Lockdown

Chapter One

Chapter One

23/06/2019. 06:45 hours. FBI Offices, Quantico, Virginia.

Dr Spencer Reid felt as though he had not slept in weeks as he sluggishly stepped into the elevator at the FBI offices. Technically, he had not slept well in some time. Ever since the train accident, he struggled night after night with vivid and horrifying nightmares. The nightmares often blurred the scenes between the crash and his incarceration. His eyelids drooped slightly, his limbs aching with exhaustion. Spencer harshly rubbed the heel of his palm into his eye, his other hand firmly gripping around a take out cup of coffee. A headache was slowly blooming behind his eyes. He barely registered the elevator doors pinging open on the sixth floor until a hand firmly gripped his shoulder, snapping him out of his reverie. Spencer lifted his head and slowly withdrew his hand. Through blurred vision, he could make out the features of Penelope Garcia standing in front of him.

"Hey, Boy Wonder. Are you okay?" asked Penelope, her hand gently squeezing his shoulder to offer him some comfort. Spencer gave her a tight-lipped smile.

"I'm okay. I'm just really tired."

"Aren't you sleeping?" Spencer gave a sigh. He had become more open with his team about his mental health since the accident, though it still left a pit of unease in his stomach. He had always hated talking about himself, and wearing his emotions on his sleeve still felt alien to him. He felt safe in his walls of statistics, facts, and logic, but his therapist required him to talk.

"Not really. I keep having nightmares."

"The crash?" Spencer nodded softly.

"Yeah. And prison. Logically, I know that it takes time to get past trauma, and when you have an accumulation of trauma, it takes even longer to resolve. I have to hope that I'll see some improvement soon."

"I'm sure you will, baby boy." Spencer took a moment to drink all of Penelope in. She wore a black and pink floral dress with a plain pink cardigan and oversized beads around her neck. Her wedge sandals matched her cardigan. Two simple pink flowers were clipped into her golden curls. She wore red-framed rectangular spectacles to complement her outfit. He could not help but smile warmly at the technical analyst. Penelope always had a way of brightening someone's day, even if it was just by being present. She saw the good in everyone and everything, despite the horrors she had to look at on her computer screens each day.

"Thank you, Garcia." Penelope's dark brown eyes twinkled, a wide toothy grin spread across her face. Spencer stepped out of the elevator, feeling a little more rejuvenated than he did before.

Spencer's eyes swept across the quiet bullpen, the trotting sound of Penelope's heels fading away into the distance. Emily Prentiss was already holed up in her office with the lights dimmed, blinds down, and door shut. Spencer smirked to himself. It was as though former unit chief Aaron Hotchner had morphed into Emily. Like Aaron, Emily spent many a night in her office pouring over reports. Spencer ducked his head and made his way to his desk. He dropped heavily into his swivel chair and stuffed his ancient tan leather satchel under his desk. He sighed as he eyed the stack of manila folders in his tray. There were definitely more folders than he recalled leaving before his profiling seminar the day before. It had been a long-running joke within the BAU about agents slipping Spencer some of their folders. Spencer, ever the people-pleaser, completed the paperwork without complaint. He enjoyed completing the reports after all. Spencer barely slid the first of many folders from the tray when Emily's head popped out of her office, her raven-coloured hair swaying.

"Reid? Can I see you for a second?" Spencer swallowed hard and furrowed his brow as his heart leapt into his throat. He gently pushed the folder back into his tray and came to his feet. He picked his way up the few steps to Emily's office, where she held the door open for him. Spencer stepped past her and perched on the edge of one of the armchairs in front of Emily's desk. Emily closed the door behind them and sat back at her desk. Spencer suddenly felt uneasy. The last time he was in her office like this was when he was returning to work after the crash. Emily had not wasted any time in berating him for entering the train alone and offering himself up to the unsub.