S4 E7

JJ was at the hospital; she was in labor. All of Reid's worries were forgotten as they'd jumped on the plane for D.C. He was emotionally and physically exhausted, body ready to collapse at any moment. However, he needed to put that aside. JJ was having a baby for God's sake!

The plane was a blur, Reid zoned out for most of it. His mind was still trying to process everything that had happened. Seeing his dad, the nightmares, his mom, poor little Riley…

He shook his head, trying to clear it somewhat.

'Stay awake' he thought to himself, 'Focus.'

So, he stared out the window, mind blank, and watched the sky. Reid was thankful that Rossi and Morgan were leaving him alone. He knew they'd probably try and talk to him later, or at least someone from the team would, but he needed time to process.

Reid felt like his head might explode. He had a pounding headache and body was shaking slightly from fatigue. He slumped a bit more into his seat, letting his eyes slide shut unintentionally.

He jolted awake when a hand clapped him on the shoulder. Morgan stared down at him, urgency in his eyes laced with a bit of pity. Rossi stood behind him, equally as worried.

"We're here kid," he held out a hand, offering to help him stand, "come on."

Reid lethargically looked for his bag, only to realize it was slung around Rossi's shoulder. Slowly, he nodded his head and took Derek's hand. He helped pull him out of his seat and steadied him when he stumbled, knees weak.

The three made their way to the SUV that was waiting for them. Reid dragged himself in the backseat, buckling himself in as Derek began to drive towards the hospital. He could feel Rossi eyeing him, but he dug his palms into his eyes, attempting to wake himself up.

The drive to the hospital was quick; Derek was driving after all. When they arrived, Reid's body perked up, suddenly realizing the situation once more. With a new sense of energy, he jogged along behind the other two agents, making their way into the hospital.

They briefly talked to the nurse, who informed them that JJ was down the hall and that she had already delivered the baby. Reid smiled, happy to hear it had gone okay. Morgan and Rossi shared a look without Reid noticing, and Rossi clapped Reid on the shoulder.

He turned to face the older agent, who also had a smile on his face.

"Why don't you go ahead, we'll come in a little later."

Reid's eyes furrowed in confusion, but he nodded. He wasn't going to question them, he just wanted to see that JJ was okay. He slowly made his way down the hall, heart beating in anticipation. He could hear laughing coming from inside the room, so he gradually peaked in.

Prentiss and Garcia were standing on one side, laughing. Will stood on the other, over JJ and their baby, smiling, and Hotch had his back to Reid.

He awkwardly knocked before speaking, "uh is there room for one more in here?"

"Spence, hi." JJ spoke gently, eyes softening as she made eye contact with him. He walked in awkwardly, giving a smile.

Hotch turned around, a rare smile on his face. "Welcome back." He stated, nodding.

"Thanks." Reid said, turning back towards JJ. His eyes landed on the small human, bundled in a blanket in JJ's arms. "Wow." Was all he could say. His breath was taken away. Awkwardly he turned to Will, holding out a hand for a rare handshake, "Congratulations."

Will grabbed his hand, nodding in thanks. When JJ started to speak, he turned back towards her.

"How is it that I just went through 15 hours of labor and you look worse than I do?" Reid chuckled slightly at this; he was sure she was right. He still felt like a light breeze might knock him out, but he had to stay strong for her.

"Don't be ridiculous, you look beautiful." He quickly stated, eyes bouncing back to the child. He felt like he was in a haze, like this wasn't real. He just couldn't believe JJ had just given birth. It was crazy.

Will spoke suddenly, breaking the silence, "Well I could sure use some coffee, anyone else?" Reid looked up, confused at his statement. "My treat." The rest of the team nodded, slowly trickling out of the room. Will clapped him on the shoulder on his way out, giving him a large smile. Reid was still very confused at what all that was, but he was too tired to process it.

He moved closer to JJ, still staring down at her child. "wow." He said again, very softly.

"You okay?" JJ asked.

Reid's brows furrowed, "Yeah, yeah, you?"

"Yeah, yeah, you sure? Because there's something I wanted to ask you, but it can wait."

His smile dropped and concern replaced his features. "What is it?"

JJ looked down towards her child, smiling, "Will and I were talking, and, um…" she looked back up towards Reid, tears in her eyes, "we want you to be Henry's godfather."

Reid immediately felt tears rush to his eyes. He was so touched that they'd even consider him. Suddenly his mind was moving a mile a minute. Why him? He couldn't be a godfather, kids hated him, he would do a horrible job with Henry if something happened to JJ and Will. He wouldn't even know where to start, he didn't even have a father to compare to.

He didn't know what to say, so he let out an awkward laugh, stuttering over his words, "I… don't e-even know… I don't even k-know-"

"Here, do you wanna hold him?" JJ asked, practically shoving Henry towards him.

"Um-"

"Its okay"
"I- uh-"

"Here you go" JJ stated, confidently handing him off. Reid awkwardly took the child, still at a loss for words.
"okay."
"Watch his head"

Reid looked down at the little face, "hi" he said softly.

"There you go."
"Hello Henry" He said, examining the tiny features. He smiled; he really did look like JJ. Reid was completely in love with the child already, he knew he'd do anything to protect him.

"If anything were to happen to us its up to you and Garcia to make sure this boy gets into Yale."

Reid laughed a little, smiling down at the child. "Oooh Yale. Yale? Do you wanna go to Yale, Henry? That was your godfather's safety school." JJ laughed lightly and he smiled even larger, "Don't worry, I can get you into Cal Tech with one phone call."

He continued holding Henry for a little while longer, never dropping his smile. He wanted to take in everything he could about the child and remember this moment for the rest of his life. However, after a few minutes his arms started to ache, and his body began to remind him of his exhaustion.

JJ must have noticed, because she held out her arms, ready to take Henry back. He gently passed his godson to her.

"Thank you, JJ. I…uh… just thank you."

She smiled up at him, nodding. Just then, Will came back in the room, Morgan and Rossi in tow. The two immediately congratulated JJ, moving closer to her bed. Reid began backing out of the room, making room for more people to file in.

Once he got to the hallway, he saw Prentiss and Garcia making their way back towards the room. The two were mid conversation, but they both smiled at him as he passed by. He made his way out to the empty waiting room, collapsing in one of the chairs.

Reid really needed a cup of coffee. Or maybe a nap. He leaned forwards, placing his head in his hands. Slowly he rubbed his temples, willing away the fatigue.

"You okay?" a voice startled him out of his thoughts. Reid squinted upwards, seeing Hotch standing above him.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine, just tired." He brought his head up, smiling at Hotch. The man took a seat next to him. The smell of his coffee drifted towards him and Reid's body ached for the caffeine. Reid let out a large yawn, rubbing his eyes again. "Where'd you get the coffee?"

"Spencer." Reid looked at Hotch in slight confusion, the man's voice was sharp. "No coffee. You need sleep. And probably food." Reid bit his lip, nodding in acceptance. "Come on, let's get you out of here."

Hotch stood up quickly. It took Reid's brain a few seconds to process what was happening and before he realized it, Hotch was awkwardly dragging him upward by one arm.

The two of them made their way silently towards the elevator. They rode down to the parking garage, Reid suppressing another yawn. He really was tired. His blinking was beginning to slow, and he felt his world start to tilt a little.

A hand grabbed his arm quickly, stabilizing him. He turned his head towards Hotch, who was staring at him with concern.

"Sorry." He said quietly. Hotch kept his hand on his arm as the elevator door opened. The two stepped forwards, walking toward the car. Reid lagged a little, stumbling over himself slightly as his body was having trouble with its coordination.

"Come on Spencer, you got it." Hotch encouraged, dragging him towards the vehicle. He opened the car door, depositing the younger agent in the car. Quickly, he made his way to the driver's side. He wanted to get home as fast as he could so Reid could actually get a good night's rest.

It had become apparent to him the minute he'd fallen asleep on the plane that something was wrong. Reid barely let himself fall asleep after a case, much less before it. He'd been quiet for the past few weeks and it was clear he was running mostly on caffeine. The dark circles he constantly had were more prominent than ever and he was more pale than normal.

Hotch quickly started the vehicle, beginning to back out of the space. He glanced at Reid, who was clearly in a daze.

"Hey." He said softly, but the kid didn't respond. "Spencer," he tried again, shaking his shoulder lightly. Reid turned glazed eyes towards him, "seatbelt."

Reid looked down, realizing the buckle was still undone. Slowly he nodded, clumsily grabbing the belt and securing it around himself. When he finished, he looked out the window, watching as they drove out of the parking garage and into the city. It wasn't long before the lights started to blur, and Reid's eyes began to shut of their own accord. He thought about fighting it, but decided it wasn't worth the effort.

Reid let his heavy eyelids shut, and quickly fell asleep.

He jolted awake when a hand begun to undo his seatbelt. He blurrily opened his eyes, slowly processing that Hotch was out of the car, beginning to drag him out of his seat. They must have made it to his house already. An arm slid under his knees and another behind his back, quickly pulling him out of the seat.

"Htch" Reid slurred lethargically as his head rolled against Reid's shoulder.

Hotch shushed him, gently carrying him inside. Reid unconsciously tucked his head further against Hotch's chest, snaking his arms up around the man's neck. His eyes shut again, trusting the man to get him inside safely.

Before he knew it, Reid was being placed in a bed. He immediately rolled onto his side, but hands grabbed at his feet, attempting to remove his shoes.

"Leave 'em" he spoke with exhaustion.

"Spencer" Hotch started, "come on lets at least get your shoes off."

"MMmmmmmmm" Reid didn't move, allowing Hotch to undo his laces. A few years ago, he probably would've never let this happen, but his trust in Hotch had built a lot. He was like the father that he never had. Reid knew it wasn't the best idea to look at his boss in that light, but he couldn't help it. Everyone talked about how they were a family, and it wasn't his fault that Hotch fell into the 'father figure' roll.

Reid felt the bed dip beside him, and he cracked his eyes open. Hotch was also still partially in his work clothes, but he too was clearly tired and didn't care. Only then Reid noticed he wasn't in the guest room.

"Hotch?"

"Come here Reid." Hotch settled into the bed, gently pulling Reid onto his chest. One arm wrapped around his lanky body, hugging him close as if he was Hotch's child. The man began carding through Reid's unruly hair gently. He felt his eyelids grow heave once more at the comforting gesture, relaxing into the man's embrace.

Reid felt his eyes slip shut, but he opened his mouth again, trying to form a clear sentence.
"What 'f I h've nightmare? I'll wake ya."

"Spencer," Hotch's hand stopped briefly, as if to make a point, "that's why I want to be close to you tonight. If you have a nightmare, I'll wake you up and we can talk about it. Something you should've done a few weeks ago by the way, but that's a discussion for another time."

Reid snorted, laughing a little at the man's comment. Of course Hotch had figured out that this was going on for a while. He was able to read him better than he could understand himself.

"I know your exhausted, and even though you don't want to talk about what happened with your father, we're going to have to in the morning. But for now, just get some rest. You look like you have two black eyes right now."

Reid nodded into the man's chest, snuggling a little more into the warmth. Hotch resumed his affectionate gesture, and Reid quickly began to melt. His grip on reality began to slip, and soon he fell into a deep and much needed rest.

It was the first night in a long while where he didn't have any nightmares.