My prompt from TobiasHankel
Main Whump-ed Character: Spencer Reid
Bad Thing: Physically Assault
Bad Person: Derek Morgan
One Line Prompt: "Prank? This is not a prank!"
"When mistrust comes in, love goes out." - Proverb
"Morgan?" Reid approached him gingerly. "Do you want to go for a drink?" They had just returned from a 4-day case in Atlanta and to say they were all glad to be back was an understatement. The case had been simple enough, but local law enforcement had not been receptive to FBI involvement. As a result, it had dragged what should have taken a couple of days into a gruelling 4-day long fight for control.
Hotch had returned straight to his office, determined to get his paperwork done as quickly as possible. JJ, Prentiss and Rossi had already left for the evening, each planning their own version of a relaxing night in.
Reid wouldn't normally consider going for a drink after a case, but he was concerned. Morgan had not been himself for at least the last three days. He had been sullen, snappy, aggressive and sarcastic whenever anyone spoke to him. Naturally, that hadn't helped to build a relationship with the local PD. On day two, Morgan was almost nose to nose with the department's Captain. Naturally, Hotch had stepped in and managed to smooth things over, benching Morgan for the rest of the day. This had done nothing to ameliorate his foul mood. It didn't appear that much had changed now they were home.
"Not interested." He said simply, placing some paperwork into a file and sliding it across his desk.
Reid swallowed a little. He wasn't used to this. He was normally the one refusing the drinks, not the one doing the asking.
"Are you sure? I was just thinking that maybe you wanted to talk..." Reid trailed off on seeing Morgan's burning gaze flick up to him. Out of everyone, Reid had really got the brunt end of Morgan's attitude. He seemed to have little patience for his youngest colleague. He'd told him to 'shut up' or 'just stop talking' at least 4 times during their time in Atlanta. Reid had relatively thick skin. Years of being bullied and tormented had seen to that. But those words, coming from Morgan, had stung.
"Talk about what?" Morgan quirked an eyebrow at him.
"I- I don't know." Reid stammered a little. The elephant in the room hadn't been tackled by anyone and he was now kicking himself for thinking he could be the one to address it. "You just... haven't seemed yourself and I thought you might want to talk about whatever's bothering you."
Morgan sighed and stood. "Reid. I don't need to talk about anything. I am fine." He turned, grabbing his jacket and sliding it on. "And trust me, if I did need to talk to anyone, you would be the last person I would come to. Okay, kid?" He tapped him on the cheek patronisingly. "I'm going home, I suggest you do the same. You must have a book or something waiting for you." He smiled.
Reid stared in disbelief as Morgan walked away from him. He felt his heart twist in his chest and the unfamiliar sting of tears in his eyes. He blinked it away quickly. Swallowing he moved to his desk, picked up his bag and left the office.
The next morning Reid arrived at work to find Morgan's desk empty. It was unusual as Morgan normally arrived 10 minutes before Reid, after his early morning trip to the gym. He furrowed his brows and sat down at his desk, making the assumption that he may just be running late. Reid opened a file and started reading.
"Morning, Reid!" Prentiss said brightly. Reid jumped slightly at the interruption then smiled awkwardly, his cheeks reddening.
"Morning, Emily." Her gaze drifted across the desks to Morgan's empty chair. She frowned a little.
"No Morgan this morning?"
Reid looked at his watch. It was now 25 minutes since he arrived in the office. Morgan was never this late. He wasn't the most organised person, but timeliness was important to him.
Almost on cue, Hotch approached the pair. "Morgan is taking a personal day today. So, he won't be in."
"Oh, is everything okay? He's seemed a little off the last few days." Prentiss asked, the concern lacing her words. Reid's mind drifted back to the night before.
"If I did need to talk, you would be the last person I would come to."
At least others were recognising he was behaving differently. Surely that meant he didn't need to take the words so personally?
"He'll be fine. If he needs to talk, I'm sure he will." Hotch said sternly.
Not to me.
Reid's gaze dropped back down to his papers. It was almost a relief to not have Morgan in today. After days of feeling like he was walking on egg shells he finally felt like he could relax. It didn't stop that nagging feeling of worry in his stomach though. He couldn't help it. He saw Morgan as one of his best friends. Or at least he did until last night. Regardless, he didn't like to see him hurting. And if Morgan was lashing out, that usually meant he was hurting.
"Coffee, Reid?" Prentiss asked.
"Please. Thanks, Emily." He gave a small smile and dropped himself back into his chair to continue his work.
It was a long day. Reid was finally leaving the office at 9pm. An unexpected and urgent consultation from the Birmingham P.D. in Alabama had landed on his desk at 4pm and it had taken him most of the evening to piece together a comprehensive profile of the Unsub.
He yawned as he picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. Whilst he was tired, there was nothing more satisfying than spending a few hours in his own head compiling data and predicting the actions of a dangerous criminal. It was all he'd dreamt of when he was a kid and working through his PhDs. Sometimes he couldn't believe how lucky he was to be doing something he truly loved.
Suddenly his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and his brows furrowed. He answered it.
"Morgan?"
"Hey Reid. I need to talk to you. Are you at home?"
"Is everything okay?" He didn't sound okay. He sounded down. "I'm just leaving the office. I'll be home in about an hour."
"Okay. I'll meet you at yours in an hour then." Reid was slightly taken aback.
"Uh, okay. Is everything alri-"
The call ended.
Reid stared at the phone for a few moments, confusion gracing his features.
That was odd.
Perhaps he had decided that he wanted to talk after all. It wouldn't be the first time that Morgan had opened up to him, despite his insistence last night that he never would. Reid put his phone back into his pocket and quickly tidied the papers on his desk. If Morgan was expecting him home in an hour, then he would need to make sure he caught the subway on time. He rushed out of the office and began his journey home.
When he arrived back at his apartment, he found Morgan waiting on his doorstep. He was sat on the stairs outside. His expression downcast and cold.
"Have you been waiting long?" Reid asked, looking at his watch. It took him 4 minutes longer than the hour he'd stated. "Sorry, I'm a little later than I said."
He put his key in the door as Morgan stood up behind him.
"No, only 5 minutes." Morgan's mood seemed incredibly low. Reid glanced at him over his shoulder as he pushed the door open to the apartment building. Morgan had never been there before. He knew where he lived, as they all did, but he'd never actually been in the apartment. "It's the first floor." Reid said, gesturing awkwardly up the stairs. Morgan simply nodded and followed him. Reid soon had the door open and was heading into his apartment. Morgan quietly trailed in behind him, closing the door. Reid smiled and motioned gracelessly around him.
"Well, this is it. This is where I live."
Morgan looked around the space, taking in all of the books, the incredibly old television, the lack of modern furnishings and frowned. "Looks like a library in here."
Reid laughed a little. "I find comfort in books. Studies have shown that being surrounded by books from an early age can drastically improve literacy levels. In fact, literacy-"
"Reid, Reid! I don't need a lecture right now."
Reid bit his lip and nodded. "Sorry." Remembering his social skills he gestured to the couch. "Sit down." He quickly realised there was a pile of books on the arm of the couch and instantly went to move them, his cheeks flushing slightly as he did.
Morgan sat down on the couch and watched as Reid dropped his bag onto the table and placed his jacket on the back of a chair. Feeling his eyes on him, Reid turned and looked at him with his usual doe eyed expression. The one that would normally make Morgan smile and want to ruffle the kid's hair, but today it created a deep-seated irritation in his gut.
"Is everything okay, Morgan?"
"Come and sit down."
Reid furrowed his brows. "Okay." He said cautiously, moving over to the couch and sitting down, his body turned towards Morgan ready to provide any support that he needed. He eyed him carefully for a few moments. Morgan's jaw was tense, his fists were clamped shut and his breathing was shallow in his chest. "You look angry." Reid said gingerly. "Are you okay?"
Morgan then unclamped his hands rubbing them on his knees. A clear indication that he was trying to dispel the anger inside him. It made Reid relax a little. Morgan pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and held it out to Reid. "What's this?' Reid frowned and looked at the piece of paper, taking it from Morgan. He opened it up to find a typed letter to Carl Buford. His frown deepened as his eyes quickly scanned down the page and his heart rate quickened in his chest.
"What- what is this?" Reid asked, his voice shaking.
His name and signature were at the bottom.
"I was hoping you could tell me." Morgan's fierce eyes landed on him.
Reid's mouth dropped open. "I- I didn't write this. Where did it come from?"
Morgan scoffed snatching the letter back. "The man himself."
"That's impossible." Reid said in astonishment. He was absolutely floored. "Morgan, you don't actually think I would write something like that to him, do you?"
"I don't know, Reid. You see anything as statistics, so why not my abuser? It's a chance to learn, right? He's a fascinating case. A big part of the community, hiding in plain sight. Pretty much any pprofile's dream to get an interview with such a prolific serial offender."
Reid's hands shook slightly as he looked at his friend across the couch. "Morgan, I would never do that to you."
"So, what did you learn? Did you learn about him? Learn about me?" Morgan's eyes were starting to fill with fury now.
Reid was feeling incredibly anxious. "Morgan, can we just take a step back for a second... you've been to see him?"
Morgan turned away. "Yeah."
"That's where you were today?" Morgan nodded. "Did he ask to see you?"
"Yeah, said he had something important to tell me. I thought it might be in relation to more victims."
"And that's why you've been so 'off' these last few days." Reid said gently. Realisation and understanding swept over him.
"But it wasn't about victims. It was about you." Reid looked at Morgan in complete confusion. "He told me how you've been writing back and forth with him for the last few months. This was only the first letter. You've been trying to get into his head, to understand his motives, his victimology. To understand why he chose me and the others." Morgan's fists clenched again.
"Morgan, I would never do that." Was all that Reid could manage. He was in complete shock.
Morgan stood up at this and started pacing. "Don't, Reid. Just don't! The stuff he knows, it couldn't have come from anyone else. He knows about your Mom and her illness, he knows about your Dad leaving. He knows that you enjoy chess, reading and Doctor Who. He knows what you studied and that you were bullied throughout your childhood. Reid, he knows everything about you!"
Reid's eyes were wide now. "Wh- what? And you think I told him? I just wrote to him and said 'hey, speak to me about your crimes, by the way, my Mom is Schizophrenic, my Dad left when I was 10 and I was severely bullied?' Are you hearing yourself, Morgan?" Reid's voice was becoming a little desperate.
Morgan was staring out of the window now. "But that's what we profilers do, isn't it? We share pieces of ourselves in order to relate. To get people to open up. You're particularly good at it. You get people to open up to you by empathising."
"You can't be serious." Reid stood up and moved over to Morgan at the window. "I would never write to Carl Buford."
Morgan turned around now, looking Reid dead in the eye. "So, you're telling me you've never wanted to ask me exactly what happened?"
Reid's gaze dropped at this. "I would never want to put you in that situation."
"But you have wanted to know."
"Only if you ever felt like opening up to me, which you haven't... and that's fine. I would never push you."
Morgan took a step forward and Reid took one back.
"You just went straight to the source, didn't you?" Morgan pushed his chest out in a confronting manner. It made Reid want to shrink back.
"Morgan, please. I wouldn't do that to you." Reid's nerves were finally getting the better of him and he started laughing. "This has to be some sort of prank. Right?" He laughed again. "You're getting me back for the other week."
Morgan advanced on him, grabbing him by the collar. He yelped slightly. "Prank? This is not a prank! You think I would make a fucking joke out of this?!"
Reid's hands came up to Morgan's grasp on his collar. The smile had dropped from his face and his eyes were wide. "Derek.' He said unsurely. "Please just think about this."
"I've had a fucking plane ride to think about this." Morgan said angrily bringing his other hand up to join the grasp on Reid's collar. He spun him and slammed his back into the bookshelf. Reid hissed in pain as his head bounced off a wooden shelf. He couldn't believe what was happening. He felt like a kid in college again. His body was freezing up.
"Morgan, you're hurting me." Reid gasped.
"Not as much as you've hurt me." Morgan hissed at him, tightening his grip around Reid's collar.
"I haven't done anything." He croaked out, desperately grabbing at Morgan's hands.
"You can't even tell me the fucking truth!" Morgan released one of his hands and punched Reid hard in the stomach. He doubled over, his legs giving way. Morgan pulled him back up by his collar. Tears were gathering in Reid's eyes.
"Morgan - please." He begged through coughs. His head spinning. This couldn't be Morgan doing this. He was in complete disbelief.
"Did you get all the information you wanted?" He hit him again in the stomach. This time he let him to drop to his knees. "You son of a bitch!" He let another punch fly and it landed on Reid's temple dazing him and knocking him to the floor. He cried out in pain. His hands automatically came up to his face to protect himself.
"Morgan-" Reid tried again but Morgan's foot met with his stomach.
"You take my – biggest – trauma and you – turn it into – a fucking- study!" His kicks punctuated his words. Reid was now curled into a tight ball. He was coughing with tears running down his face. Morgan pulled him back up to his knees. His last kick caught Reid in the eye and split his eyebrow. Blood ran down the side of his face. "Tell me!" He shook him. Reid looked petrified; he closed his eyes tightly as he was shaken. "Are you that fucking detached from human emotion that you think this is okay?" He pulled the letter out again and shoved it in Reid's face. He flinched away as he did. "Tell me dammit!"
"No." Reid whined. "I didn't do anything." Flashbacks to Tobias were filling his head.
Confess.
"You know what?" Morgan stood back, leaving Reid shaking on his knees. His eyes squinted open not daring to look at the man he once called a friend. Morgan sent one more punch in Reid's direction, catching him in the jaw and splitting his lip. Reid bent over forwards bringing his hands to his face. Morgan dragged him back up to his feet by his shirt. Reid's legs could barely support him now. Under normal circumstances a bleeding and terrified Reid would break his heart. But right now, his vision was white with fury. The only person that could bring out this level of anger was Carl Buford. "You fucking deserve each other." He shoved Reid backwards letting him lose his balance. He crashed through his glass coffee table, landing on his side with a thud. He groaned as the glass cut into his skin and his shoulder screamed from the fall. He was instantly aware that his shoulder was dislocated.
Reid cried out as he rolled over onto his back, grasping at his shoulder. For a split second, Morgan's conscience kicked in and he felt a pang of worry. But his mind quickly turned back to the image of Reid writing a letter to Buford in his usual excitable manner and the darkness descended again.
"I will be telling Hotch about your little communications in the morning. Don't expect to still have a job by the afternoon." Morgan spat. "And don't ever contact me again." Morgan headed towards the door. As he did, he saw Reid's framed PhD certificates on the wall. If it wasn't for Reid and his abnormal intelligence, his constant need to learn, vex or please people's feelings, none of this would have happened. Irrational resentment boiled up in him and he pulled them off the wall. "Fuck you-" He threw one at Reid. It missed, smashing to the floor. "and your fucking-" Second one missed. "Doctorates!" The third one caught him in the cheek with the corner. It didn't smash but bounced across his face and clattered onto the floor to his right. Morgan finally left the apartment, slamming the door behind him.
Reid lay on the floor, shaking uncontrollably. The pain in his shoulder and down his arm was excruciating. He knew he needed to go to hospital, but he couldn't move. His body and mind were too much in shock.
He couldn't get his head around what had just happened. How did it even come to this? His vision was swimming as his breathing started to pick up. Every harsh breath was sending shooting pains down his arm. He cried out as he tried to move. He dropped his head back down to the floor. The crunch of broken glass reminding him of exactly how angry Morgan had been.
Morgan thought he'd been writing to Buford. Morgan believed he'd been writing to Buford. The thought sickened him. No matter his intrigue with the minds of psychopaths and sociopaths, there are certain lines you don't cross. That was certainly one of them. The fact that Morgan could believe that of him horrified him. And the fact that Morgan had resorted to beating him to a pulp before even giving him a chance to reason with him, horrified him even more. As spots started to fill his vision, Reid realised his body had entered a state of panic. His chest clenched tightly as his breathing became deep and fast. Visions of Morgan's angry expression flashed in his mind and he found himself gasping. He couldn't stop his lungs from expanding and contracting furiously. He began to feel dazed and emotions overwhelmed him. A loud sob escaped his lips as Morgan's hate-filled words echoed in his mind. The pain in his shoulder flared up once more, causing him to break out into a sweat. His vision flashed white then came blissful and peaceful darkness.