AN:
Hey Everyone, I know I said that I would probably be posting every Sunday, but Wednesday's episode got the creative juices flowing. So I thought I might as well post while they're flowing so freely.
Response to the responses:
to tannerrose: be prepared for lots of Reid whump and I can't wait for you to read more. As to Doyle taking Reid because he knows it'll hurt Emily, that's true, but it's a bit more complicated than just that. The reason to appear in a few more chapters. I absolutely agree with you about how everyone has their crosses to bear and I especially think that the show does a really great job of bringing that to each episode.
to ahowell1993: Can't wait for you to read more, be prepared for a full blown Morgan temper tantrum. It would've surprised me if anyone hadn't considered the possibility of Spencer have Asperger's. However, to me, his personality has always been a product of his upbringing.
To everyone else: Thanks for the follows and support. It means a lot, especially because this is my first story. Make sure to keep reading and reviewing, I can't wait to see what you guys think!
Warnings: Be prepared for some pretty explicit language: courtesy of Morgan and Reid
Disclaimer: I do not and never will own Criminal Minds or its characters. This is solely for my and others enjoyment!
Chapter 5:
For a moment there was silence, and then, bang! The metal bedpan smashed against the wall with such velocity that a dent the size of Morgan's fist formed immediately on impact. "Morgan!" Hotch warned. "What?" Morgan muttered rounding on him. "What Hotch?" He repeated, voice rising to a deadly level, "I shouldn't be upset? I should be rational and calm? Huh? Is that what you want? For me to be calm? Are you that much of an unfeeling robot that, after everything we've been through tonight, you want me to remain calm? Well guess what Hotch. I am anything but calm!"
Hotch's stern expression never wavered as he watched his subordinate's temper tantrum."I doubt what you're doing right now will be of much help to Reid." Morgan's eyes flashed. "Don't you dare tell me what will and will not help Reid. Do not for even one minute suggest that I am detrimental to his safety. If anything, I am the reason he is still alive." JJ scoffed, "Thinking a little highly of yourself, aren't you Derek?" Sarcasm laced every word. "Yes me. Who else would've kept that kid out of trouble? Certainly wouldn't have been you. You couldn't even keep him safe through a damn interview." JJ jerked back as if he had slapped her. "That's not fair Morgan." she protested.. Cold, black eyes met her tear-filled blue ones, "the truth hurts sometime."
"Alright, that is enough!" Hotch interjected angrily. "Morgan, if you can't take five seconds without snapping at someone, then I don't want you here. Go clear your head! I don't want you here until you're ready to be a team player." "Aye aye captain!" Morgan said sourly, pausing only to give Hotch a mocking salute. As soon as he had passed from view Hotch turned to JJ, "I'm sorry about that." JJ sniffed and gave him a watery smile, "S'not anything I haven't heard before." she joked, attempting to diffuse an already tense situation. Hotch's eyes narrowed until they were almost slits, "Excuse me?"
JJ met his gaze unflinching. "Every time Spence gets himself into a life -threatening situation Morgan finds someone to blame. When the two of you were taken hostage in that hospital by Phillip Dowd, he blamed you. When Tobias Hankle chained and tortured him, he blamed me. When he stepped into our line of fire to talk down Owen Savage, well if Morgan could've been any more pissed at Spence, he'd have been spitting fire." They all chuckled at the memory of Morgan ripping Reid a new one as soon as the plane had taken off.
"I really don't get what your problem is Morgan." "My problem? My problem? Kid are you that slow or does your brain just not work when it's not solving complex equations? How the hell do you think we'd all feel about you not only blocking our shot, but putting yourself in the line of a fucking psychopath without a vest or gun!" At the time, they'd all just sat back and watched the show with mild interest, Reid was getting his just dessert for scaring all of them like that. What they didn't realize, however, was exactly how scary Reid could be if he chose to be. Reid drew himself up to his full height, no longer the slouching unconfident kid they all associated him with. "He's not a psychopath." He spoke softly, but no one could misplace the dangerous edge in his voice. "What is he then Reid?" "Misunderstood." Morgan scoffed, "are you that naive that you always have to see the best in people? Or is it just that you have a death wish?" "That's funny Morgan, considering that you said one of the best skills a profiler could have is the ability to empathize with both the victim and the unsub." "Do not twist my words." Everyone had thought that Reid would've backed down, considering that Morgan looked ready to rip his head off, but once again he'd surprised them. "Why not?" He challenged. "You're more than willing to twist whatever anyone else says to suit your needs. Why shouldn't I?" It had taken a month before Morgan would even be in the same room as Reid, and another for him to have a civil conversation with the young genius. Everyone's recollections were cut short by a hoarse voice whispering, "so he'll blame me next."
Three pairs of eyes turned toward the beaten and defeated agent lying in the bed. After the shock of seeing Reid and Morgan's tantrum, the other agents had forgotten that one of their own was closer to this than any agent should be and it would take all of her physical and psychological strength to keep going. "Emily," Hotch tried his best to soothe the distraught woman, "it's not your fault." "Yeah, it's not like you knew this psychopath was going to come after you." Rossi added, doing his best to put her at easy. Apparently not, if anything his words had unleashed the waterworks the woman had tried so hard to keep back. Rossi's dark eyes met Hotch's in shock, "I didn't." he started. "Dave," Hotch said as gently as he could, "why don't you go see if Morgan is ready to come back." Rossi gave a weak nod and hurried out of the room. Writing award winning books and talking down unsubs, that was easy. Dealing with the complexity of the female mind and emotions, well, let's just say he'd rather deal with nearly getting blown up.
Hotch turned back to Prentiss, only to find JJ in the bed with her arms wrapped around her; and a newly alerted Garcia and Seaver holding each hand. Not wanting to be left out of calming Prentiss down, Hotch grabbed the box of tissues by the bedside and placed them on her lap. "Whenever you're ready to talk." He said softly. After a few shaky breaths and half the box of tissues, Prentiss looked up at her colleagues. "It is my fault." she said miserably. Garcia shook her head, "No Emily, there's no way you could've known. You only just found out that Doyle had escaped and was targeting members of your former team. There's no way that you could've known he'd do something like this." JJ nodded in agreement, while Hotch gave them both a befuddled stare.
"You knew what she was?" He asked in an incredulous tone. Garcia looked up at him with a guilty smile, "Yeah, I've known for the past three months." "Emily, I thought we agreed that, while JJ and myself knowing was absolutely necessary, we wouldn't involve the team. There was too much red tape and the possibility of the information they learned falling into the wrong hands." Prentiss sighed, "I know Hotch, but she caught me at a bad moment and had already hacked my file by the time I tried to fix my mistake." Garcia's worried look had morphed into a smug smile at the mention of her hacking abilities, not even faltering at the stern look Hotch shot her way.
"I take it that means Morgan knows too." "That my partner's a backstabbing CIA bitch? Yea, figured that out within the second year she got here. For someone who'd been in the spy game for five years you aren't too great at accurately portraying a cover. Someone coming off a desk job would've flinched at their first crime scene. Hell, someone coming off a desk job would've lost their lunch." "Morgan." Prentiss pleaded, noting the look of cold fury he gave her. He was so far past being pissed, she wouldn't have been surprised if any passerby thought he was an agent mercilessly grilling an unsub. "But no, I held my tongue. Thought that if you wanted you to know, you'd tell us. But boy, did I have no idea how much that would come back to bite me in the ass. You see Emily, if that's your real name, I not only trusted you with my life. No, it wasn't just me that had to rely on you in the line of fire. I trusted you with Reid's. I trusted you because after the whole debacle with Elle, I knew that he would need someone to fill that hole, someone to protect him from the job he was still too young to do. Guess life must've had some hell of a sense of humor to have you walk into his life."
Each word was like a knife, stabbed repeatedly into her body. She would give anything for that to be true, the physical pain would be nothing compared to the guilt and sorrow she felt from Morgan's words. Morgan watched as his words fell like blows on Prentiss' body, she jerked each time, as if they left bruises only she could see. A small part of him urged him to stop, that it wasn't her fault, that he needed to pity her. Rationally there was no way she could've foreseen what had happened. But he didn't want to be rational. He wanted to be pissed and take out all the guilt and anger he had about losing his baby brother out on someone. It just sucked for Emily that she was his target. His eyes flickered to Hotch. The unit chief was watching Emily with concern while his other female teammates comforted her. Only Rossi did nothing. Fine, if they were going to treat Prentiss as the victim, then he sure as hell didn't need to be here. Turning to leave, he couldn't help but dig the knife in a little deeper. "Just remember Emily. For every bullet, every stab, and every blow; his blood is on your hands."