Chapter Eighteen – Hell With A Blackout

Author's Note: Morgan's dream is from Our Darkest Hour (5x23).

A growing feeling of dread raced through Morgan as he ran, urgency building. The air was nearly suffocating and hot on his skin. He could feel his shirt sticking to his back. Everything around him was pitch black, yet he seemed to know right where he was going. The sound of footsteps beside him drew his attention.

"He has Kristin and Ellie."

Morgan nodded, knowing Matt Spicer was right. They didn't have a lot of time. The two men continued forward until the darkness coalesced into a street. All of the lights were out because of the blackout, yet Morgan and Spicer knew right where to go. A white house with a red roof, the inside just as dark as the rest.

The smell of cigarettes drifted on the breeze, growing stronger the closer they got to the house. It had an almost rotten feel to it, corrupted and tainting all that it touched. If Morgan hadn't been so intent on getting there to save Spicer's family he might have gagged. Right now though, he couldn't worry about it.

Spicer split off from him, heading toward the front door and leaving the side for Morgan. They should be waiting for backup, but that was out of the question now. Pulling his gun, Morgan moved forward. The instant he pushed the door open a deep sense of foreboding poured over him. It was so strong the wave almost physically pressed against him, driving him backwards. This was going to end badly. He knew that it was, yet he had no choice but to continue.

He stepped forward slowly, eyes constantly scanning for danger. Instead of outright danger, he found something worse. A man's body, an obvious gunshot to the head. When Morgan reached down to check his pulse, the instant his fingers brushed skin the man disintegrated, falling apart like a piece of wood rotted completely through. Morgan's heart jacked up. The Prince of Darkness really did corrupt everything he touched.

0~0~0~0

"It's not starting too bad so far," Emily stated once they finally heard the increase in Morgan's heart rate.

"It will only get worse from here," Rossi warned. He was staying close to JJ, knowing being nearby would provide her the support she needed but would never ask for.

"Detective," Hotch paused until he had Olivia's attention. "We'll try to get through to him and figure out what he saw."

Olivia nodded. She would trust them to help, but if Morgan needed her, she would assist them. Or at least she would try to.

0~0~0~0

The closed door at the end of the hallway loomed before Morgan. He reached out to push it open, gun at the ready. His eyes immediately locked onto the bed where Spicer's sister, Kristin, and his eight year old daughter, Ellie, were huddled together.

"Where is he?"

Before either woman could say anything a fist connected with the side of Morgan's face. He went down hard. Unable to move, all Morgan could do was stare at the cartoon stars dancing around his head. By the time the stars faded, Morgan's ankles were duct taped. His hands, stuck behind his back, were also duct taped.

Damn it. Damn it. Damn it!

No matter how much he struggled, Morgan couldn't free himself. When Spicer showed up at the door the entire situation continued to roll downhill at an unstoppable speed. Apparently there had been a good reason for that foreboding feeling he'd felt at the door.

Spicer and Billy Flynn were in a stand off. Spicer's gun on Flynn, Flynn's on Ellie as he held her pinned against him.

"Drop the gun," Flynn warned.

"Don't do it!" Morgan retaliated knowing full well what would happen if Spicer did drop his weapon. "Look at him! He's nothing but a coward!"

Flynn's foot came out of nowhere and connected with Morgan's side, knocking him back to the ground. All Morgan could do was watch as Spicer ignored his advice and dropped his weapon. It landed with a thud of finality.

"No, pick it up!"

But he knew it was no use as Spicer dropped to his knees at the unsub's request. Only it seemed the detective still had guts left. He launched himself at Flynn only to get shoved down again. A dark cloud seemed to shimmer around Spicer. Morgan knew it was a sign of death.

"Promise me she'll be okay, Morgan."

Morgan closed his eyes at Spicer's words, feeling incredibly sick to his stomach.

"Go ahead. Promise him," Flynn teased.

No. He wouldn't do it. It wasn't the right way to respond. Morgan shook his head, refusing to make a promise he wasn't sure he could keep. A promise that would likely get Spicer killed.

"Do it! Promise him!" Kristin demanded.

No, no, no. He wasn't going to promise that. Only he heard his voice saying just that.

"Okay, I promise!"

The gunshot resounded in Morgan's mind, the sound mixing with his own scream of "Spicer, no!"

He could only stare at the red pool growing around Spicer's body while Flynn laughed and laughed. That laugh was never going to leave his head. Never. Once more Morgan pushed himself up to a sitting position.

"You son of a –"

"Yes, yes, I know perfectly well what you think, Agent Morgan."

He held his gun up and pointed it at Kristin. Ellie screamed, and Morgan was pretty sure his own voice mingled with the sound. The gun went off a second time, and Kristin was gone.

"Can you protect her, Agent Morgan?" Flynn laughed as he held the gun to Ellie's head. "Can you?"

Morgan growled in fury. Chances were he wouldn't be able to protect Ellie. He was at Flynn's mercy, and there was nothing he could do. Ellie's eyes bored into his, pleading with him. Morgan wanted to respond, but he couldn't. The gun came to rest pointing at his forehead.

"You really are such an easy target. Now you'll get to go explain to them why you broke your promise."

"Ellie! No!"

He heard the gunshot, but instead of pain, the only thing he felt was guilt. He'd broken his promise. As his life slipped away, Morgan could only watch Ellie get dragged away. She was reaching for him, screaming for him. He was her last hope, but he would fail her. Even dead, that failure would stay with him. With him gone, there was no one to stand between Ellie and Flynn.

"I'm sorry, Spicer. I'm sorry, man."

0~0~0~0

"Morgan?" Emily called, voice quavering. When she didn't get a response and the heart monitor remained silent she tried again, much more frantic this time. "Morgan!"

It really hadn't been that long since the monitor had last beeped, but after the speed they'd been hearing it sound with, the sudden silence seemed to last longer than it really was. Only feeling longer or not though, it wasn't ordinary.

"Oh, God," JJ moaned as she tightened her grip on Rossi's arm.

The sound of Morgan's frantic heartbeat suddenly filled the room again. With it came strangled breaths audible to everyone regardless of where they sat.

"He's panicking. Whatever scared him was enough to stall his heart for a second," Hotch concluded.

"Then wake him up, dammit!" Rossi growled, though he could see that everything they were trying wasn't working.

JJ and Emily continued to call Morgan's name, but it wasn't doing any good.

Gritting her teeth, Olivia reached out and grabbed Morgan's wrist, yanking him close to her. She knew it probably dug the cuffs into his skin but getting him to her was more important. Olivia managed to grab his shoulder and shake him hard.

Morgan's eyes popped open, and he jerked away from her. The look in his eyes was something she knew well. She saw it in her victims every day. Dropping her voice into the soft, soothing tone she used for traumatized victims, she started trying to get through Morgan's panic. She ignored the others who were all trying to draw Morgan out and just focused on him.

"Derek, listen to me. It's going to be alright. It was just a dream."

When he still seemed frantic and unfocused, Olivia decided to try a different method.

"Look at me, Derek. Look at me. Just listen to my voice and focus on me."

Olivia continued to repeat herself for a time until she saw Morgan's eyes flicker toward hers and hold there. She allowed herself a brief moment of triumph before smiling reassuringly at him.

"It'll be okay."

"I'm alive." Disbelief. Uneasiness.

"You are." Feeling confident he wouldn't panic if she touched him now, Olivia slowly reached out and rested a hand on his arm, being careful through the entire movement to be sure Morgan saw what she was doing.