Woken by her own scream Val sat strait up in bed, shaking and shivering. A cold sweat broke out across her brow as the shadows of the room slowly came into focus. The terror of the dream clung to her mind like a wet spider web. Pounding on her front door made her gasp, and draw the covers up higher.

"Val? Val its Reid, are you ok?" Reid's voice carried through the house.

Recognition was slow, but eventually she remembered giving Reid and Morgan a key to her house. When she saw him in the doorway, she thought she was trapped in her dream again, until she heard his voice.

"Val?" gun still in hand, Reid advanced slowly into the room, Morgan was behind him gun at his side.

"Val anything wrong? Are you ok?" Morgan asked tersely.

Hitting the light switch, Reid walked into the room. Val stared at them wide eyed in terror, embarrassment beginning to grow in the pit of her stomach. Morgan stayed in the doorway for a moment, "I am going to check out the rest of the house, you ok here Reid?"

Nodding, but not bothering to look back, Reid put his gun back in the holster and held up both hands as he slowly advanced towards Val.

She didn't look up, instead she closed her eyes drew her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, she was shaking uncontrolled. "Val, listen to me, listen to my voice, you are safe. Morgan and I are here for you, nothing is going to happen." He knelt by the bed, getting on her eye level. Gently placing a hand on her shoulder, Reid didn't pull back when she flinched. Moving slowly as though in a dream, Val turned to look at him. "See, your safe Hun, no one here but me."

In a lung motion Val reached out and clung to Reid, wrapping her arm around him, and burying her head in his shoulder, sobing. "I got you, your safe. Shhhh, Val your safe, I have you." Reid held her and soothed, gently stroking her back and hair.

Joining them in the room Morgan watched Reid for a moment before clearing his throat, "The house is clear, false alarm."

Waving Morgan off, Reid continued to sooth Val, "Was it a dream? Your safe now, can you tell me about the dream?"

Shaking violently still, Val nodded, "it was just a dream." Still clinging, Val told Reid what she remembered about the dream.

"Did you get a good look at him, was it your patient from the hospital, the one that you had to intubate? Can you remember what he looked like, any defining features. Remember your safe, I got you." Reid coaxed.

Thinking as hard as she could, Val frowned, "he was lit from behind, I can't know for sure it was the same man. He was tall, broad shoulders. Nothing else." She buried her head in his shoulder, and found comfort in him.

Reid made eye contact with Morgan over Val's shoulder. And mouthed to him, "I got it." Morgan stood there a moment longer before retreating to the car, locking the front door on his way out. Reid stayed with her for several more moments before being able to coax her out of the bed and into the kitchen. Once there she made them each a cup of tea and settled next to him at the table.

"I should have just taken the dam pill." Val said after a few moments of silence.

Looking up Reid asked her, "What pill?"

"Ambien, it would have prevented that dream." Val said taking a sip of her tea, then added a little honey to it.

"You can't suppress this forever, you need to move through the grieving process. You need to take some time for your self." Reid watched her movements, noting that her hands were still shaking.

Val met his eyes, and was surprised at the genuine concern that she saw in them. "How do you do it? How do you meet people every day that you may not be able to help?"

"I could ask you the same question." Reid said with a smile.

Val looked away from him, and took a sip of her tea. After a few moments of contemplation she answered with, "I need to try. Sometimes just being there to listen, to comfort, to show that you care can make the difference in someone's life." She reached across the table and took Reid's hand. "You have no idea how therapeutic touch can be to someone who is dying. Sometimes all I can do for a patient is to hold their hand, and they know they aren't alone." She gave him a weak smile, and let go of his hand.

Reid observed her for a few seconds, then reached over and linked his fingers with hers. "You're not going to die, not that way, but I understand how important it is sometimes to be reminded that you are not alone." When his eyes met hers he saw the tears she was fighting. "If it would help you sleep, I will stay here for the rest of the night."

Shaking her head she didn't want to have any more attention the she already had, "No that won't be necessary, but thank you. I am just going to finish my tea, and take a Benadryl." When Reid opened his mouth she cut him off, "it wont suppress REM sleep, but it will help me fall asleep."

"Actually I was going to ask for a cup of coffee before you went to sleep?" Reid asked with an innocent smile.

Laughing Val went to stand up, but Reid still held her hand, when she raised an eyebrow in question he answered, "no rush, enjoy your tea first." Val sank back into her chair and enjoyed knowing she wasn't alone.

Reid held her hand for a few more minuets before breaching the subject that he knew would upset her, the letter. "We found a unusual letter today, it was addressed to you."

Looking up Val paled a little, "to me?"

Nodding Reid continued, "it read like a letter from a lover." He was able to recite the letter from memory, and observed Val's reaction.

Val stared at the table while she listened to Reid recite the correspondence and frowned her head slowly shaking from side to side, "Where did you find that?" when Reid didn't answer Val pulled her hand away from his, he let go without a fight. "That was private, where did you find it?"

"Who was it from Val? Was it from Dr. Stone?" Reid asked gently.

Head still shaking Val pulled her feet up on her chair and wrapped her arms around her knees; "It was from Stone, he gave it to me a few days after I was suspended. He said he wanted us to get back together, but it would have to wait, it would look bad if we were having a relationship with everything that was going on and how involved he was in the investigation." Val hugged herself tighter, "he even brought up us moving in together once. But…" she blinked back the tears and turned her head away from Reid.

Talking slowly, and trying not to sound anxious Reid asked, "Val where was the letter? Do you remember where you had put it?"

Sniffing, and whipping at the tears Val turned to look at him, "you found it. I had it in the top drawer in my desk in the office."

Reid's hand was on his gun before he knew what he was doing, the un-sub had been in the house, maybe when Val had been here, maybe when he had been here. His thoughts began racing, should they get her out of there? Should he insist on staying in the house, should they call the team together. The pattern that the killer preferred was a kill every other night, but if they had spoken to him today then the killer may be speeding things up.

Reid jumped when a hand touched his, Val stared at him in concern. "You look as white as a page, are you ok? I will make that coffee, you look like you need it." She gave his hand a gentle squeeze and moved away from the table. He watched her for a moment and realized that she was dealing with the grief the only way she knew how to, she was suppressing it by caring for others. As long as the un-sub stayed with his original timetable, nothing was going to happen tonight, but Reid wasn't about to gamble Val's life on that. "If you don't mind, I will run some coffee out to Morgan, and then I am going to crash on your couch for the rest of the night. The sun will be up in a few hours anyway." He offered her a warm smile, which she gave a shadow of in return before focusing on the coffee.

Why was he still in there, he had checked to make sure that she was all right, so why was that FBI agent still in there with her? He should be in there; he should be holding her hand, not that skinny little agent. Why would she allow him to be that close to her? Why was she making tea for that man, when HE was her one true love, he was the one who was going to spend the rest of eternity with her? Taking a deep breath he steadied himself, time, it was all a matter of time, then he would be with Val for the rest of time.

Morgan gratefully accepted the cup of coffee and cast a speculative glace at the large thermos that Reid held. "He was in the house." Reid's startling announcement shocked Morgan away from the coffee

"Excuse me?"

Taking a deep breath and leaning against the drivers side of the dark SUV Reid locked eyes with Morgan, "The letter that Hotch and Gideon found today, she had it kept it in the top drawer of her desk."

Morgan stared at Reid in disbelief for a moment, "When was the last time that she saw it? Was he in there yesterday? Or last week."

His head shaking, words failed Reid, he opened his mouth but couldn't form them. "I just-I mean…"

"I know, I know. Now what?" shaking his head Morgan leaned back in the drivers seat.

"I am going to stay in the house, but I don't like the idea of you out here alone-"

"You know me better then that, I will be fine." Morgan said doubly grateful for the coffee. He glanced at the dashboard clock and smiled it was 4:45. The team would be waking up in the next hour or two. "Go on in, keep her safe."

Reid nodded before heading back to Val's house. He didn't like the circumstances, they needed to move Val. But the team would be meeting in a few hours, they would discus what to do then.

Morgan watched Reid until he was safely in the house, then he flipped open his cell phone and dialed a well-known number.

"I may be the goddess of knowledge, but even this goddess needs some sleep." Garcia's voice answered.

Smiling Morgan answered, "Don't give me that lip baby momma, its 3 hours later for you then it is for me."

"And you sound like you have been up all night, what can I do for you?" Garcia asked on the end of a long yawn.

"I know this is going to be a long shot, but any chance you did a background check on Val's neighbors? I know we initially wrote them off, but I have a hunch." Morgan asked, before taking a sip of the coffee and smiling. Val had a way when it came to caffeinated beverages.

There was nothing but the sound of key board clicking on Garcia's end for a few moments then, "Nothing in depth, but I did do a quick search, none of her immediate neighbors fit the profile, the two on either side of her are married and in their late fifties, kids grown and living away from home. And that seems to be the trend for the street, she is the only one under forty for several houses in either direction."

Morgan frowned, "What about the houses that might back up to her? Any of them in the right field of work, or fit the profile?"

"Oho baby cakes, you know I am good, but I am not quite that good, that will take me a little while, and I will let you know what I find when I find it." Garcia sighed.

"All right hot stuff let me know." Morgan flipped the phone closed and was left alone in the predawn light with his thoughts, and a full cup of coffee.

Morgan called the team before they could meet so that everyone arrived at Val's house instead of the police station. Reid had made sure that Val had taken a dose of Diphenhydramine and was in her room sound asleep, before joining the rest of the team in the kitchen.

"What happened last night?" JJ asked settled herself at the table.

After catching everyone up on the little drama of the night Morgan opened the conversation to theories.

"We move her its only going to have him focusing on us even more. If she is willing, we should keep her here, we can watch her, and hopefully we will find him before he tries anything." Prentiss suggested.

Reid nodded, "She isn't willing to go back to the station, or to a hotel, she says its bad enough being 'cooped up' here." He smiled slightly at how she had described it.

Gideon turned to Morgan, "Tell us about the search you had Garcia do early this morning."

"Its just a hunch, the un-sub was able to get into her house possibly while we had it under watch, which suggests that he didn't use the front door. So I am having her do a search on the bordering neighbors, maybe he hopped the fence?" Morgan shrugged.

Hotch crossed his arms and leaned against the kitchen counter, "Our initial theory excluded the immediate neighbors, but that would explain why it was someone that she knew, but maybe didn't recognize, and why he would have gone to her over the other nurses. Lets see what this search reveals. In the mean time. I want to keep agents at the house at all times. Morgan, Reid, get some sleep."

Val was wrist deep in weeding when she heard someone approaching her from behind, glancing she offered a smile of welcome to JJ. "Your garden is beautiful." JJ said by way of greeting.

Dusting off her gloves against one another, Val stretched her back and surveyed the work she had gotten done so far. The roses still needed to be pruned, but there wasn't so much as a whisper of a weed in her vegetables. "Thank you, if you want to see a really beauty of a garden look into my neighbors yard." She began pulling off her gloves by the fingers, then dusted them together as she stood.

JJ pulled her hair back from her face and went to the closest wall, "No not that one." Val moved past JJ to the far back wall and peaked over. "Mr. Laurence always manages to get the biggest tomatoes, and the sweetest smelling roses." She cast an envious look over the back wall.

Following her lead, JJ stood on her tip toes and got a glimpse of a well kept back yard, with a large vegetable garden on one side. "Do you get to spend much time out here?"

Finally looking away Val shook her head sadly, "Not as much as I would like. Work comes first, but its always a nice distraction. And it gives me something to discuss with the neighbors."

JJ crossed her arms, and wished again that they had been able to share their latest theory with Val, but the girl was already under enough stress. She had slept nearly to noon today, and didn't look like any of it had done her any good. "Do you see much of your neighbors?"

Slapping her gloves against her thigh, Val shook her head. "Whenever I am back here and I hear them we talk, but I never really see them. Cant gossip and garden at the same time, so we kinda just talk over the fence." She shrugged. "I am going to go turn the oven to preheat, any requests for dinner?"

Smiling JJ declined and remained outside to think. Garcia still had not gotten back to them on the neighbors background checks, the more time JJ spent at the house the more she thought Morgan's latest theory was right.