This set of chapters is going to be so much longer than I planned, lol.
maybe I should've done a separate series haha, but oh well, its too late now they're all going in here
I hope you enjoy this much more light and fluffy chapter, I had a good time writing it!

PT3

Reid awoke feeling warm and fuzzy, and fairly content. This was not the way he was used to waking up recently.

Confused, he blinked open his eyes. He was tucked into the crook of Hotch's arm. The man was awake and with one hand was flipping through one of their case files. The other arm was wrapped protectively around Reid.

His eyes began to drift closed again as he burrowed a little further under the blanket and against the older agent, shifting away from the cold air that filled their small hotel room.

Hotch seemed to understand that the movement meant Reid was awake, and he spoke up.

"Good morning, Spencer."

Reid groaned in response, still too tired to fully process any coherent sentence.

"It's almost seven thirty, we should probably head downstairs soon so we can meet with the police department."

Another groan was Reid's only reply. He just wanted to stay huddled under the blanket and go back to sleep.

They'd been awoken last night around four because Garcia had witnessed someone get attacked outside the hotel. Because of that, as well as the emotional turmoil Reid had gone through, he'd really only gotten four hours of sleep.

Sure, they'd been the best sleep he'd gotten in a long time. No nightmares to speak of as he fell asleep in the arms of his protector, but still. Four hours of sleep was not enough.

He was going to need a lot of caffeine today.

Hotch removed his arm from behind Reid, causing him to groan in protest, and got out of bed.

"I'm gunna shower and get dressed, and once I'm done you should do the same, Reid."

"Mmmmmmph" Reid groaned into his pillow.

Reid drifted in a partial slumber for a few minutes, only waking back up when Hotch shook him, alerting him that he was done in the bathroom. He was hinting that he needed to actually get up now.

He slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes hard with the palms of his hands. He was sure his hair was all over the place, and he probably looked tiny in Hotch's sweatshirt, which was very large on him, but he didn't care.

Reid dragged himself out of bed, stumbling into the bathroom. He sighed with slight relief when the warm steam leftover from Hotch's shower surrounded him. At least it wasn't as cold in here as it was in the main room.

After turning on the shower as hot as it would go, Reid quickly stripped off his pajamas and stepped in the shower.

The hot water felt heavenly on his skin. He stood still, letting it wash over him for a few minutes, soaking in the heat while he could. When Reid finally felt like he was sufficiently warm, he ducked his hair under the spray. He quickly shampooed and conditioned his hair with the cheap hotel supplies they'd received and cringed at the very strong scent.

When he eventually stepped out of the shower, the whole room was filled with a hot steam. That's why it took him a few minutes to get up the courage to step into their main room once more.

Reid wrapped the starchy towel around his waist and took a deep breath. He should've grabbed his go bag on the way in, that way he could've gotten dressed before stepping into the cold. But he'd been so exhausted that he hadn't even thought about it.

He cracked open the door, accidently letting out a squeal when the cold air touched him. He quickly shut the door.

"Hotch?" he asked in a slightly higher pitch than normal. "Hotch?"

"You okay Reid?"

"Can you hand me my bag?"

Laughter came from the other room, and he heard the man's footsteps travel across the squeaky floorboards. After another moment, he appeared outside the door.

"Here it is" Hotch said from the other side.

Reid opened the door a crack, quickly grabbing the bag from the man. "Thank you." He said before swiftly shutting the door, keeping the trapped heat inside.

He hadn't missed the brief look of concern that Hotch had shot him when he'd opened the door. He supposed that he was probably looking much thinner than the last time the man had seen him without a shirt on, something he hadn't even considered when he'd stepped out of the bathroom.

Feeling self-conscious, Reid began piling on the layers. He hoped they would keep him warm, as well as hopefully convince Hotch that he hadn't lost all the healthy weight he'd finally put on a few months ago, and that he was at least doing okay physically, even if his mental health had been deteriorating.

One problem at a time though, right?

He threw on his long sleeve button down with a tie, his cardigan, as well as his jacket. He pulled up his pants, cringing as they hung off him. Grabbing his belt, he pulled it to the tightest notch, which happened to be one he'd made a while back. Reid also grabbed his trusty purple scarf, quickly tying it around his neck.

He wished he had a heavy sweater to wear, or even a hat of some sort, but he'd have to work with what he'd brought. He towel dried his hair as much as he could and pulled on two mismatched socks. After throwing his pajamas (and Hotch's sweatshirt) back in his go bag, Reid finally felt a little bit more awake.

Though he still did require a few cups of coffee to be functional.

The steam had all but dissipated at this point, so when he stepped out of the bathroom, the temperature drop wasn't as drastic as it had been a few minutes earlier.

That didn't mean that Reid didn't immediately begin shivering, but it wasn't as radical of a temperature flux.

Reid set his bag down on the table where it had been and turned to face Hotch. The man was sitting on the bed, fully dressed and ready to go, once again scanning a case file. When he noticed Reid watching him, he closed the file, giving the younger agent a smile, and stood.

"Let's go get some breakfast and meet up with everyone." He stated, walking passed Reid and clapping him on the shoulder as he passed.

Reid nodded, trailing slightly behind the man as the two of them left their hotel room.

He walked down the stairs slowly, using the rail to help him as his knee still wasn't fully healed. Hotch walked slowly down the stairs, probably on purpose as to not leave Reid behind. He was grateful for this, if not a little embarrassed, but he was glad that Hotch didn't mention anything about it and continued moving when they reached the bottom of the staircase.

In the lobby were Rossi, JJ, and Prentiss. The three of them were sitting around the fireplace, drinking coffee and eating some food which had been provided by the hotel staff.

Reid went straight for the coffee, quickly grabbing a mug and filling it as much as he could. He began pouring sugar in it, only stopping on his fifth packet when Hotch gave him a 'really' look.

He walked over to one of the empty chairs, plopping into it. The others were in the midst of conversation about the unsub's most recent victim, and what other information they had.

However, Reid's brain was buffering, and he chose to focus on downing his coffee instead.

He was only brought out of his trance when Hotch placed a paper plate of food in his lap.

Reid looked down at the plate, then up to Hotch in slight confusion. The man smiled, nodding towards the plate as encouragement. He pulled up a chair, sitting down next to Reid.

Reid looked at the food once more, stomach rolling as the thought of eating entered his mind. He'd been eating so little recently because of the stress that he was having a hard time getting anything down. He held the plate without eating anything for a while, instead just drinking his coffee.

However, when he ran out of coffee, Hotch quickly snatched the now empty mug from him.

"Hey!"

"You can have more coffee once you've eaten something." Hotch stated firmly. Reid was thankful that his voice wasn't loud enough to cause the others to notice what was going on. He didn't want any attention on him, in fact he'd like to just slip into the background again.

However, after the previous night and how Hotch had reacted to all of the information he'd shared, he doubted he'd be able to do that anymore.

Reid mumbled profanities to himself, glancing down at the food again.

The plate wasn't very big, but he knew he wouldn't be able to finish it all. There was a scoop of some runny looking scrambled eggs, a plain slice of toast, a few orange slices, and a small sausage.

Reid opted for the toast, feeling that that was probably his safest bet. He looked to Hotch with a pleading look, but the man was dead set. Hotch just stared at him back, unwavering. Reid sighed, lifting the toast up to his mouth.

He took a tiny nibble, thankful that it didn't have much flavor. He continued picking at it and was relieved when his stomach began to settle more and more as the small amount of food entered his system.

When he did finally finish the toast, Hotch stood and walked to the coffee machine, getting him a new cup. The man only put two sugars in, but it was better than nothing, and Reid happily accepted the cup from Hotch when he returned.

Sipping on his new cup of coffee, he focused his attention on his other team members. Morgan had joined them, but Garcia was still nowhere to be found. And after what had happened a few hours prior, Reid was not too shocked.

The team was currently discussing the profile, which they were about to give to the police. The sheriff and the few members of his department arrived, walking into the lobby with worried looks on their faces.

Reid placed his food on the table and stood, following Hotch's lead as the man walked over to greet them.

They quickly ran through the profile, alerting the police that they'd need to begin rounding up anyone in the town that fit. They needed to stop the unsub's spree before anyone else got hurt. Hotch decided to pair them off as to get around the town quicker.

Reid wasn't shocked when the man hesitated in pairing him off with JJ rather than himself. He was sure Hotch probably didn't want to be apart from him after the night before, but the sheriff clearly wanted to take Hotch to the school, and they needed to focus on the case.

He and JJ drove around town, finding anyone on the list of suspects the police department had compiled and making light conversation.

It was clear that JJ knew something was up. She was his best friend after all. But she didn't say anything or ask any questions, rather focusing on the case instead.

It was a few hours later when they met back up at the lodge. Hotch, Rossi, and Morgan were all still out, but Prentiss, JJ, Garcia, and he were sitting together by the fireplace, looking for any other information on their unsub.

The day flew by quickly, everyone staying busy zipping all over town, trying to bring in as many people to the station as possible.

Soon it was seven in the evening, and Hotch was insisting that they'd done all they could for the night, and that they should get dinner and head to bed early.

Rossi had been shooting Reid weird looks all afternoon, after he'd gotten back from his outing with Hotch. It was fairly obvious to Reid that the man must've spoken to Rossi at least a little bit about the previous night, because they were more than the normal concerned glances he was used to getting.

When dinner was delivered to them in the lodge Reid opted out. He was too stressed to think about eating right now. Regardless of what Hotch had said, he wasn't ready to give up on this case so early in the night.

Reid snuck out the back door, hoping to get some time alone. He was relieved that the sun didn't go down until around ten at night in Alaska this time of year, it was still bright and sunny out. Though he was immediately wracked with shivers as it was still very cold out.

Reid stuffed his hands into his pockets, briskly walking away from the station. He just needed to get out. There was a park not too far away, maybe he'd just walk through it and then come back.

Maybe he'd be blessed with a coffeeshop somewhere along the way.

He walked a few minutes before he realized he was being tailed. He wasn't sure how he knew, but he just had a gut feeling that someone was following him. He turned a corner, then stopped, waiting for whoever it was to catch up.

A few seconds later, his theory was confirmed.

"Hey-"

"JESUS Christ oh my god Spencer, you scared the shit out of me!" Prentiss replied.

"Why are you following me?" Reid questioned, biting his lip in anxiety.

Prentiss's face said it all, but she heavily sighed before explaining herself. "Well you didn't get anything to eat and then snuck out the backdoor, and Hotch has been hovering around you every chance he gets today so I figured he'd probably appreciate it if someone followed you to make sure you didn't do anything stupid."

Reid nodded at this. He wasn't stupid, he knew the whole team had deduced that something was clearly up. He just really didn't want to deal with this right now. They were supposed to be focused on the case.

He turned to keep walking but was stopped when Prentiss put a hand on his arm. He turned back to her, making eye contact. Her eyes were full of concern.

"Reid, what's going on?"

"Emily-"

"I've been worried about you for a long while, we all have been. You've been acting weird lately, withdrawn. You haven't been coming to any social gathering and, frankly, you look like shit. Please tell me what's happening."
"Emily…" Reid bit his lip, looking down at his shoes. "Listen, it's just not the right time, okay? I promise I'll talk to you another time." He turned to leave again but Emily planted herself in front of him this time.

"Spencer, every time I try and get you to open up, you run away. The motto of the BAU is 'the best predicter of future behavior is past behavior', so why would I believe you when you run away from me every time?"

Reid looked anywhere but her eyes, not knowing how to answer. She was right of course, he didn't want to talk to her later, but he also didn't want to have a full breakdown on the street.

"Would it help if I told you that I t-talked to Hotch last night?"
Emily gave him a deadpan look; she clearly didn't believe him.

"Really! I did, I didn't m-mean to but it just kinda happened… he helped… I'm fine now-"

"Reid one talk with someone doesn't immediately fix all of your problems. You have the whole team at your disposal, we all want to help. You just have to let us in."

Reid wasn't sure what to say. He wanted to talk to Emily, he wanted to let her in.

But he also didn't know how functional he would be the rest of the day if he did.

He looked down, chewing on his lip and scratching at the crook of his arm anxiously. His body was trembling from the cold, and he was once again wishing he'd brought heavier layers.

"Emily, I p-promise, I'll be okay for another d-day." He looked up at her, attempting to use his puppy dog eyes. "You're right, I've not been doing so well, and I promise I'll talk to you about it after this case is over. But I can't do this right now" he pleaded with her.

Emily paused, frowning, before giving a nod. "Fine, but only if you come with me to get some food somewhere."
"Oh I'm not-"

"Well I don't care if you're not hungry, you need to eat. You're starting to look like a skeleton. Plus, you're freezing, we need to get you inside." Emily hooked her arm around Reid's, beginning to lead them forward along the sidewalk. He knew she was right; he was looking more and more malnourished now adays.

The stress was just too much, but maybe they could help him. Like they'd helped him before.

His mind began to wander back to his thoughts of self-loathing. Of how much of a burden he was on all of them. But when he started to get a lost look in his eyes, Prentiss would comment on something, snapping him out of it. Distracting him from the sorrow.

Helping him.

They found a small café and Prentiss ordered Reid to a table while she got some food. He sat down, relieved to be inside the heated shop, body finally warming up once more. His hands felt frozen, along with his face and the tips of his eats.

Prentiss arrived at the table a few minutes later at the booth with a raspberry scone and a blueberry muffin, as well as two cups of coffee.

Reid greedily took the cup, immediately taking a swig. He relished the warmth of the mug on his hands, and just sat a moment, holding the mug.

"Scone or muffin?"

Reid opened his eyes, not even having realized he'd closed them. Emily was staring at him, awaiting an answer.

"Whichever is fine…"

"Okay, you can have the scone then." She stated, quickly shoving the scone towards him. She immediately began peeling back the paper on the muffin, readying it for consumption.

When Reid didn't move his hands, Prentiss rolled her eyes, leaning forwards slightly.
"Eat, Spence." She ordered, pointing at the scone. "I will hold you down and force feed you. Don't tempt me."

Reid's eyes widened at this, knowing her threat was very much real and not any sort of bluff. He reluctantly pulled his hands away from the warmth of the mug and reached for the scone.

Carefully, he broke of a small piece and placed it in his mouth. It seemed to coat his taste buds in the best possible way with the sweetness of raspberry, and the butteryness of the pastry. He was shocked at how good it was, and immediately reached for another piece. Emily smirked at this, biting into her own baked good and smiling at its flavor as well.

Both of them were thoroughly impressed with the bakery.

It wasn't long before both of them finished their pastries and coffee and walked out of the café feeling a little more content.

They still had a lot of work to do on the case, but for once, Reid was thankful he'd taken a break. The two of them walked, arm and arm, back to the lodge, talking about nothing in particular. Emily respected that Reid didn't want to get into it right now, and he had kept his end of the deal, so she wouldn't break hers either.

When they got back to the lodge, it was almost nine thirty. The sun would be setting soon. The lobby was fairly empty, save for Hotch and JJ, who were sitting at a table, looking over files.

Reid figured that Rossi must be in bed, and Morgan and Garcia were probably talking in their room.

When Hotch and JJ spotted them, an immediate look of relief appeared on both of their faces. Reid realized just then that he'd not told anyone where he was off to. But, he supposed, Prentiss had probably texted them to inform the team that they were alright.

JJ jumped up, hugging Reid. He was taken aback at first, but quickly returned the hug. They stayed like that a few moments before she loosened her grip on him. She backed away slightly, still keeping hands on his shoulders. JJ looked him up and down before smiling at him.

She leaned in once more to his ear, as though she wanted to tell him something secret. Reid leaned forwards, slightly confused but intrigued as well.

"I love you Spence, Hotch told me that you've been struggling, and I want you to know that I am here for you whenever you need me. I want to help, but I understand if you don't wanna talk now. But please, when you're ready to talk, I'll be there for you, I want to listen."

Reid smiled, holding back tears that were forming from her sweet message. He pulled her back into a hug once more, this time him gripping her more tightly.

When they finally separated, she patted him on the shoulders before backing up and turning away. She grabbed her bag, turned to Prentiss, and nodded a goodnight at Hotch. The two women smiled at Reid and turned to walk upstairs.

Reid watched them go, in a slight state of shock at the past few minutes, fatigue beginning to catch up with him as well. He was thankful that Hotch didn't mention any details to JJ (or Rossi for that matter), but he was a little annoyed at the man for bringing it up at all in the middle of a case.

But, then again, it seemed like they'd all come to their own conclusions about his mental state anyways, and with Hotch's hovering this morning, they'd probably all figured out that he'd finally talked to the man the previous night.

Reid didn't realize he'd zoned out until Hotch grabbed his arm. He lazily turned his head towards the man, exhaustion hitting him like a truck.

His legs buckled underneath him and he started to fall, but, luckily, Hotch grabbed him before he could even drop to his knees.

Reid shook his head as Hotch held him up, attempting to steady him on his own two feet once more.

"Sorry." He whispered, getting his footing once more. He swayed a little again and Hotch grabbed his waist, keeping him from falling over.

"Are you feeling ill?"

Reid shook his head, eyes starting to feel heavy.

"Jus- tired…" Reid slurred, looking at the ground.

Maybe he could just go to sleep right here… his body started to tip again. His eyes slipped closed and, though he didn't lose consciousness, he let his body fall.

But maybe it was because he knew someone was finally there to catch him.

He felt Hotch grab him by the armpits, slowly lowering him to the floor. The man gently grabbed his face, urging him to awaken. Reid managed to pull open his eyes for a moment, gaze fuzzy and unfocused.

"Reid, can you hear me?"
He nodded lazily, letting his eyes shut once more.

"Just tired my ass." Hotch muttered under his breath, slipping his arms under the kid's back and knees. "More like full blown exhaustion."

He lifted much too easily and frowned. The kid was a lot lighter than the last time he'd picked him up. In fact, this was the lightest he'd been in Hotch's arms.

Hotch realized that it was probably weird that he'd picked up the young agent so many times, but the kid just had such bad luck. Between injuries and other, seemly constant, traumas, sometimes you just had to let him get his sleep wherever he was lying.

Hotch stood, swiftly making his way towards the staircase. Might as well get the kid to bed, he could always come get their stuff from downstairs later.

It's not like anyone at the inn was going to take their casefiles.

He swung the door to their hotel room open and walked inside, immediately depositing Reid on the bed. He sat, tapping the young agent's face. As much as he wanted to let him sleep, the kid needed to change out of his work clothing, and he was wearing far too many layers for Hotch to do it himself.

"Reid, wake up, just for a minute."

Reid lethargically opened his eyes, gaze still glazed over and heavy with fatigue. He slowly sat up, with the help of Hotch, and began undoing the buttons on his cardigan.

Hotch stood, walking to his go bag and finding his pajamas, as well as the man's sweatshirt that he'd loaned Reid the previous night. By the time he'd gotten everything from his bag, Reid was finally beginning to undo the buttons on his bottom most layer.

Hotch sat the clothing down next to Reid, turning away to give him some privacy. He'd seen the look of panic on Reid's face that morning when he'd accidently glimpsed the kid's torso.

He was very thin. Emaciated looking thin. And as much as Hotch was terribly worried, he didn't need to make him self conscious about his body at the moment.

Reid just needed rest right now.

When he heard a soft plop on the mattress, Hotch turned around. A very tiny looking Reid was huddled under the blankets, being swallowed whole by his sweater. The man smiled at this, before turning to get his own change of clothing.

When Hotch was finally ready for bed, he slid under the blankets next to Reid. The kid was laying on his side, facing him, already in a very deep slumber. He was still slightly trembling from the cold though.

Hotch grabbed him like he had the previous night, and so many times before, bringing the kid closer to his chest.

Reid leaned into him immediately, as he always inevitably did, and Hotch wrapped a protective arm around him.

Hopefully this night Reid could get some good rest. Hopefully he'd actually be refreshed tomorrow, and they could start the day anew. Hopefully they'd catch the unsub without any more casualties and they could finally head back to DC and face Reid's problems head on as a team.

Hopefully, Hotch thought, they would be able to provide Reid with something that he desperately needed; hope.

Lil Spence is starting to talk to his team mates!
though he's still having it rough, it was nice to write a lighter chapter haha
I always enjoy writing Emily, she's a baddie
I hope y'all liked this chapter and have a wonderful day!