Note: Summer is actually an OC for the Supernatural fics I write. I just figured to use her for Criminal Minds too instead of creating a whole new character from scratch. I'm lazy that way.

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His hand trembled as he stared at the used needle. He closed his eyes waiting for the dilaudid to take effect. Didn't he decide he was going to quit? He knew he had to. The team was starting to notice. He didn't even like the way he was acting. His behavior was terrible. It's a wonder that Hotch or Morgan or Emily or JJ haven't said anything.

Probably because of Gideon.

Gideon. He promised him in New Orleans that he wouldn't miss another plane.

Yet look at him now. Just hours after he promised... He couldn't even look himself in the mirror.

Spencer Reid disposed of the used syringe as fast as he could out of shame. A tear of frustration came down his cheek as he made his way to his bedroom. The shakes started to subside. "Last one," he said to himself firmly. But his mind nagged, "That's what you said the last time."

"No," he told himself like the lion in the Wizard of Oz, "I have to be brave."

He took his mobile phone from the side table as he cozied under his blanket. He firmly went through his phonebook, taking deep breaths everytime a possible name would pop up.

Aaron Hotchner- No. Hotch had his own family problems to deal with. He doesn't need his.

Jason Gideon- However it's called, Spencer would know best that the guy still had PTSD.

Emily Prentiss- No. Not after how he's been treating her.

Penelope Garcia- Spencer smiled. Garcia would smother him. It's her way.

Derek Morgan- No, Not him.

Jennifer Jareau- No. Not her.

In fact, he can't have anybody from the bureau see him like this. The team has been keeping this a secret as it is. He can't let their efforts go in vain. Because even he knew that if Strauss knew, she'd dismantle the team. She can't ever know.

But most of the numbers in his phone, most of the people he knew, were from law enforcement.

He sighed putting his phone down in defeat. What was he going to do? The small metal knight figure on his side table stared at him, challenging him, "That's it? You're going to give up now? Weakling."

"But there isn't anyone to call..." he tried to reason with the inanimate object.

"Excuses," he imagined the knight reply.

Reid looked around his small room. Bookshelves were filled with books and little items but none of those things could help him now. Books wouldn't stop him from taking the drugs. In fact, most of those authors wrote their best works with some kind of substance in them. Those little pyramids just mocked him because he would never be enlightened- not like this. Lightsabers couldn't talk him out of it. His model of the USS Enterprise wasn't going to ship him away everytime he had a craving.

Lightsabers and USS Enterprise?

He stared at those two objects again. His mouth fell open as he spotted more trinkets that was given to him by the very same person. Bells from the Himalayans. A little jade elephant from India. In the corner of the bookshelf where the French authors resided was a small replica of the Arc de Truimph in marble. There were other small things in his room he had almost forgotten about.

How could he had forgotten?

He hadn't talked to her in months.

He hasn't seen her in years.

But she always said... if there was anything at all that he needed, to call.

He took his phone again, combing through the phonebook quickly. He knew he had her number here somewhere. Of course he did. He couldn't delete her. Never. But when he found her number, he paused.

Can he really call her out of the blue like this? And with this problem?

He glanced at the silver knight again. "You're just a coward," it seemed to say.

"No, I'm not," he snapped back.

So Spencer pressed the call button and hoped for the best. "Please, Summer... pick up. Please," he silently pleaded.

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"It's meningitis, Kevin."

"I'm telling you, Leo, the results are positive for Encephalitis."

"Prove encephalitis."

A girl sighed. Her groupmates were getting louder by the second. She could already feel the other people in the library start to glare at them as the argument wore on. She glanced at their cases and shook her head. They haven't even finished reading the file and they're already diagnosing, she realized. So she ignored them, reading the case she had on hand instead.

A few minutes later, a librarian stood beside their table, her hands crossed against her chest. She cleared her throat, effectively ending what became a shouting match. "This is a library," she reminded them sternly.

They all gave her a small guilty smile of apology.

"So Summer," Leo prompted, facing her, "Who are you siding with?" he inquired.

"Siding with...?" she asked.

"Kid, encephalitis or meningitis?" Kevin reminded her. "Is your head in the game?"

"Oh, we're still there?" She gave them a weak smile. "Can I answer none of the above?"

The two boys just stared at her in disbelief. Kevin reacted with a, "What?"

"Guys," she placed the last page of the report and pointed three fourths down the page, "He's positive for albuminocytologic dissociation," she stated. "It's Guillian- Barre syndrome."

"How the hell did he get Guillian- Barre?" Leo flipped through his case, confused.

She shrugged and tossed her folder on the table. "It says here he got a an influenza shot. Swine flu. It's a potential side effect. Rare, but there."

Kevin leaned forward, mouth agape. "Wait. He got it from a flu shot?" His eyes grew wide. "I just got a flu shot."

"Dude, chill. It's a one in a million chance. You want a lumbar puncture to confirm?" she teased. But her groupmates didn't find it funny. "Guys, in 1976 there was a swine flu outbreak and the US government started with the needles only to find out that ten per million people were getting GBS. Since GBS was rare as it is, The Man didn't know if it was even related to the shot. Later research shows that it may have increased the risk by just a little but there are also reports that argue that the vaccine was contaminated," she summarized. "Either way, whether it was the vaccine that increased the risk or contamination- chances were that people were getting it from the shot. Vaccination program shut down," she finished, leaning against her chair balancing on it's hind legs. "What?" she asked when she noticed the two boys just staring at her.

"Summer, why do you know that?" Leo asked, curiously.

"There was a book on it. I thought it was interesting. I remember interesting things," she offered. That didn't end the staring though. "Seriously. What?" she prompted. She almost fell backwards in surprise when Highway to Hell started blaring out of her bag. Luckily, Leo caught the chair before it could go backwards. "Thanks man," she said as she started going through her bag looking for her phone.

Several glares were sent her way. The librarian in particular looked vindictive. "Gotta get this," she told her groupmates as she made a mad dash out of the library. "Hello?" she answered the phone without looking at the caller ID, just as she made it out of the automatic doors.

"Hi.. um..." a man stammered on the other end. He cleared his throat. "Is... is this Sum... Summer Wind McKenzie?"

"... Who wants to know?" she answered carefully.

"Dr. Reid... I mean, Spencer Reid..."

Summer's brows furrowed as she walked away from the library shocked and concerned at the same time. The Spencer Reid she knew didn't sound like he was always gasping for air. Granted, she hasn't heard from him in a while. "Slim? Are you okay? Are you in trouble? What's going on?" she asked, concerned.

"Summer? I..." She heard a sniff on the other line. "I know this is an imposition. You must be in the middle of... of something. I mean, it's the middle of the semester and you're... you're in med school. But I... I didn't know who else to... to call."

She could feel her heart sink everytime he said a word. She's never heard him so broken. "Hey, no. There's no imposition of any kind. You can call anytime, at any hour of any day. You know that," she answered. "Now, you don't sound okay. What's going on?" she said, sitting on the curb.

"I've been doing... doing something really stupid... I need help, Sum," came the soft reply.

She looked back at the library and winced. Can she really afford to go off? There was a ton of group work and papers to do but... Oh, that's what the Internet was for. Whatever it is, she'll make sure to catch up. "Are you still in D.C?" she finally asked.

"Yes... You'll come?" The hope in that little question wasn't missed.

"I'll be in the next flight I can find," she promised. "Hang tight do you hear me, Slim?"

"I'll try."

Summer stared at her phone for a second. What the hell is she going to tell her groupmates, let alone her professors.

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