Potomac General –
Garcia was the first to enter the small room. The constant beep of the monitors and hissing like noises of the other machines seemed reassuring and confirmed that he was still among the living and that he had again beaten death. He seemed so small, broken, vulnerable. But she knew better he was stronger than anyone would ever imagine. He had gone through so much and the fact that he had survived no doubt angered even his tormentors, which motivated them to hurt him even more.
Reid had fought back trying to defend himself against tonight's attackers; the evidence of defensive wounds were like badges of honor on his arms. I'm sure his attackers didn't expect that from such a scrawny victim.
She needed him to fight now with all of his might. He needed to come out of this and be okay again. She needed him, the team needed him but most of all Morgan needed him, he was the key to Morgan's disappearance and she had an uneasy feeling that their friend was running out of time.
Morgan was determined not to show fear as the large man drew closer his heavy boots stirring the dust on the floor. The man was accompanied by two others; all three dressed in black. Their faces were not concealed and that worried him; it meant that they did not care if he saw them or even recognized them. It also meant that when they were finished with him he would be killed.
Without a word the man motioned with a nod toward the others and they quickly responded by moving toward Morgan and roughly unshackling him and yanking him to his feet. The pain from his injured body forced a moan from him that he had hoped to contain but it was bigger and stronger than his will to keep it silent.
"Who are you? What do you want?" He yelled out over the pain.
The man smiled looking at him and suddenly punched him in the gut knocking the wind from his body and sending him backwards into the other two men who now had to support his weight as they drug him from the room.
"Keep your mouth shut! I'll let you know when you can speak!"
Morgan struggled to regain his breath while he was dragged down a dark hallway. Just as he was able to breathe better the four arrived at a large room that was a stark contrast from the dirty, dingy and cold room he had just come from. The room was bright with white walls and ornate gold décor straight out of a bad Liberace nightmare. He surveyed the room trying to take it all in looking for something that he could use now or later to his advantage. None of this made sense but he had to find a way out to find out what happened to Reid. The men released him and his body landed with a thud on the Persian rug that covered the floor. He wanted to say something but he remembered the last time he'd opened his mouth.
The side door on the left side of the room opened slowly and a familiar stare met his glare. It had been a while since the two had seen each other. After an initial misunderstanding, there had been nothing that had happened that would cause this type of extreme treatment. He was more confused than ever. Why then was he here?
He tried getting to his feet ignoring the pain and bracing his weight on his hands then his knees. The footsteps toward him were much lighter than the previous ones stopping in front of him; the pointed toe of the boot nearly stepping on his hand; He looked up, she looked down.
"Jordan?"
"Hello, Derek." She said seductively.
"What's going on, Jordan?" He said angrily.
"You never called; I thought that after I returned to Counter Terrorism, you'd at least call."
Morgan looked at her unbelievingly. This couldn't be about him not calling; something he'd never promised to do and after working their first case he had lost interest in the gorgeous brunette.
"This couldn't be about me not calling."
"Derek, I knew from the moment you came on to me in the coffee shop that you wanted me."
"Where's Reid?" He said angrily.
He was not in the mood for her games.
"I wasn't interested in Dr. Reid. This is a private party, just you and me."
"Where! Is! Reid!"
Potomac General –
The team had dispersed to begin the search for Morgan, all except Garcia who was holding vigil at Reid's bedside. Hotch knew it would be a waste of time getting her to leave and so he had made a call to headquarters to have her laptop brought to her; they were going to need her skills to find their missing agent. Rossi and JJ were on the way to the crime scene; the police were already there working and processing the scene looking for clues to what had happened.
Garcia had a thousand scenarios running through her mind; she knew that if Morgan could have saved Reid from this fate he would have. She also knew that the fact that he couldn't would surely drive him to a dark place that would haunt him for a lifetime.
Reid had finally persuaded Morgan that it was time to leave; he was tired and had grown bored watching Morgan fighting off the attention of every single woman in the bar. Morgan had made it his mission for the night to hook Reid up but the younger agent was not interested and felt completely out of place. He marveled at how comfortable Morgan was with the attention he was receiving. Morgan seemed to enjoy teasing his "little brother" as the women kept coming at the two of them willing to do just about anything to spend the evening with the FBI agents.
The more Reid pouted the more Morgan teased him as the two walked down the block toward Morgan's car. They'd arrived too late to get a spot in the lot and so they were forced to find street parking. They hadn't noticed the group of dark-clothed men until they stepped out of the darkness and quickly surrounded them. Five was too many for the two of them; even with Morgan's skills they were outnumbered. Neither he nor Morgan had time to react and he knew his friend's attention would be focused on protecting him.
He fought, he used some of the self-defense techniques that Derek had shown him but it wasn't enough. Morgan had held his own for a while but after he was distracted by Reid being knocked to the ground the other three pounced on him and gained an upper hand.
"Morgan!" Reid screamed as the kicks and punches kept coming in a steady stream.
"Morgan, help me!" He continued to yell but Morgan was already engaged in his own battle for survival.
Garcia noticed some movement from the bed, Reid was restless and she looked up watching him squirm as if he were having a bad dream. She moved to his side and began stroking the side of his face feeling helpless, her heart breaking.
"Reid, wake up! It's me, Penelope! Come on you can do it!"
His eyes slowly opened, hazed and glassy with confusion and fear. She found the call button that lay next to him and pushed it.
The nurses rushed in pushing her aside to check on him. Garcia moved to the end of the bed watching frantically as they continued their work.
"Dr. Reid! Can you hear me? My name is Dr. Anders. You're safe. You're in the hospital. Everything is going to be fine.
Things began to clear his eyes searched the room and focused on Garcia standing panicked at the end of the bed. He needed answers a lot had happened. He needed to help Morgan, there were too many of them to stop, too big…too strong…
"Morgan!"