I do not own Criminak Minds. This is just one chapter. If you want more like this, you will have to ask. Enjoy!

It was frigidly cold. Even so, he was only wearing a thin sweater to shield him from the elements. His breath made wispy clouds in the chilly air. The moon was a perfect whole. It illuminated his environment. He stood before a headstone; it was new, its polish fresh, only a few days exposed. To a passerby, he appeared to be perfectly still- a statue, save for the excessive blinking. But up close you could see that he was trembling, although not from the cold. Glistening tears were streaming down the young man's pale cheeks, which were rosey from the cold. He had been standing there for nearly an hour. He finally spoke.

"I-I'm-I'm so sorry. It wasn't supposed to end this way," his voice was a whisper- barely audible. "You could have told us sooner... or at least talked to one of us-me. We could have-and would have- helped you." The tears were falling quicker now. There was a lump in his throat. "B-b-but now you're," he swallowed and closed his eyes. "...you're... gone. And I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye." At this, his voice cracked, and he was full-on sobbing by now. He sat down at the foot of the stone, tracing the words with his fingers.

EMILY PRENTISS

OCTOBER 12, 1970 – MARCH 7, 2011

FIDELITY, BRAVERY, INTEGRITY

A man softly walks up to him from behind. He puts his hand on the young man's shoulder, startling him.

"Pretty boy, you can't make her come back. She's gone."

The young man stands up and faces the man. He is trembling unstoppably now.

"Don't you think that I know that, Morgan? I'm a freakin' genius for crying out loud!" he snaps.

Morgan takes a cautious step backward. He doesn't want to anger him further.

"Reid, calm down, it's okay. I didn't mean to upset you. I said that more to myself than to you."

Reid limply nods his head in place of the word 'yes'. He suddenly remembers that he was crying. He wipes his eyes, embarrassed. He clears his throat.

"Morgan, why are you here? To spy on me? I'm not three years old, I can take care of myself," he says defensibly.

"No, and I have no doubt that you can take care of yourself. We have a case and you weren't answering your cell, so I took a hunch that you were here, and I guess that I was right."

Reid apologizes, "Sorry. I left my phone in my car. I have my go bag. I'll head to Quantico right now." He heads for his car, but Morgan's voice makes him stop and turn around.

"Hey man, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for asking," he replied assuringly. He continues towards his car.

As he slips into his beat up car, a thought crosses his mind. 'If I am fine, then for how much longer?'