AN: After an annoying bout of writer's block, I was finally able to finish this chapter. Thanks to Rayne McKenna for supplying the prompt for this chapter. She gave me a few and this wasn't the original one I was going for with this chapter but as I was struggling with it, I decided to end it sooner than I had planned and this prompt just sort of sneaked it's way in. Plan on the original prompt being in the next chapter. Hope you all enjoy!

Prompt: The Wizard of Oz

Seeing that Reid was sleeping peacefully for the moment, Morgan got up and left the room. The younger man had been completely spent when they had gotten back from their trip to the park. Morgan had a feeling that the combination of not getting enough rest the last few days, the withdrawal symptoms, the outing and the panic attack had totally exhausted him. Now, Morgan hoped that the nightmares would stay away and let Reid get the sleep that he desperately needed. The thought of calling Eric had crossed his mind, but he had held himself back from calling his friend. Reid seemed stable right now, just exhausted, and Eric had said he would be back tonight. Morgan had convinced himself that there was no need to call the doctor away from his family just yet.

Morgan collapsed onto the couch. Resting his head against the back, he only intended to rest his eyes for a few minutes, wanting to be awake in case the nightmares disturbed Reid's sleep. Before he knew it, he was hearing a knock on the front door. From the stiffness in his neck Morgan had a feeling he had been asleep for a while. A glance at his watch told him he had been out for about two hours.

Getting to his feet, he headed for the front door. A quick glance out the peep hole showed the colorful face of one Penelope Garcia.

"Hey, Baby Girl. Aren't you sight for sore eyes," Morgan told her, as he opened the door.

"Hey, back to you," Garcia said, trying hard to sound cheerful and not really accomplishing it. "I brought some cookies. I would have brought real food but I just left the office."

"That's okay. There's enough food in that refrigerator to last us a couple days yet," Morgan told her accepting the tin of cookies the blonde tech held out to him.

Garcia smiled at that. Em, JJ and herself had been stopping by with food quite often the last couple of days. "It makes us feel like we're doing something," she said, though it was an unneeded explanation.

Morgan nodded. He knew that having to stay away was hard on their co-workers.

~Hell, I'm here and I still feel frustrated at my limitations of what I can do to really help Reid, ~ Morgan thought to himself as he said something else out loud. "It's past seven o'clock. What were you still doing at the office?"

"The team's on a case. Hotch just finally called it a night which meant that I just finally got to leave the office."

"What's going on?" Morgan asked, a pang of guilt at not being with them going through him, even as he stepped aside to let Garcia take a step into the apartment.

"Several truck drivers have disappeared from truck stops along highway 40 in Eastern Tennessee. Both state police and the Knoxville field office have hit a dead end and asked for . . . "

"What is it?" Morgan asked as Garcia trailed off.

"I wasn't supposed to say anything to you. Hotch didn't want you worrying about them and feeling guilty about not being there when you're here."

"Well, it's too late for that," Morgan told her, at the same time he admitted to himself that his unit chief "So you better tell me what you know because I'll get answers one way or the other."

"What about, Reid? Hotch said he didn't really want us here . . ."

"I think he's still sleeping," Morgan told her, realizing that he should probably step into the bedroom and check on the younger agent. "I don't think he'll mind if you hang around to keep me company for a while."

"If you're sure," Garcia said hesitantly, her eyes darting around the apartment. "I don't want to upset him."

"Relax, Baby Girl. Have a seat," he told her, gesturing to the couch as he closed the door. "Just give me a minute and I'll join you."

Garcia nodded and walked slowly toward the couch. Morgan headed for the partially closed door of the bedroom. Pushing the door open, he saw that Reid was indeed still asleep. The younger man tossed his head restlessly in his slumber, which concerned him. ~What's going on inside that head of yours? ~ Morgan asked himself as he crossed over to the bed.

Reaching down, Morgan placed his hand gently pushed the hair that had fallen across the younger man's face back out of the way before letting his hand rest on Reid's forehead, the pale skin feeling warm to his skin. At the touch, the younger man calmed. Morgan stood there for a few minutes, before withdrawing his hand. Reid remained asleep, and the older agent decided that it wasn't worth waking him up to check if he was really running a slight fever or not. He knew they still had quite a few hours left before the withdrawal symptoms would be completely behind them. Sleep was probably the only relief from the hell Reid was living in right now, and with the nightmares, even that wasn't a sanctuary at times.

Satisfied that his friend was going to stay asleep, Morgan made his way back out to the living room. Garcia was sitting nervously on the couch, her weight on the edge of the cushion she had sat down on. Morgan got them both a drink and returned, sitting down beside her. After coaxing the blonde tech to relax a bit, he soon was getting details about the case the rest of his team was on.

A half-hour later, Garcia had brought him up to date on the case, which hadn't had much development in the course of the day. As Garcia got her feet with both glasses in hand and headed for the kitchen, Morgan got to his feet. Walking around the couch, he headed back to the bedroom to check in on Reid again.

This time, Morgan found Reid awake. The younger man was sitting cross-legged on the bed. He was hugging a pillow that he was leaning over, his head resting on the soft object. Morgan couldn't see his friend's face as he walked into the room. Reaching the bed, he sat down behind Reid.

"How are you feeling?" Morgan asked, resting a hand on Reid's back.

"The cramps are back."

"You should have called for me."

"Who's out there?" Reid asked instead of actually replying to what Morgan was saying.

"Garcia. She stopped by on her way home from work and we started talking. Don't worry, no one is going to force you to see anyone if you're not up for it, though she really does want to see you, Reid."

"I don't know why."

"Because you're her friend and she wants to show her support during all of this, just like I'm doing and just like Hotch. The whole team wants to help you through this, Reid. You've just got to let us."

"I don't deserve their support. Not after what I've done. Not after the way I've treated them. I think Garcia might be the only one I haven't snapped at."

"We all know it wasn't really you during those times."

"It's no excuse. I'm so ashamed of what I did."

"I know what's that like, Kid, feeling ashamed of something that you've done in the past. Wanting to hide it from everyone and not have to face it. Do you think I wanted any of you to know about what happened with Buford or that sealed record but you know, in the long run, it's a weight off my shoulders now that it has happened. The team knows my secret now and no one turned away from me just like none of us are going to turn away from you. You've made some bad decisions but you're still our friend."

"I don't deserve friends like you," Reid said, the words getting muffled as he buried his head in the pillow.

"Whether you do or not, you're stuck with us," Morgan told him.

"I wish I could just tap my heels together three times and the last few months would have never happened," Reid said, his head still buried in the pillow.

"Just like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz when she wanted to go home, huh Kid. Give Garcia a little bit of time and she might be able to find some ruby red slippers that would fit you."

The comment elicited a small laugh from Reid that ended in a groan of pain as his abdominal muscles contracted sharply.

"I'm going to go warm the heating pad up," Morgan said, starting to stand up.

"Don't leave me alone," Reid pleaded softly.

"I'll just be a few minutes. I'm not sitting here watching you suffer without trying to do something to ease the pain."

"It's not that bad," Reid said, the tone of his voice saying otherwise.

"You're not fooling me, Kid," Morgan told him, now standing beside Reid. "Garcia could come in and sit with you," he suggested, knowing that it would do them both some good to see each other.

"She shouldn't have to see me like this."

"You do realize you're hurting them by trying to protect them this way?"

Morgan's words caused Reid to move his head on the pillow so that he was able to look up at the older man. Morgan could read the question in his eyes.

"Being kept away and not able to show their support is much worse then being able to help you through this. I know. As hard as these last few days have been on me, and I have no doubt they've been worse for you, if I hadn't been here and I knew you were going through this, I would be driving myself crazy."

"I can't seem to do anything right. No wonder everybody leaves me," Reid said quietly, burying his head in the pillow once again.

Morgan knelt down beside the bed. "No one is leaving you, Kid," he said quietly slipping an arm around the younger man's shoulders. "Can I have Garcia get the heating pad for me? I'll have to call her in here if you don't want me to leave though. Can I do that?"

Reid gave a slight nod, without lifting his head.

"Hey, Garcia," Morgan called, even as he moved to sit on the bed behind Reid. Not able to do much else, he subconsciously started rubbing the younger man's back, his hand making circular motions.

"Yeah?" Garcia asked tentatively, as she peeked her head around the corner. Morgan saw the look of surprise, and sympathy that crossed the analyst's face.

"I need you to do something for me?"

"Anything."

Morgan told her where to find the heating pad and the instructions to heat it. With a nod, Garcia left the doorway to carry out the task. It wasn't long before she was returning, the heating pad wrapped in a towel, held in her hands. She approached the bed and handed it to Morgan.

Though Morgan tried to coax Reid to lie back, the younger man refused to do so. He stayed sitting up, the pillow hugged tightly to him, as if he needed something to hold onto to. Morgan finally settled for positioning the heating pad between the pillow and Reid's body.

Garcia had stood quietly nearby, watching everything as it unfolded. She wasn't sure if she was still wanted in the room, but as no one told she to go, she hovered, her heart suffering as she watched the silent suffering of her friend. As Morgan slid the heating pad into place though, Garcia finally got the courage to move. Walking to the other side of the bed, the blonde tech crawled onto the bed until she was sitting next to Reid. Slowly, she reached out and put her arms around the small frame of her friend. She felt him stiffen beneath her gentle touch, but she didn't pull away. Instead, she reached out and started gently stroking her hand through his hair, speaking soft words of comfort to him.