"Speak and be recognised, oh mortal"
Derek Morgan sighed inwardly to himself. Any other day he would instantly be cheered by her witty and oh so modest greeting, but right now it turned the pit that had become his stomach to lead. Any other day he didn't have to tell her they couldn't find Reid, that he'd been taken by the man they were supposed to be hunting. Any other day he didn't have to tell her that Hotch wanted her on the next plane out here, to try and make some sense of the sick bastard's computer system. Any other day he wasn't this close to breaking down all together.
"Penelope"
The use of her full name was warning enough for her. Warning enough to tell her that Morgan was upset, that something had gone wrong, that he wasn't bringing her happy news. Worst case scenarios immediately began zipping through her mind, images of her best friends, her family, hurt or worse. Her blood ran cold at the thought.
"Derek? What's wrong, did something happen?"
He could hear the fear in her voice, the panic that was clouding the edges of her vision. He knew it was there because that was exactly how he felt right now. He hadn't felt this much anger, fear or shame since Chicago. Not since he was sitting in that interrogation room, helpless, while his colleagues friends discovered his darkest secret. And, he thought, even that was preferable to what he was about to tell his Baby Girl.
"Yeah, something happened. Something bad, Mama, the guy, he took Reid. We can't find him anywhere."
A sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line. Tears slid down her face. Reid. Her quiet, socially awkward, geeky genius who cared too much about everybody and not enough about himself. She saw him covered in Nathan Harris' blood. She saw his sad features as he told her about his mother. She saw the guilt and sadness in his eyes as he realised Elle really wasn't coming back.
It wasn't fair. Reid was completely innocent! So much of him was still a little boy who loved magic tricks and bottle rockets, and was still afraid of the dark. So much of him was a lonely young man who turned up on her doorstep from time to time with ice cream, just wanting someone to sit with, because he felt alone.
"Hotch wants you here to look at this guy's computer system. We can't make anything of it. He says the jet should be ready." Derek was still talking.
"I'll be there in the morning." She paused. "Find him Derek, please"
"We will, mama"
We have to.