Drowning Without Water - A Criminal Minds x Reader

Six

"SCREW YOU SPENCER REID!" Morgan loosened his grip on Reid as soon as Y/N and Alex left. He instantly fell to his knees crying. After a few moments, Morgan helped him to his feet and sat him down at the table next to JJ.  She instantly grabs onto and hugs Reid. He hugs her back as hard as he can.

"Why... why would she go with him..." Garcia says sadly. Reid lets go of JJ and looks down, fidgeting with his hands.

"S-statistically speaking... a victim attempts to leave an abusive relationship seven times before finally leaving for good. She uhm," Reid clears his throat, "she hasn't even attempted to leave once." More tears start to fall down his face as JJ wipes them away.

"Hey, Spence, it's going to be okay. Shhhh she'll be fine..." JJ comforts Reid.

"Your face is getting really red. She really hit you hard lover boy." Morgan comments.

"You should get some ice," Emily says as she flags over the waiter.

"Stop. I'm fine, I deserve this for being such an idiot." Reid says quietly.

"You are not an idiot Spencer Reid. You're just the only one with the guts to stand up to that asshat. I'd say that makes you brave as hell," Emily says while looking at Reid.

"I just can't stand there and watch him slowly break her down. I'm not being crazy right? Do you all agree with me?" Reid asks the table. They all nod in agreement.

"Hotch and Rossi agree too. We all just don't know what to do for her. Seeing his hand on her thigh made me sick. She was bleeding too, I could see the red on her jeans. I just hope she's okay tonight." JJ said with her head still on Reid's shoulder, comforting him. Everyone continued to talk except for Reid who remained silent. He still hadn't looked up. His mind races with thoughts. He was terrified. He's never felt this scared, not even when he was held by Tobias. At least with Tobias, he had the drugs, a relief to ease his anxiety over what was happening. Right now, he had nothing. All he could feel was fear, not for himself, but for Y/N. That made it all so much worse. She went with him. She left the safety of the team to be with him. She... trusted him. Nothing Reid could say would make it better. He couldn't think his way out of this. His 187 IQ, 3 PhDs, and eidetic memory were all worthless. He had nothing. He couldn't do anything.

"Spence? Did you hear Penelope?" JJ asks as she rubs his arm. He looks up at her and shakes his head. "She said if she ended up taking another amount of time off, we are going to go to the hospital and see if she's there."

"I don't care if I have to hack every hospital in the area, I'll find out if she ends up at one," Garcia adds, determined.

"Good," Reid responds quietly, "I don't think I should go with you all when she does."

"Spence... of course you should come with us IF she does end up at a hospital," JJ responds.

"No I shouldn't Jennifer!" Reid snapped back. "Didn't you hear her? She wants nothing to do with me. I can't see her anywhere outside of work or she'll quit and her being at work is the only way we can keep track of her and make sure she's somewhat safe until we come up with a plan to get her out of there." Reid lowers his head and shakes it. He squints and presses his shaking hand against his eye. "A-as much as it h-hurts... I have to... have to step away from this." His voice starts to crack like he's going to start crying again. "Please take care of her. She honestly doesn't know what he's doing to her physically. Her brain is using the blackouts to deal with the trauma of his physical abuse, that's why we can't read her as lying, she's not."

"Reid. C'mon man, you know we're gonna do everything we can to help Y/N. When I heard him call you boy genius... it took everything in my power to not stand up and beat his ass. You should've seen the way he looked at her when she hugged me. It was so... possessive." Morgan says as his hands form fists and he clenches his jaw.