Title:  I Need Sunshine 15/?

Rating: FRAO for violence, mentions of rape and drug use, language

Pairing: Morgan/Reid, but mentions of Garcia/Kevin & Hotch/JJ

Summary: Things get spilled as The Urban Legend Killer’s crimes come to an end.

Beta: None. Ah well. All mistakes are mine.

ConCrit:  Better than watching Reid suck on a lollipop (and that was pretty darned good)

SPOILERS:  Some canon from all seasons. Many illusions to season 2 and season 4, mostly.

~~~

Disclaimer:  I don’t own any rights or trademarks to Criminal Minds, the FBI, CBS or any of the characters within.  No infringements of these copyrights are intended.  Any similarities between original characters therein are a coincidence.  I make no profit from the following fictional story.  (Fictional, maybe, but I swear this happened all in my head).

~~~

The Delta Theta Pi house

Agent Derek Morgan

I park the SUV in the front yard of the Delta Theta Pi house. Rossi and I both rush out without waiting for backup. We approach the front door and try to knock it down, but it just won’t give. “Rossi, the window!” I grab a flower pot on the front step and hurl it at the picture window, the glass shattering and falling away. Please let them be alive and okay, please let them be alive and okay I find myself chanting in my head over and over.

I feel some glass cut into the palm of my hand as I climb into the main living room, but I don’t pause to examine the wound. I don’t really care. Rossi climbs in behind me. We walk through the living room, checking closets. There’s some wadded and ripped duct tape on the ground near the couch, probably used to bind someone’s wrists. Moving into the hallway, I see and open closet door. There’s a broken umbrella on the ground and the wall opposite the closet has several hanging pictures askew. Signs of a struggle. Rossi heads into the kitchen while I go further down the hall to the back of the house. I can hear my pulse throbbing in my eardrums. Please let them be alive and okay, please let them be alive and okay. I get to the back door and I see a broken lamp scattered on the floor. I also see a steak knife on the floor, covered in blood.

Maybe I’m too late. Maybe he’s gone through with the legend and killed Spence and who knows who else. Maybe they are already upstairs in the beds, murdered. Just like the legend I found in the file, the one based on the Richard Speck murders. This time I get a chance to look closely at the door—it’s been boarded up, nailed shut. That must be why we couldn’t get into the front door either. I wonder if he was trying to keep us out or them in.

I hear three gunshots come from upstairs and my heart stops. Please let them be alive and okay, please let them be alive and okay…

I run down the hall and up the stairs, only to see Rossi bleeding on the ground. He sees me and tries to speak, but all that comes out is a sputter of blood. Larry Karnes is standing in the hallway wearing only boxer shorts, holding a gun. Reid is on the ground, not moving. His arm is bleeding and his wrists are locked into a pair of handcuffs. Lizzie Rossi is kneeling at his side, cradling his head in her lap. She is staring down the barrel of Larry’s gun with a look that’s both strong and scared.

“Larry Karnes, drop the gun right now,” I command, my own weapon aimed strongly at my target.

“What’s to stop me from shooting her when you pull the trigger?” he says, turning to face me without moving the gun aimed at Lizzie. “If I can’t have her…”

“Nobody can? If you really loved her you would let her go.” I swallow, my mouth dry.

“I can’t let her go to you,” Larry says, his anger fading into frustration.

I have to talk that gun out of Lizzie’s face. “Her uncle is dying. Don’t let her watch her uncle die, please. You can’t do that to her.”

“I…Lizzie I just wanted to do what was best for you.”

In that split second Karnes turns, aiming his weapon at me. We both fire. The impact of his round hitting me in the chest is strong enough to send me to the ground, the fall knocking my weapon from my hands. I see Karnes fall to the ground and grasp at the deep red bullet wound in his shoulder. I turn around, my torso in pain, to grab my weapon.

But before I can, another gunshot rings in the air.

When I find my weapon and turn back, I see Lizzie standing, having left Spencer’s side, with Karnes’ gun in her hand. I look to Karnes, he’s been shot in the face. There’s blood spatter all over her dress and her jaw is dropped open in disbelief. “He…he was reaching for the gun,” she babbles. “I had to do it, he was trying to…”

“Lizzie, give me the gun,” I reach out for the weapon, holding back a cry in pain. I’ve never been shot before, but I knew that Kevlar vests weren’t magic. If Spencer was awake, I’m sure he’d be explaining the laws of energy right about now and I’d be giving him a look.

She hands me the gun and goes to Rossi. “Uncle Dave,” she puts her palms tightly over a gunshot wound on his upper chest, right where the top of the Kevlar vest stops. I hear sirens, telling me the rest of the team figured out where we went. Hotch is going to fire me for this I think as I hear the crashing downstairs. They must be here, trying to break down the door to get in.

There is a second grazing gunshot wound on Rossi’s arm, not serious, and the third hit him in the vest. He’s losing a lot of blood. “Keep pressure on that wound Lizzie, and talk to him. Keep him awake,” I instruct. “I have to check on Spencer.”

“He didn’t give him any water,” she says, “I think he has heat stroke.”

I attempt to get back up but my chest is on fire. He was only a few feet away when he fired and…I look over at Spencer lying on the floor. His hair plastered with sweat against his face and neck, his wrists red and bleeding under the handcuffs.

I see paramedics run up the stairs, going first to Rossi while a second team approaches me. “NO him first!” I point to Spencer. “I’m fine.”

“Morgan?” Prentiss kneels next to me.

“I got shot in the vest,” I start to mumble. “Spencer, help him first…”

Then everything goes dark.

~

Four hours later at the St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tucson, Arizona

I wake up in a dimly lit room. A hospital room. I’m in a hospital room in a bed. I feel someone holding my hand. “Spence?”

“No,” Prentiss’s dry voice cracks. “Just Emily.”

“Where is he?” I try to sit up, but my chest feels like there’s thousands pounds on me.

“He’s right there,” she points to my other side.

I turn my head to find him sleeping peacefully in a hospital bed of his own. Someone’s cleaned him up, put him in a gown, bandaged his wounds and put an IV in his arm. “Did they give him anything?”

“No, he woke up after you passed out back at the house and demanded no drugs. He was dehydrated, Karnes hadn’t given him any water and with the heat it made him sick. He also got hit on the head. Besides keeping him overnight to make sure he’s hydrated, he’ll be fine.” Emily squeezes my hand. “Let him sleep.”

Without breaking my gaze at him, I sigh with pain. “What about George? Dave? Lizzie?”

Emily takes a deep breath. “Rossi’s still in surgery, last I heard. He lost a lot of blood, but it looks like the damage was mostly muscular and missed anything major, thank God. Lizzie is okay. While you were asleep, Hotch had me do a cognitive interview with her, help distract her from the worry while waiting for Rossi’s surgery. She said that Larry Karnes raped her. He untied her to do so and afterwards she managed to stab him and help Reid.”

“She shot Larry dead after he shot me,” I say.

“She’s a brave young woman. She was treated some minor injuries. Physically she’s going to be just fine. The locals found Brian Whitney’s body in one of the beds upstairs, along with a few suitcases packed with clothes. The mini-van out back had several of Karnes’ personal effects, fake ID’s for both him and Lizzie as well as several thousand dollars cash that Garcia is still trying to track down the origin of.”

“Emily, what about George Rossi?”

“He died in surgery while you and Rossi were on your way to the Delta Theta Pi house. Hotch and Lizzie will tell Dave when he wakes up.” I hear Prentiss choke on a suppressed sob. “I just can’t imagine what Lizzie is going through.”

“At least she has Dave,” I let myself blink and yes, Spencer is still in bed, still asleep. I let myself look back to Prentiss.

“Do you think he’s going to tell her that he’s her father?”

“I don’t know. With Karnes dead there won’t be trial, so that information won’t be submitted in court and she won’t overhear it that way. She’s over eighteen so there won’t be a custody hearing.” I lick my dry lips. “Is there water?”

“You, Derek Morgan, are dehydrated,” Prentiss says, grabbing a cup of water with a straw from the bedside table and bringing it to my lips for me. “With all that adrenaline and the heat you passed out. That shot you took to the vest actually cracked one of your ribs. You should see the bruise it left,” she manages to crack a smile.

“It’s pretty bad ass,” a tiny whisper comes from Spencer’s bed.

I turn my head to see Spencer. He’s awake and already climbing out of his bed. “Hey you,” I reply, not caring about the giant grin on my face.

“I saw the bruise earlier,” he says, maneuvering his IV pole around so he can sit on the edge of my bed. “Did you know that contusions are the most commonly reported injuries reported by people shot while wearing Kevlar? When an object in motion is stopped, the kinetic energy doesn’t disappear, it’s just transferred to the object it his. This impact causes bruises and other internal injuries that, while less fatal than a gunshot, can still be painful. Also, did you know that Kevlar vests are not bullet proof, but only bullet resistant?”

“I knew you’d say something like that,” I reply, reaching a hand up to cup his cheek. He was only missing for a day but it was a day too long. “When did you see my bruise?”

“I woke up shortly after they put us in here,” he says. “Prentiss has been with us this whole time.”

“JJ wanted to, but she’s dealing with the locals and the media coverage at the station,” Emily gets up. “I’ll go check to see if Dave is out of surgery yet.”

Once Emily leaves the room I turn to Spencer. “There’s so much I want to say…I was so scared when we got to the Whitney residence and found…” I feel tears coming again. “He put your gun and credentials in the microwave and it just crippled me.”

“Derek, I’m fine,” Spencer’s eyes start to fill with tears. “The whole time I was in there I kept telling myself that if I could live through Hankel, Dilaudid, Davenport and Deep Lake, I can make it through this. And I did. Lizzie saved my life. I owe it to her to live it right.”

“I’ve saved your life too, you know. More than once,” I pull his face down to mine. “I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.”

“Derek, I love you,” he says, gently planting a kiss on my lips. “I promised myself when I saw you that I’d say that. Because I mean it. I’m not afraid to say it anymore.”

When we part I run my hand through his hair. “I love you too. No matter what.”

He rests his forehead against mine. “There’s a lot of ‘what’s’ when it comes to me Derek.”

“Tell me. I’ll tell you mine,” I say. “I’m terrified that I’ll never be good at sex with you, or that I won’t enjoy gay sex. I’m scared that my family might not accept me being with a man. And while I would give up my job for you, part of me knows it’s been what’s held me together for so long that I don’t know if I could live without it. But most of all, I’m petrified that I might not be able to give you the future you deserve to have.”

“I will still love you,” he kisses me. “It feels good to say that.”

“You talk in your sleep,” I say, knowing that now I can no longer hold what I know back. “Back at the hotel, you talked about being high at Deep Lake. It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not,” he sits up and shakes his head. “I saw the morphine and I just thought…”

“Whatever group or center or rehab you want to go to we will make it happen,” I squeeze his hand. “Whatever you want Spence, I’ll always be here for you.”

“I’m not doing drugs, I promise. I guess you could say that I had a revelation at the sorority house,” he looks down at our hands clasped together. “I have to tell you something else, about Deep Lake.”

“Anything, I promise I’ll still be here.”

“I shot up the morphine in the bathroom. I thought I was taking a small amount but it was too much. I started engaging in foreplay with Toby and…”

“You don’t have to feel guilty about that Spencer. We walked in on you. Besides, you and I weren’t together yet.”

Spencer shakes his head. “No Derek, that wasn’t it. I’m glad we got interrupted because I wasn’t ready to be with someone and that someone certainly wasn’t Toby. But, out in the woods when we got separated, I was scared and panicking. I heard steps and I turned around to fire and instead of it being an unsub, it was Toby. I shot him.” Spencer sniffles. “I stood there and watched him die because I was too numbed by the drug. Then when the unsub came and I shot him, I made up the story about him wrestling my weapon away. Everyone believed it.”

“Spencer…” I don’t know what to say.

“No, I understand Derek,” he moves to get up.

“No you don’t,” I pull him. “I love you. I’m right here and I’m not going anywhere.”

He leans in to kiss me again and I feel like I should pull away. He killed a civilian in the line of duty while using drugs. Even though I love him more than I could ever love anyone and I’m not going to leave him, I’m worried. I made him a promise, but how am I ever going to be able to trust him at work again? How can I trust him with my life? With the lives of everyone else on the team? I think I’ve just added another ‘what’ to my own list.

“I take it your hot boyfriend is okay with Professor Karnes getting the jump on you.”

We part to see Lizzie standing in the door way of our room. “Hi,” I say, feeling awkward at being caught.

“Emily told me you were awake and I wanted to see the both of you,” Lizzie comes up to where Prentiss was sitting earlier. She’s wearing green medical scrubs instead of the blood-spattered dress I last saw her in. “I hope I wasn’t interrupting any suck-face.”

“I thought it was called ‘making out’,” Spencer says. “But that’s okay. How’s your uncle?”

“He’s out of surgery but he won’t wake up for a while, so I thought I’d come see you since they won’t let me into recovery.”

“Sorry to hear about your father,” I say. “If you need anything from us at any time, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Thanks Agent Morgan,” she says, tears silently streaming down her face. “That means a lot.”

“Call me Derek, Liz.”

“Okay.” She looks up to Spencer. “Are you okay? How’s your arm?”

He nods. “I’m fine. The cut was shallow enough that I didn’t need stiches.”

“My Nana is in no shape to fly out here, but Agent Jareau, sorry, JJ, is going to help me make arraignments for my father since Uncle Dave is here. I’m taking his ashes back to Nana and we’ll have a big Rossi service,” she manages to snicker just a little her pain. “We’ll have to rent a convention center and cook for a week just to feed them all. I just don’t know how I’m going to tell Uncle Dave.”

“Hotch will help you, take advantage of him,” I say.

“He’s already offered to stay with us while Uncle Dave recovers, that’s just going to piss him off,” she smiles.

“You’re staying in DC?” Spencer asks.

She nods. “I can’t keep going to this school. I’m going to either live with Uncle Dave, if he’ll have me, or find a place.”

“If you need a place to stay, you can stay at Derek’s,” Spencer says. “He spends all his time at my place anyway. Not that your Uncle won’t want you around, but knowing Dave Rossi, you might need some distance from him after he gets better.”

“You’ve all been so nice,” she says, standing up. “I should let you get back to sucking face. Thanks for everything.”

“Lizzie? Thanks for taking care of my boy here,” I say earnestly.

“I sort of profiled Professor Karnes as a stalker. I knew when Brian and I were in the car, I just put it all together in my head. At the house, I knew that if I seduced him that he’s be so involved in living out his fantasy of being with me that he’d make a mistake I could benefit from. And he did. See you later,” she says, leaving us alone.

“You told her about your hot boyfriend?” I smile.

“I was trying to distract Karnes and I knew he’d figure I was lying,” he gently rubs at one of his aching wrists. “Move over.”

“Why?”

“I want to crawl in.” Dancing with his IV and the pole it’s attached to, he manages to get comfortable next to me. “Good thing I’m skinny or I wouldn’t fit.”

“Good thing,” I mutter, feeling both exhausted and content.

“About Deep Lake…”

“I’m not going to tell anyone, it was an accident.” I swallow my fears down, if only for a little while. “Besides, I’m sure it would have been ruled accidental anyway.”

“You’re exhausted, let’s get some sleep so we can get released and help Lizzie and Dave with what they need,” Spencer whispers in my ear. “I love you.”

“It’s so good to hear you say that,” I reply, letting my eyes close.

As his breathing slows to a steady pace, my mind races. How did he carry this secret around with him since Deep Lake and not fall apart? He killed someone, albeit however accidental. Even if he told the truth, chances are it would have been ruled justified and he wouldn’t have lost his job on the team. I don’t think anyone would even be upset. Perhaps overly supportive to a point that would drive him crazy. But would they be able to trust him again?

I don’t know if I can.

~~~~~