shorter chapter but fun
Reid didn't know how many times he woke up during the night. He wasn't even entirely sure that it was night. Each time he opened his eyes, the room started spinning and he would fall back into unconsciousness. He welcomed the dark world he saw whenever he shut his eyes. Only there could he escape from the unbearable pain that his body was going through. He didn't remember dreaming about anything particular. All he knew was that when he finally woke himself up, he felt like dying from the aching in his head. He stretched out his legs, but cried out when he tried moving his hips. It was then that the images from his graphic rape came back into his mind, and all he wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry. Every inch of his body was in pain, and he couldn't even comfort himself in a fetal position. He weakly lifted up his head to see if Morgan was awake, but he wasn't against the wall.
"Morgan?" He tried looking around the room, but it was hard to see much from the angle he was at. He was tied on the table, and moving anything but his neck brought agonizing pain to his body. He tried to keep his ears alert, but all he could hear was his own frantic breathing. Where was Morgan? He tried moving to his side, but he collapsed back on the table with a loud scream. His swollen arm was broken, and he couldn't move far without causing a burning sensation in and around his entrance.
"Morgan?" he weakly called out again. When he still didn't hear anything, he brought his head back down to the table and tried to cry. His body was shaking, and he couldn't get his breath under control, but he knew how sick he was. He was sick, and now he was alone. He couldn't feel any tears falling down his face, and he couldn't rely on the kind stranger to keep coming back to water him. Reid couldn't even remember the last time his stomach growled. He was going to die in that room and he would never be able to see his friends again. They meant the world to him. He just hoped that they knew that. Was Morgan set free? Morgan couldn't have died. He was stronger than Reid was, but why would Harold just let him go?
"Morgan…" he whispered with his quiet voice. Did Morgan die? Was Morgan killed after Harold raped Reid? Was he killed trying to defend Reid? His genius brain tried desperately to put the pieces of the puzzle together, but there was too much that Reid just couldn't understand. He started to cough as his heart pace rose. Morgan just couldn't be dead. Reid's eyes rolled back into his head, and he fell into blackness once again.
Markus was driving back when he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He was about to ignore it when he saw his sister's name on the caller ID.
"Hey. It's late. What are you doing up?"
"I was sleeping. I had a nightmare. Oh my God, it was horrible. That bad man who took the agents, he found me and the kids. The baby was screaming…oh my God, Markus. There was so much blood. I want you over here with us. I'm scared," she cried out.
"You're fine. It was just a dream."
"But it could happen. They haven't that bad guy yet. He's still out there, and I'm so scared for the babies. I'm scared for you too. Most of the abductions happened in your town. We'd just all be safer if you came over here."
"I can't just get up and leave. I have a job. That's how I can send you all this money. I work hard for it. Harold needs me. Everything is going alright."
"I'm scared. They still haven't found those missing agents. What's he doing to them? I'm thinking of going down to the police station to see if they have any leads or anything. I'm scared to go sleep at night because I keep thinking some madman is going to break in and kill us all."
"You're safe," Markus said parking the car in one of the garages.
"How do you know?"
"I just do. Go to bed. I'll call you in the morning."
"I love Markus. Please, be safe."
"Good night." He hung up the phone before his sister could say anything else. Would his sister be devastated if she knew that Markus knew the killer? She couldn't blame him. Markus wasn't really doing anything wrong. Markus couldn't get her voice out of his head. She really was scared. Markus got a water bottle of the refrigerator, and made his way back up to the dark room.
He slowly opened the old door, and peaked in the room. He didn't see Harold anywhere. Harold must have already gone to bed. He slowly walked to the wooden table that the boy was strapped to, and he cringed when he saw the rack that the other agent was chained to. There was a lot of blood on it. He pulled up the chair that he saw next to one of the walls, and he sat down to the young agent. He gently touched the boy's shoulder.
"Hey," he said. "My name is Markus." The boy didn't move so Markus tried pushing against the agent a little harder. He almost left when the boy lightly moaned. It took several minutes before the boy finally opened his brown eyes. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but he shut it again. He looked scared.
"It's alright kid. My name is Markus. I've just brought you up some water," Markus said lifting up the bottle for the boy to see.
"Where's Morgan?" the boy said so quietly that Markus could barely hear him.
"He's going to be fine. I promise. The rest of your team has already found him."
"Could you please help me? I have to get out of here. I'm really sick." The boy pathetically tried moving his arms, and cringed when he was struck with pain. Even if Markus wanted to, he knew he couldn't get the kid out of the room without breaking something else. The boy's body seemed too thin and delicate to be messed around with anymore.
"I can't. Here, open your mouth," Markus ordered. He opened the bottle in front of the agent so the agent would know it was safe to drink, and he poured some of the water into the agent's open mouth. He wasn't surprised when the agent started coughing after only a few sips. He needed to go to a hospital. Markus could try giving him all the water he wanted, but it would be useless if he threw up everything given to him.
"Can you please just tell my team that I'm still alive? Please?" The boy laid his cheek back down on the table, but his body was still trembling. Markus wanted to get the kid onto his back at least, it might be easier to drink that way, but if Harold found out, it could be death for both of them. He stood up, and he felt himself tearing up when he looked at the kid's pale back. If Markus wasn't able to turn the boy around to soften any of his pain, he could at least clean off some of the blood and pus. He found a rag on one of the back cabinets, and came back to the agent.
"I'm going to clean you off a little. Is that alright?"
"Aaron Hotchner is the leader of the team. He won't let anything happen to you if you just tell him where I am. I'm not going to last in here. Please."
Markus gently put the rag down on one of the bloody marks across his back, and tried to ignore the hissing noise coming from the agent. He patted down the wound with the tag, and gathered up as much blood as he could, but the agent wouldn't stay still.
"Burns," he whispered when Markus stopped. Markus looked down at the agent's rear end, but he wasn't ready to touch the kid down there. He didn't even know if the bleeding had stopped down there. Harold really did tear the kid apart.
"I'm sorry," Markus said. He really meant it. He didn't want the kid to die. He hadn't done anything to deserve this. "Do you want me to put your legs together?" Harold had left the kid's legs untied, but they were still spread eagle on the table where Harold left them.
"Please, talk to my team. I promise you that Harold won't hurt you anymore," he begged.
"Good evening Markus," an all too familiar voice said. Markus dropped the rag on the kid's back, and looked up to see Harold standing in the doorway.
"Sir? I was just.."
"You don't need to say anything else Markus," Harold said walking up to them. He put a hand on Reid's back, and ran his fingers down the back and between the boy's legs. Reid cried out, and he tried lifting up one of his legs to kick Harold but Harold was too quick for him. Harold moved up to Reid's head, and held the boy tightly by the hair on his head.
"Um, I just wanted to tell you that the agent is sick. It looks like most of the scratches on his back have gotten infected, and I think his head wound is getting worse as well," Markus said.
"You are quite right," Harold said twisting Reid's light brown hair in his fingers.
"Get off of me," Reid whispered.
"Oh, isn't he the feisty one?" Harold laughed and released Reid's hair from his grasp. "He is just so beautiful. Doesn't he look just like Michael?"
"Michael sir?"
"Oh, I would just love one more go at him, but it is late. I'll be ready after breakfast," Harold said as he ran his hands back over the agent's backside. Markus wanted to attack him. It was different seeing it happen right in front of him like that. The boy was shaking all over while Harold kept weaving his fingers in between the kid's legs. Reid let out a pained gasp as two of Harold's fingers disappeared, and Markus was about to say something when the boy collapsed.
"You're going to kill him sir," Markus said.
Harold pulled his fingers out, and patted them down with the rag still on Reid's back.
"What I do with my guest is my own business. He is my responsibility, and I will make sure that he is well taken care of in the manner I see fit. If he dies up here, it is because of my choice. I don't want to see you up here again Markus unless you are personally invited me. Do I make myself clear?" Harold dropped the soiled rag on top of Reid's matted hair.
"Yes sir," Markus said looking down at the boy.
"Good," Harold said walking towards to the door. "Make sure you take that water bottle with you on your way out." Harold slammed the door behind him, and left Markus with the boy. He took the dirty rag off of the kid's head, and gently moved his legs back together. He thought about cleaning some more blood off of his thighs, but Markus didn't want to get into any more trouble. He had done all he could do here. He wanted the agent to wake back up to sip some more of the water before he left, but Markus didn't want to bother him anymore. He locked the door behind him, but he knew that if he didn't act soon, the boy's voice was going to haunt him forever. The boy was begging for his help.
J.J. sat next to the others as they waited in the hospital for any news of how Morgan was doing. She hadn't been able to get a good look at him back in the park, but Prentiss kept telling her that it wasn't anything that she wanted to see. After she had calmed herself down, she knew that she had to call Garcia. She pulled out her cell phone, and dialed up the tech goddess.
"Garcia," the blonde said from the other end. Garcia did sound better than she had in previous calls, but she was still not her cheerful self.
"Hey. It's J.J. I just wanted to tell you that um, we found one of the boys."
"WHAT?" Garcia screamed into the phone. "Tell me, Morgan or Reid? Is he alright? Is he awake? When can I talk to him? Where's the other one? Which hospital are you at? Give me like an hour and I'm there. What kind of flowers would he like? Oh my God, J.J., where's the other one? What happened?"
"It's Morgan," J.J. said. She waited for Garcia's reaction before saying anything else.
"You found Morgan? He's alive, right? Is he okay? Is he awake?"
"He's alive. Some kids found him in a park tonight. He's in surgery right now. We don't know anything else."
"Where's Reid…?" Garcia asked after a moment of silence.
"He wasn't in the park."
"Maybe he wasn't taken then! Maybe the sicko just took Morgan, and Reid got away and ran away to be safe, and he's just waiting for one of us to tell him that it's safe," Garcia rambled.
"It was Reid's blood back in the SUV. The unsub was also sending us those pictures of both Morgan and Reid," J.J. choked out. It was hard for her to think about Reid scared and alone with another psychopath. "We think Reid is still with the unsub."
"No, no, no, no. My poor baby!" Garcia sobbed through the phone.
"We'll find him," J.J. said. She hung up the phone before she could burst into tears like Garcia. How could anyone hurt someone like Reid? She was guilty of teasing him as much as Morgan did, but that was because he never really tried to fight back. His genius IQ kept him safe from much of their jokes, but that wouldn't protect him from a psychopath.
When the doctor finally came in, every single of them jumped to their feet. J.J. wrapped her hands tight around her cell phone. The background for the phone was that photo of Reid that Morgan took that horrid night.
"Derek Morgan?" the doctor asked.
"Yes," Hotch said stepping forward. "I am SSA Aaron Hotchner, and this is my team. How is he?"
"He's going to live. Both of his shoulders were dislocated, and one of arms is broken. I'm happy to say that none of the marks on his chest and back are infected. They should heal nicely in time. He was badly dehydrated though, and he's lost a considerable amount of blood. He's resting right now, but I don't want anybody disturbing for at least a few days. If he wasn't found when he was, he probably would have died. I expect him to make a full recovery."
"Thank you doctor," Hotch said.
"When can we see him?" J.J. asked.
"The nurses are just moving him to his room now so you will be able to visit him later tonight."
They waited until the doctor left, and then they gathered in a tight circle.
"We can't all wait here for him to wake up," Rossi said. "He's going to live. The unsub is still out there, and he still has Reid."
"You're right," Hotch said.
"Garcia said that she wanted to come visit," J.J. suddenly said.
"Shouldn't she be working on the computers?" Rossi asked.
"She hasn't been feeling well since they were abducted," J.J. said. "She's going to bring Morgan flowers. It will really cheer him up."
"That's a good idea," Prentiss said patting J.J.'s back.
"Only one of us should stay here with Morgan. I'm going to need all our man power to bring this guy down. Assuming our profile is correct, the unsub never wanted Morgan. Reid has always been the one in real danger. I don't think this guy is going to come down easily. I'm not going to sit around and wait for this bastard to send us more pictures," Hotch said.
"All of us should go then," Prentiss said. "This unsub is dangerous, and I'm afraid he'll just kill Reid if he's corned. We can wait for Garcia to get here, and then we can leave. If Morgan won't be awake for several days, we can get Reid and get the unsub put away before he wakes up."
"We still don't really know who the unsub is though. What will we do?" J.J. asked.
"Go back to the crime scene," Rossi said. "I still Harold is the one behind all of this. He just has someone else working for him. It could be a friend or even someone from his staff. The person working for him probably isn't as smart or as clever as Harold is."
"Markus!" J.J. exclaimed. "Remember him? He was that shaky butler guy from the party. He looked scared when Harold snuck up behind us."
"Okay. Prentiss and J.J. can go talk to this Markus fellow. Rossi and I will go check out that park where Morgan was left. It will be a lot easier to look around once the sun is up," Hotch said.
Harold snuggled with Timothy for almost an hour. The dog was the only soul who ever really loved Harold. The dog didn't fight against Harold's kisses, and he never disobeyed an order.
"Who's a good boy? Are you a good boy? Oh yes you are. You're the good boy. Do you want a cookie? Cookie? You do? Are you sure? Do you want a cookie?" He laughed as the little dog jumped around him and barked. Harold surrendered the piece of meat, and tucked himself into bed while the dog ate.
How could Markus betray him like that? Markus had no reason to be in that room with his guest. Harold got Reid for his own, and he wasn't about to share the boy. If Markus wanted a playmate, all he had to do was ask. Maybe Harold should invite Markus to the party after breakfast. He had loosened the boy enough so there wouldn't be much blood during the next round. Markus would probably enjoy watching the fun that he was going to have with his young guest. Satisfied with his plans for tomorrow, he pulled the covers up to his chin and closed his eyes. He felt complete for the first time since the death of his brother.
*big dramatic voice* DUN DUN DUN. what will happen? will harold kill reid? will markus change his mind and help the team? will timothy ever learn how to swim? the answers to this and more are revealed in later chapters but for now, the review button needs to be clicked on! thankies!