"Man, I hate Monday mornings." Morgan said when he came back into the bullpen carrying two cups of coffee. "Where's Reid?"
"He's not here?" Hotch asked from his office door.
"Reid's never this late. I thought I just missed him somewhere and by the time I had our coffees he would be at his desk."
Just then a very flustered Dr. Reid rushed through the doors and practically fell down the steps in his rush to get to his desk.
"Reid, is everything okay?" Hotch asked.
"Yeah, sorry. I just over slept. And over sleeping leads to missing your train, leads to missing your connection--"
"Okay, I get the picture." Hotch chuckled before he moved into his office.
"You're sure everything is okay?" Morgan asked again.
"Yes, Morgan. And, uh . . . thanks for the coffee." The black man continued to watch his friend try to frantically settle himself and then moved over to his own desk to get started on the back log that seemed to be growing lately despite how much time they had to work on it.
***
Hotch stepped out of his office and over to the railing. "Conference Room in five minutes to divide up consults." Then he walked on around to the room to wait for the team to assemble.
Morgan was the last to arrive and he watched him walk over to the chair next to Reid. As soon as the hand landed on the younger man's shoulder he jerked back and screamed, "Get your hands off me!"
"What the hell, kid?"
Morgan started to pull the chair out but Spencer grabbed it. "No, you can sit over there." He pointed to the other side of the table.
Hotch shared a very concerned look with Rossi. "Let's get started. We've got eight consults that need to be handled this week." They continued discussing the different cases and then assigned them for follow-up. Everyone got up and left the room except for Hotch and Rossi who stood at the windows--watching them walk back to their desks.
"What's up with Reid?" Dave asked.
"I don't know. Look at him, he's keeping a perfect distance from everyone and avoiding all human contact." He pinched the bridge of his nose and then they both walked back towards their offices. They could hear Morgan trying to talk to Reid, but the conversation was ended when their youngest member told his friend to drop it and refused to say anything else.
***
It was finally late afternoon and Hotch stretched when he got out of his chair. He then headed into the bathroom. After using the facilities, while he was drying his hands, he heard quiet sobs coming from one of the stalls. They were muffled and it was obvious the person was trying to be quiet. He turned around and noticed that the shoes under the door were black converses.
"Reid? Are you okay?" He asked.
There was some sniffing and then a quiet, "Yeah."
"Why are you crying?" Hotch asked with a touch of alarm.
"Just a bad headache."
Slightly relieved that it wasn't something more serious and hoping that it explained the odd behavior of their youngest. "Why don't you go on home then? It's only a couple of hours early and if it's that bad you can't really work anyway."
"No."
"Do you need someone to drive you?"
"No. I'll be out in a minute."
Hotch sighed. Something didn't feel right about this situation but he knew pushing Spencer would only make him clam up tighter. He went back to his office and vowed to keep a closer watch out.