Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds or any of the characters. Just a fan, man.

Reid rubbed his temples, and tried, unsuccessfully, to focus on what Hotch was saying. Hotch had ushered them into the meeting room about 10 minutes earlier; they were being called on to help solve a new serial murder case in Atlanta. Reid was trying to follow what everyone was saying but there were too many voices.

"Reid, what do you think?" Hotch said loudly, interrupting the group. He was a little worried that the junior profiler hadn't brought any opinions to the table, or spouted any of his usual statistics.

"Um, yeah, sorry," said Reid, leaning forward. He tilted his head to the side. "Um, yeah. Okay."

He quickly looked at the notes in the folder in front of him and scanned the crime scene photos. "The killer appears to be disorganized, and even though each victim is female, there's a lack of sexual component to the crimes. There's a lack of pre or post-mortem torture, and they were buried face down – that suggests a killer that feels impotent and has some sense of remorse."

Reid became aware of the others staring at him.

"Reid, dude. That was pretty much exactly what Emily and I just covered," said Morgan, his eyebrows raised.

"Uh, sorry," said Reid. He was twitchy and looked around at everybody, embarrassed. "Sorry, um, I have a, I have a headache."

"Well, we have to leave for Atlanta in an hour. Let me know if you're not up to it," said Hotch, his voice as serious and straight to the point as ever.

Reid swallowed and nodded. He glanced over at Rossi, and noticed the senior profiler leaning back in his chair, staring at him. Reid looked away quickly, feeling very uncomfortable in his gaze.

"Yeah, no, I should be okay. Just a headache. That's all," said Reid, not looking or speaking to anyone in particular as they all got up from the table. He then walked really fast out of the room, ahead of everyone else.

"Guys, wait," said Hotch. Reid was already at coffee maker across the bullpen. Morgan, JJ, Prentiss and Ross had barely just reached the door. He motioned for them to sit down.

"Shut the door," he said to JJ.

She looked out across at Reid. "You don't want me to go get Reid?" she said, confused.

"No, I don't," said Hotch, in an even more serious tone.

"Uh, okay," she said, quite clearly confused, as she sat down. Morgan and Prentiss looked at Hotch, brows furrowed. Rossi leant back in his chair, and he didn't look surprised.

Hotch looked around at them.

"Have any of you noticed anything… abnormal about Reid's behavior?" asked Hotch.

Derek laughed. "Hotch, man, Reid's behavior has always been pretty abnormal. What's this about?"

Hotch didn't share Derek's amusement. "Anything out of the ordinary? For Reid, I mean?"

"I really don't feel comfortable discussing Reid's behavior, particularly when he's 20 feet away. That's really not fair, Sir," said JJ, sounding a little indignant.

"I second that," said Prentiss.

Hotch put his hands up. "I know guys, but I have to be responsible for all agents in this unit. We have to be able to trust each other. I need to be able to trust each and every one of you in the field. I need to know."

Rossi leant forward. "I have to admit, I've been watching him. He's unfocused and can't seem to follow a simple conversation with more than one person. He's changed dramatically since I came back to the BAU."

Morgan smirked. "No offence Rossi, but you ain't been back that long, okay? Reid, he's been through a lot in the last year. This is a stressful job. We're all going to have days where we're not on the top of our game. Even boy genius can have those days."

Rossi listened to what Morgan had to say, and carefully worded what he said next.

"I understand that Doctor Reid is your friend, someone you work closely with everyday. I am going to be able to see his behaviour a little more objectively because of the fact I haven't been back long. How do you explain why lately he just sits at his desk and doesn't speak to anyone for most of the day? Or where he seems to be concentrating on listening to a conversation but can't seem to comprehend half of what is said? You can't tell me that is normal behaviour for him."

Morgan clenched his jaw and shook his head, hating the fact he had to agree.

Hotch looked around at all of them. "I think, keeping in mind his mother's illness, that we need to all be very vigilant in observing his behavior with this case. Okay?"

"What then?" asked Derek.

"Then, if there is something that has to be done, I'll do it," said Hotch. "I'm sorry, I won't have a choice."

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