For those of you who keep up with TLD, here's the new story I was describing in chapter 23's AN.
Title: Saving Two Lives With One Team
Rating: T for violence and cursing
Summary: They allowed themselves one night of mirth and when Emily left early, that was the last they saw of her, or so they thought. Now, eight months later, she shows up at the BAU, beaten, bloody, and with a surprise for the BAU, prompting the team to race to find out what happened and to save her and her family's lives before it's too late.
Notes: Every chapter will be titled with three words (from the title, 2+1). Also, I'm going to keep up with the quote thing per every chapter, since I find that they tend to vaguely describe a chapter. Also, the aim for each chapter is around 1,000 words. As always, R&R, and tell me if I should continue or give up on this idea. Thank you ahead of time to littlegreenbottle for her assistance :)
"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." –Maya Angelou
"You going to get coffee, kid?"
"Yeah, I was having trouble sleeping last night." When his brow crinkled slightly, Morgan realized that something beyond having difficulties sleeping was going on in that large mind of his. Knowing him, he'd have trouble sorting through whatever was bothering him, and so Morgan took it upon himself to be a friend.
"I'll come with ya," Morgan offered, though it came out as more of a statement. Reid stuffed his hands in his vest pockets and waited, prompting Morgan to hurriedly push his chair back and join him.
"What's up, Reid?" Morgan asked softly as they walked, Reid apparently finding the mundane gray office carpet under his loafers fascinating. He puffed out a sigh and silenced, leaving Morgan more curious than ever. It was a rare occurrence in which the famous boy genius was at a loss for words, especially with that surely expansive vocabulary of his, although there were exceptions. As uncommon as they were, they only happened when he was dealing with overwhelming emotions or incomprehensible thoughts that befuddled him, purely due to his reliance on proven facts and statistics. That was why, whenever the team saw him in a somber mood, they rushed to provide him with the supportive friendship he sometimes needed more than he knew. It just so happened that Morgan was around at the moment.
Even as silence reigned, it dawned on Morgan while he attempted to study his considerably younger companion that he knew what this was about. After all, Reid had his fair share of sleepless nights, but the same thing had been plaguing the whole team, Hotch included. It hadn't been their last case, even though it had been as horrible as the preceding one. It wasn't the prospect of piles of paperwork to fill out after having successfully completed a given case, either. It came from within, and Morgan was suddenly melancholy, a familiar feeling by now.
Eventually, Morgan was startled out of his thoughts when he nearly bumped into the coffee machine. Reid stood off to the side, his mind elsewhere, while Morgan fumbled to reassemble the tower of Styrofoam cups that had toppled when he knocked into them. The cups once again neatly stacked, Morgan proceeded to pull off the top one to pour himself a cup of the typically irksome office coffee, when Reid's voice managed to spook him again.
"I was thinking…" Reid murmured, and Morgan had to yank his hand away in order to avoid burning it with the steaming coffee, abruptly spilling into his cup with a hiss. "Did she leave?"
"You mean purposely?" Morgan clarified, pulling away his cup, plentiful with dark liquid.
"Yeah. I mean, I've thought about doing it, too."
"Leaving?" Morgan forced his tone to remain solely inquisitive as he set about preparing a second cup for Reid's coffee, which, Morgan determined, he was likely in desperate need of based mainly on the direction this conversation was taking, but also the ungodly hour of night to be at work.
"Yes. Haven't you?"
Morgan sighed apologetically while considering his response, handing Reid his cup, which Reid took absently. His eyes fixated on the swirling liquid within while Morgan carefully worded his reply. "We all have, Reid. We're surrounded by death and sickness every day. That's not even the worst of it; we see what happens to the people who go through torture, to the people who are left alone, the people who are too deeply affected to ever heal. Nobody on earth does this job without thinking, 'Is it really worth it?'"
"Is that what Emily thought?"
"I don't think so, kid," Morgan said, fully believing it. "Emily was determined to do what was right, and she knew we all loved her. Besides, even if something had been going on, not even the best of actors can get away with fooling a team of trained profilers. She had no reason to leave."
"Then, why did she? Why hasn't she called us, or e-mailed us?"
"Or sent us a postcard?" Morgan joked lamely. "I don't know, kid. I wish I did. I wish I knew if Emily was alright, where she was, if she's happy, if we'll ever even see her again."
While it was true that Morgan didn't doubt what he told Reid, it was also a strong form of reassurance. It wasn't as though Morgan had gotten over Emily any more than Reid had. What set the two apart in their distress was that Reid had abandonment issues, and everyone on the team was aware of this. When Emily just upped and left—although that may be a bad way to describe it, but it was the best that Morgan could think of—Reid instantly began having doubts. He had flashbacks to when Gideon pulled the same stunt and despite the team's continuous guarantees that this situation was somehow different, Reid still couldn't let it go.
One might presume Morgan to have been immeasurably furious with the situation, or even possibly at Emily. Morgan vehemently denied this assumption. He was avoiding using anger as a coping mechanism, because all it really earned him was a bloody hand, a dented wall, and a doctor's visit. While he still felt a rush of fury at the mystery that the team, after eight months, had still been unable to decipher, he dearly missed Emily. With unwavering certainty, Morgan enforced that Emily hadn't departed of her own accord. Whether this was actually truthful or not had yet to be determined, but nonetheless he was sound in his opinion despite the lack of evidence. Rossi had warned him not to let his own feelings be an obstacle to the truth, but Morgan had strongly reiterated himself and Rossi dropped the matter. Morgan was not a man that could be easily swayed.
It appeared as if tonight would be an all-nighter for the team sans Emily, who were still roaming around at 11 PM. The rest of the office had already left, bidding them pleasant goodnights, including Strauss (whose farewell was not as welcomed as the rest). As it was, the lighting in the bullpen was dim, only needing to lighten the office for its two current occupants: Morgan and Reid; the rest of was enveloped by shadows and darkness. Rossi, Hotch, JJ, and Garcia were all working in the confines of their individual offices, although the working part, at this point, was questionable. Even Reid and Morgan had been procrastinating and fidgeting for the past hour before Reid had finally made the decision to retrieve a much needed caffeine boost when he acknowledged that there would be no sleep in his future for tonight. As for Morgan's reasoning for continuing to reside in the office, he wasn't entirely sure, but he felt obliged to.
When the duo returned to the desolate bullpen, expecting silence fit for a graveyard, they were shocked to hear ragged coughing. Both tensed and forgot their coffee, abandoning both cups on the nearby desk of a colleague. Without thinking, they simultaneously rushed to the unseen source as the coughing became more violent.
Morgan was the first to find her. She was clinging desperately to the end of his desk with a bloody hand that wouldn't be able to support her for much longer. Her dark brown eyes found his and Morgan noted the pain reflected back at him. Numb with disbelief, his eyes traveled over the rest of her body, perceiving the bruises and gashes that marred every other inch of her skin and the large tears in the ratty clothes that he never remembered her owning.
When his eyes fell on the largest part of her, her stomach, panic struck in his chest with instantaneous realization and another dose of incredulity. With an astonishingly forceful tone, he hollered at the top of his lungs.
"Call 911!"
