Morgan tiredly entered his room, sore from the day's work. He felt his back muscles spasm and Derek grimaced trying to fight the pain he was in. Today was too much and he could feel his body protesting his effort to get to his bed and strip to take a shower. He wanted to just collapse and let himself go but he knew that if he did not at least try to get himself a warm shower the pain he felt now would be even worst tomorrow. He groaned as he slowly raised his shirt over his head, his arms shaking from the exertion, his back bemoaning its strain. Derek was hurt and unfortunately he was too stubborn and prideful to let anyone on the team realize that he was less than his best right now. He gasped as a sharp pain raced across his ribs, Derek thought he was dying and he was pretty sure now that he might have bruised a rib. He sighed in relief when his arms could come down from taking off his shirt, now all he had to do is remove the rest of his clothes. He groaned, damn his life sucked right now. Morgan sat down heavily on the bed and waited for his pain to subside a bit before he moved on to the rest of his clothes. He closed his eyes as he thought about what happened today, thought about how he almost lost his life.
Flashback: 7 hours earlier:
They arrived on the 4th crime scene, since they started this case 2 weeks ago, aware of what they were going to see but it did not make the feeling of anger and disgust any easier to handle. You could feel the rage rolling off of Elle in waves as they gazed upon the bloody mess of the slain children. It abhorred and disturbed, young girls brutally murdered for no reason. There was no pattern, no specific type, just young girls that hadn't even begun their lives yet. Derek could feel his anger rising and he wished that he and the bastard that was doing this would have the chance to be alone because Morgan knew he would wring the son of a bitch around the neck. Derek looked over to see that JJ looked uncomfortable being around the scene. She had a son, but that did not mean that a scene like this did not call to her maternal instincts. Morgan wished he could go over and comfort her but he knew that was a) inappropriate and b) probably not what she needed from him considering what happened between them.
Morgan looked at the bodies in front of him wishing that one of them could tell him what was going on. What the unsub was thinking, why them? He stared hard at the crime scene and all he could see were the innocent faces of little girls who would never see their friends again, have their first real kisses, see their parents again, so many firsts that it pained Derek to think about all that was lost because of the selfishness and cruelty of one man. Derek could feel his nails digging into his palms as his hands fisted from his rage. This was almost too much, all this darkness and evil he saw everyday and he couldn't run away from it, he didn't have that person he could come home to and put to rest his demons. All he had was this, these images, these feelings of failure; this was all he truly had in his life.
He felt the sting of tears as he realized that everyone on his team had someone that they could depend on, hold on to in order to pull them through the darkness. He was alone and sooner or later this job would take all that was left of his humanity. There was a point in his life when he truly believed that this job was all he needed in his life but he could feel it start to take away from his sanity, his sleep, his social life, all the things that made him him were fading and if he didn't find something to counteract the demons he faced everyday he knew he would become nothing but a shell that knew only how to do this job. Derek fought the tears back and continued to stare, his eyes shifting hoping that he could pick up on something, the more he looked the more he got the feeling that this case was not normal, not that there was anything normal about serial killers, but this seemed to be an example of one those rare cases where there is more than one killer. The bodies were fresh and on top of that, it just seems like there are too many bodies to belong to one killer, on top of that, the way the girls were dressed, it just seemed like different emotions. Derek groaned at the thought but he knew that his gut has never led him astray before.
He relayed his findings to the rest of the team and he found that they agreed with his analysis of the situation, if they were dealing with a team of unsubs, than this case could be that much more complicated because the likelihood of unsubs that team up is so rare. Derek didn't like the way that this case was turning and hoped that they could stop the bastards that were behind this soon or else this could end up very bad.
End of Flashback
Derek shook himself awake and struggled to pull the rest of his clothes off. He hissed when he bent over to unlace his boots. He really needed to start considering shoes that he could just kick off. He groaned in relief when he was pretty much naked. He rose gingerly and limped his way into the bathroom. He slumped against the wall as he turned on the shower. He didn't want it to hot because he had cuts and bruises all over his body and he didn't think he could take the sting right; his pain threshold shocked off its hinges. He waited until the water was at the right temperature before he eased himself into the bath, allowing the warm water to wash over him, soothing the tight muscles in his back, arms and legs. He hissed at the slight sting from the cuts across his body and he couldn't wait to get himself clean enough to climb out of the shower, the water almost torturing him. He leaned his head back against the shower wall and continued his thoughts about the case.
Flashback: 4 hours earlier:
He was at the precinct when a call came in that a woman said she saw a couple of men take two young girls by force. The team couldn't be sure that this was them because it seemed almost to easy but they had to hope that maybe God decided that this evil was even too much for him to bear. The team along with a bunch of squadrons rushed out to the tip and prayed that they reached in time to help the young girls that were in danger. Derek could feel the adrenaline rushing through his veins, the desire to take down those who harm the innocent overtaking him. Derek barely remembered the team moving as one toward one solid goal. They were going to stop the unsubs no matter what. He and the team came upon the warehouse that the supposed suspects were in and Derek could feel the anticipation rising.
Derek wasn't sure he remembered what happened clearly, all he knew was that he was with the team. They did the standard procedure when entering an unknown building and it was like the killers knew they were coming, stuff just started going wrong, there was an explosion and before Derek knew it, there was screaming and all Derek could think about was where those girls were. He could barely hear Hotch giving out orders as they progressed. It was a trap and Derek's brain was barely registering Hotch's command to get out. No, Derek had to make sure that there was no hope to save those girls before he saved himself. He pushed forward, he would continue. As if reading his thoughts, Hotch made the order to leave directly to him but Derek ignored him, pulling the ear bud out of his ear so he could focus on his task. Worst-case scenario, the girls are dead and he dies because of his stubbornness, best case he saves the girls and Hotch will give him the chance to beg for his job. Derek found himself in a back room, there was three girls there, crying. Morgan felt his heart wrench at the sight and he felt rage at the men who put the girls here.
Morgan looked back at the way he came and he knew that they did not have much time. There was flames everywhere and he knew that the chances of them surviving was becoming smaller with every passing moment. He needed to hurry or they all were going to die. He walked to the girls seeing the fear in their eyes. "Hey, hey, I'm Derek Morgan, I'm with the FBI and I'm going to bring you girls back home to your parents okay?" He waited for them to nod before he looked around and spotted two large blankets in the corner of the room. He rushed toward them and brought them back to the girls. He wrapped one around one girl, she looked the most calm and he knew he was going to have to carry one of the girls on his back and the other two in his arms. He just prayed he could get them out. Derek talked to the young girls telling them what to do. He smiled gently when they nodded in agreement. He made sure the girl on his back was holding on tight before he grabbed the other two and rushed out toward the blazing fire.
End of Flashback
Derek and the girls barely made it out alive. Worst than that, the lack of oxygen was killing them. Derek shivered at the memory of the beam that collapsed on him. He barely got the girl that was on his back out of the way. They were so close to the exit that he urged the girls on and out of the building. He was conscious long enough to see them get out of the building before he resigned himself to his fate. When Derek woke up he found himself in a hospital bed with bright lights giving him a migraine worst than the hangover he suffered days before. Derek was so sure that he was a dead man but here he was in a hospital. He didn't remember how he got out or who came for him. What he was able to overhear was that it was Hotch and he was in big trouble though the parents of the young girls were indebted to Morgan.
Morgan remembered the Doctor saying that he needed to stay overnight for observation but Morgan was not big on hospitals and argued his way out despite the glares he was receiving from every member of his team except JJ, who appeared to be staring at him with fear. Morgan winced at the memory, he did not intend to scare anyone on the team, and he just felt like he owed it to those girls to try and get them out alive, he had a hero's complex. Everyone knew that and it probably was not going away any time soon. He remembered Hotch giving him a reprimanding speech about disobeying orders and risking his life and etc. It was all stuff that Morgan had heard before, what shocked him though was when Hotch said he did a good job of saving those girls and that the fact that Morgan was the reason that they get to go home to be with those that love them, that Morgan was not being asked to turn in his badge. Morgan remembered chuckling a sharing a reckless grin with Hotch, he knew that he broke the rules badly, but he did not regret it for a second.
Even better, the girls were able to corroborate a picture on the unsubs and the police along with others were tracking them down. It would only be a matter of time before they were caught. Morgan sighed as he climbed out of the shower and barely had the energy to wrap a towel around his waist. He looked at himself in the mirror and his body looked worn down and damaged. Morgan wished he could make the cuts and bruises marring his body disappear as they reminded him that he nearly lost his life earlier but there was no escaping it. The worst part is that he would not be going to work anytime soon, even though he informed the doctors that he was fine, they suggested "strongly" to Hotch that he is taken out of the field and Hotch quickly agreed. Morgan growled at the thought but he knew that they were right, it had to be done or he could endanger not only himself but also that of his teammates.
Morgan felt like he was dragging himself to his bed but he paused when he heard a quiet knock on the door. He quickly glanced at the clock and saw that it was not too late but at the same time, no one would or should be coming to see him. Morgan groaned and decided that if it was the unsubs coming to finish him off for ruining their plans, then they picked the right time to do so, seeing as he was feeling like shit. He slowly moved to the door, opening it without caring who could be on the other side. It shocked him however to see JJ staring back at him in surprise with her hand poised to knock again. To be honest, in Morgan's mind, Barack Obama was more likely to show up outside his door before JJ considering what happened between them. Morgan was drawn from his thoughts though when he heard JJ's gasp of surprise. He looked down to see where her eyes were staring and he winced in remembrance that he had no shirt on and she could clearly see that he was more injured than the bumps and bruises he told her and the rest of the girls when they asked if he was okay enough to leave the hospital.
He grimaced when he looked back up to see a glare that could melt the sun on JJ's face. He was in trouble; big trouble and he had a feeling that this would the first of many glares he would be receiving in coming days from the main ladies in his life. He wouldn't be surprised at this point if he got a couple from his mother and sisters back in Chicago. He gulped when JJ's voice came out strained, furious, and quiet all rolled into one. "Let me in Derek." There was no hiding from this and Derek wondered for a second if he should make an excuse as to why that was not a good idea but JJ repeated firmly. "DEREK LET ME IN!" Derek could only nod as he shifted his body to the side, letting her pass before he closed the door, praying to God for mercy.