So in this chapter all parties meet. Since the order of events is kinda messed up in this fic, I'll clarify some things.
So, Richie broke Seth out like in the movie then they went to the Liquor store, but Richie didn't get shot and they didn't have a hostage yet either. They go and kidnap the Fullers from there, take them over the border to that bar and encounter the vampires. Then everything is much like it is in canon. They fight and kill some vamps, Jacob and Scott die and Kate leaves with some money.
The difference is Richie doesn't die and they don't kill all vamps, they just manage to flee and now they've got the furious vampires tailing them. They run from them through Mexico where they are also followed by the BAU team.
This next part takes place one week after the escape and while the brothers are already running from the vampires and they need money to get far away quickly.
Also, I think I mentioned that this is taking place during the early episodes. That's important here because Reid had that gun-test thingy in one episode and this takes place before that.
Savy? I thought so.
November 10th, Town of Floria, Mexico
It had been almost a week since the infamous Gecko brother escape and the BAU team was running out of ideas on how to track them.
Ever since the liquor store incident they had followed the criminals' trial along the Mexican border without success. They were relatively sure they had crossed the border at some point, so they were investigating outside the US now.
It wasn't any more successful.
In fact, it was like the Geckos had disappeared from the face of the earth.
Granted, it was considerably harder to look for them in Mexico where not every small town was equally informed of the police's quest and the police was less coordinated when it came to working with other police departments (1). In addition to that, they had the language barrier which slowed them down considerably. Elle spoke fluent Spanish and Reid was nearly on her level, but the others had to struggle through each interview. So after more than a week of fruitlessly driving through dust and sand they were running out of patience and clothes to wear.
To make matters worse there were no new incidents with traces they could have followed and so they had to assume that the Gecko brothers had long vanished into the depths of Mexico.
As a result, Hotch and Gideon had actually started talking about putting the case on ice for now and returning to Quantico among themselves. They had been met with resistance by Elle who was set on finding ´those misogynic bastards´ and Reid who spent his days obsessively collecting data and creating statistics about places the brothers would most likely have gone to.
On that particular day, Morgan and Reid had been assigned to interview the locals in a small town named Floria while the rest of the team did the same elsewhere; they had spent most of the daylight hours driving from bars to courthouses to police stations to private households without finding so much as a useable trace.
Morgan was clearly annoyed as he steered the SUV through the busy streets of Floria, honking the horn impatiently whenever some pedestrian didn't get out of his way fast enough. Next to him, Reid was scribbling busily in his notebook, miraculously not looking exhausted at all. He actually seemed to draw energy from the hatred their UnSubs inspired, using it against them methodically.
Morgan couldn't help but smile a bit as he watched the young man working from out of the corner of his eye. Spencer Reid was really one of a kind.
"What are you doing?" he finally asked with slight bemusement.
Reid looked up in surprise, his long hair getting caught in his reading glasses from the sudden movement. He pushed it aside with his long fingers and showed Morgan what he'd written, "I'm still working on this one angle. Remember when I said they would probably stay inside somewhere close to the border because everyone is looking for them? Well, I made a list of towns near the point where they crossed the border and guess what, Floria is one of the most likely places they could be at."
"How come we haven't found them yet then?" Morgan asked sardonically.
He wasn't sure if he actually wanted to find those bastards. Ripping their heads off without warning might set him back a little career wise….
Reid didn't pick up on his mood, still speaking fast with a lot of hand gestures, "Well, they could be in some motel - or hiding in some household, forcing the owners to cover for them. The way it is we don't have great chances of ever finding them."
"But?" Morgan decided to indulge his friend, playing along.
"But they will have to come out eventually to buy clothes and food and equipment if they want to keep traveling. Plus, they will need money. Maybe we should check some of the banks and stores around here. Ask if people have seen anyone suspicious."
Morgan looked at his with his eyebrows raised, unable to hide a grin, "Do you actually think we are going to run into them at Target?"
Reid shot him a dirty look, finally realizing Morgan wasn't taking him seriously at all. He didn't back down though.
"Well, there's not much else we haven't tried yet," he said stubbornly, "Plus, if I have to wear this shirt for one more day I'm just going to give up on personal hygiene completely."
He flicked some imaginary speck of dirt off the front of his shirt with his nose wrinkled. Morgan chuckled at the sight, but he didn't protest. He, too, was getting uncomfortable with having only one change of clothes -especially in this climate.
"Target it is, then," he announced.
They made it to a store that sold clothes in a little less than ten minutes. It wasn't Target but they did alright. Things got a little tense when Reid couldn't find anything that matched his usual corduroy-and-mismatched-tie-style, but Morgan finally convinced him to wear something more accommodated to the climate for a change.
When they finally left the store, Reid was wearing dark jeans and a mauve colored T-shirt with short sleeves and a v-neck.
He kept pulling at it awkwardly until Morgan swatted his hands away, "Stop it already! This will be much more comfortable for working outside. Plus, it looks like a thousand times better than the shirt and tie thing you pull off at work."
He suddenly grinned, ignoring Reid's frown completely, "Hey, if I'm not careful, you'll be snatched by the next pretty lady we come across."
"Very funny, Morgan," Reid pouted, still not entirely comfortable with his new style.
He felt like he was copying Morgan's in a way, without having the charm and confidence to go with it. Plus, he really didn't know how to tell Morgan that he wasn't looking for any pretty ladies. Or any ladies period. To tell the truth, he was more into tall, dark, handsome and male.
He didn't say that to Morgan of course. There was no need to bother him with that; even if he were okay with it, the last thing he needed was for Morgan to play matchmaker again and ask him for an example of whom he would find attractive.
Not like he couldn't come up with a current example. Reid couldn't help but think back to that day in the courtroom when Seth Gecko had walked in in a suit as dark as his eyes, of the way his stomach had flipped when their eyes had interlocked back at the prison. His brain was just to big to fool himself into thinking that that had been entirely due to anxiety. But who was to blame him? Guys who looked like that were everybody's type, right?
He shook his head vehemently. He so shouldn't be thinking things like that.
Seth Gecko could be as tall, dark and handsome as he wanted to, that didn't change the fact that he was tall, dark, handsome and homicidal. And just because he was physically attractive didn't mean that Reid ever wanted to come across that truly frightening man again. Reid chased the thoughts of Gecko away just as they began to be tainted by memories of crime scene photos and smiled innocently at Morgan.
His friend seemed pretty pleased with himself after the makeover, actually smiling for the first time in what seemed like days, so Reid decided not to argue with him. It wasn't like anyone but prostitutes ever came on to him anyway.
They made their way out of the shop and walked over to the city bank to withdraw some money. While they were standing in line, Morgan passed the time by pretending to be on the lookout for their UnSubs, laughing at the sheer improbability of it.
In the meantime, it was Reid's turn and he greeted the teller in front of him in Spanish, "Hello, I would like to withdraw some money."
The teller was a young woman with wavy dark hair and cute freckles that shone through her makeup. Her name tag indentified her as one Hazel Martinez.
"Right away," she replied in accented English, giving him a brilliant smile as she took his card from him, "Is there anything else I can do for you?"
Reid was about to ask what else there was when Morgan's hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"See, Reid?" Morgan grinned over his shoulder, winking at the girl, "Your new look is working for you."
Reid blushed, shrugging off Morgan's hand in embarrassment. Again, he chose not to comment. He gave the girl another awkward smile, making her giggle softly.
Morgan shook his head with a chuckle, letting go off Reid to give him some room. He turned around, looking around the bank to pass the time -and stopped laughing abruptly when his gaze fell onto two men who walked into the bank behind them.
Clothed in black, with shades over their eyes and a revolver in hand, Seth and Richard Gecko were standing right there as though they had never disappeared at all.
Morgan was frozen in disbelieving shock for a moment while Reid, his back to the doors- kept on talking to Hazel without noticing. The older agent blinked, thinking his overworked mind was playing tricks on him now –all this time searching for them and now they were just here…
Meanwhile, Seth Gecko quickly made his way through the people standing in lines while his brother stayed by the door. No one noticed them until sudden shots rang out, practically pulverizing the security cameras at the ceiling. People screamed in surprise, panic breaking out immediately.
Reid was ripped out of his conversation abruptly when Hazel screamed, half jumping into Morgan at the noise. He whirled around, mouth gaping wide open as he saw what was happening.
"I don't fucking believe this," Morgan swore under his breath.
Reid followed his gaze, eyes widening as he recognized the Gecko brothers. He didn't get one word out, simply staring at the men in utter disbelief for a second.
Morgan fumbled for his gun, his mind racing. What were the odds?
In the evolving chaos, they hadn't been spotted yet but if Seth got one good look at Morgan he would certainly recognize him. He cursed silently; they were two against one considering Reid didn't have a gun –and they had to consider lots of innocent bystanders who might get hurt.
He didn't have a lot of time to think.
In that moment, the bank's security reacted, drawing his gun and running towards the brothers, preparing to shoot them. More shots were fired, and people screamed when the man went down, hit, coughing blood and soon becoming motionless. Everybody froze in shock and fear, some –including Hazel -even cowering on the floor with their hands over their heads.
Seth Gecko lowered his gun arm, waving the weapon casually around the room as he walked over to the counters, "Any more heroes? No? Then everybody down on the floor."
In less than twenty seconds everybody was flat on the floor, only small whimpers and cries disturbing the sudden silence. Behind Morgan, Reid inhaled sharply. Morgan wanted to curse the kid for always, always having to be right…
"Get down," he murmured over his shoulder, ignoring Reid's soft sound of protest and his refusal to move at all.
Meanwhile, Seth smiled in satisfaction and was about to turn towards the teller in front of him when his gaze fell on the only two people still standing. His eyes narrowed angrily at the disobedience for the first split second -then they zeroed in on Morgan and realization dawned on his face.
Morgan, who knew he had only one chance, pulled out his gun in one swift movement, automatically covering Reid as he aimed it at Seth.
"FBI! You're under arrest!" he yelled, his finger on the trigger, ready to shoot the second the bank robber made one false move.
Unfortunately, he had forgotten about the second brother by the door. Richard saw what happened and shot at Morgan without hesitance, spraying the area around him with bullets. People screamed in panic and Morgan –with nowhere to take cover- had no choice but to fire back.
He missed once, then Richard Gecko screamed in pain, clutching his bleeding hand to his chest. His eyes flashed to Morgan, deadly with rage instead of fear or surrender. With a feral snarl he emptied his clip, shooting wildly until one bullet hit Morgan squarely in the chest from fifteen feet away. Morgan went down with a cry of pain, swaying backwards with wide eyes.
"Derek!" Reid yelled in shock, jumping forward to break the man's fall.
Morgan's dead weight dragged him down and pain shot through his knees as they connected harshly with the floor, but Reid barely paid attention to it. Morgan was staring up at him with huge, pain filled eyes, his mouth moving as if to form words that never came out.
Reid cursed under his breath, feeling the situation escalate. How ws this possible? He hastily pressed one hand to Morgan's chest to put pressure on the wound, his mind racing as much as his heart. He needed to help Morgan, but how?
After the first second of shock, his mind set in again and he hastily reached out for Morgan's gun, picking it from his limp fingers. Without it he wouldn't stand a chance –and he was the only one left who could save them.
He had barely gotten a good grip of it when suddenly a violent blow to his temple threw him backwards, his head and ribs hitting the marble floor hard. He gasped as the breath was knocked out of him and his head and side exploded with pain. By the wall, a woman screamed.
Through the stars dancing in front of his eyes, Reid pushed himself into a sitting position as best as he could -only to hear the clicking sound of a gun being cocked right above his head. Slowly, he lifted his head only to stare right into the barrel of a revolver. With growing dread he let his eyes wander along the arm holding it until he met Seth Gecko's black eyes.
The man looked down at him coldly and threateningly, "Drop the gun."
Reid hesitated, his fingers clenching around the only means he had to protect Morgan, himself and all these people. He remembered what had happened to the liquor store; if he surrendered he would likely be shot as well as if he resisted.
"Now," the older Gecko brother hissed violently, his finger tightening on the trigger, "Or your friend the pig gets a new nose hole."
He moved his arm, aiming at Morgan instead.
"No, wait!" Reid gasped, dropping the gun without another second of hesitance.
Then he slowly lifted his hands above his head, cursing his own nerves.
But what choice did he have?
He looked up to meet Seth Gecko's eyes again, trying not to blink as blood ran down the side of his temple from his fall. His heart was pounding rapidly in his chest as he waited for the man to make his move. For a second he thought he was just going to shoot him as well, but the ex-con just fixated him, expression unreadable.
Reid held his gaze, trying not to look intimidated and at the same time not to panic at the thought of him being forced to sit still while Morgan lay there with a gaping hole in his chest and his blood rapidly staining the floor around him.
In the end he must not have looked like much of a threat, because Gecko slowly relaxed, looking not quite as trigger happy as before upon realizing he was still in control. He took his eyes off Reid's face, briefly glancing at Morgan disdainfully.
"Richie, you okay?" he then called over his shoulder.
Behind them, the younger Gecko brother was still clutching his dripping fingers, "The bastard shot me in the fucking hand!"
Reid watched breathlessly as he pulled out a roll of duct tape and wrapped it around his wound. He prayed silently that that would be the end of it, but Richard charged at them, more furious then ever as he struggled with reloading his gun.
"I'm gonna kill him, Seth!" he spat out, moving to kick Morgan in the side.
"NO!" Reid yelled, instinctively throwing himself in front of his defenseless friend.
Richard's boot connected with his face, throwing him backwards with a moan once more. Reid struggled to get back up in case there was going to another attack against Morgan but Seth unexpectedly grabbed his brother's arm and stopped his raging fit with one pointed look.
"I know you," he finally said in an odd tone of voice, "You...were at the prison."
Reid didn't answer, not intent on digging his own grave.
Unfortunately, Seth didn't seem to need him to put two and two together, easily deducting that Reid too must be connected to the FBI people chasing him in some way. His expression grew dark, eyes cold and hard.
"Another fed...Get up," he suddenly ordered, "Slowly."
Reid complied in lack of an alternative, still torn by fear for Morgan's fading life. He couldn't hear him anymore and hoped that he had just passed out from the pain. He was afraid he might not have to worry about that too much longer when Richard drew closer, raising his gun again. He held his breath, mentally already preparing to find himself on the floor next to Morgen within a moment, but Seth surprisingly grabbed Richard's arm just then, diverting his attention. He looked over the younger man's hand for a moment, lips a thin, angry line.
"Alright, change of plans," he then suddenly decided, "Gimme the tape."
Richard complied and was then instructed to keep his gun trained on the rest of the people.
Meanwhile, Seth walked up to Reid, roughly grabbing him by his shirt and hauling the young man to his feet. With one swift movement he pinned one of his arms behind his back, painfully twisting it in the process, and patted him down quickly, looking for more weapons. Reid ground his teeth together to bite back any sound of pain, fearfully cringing from the contact.
"Where is your gun?" Seth demanded to know when he didn't find anything.
"I don't have one," Reid ground out from behind clenched teeth, resisting the urge to try and break free as long as Richard Gecko was standing so close to Morgan. Seth's iron grip around his wrist tightened painfully in response.
"Are you fucking playing with me?" he growled into his ear, "You're with a cop for a reason, so unless you wanna tell me he's screwing you I'm gonna assume you work with him. So I'll ask you again: Where is your gun?"
"I'm not allowed to carry one," Reid repeated as calmly as he could, adding a small lie, "I'm not a field agent."
It was a risk, but then who would believe that a certified FBI agent walked around without a weapon on him?
Luckily for him, Seth believed him easily, his grip letting up some. "Is that so? Well then, today's your lucky day. You get to be in the field, up close with the bad guys," he mocked.
He roughly spun Reid around to face him, looking down at him warningly as he pressed the gun to his throat, "Make one wrong move, and I'll turn this place into a goddamn house of horrors, do you understand?"
"Yes," Reid gulped, unresisting even as Seth grabbed his wrists and bound them together tightly with several layers of tape.
Once he was sure Reid couldn't get free, he shoved the young man towards his brother who caught him and kept him from 's breath caught in his throat as Richard grabbed him, but he didn't do anything but hold him tightly while Seth finally went to over to the counter.
"You, get up," Hazel whimpered as he leaned over the counter and pulled her up by her arm, tossing an empty bag in her direction, "Come now, sweetheart, we don't have all day. Fill it to the top."
With shaking hands she hurried to comply, collecting all the money she could find that wasn't locked in the safe. Several hundred dollars later, Seth nodded in satisfaction.
"Alright, time to go."
He grabbed the bag with one hand and then dragged Hazel right over the counter by her arm. She shrieked in fear when he grabbed her by the neck, dragging her towards the exit.
"Don't!" Reid gasped in terror when he realized they intended on taking the woman along.
Images of their victims flashed through his mind and he instinctively tried to break Richard's hold and come to her aid. He might as well have kicked a brick wall for all he was achieving.
Seth turned around to him, smirking briefly, "Don't worry, you're coming along, too."
Reid shrank back, his mind racing to find an escape plan. There wasn't one of course. His eyes flashed to his unresponsive colleague on the floor.
"But…Morgan…" he finally got out; "He´ll die…"
Seth just shrugged indifferently, "Someone will call him an ambulance once we're gone. So the longer you stand there the more blood he loses. Any more questions?"
Reid shook his head reluctantly, knowing that Morgan's best shot at survival was to get the brothers far away so someone could take care of him. Plus, he couldn't leave Hazel alone now, could he?
So in the end, he let himself be dragged outside by Richard, following Seth and Hazel. They hurried to a car much like the one the brothers had had during the liquor store incident; Seth opened the back door and pushed the bank teller inside.
Then he looked around the street for any approaching threats only to find none. He motioned for his brother to hurry up, then shoved Reid in the car next to Hazel. Then he got into the driver's seat. As soon as Richie had gotten in as well, Seth locked all car doors before staring the car and stepping all the way down on the gas pedal.
The motor howled and they were pushed into their seats when the car sped up from zero to almost fifty in under ten seconds.
They left the crime scene behind long before the first police cars were even alerted to the scene, heading straight for the desert.
So sorry for what happened to Morgan, it´s just I love him and this was the least lethal fate I could find for him in this story. There'll be more of him later, dont worry.
(1) Never been anywhere near Mexico, so pardon any uninformed, prejudicial remarks, please. The name of the town is made up too in case anyone was wondering…
Now, I know that this scenario is highly unlikely but bear with me, alright? After all, Reid is a genius….it could happen…
