Chapter 10

Wendy Williams wrote, "Where beads and rattles once served to destroy, now a poison will suffice."

Bane

They went straight to the labs when they got to the FBI building. Spencer wanted to avoid the BAU for now. He was afraid of questions to which he had no answers.

That in itself was scary. He usually had answers, but this was different. He was scared and ill and racked with overpowering guilt. He wanted to hang onto Morgan as if he was a lifeguard and he was drowning.

The lab rats were giving him strange enough looks anyway.

Morgan gave the sugar to a woman, whose name tag said Gina.

"This is contaminated sugar." Morgan explained. "We need to know as much as possible about the contaminant. If you can, we need the source."

Gina measured out a small quantity of a solvent, and added some of the sugar that Morgan had given her. She adjusted the filter.

"How long will this take?" Morgan asked?

"Well, you could go and have a coffee while I do this."

Morgan glanced at Spencer.

"Erm….thanks, but we'll wait. I've got something else; I'll give it to another tech. I don't want to hold you up" Morgan gave Gina that smile of his, and they went to another bench, another young woman.

Morgan took out the bag with the yellowing pages in. He watched Reid while he did it.

No reaction. Good.

"Please would you…..erm….excuse me…."

The young woman, Susan, dragged her eyes away from an embarrassed Spencer and looked at Morgan.

"Oh…sorry. You were saying?"

"Yes." Morgan gave Reid a sideways glance. (He never thought a woman would ignore him to look at Reid. He must be losing his touch!) He showed her the bag with the pages in.

"It's possible that there might be spores of some kind either on or in this paper. Would you be able to check for me?"

She took the bag from Morgan. "Urgent?"

"Well, yes, it is really." he smiled. "ASAP?"

"Morgan," Reid drew Morgan aside. "I need to go to the bathroom."

He put his hand across his mouth, and staggered towards the men's toilets. Morgan followed him He really wanted to carry him and run, but he didn't think Reid would thank him for it.

He just made it before he threw up in the basin.

When Morgan came in, he was clutching his stomach, heaving and coughing.

"Oh….Morgan!"

He tried to speak, but the retching was too much. With one hand on the basin holding himself upright, and the other clasped across his stomach, he heaved nothing from his empty stomach.

Morgan stood behind him, hand on his shoulder, waiting for it to be over.

When at last his body tired of being sick when there was nothing there, he turned and slid down the wall. Morgan gave him some paper towels and some water.

Reid's eyes were watering from the effort. He coughed into the towel.

Breathing shakily, he looked at Morgan, who had stooped down in front of him. Reid tried to move, but his legs wouldn't do as he asked.

"Morgan, I can't get up."

The whites of Reid's eyes were darker now.

"I'm taking you to hospital, Reid." Spencer opened his mouth to object, Morgan put his finger to Reid's lips.

"No arguing from you, Reid." He picked Reid up. "I'm taking you!"

Spencer frowned at him. "Let me walk!"

Carefully, Morgan stood him on the floor. Almost at once, His legs buckled, and he fell against Morgan.

"I think I will have to carry you, Reid."

He picked him up again, and carried him out of the toilets.

"I'll take you out of the emergency exit, and bring the car round for you." Morgan pushed open the door, and sat Spencer on the pavement out side.

"I'll be as quick as I can."

Morgan ran around the building to where his car was parked. Spencer sat alone and frightened leaning on the wall.

His mind went over what he could remember of the last few days, and what he had done to Aaron. His eyes filled up again, he needed to see him. He needed to tell him how sorry he was.

Sorry just wasn't enough. He had said sorry for things before. This was different. There wasn't a word to describe how he was feeling now.

Oh Aaron, please, Aaron. Please get better. Please don't leave me…..

Morgan's car came around the corner. Spencer pulled himself up the wall onto trembling legs.

"Morgan. Please take me to Aaron first."
"No, Reid. I'm taking you to be sorted first."

Morgan helped him to the car and strapped him in.

"I am going to take you, then I am coming back here for the results." Spencer started to say something. Morgan cut him off.

"No arguments!"

Spencer sat back and gave none.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Reid made no objections to being carried into the ER. A doctor pushed a trolley over and Morgan laid him down on it.

"His name is Spencer Reid, he's with the FBI. He has been ingesting poison over the last few days."

"Do you know what?" the doctor asked, wheeling Reid into a side room.

"It's being analysed at the moment. As soon as I know he's ok, I'm going back for the results."

"Well, I suggest you go now. We will need the results before we can treat him."

Morgan squeezed Reid's hand. "I'll be back as soon as I can, Reid. You hold on."

Morgan ran back out to his car, and drove back to the lab.

Gina had just got the results, and was looking it up in a thick reference book.

"What is it, Gina?" Morgan pulled a stool over to where she was working.

She handed Morgan the print-out.

"I've not come across this before. I ran it twice in case I had made a mistake, but it is right.

Morgan read the print-out:

…..

DDB – Ditiscid Death Bane

Distilled from the carapace of Histerida Ditiscidae, a South American beetle.

White odorless, tasteless crystalline substance, dissolves readily in water and most organic solvents.

Action – on adrenal and pituitary glands, effect is usually within one minute of ingestion.

Can cause – Anxiety, rage, obsessive behavior, paranoia, migraine, fainting (due to hypogycaemia), rapid or irregular heart beat / palpitations, vomiting, liver failure, coma, death.

DDB is of moderate toxicity, but has a cumulative affect.

Takes up to three weeks to be safely metabolized.

…..

Morgan read it through again.

"Where does this come from?"

"I've just looked it up, because I thought you might ask me that." Gina smiled at Morgan. "it says in here, that it was used by Peruvian tribal priests to induce a trance. You can only get it by importing the Bane, which is actually illegal, or importing the beetles, and making your own. I guess it could be on the web."

Morgan was still re-reading the list of symptoms.

Obsessive behavior. Paranoia.

The book had nothing to do with anything, apart from being the object of Reid's obsession.

He thanked her, and went to check on Susan.

"I couldn't find anything, Sir. The paper's clean."

"Thank you." He picked up the remains of the pages.

"Any time!" She smiled as Morgan ran out of the lab.

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A/N - DDB [Ditiscid Death Bane is a figment of my (rather overactive) imagination.