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They watched as the car drove erratically, clearly uncontrolled. It was aiming to go off the bridge but a truck collided with it before it could get there. They watched as the car rolled and smashed into itself.
Their friend and coworker still inside.
Garcia regretted coming along. She watched in terror and when the car came to a slamming stop, she voiced what they were all wondering.
“He’s.. he's gonna live, right? I-I mean he always lives through the worst things, surely this.. he's okay.. he's alive”
No one had the courage to reply, they were all just as unsure. But the car was totaled and realistically didn't seem survivable. They all knew the chances that Red was dead was high, they all chose to ignore those chances though because without Reid being there to tell them, who knows, maybe they're wrong. Facts were his thing anyway.
The agent on their minds came stumbling out of the car from who knows where. He only moved a few inches to crawl to his feet, his body swayed unsteadily so it was no surprise when it finally collapsed. Luckily he landed on grass but in his likely critical condition, any impact is still impact. Hotch and Morgan ran over, no longer in shock, Rossi called an ambulance. There were already officers on scene because they profiled their unsub to be in the area but this seemed completely unrelated.
An unfortunate accident with Reid being the victim. Things like that happened far too often.
Their unsub had drowned or hung each of his victims, staging a crash seemed like maybe it was some other killer. He also targeted females.
“Reid, stay awake” Hotch ordered as he closed the distance and knelt by him. He and Morgan were careful when turning him over so he could be on his back, something that was a mistake when he started choking on blood. He moved to let the blood have a way to leave, heaving onto the grass.
“Hosh” he greeted slurrily, his eyes hardly opened, “‘m okay”
Morgan shook his head incredulously, if Reid wasn't at risk of dying right now then he would've laughed at the ridiculousness.
“You're going to be” Hotch corrected,
“It's the sheriff. Made- I don' remember what he did but couldn' move, he did that. Did som’nth to the car, couldn't stop it. Sheriff did it though, said stuff ab’ut stuff”
“The sheriff we're currently working with?” Morgan asked to clarify, pretending like his heart wasn't about to explode out of worry.
The town they were in was small but crime ridden, the police department split up the forces in two so there were two sheriff's. They met both but were only working with one.
“What sheriff?” Reid asked quietly, confusion evident in his tone. Morgan and Hotch shared a look that went unnoticed by Reid, who was busy squinting his eyes to see something in the distance better. “Sheriff” he vaguely pointed in the direction he'd been looking but when the other two caught on and looked they didn't see anything. This worsened their worries
“You said the sheriff did something, did he?” Hotch asked in an attempt to clarify. Reid seemed confused with what he'd told them.
“I- … I think? I don't remember what. Did stuff to me in a car I think, said stuff too but I don' remember what. I just remember the visuals,” his face scrunched in pain, “box, bad” he said before coughing on blood.
Hotch felt he was one more broken sentence away from having a heart attack.
Where was the ambulance?
“A box?” Morgan asked, he was holding Reid's hand in an attempt to get him to focus.
“Saw the box in his office. Why'd he bring it there?” He gestured to the building he supposedly saw the sheriff go in. It was a place that was meant to be demolished. “bomb maybe, knowing us”
It was clear that as much as Reid was talking, he was losing consciousness. And life, he was dying. They couldn't tell if they wanted Reid to keep talking to make sure he stayed awake or if it was better for him to reserve his energy and put it towards breathing. What he was saying was maybe important, very incoherent. Morgan wondered if it was just deluded talk from dying. He knew Reid though and it wasn't the first time he was rambling seemingly useless shit while almost dying. He always tried to help, even in his final moments, so he wanted to take what he said seriously.
When Emily and Rossi came over, Morgan took Emily to investigate what Reid was talking about. His sentences had become a sleepy mumble. At this point, he had forgotten that they were even working with a sheriff. They hoped the amnesia would be temporary and didn't affect any other memories. He remembered them at least.
Rossi and Hotch, and JJ when she was done getting people away, could take care of Reid until the ambulance came.
“Hey, someone's awake,” Garcia cooed softly, afraid to raise her voice in case the doctor was right about her assumption that Reid would be sensitive to sight and sounds for a while. This got the attention of the others in the room, JJ was the first to attack him with a hug. He groggily returned it, taking in the situation.
“How do you feel?” JJ asked
“Car crash?” He confirmed, taking a drawn out breath in, he got a solemn nod and exhaled pained, “like it should've killed me”
Garcia's shocked noise was one torn between amusement and distress,
“I don't think I can handle it if you cope with this with dark humor” she warned, getting a small apologetic chuckle from him.
“Sorry, I'm okay. What happened to the unsub”
“You were right about the box. It had a bomb in it, Emily and I got to him before he could do anything with it” Morgan explained, “do you remember the box? Or anything you said?”
“I vaguely remember the box, I remember seeing a few things but I don't fully know why for some of them. I don't remember talking to you guys though” his eyes had been mostly shut during their conversation too, so he couldn't say he remembered seeing them.
“Well the sheriff did it. He admitted to all the crimes in a rage when Rossi pressed him about it. He said that you were getting too close and feeding us the right information which was why his MO deviated,” Emily said this time
He had been kept company the majority of the time. When he finally convinced them to leave, even just for the moment to get them all actual edible food, he was alone with Hotch. Which meant Hotch was much more comfortable being sentimental.
“You did a good job out there, I'm sorry this happened”
“Thanks, but it's fine, it's not your fault. We had no reason to believe the sheriff was the unsub” well Reid did. He thought he was being too suspicious and many of the things could point back to him. But when he said it, it had just been a theory.
“Try to sleep, the doctor said you need it” he changed the topic and patted his head. Reid playfully pouted though.
“I get hit by a truck and all I get is a headpat?” It was just a tease, Hotch smiled and laughed quietly before he gave in to the unspoken request and gave him a hug. Reid latched on quickly and they stayed like that for many moments. The hug relaxed him, them both really, Hotch let go when he noticed that Reid was starting to fall asleep.
He slept undisturbed, even when the team came back.
“How's the pain?” The doctor asked. A few hours had passed and the medics were doing their routine checks. The team had noticed how quiet Reid had been becoming over the course of the stay, so they were glad he was being checked again. There was nothing majorly wrong, head trauma, a barely avoided broken hand, twisted ankle, and more bruises and cuts and very sore spots.
With all his injuries, they were surprised to hear his number.
“A six” he lied easily, Hotch caught onto it though and gave him a look.
“The type of medicine won't change, Reid, be honest” they both looked to the doctor to confirm it, which the man did hesitantly, a bit confused.
“Non-narcotic medicine will still be given but if the pain is intense then I can find a stronger one.” Reid pouted and looked down at the blanket, he didn't seem entirely convinced but after assessing the state he was in, he'd go crazy if he had to recover while feeling this much pain all the time. He needed something stronger.
“Around an eight”
When the doctor left, the others made their amusement known. Emily laughed,
“I love how Hotch immediately knew you were lying”
“He basically said he wished the truck killed him earlier. That wouldn't be a six” Hotch defended his actions with a fond smile.
“Well… Hotch gave me a hug earlier, and a hug from him makes anything feel better. I could've totally been a six” Reid defended poorly but seriously.
Hotch was flattered but he doubted his hugs were near good enough to make physical pain go away. He supposed with skepticism he could understand mental trauma, but Reid was almost taken out by a truck. He appreciated the sentiment.
They all agreed that maybe the medicine was making Reid a bit loopy.