Wildfire

The watery coffee in the rundown little, Ohio police station they were in was nothing like the coffee he was used to back home, but nonetheless Reid poured himself a mug from the pot on the counter, not even wanting to think about how long it had been sitting there. He needed the caffeine. He started ripping open packet after packet of sugar and dumping it into the black liquid, until there was a little pile of empty pink wrappers on the counter.

But he didn’t notice how many he had torn into because his eyes were trained on Morgan, Emily and JJ standing across the station, talking quietly in a circle. What made it even worse was that he knew they were talking about him and couldn’t do anything about it. If he did, it would just confirm all their suspicions that he wasn’t up to a hundred percent.

He chugged down the tepid, overly sweet concoction, grimacing at the taste, but grateful for the caffeine. Reid knew there were purplish bruises underneath his eyes from lack of sleep, and he could barely focus on the case. His brain just wasn’t in the game and it hadn’t been for days, maybe longer.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

He nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of Rossi’s voice next to him. Reid’s eyes glanced over at the older man standing to his left with a smirk on his lips.

“A little jumpy, are you?”

“I didn’t get much sleep last night,” Reid grumbled. “This case is getting to me.”

“This bastard is torturing and killing parents and making their kids watch before taking them out too. It’d get to anybody,” Rossi deadpanned, his eyes following Reid. “But I’m not stupid. That isn’t what’s bugging you. You need to talk?”

Reid growled into his almost empty mug, wanting Rossi to just walk away and leave him alone.

“I don’t think the answer to your problem is in that mug.”

“Is there something you needed?” Reid snapped. “Or did you just come to annoy me?”

“Just came to be annoying.”

“Well go do it somewhere else, because I most certainly do not need some-”

“Are you using again?”

Reid’s cup slipped out of his hands and tumbled to the carpeted floor, splashing what was left of his coffee onto the ground. He stared open mouthed at Rossi, who had his arms crossed over his chest and gaze watching JJ, Morgan and Emily still arguing on the other side of the room.

“What?” Reid choked out.

“I know the signs of an addict, even if it’s early. Jumpy, shifty behavior, lack of sleep and dwindling health, quick to anger and easily distracted. So if you’re using-”

“I would never do that again,” the younger man practically snarled.

“I was just asking,” Rossi shrugged. “The real question is though, if it’s not drugs, then what is it that you’re addicted to, and craving so badly?”

He finally granted Reid’s wish and left him alone to join Hotch and a few other officers.

Thoughts of wavy black hair, olive toned skin, and impossibly blue eyes filled Reid’s mind until the wavy carpet pattern blurred and his head hurt. He wasn’t addicted, he really wasn’t.