Thanks for all the reviews as always… very much appreciated and keeps me going! Hope this chapter keeps you interested…. Enjoy :D
~~CM~~
She lay on her back, slowly opening her heavy eyes. Breathing in deeply, the thick, humid air hit the back of her throat and as she exhaled, her lips formed into the smallest of contented smiles. She turned her head that was lay on the pillow and reached out for him, anticipating the warmth of his flesh on her fingertips. But all she was met with was the coarse fabric of the bed sheet.
She looked around the room and listened out for that familiar sound of him in the shower…. but there was nothing but the hum of the generator from the store below. Swallowing hard, she started to feel anxious butterflies in her tummy…. Had she dreamt he was there last night…..? But it had felt so real…. His gentle kiss on her lips, his warm breath on her forehead, his strong arms wrapped around her; his mere presence making her feel a little safer.
Suddenly feeling alone and deflated, she reluctantly edged herself up the bed so she was sitting against the wall and began to psych herself up for the day ahead. As she placed one hand on the pillow beside her to push herself up, she frowned and looked down hearing the rustle of paper.
Seeing the familiar writing of Derek, she quickly bought the note closer and read…..
Won't be long. Just gone to pick up a few things. Get some rest beautiful. D xx
She shook her head and laughed at herself, sinking back down on to the bed. A wave of relief flowed over her and closing her eyes, she easily managed to drift back off.
~~CM~~
Rossi strolled into the Unit Chief's office, just catching him remove the cell from his ear, shaking his head.
"Morning Aaron. Something wrong?"
Hotch let out somewhat of an annoyed sigh, "I tried calling Morgan. I'm getting no answer on his cell or house phone."
"You haven't heard from him since he called in sick yesterday morning?"
Hotch shook his head, looking at his friend with a frustrated stare.
The older profiler nodded knowingly, but with a hint of suspicion on his face.
"What?" Hotch asked.
"You didn't expect to hear from him. Did you?"
The dark haired man glanced from Rossi downward, shuffling some papers on his desk, "I don't think any of us believed he was off sick. Do you?" He muttered, almost under his breath.
"Nope….." Rossi answered, matter of factly, "….But you decided not to do anything about it until today." He stated.
"What are you suggesting Dave?" Hotch asked, looking his friend in the eye.
"That you're giving him a head start with whatever it is he's doing?" He mused with a raised brow.
Hotch shrugged, "Well, I can't keep this to myself for much longer. He knows that. As far as anyone needs to know, I gave him the benefit of the doubt yesterday. But I'm going to have to do something about it today."
"Morgan will have factored that in…." Rossi said casually, but with certainty, "….. He won't want anyone getting in trouble because of this."
"I know. I just hope he makes some sort of contact soon so we know what's going on." Hotch said, tucking a couple of files for allocation to the team under his arm
"You think he's gone to find her?" Rossi asked.
"That would be my best guess…." Hotch answered, then shook his head, "…..I just hope he knows what he's doing."
A breathy chuckle escaped Rossi's throat, "We both know Derek Morgan was never going to sit back and do nothing whilst she was out there alone, hurt and clearly in trouble."
"I know. And I want to help him. I really do. But we have to be careful Dave. The Police get a whiff that we're involved without authority, we'll all be suspended. Morgan knows that, which is why he didn't tell us anything. Whatever we do has to be official."
Rossi nodded in agreement, "So what next?"
"Let's go and speak to the others….."
~~CM~~
Rossi entered the briefing room first, taking a seat in between JJ and Reid at the round table. Hotch followed, and taking his usual position, he scanned the room without any greeting.
"Anyone heard from Morgan this morning?" The Unit Chief asked, making sure he looked each Agent in the eye, confident he would be able to read them.
He was met by simultaneous shakes of the head from each member of his team.
"He must still be sick." Garcia then offered.
"I'm pretty sure none of you believe that any more than me…." Hotch started, "….. If any of you have heard from him, tell me know now and I promise it won't leave this room."
Everything remained silent and uncomfortable glances were exchanged between the Agents.
Hotch waited a few seconds, but then nodded in acceptance, believing it was perfectly reasonable to assume Morgan wouldn't have implicated anyone by involving them in his plans.
"Ok. I'm going to have to start looking for him. At the moment, as far as I'm concerned, I have a member of my team off sick who I cannot make contact with. Nothing more than that. JJ and Reid, you go to his house, see if everything is ok there. The rest of you back to work as normal." Hotch directed as he stood and then began to exit the room, leaving his team a little bewildered.
"Are you going to report him?" JJ asked, halting her boss before he could reach the door.
"At the moment, no….." He answered, turning back to face the blond, "….. But once his house has been checked, I have no choice."
The team mates looked at one another with unease, Rossi immediately sensing the tension.
"Guys, Morgan knows he will be reported. We have to do this the right way. If we get suspended, we'll be of no help to Emily or Derek."
JJ nodded in understanding, glancing towards the techie who looked as if she were about to be sick. She placed a warm palm over her friend's hand, "They'll be ok." She whispered.
Garcia forced a thankful smile before standing and shuffling out of the room.
"This isn't easy for any of us….." Hotch began, looking at Reid who had remained quiet throughout.
What Hotch wanted to continue with was, 'I feel pretty helpless right now too.' But of course he would keep that to himself.
~~CM~~
Derek closed the door as quietly as possible and placed the bags on the floor gently upon seeing her fast asleep. He knew she had awoken at some point as the note he had left on the pillow was now between her fingers, resting on her exposed stomach.
He tiptoed over to the bed and leant down, brushing a wayward piece of hair that had fallen cross her purple stained cheek.
She began to stir and a couple of tired, but smiling eyes began to appear.
"Morning…" He whispered, sitting down on the edge of the bed next to her.
"Morning…." She yawned back, "….Where did you go?" She asked sleepily.
"Well, I've been quite the errand boy; I got some food…. Need to fatten you up… " He winked, playfully prodding her uninjured side. "…And I got you some clothes…."
He picked up one of the bags and pulled out a pair of blue jeans and a T-shirt, "… Now I know I've probably got the size horribly wrong, but they'll do until we get out of here later and you can pick something yourself."
She sat up taking the garments from him and held up the red V necked, short sleeved top. He looked at her with an expectant raised brow.
"Well…." She said turning to him, "… I'd of gone for a lighter shade and it certainly is going to be tight…. But then again you may have done that on purpose."
The expectant expression turned to one of unimpressed annoyance.
"Hey I'm kidding…" She smiled, "… They look fine. In fact, I'm quite impressed. You really must have been paying attention."
He smirked, leaning down to pick up another one of the bags.
"So, what else did you do….?" She asked, "… you were gone ages."
"I went to the chemist…." He answered, holding up various items including antiseptic and bandages, earning a scrunched up face from Emily, which he ignored, "….and I changed the car."
"You did?"
"Yep. I abandoned the other one… It's just another way of them tracing us quicker. I hired a new one." He told her, holding up the set of keys.
"Oh, I never asked. You got some money from my mother then?"
He nodded, "Yeah. Ten grand."
Her eyebrows immediately arched in surprise, "Wow… That much? So you spoke to her then?"
"Of course."
"How did that go?" She cringed, anticipating the worse.
"Actually…" He shrugged, "….It wasn't too bad."
"Really?" The surprise in her voice causing him to laugh a little.
"Yes really…" He said leaning a little into her with wide eyes.
"What did she say?"
He paused, just staring, immediately seeing the little girl in her, still desperately yearning for that mother's approval every little girl craves. He reached over taking hold of her tiny hand and held it in his lap, "She asked me to tell you that she loves you and to stay safe." His voice deep and sincere.
"She said that?"
He smiled at her, "Yes…." He emphasised, before drawing her hand up to his mouth and kissing the back gently, "…. Now it's time to eat this…" He told her, grabbing the spoils from his errand run, placing a couple of pastries in her lap and a Styrofoam coffee cup on the bed side table, "… then shower and change so we can get out of here."
"Yes sir." She laughed, giving him a mocking salute.
~~CM~~
As she walked out of the bathroom in just her towel, she caught Derek's eye, who quickly went on to pat the bed where he sat, "Come here." He beckoned.
She eyed the bandages and antiseptic lay out to his side and let out a sigh, not revelling in the treatment about to become her.
She did as she was told however and carefully sat down in front of him, allowing the towel to fall off, surrounding her on the bed.
He stared once again at the mess that was her torso and his brow furrowed as a natural reaction in frustration.
"Are you just going to stare all day?" She asked playfully.
He looked her in the eye and smiled, "Sorry." He muttered, taking hold of the antiseptic and pouring some on to the cotton wool.
"Ok, this is going to sting." He told her, shuffling a little closer.
She closed her eyes as he gently brushed the cold liquid over her wounds.
He glanced up to see her wincing just a little, trying as always to hide the pain she was in.
"Emily…" He uttered, her eyes opening to meet his, "…tell me what happened."
She swallowed hard before exhaling, "I don't know where to start." Her words suddenly slightly broken.
"At the beginning… just start at the beginning." He guided, his tone gentle.
"Ok….." She breathed in hard, "… When I left your place on Tuesday morning I went to the coffee shop as I always do before work…
She sauntered along the sidewalk towards where she'd parked her car, daydreaming about her previous evening with Derek. After a long day at work she'd gotten to his place and before she had even made it through the front door, he'd taken hold of her hand and led her to his bathroom. The lights were off, but the room glowed and flickered from the candles burning around the edge of the tub that was full to the brim with bubbles. He stood behind her and kissed her neck as he slowly began to remove each piece of clothing until, before she knew it, she could feel the steam caressing her naked skin.
She smiled to herself thinking of how it hadn't taken much persuasion to get him to join her…..
She was pulled out of her memory hearing a woman's screams emanating from the alleyway she was just passing by. Dropping the cup of coffee, she reached down and pulled the small glock from her ankle holster, raising it in front of her and dipping into the opening between the two tall buildings.
She paced slowly along the brick lined alleyway, the screams having disappeared, but replaced by weak whimpers. As she got closer to the source of the timid cries, everything went black as she was forcefully pulled backwards by one hand over her eyes and one over her mouth. She felt her body rise as her legs were elevated, but as she writhed and wriggled, more hands gripped hold of her tightly. Her body swayed and bounced as they carried her a short distance and from the lack of cool breeze now upon her and echoes all around, she guessed she was now in the back of a van. As the hand was removed from her eyes, it took a couple of seconds for her vision to adjust to the darkness and her hands were roughly pulled back and tied behind her. She just about managed to see a masked man lunge forward toward her with a syringe, headed straight for her neck. She attempted to throw her body sidewards to avoid the needle, but she was gripped from behind and held in place as she felt the sharp point pierce her skin. The pain only lasted a few seconds however, and then all was gone.
"They took you in broad day light? That was risky." Derek stated, gently rubbing cream into her perforated skin with his fingertips.
"Yeah it was, but they obviously knew my routine. Something one of them said later leads me to think they wanted to take me the night before from my place, but I was with you so I guess they had to rethink. They were definitely on a time limit."
"So where did they take you?"
"Well I was knocked out for the journey and the next thing I knew I woke up in some dirty flat. It wasn't far from whatever airfield it was we flew from."
"Airfield?" He questioned.
"They flew me here in a private jet…." She lightly chuckled sarcastically, "….No expense spared."
She watched as he shook his head, looking downward, "So it wasn't you at the airport…." He mumbled, "…I knew it." He muttered to himself.
"At the airport? What are you talking about?"
"Someone dressed up to look like you, using your name, flew from DC airport to Sao Paulo. I saw the security footage and I knew it wasn't you. I just couldn't prove it."
"So you guys have been working on this?" She asked expectantly.
He looked at her with sorry eyes and shook his head, "No. They wouldn't let us. After the Doyle stuff…." He paused, "…..Well, I guess they don't trust us."
"Oh…" She uttered, looking down.
"Hey…" He said, placing a finger under her chin, guiding her face upward to look back at his,"…I'm working on that. I just don't want to get anyone into trouble."
"None of them know you're here?"
"They've probably figured it out by now, but the only person I told I was leaving was Garcia and even then I didn't tell her enough to implicate her."
"We're really on our own aren't we?" She suddenly looked pale.
"At the moment yeah, but we'll figure it out…. I promise." He uttered.
She smiled thankfully and shifted her body around as he indicated her to do so he could tend to the wounds on her back.
"So, you were in this flat…." He started, encouraging her to continue…
As she awoke, she couldn't open her eyes. All her concentration went on trying to focus her mind. Her head was heavy… pounding… swirling. She exhaled long, slow breaths trying to calm herself from that feeling of having no control….. No perception of her surroundings;
Her fingertips were like icicles, but her body was sweating. She felt so hot that she could happily remove all of her clothes no matter where she was or who was there. But of course this was an impossibility with her hands still shackled behind her back.
Eventually she lay her head against the wall she was sat up against and steadied herself before summoning up the nerve to open her eyes. As she did, the sun streaming in to the room blinded her and all she could see was bight white light. As her vision began to adapt, she could see the outline of something, but it was all a blur and she had to shut her eyes once more feeling more and more dizzy.
A breath caught in her throat as, although her hearing was muffled, she heard something in the room with her. All of a sudden she felt a presence in front of her and her eyes flew open as her heart began to beat faster and harder. Her senses beginning to kick into survival mode meant her vision was less blurred this time.
She started to focus on the man stood up in front of her.
"Wake up." He ordered, is voice low and foreign.
She just stared at him, trying to make sense of her surroundings, but before she could mutter a word she had to gasp for air as she felt ice cold water crash all over her, head first, and into her lungs.
"Wake up!" The unfamiliar voice shouted this time, kicking her thigh with the tip of his boot.
As she spluttered, trying to expel the liquid from her mouth, she looked upward once again to see the man's face was covered in a black ski mask. Her attention was then quickly drawn to the side arm attached to his belt.
"Who are you?" She mumbled, her words leaving her lips in a far more feeble tone than she had intended, the drugs still dominating her body.
"You don't need to worry about who I am."
The masked man's voice was stern, his words slow and the all too familiar Irish accent sent a chill down her spine….. It couldn't be…. Her gaze immediately made for the stranger's wrist and she felt her stomach turn, spying the four leaf clover tattooed on his wrist.
All of these months feeling that she was finally free, physically at least, of the hell Doyle had bought into her life, was gone in that split second.
Her breaths were shallow and quick as her heart raced and she felt her world begin to crash all around her as she had done the day Sean McAllister had told her Doyle had escaped. But this time, all the energy she thought she had, was sucked out of her in one foul swoop upon seeing the ugly symbol etched on the man's wrist.
"You want to avenge Doyle's death….?" She sarcastically snorted, trying her best to show no fear, "….then do me a favour and just kill me. Let's not bother with all the silly games." She said defiantly.
She jumped however, as the man bolted forward and crouched down, grabbing her round the neck and pushing her head backward against the cold brick. She scrunched her face in pain as he squeezed her neck tight, "I don't give a fuck about Doyle…" He began, and she could feel his hot breath against her face as he almost spat out his words, "… In fact, if that son of a bitch were alive and here right now, I'd quite happily put a bullet between his eyes myself."
"I don't understand." She stuttered, her words stifled by the pressure on her neck.
"You're no good to us dead….." He stated, ignoring her, "….. We will keep you very much alive so we can get what we're owed."
"What you're owed?" She questioned.
"What Doyle did cost us big time and we want reimbursement."
"You want money?" She asked.
But he did not answer. Instead, her head flew sidewards as the back of his hand cracked across her cheek.
She gritted her teeth and shut her eyes tight trying to subdue some of the searing pain and she felt the warmth of her blood begin to form in her mouth and trickle down her chin….
"Although…." The man said standing up with a hint of humour in his voice, "….You are going to wish you were dead, rotting in hell with Doyle when we finish with you…."
"This is to do with Doyle…..?" Morgan said with complete disbelief, "….What do they mean they want reimbursement?"
He watched her shoulders shrug as he sat behind her, finishing off applying the cream to the last part of her injury.
"I don't know…." She started sadly and full of thought, "…. I really thought I'd begun to live my life with him not being a part of it, but it feels like I'm never gonna escape him."
"Hey…." He whispered, lightly tugging at her shoulder indicating for her to turn around, "….You will. We just need to figure what the hell is going on and let the others know….." He offered as her gaze met his…..
~~CM~~
"His car's on the driveway JJ." Reid said hopefully, as they pulled up along the sidewalk.
JJ glanced over, putting the SUV in to park, "I don't think that means anything Spence. You know as well as I do he's not going to be here." JJ reasoned with the young doctor, trying to subdue his hopes.
"Why did he just go and not tell anyone?" Reid mused to himself out loud.
"Because he knows we'd try and talk him out of it and he'd be putting us in an impossible position….." JJ undid her belt and reached for the door handle, "C'mon. Let's go and check it out."
After knocking at the door for a few minutes, JJ shrugged towards Reid, "I guess that's it then. He's not here."
He looked at her with a furrowed brow, "Don't you think we should go inside? He could be in there and hurt."
"True…..." She conceded, "….But we don't have a key."
"Let's try the neighbours" Reid said, wandering off down the drive way before JJ could respond.
The blond flashed her badge as the woman, whom she guessed was in her fifties, opened the door.
"Ma'am. We're sorry to bother you. I'm Agent Jennifer Jareau from the FBI and this is Dr Reid. We work with your neighbour, Derek Morgan."
The woman's smiling face changed immediately to one of concern, a change completely unexpected with the little JJ had said.
"We were just wondering if you had a spare key for his property." Reid continued, leaving JJ a little annoyed that he hadn't let her continue.
"I do, but I don't know if I should…." Her words trailed off, "….Could you just wait there a minute. I'm just going to get my husband."
As the door shut to, JJ turned to Reid, "You can't just ask for the key like that." She scolded.
"Why not?"
"They're going to want to know why."
Reid nudged her as the door reopened, this time the woman's husband stood by her side.
"Morning Agents. My name is Ed and this is my wife Maxine…" He said holding out his hand to shake both of the profilers' hands. "…how can we help you?"
"We work with Derek…." JJ started, "…. We're a bit worried about him and we wanted to make sure he wasn't hurt or anything like that. We just wondered if you had a key to his place."
"We do have a key, but why are you worried about him?" The older man asked.
"It's not really something we can go into, but I can assure you, we are his friends as well as his colleagues."
JJ and Reid watched as the couple look to one another, with obvious worried and nervous glances between them. There was something not quite right.
"When was the last time you saw Derek?" Reid asked, sensing the tension.
"We…." Ed started, but halted upon feeling his wife's hand on his forearm.
He turned to her, "We need to tell them. He could be in trouble."
"Tell us what?" JJ asked.
"The last time we saw him was a couple of days ago. Someone called here to speak with him. She was obviously in trouble."
"Called here…?" Reid started, "….Did he say what her name was?"
"No…" Maxine answered, "…She did. She told me her name was Lauren."
JJ and Reid looked to one another, wide eyed.
"That's all we know I'm afraid….." Ed continued from his wife, "….But I'm guessing that name means something to you. I'll just get you Derek's key."
"Is he going to be in trouble?" The woman asked, with an obvious concern and worry for her neighbour.
"We will do everything to make sure he isn't'." JJ attempted to reassure.
~~CM~~
JJ stood over the dining table staring at Morgan's cell, passport and keys lay out in a line as Reid walked in to the room.
"JJ. There's no toothbrush in his bathroom and it looks like other things are missing too. It does look like he packed for a trip." He informed, joining her and following her stare upon the table.
"I guess he's telling us not to bother trying to find him under his own identity." JJ mused, looking over to the Doctor biting down lightly on her bottom lip.
Reid took a deep breath picking up his friend's cell, "I suppose we better let Hotch know then." He sighed, somewhat deflated.
This had just confirmed what they had all feared. They were now going to be fighting to save two of their friends, not just one. But as fearful as they were, part of them was glad Emily wouldn't be alone…
To be continued…