Authors Note: Hey all, again, I'm sorry this took me so longggg.
Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds or any of the characters
The waves crashed relentlessly on the on the shore of the island as Derek ran. He knew he was being selfish and immature and a hundred other lousy things, but his mind was so clouded over with anger that he really didn't care. His feet sent sand flying up as he went until he got to the rocky area. The harsh terrain did little to nothing to slow his pace.
He closed his eyes against the tears that threatened to spill down his cheeks, hurling himself blindly away from his problems. He couldn't believe this was happening. First the crash, then Spencer. It was all too much for him. He shook his head and sped up his pace, his steady run turning into a breathless sprint.
At some point after he had been running for a while, he felt chilling water hit his fet and splash up onto his calves. He stopped abruptly and looked down. He realised he had arrived at the stream they had been using as a source of water. As far as he knew, no one on the team had gone past this point at all but he didn't care. He kept going, adopting an almost leisurely walking pace. He breathed in deeply, attempting to regain the breath that had been lost in his wild race. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked down at his feet as he walked. The rocks had turned into smaller pebble size.
The only real hope he had at this point was salvation, but he wasn't stupid. He knew the more time that went by without rescue, the less of a chance it would come at all. But, God, he couldn't think about that right now.
It had gotten so dark at this point that he could hardly see a foot in front of his face. He knew it wasn't safe to sleep away from the camp, but he just couldn't go back now. He also knew he wasn't thinking straight from the adrenaline rush, but he really just didn't care. Besides, the pebbles had turned into a soft sand after a while. It felt comforting and soothing under his aching feet so he figured it would feel nice to sleep on as well.
He walked on for about two minutes and decided to settle down far enough away from the ocean so that he wouldn't be too cold, but not so close to the forest that he would have to worry about creatures. He laid himself down on the sand that still held a little bit of warmth from the days sun. He spread his arms out on either side of him, palms facing the sky, and looked up at the sky. For the first time since he had been on the island, he noticed how clear the sky was. The stars shone down on him with an intense light that captured his attention immediately. And again, for the first time since he'd been on the island, he let the tears fall freely down his face. A low sob escaped him as he looked into the depths of the sky.
He turned onto his side, curled in the fetal position and pulled the sleeves of his hoodie over his finger tips. He was so tired. He worked out that he would go back to the camp as soon as he woke up. He would apologize to the whole team, especially Emily, and then, hopefully, things would go back to normal. Finally, he let a deep dreamless sleep overtake him.
When Morgan woke up, it was to the first blinding rays of the sun bouncing of off the water. He sighed as the events of the previous nights came rushing back to him. He pushed himself up into a sitting position and ran a hand over his head. The harsh sun reminded him again that he wasn't at camp as he reached over to the spot where his sunglasses usually were and came up with a handful of sand. He sighed again.
He looked at his surroundings for the first time since last night it had been pitch black. To the right, he saw just rocks and sand, but when he looked to the left his eyes widened. Holy shit! he thought. This could change everything.
The first thing JJ saw when she woke up was the sleeping face of Dr. Spencer Reid. She squeezed her eyes shut remembering everything that had happened the night before. Before she let herself think too much about it, she busied herself by carefully getting out of the shelter. The last thing she wanted was to wake up her sleeping friends. God only knew they all needed rest.
But as she looked at them lying there, she noticed two absences: first, Morgan wasn't anywhere on the shelter. She assumed he just hadn't come home at all last night. A creeping sense of worry edged into her. The second was Hotch. This wasn't entirely unusual, as Hotch often got up early. She figured he was up tending to the fire or something. Sure enough as she turned around she saw the outline of his figure in the dim morning light tending to the fire.
She approached him slowly, her bare feet sinking in to the soft sand. The chill of the morning was still present and she hugged the sweatshirt she had borrowed from Derek closer to her body.
"Hey" she said to Hotch as she put a hand on his arm. He startled slightly, the soft sand had apparently masked the sound of her footsteps approaching. He looked like he hadn't gotten much sleep last night, dark circles lined his eyes and his whole body seemed to sag towards the ground as if gravity were too much for him today.
"Hey," he replied, "Morgans… he's not back yet." even his voice sounded exhausted.
"I'm sure he's fine. If anyone can handle a night out of the shelter it's Morgan." she did her best to assure him. But the increase of the worry lines on his face showed her that he had seen through her calm demeanor. He sat down next to the fire and put rested his head in his arms which were propped up on his knees.
"Do you think we should go and look for him?" he asked, looking up at her.
"I don't think so. Morgan's smart. He'll come back on his own." she said mustering up as much confidence as she could. This was certainly an odd situation; usually the roles were reversed and Hotch was the one consoling her. The unit chief almost never showed vulnerability. Almost.
"You're right. I just hope he comes back soon."
"Now it's my turn to ask you something, and please be honest with me." she said and sat down next to him, "do you think anyone is coming to rescue us?" the question had been plaguing her since they had arrived at this island and she just had to get it off her chest.
"Honestly? Don't let this discourage you, but I don't" he said, not making eye contact. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair in the way she did when she was frustrated.
"I don't know how much longer we can do this Hotch" she said.
"I know… I know" he replied and shook his head. A soft and gentle hand on her shoulder alerted JJ to the presence of Emily. She looked groggy and her hair was slightly tangled but the emotion in her eyes was clear. JJ wasn't sure but she thought her eyes looked a little red around the edges.
"Where is Morgan?" she asked as she sat down next to JJ.
"Not back yet." JJ responded. Emily's eyes widened.
"Is he okay, should we go look for him?" she asked.
"No, we decided we're gonna let him come back in his own time" Hotch replied.
"Oh. Okay" she said. She leaned over close to JJ and rested her head on her shoulder. Her dark brown hair cascaded over JJ's shoulder and mingled in with some of her own blonde hair. JJ petted her hair in a way that she hoped was reassuring.
Jennifer looked up as Rossi approached the group. He was unusually quiet as he sat on the other side of Hotch, the only sound he made was a sigh as he lowered himself to the ground. The group sat in an almost awkward silence. It just wasn't the same without the other two members of the team, and nobody wanted to wake up Spencer. The only thing that disturbed the group was Hotch's occasional stirring of the fire with a slightly charred stick they had found to be good for that purpose.
Suddenly the quiet was disrupted by the sound of someone yelling something. Four pairs of highly trained eyes all looked over at the same time.
"Morgan!" JJ yelled. Emily and Hotch were the first to jump to their feet followed shortly after by Rossi and JJ. They all ran over to meet him but Hotch was the first to reach him. When JJ got there she saw that Morgan was bent over double, his hands braced on his knees, and Hotch had a hand on his back. He was breathing heavily and she had to assume he had run all the way there.
"Derek, are you all right? We were all worried about you." JJ said placing a hand on his back next to Hotch's.
"I'm fine- but I think I found something that could save us" he said between breaths.
"What is it?" asked Hotch.
"I think it's best if I show you. It's a bit of a walk but it's worth it. And we should bring all of our stuff too."
"What? Morgan, we're not just going to pack up all of our stuff and leave if you don't tell us what's going on." JJ said.
"Please Jayje, just trust me." he said, straightening up and putting a hand on her shoulder. He looked her right in the eyes and he just looked so sincere.
"What do you think, Hotch, Rossi, Emily?" she asked, addressing each of her teammates.
"I trust him. I mean whatever it is, it's gotta be better than this" Rossi said.
"I trust you Morgan. I know you won't let us down." Hotch said, almost threateningly. Morgan nodded in acknowledgment.
"Sure" Emily said and looked at the ground.
"That reminds me Em," Morgan said and went over to stand in front of Emily, " I am so sorry for the way I treated you last night. There really is no excuse for how I acted, just know I'm sorry."
"Forgiven" she said and smiled up at him.
"And to everyone else, I'm sorry for how irresponsible I was. I know I made you worry. I wasn't thinking." he said as he rubbed the back of his head.
"It's alright Morgan. All that matters is that you're back now and you're safe." JJ said.
"Okay, let's go pack up our things so we can head out." Morgan said. JJ noticed how excited he was. Almost giddy, like a kid on Christmas morning. Whatever this big surprise was, she hoped it was good.
Everyone kind of lingered until Hotch said, "You heard the man. Lets go" no one responded, but they showed their understanding by moving into action. They all walked up to the shelter and grabbed their bags. JJ took her duffle and carefully folded all of her clothes into it. She also managed to stuff in all three of the insulating blankets and a few of the survival items they had attained. She looked around and saw that the others had also taken on some extra responsibilities. Emily was putting the medical kit into her bag and Hotch was stuffing their plastic water bottles into his. Morgan and Rossi divided up the rest of their equipment including the fishing spear.
She could hardly believe that this was happening. Although this camp was far from perfect, she had grown sort of fond of it in the past few days. It had become a sort of home away from home. There was really only one thing left that needed to be done. No one wanted to, but someone had to wake Spencer. She sighed and put down her duffle. As she approached the shelter, she saw that he was basically in the same place she had left him that morning. His long limbs sprawled awkwardly over the wood that made up the floor of the shelter. His cheeks were pink and there were beads of sweat on the side of his face. There was no doubt in her mind that he had a low grade fever. She had seen it many times with Henry.
She sat on the edge of the shelter and put a hand on his forehead. Warm. As gently as she could, she grabbed his closest arm and shook him lightly.
"Huh, what's goin on?" he slurred as he rose from his deep sleep. He pushed himself into a seated position and braced himself with his arms. He looked around, dazed.
"Actually, Spence, we're moving our camp." she said
"What? Why" he asked, confused. He put a hand up to his head and rubbed at his temples.
"Well, we don't exactly know, but we do know that Morgan found something worth moving for. He's making us wait until we get there to tell us, but I trust him. It'll be worth it" she reassured.
"M'kay" he said, accepting easily this explanation.
"It's kind of a long walk. Do you think you can make it?" she asked.
"Of course" he said matter of factly.
"Alright, we're heading out in about ten minutes. Think you can be ready to go by then?" she asked. Maybe she was babying him a little bit, but at this point she didn't care.
"Yes" he replied.
"Okay good. I'll be over there if you need anything" she said, pointing to the fire where the others were gathered. With that she got up and walked over to where they were congregated. Emily was holding one of the water bottles and it was full of what seemed to be ocean water.
"We need to put out the fire. It's the responsible thing to do" said Rossi, gesturing to the water bottle.
"Since the fire has kind of been your thing since we got here, we figured we'd save the honours for you" Emily said as she handed over the bottle. JJ simply nodded as she took the bottle. She unscrewed the cap and almost unceremoniously dumped the contents onto the already dying flame. She watched as it sizzled out to nothingness. She realised that this was more than just the responsible thing to do. It was symbolic. It symbolised leaving behind, and new beginnings.
The group wordlessly moved over to the shelter to make final preparations for leaving. JJ sat on the edge of the shelter and pulled on her sneakers. The shoes felt weird and confining on her feet, having been used to being barefoot for so long. She pulled the laces as tight as possible and tied them forcefully. She looked around at the others and saw they were mostly ready to go. They were all standing, looking around at their beach. Spencer was standing on his own, holding his bag, and it looked to JJ like he would be able to make the trip.
"You ready, Jayje?" Morgan asked her, seeing as how she was the last one left sitting down
"Yeah, you guys go on ahead. I'll catch up in a minute" she said.
"Okay.. don't take too long" he said, sensing that she needed privacy to say goodbye to this place. She nodded and with that the group set off at a slow pace to accommodate for their injured member.
She knew what she was about to do was silly, and she didn't want the others to know. She reached into her bag and pulled out the knife that she had stuffed in their earlier. She took it firmly in her hand and began carving into the wood of one of the posts that held up their shelter. It took her about one minute and she stepped back to admire her handywork. It read simply, "we were here". It felt silly and juvenile, but also necessary. It brought a sense of closure, almost. She put the knife back in her bag and slung it over her shoulder. She ran to catch up with the rest of her friends and she never looked back.
Authors Note: Again, sorry this took so long, and thank you all for sticking with me through this slowness. Also, sorry if this chapter seems a little boring. I promise, it will be more exciting next time ;)