Chapter Twenty – The Ghosts Return
That night was full of monsters hiding in the shadows and fear shooting up like vines to twine around a body so tightly it couldn't move. Despite knowing what the night would bring, none but Morgan could resist sleep. While not asleep, Morgan suffered through his own waking nightmares. There was no true escape.
Morgan was resting against the wall, arm draped over an upturned knee. His eyes were glassy and unfocused, lost in thought. He couldn't get Ellie's face out of his mind no matter how hard he tried. Knowing it hadn't turned out that way didn't help. What was worse, his thoughts kept flicking back to Buford and what had happened then. He had no clue where the parallel had been drawn between being a helpless target when he was a child and the target he'd become as an adult, but once it was there he couldn't ignore the idea. It festered in his head no matter how hard he tried to get rid of it.
Olivia was sleeping somewhat peacefully, at least on the outside. She was curled toward the wall, slightly tenser than she usually was when she slept. The fear over what would happen in the morning was twisting her dreams and sending them down a darker path. Every once in awhile Olivia would moan and shift before becoming still again. While he was right next to her, Morgan wasn't bothered. None of what he'd heard so far was enough to really worry him.
He wasn't worried until about halfway through the night when he heard her whimper. A quick glance over revealed she was curled into a ball. Her breathing caught, and she jerked awake.
"You alright?"
Olivia's eyes snapped to him. When she realized who he was, she relaxed.
"Fine. You?"
Morgan shook his head, a wry smile on his face.
"Heh. Been better. Been worse too."
Olivia nodded knowing that feeling. She remained silent though, hoping maybe Morgan would open up to her. They'd spoken right after he'd woken up, but the longer he'd been awake the more he'd closed off.
"You know, it easily could have gone down just like it did in my dream."
Olivia was actually surprised he'd shared with her, but she was ready to jump on the chance to talk. Not only would it keep her distracted, it would help him.
"What do you mean?"
"I was at his mercy, Detective. He had me bound hand and foot. I couldn't move."
"And he had a gun," Olivia finished for him.
Morgan nodded. "He could have shot me, could have killed me, and there would have been nothing I could have done. It's not the first time it happened either. Pathetic."
"You know, I work with victims every day, and the one thing it takes the longest time to accept is that it wasn't their fault. It's the same for us, believe me." She gave him a tiny, sad smile before continuing. "We're not invincible, as much as we'd like to think we are."
Morgan's eyes were focused in the distance, but he nodded. He'd heard the same thing before. Little did Olivia know how true that statement was for Morgan.
"Doesn't make it hurt any less."
"No, but does that mean it's worth it to stop helping people since we might let them down because of something we couldn't prevent?"
Morgan met her eyes and held them before a smile crossed his face. He shook his head and chuckled softly.
"You really are good at this."
"I know," she agreed with a grin.
"Get some sleep."
Olivia nodded and lowered herself back down to try and rest.
0~0~0~0
Morgan was awake the rest of the night, which stayed rather quiet. Rossi twisted and turned a few times but never woke. JJ drifted in and out, but when she was awake she didn't even notice that Morgan was as well. He was perfectly fine with that.
Hotch and Emily slept much less peacefully. Their uneasiness was obvious even to Morgan. His boss' face was pinched with pain. It was possible that he was crying too. Certainly wouldn't surprise Morgan. Once in awhile he heard Hotch call out to Jack or Haley. Watching Emily was even worse. Her arms were crossed over her body as if to protect herself, and her face was contorted in pain and fear. The most Morgan could pick out of what she said was no, repeated over and over again. More often than not it was unintelligible moaning until it turned into more.
Around seven that morning Emily started screaming. Olivia woke with a moan, rolling over.
"What's going on?"
"Emily," Morgan answered as the others woke as well.
Emily continued screaming and began clawing at her chest over the brand Doyle had given her. Hotch had to pull his chain as far as he could to reach her. He pulled Emily's hands away from her skin so she wouldn't hurt herself. His touch snapped Emily awake. At first she panicked and tried to pull away, but Hotch was quickly able to calm her.
0~0~0~0
Olivia remained surprisingly calm as they waited for Bill to come in. She knew what was coming, and she dreaded it with every fiber of her being. Even so, she refused to show any of her fear. Only Morgan, who had heard her cry out in her sleep, knew what she was really feeling. The others could only suspect. Olivia remained strong and unflinching to their eyes.
The other agents appeared far more haggard than she did. Without much sleep, their eyes were shadowed and their faces drawn. It had been a rough night, and there was more to come. Since only one person was left to "test" they didn't have a lot of time remaining. The question was, what would happen when Bill was through with them?
0~0~0~0
Bill wandered down the hallway to his lab feeling happier than he had in a long while. It didn't matter that the police may be putting pieces together and closing in on him. He would be done after today when he culminated his experiment with the detective. The thought of watching her squirm in her sleep brought a Cheshire-like smile to his face.
"Good morning!" he greeted one of his aides as he walked by. "And it is such a good morning. A very~ good morning!"
He grabbed his aide's arms and spun him in a circle before releasing him and walking off. There was work to be done, and he was really looking forward to it. Bill sauntered into his lab, whistling happily to himself as he did. After a quick check of all of his calculations, he was sure that he was ready to offer his little detective his best.
Satisfied, Bill started preparing the proper mix of drugs. It was hard to keep himself from getting too excited and daydreaming about what Olivia would go through. Only reminding himself that distraction would destroy the exact thing he was looking forward to allowed him to focus and stay on task. She deserved his very best, and that best didn't stop at just the calculations.
Once he had the syringe ready, Bill prepared his bag with everything he would need. After he'd double checked that he had everything, he headed out. The fun was about to begin.
0~0~0~0
Olivia shifted uneasily while she waited. The others were busy discussing options and strategies, but she was mostly tuning them out. If she just let the words wash over her it was easy enough not to think about anything. She had half an eye on the door, needing to know when Bill was going to walk in so she could prepare herself. Movement in her periphery caught her attention, and she whipped her head toward the door.
"Whoa, easy," Morgan soothed, holding his hands up in surrender. "I was just changing positions."
A tendril of terror eased from her, and she settled back against the wall.
"You want to tell me about it?" Morgan asked once Olivia had remained silent for a short time.
"No, I'll be fine." No, she wouldn't, but she had to keep saying it anyway.
Olivia had been so focused on denying her fear to Morgan that she hadn't noticed the shift in light beneath the door that signaled Bill's arrival. When she heard the door click open she nearly jumped out of her skin and barely had time to recover and lock down her emotions before Bill flounced in.
"Are you all ready for the main event?" He called out enthusiastically, ignoring the hard stares he received in return. "I tried to find party hats for all of us, but no luck I'm afraid. I did, however, find this."
He pulled out a party noisemaker like the ones used on New Year's or little kids' birthday parties. When he blew into it, the headache inducing honking noise filled the room. As the sound died out Bill turned his attention to Olivia.
"Well, Detective Benson, you know the drill."
Olivia did, and she wanted desperately not to follow it. What she wanted didn't matter though. She was just as trapped as Morgan had been even if Bill hadn't voiced the threat this time. Grabbing onto her fraying strands of willpower, she placed her hands behind her back. As he set everything up for her, Bill kept up a running babble that Olivia mostly ignored. Face set, she continued to stare past him.
When he requested her arm, Olivia's breath hitched. She had to quickly stamp down on her emotions to stop herself from panicking. Bill noticed and patted her cheek reassuringly, which only heightened Olivia's strain.
"Don't get too excited now. You'll ruin~ the good part."
Olivia was about to snap back a retort when she felt the needle slide into her arm. The realization that her time was up almost sent her into a tailspin. She clung desperately to her self control, praying she could stay awake long enough after to give Morgan the message she now knew needed to be shared. If she didn't, she may never come out of the dream.
Wide eyed, Olivia could only stare at Bill as he continued to talk to her. She didn't hear a thing besides the intense rushing in her ears. As Bill walked away, Olivia strained to keep her trembling under control. Morgan picked up on it since it was the first time she'd shown any sign of real fear. When the door clicked shut it snapped Olivia out of her trance. Her head whipped toward Morgan and she met his eyes with her own frantic ones.
"You have to tell me this isn't Sealview when I wake up."
"I…" Morgan began, not understanding what she was talking about but willing to do it.
"It's not Sealview!" she insisted, her words snapping with force.
"I got it! Okay? I promise."
He met her eyes firmly to prove what he was saying, but she already seemed to be fading.
Author's Note: I decided to up the rating for the next chapter just to be safe. Heads up to all of you that this is now going to be under M unfortunately.