Sorry for the spam everyone! I've been continually updating this story over on AO3, but I have been neglecting to update on here. Oops! I decided to just post everything I have all at once, so I'm sorry if I blew up anyone's email. I'll try to be better about updating on FFN when I update on AO3.

Morgan paced around the waiting room for any news on his little boy. Rossi sat silently next to him, staring blankly at the floor, deep in thought.

"What the fuck is going on? When did he get hurt? Because that was definitely not there from Hobbs. Why wouldn't he tell me he got hurt!" Questioned Morgan to no one in particular.

"He didn't tell you because he did it himself." Rossi said quietly, almost too quietly for Morgan to hear.

Morgan definitely heard him though. He whipped around to face Rossi. "What do you mean 'he did it himself'?! Spencer wouldn't do that! He wouldn't self harm! He wouldn't do that..." The last sentence was quieter, more doubtful.

Rossi sighed and stood up, now looking Morgan straight in the eyes. "When I was in the marines, there were times when we couldn't sleep. We could be attacked at any minute and we couldn't risk letting our guard down. If the exhaustion was becoming too much, some of the more dedicated soldiers would pinch or scratch themselves to wake themselves up."

At first, Morgan didn't understand what the older man was trying to say. But then it hit him. "You think Spencer was hurting himself to try and stay awake?"

Rossi nodded sadly. "It would explain a lot." When Morgan gave him a confused look, he continued. "He's been withdrawn, he won't play as much anymore or get excited. Maybe it's because he's too tired."

Morgan sat and placed his head in his hands. "He used to wake me up all the time screaming from nightmares. He doesn't anymore. I thought it was because he was getting better." He chuckled darkly. "Can't have a nightmare if you don't sleep."

Before Rossi could respond, a young male nurse walked into the waiting room, clipboard in hand. "Spencer Reid?"

The two agents quickly made their way over to the nurse. "Yes, Is he okay?" Asked Morgan

"Sir, I can only speak to his family."

"I'm his dad." Morgan huffed out, quickly becoming impatient.

The nurse looked Morgan over once, and gave him a disbelieving look. Morgan and Rossi both rolled their eyes and flipped open their credentials. The nurse's eyes went wide before zoning in on the clipboard in his hands. "Spencer had deep scratches on his forearm that have become infected. It looks as though the wound was never treated as it had dried blood and dirt in it, which was most likely the reason for the infection. He was also already weak from his injuries before, which did not help. We are giving him antibiotics now, and once he is finished with those he is free to go home. He's in room 213."

Morgan quickly walked past the man without another word. He just needed to see his son. Rossi patted the nurse on the shoulder as he walked by. "Welcome to the 21st century. A black man with a white baby. Just so you're not caught off guard, know that I will be mentioning this to your superiors."

With that, Rossi walked off, leaving the nurse with his mouth hanging open and eyes wide. The agent smirked to himself at the young man's fearful expression, before catching up with Morgan.

When they got to Spencer's room, Morgan immediately took the boys hand in his own and sat down at his side. Rossi slowly did the same.

After a few minutes of silence in which they both stared at the sleeping child, Morgan spoke up. "I am getting a strange sense of deja vu." He chuckled, though his eyes were teary, "Why does he keep ending up in the hospital? Hasn't enough happened to him? How could I have not noticed that he wasn't sleeping! It was so obvious!"

"Morgan. This isn't your fault. I missed the signs too." Said Rossi.

Tears began falling from the darker man's eyes. "But I'm his dad! I'm supposed to know these things. I'm supposed to keep him safe and happy and healthy. Since he's been with me he's been in the hospital twice. Twice Dave!" He took a breath, trying to steady the tremor in his voice. "I'm clearly not cut out for being a dad. I'm just hurting Spencer. I'm not a good enough dad for him. He deserves so much better than me."

Before Rossi could even begin to argue, Garcia burst through the door. "WHAT HAPPENED?!"

She quickly shuffled forward and cupped the sleeping child's cheek, before leaning down to kiss his forehead. She then looked to Morgan for an answer, but was surprised to find Moran's head down and his body trembling slightly. She turned her confusion to Rossi, who shook his head gently before speaking. "Morgan, why don't you take a quick lap to cool down. Maybe grab your boy some jello for when he wakes up. I'll explain the situation to Garcia."

Morgan thought for a moment, before nodding. He stood up and wiped away his tears. Giving one last look to Rossi, which silently said 'watch my baby boy', he left to find some jello.

"Okay what happened to my little sugar plum?" Asked Garcia.

Rossi smiled slightly. "How did you even know he was here?"

Garcia rolled her eyes. "My system alerts me if anyone in my family is admitted to the hospital. That now includes my adorable little vanilla thunder! Now stop dodging my question and answer me!"

Rossi smiled and put his hands up as a sign of peace. "Okay, okay. The kid collapsed back at my house from an infection. We think he's been scratching his arm to stay awake."

Garcia had tears in her eyes. She sat down in the chair Derek left and gently brushed the little boy's chestnut hair out of his face. "Oh my poor baby… why would you do that?" She turned to Rossi. "Why would he do that?"

Rossi let out a loud sigh. "I mean we can't be sure until he wakes up. But my guess would be that he's scared to sleep because of his nightmares."

Garcia looked down sadly at the little boy. "Will he be okay? Derek seemed really upset…"

"Spencer will be fine once he gets his antibiotics. Morgan's upset because he thinks he's failing Spencer."

"But he's not! This wasn't his fault! And Spencer needs him! He loves Derek!" Garcia exclaimed frantically.

"I know that, you know that, but Morgan doesn't. We just need to convince hi-"

Rossi was cut off by a loud whimper from the sleeping boy. Both adults quickly turned their attention to the bed. Spencer was tossing and turning, his face scrunched up in pain. He was letting out whimpers and whispers that were barely audible. "Please..."

"Oh god, Rossi what do we do? He's having a nightmare! Do we wake him up?" Garcia asked, panicked.

"We should try to wake him up, but we shouldn't touch him. He could react badly to that." Replied Rossi.

Spencer continued tossing violently in the bed. He was drenched in sweat and shivering. Garcia stepped closer, careful not to touch him, and spoke gently. "Spencer, honey, wake up. It's just a nightmare."

The little boy showed no sign that he heard her. He let out a small whimper and spoke louder and more frantic than he did before. "Please don't! I don't wanna! I'll be good!"

This time Rossi stood. He spoke forcefully, but still kindly. "Wake up Spencer. You are okay. You are safe."

Again, Spencer didn't wake. He did, however, let out a loud gasp. He started bucking and thrashing on the bed, screaming as tears rolled out of his eyes. "STOP! PLEASE! IT HURTS PLEASE STOP!"

The little boy reached his hand over to his bandaged arm and began to scratch at it. The two adults looked on with horror as the white bandage began to turn red.

"Shit!" Exclaimed Rossi. He quickly reached out and grabbed the boy's arm so he couldn't hurt himself further.

But right as he did, Spencer's eyes shot open and he scratched at Rossi's hands to try and get him to let go. The older man didn't release his hold, so the boy shot his free hand out and punched Dave in the nose.

Garcia stood stunned as Rossi stumbled back, hand on his now bleeding nose. Spencer, still in a panic, pushed himself off the bed, landing hard with a thump. He then pushed himself backwards until he hit the corner of the room.

Garcia approached the distraught child while Rossi recovered from the surprisingly strong blow. As the tech analyst got closer, she noticed that the boy's eyes were glazed over. "Spencer, sweetie, you're in the hospital. You're safe."

Spencer shook his head and let out small, desperate pleas. "No… stop… please stop…"

Suddenly, Morgan opened the door to find his son cowering in the corner, Garcia kneeling in front of him with tear tracks on her face, and Rossi pinching his bloody nose with scratched up arms. "What happened?" He demanded.

Garcia stood and turned to Morgan. "Spencer was having a nightmare and he wouldn't wake up and then he started hurting himself so Rossi stopped him and he freaked out and I don't know what to do!" She practically sobbed, while speaking impossibly fast.

Morgan gave Garcia a reassuring smile before turning his full attention to his little boy. Spencer was backed completely into the corner. He had his knees to his chest and his head down. Morgan could hear him mumbling something, but he couldn't make it out.

"Spencer? Baby? You're okay, I'm here. Daddy's here. You aren't with the man. You're safe." Morgan said, gently and slowly.

Spencer slowly lifted his head, but his eyes were still glazed and staring at nothing. "D-daddy?"

Morgan let out a small breath. "Yeah baby, daddy's here."

"It hurts daddy… make him stop… I don't wanna…" Spencer whimpered.

"I know baby, I know. Can you tell me what you're seeing?"

Spencer let out a particularly loud sob and shut his eyes. "I'm in the b-basement… The Man's really m-mad… He's making me do bad things… I'm a bad, bad boy!"

Behind Morgan, Garcia was crying into Rossi's chest, and the older man's eyes were wet. Morgan had tears streaming down his face, but he kept his voice strong for his son. "No, baby. You aren't a bad boy. Spencer, you aren't in that basement. You're in the hospital. No ones going to hurt you. Okay baby? I'm going to touch you, okay? It's not Hobbs, it's Derek, daddy."

Morgan reached out and pulled the small child to him. Spencer gasped and began pushing himself away from the man, but he wasn't strong enough. His dad enveloped him in a gentle but strong hug, one that he recognized immediately. He melted into it and began to sob uncontrollably.

Morgan rubbed circles on the boy's back while whispering reassurances. "Shh, it's okay baby. Let it out. You're okay. You're safe. Daddy's here and I'm not going anywhere."

Slowly, Spencer's sobs calmed down and turned into hiccups. Morgan continued to rock him and comfort him until he started to fall asleep. The boy's head drooped, but shot back up again once Spencer realized he was falling asleep.

While still enveloped in a hug from his father, Spencer reached over to his bandaged arm and started scratching at it again. Morgan immediately grabbed on to his uninjured arm to stop him from hurting himself. "Baby, don't do that. You're hurting yourself."

Spencer started weakly struggling, but he was tired and injured so he didn't have much strength. "Noooo daddy… let go…"

"Shh… it's okay baby… just go to sleep… you're safe…" Morgan said in a hushed voice, still rocking the little boy.

Although Spencer wanted to keep fighting to stay awake, he was just too tired. He slumped against his dad and started sobbing softly. "I don't wanna daddy… I don't wanna see The Man."

Morgan's heart hurt for his little boy. "I know baby. But you need to sleep. And you can't hurt yourself anymore, okay? I know you don't want to see Hobbs but you need sleep to survive."

"It's not fair! I don't wanna see the man! Why he gotta be in my dreams! It's not fair!"

"It isn't fair, you're right. If I could, I would take away all of your nightmares and make sure you never have to see him ever again. But I can't. And I completely agree that it's unfair. But the nightmares will go away over time."

Spencer was practically half asleep at this point. His eyes were only half open and he was no longer crying. He was just hiccuping and sniffling. "How much time?" He asked quietly.

Morgan sighed. "I honestly don't know baby." He began petting the child's soft, chestnut hair. "But it will get better eventually. I just need you to be brave for me because you really need to sleep. Can you do that for me baby?"

Spencer pouted but nodded against Morgan's chest. "Okay…Will you stay?"

Morgan smiled and hugged Spencer a little tighter. "Of course Spencer."

The boy groggily nodded against the man's chest again. They sat rocking on the floor together for a few more minutes until Morgan was sure that Spencer was asleep. He stood up, careful not to wake the child, and settled himself on the hospital bed and Spencer half on the bed and half on the agent. He pulled the blanket over them both and then continued to play with Spencer's soft curls.

"And you thought you weren't a good dad to him." Rossi scoffed. Morgan looked up, slightly startled. He had completely forgotten that Rossi and Garcia were in the room. "We'll leave you two to sleep."

Rossi turned and left, followed by Garcia after she kissed the two goodbye. Morgan continued to pet his son's hair until he too fell asleep.