The text message read:

Morgan's been kidnapped. Get to the office now.

Morgan's been kidnapped.

Morgan's kidnapped.

Morgan. Kidnapped.

Spencer Reid nearly dropped his phone when he finally processed the message. Then everything started going too fast. His heart started pounding in his ears. His mouth was too dry. His chest too heavy. His head too light. He needed fresh air.

This wasn't right. No. No! Not… Not Morgan. He was too strong, too powerful, too Morgan, to get kidnapped. Reid felt powerless. Weak. Alone.

Was this how the team felt when he was kidnapped? After Hankel dragged him out of that cornfield and they couldn't find him?

Morgan and the rest had talked with him about what happened then, but they only wanted to make sure he was okay. He'd never even asked about them. What they had felt. He had been through the hellish torture but they had to watch it. They watched him die.

Was Morgan being tortured? Was he already dead?

Reid remembered that pain. That fear. That drug. He felt sick. He'd nearly returned to the drug after Emily's fake death. If Morgan died, he probably wouldn't have the power to resist. That in and of itself was terrifying.

Was Morgan scared? He knew they would find him, right?

That was something Reid remembered with perfect clarity. Through the haze of pain and drugs, that was the one thing he held on to. His team. Their promise to find him. Morgan didn't have that. He didn't have Reid's memory to remind him of every promise the team had made to each other over the years. The promises that swore they would never abandon each other. That they would always be saved. That they would always come to the rescue.

Suddenly, a different memory arose in Spencer's mind. A silver whistle.

"If you ever need anything… Just blow on that."

Stupid Morgan and his stupid jokes. Reid tried to be angry but it wouldn't work. All he could feel was the overwhelming fear.

Reid had never felt this type of terror before. When he was with Tobias, Dilaudid dulled everything. During the Anthrax scare, he felt the pressure of finding the cure. Emily disappeared and he felt fear-powered-determination. Same when JJ was kidnapped.

But this was different. This raw fear came from the unknown. They had nothing to work with. The bare minimum of a profile, a team of unfocused, worried profilers, and an a technical analyst probably on the verge of a mental breakdown.

No motive.

No description.

Nothing.

They didn't even know if he was still alive.

At least when he was with Hankel, they would get video updates on his condition.

Reid shook his head to clear his mind. He needed to get his big brain in gear. He wasn't any help to anyone in this state. He looked up at the sky. In his shock, he hadn't even realized he had made it outside.

What was he doing again?

Right. He needed to get to the office. They needed to save Morgan. Save him before more damage was done than they could heal. He wouldn't wish that torture on anyone, not on the sickest of UnSubs, and especially not on Morgan.

When he turned his focus back to the case, back to his friend, his brother, he found renewed clarity. He wasn't going to let Morgan die because he couldn't do his job. He had made one of those promises too. Now it was time to make good on it.


A/N: Feels dump is now over. You're welcome.

I loved "Derek". It was a great episode and totally not what I was expecting. (Stupid misleading promos.) All the emotions were so raw and I cried. However, I was still mildly disappointed with it. I loved all the Morgan parts, which was most of the episode and the point, but besides Garcia staving off a panic attack, we never got to any of the team's reactions. It was a good closing episode for Morgan, but I needed more and so this was born.

I repeat: You're welcome.

Comments, questions, snide remarks? Leave them in a review!

Iron Rose, out.