A/N: As always, I didn't re-read this before uploading, so I hope there aren't too many mistakes.

Chapter 11

Reid sat still on the edge of his bed. Everything was quiet. Usually Reid preferred quiet moments, but the silence he found himself surrounded by now was unsettling. There was complete silence. No movement outside his door, no calling birds…and no friends teasing him. Not even the voice Reid had gotten used to hearing was there. It had disappeared days ago, and Reid has felt a growing sense of detachment since.

He considered watching television, but the thought hardly interested him. He thought about going for a walk, but he couldn't convince himself to move. Reid contemplated calling the team to apologize, but he figured that none of them would want to talk to him. It was too quiet. Not even his thoughts could keep him company for his mind was empty, as well. His mind—a tool that often helped him as much as it scared him. He relied so heavily on it because it was often the only thing he had. And, now…it has abandoned him. It was all gone… His family, his friends, his job, his mind… What purpose did he still have now that he has lost his greatest asset?

He continued to sit in silence. Suddenly, a sharp tone caused the headache Reid hadn't realized he had to triple in intensity. As the young agent massaged his temples, he slowly realized what the disturbance was. He gently pulled his cell phone from his pocket and stared at the caller ID. Reid continued to stare for a moment before accepting the call and slowly lifting the phone to his ear.

"Hello…?" Reid's voice was groggy as he mumbled into the phone.

"Reid? You there, my cuddly little genius in a bottle?" Garcia's usual optimistic nature was not welcomed by Reid's pessimistic mood, nor by his increasing headache.

Reid made no attempt to hide his sigh. "Yes, Garcia. I am here."

Garcia didn't need to have the same qualifications as the rest of the team to know there was something wrong. "Is everything okay, Reid?" There was no answer. "Reid? Are you all right? You're not hurt, are you? Did something hap—"

"Garcia, I'm fine." Reid offered simply.

"Are you sure? Reid, do you swear to me you're okay?"

"I'm all right, Garcia."

The exhaustion in his voice was obvious, so Garcia decided not to push him…for now. "Well…okay… The reason I called is because I may have some clues on our lady-strangler. I used the geographic profile you made to narrow down the search to anyone with—"

"Garcia, Garcia, stop." The technical analyst immediately ceased talking at Reid's interruption. "…I'm not the one you need to give this information to."

"I don't understand. Weren't you in charge of—"

"Garcia." If Reid had the energy, he would have sounded agitated or at least highly frustrated. Instead, he just sounded tired. "You need to call Rossi or Hotch."

"Why? Are you—"

"Garcia, listen." The young blonde fell silent. Reid sighed. "I can no longer contribute to the team. I've been removed from the case…I'm inactive."

There was silence as Garcia tried several times to close her agape mouth. Finally, she regained enough of her composure to speak.

"Why?"

Just one simple word. A word that brought Reid pain if he dared to try to think of it-but for reasons that were obvious as well as reasons that were unknown even to the young genius.

"…It's complicated," was all Reid offered. Before Garcia could ask for details, Reid quickly said, "You really need to contact one of the others with this information as soon as possible, so I won't consume anymore of your time" before hurriedly hanging up.

And then, everything was silent again.

Reid sat on the edge of the bed, unmoved, for several more minutes. He could feel his heart beating in his chest, but it was odd. It felt thick and heavy. Every pulsation seemed to require an abnormal amount of energy. It hurt. His own heartbeat was hurting him. He knew why. Of course he knew why. But he dare not think why. He can't admit why. He just had to push passed it…no matter how much it hurt.

Eventually, Reid mustered the strength to stand up and sluggishly shuffled out of the room. He made his way toward the restroom at the end of the hall, not bothering to close the door once inside. For a moment, he simply stood there, staring at himself in the rectangular mirror above the sink.

Reid saw imperfection and revulsion. The mirror—and everyone besides Reid—saw something else. His skin was pale and dry ('hideous'). His clothing sagged around his too thin frame ('fat'). His eyes held a haunted look, surrounded by layer upon layer of bags ('disgusting'). He slumped to one side as he held unto the sink for support (pathetic). His lips were dry and severely cracked ('unappealing'). His breaths were strangled and shallow (insignificant). He, to put it simply, was ill ('helpless, lowly, unlovable, weak, horrendous, jejune, grotesque…'). But only others could see it ('degenerate').

Reid shut his eyes tightly as he was suddenly reminded of his migraine and his cramps all at once. He whimpered slightly, the sound reminding him of how pathetic he was. The pain became too much, and the agent slowly sank down to the floor, clutching his head with one hand and his stomach with the other. He detested the noises he was making, but couldn't help them. He closed his eyes even tighter as he curled into a ball. A single tear escaped down his cheek before the world disappeared.

'~*~'

He heard something…but he wasn't sure what it was… A voice? It was loud…too loud. It hurt. And then everything was gone again.

'~*~'

He heard something else this time. Something blaring. He couldn't tell if he was wincing or not. He could feel…hands? It didn't matter, because it was soon after that, everything vanished again.

'~*~'

The next time he awoke, he knew immediately where he was.

And he couldn't prevent the swear that escaped his lips…

A/N: I'm going to try (the operative word being "TRY") to upload at least once more this month, maybe twice. We'll see.
Also, I finally got to write more of Garica. I hope she was in character.

REVIEW RESPONSES:

Namira 0. 0: Yes, I feel that Hotch taking Reid off the case is a much more realistic outcome. In all honesty, the choice doesn't have too much effect on the rest of the story...I was going to have Reid pass out in this chapter regardless of anything. The main difference now is that this gives Reid something else to be angsty over. And that is in no way a bad thing (well, it isn't bad for us). ;)

Couragexoxo: Talented writer, hmm? Unfortunately, I feel like the last several chapters don't really depict that. They were somewhat rushed and maybe a bit too straight-forward. Or maybe I'm just being picky. I always have to upload soon after I finish typing or else I'll spend forever trying to perfect every aspect of it and still not be completely pleased. (There's also the chance of me forgetting if I don't upload immediately...which has happened before).
You're favorite story? But its not even done yet, LOL. What if the rest of the story turns out to be dreadfully horrible? What is I have Reid suffer from a heart attack two chapters from now and he dies all alone? What if Hotch fires Reid and Reid later kills himself? It's best not to jump to conclusions when this story isn't even halfway done yet (I don't think it is...not unless I DO decide to give Reid a heart attack). Something tells me that if I kill Reid we won't be friends anymore...
Not that I was planning on doing it... ... ...maybe... ...
):D

MW3addict: Sorry about the length. It was actually supposed to be two chapters, but I suppose I may have rushed things a bit and left out some stuff, then decided to make it all one chapter. This chapter is about 200 words longer, so I hope that's okay? I'm going to try to make my chapters longer, but that might mean it will take me longer to update...

Guest: Of course Reid wasn't going to stay calm :D
Also, I doubt Reid would have been able to go home since the BAU probably wouldn't have the budget to let a single agent go home because he was being troublesome, and he isn't thinking clearly, so I don't think he wold have packed his passport to get on a normal flight.
Find new co-workers? Hmm, that's an idea Reid might have.

Guest: Here ya go!

Guest: I'm going to assume you meant "but too short". Sorry if it was too short. I'm going to try to work on that.