The Choice (Hotch/Reid/Morgan)

Chapter 2: I Can't Do This

That night when everyone starts to head out Prentiss asks everyone a question. "Drinks tonight?" She asks.

"I'm in." JJ states and looks to the group.

"I'll go." Garcia replies and looks to Morgan.

"I'll bite." Morgan laughs.

"Why not?" Rossi replies and then looks to Hotch.

"Sure." Hotch replies and everyone waits for Reid to answer.

"Um, not tonight." Reid answers. "I'm sorry." He states.

"Oh...why not?" Garcia asks.

"I just haven't gotten that far." Reid replies and leaves before the others could say anything else.

He gets home and quickly heads to bed. When he lays there, he feels tears run down his face as he let's the memories flood his mind.

The whole moment of when the unsub ran his hands over his body. Reid can remember how it felt to have the unsub bite him with his teeth. All the jolts spreading through his body. Reid begins to remember how he wanted to fight back but the drug had rendered him helpless.

His breathing hitches up and he begins to violently shake. He grabs hold of his sheets, feeling everything in his mind. He can't make them stop. He curls into himself as he begins to have a panic attack. It gets harder to breathe. His chest feels as if there is a brick on it. Images of Hotch then begin to invade his mind. Feeling Hotch's hands roam Reids body, the whispers, and everything.

Then memories turn into imagination. His mind drifts to the thought of Morgan, Hotch, and himself.

He curls tighter into a ball. The shaking becomes more violent. He grips his arms tighter. He finds it hard to breath. His eyes are shut tight.

The next morning he woke in a puddle of sweat. He makes his way to the shower and gets ready for work. "I can't do this anymore." He tells himself.

Everyone had shown up at work, Reid was there before any one of them. "Kid, what are you doing here?" Morgan asked.

"Came to help you guys out with the files." Reid answered plainly. "I got ten finished." He hands them to Morgan, without looking away from other folders.

"Uh...thanks." Morgan didn't know what to say.

"No problem." Reid responded and just finished the file then started a new one.

Morgan goes to his desk, looking at Prentiss and JJ in the same confusion.

Garcia walked over to Reid and handed him a coffee. "Just how you like it." She stated with a smile.

"Thank you." Reid responds and kept reading the files, while writing.

"Is something the matter?" She asks, worried.

"Hmm? No. Nothing don't worry." Reid insisted. "How is your morning?" He asks.

"Good. Need anything you know where to find me." She replies and walks away.

"K." He replies and goes back to his work.

Hotch watches Reid from his office, noticing the change in personality. By now he would be babbling on about things that would annoy Morgan, or make Prentiss unsure how to escape.

But he isn't doing anything of the sort. He is sitting there and just writing and reading.

This makes Hotch a bit uneasy. He is afraid that Reid is falling into a depression, if that is so, Reid would have to leave again, for treatment. Hotch didn't want that and he knows Reid wouldn't agree to do it.