Emily

Spencer hadn't realized just how exhausted he was until he woke up on the break room couch of the local PD. Even then, it took him a few moments to register anything as a pounding ache exploded through his head. Eyes still closed, he brought his hand up to inspect where the pain was coming from and grimaced hard as his fingers probed the hot lump forming on the back of his head.

"Careful..." he heard a familiar voice say. Spencer opened his eyes to see Emily walking towards him, a blue gelled ice pack in hand.

"You alright?" She asked in a concerned tone, offering Spencer the ice pack. Spencer took it gratefully and held it to the back of his head, wincing at the applied pressure.

"Yeah..." Spencer replied, though he still wasn't quite sure what exactly happened. His memory was pretty foggy but the last thing he remembered was he was standing in front of the case board working on the geographical profile when...

"I fainted didn't I?" He asked pulling himself up to a sitting position. Emily grabbed his shoulders and helped him up.

"Yeah..." she replied softly, "and you hit your head pretty hard on the way down..."

"That's embarrassing..." Reid mumbled, scanning the room for any witnesses. Just what he needed... it was bad enough that local police officers never took him seriously because of his age, now he has to go faint in front of them.

Emily interrupted his thoughts.

"Spencer, when was the last time you ate something?"

His silence gave her the answer.

"When was the last time you slept?"

Again, all Spencer could give her was silence.

"Jesus, Reid..." Emily shook her head, "You have to take care of yourself. Your health should come before anything else-"

"No, it shouldn't." Reid interrupted. Emily stared at him in shock. Spencer swallowed hard, the look in Emily's eyes demanding an explanation.

"I mean, we've still got an Unsub out there, which means potential victims. They are in much more danger than I am, shouldn't their health and safety be a priority over mine?"

Emily sighed heavily.

"I mean... yes, Spencer, you're right in a sense... They are the priority." Emily started, "But... you're no good to them if you work yourself into the ground."

Reid stared guiltily at his feet. Emily put a hand on his knee, shifting his attention back to her.

"Hey…" she said softly, "Listen, I know I can never really understand what's going on in that genius brain of yours but whatever it is, you know you can talk to me right?"

Reid smiled slightly and gave her a nod.

"I know." He said quietly. Emily leaned back.

"Good." She said.

Before she could say anything else she felt her phone vibrating in her pocket.

"It's Hotch." She said, looking at the caller I.D.

"He's probably looking for his geographical profile," Reid said, starting to push himself off the couch.

"Nunh-unh." Emily said, lightly pushing him back down, "You stay here and get some sleep... I'll take care of it. I do not want to see you off this couch for at least an hour, do you understand me?"

Reid smiled in surrender.

"Yes, ma'am." He said jokingly, lying back down on the couch.

"Where's Reid?" Hotch asked once the rest of the team had assembled back at the precinct. Emily took a deep breath.

"He's in the break room... sleeping," she explained. Hotch's raised eyebrow indicated she needed to explain further. "He passed-out earlier; hit his head pretty hard... I told him to get some rest."

"Understandable." Hotch said, "Is he alright?"

"Yeah, he'll be fine," Emily answered.

"Good." Hotch nodded and turned his attention back to the profile. "So we'll be short one man, let's get into it."