so um, i apologize for the huge break. i know you guys have been writing me. it actually is surprising when people are like begging me for another chapter. how awesome is that. i didnt think i was that good of a writer but how cool. um, i have no idea whats happening again. i dont really have an outline for the story. it just comes and goes. um, theres a tiny warning for this chapter just because hotch and peoples are watching the tapes. but ill try to have the next chapter up by next week. i just got a new job at a haunted house so im working weekends and then i just lost a pet. her name was melody and she died in her cage. she was a little mouse and im broken hearted. and now her sister, pixie, has a tumor and i cant really afford a surgery so please pray for little pixie. okies, on with da story!
J.J. couldn't sign her name fast enough to get out of that damned hospital. She wasn't feeling ill at all and there were more important matters going on. As soon as she scribbled her name on that last line, she hurried back to Morgan's room. She knew that the others had already left back to Harold's house, and it didn't surprise her that she was left behind. She was used to it by that point. It seemed like she was always left with Reid, and she guessed that it was simply because they were the youngest. They needed to be protected. She almost laughed out loud when she stood in his doorway and watched Morgan attempt to get into a wheelchair without any help from his bandaged up arms.
"Need some help big guy?" J.J. asked smiling.
Morgan looked surprised to see her, but he didn't stop his quest to get from the bed into the chair. He shifted his body towards the edge of the bed, and out of reflex, he put one of his arms out to stead himself which was almost a disaster. Morgan had suffered from two dislocated shoulders along with the severe cuts done to his wrists. He would not be moving like normal again for a while. He cried out when his arm slipped, and he nearly fell out of the bed. J.J. ran to catch him if he fell, but he managed to pull himself back on the bed.
"Are you alright J.J.?" Morgan asked after he settled back down.
"You're asking me? I feel great. We could go run a marathon right now, and I'd probably win. What about you? Your arms look painful," J.J. said. She wasn't going to get used to seeing a guy as tough as Morgan wearing a hospital gown with bandages covering his strong arms.
"I would be much better if they would get me out of this bed. It smells funny."
J.J. laughed and pulled up a chair next to him. It really felt good to see him again after all that time. She couldn't imagine what she would have done if something happened to Morgan. He was always there for her, and she wanted to be able to say the same. She felt herself tearing up just thinking about losing anyone on their team. They were like a family, and she would give her life for them. She hoped they knew that.
"What are Hotch and Rossi looking for at that house?" Morgan asked after a moment of silence. J.J. felt Morgan's eyes on her, and she knew he was looking for a lie.
"I honestly don't know. They didn't tell me, and I wasn't invited to go. I don't know if I'd want to go back there even if they paid me double. Are you really okay Morgan? I don't know what you went through, and I don't think I could even begin to imagine. Harold was taunting us with photos though. It was killing us," J.J. said.
"He did send out the photos? Damn!" Morgan cursed. "I remember him taking them. I thought it was more of a scare tactic. I didn't think he actually sent them. We need to go check on the kid though. I want to be there when he wakes up. You should have seen how brave he was. I was scared to death, but he was fighting back. He fought as long as he could…"
J.J. felt Morgan going into another world, and she couldn't let him go there. She wouldn't know how to talk to him once he did start remembering all of the horrible things that were done to him, and what he had to live through. She had to keep him feeling good inside.
"It's over now Morgan. Both of you are going to get better."
"He was screaming, crying out for me, and I couldn't stop it. Oh my God, I couldn't help him," Morgan said softly. She could see the tears in his eyes.
"He knows that you couldn't do anything. You were tied up, but it's okay now. All of us were so scared that we were going to lose you, and you helped us find Reid and Harold in the end. You did help him."
"I really was scared. I thought it was the end. I mean, the way that guy looked at me made me believe that he really was going to kill me and Reid."
"Do you really think we wouldn't find you? I'm sure those two boys who found you in the park can't wait to talk to you," J.J. said as she tried to change the topic. She didn't feel that she was the right person that Morgan should be talking to about what happened. She was so worried that she would say the wrong thing which would hurt Morgan even more.
"I really want to know what Hotch is doing at that house. It has to be something important, and I guess Prentiss went with him since she isn't here."
"Morgan, I really don't know. I didn't go back with the hotel with them last night, but it probably isn't something you should be worrying over. I'll help you get in that wheelchair after I find out if Reid got a room or not. Sound good?" J.J. asked. She hoped her white lie about not knowing what Hotch was doing would satisfy Morgan. She hated lying, but Morgan didn't need to know about those tapes.
"Guess who brought treats!" Garcia chimed. J.J. turned and saw her coming in the room holding a basket of snacks. She couldn't have been relieved to see Garcia. She stepped aside so Garcia could see how well Morgan was doing, and she laughed when Garcia put the sheet back over Morgan's legs.
"Come on Garcia," Morgan complained.
"I'll go see about Reid," J.J. volunteered. She knew that Morgan and Garcia needed some time alone too. All of them needed a long vacation once both of the boys were well enough. All of them had been through more than the other agents in their field. She looked back in the room before she went to find a nurse and saw Garcia fussing over his bandages. Morgan, in some ways, would be harder to help emotionally than Reid would. Morgan liked to have his image be that of the alpha male who could handle everything by himself, but he couldn't be left alone after what he had been through.
J.J. walked up to the front desk, and waited patiently for the nurse to get off the phone.
"May I help you ma'am?"
"Yes, I was wondering if Agent Reid got a room yet. I'm on his team at the FBI," J.J. said in one breath. She watched the nurse type some words into her computer, and J.J. tried to hide her excitement of seeing Reid again. She couldn't wait to hug him tight, and she silently vowed than she wouldn't let him get hurt anymore. She loved him like a brother.
"He's still in critical condition, but they are going to move him to a room once his fever goes down. I can let you know though," the nurse said with little to no emotion.
"He's still in critical condition? Why?"
"The nurses are having a difficult time stabilizing him. Some of his wounds were badly infected, and he is still breathing faster than normal. Don't worry though. He's young so I have no worries that he can't overcome this," the nurse said again. Her face was already back to her computer which was a strong indicator for J.J. to leave. J.J. felt her stomach spinning again, and she knew the color had disappeared from her face. Reid was supposed to be alright.
Prentiss was feeling anxious when Hotch put in the first tape. She already knew what was on those tapes, and she couldn't believe that she was going to watch them. Hotch was sitting with an expressionless face, and Rossi was looking rather uncomfortable. None of them wanted to be there. She knew that much, but she wasn't going to back down. She had seen what Harold did to his victims by looking over their bodies.
The tape started off slowly with Morgan regaining his consciousness, and realizing that he was waking up to hell on earth. Blood fell down his arms as he tried to move towards Reid, and Prentiss had to bite on her tongue to hold back her own emotions. In all of the time she spent working with Morgan, she had never seen him look like that before.
"I wonder if he knew that Morgan was going to wake up," Rossi commented. Morgan was frantically pulling at his chains in a pathetic attempt to wake up Reid. Prentiss couldn't help but cringe when she got a good look at the mark Harold left on Reid's head. It was obvious that he was suffering from a concussion, and that he needed medical care immediately.
"I'm sure he figured Morgan would wake up before Reid did depending on what exactly he gave Morgan," Hotch said. "Reid was bleeding pretty badly."
"There's a girl in the middle of the floor," Prentiss suddenly noticed. A girl was lying underneath the table between Morgan and Reid. Prentiss only noticed her because Morgan caught a glimpse of her. "It's Samantha…" The young girl was staring wide eyed at Morgan with a black hole where her mouth was.
Hotch had to fast forward through most of the tape which consisted of Morgan crying at Reid to wake up. Morgan didn't sleep at all the first night they were abducted. He cursed at himself and begged his attacker to show himself, but Morgan never shut his eyes. Nobody on the team slept when they were taken. Prentiss remembered that well. Hotch let the tape play on its own once Harold walked into the room. Prentiss wasn't surprised to see that he was wearing silk pajamas or that Morgan was almost challenging him to a fight even though Morgan clearly couldn't move that much. Reid was unconsciousness until Harold had the nerve to kick the poor boy in the ribcage. No one in the room said a word when Reid started to wake up only to have a tube shoved down his throat.
"Oh my God," Prentiss couldn't help but say.
"He's forcing Reid to drink," Rossi said slowly. "He's trying to drown Reid, and he's humming a tune to some song."
Prentiss had to close her eyes. As brave as she thought she was, she couldn't watch the youngest member on their team kick his legs in the air to get some air into his lungs. She opened her eyes again when she heard cooing noises coming from Harold. She recognized the little ball of fur immediately. The tube was removed, and Reid bent over and threw up everything he had in his stomach. Prentiss knew her eyes were watering when she saw blood drip from Reid's nose.
"He wasn't going to stop if the dog hadn't come," Hotch said. "So he goes into fits of rage that cannot be controlled except for the dog. He was completely ignoring Morgan's threats and he blocked out Reid's defenses."
"He doesn't pay attention to reality," Prentiss added. "He was talking about movies, and didn't seem to care that he had two tied up agents in his house."
Morgan and Reid both calmed down after Harold left to walk his dog or something, and Morgan tried to keep Reid calm which was hard considering there was a dead girl in the middle of the room. Prentiss' heart broke when she saw how sick Reid really was. He could barely form complete sentences, and Morgan seemed to have a difficult time accepting that he was not in control of the situation.
"Morgan is keeping Reid talking. That was smart," Rossi said.
"It's goin be okay Reid. I'm sure Hotch and the rest of the team are looking for us right now. We just have to hold up until they get here," Morgan said. "How bad is your head hurting?"
"It's alright," Reid said as he tried to wipe more blood off his nose onto his arm. "How long do you think Samantha has been dead?" Reid coughed, but he tried to hide it from Morgan by turning his head in the other direction.
"I don't know," Morgan said. "The blood still looks wet so I'm guessing she hasn't been dead for that long." Morgan shifted his gaze from the corpse in front of him to Reid. "Hey, kid?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm really sorry for all of this. It's my fault we're here. I should have kept a better eye on things. I just didn't except some son of bitch would needle me from behind. It was so quiet outside, and it was hotter than hell. I kinda wish we were back outside though. It's freezing in here, and being on a leash has never been one of my fondest wishes," Morgan said tugging at his chain. "Why the hell does he have spikes on these things?"
"Well, I shouldn't have fallen asleep," Reid argued.
"It was fine that you wanted to take a nap. We could have taken shifts or something, but I'm goin get both of us out here. We just gotta hang on. Are you sure your head isn't hurting? How's your stomach feeling? Where did he kick you?"
"I'm just cold like you are. My head is fine, and I don't think I could throw up anymore if I tried," Reid said calmly. "I'm probably going to have a bruise where he kicked me. It was underneath my ribs, but that's not a big deal."
"Maybe we can catch that dog thing and hold it hostage until that sicko lets us go," Morgan joked. "I don't know how else we're goin get out of here unless Hotch gets here. These chains hurt like hell. Every time I move, the little bastards cut me."
"That's what they were designed to do," Reid said. "We're not supposed to be moving." Reid leaned his head back against the wall. "My head is hurting. They need to hurry up."
Prentiss felt her blood run cold. Where were they when all of this was going on? They had only been missing a few hours at this point so Prentiss was probably interviewing the neighbors for any help they could give. She was casually talking to people while Morgan and Reid were tied to a wall praying for salvation.
The pain killers that Morgan was on weren't helping much. He felt the pain coursing through his veins whenever he moved, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. He wanted out of that bed as soon as possible, and he didn't like the idea of not being able to face the demon again. He wanted to see Harold on his own terms when Harold was tied up while Morgan could roam free. He wanted to show that bastard that he didn't win. He didn't succeed in murdering Morgan or Reid, and Morgan wanted nothing more than to slam Harold's head into a wall.
"Morgan, I was so scared. I thought I lost you. When I heard that you guys weren't answering your phones, I didn't know what to do," Garcia cried out.
"It's okay Garcia. You can't lose me that easy," Morgan said. Garcia's eyes were reddening behind her glasses, and he heard her stuffed up nose through her short cries. "You should know that it would take me than a man with a poodle to take me out."
"Are you sure you're okay? I saw those pictures. I've never seen you look like that before. I'm used to you guys chasing crazy people, but I don't like to see you guys hurt. And none of us knew where you were or even who had you."
"I know baby girl. I know," Morgan said. He let her cry into his chest, and he knew that this ordeal hurt a lot more than just Reid and him. It hurt the entire team, and it would be a while before any of them could recover.
"Don't leave us anymore," Garcia pleaded. "I try to act like you guys, but I can't do it. When I'm scared or upset, everyone knows but I don't care."
"It's over Garcia, and I'm fine. Bad guy is in jail, and we won," Morgan said. He wondered if Hotch was done at the house yet. He wanted to go see Harold with them. Morgan didn't care if he couldn't talk to the bastard or not. He just wanted to go, and he wanted to be there when Reid woke up. They had been through more together than most people. Morgan saw Reid in his most vulnerable position, and Reid saw him in his. He was really proud of the kid, and he wished that the rest of the team could really see how brave Reid was during their ordeal.
"I know, I know. You guys are the big brave heroes," Garcia said sniffling. She pulled away from Morgan, and Morgan's heart broke when he saw how visibly shaken she was. "I made some cookies for you and Reid. They're chocolate chip."
"Sounds delicious wonder woman," Morgan said smiling. He could smell the cookies from the basket, but he wasn't hungry anymore. He just wanted to get out of the hospital. He looked up when he heard J.J. come back in the room.
"Reid doesn't have a room yet," J.J. said. "He's still really sick."
"Why is he still sick? What's wrong with him?" Morgan asked. Reid was with Harold longer than he was, and Morgan couldn't help but blame himself over and over again for what happened. Morgan should have stayed for the extra time, not Reid.
"Some of the scratches on his back are really infected, and I guess he's still breathing too fast," she replied. J.J. looked near tears too. "The nurse will tell us when he gets a room."
"Hotch doesn't know yet, does he? He's goin wanna know about Reid," Morgan said.
Hotch had to distance himself in order to watch the tape. They weren't that far into it, and Hotch already had his fists clenched in anger for the psychopath that hurt Morgan and Reid. Hotch clenched his teeth together as Reid told Morgan that he needed to use the bathroom when there wasn't one in sight.
"Poor kid," Rossi said.
When Reid was abducted by Henkle, they weren't allowed to see every moment of the abduction. They were spared the pain that went with watching one of their own being denied basic needs like a place to use the bathroom and water to drink. In fact, Henkle did give Reid some food and water. Harold was just a nightmare.
"Harold's back," Prentiss said slowly.
Hotch focused his attention back on the screen, and tried not to look away when Harold ripped off Reid's shirt. Hotch noticed that Harold's hand stayed on Reid's chest longer than he should have, and he could almost feel Reid's heart pounding against in his chest in fear. His ankles were bleeding against the chains, but then Harold got up rather abruptly. It only took a second for Hotch to notice that the kid's pants were wet, and Hotch easily put two and two together. Harold smashed his foot between Reid's legs, and Hotch cringed just watching. Every man knew or thought they knew what that pain felt like and it wasn't good. Reid screamed, and curled up in a little ball to help the pain go away. Harold unhooked Reid from the wall and dragged him over to the table. Prentiss turned away, and Rossi tried to divert his attention, but Hotch watched as Reid was tortured with the cat's claw. Reid fell unconscious after Harold pushed him off the table, but Hotch was grateful that his phone was buzzing in his pocket. He was able to turn away just as Harold got out a whip to beat Morgan with.
"Hotch."
"Yeah, Hotch, it's J.J."
"What is it?" Hotch looked back at the screen, and tried to block out Morgan's pained voice as he tried to reason with Harold.
"Reid is still in critical condition. The nurse didn't sound worried, but I didn't think he would be there that long. I thought he'd be awake by now," J.J. said quietly.
"Okay, we'll be heading back there soon," Hotch said. He didn't know what else to say. He wasn't a doctor, but he knew the condition that the youngest on his team was and it wasn't good.
"How are the tapes?" J.J. asked.
"Be happy you're not here," Hotch said. He looked back at the screen as saw Harold taking pictures of Morgan and Reid. He knew those were the pictures that were sent to him. "I'll tell you when we're leaving," Hotch said. He hung up the phone and sat back down. For the first time during the tape, another person entered the room with Morgan and Reid.
"That's Markus!" Prentiss exclaimed.
They watched him carefully take off Morgan's shirt, but he left the room without harming either one of the agents. He actually looked scared to even be in the room. He mopped up the blood around Samantha, and then he took her with him when he left. Morgan and Reid never woke up when he was there.
"He wasn't an accomplice then," Rossi concluded. "Harold must have paid him extra or something to help with the victims. He looked scared to death up there, and he kept looking at Morgan like he thought he was going to wake up."
"Who called?" Prentiss asked.
Hotch looked at her, but he couldn't be stern now. All of them had to work together now to make sure that Harold never saw the light of day again.
"It was J.J. She just said that Reid still hasn't been moved to a room yet. He's still sick, and she is worried about him," Hotch said. He bent down and fast forwarded through the parts where his agents were unconscious against the walls. He pressed play when he saw Reid start to move around. All three of them were silent as they listened to Morgan and Reid trying to work on the case from their prison, and Hotch saw a tear fall from Prentiss' face when Reid told Morgan that he really was scared. Hotch knew that he was guilty of babying Reid almost as much as Garcia did, and Hotch would have given anything to be in Reid's place.
"I'm scared," Reid slowly said. "I'm really scared." Reid had his knees against his chest to keep himself warm, but his skin was abnormally white.
"Don't worry pretty boy. We're going to get out of here," Morgan replied.
"There are no survivors that we know about of and there is no way out," Reid almost whispered. He looked frantically at the door when both of them heard it creaking.
Hotch wanted to feel better when Harold came in the room, and helped Morgan sit down so he wouldn't have all that pressure on his arms, but he couldn't. He felt nothing but hatred towards Harold, and the more he watched of the tape, the more he couldn't wait to personally meet with the man who tried to kill two of his friends. Hotch watched Harold completely ignore Morgan after he helped him sit down, and the look in Harold's eyes told Hotch was his intentions were. Reid desperately tried to get the older man off of him, but Harold somehow got rid of Reid's belt and was guiding his hand underneath Reid's boxers. Hotch saw a small needle out of the corner of his eye, and he figured that was how Harold got so far without much of a struggle from the young doctor.
While they could no longer see the details of what was happening to their youngest agent, his face told them everything. Hotch bit on his tongue to keep from raging out at the television screen.
"Please. Please Harold, stop! Morgan!" Reid cried. He was turning his hips in any direction possible, but it wasn't even budging the heavier man on top of him.
"It seems to me that you are rather enjoying this Doctor Reid," Harold said.
"I can't help it!" Reid cried out. Tears were streaming down his pale face, and he kept glancing over at Morgan for help. "It's a physical reaction which is something I have no control over like when a piece of dust gets in someone's nose and they sneeze." Reid's face was a mixture of terror and pleasure, and his breathing was getting heavier by the second. His head fell back as Harold pushed his body against Reid's. Morgan's cries went unheard in the background.
"Doctor Reid, how do you feel about Mozart? I do know that he is sometimes overrated, but I think he was a wonderful composer. Imagine meeting a man like that. I don't think I'd be able to ever sleep again if I could have met that man. Wonderful really." Harold paused for a moment before he pulled his hands out of Reid's pants. Even from the camera's position, it was obvious that Harold's hands were wet. Reid's mouth was wide open as he gasped for breath and sweat ran down from his matted hair. Harold bent down to touch Reid's hair when Reid's eyes rolled back into his head.
"I can't watch anymore," Prentiss suddenly said. She stood up, and turned away from the screen.
"Are you feeling alright?" Rossi asked.
"Yeah, but I just don't think he would want me seeing this. I mean, I know what's going to happen next. The doctor told us what that sicko did to him. I don't need to watch it."
"I don't think he would want any of us to see this," Rossi said.
Hotch stood up next to them, but he turned back to the television when Markus came back into the scene. Markus pulled off Reid's brown pants followed by the kid's boxers. Hotch felt a lump get stuck in his throat as Reid was fully exposed, and he had a sudden urge to ram his fist into a wall. Reid didn't deserve any of this, and even though Markus looked scared to death, he was just as much to blame as Harold was.
"Sir?" Morgan called out from the wall when he slowly opened his eyes to see Markus. "Oh my God. Please help us man. My friend's hurt."
Markus held tightly onto Reid's clothing and looked from Morgan over to Reid.
"Please. We're FBI agents, both of us. If you could just let the kid go," Morgan said when he finally looked over at Reid. His eyes bulged out of his head when he saw that Reid was naked, and he suddenly started tearing at the chains on the wall. "What the hell? Where did his clothes go? Please help us. Please man!" Morgan cried out.
Markus backed into the shadows of the room and ran out without saying a single word.
Hotch turned off the television. This was too much for any of them to watch, and Hotch also knew what was to come. Prentiss was crying, and Rossi looked upset. Hotch was going to press for the death penalty. They had more than enough evidence in Harold's house, and the fact that they found him eating another man only strengthened their case.
"Let's take a break," Hotch offered. They had just stepped out of the room when he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket again.
"Hotch."
"Hello Agent Hotchner. It's Officer Taylor down at the station. Um, we have a problem."
"What?" Hotch stopped in his track which startled Prentiss and Rossi. "What's wrong? Where's Harold?"
"He's still back in his cell. He needs a new guard though. The last one he had, a big guy, won't go back there," the cop said.
"Then what's the problem?"
"Well, other than there's a mob getting bigger outside, Harold's parents are also here. I don't know how all these people found out."
"Okay, we're on our way. What do his parents want?" Hotch led the way outside with Prentiss and Rossi at his tail to listen to the conversation.
"They are trying to bail him out."
so this is chapter 34 and im here and your there and harold is behind you...ahhh! no, im just lonely...hahahhaa. actually, not lonely. just putting off homework so if you are like me and are putting off hw, review! and you are really you, then you should review too. only if you are really you though