Coming Undone

When Spencer Reid hadn't shown up for work Monday, it was worrisome. No phone call, no messages… nothing.

Tuesday… Still no word from Reid. That sinking feeling in Morgan's gut turned his worry into fear and as he stood inside Reid's kitchen and looked around. He immediately dialed Hotch. "I don't know what to make of this," Morgan told him as he stared at the floor. "He's not here. There's no note... There's a broken glass on the floor. It looks like he stepped on some of it and bled." He heard Hotch sigh on the other end of the phone. "His car's out front, but he ain't here. He's just… gone."

That morning, it was confirmed Reid hadn't left any sort of paper trail. There were no flights home to Nevada, no spending since the prior Saturday and word was spread within the local law enforcement that they had a missing FBI Agent. As soon as it could be officially done, a missing persons report was filed.

As they could, the individual team members looked for Reid by driving around, walking the streets and asking passersby. No one had seen him.

Then finally, a phone call got transferred to Morgan. Reid had been spotted only blocks from the building he lived in. Morgan immediately headed over to the address, finding that it was a small diner he knew Reid frequented. When he walked inside, the owner was waiting…

"I've never seen him like this." The old man dropped his line of sight and the concern on his face was very clear. "He's been over in that corner by himself, but you'd never know it from all the talking."

Oh, no… "When did he show up?" Morgan asked trying to remain professional. He could see Reid under a hanging light as he sat in a booth facing the entrance. Morgan could hear him mumbling as he stood there with the owner.

"Oh…" the old man looked up at the clock behind the counter. "He doesn't come in every night, but when he does, it's usually at the same time. And that's when he showed up… about 7pm, I think…" Morgan watched as the man rubbed his shaking hand over the top of his sparsely gray haired head. "He just walked in. He sat down. Didn't say a word until he'd been here for about twenty minutes. My waitress said he started flinching whenever she'd walk by him. She said he yelled at her a couple times to… Well…" he stopped for a moment to let his memory catch up with him. "He told her to stay away once and something else about knowing all of her secrets." Morgan remained patient and listening. "We put food in front of him and he wouldn't eat it. Claimed we were trying to poison him. He looks… He looks horrible. Needs a shower. I didn't know he was missing... He talks about you guys all the time." He looked up at Morgan with great distress in his eyes. "He's troubled. I thought I should call someone."

Morgan put his hand on the old man's shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze. "You did the right thing. Thank you."

"I'm gonna lock up, but… take as much time as you need."

Morgan felt sorry for the old man. He was way too old to be workin' so late or at all. He figured he couldn't afford to retire, like so many others his age.

He took a deep breath and turned to look at Reid and slowly began to make his way toward him. He could feel his pulse begin to race because God damn it, he was scared. He did not want to see Reid like this. And for this to be something Reid feared for himself just made it all the more heartbreaking. He watched Reid carefully as he began to inch his way to the back of the restaurant. He could still hear Reid talking, but he couldn't make out any detail of what he was saying. He saw Reid's hand came up and point across the table… to no one. Morgan closed his eyes for just a second, trying not to react emotionally. As he got closer, he saw Reid smile and laugh and just as quickly, his face changed and he spoke through his teeth in anger… at no one.

This frightened Morgan to his core. His friend was lost right now and would probably remain lost unless he got treatment. He only hoped that Reid would come with him without a fight. All these scenarios began to play in his head… worst case scenarios. What if Reid became violent? What if I have to hurt him? And that brought up another concern… He didn't know if Reid had his weapon on him or not. "Reid?" he tested… No acknowledgement, no vocal response or otherwise came his direction. He sighed out of his nose and tried to stay alert, keeping focused on his friend. "Hey, Reid?" His left foot carefully placed itself down in front of his right foot as he unclipped his holster. "Reid, I need you to talk to me, man…" he begged. Morgan quietly pulled his pistol from his hip and took a careful aim toward Reid, but not directly at him. He stayed close to the booths on the opposite side of the small diner so as not to sneak up on Reid or startle him. This also gave him a better line of sight.

Once he was directly across the room from Reid, he began to make out some detail on Reid's appearance. He'd had a hard last couple of days, probably roaming around outside. "Reid, it's Morgan. Can you hear me?" Morgan started stepping toward Reid who had suddenly went quiet. He heard me…, Morgan let himself hope. He relaxed a little and holstered his weapon after he could see both of Reid's hands on his lap from where he stood. He couldn't see a weapon anywhere, though he didn't whole-heartedly trust in that.

When Morgan reached out to touch the table as he was about to sit down opposite of Reid, he felt it wobble beneath the weight of his hand. He sat down and stared at Reid and began devising a plan to move him out of here, willingly or not. "You're scarin' the shit outta me, kid," he mumbled and he began to look Reid's condition over. Reid's eyes shot down and then back and forth as he hunkered down where he sat. Morgan thought he saw that his forehead was bruised on both sides. He sighed as he immediately pictured Reid repeatedly hitting himself over the head. "Where the hell have you been?" Reid wouldn't answer him. "I need you to come with me Reid. We need to get you some help."

"Shhh!" Reid finally looked into Morgan's eyes, obviously annoyed. "You're going to blow my cover!" he whispered harshly at Morgan. He sat straight up again.

"You're under cover right now?" Morgan questioned.

"The elderly man over there?" Reid nodded in the direction of the counter behind them. "He's involved in the biggest theft ring this side of the Mississippi."

"Is that so?" Morgan asked with his brow high on his forehead.

Reid nodded confidently.

"But we don't generally deal with this type of crime."

"I'm on a very, very special assignment."

"I don't think Hotch would assign any one of us a case like this, Reid." For just a quick second, Morgan thought he saw some clarity come through in Reid's eyes. He wasn't sure what did it though. Was it something specific he said like the mentioning of Hotch and the others? Was it just being there? The sound of his voice? He could see Reid's posture change back to that weak, shoulders hunkered position and he started cringing while beginning a steady rhythm of rocking back and forth. Morgan had seen enough.

"Come on, man. We need to go." Morgan stood up out of the booth and came to Reid's side. He held out his hand to Reid who shook his head and mumbled No. That's when Morgan began to pull the table out from between the booths. "If you don't come with me willingly, I will remove you from that seat." Reid cowered down in the seat again and the fear in his eyes made Morgan's chest tighten. He felt tears coming and wasn't sure if he could stop them. He removed his phone from his side and dialed Hotch. He watched Reid rock back and forth as the call connected. "Hotch, I got him, but I need your help." Morgan stared at Reid as his eyes welled up. "I can't do this."

I wrote this little guy for neutral-gray on tumblr! Wanted to get it posted here to add to my growing collection. :)