Summary: Morgan meets a homeless kid while on a case and becomes captivated by him.
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: Unfortunately the extremely sexy Derek Morgan and the rest of his team do not belong to me.
Beta: Dragon Claymore I want to extend much thanks to her for her help with this.
CWC: 4,042
Enjoy!
Noah Ortiz had always been such a charming young man, as his teachers would tell people. Sure, he smoked, and drank the occasional beer but he wasn't a bad kid. He had loving parents; sure, he didn't love them all the time. Sometimes he hated them, but he was 15, what do you expect from a 15-year-old kid? All that changed when he saw his parents being murdered.
"Crap, I'm gonna be late again," Noah said to himself.
Running out of his room and heading down the stairs, he stopped at the second step when he saw his parents arguing with someone. Suddenly the man looked up and saw Noah. Noah's parents turned and his father tried to tell him to run but he couldn't move. He tried to run toward the front door but the man grabbed him and dragged him into the living room.
"Let me go!" He screamed.
The man, whose face was covered, shook his head. He dragged Noah into a seat, tied him up, gagged him, and did the same thing with his father. Noah watched as the man repeatedly raped his mother. The masked man pulled out his mother, turned her around, and shot her twice in the chest. Noah screamed around the gag. He watched as the man turned to his father and shot him twice in the chest. The man untied Noah but left the gag in, put a finger to his lips, then left the house.
{~CM~}
Morgan didn't understand why they had to work on Saturdays. Those were his days to just chill out, maybe do some things around the house and just be lazy, but instead he had to sit here listening to JJ talk about a case.
"Last week, Valerie Halberds and her husband Martin were murdered inside their home. A week before that, Wanda Ortiz and her husband Roberto were also killed."
"Two different attacks with the families, are we sure it's the same person?" Rossi asked.
JJ nodded, "According to Detective Simmons, at the Maryland Police Department, they believe it is."
"Okay, so the Halberds, the unsub rapes the woman and then slashes her neck and wrists. The Ortiz family, he rapes the woman and then shoots both the wife and the husband," Morgan said, "Why? Why the different attacks?"
"So that's the only connection?" Reid asked.
"No," Garcia said speaking up for the first time, "I did some digging into each of the families, and each of them had a child. The Halberds had a nine year old daughter and the Ortiz family had a fifteen year old son."
"What happened to them?" Prentiss asked.
Garcia shrugged, "Well the daughter went into foster care and as for the boy, no one knows. He seemed to have just disappeared."
Hotch nodded, "Wheels up in twenty."
Morgan sighed as he stood up from his seat. ~So much for my lazy afternoon. ~
{~CM~}
Noah always woke with the sun and slept with the moon. After his first night on the street, he decided to never stay awake during the night or sleep during the day. True this would only be his second week on the street, but when you're homeless, you learn pretty quickly the rules of the street. He stood up from his current spot and stretched. ~Time to pack up and move on.~ He packed everything he had in his backpack and just started walking. Noah passed by a McDonald's and his stomach growled. He fumbled through his pockets and his bag to see if he had enough money to buy a breakfast sandwich. He sighed. No money. No food.
{~CM~}
On the jet, they went over the case and tried to build a preliminary profile. By the time the plane touched down in Baltimore, they had their preliminary profile.
UNSUB
Male between the ages of 25-40
Unemployed
Single
Has connection to the women he murders
Morgan sighed, there wasn't much to figure out, and he hoped that once they reached the police department they'd be able to add to this profile. Morgan climbed into one of the SUVs with Reid and Prentiss, while Hotch, Rossi, and JJ went in the other vehicle. As he followed Hotch, he noticed a bunch of kids on the street. Reid sighed sadly from the passenger seat.
"What's wrong pretty boy?"
"It's just sad. 1.7 million are prone to call the streets home each year."
"Really?" Morgan asked surprised. Reid nodded.
"Yes, and 39% of those are children under the age of 18. What's even worse is that out of that 42% are children under the age of 5."
"Under the age of five?" Prentiss exclaimed.
"Yes."
"Damn," Morgan replied blowing out a breath as he noticed a young boy looking so sad.
There was something about that boy that seemed to catch Morgan's attention. He didn't know what it was but he just felt a strange pull toward this particular kid. Morgan sighed and kept driving. It wasn't long before they pulled up in front of the police station. As he got out the Suburban, he looked back over his shoulder toward the spot where he saw the kid.
{~CM~}
Noah watched as two big black Suburbans drove past him. He noticed how their license plates said FBI and he wondered if they were here to find his parents' killer. He really hoped they were. When he thought about that night, he wondered why the man didn't kill him and allowed him to live. He should've killed me.
"Hey, Noah."
Noah looked up to see Amber, another homeless teen like him. He smiled.
"Hey, Amber."
"Hot out here, huh?"
"Yeah."
Amber sat down next to Noah and smiled. Noah had a suspicion that Amber liked him, but nothing had come of it so far.
"Did you eat?"
Noah shook his head, "No money. Not really feeling another breakfast of stale bread out of a trashcan."
Amber grinned, "What about Mickey D's?" she asked flashing some money at him. Noah's mouth dropped open.
"Amber I don't understand. How is that you have all this money and yet you're homeless? Where do you get all this money from?"
Amber winked and stood and pulled Noah to his feet, "Now if I tell you that, I'd probably have to kill you." She laughed at Noah's shocked face, "Don't worry, hot stuff, it's nothing like that. I just don't like telling people about my job, even if they are cute."
Noah shook his head smiling for the first time that day. He followed her into the McDonald's. She ushered him to a seat and went to get in line. Amber came to the table a little while later with a tray packed with food. On her way, she grabbed another tray before sitting down. She chuckled as she saw Noah's eyes bug out of his skull. She separated the food between the two of them and then grabbed his backpack and stuffed most of his food in the backpack.
"This should last you at least until the end of week."
Noah smiled again, "Thanks Amber."
{~CM~}
Hours passed and Morgan was still thinking about this kid. They had found out that the Unsub had repeatedly raped Wanda Ortiz while Valerie Halberds was raped only once. Through July, the Halberds' nine-year-old daughter, they found out that she was forced to watch her Mother being raped and both her parents being murdered.
"He tied me up and gagged me in a chair next to Daddy and told me to watch while he did the nasty to Mommy. I shut my eyes though; Mommy and Daddy told me to never watch someone do the nasty."
"No?" JJ asked gently.
July shook her head, "No. Mommy and Daddy said it was bad."
Morgan knelt down, "July, what happened next?"
"I felt him grip my head and he made me open my eyes. He told me to watch. I watched him cut Mommy three times. Then he took Daddy and cut him three times. Then He untied me and left."
Morgan had looked at JJ, "July, when the guy talked to you did he have a deep voice?" Morgan asked.
July shook her head, "He didn't speak at all."
"But sweetie, you just told us that he spoke to you," JJ said looking at Morgan first and then the head of the foster care center.
July shook her head, "He didn't speak with his mouth he spoke with his hands.
"So either the unsub is deaf or July just meant that he gestured with his hands," JJ said.
Morgan nodded. JJ frowned.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, just thinking. Why would the unsub allow the kids to live?"
"Morgan something else is bothering you. You've been out of sorts all morning."
Morgan sighed. He didn't want to tell JJ about the kid. He just shook his head as they walked toward the car. Morgan and JJ headed back to the station and joined the rest of the team in giving the information on what they found.
"We need to find that kid," Hotch said and pulled out his cell and dialed Garcia.
"What can I do for you, boss man?"
"Garcia, I need you to see if you can locate the Ortiz child."
"Let me see what I can do for you."
They heard her typing furiously on the computer for a few minutes before she spoke. "Found a picture of the Ortiz kid. I'm sending his picture to your phones now. It doesn't really say much about him. Just that Noah Ortiz was an only child, had average grades, and had been a part of the band at high school before he dropped out."
"Does it say when he dropped out?" Prentiss asked.
"No, just said that he dropped out."
"What about living relatives that maybe live close by?" Rossi asked.
"Nada. He has one living relative, an aunt but she lives in Paris."
The team sighed. They all stared at the picture that Garcia had forwarded and tried to sift through the information that she had given them. Morgan stared at the picture hard frowning.
"Sonovabitch!" he shouted.
Reid looked up, "What, Morgan?"
"I've seen this kid."
Hotch frowned, "Morgan, are you sure? Where?"
Morgan shook his head, "I'm almost sure it was him, but I don't remember where. I think it was when we were coming in."
Hotch nodded, "Okay, here's what were going to do. I believe we have enough for a preliminary profile so we'll deliver that. Afterwards, I want Prentiss to go with Morgan. Try to help him jog his memory as to where he saw the kid and try to bring him in. If you do find him, make sure he knows he's not in any trouble. JJ, you're going to give a press conference and the rest of us will do a preliminary sweep of the victim's areas to see what we can find out about our unsub."
The team nodded.
{~CM~}
Half an hour later Prentiss and Morgan took to the streets. Morgan was sure that he saw the kid, but he just couldn't remember where. Prentiss wasn't so convinced.
"Morgan, are you sure it was this kid? I mean it could've been any random kid."
Morgan shook his head, "No. It's this one, I remember because there was something about him that I couldn't get off my mind."
Prentiss nodded, "Well, any of this looking familiar?" She asked as they drove by the street.
Morgan nodded as he scanned the area. "Stop!"
Prentiss brought the car to a stop, "What?"
"Here. I saw him over here. I'm positive."
Prentiss pulled the car up to the side of the road and parked it before they exited the vehicle. Morgan frowned.
"I remember seeing him right here."
Prentiss chuckled, "Well, obviously he moved. Homeless people, much less teens stay in one spot for long."
Morgan nodded, "Right, well why don't we split up? We'll cover more ground that way."
Prentiss nodded. She took one end of the street and Morgan took another. He really hoped that he didn't lose the kid. He wanted to see him. As he passed by an alleyway, he heard voices.
"Oh come on kid, I know you got food. We saw you with that girl earlier. Just let us have the food."
"No. It's mine."
"We're all in the same boat kid, give us the food."
Morgan heard the kid sounding frightened so he decided to step in. He walked down the alleyway and was about to step in when he saw the kid that he was looking for. For some reason he stood rooted to his spot for a minute before he decided to speak.
"Hey!"
Noah and the two other boys turned. The two boys saw Morgan and took off. Noah started to run too but Morgan called out.
"Noah, wait!"
Noah stopped and Morgan caught up with him, "How do you know my name? Who the fuck are you? I didn't do anything wrong I swear."
"Whoa, kid, relax. You're not in any trouble. I just want to talk to you."
"About what? Who are you?"
"My name is Derek Morgan, and I'm with the FBI. I want to talk to you about the night your parents died."
"They got shot right in front of me and I couldn't do anything. My Mom got raped repeatedly and I couldn't do ANYTHING! Why did they let me live? Why didn't they just kill me?" Noah sobbed.
"That's what we're trying to find out. Would you mind coming down to the station with me?"
Noah looked at Morgan with wide eyes, "I'm not in trouble?"
"Nah, kid."
{~CM~}
Half an hour later, Hotch was getting a headache. Noah wasn't talking and he didn't know why. Hotch explained that he wasn't in any kind of trouble. They just needed some information from him to help them catch his parents' killer, but Noah wouldn't budge. He sighed and walked out of the room.
"Why won't he talk?" Rossi asked. Hotch shrugged.
"Where's Morgan?"
"Bathroom."
Hotch nodded. He walked to the men's room and found Morgan washing his hands. "Morgan."
Morgan turned to Hotch and nodded.
"I want you to talk to the boy."
"Hotch I can't do that."
"Yes, you can. Now I want you to talk to him, and see what you can find out."
"Why do I have to be the one? Why can't Prentiss or even you?"
"We tried. He's not talking."
"And you think he'll talk to me? What makes you so sure?"
"You are the one who noticed him, did you not?"
"Yeah?"
"Well he might be a bit more inclined to talk to us if he recognizes a familiar face. You are the only one who he has seen."
Morgan grumbled. He didn't want to have to sit and talk to a boy doesn't matter if Noah had recognized him or not. Hotch gave him a look that had Morgan squirming. As much as he didn't want to talk to Noah, he didn't want to see that look on Hotch's face again.
Morgan sighed and nodded, "Fine."
Morgan exited the bathroom with Hotch following him and entered the room. He pulled out a chair across from Noah.
"Hey, kid."
"Hi."
"Noah, you do realize you're not in trouble right?"
Noah nodded, "So why am I here?"
"Noah do you remember the day your parents were killed?"
"Duh! I watched them die!"
"What can you tell me about that day?"
Noah sighed and told Morgan all about what he remembered. How he remembered hearing his parents arguing, how he watched his mother being raped multiple times and how he watched both his parents being shot right in front of him. Morgan nodded, remembering all too well watching his father being shot in front of him. Morgan told Noah that story to let him know that he wasn't alone. Half an hour later, Morgan emerged from the room rubbing his forehead.
"Damn, that kid lost both his parents in one night."
"Yes, well, so did July Halberds," Hotch explained.
"Yeah, but it's different."
"How so?" Hotch asked as they walked back to the conference room.
"Because July had somewhere to go. Noah doesn't have anywhere to go so he's stuck on the street."
Hotch noticed the way Morgan was reacting, "Morgan, I'd love to help the kid, you know it, but we can't. We came here to do one job and that's find the killer."
"Hotch, he's a freaking fifteen year old boy! How could we not help him?"
"Morgan, we are helping him, by finding his parents' killer and putting him behind bars."
Morgan just shook his head and stalked off. Reid who was passing by raised an eyebrow. Hotch just sighed and shook his head.
Later that evening while everyone was asleep in their hotel rooms, Morgan was out on the street searching for Noah. He found him a ways from the police station. Noah was sitting reading a battered book. He cautiously approached.
"Hey, Noah."
Noah looked up, "Agent."
Morgan shook his head, "Just Derek, out here. Whatcha reading?" he asked as he sat down opposite Noah.
Noah shrugged, "My friend Amber gave it to me. It's called The Tenth Justice. It's really good."
"Cool, what's it about?"
"It's about a young man who becomes a clerk at the Supreme Court. He accidentally tells the wrong person a secret and all hell breaks loose."
"Neat."
"Yeah, Amber's nice. She gives me things all the time. Buys me food, clothes, gives me money sometimes. I don't know where she gets all this money from, but she says her job. But she won't tell me what her job is."
Morgan nodded. The two stayed up talking about different things like books, school and just different things until it was well past two in the morning and Noah gave a yawn. Morgan chuckled.
"Guess I should let you get some sleep."
Noah yawned again and Morgan took that as his cue to leave. He stood up and pulled out his wallet. He fished out his card and $30 and handed it to Noah.
"Here, if you use this money wisely it should last you until the end of the week, and if you ever need or want to talk, call me my personal cell is on the back."
Noah stood and took it, "Why are you being so nice to me?"
"You don't deserve what happened to you, kid and I feel like I could've been you."
Noah didn't really understand but before he was able to question, Morgan was walking away. Over the next day or so that it took the team to solve the case, Morgan spent his free time with Noah. He would buy him lunch and anything else that he needed like clothes, books, etc. Morgan even met Noah's friend Amber. At first glance, he thought that she might be a prostitute, but that wasn't case. Noah didn't know this but Amber wasn't really homeless. She worked for the Care center. Her and a couple other people went around to the homeless teens and tried to help them by giving them money or things that they want or need. Morgan was pleased.
{~CM~}
"Morgan we need to talk," Hotch said as Morgan entered the conference room.
Morgan frowned, "What is it?"
Hotch frowned and shook his head, "You're spending way too much time with the Ortiz boy. That isn't good."
Morgan sighed, "Hotch, what are you afraid of, that I'll somehow spill the beans on the case?"
Hotch shook his head, "No, I know you won't."
"Then what's the problem how I spend my free time? So, I spend time with Noah. He's a fifteen-year-old parentless boy who needs someone to confide in. And frankly, I feel like I can relate. I know what it's like to watch your parent die."
Hotch sighed and shook his head. Morgan took a seat next to Prentiss and tried to contribute but his mind and heart wasn't in it. He was thinking about Noah and what would happen to him once he left.
"Morgan."
Morgan shook his head, "Sorry. What?"
Hotch sighed, "Call Garcia and see what she found out."
Morgan pulled out his cell, "Hey, baby girl."
"Hey, Love Bug. Got just what you need."
"Yeah, and what's that?"
"A name and an address."
"Hit me, mama."
"Byron Hale. 220 Groves street. So the story goes that Byron would get ignored by his parents a lot and they mistreated him a lot in front of people. When Byron was nine his father beat him for being late in coming home from school."
"That must've been the trigger," Reid commented.
"Yeah and some days later his parents were found dead in their bed. Each had three cuts on their bodies and they were lying in a pool of blood."
"Must've killed them in their sleep," Morgan commented, "Who found them?"
"The lady that usually took Byron to school."
"Thanks, Garcia," Hotch said. "Let's go."
{~CM~}
"Hotch, I can't leave him. Who knows what will happen if he continues to stay on the street."
"Are you really ready for that type of responsibility? Raising a child isn't easy, Morgan much less a teen."
Morgan nodded, "I know, but I'm willing to try. I'd never forgive myself if something happened to him while he was stuck on the street."
Hotch sighed and rubbed his temple, "Fine. Do what you need to. We'll meet you on the plane."
Morgan smiled, "Thanks, Hotch."
Morgan drove the SUV to where he usually hung out with Noah and saw him laying on his coat reading.
"Hey, Noah."
Noah looked up and smiled, "Derek! Check out this new book that Amber gave me today."
"Neat, kid. Listen, Noah, how'd you like to stop living on the street?"
"If it was possible, I'd love to, but where would I go?"
"How'd you feel if I said that it was very possible and that you'd be living with me?"
"Really?"
Morgan nodded and Noah grinned and nodded. Morgan chuckled.
"Grab your stuff, kid and come on. We got a plan to catch."
Excitedly, Noah grabbed his coat and backpack and followed Morgan to the SUV. All during the drive Noah was talking excitedly; Morgan forgot for a second that he was fifteen. He grinned. Before heading to the airport, Morgan made a stop at the Care center where he allowed Noah to say goodbye to Amber and where Noah actually saw what Amber did. He also filled out the appropriate documentation for adopting Noah. All the way to the airport, Noah was talking about how nervous he was. Morgan chuckled, ruffled his hair, and told him that his friends would love him.
~EPILOGUE: 5 MONTHS LATER~
Morgan was excited as he flipped through the mail. He had just gotten the documentation that he had officially adopted Noah. The doorbell rang and he went to answer it and found the team carrying a cake.
"Did it come?" Garcia asked as they walked in. Morgan nodded.
"Aww!"
"I know. I wonder how Noah's gonna feel."
Speaking of Noah, he walked in the door with a frown on his face, "Derek, what's going on?" he asked as he tossed his schoolbag on the couch.
Derek grinned, "Well, let's see, didn't you get your report card today?"
Noah grinned, nodded, went to his bag, and whipped it out showing Derek and everyone the B's and C's.
"Nice job," Derek said giving Noah a high five. "Well something else came today," he said and gave the envelope to Noah.
Noah looked at Derek with wide eyes before he opened the envelope. He quickly scanned the document and gasped.
"Seriously?"
Derek nodded, "Yup, I've officially adopted you, kid."
Noah forgot that he was a fifteen-year-old boy and hugged Derek. Everyone clapped and 'awwed'.
"Cake!" Garcia said grabbing a knife from Derek's kitchen as Prentiss grabbed plates, "Congratulations on Noah's really great report card and Derek for officially adopting Noah."
Everyone clapped and dug into the cake. Derek looked at Noah and nodded to himself. He felt like he had finally done something right.
END.