A/N: Alright, then… (clears throat)

This is my first ever 'CM'-fic. And it was born out of my adoration towards Dr. Spencer Reid (although I've stripped him off the honorific in this fic, but that's a minor detail). He's one of my favorite fictional characters of all time, and a while ago I decided that I just had to write something about him. This fic wasn't born easily, though. I started and interrupted the work several times before finally pushing myself forward until I'd come up with… well, this. (grins nervously)

DISCLAIMER: I, unfortunately, don't own anything about 'CM' – most definitely not Reid, either. (pouts)

Awkay, I'll have to get this shipped out now or I'll definitely change my mind. (takes a deep breath) I really, truly hope you'll enjoy this story!

The Longest Night

Waiting was something Derek Morgan had always been extremely bad at. And that late night he was even more impatient than usual while sitting in the sterile-reeking waiting room of a hospital. He'd never been a particularly religious person, but just then he prayed, from the bottom of his heart and soul.

In the end he took a deep, shuddering breath while burying his face into his hands. That turned out to be a huge mistake, for in a flash he felt like throwing up when the sickening stench of blood found its way into his consciousness. Shuddering once, Morgan lowered his hands and was unable to keep himself from staring at the already dried blood caking them. He needed all his self-control to restrain a sound of discomfort and sadness.

/ It was almost midnight, and Morgan was practically dozing off while turning to a very familiar road that'd take him home. All drowsiness, however, disappeared when he saw something that definitely didn't fit to the picture.

There were two police-cars parked almost in the middle of the street, lights flashing unnerving shades of red and blue. And not all that far away there were two cars that'd clearly crashed. It was easy enough to tell that the accident was a bad one – the second car had practically dived into the first one through the driver's side.

And at the moment cold settled into Morgan's body, although he couldn't understand why. With a small frown on his face he climbed out of the car and began to make his way towards two of the police-officers. Seeing their mistrusting looks he pulled out his badge before talking. "What's going on?" he demanded.

Another one of the police-officers – a dark-skinned young man with quite unfriendly eyes – nodded irritably towards his right. "A drunk driver, that's what – blew nice 2,6 to our alcoholmeter. I don't understand how it even crossed his mind to sit behind a wheel. He had drunk man's luck, though. He escaped unscratched. Castro's gonna take him to the station."

Looking towards the gestured direction Morgan discovered a police-car driving off. Once more he felt a shudder, and labelled this one as that of disgust. All of a sudden a thought that made him feel even colder floated into his head. "What about the other car?"

The police-officer who'd talked to him before – Morris, as he studied from the man's nametag – sighed. "Only one passanger, but he's a pretty bad mess." The man glanced towards the car that'd been assaulted by the other vehicle. "We called for an ambulance, but I doubt it'll get here soon enough." The chocolate-skinned man's eyes flashed with revulsion. "He's just a kid, you know? Not even close to thirty."

Morgan unleashed a hiss through tightly grit teeth. "Shit…" He then glanced towards the vehicle as well, noticing that there was a female police-officer kneeling beside it, talking to someone. "'Anything I could do?"

Morris shrugged. "Talk to the kid, try to make him feel as comfortable as possible. But I'm warning you, he's DOA."

Morgan nodded, then took a deep breath to brace himself before starting to walk towards the car. He'd spent several years in the FBI, seen things most only saw in nightmares. This couldn't be any worse than what he'd already faced, right?

Universe soon decided to prove him wrong. Because as he approached the vehicle he finally got a proper visual of the driver. And at that moment the bottom dropped from his world, making the little warmth that'd been in his body disappear.

Because there, sitting rather limply with his eyes closed, was none other than Dr. Spencer Reid. Judging by how still and pale the young genius was he could've as well been dead.

At first Morgan was absolutely frozen, nausea swelling in his stomach and his eyes stinging hellishly. But then something far stronger than terror pushed him into motion.

Later, he didn't remember shoving the female police-officer further and showing his badge as she snarled who the hell he was, nor did he remember snarling back that Reid was his colleague – friend, hell, almost a family-member. All he remembered was Reid, so clearly that the sight was forever imprinted to his nightmares.

No, there wasn't a lot of blood – just a small cut on Reid's forehead where broken glass had harmed it, and a tiny trail of blood running from the younger man's mouth. But that was where the good news ended. Because the car was utterly, hopelessly crushed, and Morgan had a dark idea that a lot of bones had broken from the side of Reid that'd taken the impact. The young brunet's arm, at least, had twisted into a unnatural angle. And as Morgan looked down he felt like crying out upon realizing that the car's front had practically crushed Reid's lower abdomen and legs while bending in to fill the brunet's lap. Morgan guessed sullenly that most of the damage was inside Reid. And judging by the looks of it, it was bad. The sight… was hopeless.

Morgan most definitely wasn't one to cry easily. But at the moment he would've given anything to be allowed to shed a tear or two.

But that wasn't the time to break down. Because just then a barely audible, heartbreaking mew of pain met Morgan's ears.

Nearly startled he glanced towards Reid's face that held a look of pure agony.

Not knowing what else to do Morgan reached out and touched Reid's cheek, just to let the younger man know that he wasn't alone. "Reid", he called out, only getting a weak whimper as a response. Fear – such Morgan didn't remember experiencing ever before – grabbed a hold of him, squeezing his intestines into a tiny ball. He tried to half-scream although his throat was practically blocked. "Reid! C'mon, Pretty Boy, open your eyes! Open your eyes and look at me!"

It seemed to take a small eternity. But then, very slowly, Reid's eyes did open halfway. They appeared hazy, and it took long before they focused on him. The brunet frowned. "…'rgan?" The brunet then moaned, squeezing his eyes tightly shut once more. The man's good hand seemed to try and wrap around his clearly injured abdomen. There was a whimper when the hand actually made contact.

Finally regaining his ability to function Morgan grabbed Reid's hand, afraid that it'd cause even more damage. "Hey, hey, easy! You're… You're a bit banged up, okay? So take it easy."

Reid winced and breathed sharply. Morgan didn't like the wheezing side-tone he caught. "…Hurts…"

Morgan nodded, feeling helpless and lost. What the hell was he supposed to do? "I know. I know", he muttered in the end, although in reality he couldn't possibly have the slightest clue. He squeezed the younger man's hand in a feeble attempt to offer comfort. "But… You'll be okay, got that? Just… Stay with me, Spence. You'll be okay." It was a command, or perhaps a desperate plea.

Those words did something, at least. Because Reid blinked once, appearing utterly exhausted, and managed to look at him with apparent difficulty. Did Reid… try to smile? "I… I don't feel my legs, 'rgan. 'Can't feel anything. So 'op lying."

Not knowing what else to do and not bearing to watch the younger man's suffering any longer Morgan swallowed thickly and blinked, thrice. His eyes felt hot and moist. "I'll… go and see what's taking the damn ambulance so long, 'k?" He took a breath, but it didn't calm him at all. "Stay awake in the meantime, understood? Stay awake."

He was about to leave when Reid suddenly squeezed his hand, faintly but still. Looking towards the younger man's eyes Morgan found pain and fear, such he'd never seen before. "Stay", the younger man pleaded in a voice he barely heard. "Please."

Morgan felt like there'd been ice in his veins when he looked into those clearly terrified eyes, finally understanding.

Reid… He was sure he was going to…

Breathing was suddenly a hard task when he squeezed Reid's hand once more, as though the hold alone would've been enough to keep the young genius holding on. "I won't leave you, okay? I'm not going anywhere." Good god… Was that his voice? It was shaking. "And neither are you."

Reid's eyes fluttered, barely having the energy to stay open. All of a sudden the fear was gone, replaced by something else. Something that startled Morgan. "Hmh." And then the eyes closed completely. "'ell Hotch I'm 'rry, 'k?" It was quiet for so long that he was almost sure the younger man had fainted. "Looks like I 'n't be coming to work 'morrow." The brunet pulled in a breath that wheezed painfully and winced. "'m sorry." And then it was quiet. Too quiet.

To Morgan time stopped as he stared at Reid's nearly colorless face, his eyes widened and filled with emotions he could usually hide. "Reid?" He squeezed the hand that was still in his but it remained limp, unresponsive. "Reid!" he cried out again, without any success. "Spencer, open your eyes! Don't you dare…!" For some reason the rest faded out.

And then, so suddenly that he screamed of surprise, Morgan was pushed out of the way as a group of medics rushed in, starting to work frantically. Morgan caught a word here and there, such as 'broken pelvis', 'ruptured organs', 'internal bleeding' and 'patient'.

Morgan felt a flare of rage, although he knew it was uncalled for. His mind seemed to want to wrap around something trivial.

It felt infuriating that the young man laying there, with his life in the hands of strangers, had reduced to nothing more than a patient. This was their Spencer Reid – their young genius, prodigy, who always rambled statistics and most often pointless facts only Reid could possibly know. This was their friend, a member of their weird family. Spencer Reid was not just a patient.

Anger, however, shifted out of something far stronger's way when he heard a medic's words that made his whole world still for a few seconds. "Shit! He stopped breathing!"

They kept talking, barking out commands and medical nonsense, but none of that registered to Morgan's chaotic head. All he could see was Reid, how the young man's face grew paler by the second and how the man's chest was much too still. It took everything in Morgan to convince himself that Reid wasn't dead, that there was still hope. Had his whole body not been paralyzed by something beyond terror he would've…

Yes, what? What the hell could he have done? Morgan had never felt so utterly helpless in his entire life, not even when watching Reid being tortured by Tobias Hankle. And he hated feeling helpless beyond everything.

Morgan was fairly sure he also stopped breathing for a moment when the medics paused their efforts for a while, and one of them listened to signs of life. A cold fist squeezed around his heart when the medic shook her head with a grim expression.

Morgan's legs were dangerously close to giving in, and he had to lean against a nearby wall, dark eyes wide and filled with a storm of emotions.

That was the same Reid who'd survived through so much, who'd surfaced from under a ton of things that would've crushed anyone else. He couldn't be giving up now – Morgan refused to believe that he would just…

Morgan fought with his all to hold back a scream, and most likely failed because soon there was a rough hand on his shoulder. The hold was so firm that he was surprised to hear a woman's voice. "Hey, breathe." Those words were so unexpected that he looked to side – and blinked twice with surprise the cause of which he didn't quite understand. Stood there, looking at him with stern brown eyes that seemed to have a hint of gold, was a young female police-officer. She was at least a head shorter than him, but there wasn't a doubt that her voice would've controlled even a full army. Her hold on his shoulder tightened before she spoke again. "You're going into a shock, do you understand? So calm down and breathe. The last thing your friend needs I you collapsing on us. Breathe."

In some other situation Morgan might've laughed, or at least snorted, at the irony of it all.

Wasn't she supposed to tell Reid that? Morgan wasn't the one who…

He opened his mouth, not sure what was about to come out, until a medic's voice claimed all his attention. "I feel a pulse! It's faint, but it's there."

Feeling dazed and breathless, Morgan turned his gaze towards where the medics were still working on Reid. The young genius was still a lot paler than he should've, and there was a bit of blood just below his lips. But he was breathing – he was alive. There was still hope.

In a flash Morgan was moving towards where Reid was transferred swiftly into a ambulance. One of the medics stopped him with an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry, but we need all the room we can get, just in case."

His mouth opened for a loud storm of objections when the same police-officer who'd attempted to soothe him spoke. "It's okay. I'll drive you."

Watching the doors of the ambulance being closed – sealing Reid from his line of vision – and just observing the vehicle driving off was one of the hardest things he'd ever done. It took longer than it should've for him to turn around and rush over to where the police-officer was waiting for him by a car.

The drive to the hospital was utterly silent and seemed to take ages, and almost half of it was lost to Morgan later. When they finally made it to the hospital he gave the woman a hasty wave of thank you before dashing inside. It wasn't until months later Morgan realized he didn't even know her name.

In the hospital he glanced at his hands with a frown, wondering why they felt strange. What he found caused a shiver that went all the way to his spine.

Apparently he'd been wrong about Reid not bleeding. Because his hands were covered in blood from when he'd taken Reid's after the brunet had touched his stomach. /

Morgan took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment in a rather futile attempt to calm himself as those events played themselves over and over again in his head.

He wanted to believe that Reid wouldn't die today because of some idiot, that the last time he saw the young genius wouldn't be on that street with the younger man struggling so very hard to stay awake for just a little bit longer. Morgan needed to believe, because otherwise he would've gone inside. Because at the moment that belief – that childish determination that there was some justice left in this world – was all he had.

He took another breath, so deep it made him feel dizzy.

It was deviously easy to sneak into the path of 'should haves' and 'what ifs'.

Morgan didn't manage to snap out of his thoughts until he heard steps. His eyes flew open, darting demandingly for a doctor to finally show up with some news. Instead he found a sombre faced Aaron Hotchner walking towards him. It took a moment before he remembered that he'd called his superior while on his way to the hospital. "I called the others. They should be here soon", the dark-haired man told him. "Any news?"

Morgan shook his head, then turned his gaze towards the door through which Reid had been wheeled. It didn't budge. "I've been trying to ask whenever someone comes out of there, but they won't tell me anything." It took several moments before he managed to talk again, a sharp edge in his voice. He could've definitely used something to punch. "What the hell is taking them so long?"

Hotch looked at him for almost a minute – he could feel it although he didn't look – before talking. "There was no way you could've seen this coming. You do understand that, don't you?" The man's eyes shifted towards the door he'd been glaring at for the past few hours. Morgan had never seen those dark eyes carry the look they did then. "Even you can do only so much to protect him."

Morgan didn't know what to say to that, so he pressed his lips together tightly and looked back towards the goddamn door that wouldn't open. He felt choked and his narrowed eyes stung like hell while he sat there helplessly, vaguely realizing that he was shivering.

Time seemed to stand still as they waited there in utter silence.

Perhaps the hectic night had taken its toll on Morgan, after all. Because he was almost dozing off when Hotch placed a hand to his shoulder, squeezing unnecessarily tightly. Morgan's chest shifted uncomfortably when he saw a grim-faced doctor walking towards them.

Although his legs barely supported his weight Morgan got up, biting his teeth together so hard it could be heard and attempting to steel himself for anything.

Although he appeared frail and was the baby of the bunch they all fought to protect, Reid was also a tough kid, one of the toughest either one of them had ever seen. They'd almost lost him several times, but somehow Reid had always fought his way back to them. At the moment they could only hope that Reid would manage to pull a one more miracle for them.

/ Morgan felt tempted to chuckle as he ruffled Reid's hair in the jet, making the young genius wake up with a jolt. "Time to wake up, Pretty Boy. We've already landed."

Rubbing his face Reid mumbled something incoherent. "I had… a weird dream."

Rossi's eyebrow arched. "You've had quite a bit of those lately."

Reid only managed to yawn as a response.

In the end Morgan spoke out. "Reid, seriously, go home. You need rest."

Reid frowned, still appearing sleepy. "What about the paperwork?"

"There's nothing about them that can't wait until tomorrow", Hotch pointed out.

"Yeah." Prentiss poked Reid's forehead gently, then spoke in a voice that sounded softer than usual. "We wouldn't want that hard drive over there to tilt."

Reid grinned faintly, then got up, stretched and took his bag. With a tiny wave the genius headed towards the nearby door. "See you tomorrow, guys."

With their brief responses the door closed between them and Reid. And somehow the jet felt much colder than before. / (1)

End.

1) To those left wondering… Yes, that scene's the last time they saw Reid before the accident.

A/N: (chuckles at oneself) Okay, it's totally ridiculous how insecure I am about sending this right now – it's taking me all my willpower not to change my mind. But hey, you tell me…

Was it worth your time? Even decent? Or should I delete it and pretend it never even existed? PLEASE, do leave a review before you go – your thoughts would be seriously appreciated! (gives adorable puppy-dog's eyes)

Awkay, I've gotta tune out before I'll get chased away from my computer.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to all those who read this!

Take care!