*Thank you for any reviews! I hope everyone had a good Christmas!*

It was dark and cold and she was already crying.

There's no reason to be crying, Garcia thought desperately. They're fine. They must be. They have to be. But that didn't stop the panicked tears from falling, running with her mascara and blurring her vision. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a car key.

Once you get there, she thought to herself, JJ will open the door and tell you that Henry is fast asleep, and that was why she and Will had their phones on silent, of course…they were putting him to bed. That was why they didn't answer…

She shoved the key into the lock, wrenched the door open, and climbed into the seat, throwing her bag into the car. She slammed the door shut and shoved her key in the ignition, her hands trembling with fear and anxiety.

That was when she heard him.

"Just give me a reason, and I won't do it."

Garcia sucked her breath in sharply; the all-too-familiar voice coming from the backseat of her car.

"You're upset," the voice remarked; she felt the gun pressed lightly to her neck. "Why are you upset?"

Garcia turned very slowly; she saw the large, brown, sympathetic eyes, the lips pulled into a kind smile, his hair falling haphazardly into his face; the watch, which he was wearing on the outside of his sleeve…and he became suddenly unfamiliar because of his sheer familiarity.

"Spencer," she whispered.

He laughed. "Don't call me that," he said, "You've never called me that before. What gives?"

"Reid," she said, "Did you…did you hurt JJ? And her family? Will and Henry?" He didn't answer, but continued to study her face.

"You're upset," he said again.

She swallowed, then turned and looked him full in the eye. "Yes," she said, "I am. I'm upset because I'm worried about my friend, and her family, and because I'm afraid of you right now."

Spencer leaned back in the seat, although he kept the gun pointed at her. "Let's get out of here," he said, and all of the sudden he had stopped sounding like himself.

"Wh…where do you want to go?" she asked.

"Oh…I don't know. Let's just drive," he said, as if they were about to embark on a pleasant family vacation.

"O…Okay. Whatever you want, Reid." Trying to keep her hand from shaking, Garcia started the car, put it in gear, and pulled out of the parking lot.

"You're real smart," Reid said suddenly. "With computers and stuff."

Garcia frowned. "Th…thank you," she whispered.

Reid fell silent; she glanced at him in the rear view mirror. He was staring despondently out the window.

"I don't want to do this," he said suddenly.

She swallowed. "D..do what?"

"Kill you." He said it very matter-of-factly; like expressing his distaste for a difficult homework assignment.

Garcia's hands started to shake again. "Then don't," she whispered.

"Let's get on the highway," Reid said suddenly.

"Or," Garcia said, "We could pull over, and I could—"

"DON'T YOU SEE?" Reid sat up suddenly, furiously. "DON'T YOU SEE THAT WE HAVE TO? WE HAVE TO GET ON THE HIGHWAY!"

"Oh! Of course…the highway! What was I thinking?" She stammered, putting on her blinker and heading for the nearest exit.

"That's good," Reid mumbled, more to himself than to her, "This is good…"

"Reid," Garcia said suddenly, "Reid, do you remember that time when we went to see that movie? With me, and you, and Ashley, and Morgan?"

Reid frowned. He looked confused. Then he smiled.

"Oh, yeah," he said, "Good movie."

"It was, wasn't it?"

"Well," he said, "Actually, a lot of the plot elements were fairly inaccurate. See, the main character quoted a line from Frankenstein, but they made a mistake; see, Frankenstein wasn't actually the name of the monster, it was the name of the scientist. Mary Shelley frequently referenced…"

She kept glancing at him in the backseat; he continued to hold the gun, but was now looking at the window, and had let in fall sideways onto the backseat as he continued with his lecture. Could she grab it, while he was distracted?

Of course not, she chastised herself, Even if you managed to grab it, you'd both be killed in a collision with some other car.

It was at this point that she heard a pause in his babbling.

"Oh, really?" she inquired, although she hadn't been listening, "That's very interesting."

"You think so?" he asked cheerfully, "Yeah, well actually, in relation to Halloween the novel has had an interesting development over the years…"

Garcia smiled, hoping kindling in her stomach. If she could just keep him talking long enough…get him to remember who he was…

"Pull over!" Reid shouted suddenly, sitting up in his seat and aiming the gun at the back of her head.

"What? Why?" she demanded.

"Road blocks…" he narrowed his eyes, peering out into the distance. "They're trying to stop me, aren't they?" He turned to look at her; his gaze was terrified. "PULL OVER!" he shouted again, pressing the gun into the back of his head. "Pull over, or we're both dead!"

"Alright! Okay! I'm pulling over!" She pulled off the road, eventually slowing to a stop. They sat there in silence for a long time. Reid was taking deep breaths; like he was trying to calm himself down.

"I'm sorry," Garcia said, "I pulled over as fast as I could, you know. You just caught me off guard."

Reid sighed. "I know," he said, "I'm sorry. It doesn't matter, anyways. I've just had a very stressful week, is all. You know how it is." He then flashed a sarcastic smile.

"Is…is that a joke?" she asked. She was extremely confused by the fluctuating moods.

"Of course not!" Reid said, although he had started laughing. "It was very serious!" He continued to laugh hysterically for several moments, before he stopped suddenly; his face became very serious, and he pointed the gun at Garcia.

"Get out of the car."

"Reid!" Garcia said, "Please!"

"Out! Come on!" He prompted, gesturing wildly with the gun. "No, not that side—the passenger side, I mean—yeah, exactly." Garcia was trembling as she climbed over to the passenger seat, opened the door, then clumsily made her way out onto the grass.

"We're going into the woods," he said, nodding at the forest that was hulking about a hundred feet away.

"Reid," Garcia said, tears streaming down her face, "You don't want to do this. Please. I'm your friend."

Reid fixed her with a look of dark anger. "I know," he said. He pressed the gun to her side; so that it was out of sight from any passers-by; and the two of them began to walk towards the woods.

"Reid," Garcia muttered, "What happened to you? Why are you doing this? Why did you hurt all of those people?"

Reid stared straight ahead; they continued walking. "No one else understands," he said, "No one else was going to help them."

"What about your father, Reid? What about Gideon?"

They had made it into the woods now, but Reid kept walking. The night was pitch black.

"I thought you were afraid of the dark," Garcia whispered.

"Things change," Reid said. "The dark is a coward. It hides things." He paused. "It's weak." He had stopped walking. They stood in the silence for awhile.

"What about JJ?" Garcia gasped suddenly. "And Will? What about Henry? You hurt them, didn't you? Didn't you?"

Reid took a few steps back from her; she turned to face him, but could barely see more than a silhouette in the dark. "You have to give me a reason not to," he said suddenly.

"Wh…what?" Garcia asked.

"I don't want to do this. It's terrible. It'll be no fun at all." A pause. "You see, I didn't finish. And now I have to finish it some way. But I'd rather it not be this." Another pause. "You have to give me a reason."

"A reason…a reason not to kill me?" She gasped.

The silhouette nodded vigorously. "Think really hard now," he said earnestly.

"I…" she trailed off. "Because I don't deserve it," she said. "Because…because I've worked my whole life to save people and want to keep doing it…"

"No," Reid said suddenly, "Not that. Give me a reason why you're happy."

"Wh…what?" she asked, caught off guard. "Because I like being alive…because I don't want to die, Reid!"

"You're afraid." He raised the gun.

"Please!" Garcia shouted, her voice quavering.

"You're crying," the silhouette said, sounding appalled. "That isn't happy."

"I'm happy! Please! I don't want to die!"

A pause. "Are you afraid?"

"Yes!" Garcia shouted, "Please, Reid!"

"It's okay," Reid said mockingly; a grin was evident in his voice. "You don't have to be afraid anymore."

She opened her mouth to speak—but it was too late. Something hit her, and then seconds later a gunshot rang out; she couldn't breathe anymore; she fell, trying to reach out to Reid; but the silhouette had already turned around, and was walking away. He disappeared eventually; leaving her to lie there alone, gazing at the dark, night sky.

*Thank you for reading! Sorry about all the death! Review please : )*