Next chapter! This one mainly involves the friendship and companionship that Reid and Morgan have. Because I really like their friendship in the show I wanted to throw some into my story. There will be more Riley soon! So enjoy and feel free to leave some feedback!


Reid walked out of the room looking as agitated as he went in. Morgan stood up as he walked toward him. "How you feelin' Reid?" he asked once Reid was standing in front of him. Reid was looking everywhere but at his friend.

"I've been better," Reid retorted quickly.

"What's wrong with you, man? You can't look at me and your standing like someone's going to pop out and attack you."

"That's because someone did pop out and attack me, about five hours ago to be exact! And because of that Riley is gone!"

"Reid!" Morgan grabbed him by the shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "This isn't your fault! Stop blaming yourself. There was nothing you could have done; there was nothing anyone could have done!"

Reid shook him off and screamed, "I just can't believe there's nothing I could have done. I should have done something!Anything!"

"Well thinking back on it now and hating yourself for it isn't going to help! You want to find Riley right? Then do something now! Something other than self-loathing!" Morgan yelled the words hoping they would get through his thick skull and stick this time.

By now, the pair had attracted the attention of all eyes in the room. Reid was still steaming over the argument and didn't notice the spectators. Morgan on the other hand was well aware of them and did not like the attention. He smiled shyly at the crowd, threw his arm around Reid's neck, and walked toward the exit with him.

"Just relax. We are drawing a little too much attention to ourselves," Morgan whispered to Reid as they headed to the exit.

Reid looked around at the gawking bystanders and didn't speak. He showed no emotion as he left with Morgan grasping his neck like a hunter bringing in his prize buck.

Once outside, Reid couldn't stand being man-handled anymore and pushed Morgan away. Morgan put his hands in the air‒to show he wasn't going to do anything‒ and talked slowly to his companion. "Reid, listen I want to give you the choice this time. Here are your options: number one, we go look for Riley ourselves right now; at 10:30 at night. Number two, we can call the team now, at 10:30 at night when everyone is probably asleep, to go look for her. Or number three, we go home, rest, and call the team in the morning when everyone is refreshed. Think really hard about this. Think about your decision before you came to the hospital. Think about Riley! Yes, she's been taken, but only a few hours ago. I'm sure she's fine; she's strong and smart, she can last on her own for awhile. Do what's best for her."

Reid looked at Morgan, not showing any hint of his decision, and thought about what he said. We should go find her now! But should we call the team? Morgan's right, they are probably sleeping. It's going to be really hard to find Riley if we don't have help. I have to try though, right? No, I don't have to try now. I should sleep; I've been up for hours. And Morgan deserves to sleep too; he's been with me for hours. We should go home, sleep, and regroup in the morning. That's what we should do; that's what we will do.

"Let's go," Reid says to Morgan as he walks toward the parking lot.

"What are we doing Reid?" Morgan asks.

"I'm going to my house and you're going to your house and we are both getting some sleep so we will have a better chance of finding Riley, tomorrow." He answered without looking back at Morgan.

"Are you sure about this? You don't want to change your mind again do you?" Morgan said with a smirk as he trailed behind his partner.

As Reid walked toward the car, he put his hands in his pockets and felt something. Something rectangular and rubbery, but with a smooth, glassy side. He stopped where he was and pulled the foreign object out to inspect it. Out of his pocket came Riley's iPod. How did this get here? Riley must have slipped it in before she was taken!

Morgan walked up to stand beside Reid as he was looking over his discovery. "Is that Riley's iPod?"

"Yeah, it-it was in my pocket. She must have stuck it in here before she was taken," Reid looked at Morgan in shock. "What if she knew she was going to be taken?! It makes sense that if you know you're going to be taken you would leave something behind."

"Ok, so why leave this behind?"

Reid was forced back into a memory from months before. It was a warm, sunny day in August in D.C. Reid and Riley were taking another walk around the city when there was a muted chime coming from Riley's pocket.

"What's that?" Reid asked as the passed a coffee shop.

Riley pulled out her iPod, touched the screen a few times, and secured it back in her pocket. "Oh, it's just my iPod. A friend of mine posted something on my Facebook wall."

"Facebook?"

"Really? You're a walking computer but you have no idea what Facebook is?" She shook her head in mock disbelief. "Then again, this isn't so surprising for someone who's afraid of technology."

"I am not afraid of technology! I just don't find it as necessary as others do."

"Pssh, ok." Riley rolled her eyes and finished, "Some people need the technology. For instance, my whole life is on this thing." She took out her iPod once again and displayed it like the Hope Diamond...

" 'My whole life is on this thing'," Reid repeated slowly as he looked down at the device in his hand.

"What are you talking about Reid?" Morgan questioned as the other stared at the object. He had been in a daze for minutes as he remembered the importance of the object he now possessed.

"Riley said her whole life was on this thing. What if there's information about her abductor on here?"

Morgan replied with less enthusiasm than Reid, "I guess there could be. It's worth a try. We can have Garcia look through it tomorrow."

"Alright, but until then I'm going to play around with it a little myself. See what the big deal about these things is."

Morgan got to the car, unlocked it, and the two men got in and drove away from the hospital. They sat in silence for a few minutes until Morgan broke this tangible silence, "I am going to change our plans a little bit though."

"What are you going to change?" Reid asked with a puzzled expression sketched on his face. He was preoccupied with staring down at the iPod in his lap, trying to figure out how to turn it on.

"We are going home. But we are both going to your place. I am not leaving you alone, Reid."

"Morgan I'll be fine. It's like you said earlier, no one's going to get me now; they took Riley."

"Oh I'm not too worried about that."

"I'm not going to go out and try and find her myself! That would just be stupid of me; of course I would never find her alone."

"I wasn't too worried about that either." Morgan replied with a little smile.

Reid was even more confused than before; he ran out of reasons why Morgan would want to stay with him. Reid slipped the iPod into his pocket, after several failed attempts, and looked over to Morgan, "Then why are you staying with me?"

"I think you need a friend right now and I'll be there for you, kid." Morgan said giving Reid a sincere look.

Reid stared at the bandaged wrists in his lap while he replied with a crooked smile, "Thanks Morgan."

The pair remained silent the rest of the ride home. It was a relaxed silence; the tension between the two dissolved after that exchange and the ten minute ride to Reid's felt shorter.

Morgan pulled the black SUV into the driveway behind Reid's baby blue Buick. Morgan and Reid got out of the car and Morgan criticized, "isn't it about time you got rid of that girl car, man? It's practically prehistoric now."

"It's vintage!" Reid said in his own defense.

"No, it was vintage a decade ago. Now, I don't even know what you would call it!"

"You call it classic. End of discussion," Reid returned with a jocular retort, understanding that Morgan was simply messing around.

Morgan laughed heartily and Reid joined in as the pair walked toward the house. Darkness surrounded the home and pillaged the rooms inside as if it knew there was something ghastly about the events of the day. The house was stoic; from its eggshell white shutters to it's plain white siding. A two story home that had no landscaping, just a concrete sidewalk leading from the driveway to the front door steps.

Once inside the dark home, Reid walked to the nearest light, flipped the switch, and light flooded into the room. Morgan entered after him and took in his surroundings. To his left, Morgan saw a leather couch, a very small T.V., a coffee table littered with books and papers, two side tables on each side of the couch, and two bookshelves with every shelf filled with thick books. To the right was a large wooden staircase with white wood railing. Straight ahead was a narrow hallway, Morgan assumed the kitchen was at the end of the corridor.

Morgan walked further into the house, shut the door, and asked Reid if he had a guest room.

"No, sorry. I don't usually anticipate guests so I made that second room into a sort of library."

"That's alright, man. I can sleep on your couch," Morgan replied. He walked over to the leather couch and noticed a light blanket and a pillow already there. They weren't neatly folded but rather in disarray.

"Ummm, Reid? Do you like to sleep on your couch often?" Morgan asked with a little concern.

Reid ran his hand through his hair, walked to stand behind the couch, and said, "No. Ummm, you see, Riley has been sleeping here some nights. Like when she doesn't want to go back to her foster home she comes and sleeps here. She said if she gets home after 11 at night they don't let her in so I leave my door unlocked for her to come and sleep."

"How long has this been going on?" Morgan questioned.

"Well, I noticed her being here about two months after she moved here."

"Noticed her?"

"Yeah, apparently she was coming here, without my knowing for weeks before I caught her. I would drop her off at her foster home, watch her walk into the house, or so it seemed, and I would drive away. But, she would secretly follow me, sneak in through the back door, sleep on the couch, wake up before me, and leave how she came in. It was pretty smart of her; she must have known I wouldn't mind. I really didn't so when I woke up early one day and saw her laying here; I let her stay and told her it was O.K." He got a distant look in his eyes as they started to water. He continued, "I told her everything was O.K, but right now, everything isn't O.K., it's the opposite of O.K. it's…"

"Reid, stop doing this to yourself! Just go to bed, alright?" Morgan advised directing him toward the stairs.

Reid kept the distant look in his eyes as he involuntarily climbed the stairs and went to his room. Morgan let out a long sigh of relief as he flopped down on the couch. He stretched out, put his hands behind his head, and closed his eyes; hoping sleep would come to him.