Only 24 hours to go!

Did anyone hear about that Superman movie that Matthew was just cast in? I am quite literally jumping out of my seat with joy at this announcement (And I'm more of a Spider Man and Batman fan). All I really know is that it's call 'All-Star Superman,' and that MGG has recently been cast as Jimmy Olsen.

…and the fan girls can freak out now! **commences fan girl squealing**

Again, I own nothing pertaining to the Criminal Minds fanbase, universe, or canon. I'm just goofing off with the characters while riding a new episode withdrawal (Which will end tomorrow thankfully).

….

Day is a snow-white Dove of heaven that from the East glad message brings. ~ Thomas Bailey Aldrich

12 hours later the team sat on the jet, riding home at last. JJ was pouring over some case files, intent on their contents. In the back of the plane, Prentiss was reading a book, but paying no attention to it; she merely flipped pages to pass the time. Reid was at the coffee maker, pouring himself a fresh cup of coffee. Rossi and Hotch were both asleep on either side of the isle in the front of the plane.

Morgan sat by himself, his earphones shoved into his ears, but no music playing. Instead, he stared out the window, clearly lost in thought. He thought about the last case, the UnSub, Spicer, Kristin, Reid, Ellie….

"You know," a voice said suddenly, making Morgan jump. "It's always good to just talk about it."

The older black man looked to see his younger friend and fellow profiler sitting across from him, a cup of coffee clenched tightly in his bandaged hand. The only reason they had left Los Angeles so late in the day was because the local hospital was loathe to get rid of Reid; to say the nurses had doted on the kid was a severe understatement.

Flynn had done a number on the younger man; he was bruised as well as cut up. His hair had been unevenly cut; there was a scratch on his upper lip, and stitches closing up the cuts that ran up and down his arms. There was also a long scratch across Reid's face, complete with butterfly stitches stripped across it.

Morgan glanced again at his colleague. "Talk about what?"

Reid gestured to the space between them. "What happened to us," he said, as though he was talking to a young child. "We both know that Billy Flynn isn't the first UnSub to get the better of us, and if you ask me, he won't be the last."

"But what he did to us, you especially," Morgan began, but Reid held up his hand.

"Morgan, what he did to you, and to me, was not your fault," Reid started. "… Tobias took me by surprise in the cornfield in the same way. I heard JJ scream, and all that mattered was her. I didn't think for a moment that he would do something like that… that he was so close…" Reid paused, licking his lips.

"With you," he continued. "All you could concentrate on was Ellie and Kristin. When you saw them, it was all tunnel vision. Flynn was hiding behind the door. He was lying in wait, and you had no idea."

"I should've known," Morgan whispered. "If I had, none of that would've happened. Spicer'd still be alive. And if we'd been there sooner, you wouldn't look like that."

Without another word, the younger man gripped the hand of the older man.

"There wasn't much else either of us could've done," Reid whispered. "It was part of what he'd wanted. Either way, someone was going to die last night. And I wish it wasn't Spicer. He didn't deserve to die… And leave Ellie. The little girl doesn't deserve that." Reid let go of Morgan's hand, settling his own into his lap, staring at them, the stark white bandages that stood out against his already pale skin. "No one deserves to grow up without a father."

Morgan nodded. "No one does," he agreed, setting his hand facedown onto the wooden table for a moment before tapping it twice and standing up. "But sometimes, the best thing any of us can do is to live our life in the best way we can, remembering those who left it, and living the way they would've wanted us to live."

Reid looked up, watching the older man make his way to the back of the plane before going back to looking at his folded hands, a small smile lighting up his otherwise grim face.

Let us so live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry. ~ Mark Twain

….

A/N: Next stop: The Season 6 Premiere! I hope you're all totally psyched; I definitely am!

Thanks to all my awesome readers, reviewers and the people who alerted and added this story to their favorites. If it wasn't for your interest, this probably would've died by about the third chapter, and never would've gotten done. And now here we are… So thank you!

I really dunno how much longer any of us can wait… Hopefully I won't become frenzied and overly vicious by 8:00 PM this Wednesday night.

*~N_CBAU~*