guy and figure out his plans fairly quickly.

'Maybe I've been slowing us down the whole time, distracting the team like that. I had no idea… I'll do better from now on.' Reid promised himself. Another thing clicked in his mind, all the sudden. Not one member of his team had commented about his sudden silence. No one had thought something was wrong or questioned it whatsoever. Maybe they were all relieved, happy that he'd finally shut up. As sad as he was that he was going to have to close off that part of him, he was more than willing to stop speaking if it made the people around him happier.

'The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few' he quoted Spock to himself, allowing a small smile to pass on his face. Yeah, he was doing it for his friends, for them, he could be quiet.

The team piled on the jet, everyone exhausted from the past few days. Reid trailed behind the group, entering the plane last. Morgan had claimed the couch, where Reid normally would go. He thought about sitting next to the man but realized he shouldn't bother him. His headphones were already in and he looked like he might already be asleep. Plus, Reid thought, he was probably the last person Morgan would want to see.

JJ and Prentiss were sitting in the seats across from Morgan, speaking quietly. Hotch and Rossi were in the next two chairs, also discussing something. This left the last two chairs in the back corner, unless he wanted to sit next to Hotch and Rossi.

He knew the two didn't want him interrupting the conversation, so he hurried past them, tucking himself in the corner of the plane. From where he had sat, he couldn't see anyone.

Reid let his façade of nonchalance drop. He was disappointed but relieved that no one had approached him. He really didn't want to have to explain why he'd gone quiet, but at the same time, he had kind of hoped someone would notice.

Reid brought his feet up on the seat, wrapping his lanky arms around them. He glumly sat his chin on his knees and stared out the window. It was dark and rainy out, the runway looked smudged through the wet window. It wasn't long before they took off, leaving the small down in Montana and heading back home.

His eyes drift shut but, knowing that he probably wouldn't get any easy sleep, he pulled them back open. He watched out the window for a few more minutes before peeking around the plane. Reid didn't have a great vantage of everyone, but from body language he surmised that everyone was either asleep or attempting to get rest.

He let out a sigh of relief. No one would check on him, they'd all assume he was asleep as well. He could get some nice reading done.

Reid pulled out the book he had currently been rereading. Opening to his bookmarked page he began. However, it wasn't long before his eyes began to droop.

It wasn't a short flight, flying from Montana back to DC was no easy trip, but he couldn't risk having a nightmare on the flight. However, his other problem was that, in order to get coffee, he'd have to make it, and the smell alone would probably wake one of the other agents up.

Reid couldn't risk that, so instead he rubbed his hands hard into his eye sockets and forced himself to stay awake.

By the time the plane was getting ready to land a few hours later, he'd barely gotten through a chapter of his book. He was constantly reminding himself to keep his eyes open.

'By the time I make it back to my apartment I'm going to crash hard.' Reid thought to himself.

Soon enough the plane landed. The team lethargically rose, slowly gathering their things and walking off the plane. No one noticed when Reid didn't rise with the rest of them. He'd strategically waited so that he could be last off the plane, avoiding the others. Hotch quickly announced that they'd have the next few days off. He tuned out the talk of going out for drinks, knowing that they'd probably only be inviting him as a common courtesy.

Reid got into the backseat of the car, placing himself within the shadows, hoping no one would address him. When they got to the office, he didn't even follow the team upstairs, deciding to slip out down the stairs in the garage.

When he'd turned to peek back at the group, it looked as if the only one who'd seen him slip away was Rossi.

'Good,' he thought, 'Rossi won't say anything, he doesn't want me there anyways.'

Reid caught his trains home and was soon stepping into his apartment. He was beginning to stumble more, body aching from exhaustion.

He managed to take a quick shower and change before collapsing on his bed. He easily slipped under the blankets, curling into a ball. Reid was asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

*dream time!*

Reid was standing in the middle of the round table room. Only there was no round table, instead there was some sort of circular force field which he was standing in the middle of. He began to panic, trying to find a way out. He seemed to be stuck. Reid began yelling for help, yelling for his team.

Morgan appeared, sneering at him. He was screaming and screaming, but Morgan wouldn't acknowledge his words. Reid wasn't sure if he couldn't hear him, or if he was simply ignoring him.

"SHUT UP!" a voice yelled behind him. Quickly, Reid spun around, seeing a very angry looking Rossi staring at him. He began to plead, begging to be let out. The circle seemed to be getting smaller and smaller as seconds ticked past.

"BE QUIET!" another voice yelled. Reid turned towards it. It was Hotch, a disappointed look on his face. Reid immediately began sobbing, asking for forgiveness for whatever he'd done.

"SILENCE!" this time when Reid turned it was JJ. She looked furious. He was taken aback, he'd never seen her so mad before, especially not at him. He once again began saying 'I'm sorry' over and over again, but she continued being angry.

"STOP TALKING!" Prentiss yelled. Reid continued to cry, slowly running out of pleas. It didn't seem like there was anything he could do to make them forgive him.

"Please, please tell me how I can earn your forgiveness! I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He pleaded, falling to his knees in the middle of the small circle. Morgan turned to face him, fury in his eyes.

"There is only one way…" He smiled, an evil glint in his eyes. Suddenly, Reid couldn't breathe. He reached up to touch his face, but something was missing. His mouth! It was gone!
Reid began to hyperventilate as his teammates laughed at him. He scratched at his face, desperately attempting to get his mouth back. Tears ran down his face in anguish. He keeled over on his knees, placing his hands over his ears, their laughter making him sick. No matter what he did though, their laughs seemed to amplify. He couldn't escape them, and now, he couldn't even talk to them.

*end dream time*

Reid sat up abruptly, his whole-body slick with sweat. He stumbled out of bed, gasping for air. Clumsily he made his way to the bathroom. Reid quickly expelled the contents of his stomach into the toilet. When he'd finished, he lay miserably on the floor of his bathroom. There were still silent tears running down his face from the dream. Reid brought his hands up to his cheeks, swiping away the wetness.

He felt very shaken by the dream. His subconscious had hit him a little too directly. He shivered, wrapping his arms around himself. More tears leaked from his eyes as he thought of his dream.

One of Reid's biggest fears was abandonment. He was sure it was obvious, the way he seemed to latch onto anyone who gave him the smallest amount of attention or praise. But that also meant that he was horrified of rejection. His trust issues were large. Reid had lost too many people.

His father, Elle, Gideon, basically all the friends he ever made during school. He just wasn't that likeable.

Reid brought his knees up tightly to his body, hugging them close with his arms. He tucked his head into his legs, sobbing uncontrollably into them. He hadn't felt this kind of pain since he'd found Gideon's credentials a little over a month ago. Sadly, he realized his fears had been true.

His teammates didn't like him, they were going to abandon him too in time.

He wasn't sure how long he stayed there, sitting on the cool tile of his bathroom crying, but by the time he dragged himself back to bed the sun had risen fairly high into the sky. He managed to pull the curtains over the window in his room before flopping back down.

Reid thought he should probably get up, eat, drink some coffee, maybe read a book. But it was all just too much. He couldn't do it today. He didn't have the energy or the spirit. Instead he buried himself under the covers, hoping no more nightmares would haunt him.

The next time he awoke, Reid was very out of it. Being asleep for so long confused him. It was dark again out; he must have slept the whole day away. Reid managed to stand to relieve himself, but once he came back to bed, he fell to the darkness once more.

The next morning came quickly. Reid still didn't feel great, but he was able to pull himself out of bed. He shakily stood, weak from lack of food, and made his way to the kitchen. He made himself down a glass of water before making any coffee, knowing he was probably dehydrated.

He soon settled in front of the tv, watching Star Trek reruns, sipping on his coffee. A pang of sadness went through him as he realized he hadn't heard his phone buzz once. Not one person had texted or called to check in on him.

'They don't care' a self-loathing voice in Reid's head whispered, 'they never did.'

Reid shook away the voice, choosing to focus on the show instead of wallowing in sadness.

It was early afternoon before he knew it. He'd zoned out while watching the show, his mind blank. He stood unsteadily, making his way to the fridge. He grabbed an apple to nibble on, knowing he should probably ingest something other than coffee.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.