Sooo I'm thinking I kinda do what I did with season 5 in season 6 but to a lesser degree. I think it was just MGG, but Reid was low key sick in ep 2, and then MGG sounded sick in eps 3 and 4, so I think I might do kind of a lead up into Corazon since his *trauma* this season is his sickness, lol (as well as a few other things that happen too… oof). I might throw some extra fics here and there just to spice things up, but rn it's looking like we're focusing on mostly sick!reid for s6, so I hope yall are ok with that! Im excited to write for this season and I hope yall enjoy this chapter!

S6 E2

When Reid woke up that morning, he knew something was wrong. He'd had a subtle ache in his head for the past few days, but today felt even worse than before.

His stomach rolled with nausea and he'd barely managed to get any sleep the night before. He stood on wobblily legs, slowly making his way to the bathroom. When he reached the sink, he felt as though he might collapse.

Gripping the sink as hard as he could, Reid managed to stay standing, but looking in the mirror it was obvious he was sick. He was very pale, and his short hair stuck to his sweaty forehead. He closed his eyes, attempting to stop the room from spinning, but, somehow, his head began pounding more.

He managed to brush his teeth and wash his face without vomiting, and he clumsily threw on some work clothes. Grabbing a cup of coffee, he stumbled out the door, only half aware of where he was heading.

He squinted at the bright light that hit him as he walked outside, shoving his sunglasses on as quickly as he could. Reid managed to get to the metro and ride to work, but he was functioning on autopilot.

When he arrived at the office, an odd scene presented itself. The blinds to Hotch's office were pulled, and Morgan and Prentiss were standing below, discussing what was going on. Hazily, Reid threw his stuff down at his desk and walked over to the two other agents.

"What's going on?" he asked in a quiet voice.

The two agents turned to him, both looking confused as well.

"JJ and Strauss are in there with Hotch, they've been in there a long time." Prentiss stated.

"Strauss?" Reid repeated, unsure he heard her correctly. She nodded, confirming it.

"I'm gunna go see if Rossi knows anything." Morgan stated, turning to walk towards the man's office.

Prentiss took a seat in her chair, continuing to stare at the office in confusion. Reid leaned against her desk, hoping that sitting down might make him feel a little further away from collapse. He stared up at the office in silence, mind sluggishly attempting to reason with what the three would be discussing for so long in Hotch's office.

Garcia approached the two of them a minute or so later, asking if JJ was still in with the other two. Reid's eyes drifted down to Prentiss's desk, realizing she had antiacid tablets laying out.

That should help calm his stomach.

Without thinking, he reached over, grabbing them. As he opened the lid to grab the calcium tablets out, he heard a scoff from behind him.

"Ugh, again with the dairy?" Prentiss asked him. He froze for a split second before realizing that he would just have to go with it.

He couldn't tell them what was actually going on, because he didn't know what was going on. "I can't help it, I love dairy."

Morgan joined the three of them once more, and they all collectively stared at the office. Why would Strauss be in there with the two of them? It didn't make any sense, JJ was their communications liaison, not an agent, and she hadn't done anything to warrant punishment of any sort.

"Do you know why JJ's in there?"

"I have no idea."

"What is going on?" Garcia asked.

"Maybe she asked for a raise." Reid chimed in, still unable to think of any reason why their teammate would be having a meeting with Strauss. He shoved another tablet in his mouth, chewing carefully. His stomach still felt fragile, but he didn't feel like he was going to puke anymore.

"Have his blinds ever been closed?"

Reid's brows furrowed together. Besides the few times when he'd slept in Hotch's office, he couldn't remember the blinds ever being closed. Though the man liked having his own space, he also liked to present himself as reachable. Keeping his blinds open showed people that it was okay for them to come and talk to him if he was needed for something.

When JJ suddenly walked out of Hotch's office, Reid quickly turned his head to look the other way. Awkwardly scratching his neck, he watched as Garcia quickly walked out of the bullpen and Prentiss pretended to do some work on her computer.

It wasn't long until Hotch walked out of his office as well, and the team began heading towards the elevators so that they could catch their plane.

When they boarded, JJ wasn't quite acting herself. She was distancing herself from Hotch, and clearly was upset about something. Reid wanted to talk to her, but the nausea he'd been experiencing earlier was back, and his head was throbbing once more. The lights in the plane weren't helping him, and he desperately wanted to wear his sunglasses, but he knew that would attract to much attention from his teammates.

Attempting to distract himself, Reid began reading through all the information that Garcia had given them on their way out. However, it only seemed to amplify his nausea until he was certain that he was about to vomit once more.

He quickly stood, making his way to the bathroom as quickly as he could without attracting attention from his teammates. The door was closed, but he needed to get in there now.

Knocking, he prayed that whoever was inside would open up soon. Luckily, they did.

JJ appeared, looking slightly distressed. Her brows raised at the sight of him and she quickly did a onceover on him. He was sure he didn't look very good, but he didn't have time for that now.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, you?"

"I just feel kinda sick, excuse me." Reid said, squeezing past her to fit into the plane's small bathroom. He quickly locked the door before leaning over the toilet. Expelling what little he had in his body wasn't pleasant, but luckily, he managed to be quiet enough that he didn't think anyone heard.

When he finished, he leaned back against the wall of the bathroom, breathing heavily. His stomach felt better now that it had been emptied, but the world was still spinning, and his head continued to get worse. Awkwardly, he grabbed some toilet paper and wiped his face before flushing the toilet. Reid managed to slowly stand, ignoring the dizziness he was feeling, and turn towards the sink.

He quickly washed his face and his mouth out, getting rid of the putrid taste. When he glanced in the mirror he cringed, noticing the darkness under his eyes and how sweaty and unruly he looked.

He attempted to clean himself up, but there simply wasn't enough time, nor did he have the motivation. Reid stumbled out of the bathroom, back into the bright cabin. He squinted against the light, wishing he could just go to sleep.

But he couldn't, they had work to do.

When they landed, Rossi and he went straight to the crime scene. He was assaulted by the light outside, when he reached for his sunglasses, he realized that he'd forgotten them on the plane. Cursing himself, Reid squinted against the light, trying to ignore the stabbing he felt in the back of his head. Thankfully, the walk outside wasn't long, and the club was much darker.

He and Rossi examined the crime scene, finding some important information they could share with the rest of the team. Reid braced himself for the walk outside once more, flinching away from the bright sun and keeping his head down. If Rossi noticed his odd behavior, he didn't say anything, for which Reid was grateful.

When they were back at the station, Hotch asked him to go talk to Barrett. That sounded like the worst thing he could do at the moment, but not wanting to raise any suspicions, he went along with it.

Reid took a seat in the room with the submissive partner of the serial killer duo. As he walked into the room, Morgan was yelling out the door of the other.

"What the hell was that."
"That was the camera." Reid replied swiftly. He knew what the man was actually asking about, but they needed to play off of them.

"No, the yelling."
"oh, that was Agent Morgan." Reid replied quietly, opening the man's file, "Barrett, it says here you were half an hour late to work on Saturday morning." His voice was gravely from sickness, but luckily it was still intact enough.

Barrett looked at him, annoyed. "I was hung over." The man stated.

Reid looked back down at the file again, "You were hung over? That's nothing new but being late is. It looks like you always clock in ten minutes early, gas up the jet skis, get the life vests out. What happened that morning?" He leaned forwards towards the man, trying to focus on his microexpressions.

"I just told you, I was hung over." Barrett stated once more, looking as stoic as ever.

"Got it, hung over, slept in. What about Friday night? Friday after the bar." Reid questioned.

"We drove to the inlet-"

"Drove to the inlet, approximately what time would you say that you drove to the inlet?"

"2:00, 2:30."
"Why would you go to the water at 2:00 or 2:30 in the morning?"

"The boats start coming in." The man stated, maddened. He was clearly beginning to get annoyed with Reid's repetition and questioning of his statements.

That's what they wanted.
"In the middle of the night, the boats start coming in?"

"Yeah, they fish all night, then they bring in the catch. Then they sell it on the docks to the restaurants and all that. Syd wanted to show her, then he drove her back, dropped her off at the hotel, and the next thing I know, it's morning."
"And you just slept in?"

"My alarm clock's broke."
"Broken." Reid corrected, seeing the anger begin to build again in the man, "Your alarm clocks broken."

The man's eyes filled with rage. "Broken." he repeated, clearly trying to keep a hold on his frustration.

"Did it make you upset?" Reid asked, pushing away the smile that wanted to creep onto his face. The man was about to blow.

"Can you fix the damn camera, please?!" The man asked irritably, standing up suddenly. Reid flinched slightly at his raised voice but managed to keep it under control. The door whipped open and Reid turned to see who it was.

Prentiss was standing there, holding a new file. "Sit down" she ordered, and the man followed suit. She handed the file to Reid, who quickly flipped it open, quickly reading the words. He cleared his throat, as he saw the polygraph results. His brow furrowed; Barrett had passed.

"How'd you pass it?" Prentiss asked.

There must be something more going on than they realized, nothing that the man was saying made sense. Reid noticed that he continued calling the ocean the 'inlet', something randomly specific that seemed like a conscious choice.

The team met back up, discussing the two men. They'd eventually pieced it together, how Barrett and Pearson had done exactly what they'd told them, but that Barrett had left out part of the story. That he'd gone back to return her phone, and he'd abducted her, leaving her to be fish food to the sharks.

They'd sent out the coast guard, hoping maybe they'd be able to find her body so they could confirm Barrett committed the crime. Or, maybe they'd find her, still alive somehow.

Luckily, they'd found her in time, managing to pull her off a buoy. The family was reunited, and, besides dehydration and sunburns, it looked like Kate was going to be okay.

However, it seemed as though they weren't getting a fully happy ending tonight.

Hotch informed the team that Strauss had passed her order through people above him. JJ was leaving at the end of the week, and there wasn't anything they could do to stop it.

Reid sat in silence on the plane, exhausted and sick, but feeling distraught that his best friend was being taken away from him. He was at a loss for words, it didn't feel real. He wanted this all to be a dream, he wished he could just awaken from the nightmare he'd fallen into.

But this wasn't a dream, it was real.

Reid vaguely remembered the plane landing, and the team making their way back to the office, but he felt barely aware. His headache had continued to get worse, and the dizziness he felt was even more prominent now. He felt like he might faint at any minute.

They gathered in the bright bullpen, Reid squinting against the harsh artificial lights. The team was silent, watching as Hotch left JJ in the round table room to fill one last thing out.

When she did emerge a few minutes later, the team stood, not wanting to let her go. Reid managed to stand wobblily, watching as JJ approached with watery eyes.

"Wait a minute, I thought Hotch was supposed to-"
"It's above his paygrade." JJ said, choked up, "Strauss's too."
Reid's brows furrowed in sadness and denial, they were supposed to at least have another week with her! "They can't just take you away." He stated softly, looking at the ground.

"So, we do nothing?"

"It's done."

Reid's mind fuzzed out. He didn't hear any of the words the others were saying. This didn't make any sense; this couldn't be real. They'd just come in to work this morning like it was any other day, and now JJ was leaving? He felt tears begin to collect in his eyes as he searched for a logical way out of this, for a logical answer.

There wasn't one.

Reid stared at the ground, clenching his jaw. He couldn't lose his sister, he just couldn't. He wouldn't survive without her.

"They can't just take you away." Reid repeated, even softer this time. He bit his lip, attempting to hold back his tears as JJ moved towards him, petting his arm lovingly.

The group exchanged hugs with her wordlessly, no one even knowing what to say. Just a few hours ago, their family had been whole. Now, they'd lost one of their own because she was too good at her job.

Reid shared a long hug with JJ. He felt like he was in shock. She'd eventually walked away, going to say goodbye to Garcia. Reid found himself grabbing his stuff and bolting, not wanting to talk to anyone.

He needed to get home.

He took the metro, which had thankfully been pretty empty tonight, and arrived back at his apartment. As soon as he walked in, he knew he was going to vomit again. From sickness or from the loss of his best friend, he wasn't sure.

Reid sprinted to the bathroom, quickly dry heaving into the toilet. Tears streamed down his face, and they continued to flow after he'd finished. Curling up into a ball on the floor, Reid cried over the loss of his teammate.

He knew they'd probably still see each other. She would still be in DC, and he was still Henry's godfather. However, he knew things wouldn't be the same. They'd slowly start drifting apart more and more until he only saw her once a year, and then eventually she'd disappear completely from his life.

That's how it always went.

When the tears eventually stopped flowing, he was left with a pounding headache and a horrible taste in his mouth. He managed to pull himself off the ground and start the shower. Quickly undressing, he stepped under the spray of hot water, feeling slight relief.

He felt a few more tears trickle down his face as his memory assaulted him once more. He just couldn't believe that had been it. JJ wasn't a part of the team anymore.

After a long time, Reid pulled himself out of the shower. Quickly drying himself off, he pulled on his pajamas and threw himself on his bed. He was exhausted, and desperately wanted relief from the ever-present pounding in his head. He turned, grabbing his phone off the desk to plug in, and checked the messages.

~JJ~

*6:57pm*

JJ: Spence, I'm really sorry that this is happening. I don't want to go either.

JJ: I know you don't like change, but we'll still see each other! And you'll still come babysit Henry, right Spence?

*7:32pm*

JJ: Spence?

*7:45pm*

## (2) MISSED CALLS FROM: JJ ##

~Hotch~

*8:03pm*
Hotch: I tried my best to keep JJ here, Reid. I'm really sorry I couldn't do anything about it, and I hope you're okay. Please let me know if you need anything, you're always welcome at my place.

~Prentiss~

*8:14pm*

Prentiss: Spencer, I'm here if you need anything. I'm sad too :(((((

Prentiss: I know JJ doesn't wanna leave any more than we want her to.

*8:23pm*

## MISSED CALL FROM: Prentiss ##

He appreciated their concern, but the last thing Reid wanted to do right now was talk to any of them. He just wanted to forget.

Reid turned his head towards his window, staring out at the dark night sky. What was the point of this job if their family was going to get separated like this? The only way any of them got through the day, got through these hard cases successfully, was because they could rely on one another.

And now the department had taken one of their own away from them.

Reid wasn't sure how they'd get on without her. JJ did a lot more for the team than a lot of people realized. From handling press conferences, to talking with the families, and even picking their cases, she had a very large range of things to get through during each case.

Who would do that job now?

Who would be there for him now?

JJ was his best friend and, as much as he tried to deny it, he relied on her heavily for a lot of stuff. As much as the rest of his team was like family, when he did actually decide to go to people for help, she was usually the first person he'd talk to.

She was approachable and understanding, and she was like his sister. She only had a few years on him, whereas most everyone else (save Garcia) were much older than him, so the two of them could relate to one another and got along super well.

They'd been close since he'd first arrived at the FBI. In fact, she'd been his first real friend. She'd approached him, quickly getting to know him and showing an interest in who he was, something he'd never experienced before.

He'd never really known friendship until he met JJ.

Reid closed his eyes, curling into a ball on his side. As much as he wanted to hang onto her, he knew he had to let her go. There was nothing he could do and as much as he hated it, Strauss was right, she would be able to be home with Will and Henry more. They'd be able to be more of a family.

Plus, she'd be getting a raise, as this was a major promotion.

He took a shuddering breath in, choking back tears.

Reid would miss his sister a lot, but he knew he needed to let her enjoy her family. He needed to let her continue succeeding and moving up in the department.

So, he would do the only thing he could; Reid tried to let her go.

I hope you liked this chapter!
I am pretty happy with how it turned out. it was a little hard cuz I wanted to show kind of the beginnings of his sickness, but also show the case, and also show JJ leaving and his reaction, so it was just a lot to work with. however, I think it ended up meshing fairly well!
Let me know if y'all have any suggestions or requests for season 6 fics! Thank you all so much for reading!