Heroes
a Criminal Intent story
by RoadrunnerGER
Disclaimer: I don't own CI or anything of the L&O universe. I don't own anything of the crossover show either.
Summary: A morning run leads to two heroes of law enforcement crossing paths. Crossover
A/N: My dear friend Bammi1 presented me with a challenge and this is the result. The ten words used for it were effect, pad, choice, pride, spill, jerk, climb, hunt, green, and unhappy. Writing those challenges is much fun and great practice. It would be cool if you would accept the challenge and write your own story around those words… or you give me ten new words and we'll see what happens. Anyway… Enjoy! :D
xXx
Maybe this wasn't the brightest idea after all, Bobby Goren thought when he jogged down the path. Somewhere ahead his partner had vanished minutes ago, thoroughly leaving him behind. I guess she's waiting just around the bend, watching how I'm doing. She always was in better shape than me. He chuckled between heavy breaths as he thought of her female attributes. She'll always be in better shape, he smirked to himself. Quite naturally.
This idea kept him running. He was slower than her, but he still made it. He was in his mid-forties and took pride in being able to run this track with all the obstacles he had to climb even though he certainly did not meet the standards usually expected by the men and women training here. What he was unhappy with was that his partner left him on his own. Of course he knew that she was curious as to the time she would manage the FBI Academy's fitness trail here in Quantico, but he still thought that she would wait for him.
Eames probably does meet those standards, he thought, pride welling up inside him for his partner. She's just about perfect.
The strain of the run on the pretended hunt, as well as his mental ramblings kept Bobby distracted. So he did not notice anything until he bumped into something that struggled and finally went down together with him.
"Ouch!" Bobby called out as he rolled aside and finally came to rest on his butt. When he looked around he met a pair of dark eyes that screamed jerk as their owner glowered at him, but the expression vanished as fast as it flashed over his prominent features. The sweater he wore identified him as FBI agent. Bobby gasped in a small surprised breath as he recognized the agent in front of him.
"Are you okay?" the dark skinned man asked, scrambling to his feat and holding out a hand for Bobby.
"Yeah, I think I am," the New York detective replied and took the offered hand to pull himself up. "Thank you, sir."
"No problem," the other man said. "You're attending the weekend seminar, right?"
"Yes, sir," Bobby confirmed.
"And?"
"It's… pretty interesting," Bobby said, still somewhat out of breath. "I… enjoyed… the lectures of… Agents Rossi and Reid."
"You did?" the agent asked, surprised.
"Yes, sir," Bobby grinned. "They were fascinating. I almost filled my note pad. I'll need a new one."
"Well, you won't need to take notes in my course," the agent smirked.
"No, sir," Bobby replied enthusiastically. "I'm looking forward to it."
When he automatically straightened up as if standing at attention, Bobby winced, feeling the effects of the run and the fall.
"So am I,…" he prompted with a pause for Bobby's name.
"Detective Robert O. Goren, Major Case Squad, NYPD," Bobby introduced himself.
"Major Case," the agent mused aloud. "I've heard of your unit… and you. You and your partner have an incredible solve rate."
"Thank you, Agent Morgan," Bobby replied, actually sensing himself blush. "The BAU also has an excellent reputation. I watched SSA Rossi and SSA Gideon's career. When I heard that Rossi would lecture here…"
Bobby trailed off when he saw the widening smirk on Morgan's face.
"We're no heroes," Morgan said, "only profilers who are doing their jobs."
"And you're very good at that," Bobby said. "There is this tactic Agent Rossi described in his book The Principles of Hostage Negotiations that helped me to solve a conflict and save eleven people who were hold hostage."
"You're a negotiator?"
"No, but I studied criminology and take a big interest in profiling. I learned a lot while I was stationed in South Korea with the CID. I also met my mentor there…" he trailed off again. He did not want to go there. Morgan, though, picked up on his mention.
"Who was your mentor?" agent Morgan asked. "Someone I might know? C'mon, spill the beans."
Bobby shrugged, though he did not feel that relaxed anymore. "Declan Gage."
For a split second recognition lit up in Morgan's eyes, but if he recalled the name he did not let it show.
"I… also had a mentor," he said.
An awkward silence fell between them. Actually Bobby had no reason to believe that Morgan did not know the name Declan Gage. Gage had been one of the first criminal profilers and had been with the FBI until he had a meltdown and was released out of service.
Finally Morgan broke the silence by saying, "We should keep going or we'll miss breakfast."
Bobby nodded and fell into a trot beside Morgan.
"I guess my partner is back at the quarters already," Bobby gasped as he jogged along with the agent. "She loves to run."
"Judging by your solve rate you must have a very good and stable partnership."
"We have," Bobby agreed. "We… complement… one another."
"That's essential for a good team," Morgan confirmed.
"Like yours."
Morgan chuckled. "If you say so."
"You did one hell of a job… when your team profiled… the terrorist car bombing outside New York City's Federal Plaza," Bobby said. "Wasn't one of your team caught in the explosion?"
"Yes," Morgan confirmed. "Hotch."
"SSA Hotchner is the head of your team, right?"
"Yeah." Morgan glanced sideways at the New York detective. He was well informed.
"It was a brave act to drive that ambulance out of the hospital," Bobby told him.
For a moment Morgan remained silent before he huffed, "It was necessary," and sped up his run toward another obstacle.
So it was you, Bobby deduced and watched the FBI agent tackle the wooden construction, a huge rack with two thick nets. Morgan climbed up the first net and dove head first over the top to roll into the net on the other side. Bobby just contemplated following Morgan's lead when he heard something crack and the impossible happened.
"Argh!" Morgan called out with surprise and pain when the net broke under him.
Shit!
Bobby ran to the obstacle and ducked under one of the diagonal bars to reach Morgan, who dangled from the net, his legs trapped in the ropes. The agent groaned.
"Are you okay?" Bobby asked, rolling his eyes at himself at the rather stupid question.
"Never been better," Morgan pressed through gritted teeth. His back hurt like hell from the drop and his right ankle protested against holding his weight. "Can you push me up?"
"Up?"
"Yeah," Morgan groaned. "Let me grip the ropes at the top! Then I should be able to free my legs."
"Okay."
Stepping under the agent Bobby reached up to support his shoulders. Pushing against his torso he helped him to take hold of the ropes above him. Morgan groaned with the effort, but pulled himself up, trying to unburden his legs.
"Does it work?" Bobby asked, breathing hard.
"Just a bit more," Morgan panted. "Ugh! C'mon!"
Bobby pressed on the agent's back, lifting him higher.
"Yeah, that's it. Argh! Shit!"
Once more groaning with pain Morgan freed his left leg, the one that he could move all right, but the right one was injured. With some struggles and assisted by Bobby he finally managed to pull the foot out of the rope loops.
"Okay, okay, I've got you!" Bobby told Morgan, taking him by the waist. "Let go and I'll catch you."
"No, step aside. I… can land on the left foot."
"I can hold you. Now let go!" Bobby insisted.
"Sure?"
"Sure I'm sure!" Bobby panted. "Now… let go!"
So Morgan let himself drop and Bobby wrapped his arms around him as the agent slid in his embrace.
"Okay, I've got you. Come, let's sit down over there," he nodded at a tree trunk beside the trail.
"It's… all right," Morgan said. "Just… ugh."
So Bobby took Morgan's arm and put it around his own shoulders as support for the agent. He held on to the agent's waist and together they hobbled out from under the construction and over to the trunk.
"Thanks," Morgan sighed as he sat down on the bark. "Ugh, I think the self defence class will be held by someone else."
"That's quite possible," Bobby agreed as he carefully shoved the leg of Morgan's track pants up. The ankle had already started to swell. He hoped that it was only sprained and not broken.
"I should've taken my cell phone with me," Morgan chuckled. "Do you have yours?"
"No."
Morgan laughed. "Great. Two cops and no phone."
"Didn't think that I'd need one here on the base," Bobby murmured. "The Academy is full of cops and agents. I'm sure we're not the only ones working out before breakfast."
"You mean we just wait for the next runner and see if he has a phone?" Morgan asked ironically.
"Sure. I won't leave you alone to go back."
"But that's the best choice," Morgan argued. "You go back and get help at the Academy. I can just sit here and wait. No problem at all."
"Okay," Bobby said, "but I won't leave you on your own."
Morgan huffed. He let his gaze drift over the undergrowth. Spotting what he was searching for he leaned backwards, trying to reach a thick branch.
"Whoa! Wait a minute!" Bobby shouted. "What do you think you're going to do? Take that branch and hobble back?"
"Well, if you don't go…"
"Okay…" Bobby said and pulled Morgan back up on his sweater. Then he climbed over the trunk to get the stick. It was too short to support the FBI agent. "I'll help you," Bobby declared. "Just give us a minute to rest."
"All right."
Side by side they sat on the trunk, bringing their breathing back under control. It took a little longer for Bobby to calm down again, but when he looked at Morgan he noticed that he did not look so good.
If his skin wouldn't be that dark he might look a bit green about the gills, Bobby thought. But his eyes are slightly glazed over. He must be in a lot of pain. Maybe I really should go alone.
A look up at the sky made Bobby rethink that. When he and Eames had started their run the sun had been shining. Now clouds gathered to dark towers. It looked like the weather would change.
"We should go," Morgan said.
Bobby nodded and got up, holding out his arm for support. "C'mon."
Morgan took hold on Bobby's arm and pulled himself up. Putting his arm around the detective's shoulders he found a good hold and slowly they started to walk. They were going at a snail's pace. Each time Morgan had to put the slightest weight on his injured leg he winced. Bobby wondered if he would have to carry him.
"You know," Morgan suddenly murmured. "We… know what happened with former Agent Gage. I'm… sorry for your loss."
"Thank you," Bobby murmured, secretly surprised that Morgan mentioned it at all. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
"Is that how you see it?" Morgan asked, stunned.
Bobby stopped walking. "Actually that's only part of the truth. I'm coping… but I've gotta say something, right?"
Thoughtfully Morgan looked him up and down. "Yeah, I know what you mean," he said.
The tone he used sent shivers down Bobby's spine. He also recognized the barely perceptible haunted expression that flitted across the agent's features. Morgan, as much as Bobby, was a survivor, a hero who lived through abuse and did not come out unscathed but with an unbreakable will to carry on.
Both men shared a knowing look and continued their march. Very slowly they made it to the main building complex of the FBI Academy. As soon as they were spotted men approached them and relieved Bobby of Morgan's weight. Someone brought a stretcher out and they lowered Morgan on it.
"Thanks, Detective Goren," Morgan said and squeezed Bobby's hand.
"Bobby," the detective corrected him. "You're welcome."
"Sorry that you have to do without my course now."
"No problem. I'll come back when you're holding the next."
"That's a deal."
Bobby smirked and nodded at the agent. Then men carried the stretcher away.
Suddenly Eames was by his side.
"Looks like your morning was quite exciting," she said.
"It was. Did you manage the given time?"
"Yes, I did," she smirked. "You have the perfect excuse not to clock it."
"Thanks, Eames," he snorted.
She smirked even broader. "My hero."
That made him blush and she thought that was quite adorable. "C'mon. Let's have breakfast. You must be starving."
As if on cue Bobby's stomach was grumbling.
"You're right. Let's not waste time," he agreed and they vanished in the building.
The End