Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. All the characters are not mine, either. I'm simply writing fictional stories about my favorite show. I do not make any profit from them. The stories are only for those who also love this show and want to read different material. All rights of the show belong to CBS and the production company. Thank you and enjoy this story.
Author's Notes: As you can probably tell, I'm a huge fan of the show. I love all the characters/actors in the show. The storylines are amazing. I'm an English major and a writer in the making. I also happen to be a huge shipper of Elle/Derek Morgan. I think they have a great chemistry. They had some sparks in the episode, The Broken Mirror and other episodes as well. This is a romantic story that gives the readers a glimpse to who Elle really is and what happened to her in the past. I hope all of you guys enjoy my story. Please don't hesitate to post comments on it. Thank you.
Previously on Unexpected Feelings…
Elle: Let's unpack later. I don't want to waste any time. We've got a rapist to catch.
Unexpected Feelings
Chapter 9
Meanwhile, back at the Colemans' house, Gideon and the rest of the team were loosing all hope of finding Natalie alive.
Gideon: We're missing something here. I can feel it.
Reid: We've tried just about everything. And we still have got absolutely nothing. It's as though everything is working against us.
Hotch: What are we going to do, Gideon?
Gideon: Keep looking. That's all we really can do at the moment. Morgan, you've got to call Garcia again to see if she found anything.
Morgan didn't hear Gideon's request. Ever since he got back to the Colemans' house, all he could think about was Elle. He hated the fight he had with her.
Gideon: Morgan?
Morgan: What?
Gideon: We need you to focus here.
Morgan: Gideon, I'm sorry. My mind is just wondering.
Reid: We know you're worried about Elle. And so are we.
Hotch: But right now, we need to give all of our energy to finding Natalie. The sooner we find Natalie, the sooner Elle can put this nightmare behind her.
Morgan: Yeah, I know. I'm sorry, guys. All right, so what do we really know about this bastard other than that he loves raping women and then killing them?
Gideon: He's an expert at hiding his trail. He makes no mistakes.
Reid: However, right about now, it would be really great if he did make an error. Any mistake he makes could lead us directly to him and Natalie.
Hotch: We can't just sit here and pray he makes a mistake. We've got to do something.
Reid: What else can we do?
Hotch: We need Elle here.
Morgan: You're not suggesting that we exchange Elle for Natalie. Are you? That would be insane.
Hotch: No, that's not what I'm saying at all. We know that Elle is the only victim that actually lived. She is his mistake. He never got the chance to kill her.
Reid: So what you're saying is that Elle might remember small details that could be crucial to the case?
Hotch: Exactly.
Morgan: She is in no condition to talk about what had happened that night. I've tried talking to her about it, but that only upset her even more. I don't want her getting hurt.
Gideon: None of us want to see Elle hurt, but Hotch is right. We've got no options left. Elle is our only solution.
Morgan: She doesn't remember anything. She told me that herself.
Reid: She might not remember. But her memories are all still there. She just blocked them out. Her subconscious mind still remembers exactly what had occurred that night.
Morgan: What are you saying, Reid?
Gideon: He's talking about the possibility of Elle going under hypnosis.
Morgan: No, I don't think so! That's a terrible idea.
Hotch: If you have any other suggestions, we would love to hear them right about now, Morgan.
Morgan: Guys, if she goes through that nightmare again, I just can't imagine what would happen to her.
Gideon: You know her, Morgan. If Natalie dies, Elle would never be able to forgive herself. She would then have two burdens to carry.
Hotch: She needs to come to terms with her past. It's the only way she can have a shot at living her life to the fullest.
Morgan: How exactly are you going to convince Elle to go under hypnosis? And who is actually going to have enough nerve to even ask her to do that? I sure as heck would not be able to do it.
Gideon: I'll do it. I'll ask her.
Reid: Good, because I would not be able to ask her, either.
Hotch: Now all we need is to convince her to come here.
Morgan: Good luck with that.
Gideon: Morgan, we need you on board with this.
Morgan: I don't like this idea any more than I like the idea of exchanging Elle for Natalie. Either way, she gets hurt. And that could never sit right with me.
Gideon: If there were another way, then Elle would be officially off the case. If we had even one clue that could lead us to Natalie, then Elle would not have to live through this nightmare again. There are a lot of ifs, Morgan. But we have no solutions.
Reid: You'd be surprised at what your subconscious minds knows. Our minds store every little detail. We don't even realize how much information we know.
Morgan: Thanks for the science lesson, Dr. Reid.
Reid: All I'm saying is that Elle is our best shot at finding the perpetrator. I bet that her subconscious mind even remembers what he smelled like, how his skin felt…
Morgan: All right, professor. Really, I don't want to hear about his smell or his skin. Okay, Reid?
Reid: No problem. I was only trying to explain how intriguing our human mind is.
Morgan: Yes, I've got that. Thanks.
Hotch: Do you think Elle will agree to your suggestion, Gideon?
Gideon: For Natalie's sake, I hope so.
Morgan: For my sake, I hope she declines.
Hotch: Look, do you think you can maybe act like an FBI agent for one second, Morgan?
Morgan: What's that supposed to mean?
Hotch: It means that if it were anyone other than Elle that was the link to the rapist, you'd be on board with no problem.
Morgan: But it is Elle. And that makes all the difference to me. If you hadn't noticed, she means a lot to me.
Reid: We've noticed.
Gideon: Let's just try to think positive here.
Hotch: It's kind of hard to think positive seeing as how time is running out for Natalie.
Gideon: The way I see it is that we have two options. One is to do the actual exchange. The other is to have Elle go under hypnosis. Which option do you prefer, Morgan?
Morgan: The option that does not involve Elle.
Gideon: Unfortunately, we don't have such options.
Morgan: There are always other options, Gideon.
Gideon: Try telling that to Natalie's parents. You're not the only one who is afraid of loosing someone you love.
It took Morgan a few moments to absorb what Gideon had just said. In that moment, he realized that he does love Elle. Suddenly, he felt a little embarrassed that everyone figured out that he was in love with Elle before he even did. It took him a moment to find his voice again.
Morgan: I understand how worried Natalie's parents are. They just want their daughter back. But what would be better? Would you prefer if one innocent person dies or two innocent people. You don't really think that the rapist will actually stick to his word. He is not just going to hand Natalie over to us just like that.
Gideon: Believe me, criminals cannot be trusted. But in this case, Elle is his prime desire, not Natalie. Therefore, I do believe that he won't harm Natalie if he believes that this exchange is going to happen. Elle is all he wants.
Morgan: Oh, ok. I get it. Why don't we just hand Elle over to him this very second? I'm sure he'd love that.
Hotch: Special Agent Morgan, you need to get a hold of yourself. I'm serious.
Morgan: Fine. I just don't like hearing how Elle is his biggest desire. Even the thought of Elle being near that bastard literally kills me.
Gideon: This hypnosis could save both Natalie and Elle. She might be able to tell us something very valuable.
Reid: Should we call her now?
Gideon: Not yet. Give me a second here. I've got to think of a way to ask her to do this.
Morgan: Take your time, Gideon. There is no easy way to ask her to do this.
Gideon: Morgan, do you think I'm going to enjoy asking Elle to go under hypnosis? Do you think I love the idea of a friend of mine being put through hell again? Believe me, I don't. I wish there was another way, but there isn't one. Natalie's life could be saved if Elle agrees to go under hypnosis.
Elle: Then why are we wasting our time talking about it? Let's do it.
Everyone turned around and saw Elle and JJ who have just walked into the house a few moments ago. Suddenly, everyone was silent. No one knew what to say.
To be continued…
Coming up…What will happen during the hypnosis? Will Elle remember something that will save Natalie's life? Stay tuned.
