Victim of Fate
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds
Summary: When Garcia forces Morgan and Prentiss to visit a fortune-teller with her, they each get fortunes that they never expected. Morgan's in particular is dark. After believing it to be a complete sham, they return to the BAU to work on a case. However, when Prentiss's and Garcia's fortunes come true, Morgan can't help but fear that his own will too.
Chapter One
The fair was composed of a swirl of bright-colored cloths and people running amok. Clowns juggled about five balls at a time while standing next to men on ridiculously high stilts. Fire breathers launched glaring balls into the air, eliciting gasps and applause from the gathered crowd.
Morgan sighed and shook his head at the people, who stood excessively close to the knife-jugglers and tiger-tamers, not seeming to realize that if the slightest thing went wrong, they could be terribly injured. People tended to enjoy being close to dangerous situations, as Morgan had learned only too well during his career at the Behavioral Analysis Unit.
For several years, Morgan had worked in that particular department of the FBI, and his understanding of the human mind was challenged with each new case presented. Luckily, the dark-skinned man had his coworkers to assist him in solving the cases, as well as helping him recover after particularly difficult ones.
That was the reason he was in his current location. He'd returned with his team from Springfield with dark circles under his eyes and a haunted gleam in his irises. Garcia, one of his dearest friends, had noticed this and had tried to convince the entire team to go to the fair with her. Unfortunately ('or, rather, fortunately,' Morgan thought) only he and Prentiss had been able to accompany the technology expert to a scene completely different from their usual one.
Garcia was enjoying herself, however. She walked through the multi-colored tents, occasionally applauding at something she found impressive and inspecting the trinkets and food offered at every stall. Morgan and Prentiss exchanged an amused look as Garcia paused once more, this time before a sign that proclaimed the arrival of a fortune-teller, a Madame Zelda.
Garcia gasped, her brightly colored nails covering her mouth as excitement overcame her. "We have to visit the fortune-teller," she proclaimed, leaving no room for discussion as she grasped both of her coworkers' hands, despite their protests, and pulled them along. She was practically skipping in her enthusiasm to learn about her future.
Morgan wasn't particularly reluctant to visit the seeing woman. In his life, he'd come to realize that people like that weren't particularly harmful, but tended to cheat ignorant tourists out of several dollars. Garcia ignored the obvious truth in preference of believing something that was unreal. Yet, because of what they had just suffered through on the last case, Morgan allowed himself to be pulled along by the tech goddess's surprisingly strong grip. ('Must be all the typing she does,' Morgan assumed as he felt Garcia's fingers wrapped around his own)
The blond woman seemed to have an instinct of where to go as she expertly weaved through the nearly identical tents, heading towards the woman who would attempt to reveal their futures. Because of Garcia's leadership, it only took a few minutes before the trio was standing in front of a tent with an even bigger sign. 'Madame Zelda sees ALL!' the sparkly poster proclaimed. Under the words, a large painted eye was displayed, seeming to stare out at passerby. Morgan shivered. He didn't know why, but something about the setting made him uncomfortable.
Garcia and Prentiss didn't notice as they inspected the darkened tent, one with more interest than the other. "Do we knock or something?" the shorter woman asked, trying to find a way to alert the Seer inside of their presence. Prentiss shrugged and raised her hand to tap the cloth covering the entrance to the room.
Before the dark-haired woman's fist touched the tent, a royal voice called out from inside, "You may enter, Emily Prentiss!" Prentiss took a step back, her face twisted into an expression of shock. Garcia squealed gleefully, receiving her proof that this woman was not a fraud. Prentiss stood frozen at her spot for a minute, before the voice from inside spoke again. "I am waiting," it said, and Garcia pushed Prentiss forward excitedly.
"Go on! I'm sure she won't bite!" Garcia insisted. Prentiss sent Morgan a desperate look, which he was only able to return with a helpless shake of his head. No way was he going against his baby-girl. Prentiss frowned at Morgan before she ducked under the cloth and went inside.
Morgan and Garcia stood outside in completely different stances, projecting different emotions. Garcia was still looking around, wondering at everything going around her. She occasionally uttered little exclamations of delight, but otherwise, she remained silent. Morgan paced in front of the tent, glancing at his watch, sighing as Prentiss remained inside the tent, from which no sounds could be heard.
Finally, the cloths of the tent quivered, and were pushed outwards as the dark-haired woman emerged, a peculiar look on her face. Garcia pounced on her instantly. "What did she say? Tell me everything!" she demanded of her friend.
Prentiss opened her mouth to answer when the voice from inside the tent sounded once more. "Penelope Garcia, it is your turn now." The trio turned to look at the tent, surprised.
"Did you tell the fortune-teller Garcia's name?" Morgan asked Prentiss, who shook her head. Garcia paid no attention to the communication taking place between her coworkers, and she hurried into the tent, eager to find out what the Seer inside would tell her. Her friends watched her go, Morgan rolling his eyes slightly. "So what did she tell you?" he inquired, not actually curious but willing to pass the time by discussing the other woman's future.
Prentiss grimaced slightly. "Besides her guessing our names, somehow, the woman's a total fraud. She said that I would receive a marriage proposal sometime soon." She snorted. "As if! I'm not even dating anyone at the moment!"
Morgan grinned and wiggled his eyebrows at the dark-haired woman. "Oh, really, Prentiss? I wouldn't have taken you as the type to have problems finding men."
Prentiss slapped him playfully. "I don't have trouble with men; I just spend way too much time at my job."
Morgan sighed, reminded of the case they'd just been through. "Yeah, we all do."
Prentiss nodded, remembering the murders herself, and they lapsed into quiet, only disturbed by the far-off laughter of children as they viewed the many astounding exploits offered by the people working at the fair. The sounds of the incessant chatter and chaos of the location seemed to fade away as the couple lapsed into the darkness of their thoughts; the memories that had been hidden were forcing their way to the surface now that their bubbly friend was gone.
Both Morgan and Prentiss jumped as Garcia exited the tent, seeming slightly confused but very excited. "She said that I'll be receiving a surprise on a very special day!" she exclaimed, without waiting for either of her coworkers to ask about what she'd been told. "I'm not really sure what she meant, but she seemed to really see into my future, you know? It was amazing!" She grabbed at Morgan's hand and forced him nearer to the tent. "And now it's your turn!"
Morgan's face was set into an expression of reluctance as he walked into the tent, not even waiting for his name to be called. Inside, it was dark and smelled of incense. Morgan took a deep breath and resisted the urge to cough as the smoky odor tickled his throat. "Derek Morgan, please sit," a voice sounded from the center of the room. It took a moment for Morgan's eyes to adjust, and he squinted into the darkness. There was a table strewn with cards. A shadow was sitting at the table, and, as everything became clearer, Morgan could see it was a gypsy woman. She had coins braided into her hair, and her clothes were silky and dark green, covered with strange symbols. She was beckoning to Morgan, and the man found himself advancing and then sitting across from the woman, looking down at the table.
A deck of cards was by the side, and Morgan looked at them expectantly, thinking that the fortune-teller would use them to predict his future. The shadowy woman shook her head. "No, I don't need those. The cards are only to fool silly tourists. For you, I have the real future." Morgan frowned in confusion, his brows wrinkled as he gazed at the woman sitting in front of him. He didn't understand why she was telling him that she used a farce to fool people, and was surprised as she practically lunged and grabbed at his hand. She stared down at his palm, tracing some of the lines on his skin, before looking up into his eyes.
"You have been through many dark times, Derek," she intoned, gazing into his dark eyes. Morgan felt more than a little uncomfortable as her green eyes seemed to search his very soul. Not only did she know his name, but she'd somehow managed to allude to the many cases that had affected him over the years. He shifted, trying to pull his hand away from the woman, but her grip was even stronger than Garcia's. "But, you still seem untainted, helped by your friends. Oh!" A small exclamation of shock filled the woman's face, and her expression suddenly changed. Her eyes became blank, and she seemed to stare past Morgan and into the blackness of the tent. Her voice sounded much deeper as she pronounced the next words, "Derek Morgan, within the next week you will lose somebody close to you. Say your goodbyes while you still can, for they will be gone forever, you will never see them again."
Morgan rose, pulling his hand from the woman's grasp. He took a step back, slightly frightened by the suddenness of the woman's actions. Quickly, he pulled out his wallet and dropped five dollars on the floor before hurrying outside, where the two women were waiting for him.
Garcia smiled at him excitedly. "So, what did she say?" she asked, and Morgan schooled his features into a grin. He couldn't tell either of his friends what the fortune-teller had said. He knew it was false, obviously. That sort of thing didn't exist, people couldn't tell the future. But, despite that, he didn't think it would be a good idea to tell Garcia about what the woman had seen, he didn't want to worry her, not after what they'd seen at Springfield.
"She said something about me winning the lottery or something. 'Sudden windfall'," he said, making airquotes with his fingers. At Garcia's frustrated look, he shrugged. "I'm serious! I'm gonna win the lottery one of these days!"
Garcia looked away from him, linking arms with Prentiss, before beginning to walk away. "Well, I can't wait until that special someone proposes, Emily," she said, giggling about Prentiss's fortune. "But how can you not know who it is?"
Prentiss protested about the fortune being totally false as Morgan walked behind the pair. He looked around, suddenly seeing the fair in a whole new light. What had seemed like such childish fun just a short while ago seemed so much darker now. The acrobats, clowns, and tamers seemed to have a more desperate, morbid look on their faces as they tried hard to please the enthusiastic crowds. Morgan seemed able to see how vulnerable the people watching were, how easily they could be killed by a simple mistake.
Morgan shook his head, trying to rid himself of those thoughts. 'It's not real, people can't really tell the future. She was just saying that to creep me out,' he convinced himself. Despite his reassurances, he was slightly worried and he found himself thinking about who he might lose as he got into his car and drove home. Garcia and Prentiss had gone their separate ways, both eager to recover from the horrors of their last case. Morgan was hopeful to do that too, and, once he was home and turned on some stupid show on the television, the memories of it and what the fortune-teller had said slowly began to fade into the dark recesses of his mind.
(A/N) Hello everybody! This is my first Criminal Minds fanfic on the site, and I hope you guys enjoy it. I will be updating this fic every Saturday until it's done, so if you're interested at all keep an eye out for it on the weekends. Hopefully you guys will like it. I had a lot of fun writing it and planning it out. Please, if you do like it, leave me a review or something. I really appreciate those! Anyway, see you next week, and have a fantastic holiday season!
