A/N: So sorry for the delay, but I am still having internet issues. I hope to have it figured out soon.

Chapter 4

Warnings: probably need a hanky, both of my betas complained about it being sad smile

That night Morgan had to do everything for Spencer. He pulled out pajamas and underwear, clean towels and his toothbrush and even had to usher the grief-stricken man into the small bathroom. He left the door open so Spencer could see him while he took a bath. The young man was terrified that Morgan would leave if he couldn't see him.

***

June 25

In the morning, Morgan went to check on Spencer. He wasn't in his room, so Derek began a search of the house. The black man finally found him in Peter's room sleeping on the bed curled around one of the pillows. He sincerely hoped this would not set the young man back so far that he didn't recover. Sighing heavily he went to the kitchen to make a light breakfast.

Morgan was buttering the toast when Spencer walked into the kitchen and took a seat. Derek sat a plate of scrambled eggs and two pieces of toast down in front of the young man, and then took a seat across the table.

Spencer nibbled on his toast for a minute. "Derek, I-I know who k-ki-killed Peter."

The older man froze his fork in mid-air. "What?"

"I-I saw him."

"You saw who shot Peter?"

Spencer nodded and scrunched down in his chair closing his eyes. Morgan got up and then knelt down beside the young man, turning his chair to face him. "Tell me what you saw." He spoke quietly.

"I was r-resting in the car. Th-then I heard a gun shot. I-I couldn't s-see anything a-and g-got out. Th-that's when I-I saw h-h-h-him."

"Okay, take some deep breaths. Calm down." Morgan ran his hands up and down the shaking arms.

"Officer B-b-b-bishop was st-st-standing over P-Peter with a g-g-g-un."

"Let's finish breakfast. Then we'll go talk to Sheriff Carson."

***

Morgan walked into the police station with Spencer clinging to his arm. He went over to an empty desk and pushed the young man into the chair. "I'll be right back; I promise."

He walked into the Sheriff's office and shut the door.

"What can I do for you Agent Morgan?"

"Reid saw our unsub when he shot Peter."

"What?"

"It was Officer Bishop, Sir."

"Damn, I heard Johnson muttering something about it being a cop and I really hoped he was wrong." The older man pulled a file out from behind his desk. "I've been keeping an eye on him for almost a year. He's had some money troubles, but I thought he got his act together. I guess he did, just not in the right way." The older man ran a hand through his graying beard. "How is Spencer holding up?"

"He's a brave young man, but he's pretty upset about Peter."

"Let me quietly get some officers I know I can trust and we'll go get him."

Morgan turned toward the door.

"Agent Morgan, I know I've been an ass about having the Feds here, but . . . I was wrong."

"Thank you, Sir. I appreciate that, and the BAU really doesn't try to go over your heads. This is our specialty. Local officers have to do everything." He opened the door and looked at the empty desk.

"Angie," he called to the dispatcher, "have you seen Spencer? I left him sitting at this desk."

"No."

"Come on Agent Morgan, we'll look for him later. He has a tendency to wander off. Spencer probably just wants to be alone for a while." The Sheriff headed for the door with three officers in tow. Derek reluctantly followed.

***

They had visited the man's home, but didn't find him there. Morgan was surprised to find that the house Johnson had visited belonged to a previous girlfriend and was not the unsub's house. Now they were driving back into town to check out a side job that the man had off-and-on. "Agent Morgan, do you want to swing by Jenny's real quick and see if Spencer is there? It's just at the end of the block."

"Yeah," he answered.

"I know you're worried, but he does run off some times." Carson said.

"Peter told me, but with everything that has happened . . . I just want to know he is okay. At least physically."

They stopped in front in the diner and both men got out. Morgan had his hand on the door handle, "Do you hear that?"

"It sounds like it's coming from the alley." Both men drew their guns and carefully came upon the entrance. As one, they moved in front and shouted, "Police; freeze!"

Morgan's heart almost stopped. Officer Bishop was sitting on Spencer's chest with a bloodied knife in his hands poised over the young man's face. Derek heard Carson call for backup, and then moved in front of the agent.

"Bishop, drop the knife."

"You did this! This is all your fault!" He leaned down ready to make the final cut, but Carson swiftly crossed the alley and jerked the man off Spencer while cuffing his hands behind his back, and Derek rushed forward to the prone man.

"Sheriff Carson!" Another officer called when he arrived.

"Call an ambulance and take this scum out of here."

Morgan quickly took off his belt and wrapped it around the right wrist above the long cut and tightened it. Carson joined him and took the other wrist. "Where is that ambulance?" Morgan screamed.

"It's on its way." Carson replied.

"Spencer, what happened?" Morgan asked. He watched the young man try to focus on him but blood ran into his eye from the cut that had been made diagonally across his face. "Stay with me, kid."

Spencer fought to keep his eyes open for several minutes, but they finally closed just moments before the ambulance arrived.

***

While Morgan waited for news about Spencer, he called Hotch.

"Hotchner."

"Hotch, it's Morgan. We caught the unsub, but I'm going to stay for Johnson's funeral."

"No problem. I'm sorry about your friend, Morgan. Let me know exactly when you think you will be ready to head back and I'll see if I can manage the jet for you. No promises though, there have been memos again about the cost of the jet."

"I understand, Hotch. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Get some sleep while you can." He added.

"Derek Morgan?" A nurse asked scanning the room.

"Here," he hung up the phone and followed her. "How is he?"

"You'll have to talk to the doctor, but he is asking for you and making treatment difficult."

He followed the nurse into the treatment room and saw the doctor from the other day. Spencer was trying to pull away from the doctor and the large male nurse or possibly orderly was holding the young man. Spencer's cries tore at Morgan's heart. The man had been through so much.

"Spencer, you need to let them help you."

"D-Derek, make them stop."

Morgan came around the bed and pushed the nurse out of the way. "Come on, kiddo. You have to let them fix you up." Blood was still seeping out of the tightly bound wrists and Derek was a little concerned. Spencer was weak but fighting as best he could. Morgan looked to the doctor. "Can't you give him something to help him calm down?"

"I would prefer not to until I know how he handles the antibiotic. Spencer has had reactions in the past and I don't want to add too many drugs to his system at once. We need to get his wrists stitched up."

Spencer started to go limp under Derek's hands. "Do something." He told the doctor and watched the blood pressure monitor start dropping.

Morgan saw the doctor unwrap one wrist and start cleaning it--the blood was oozing but not rapidly pouring out as it had in the alley. The nurse from before came in with a suture kit and Derek turned his attention back to the man on the bed instead of watching each stitch.

"Time to switch places." The doctor said.

It had taken almost ten minutes for the right wrist to be completed. Morgan moved to the end of the bed, watched the nurse finish removing traces of blood around the stitches, and wrapping layers of gauze around the appendage. He couldn't believe how many stitches there were. The unsub had cut almost all the way to the elbow. If they hadn't been there when they were, Spencer could have bled out very quickly. Thankfully, the left wrist had only been cut about a third of the way and the doctor finished quickly.

The young man's face had blood everywhere from his struggles. The doctor had explained that it wasn't very deep, but it was ragged and he was worried about scarring since they couldn't cover it because it ran from the hairline at the left of his forehead down across the eyebrow and nose, over the upper lip and down to the neck.

"Sir, I'm going to need you to step out of the room now." The nurse started pushing him towards the door.

Morgan watched the numbers on the blood pressure machine continue dropping.

"Get me two pints. We need to get his volume up quickly and have an intubation kit ready in case he's having a reaction. I will not lose this young man."

Derek finally had to move out of the doorway when the nurse rushed past him. He could definitely tell he was in a small hospital--it seemed to move at a slower pace than he was used to in situations like this. All he could think was that the boy had to make it. He had promised Peter and he kept his promises.

***

June 26

The young doctor from the emergency room quietly entered the room. "Agent Morgan, may I speak with you in the hall?"

"Sure," he whispered, and then followed the man out the door.

"Sheriff Carson tells me that you will be taking care of Spencer."

"Yes, I promised Peter." Morgan watched the young doctor's concerned face.

"Will you be moving into the house with Spencer or finding your own place?"

"Actually, I will be taking him back to Virginia after the funeral."

"Have you spoken with his other doctors? Do you think that it is wise to make such a big change right now?"

Morgan could see where this was going. "Doctor, I really appreciate the concern. However, I will be calling a lawyer today and then contacting his doctors to get his records. Virginia has a couple of well known specialists in PTSD, and hopefully he will have a chance to get better."

"I shouldn't really be giving you this, but these are copies of his medical records. Make sure that you get a hold of that lawyer today so there is no way they can take him away from you once you get to Virginia."

"Thank you. I really do appreciate this, and I promise I will do my best to take care of him. Please don't take this the wrong way, but I think he might get better care." Morgan measured his words. "Well, not better . . . everyone around here seems to take a special interest in him, but perhaps he may get more experienced care. Somehow, I don't see PTSD as a common problem here."

The young doctor looked at Morgan intently. "We do care about him and you are right about the level experience here. I actually fought to get him sent away to a specialized center that handles trauma victims. However, his doctors are old . . . erm . . . older men that grew up here and went away to medical school many years ago. They didn't think he could handle the transition. Honestly, I think they were really just afraid of things they didn't know." The doctor reached out and shook Morgan's hand. "He's been discharged and Lucy will bring in his orders for caring for the stitches. Please drop us a note sometime and let us know how he is doing."

"I will and again, thank you for all of this." Morgan held up the file of medical records. He watched the man go back to seeing patients and decided to give Garcia a call and get things started.

***

"Speak to me my decadent smooth chocolate."

"Garcia, you know I love you, right?"

"Me thinks my dark knight wants something under the table."

"And why is it we don't pay you to profile?" Morgan smirked into the phone.

"Eww, all those bloody scenes. I don't think so. What can I do that you don't want me to tell Hotch?"

"Hush, Baby Girl. I need you to find me a lawyer that can do power-of-attorney. Locally would be great, but if not, then someone that can have preliminary paperwork ready to be faxed in case I need it before I get home." He waited for the questions.

"What's going on?"

Morgan knew he would have to give her details. "There was a young man that my friend was caring for, and he asked me to take over before he died." He heard the gasp over the phone.

"I'm so sorry about your friend, Morgan. What is wrong with this man?"

"He has PTSD and seizures."

"What happened to him?"

Morgan sighed. "It's a long story Pen, and not one you really want to hear. The short version is that he was kidnapped and tortured for six months."

"Oh dear. Are you sure about this, Morgan?"

"Yeah, I am. I promise I'll fill everyone in more once we get back. I need to go."

"Okay, I'll call you when I have something."

Derek put the phone away and stood for a minute, taking some deep breaths. Then he headed back into the room to take Spencer home.

***

June 27

Morgan walked into Peter's bedroom and found Spencer sitting on the bed desperately trying to fix his tie. "Do you want some help?"

Watery eyes looked up at Derek. "Peter used to do it for me. It's one of the things that I just can't do anymore. We bought some clip-ons but . . . I wanted to look nice . . . today."

"Here, let me help you. Peter was really proud of you, you know." Morgan pulled Spencer into a standing position and then stood behind him facing the mirror. The young man looked down at his shoes. He refused to look at the stitches that ran across his face. Morgan watched his hand movements in the looking glass and deftly tied a neat Windsor knot in the black satin tie.

"Thank you." The younger man whispered.

"We need to leave in about five minutes." Derek watched Spencer nod his head. The skinny man walked over to Johnson's jewelry box and pulled out an old pocket watch. He lovingly fingered it and placed it in the pocket of his black vest before buttoning it closed.

The drive to the funeral home was silent. Spencer had refused to go to the visitation the night before, and Morgan was worried about how he would hold up through the service.

Angie greeted them at the door. "Spencer, would you like to go up to the casket before the service?"

The young man didn't respond, but allowed the older woman to take his arm in hers and lead him through the crowd. Morgan followed behind him silently. He watched Spencer step closer to the casket and stare at the man that had taken him in. The long fingers reached forward and gently lay on the deceased man's chest. After a moment, Spencer's legs gave out, and Derek barely caught him. Sheriff Carson rushed forward and helped Derek move him to the front row of seats.

Morgan wrapped an arm around the bony shoulders, and Angie handed Spencer a tissue. He didn't make any sound, but the tears poured down his face. Sheriff Carson took the seat on the other side of the crying man. Derek noticed that Peter's adopted family and several of his foster siblings sat in the front row on the other side of the aisle.

The service was somber, and Spencer clung to Derek while several officers paid their respects to him on their way out. Morgan prayed that they could get through the graveside portion before the young man totally shut down.

Johnson's adopted parents came over last. "Spencer, Derek, would you like to ride to the cemetery with us?"

"Thank you, Mama Grace." He pulled Spencer up and they followed the older couple out.

***

Spencer's tears had dried up during the short ceremony, and he sat stiffly watching the folding of the flag that had been draped across the casket. It was presented to Johnson's mother. She took it and then stood up and walked over to Spencer. Morgan watched her carefully place it in the young man's hands. "He would have wanted you to have this." She whispered and patted his head. Reid pulled the flag to his chest and bowed his head letting the long hair fall forward to obscure his features and hide the stitches.

Derek watched the rest of the proceedings with wet eyes. Taps began to play, and as the first volley of gunshots rang through the air, Spencer jerked. When the second volley went off, he watched Reid run from the cemetery. Before he could go after Spencer, Jenny, from the diner, took his arm. "Let him be. He just needs some time to grieve."

***

Morgan glanced at his watch again; it was now 7:30 P.M. He was starting to get worried about Spencer. They needed to arrange to travel back to Virginia. After the funeral, he had stopped to gather boxes from the local U-Haul. His phone rang, and he quickly pulled it from his pocket. "Hello?"

"Is this Agent Morgan?"

"Yes, how may I help you?"

"This is Jenny, from the diner. I wanted to let you know that Spencer is here. I'm fixing him dinner if you want to come join him."

"Yes, thank you for calling. I'll be there in five minutes."

***

Derek walked into the small diner and spotted the young man in the back booth. "Mind if I join you?" He watched dark puffy eyes look up at him.

"You're going away aren't you?"

"No, we are. You are coming to live with me in Virginia."

Spencer jerked his head up, "Why?"

"Because I have a job and I think it will be good for you." Morgan watched the confusion cross the expressive brown eyes.

"No," a long bony hand came up and waved in the air. "Why am I going?"

"Because I promised Peter that I would take care of you."

"You don't have to. He said that while he . . . was . . . dying." This time the hand came up and quickly wiped at the young man's wet eyes.

Derek reached over and wrapped his larger hand around the pale fingers. "Spencer, I've known Peter for a very long time. He knew what he was asking. If he just wanted to make sure that you were taken care of he would have made me promise to find you a home here." He watched the trembling lower lip. "But he didn't. Peter made ME promise to take care of you. He knew that would mean leaving this town."

"Okay."

Morgan felt tremors begin in the hand he was holding. He heard the cry just before the thin body began to jerk. "Derek, help." The older man jumped up and quickly lowered the convulsing body to the ground and laid over it cradling Spencer's head carefully to keep him from getting hurt.

"Do you need help?" The gentleman from the next table asked.

Derek shook his head and waited for the twitching body to still. "Thanks for the offer, but I wasn't trying to restrain him. I just needed to keep him from moving to where he could hurt himself."

"Oh."

Morgan watched as the man realized that he knew what he was doing. Then he turned his attention back to Spencer where he was starting to come around. Carefully, he pulled the young man into a sitting position leaning against his chest. The suit would definitely need a thorough cleaning after being on the dirty diner floor.

"How're you doing?"

"Seizure?" Spencer quietly asked.

"Yeah, let me help you up and then we can go home." Morgan took most of Spencer's weight, but managed to get him standing with an arm around his waist.

Jenny came over to them carrying a bag. "I put two turkey club sandwiches in there for you and Spencer's dessert." She walked out to the car with them and placed it in the back seat while Morgan settled Reid into the front.

"Thanks, Jenny. I really appreciate this and the way you have looked out for him."

"That boy has had a lot of bad things happen to him that he didn't deserve. You help him get better back in Virginia."

Morgan was surprised about how much she knew. "How did you—"

"Doc Sloan from the ER eats lunch here all the time." She smiled at him softly. "You make sure he remembers that we all still care about him."

"I will. We'll come back and visit and he can call anytime he wants."

The drive back to the house was short and Morgan just barely managed to get Spencer changed and medicated before tucking him into bed.

***

Around nine thirty that night Morgan was boxing up dishes from the kitchen when he heard a knock at the door. He opened it up to find Sheriff Carson.

"I didn't want to ring the bell and wake Spencer."

"That's okay; he had a seizure earlier and he is totally out." Morgan stepped back from the door and motioned the other man in. "Would you like some coffee?"

"Sure." Carson followed him into the kitchen and took a seat at the small table. "I see you have started packing."

"I figured I'd get some done tonight while he sleeps, but I want to leave most of it so Spencer can tell me what he wants."

"So, have you decided to sell the house?"

"I don't know yet. We need to find out if Johnson had a will and what it says." Morgan flipped on the coffee pot and put away the canister of coffee.

"When are you going back? I can take care of packing things up for you."

"We'll probably fly out tomorrow evening. I appreciate that, sir. I want Spencer to go through and decide what he wants to keep. We can box things up and have them ready to ship. Is it okay if I just reimburse you or do you want me to send you some money first?" He carefully watched the other man's reaction.

"I'll cover at least some of it. I owe that much to Johnson. He was a good man."

"Yes, sir, he was." Derek placed a mug in front of the other man and took a seat across from him. "Do you mind if I ask what this visit is about?"

Carson smiled and pulled at his beard before taking a drink. "It must be tough living with you profilers."

Morgan let a smile play at the corners of his mouth. "It can be, sorry."

"No, it's okay. I just gave Johnson a hard time for a while. He always seemed to have something to prove, and I guess it just felt like he was stepping on my toes a lot of the time."

"He could definitely be like that. But he honestly did have something to prove. Peter wanted to prove that he wasn't just another trouble maker from the streets and he didn't have to end up in a gang dead before the age of twenty-two." Morgan took a sip of his coffee and then kept his mug in front of his face.

"Well, he could definitely stir up trouble." The older man looked around the kitchen. "But when we found Spencer, it was like he became a different person. It was after Shellie had left him at the alter, and he had a chip on his shoulder a mile long trying to prove to everyone that he wasn't hurt by her. Then he saw Spencer in that cabin, and it was as if he wasn't afraid to let others see how much he was hurting. Because in that instance, his pain was nothing compared to what that poor boy had just been through, and to know that he had no family and no friends to help him deal with it." Carson took another drink. "He needed Spencer just as much as that boy needed him."

Carson got up, went down the hall to Spencer's room, and looked in on the sleeping man.

Morgan was puzzled; he knew he was missing something. "Sir, what is your relationship to Spencer?"

"I was best friends with his father, and I'm the one that had told him his mother had been taken away when he came home from college one weekend."

"He went to college?"

Carson turned and smiled at him. "Yeah, he did. He was so smart." The Sheriff turned and headed for the door. "Listen, I need to go. Just tape a note to each box with directions on what you want done. Anything you don't have time to box up, I can do it. I know what was Peter's and what was Spencer's."

Morgan watched the man practically run out of the house. He was gone before Derek could ask any more questions.

***

June 28

"Good morning sleepyhead." Spencer rubbed his eyes. Yesterday's seizure was still affecting him. He didn't understand how Derek could be so cheerful when he still felt the big hole in his heart that used to be filled by Peter.