Morgan's point of view

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine, it belongs to its respective owners

I stare out the window of the jet lazily, my headphones on their usual place on my head. The sun is down already and many of the team members are begining to fall asleep. JJ is sitting in the chair across from me, her head against the window, her eyes closed. Prentiss is spread too, she has been asleep for over an hour now. Even Rossi is asleep.

The only ones beside myself who arn't asleep are Hotch and Reid. Hotch doesn't suprise me, he's usually the last to go to sleep. Maybe its because he doesn't want his team to see their leader in such a vunerable position. But I thinks its mostly because he wants to make sure his family is safe, that we've have all survived another day.

Reid is curled up on one of the couch chairs, a books in his hands. I can tell he is trying to fight off sleep, eager to finish whatever book he is reading. Its not much of a worry, since he'll only need to keep himself up for another five minutes, even though he's only in the middle of the book.

I can't help but let my gaze linger on the younger man. Even though he's just tall and skinny on the outside, on the inside, he is alot stronger then he looks. He's been through so much in his young life. So much pain, and anger, and blood and death. His father left him and his schizophrenic mother when he was just a kid, he was bullied the whole time he was growing up, his mentor left him. He had been kidnapped, drugged, contracted anthrax, and been shot.

He had seen his closest friends, his family, laying in a hospital bed, and he had seen them beat before his very eyes. He has made friends with atleast two people who later turned out to be unsubs, or potential unsubs. He identified strongly with one unsub. He had blamed himself for things that were out of his control.

He was so strong.

Because even though he had been through all that, he was still here. He had kicked his drug addiction. They say you can't do it by yourself, but thats not true, because he did it. He learned to trust again, even though people left him over time. He came to work everyday, hobbling around on crutches, unwilling to miss a single moment of work.

He doesn't see me watching, just continues to read his book, and it looks like there is only a couple chapters left. He's made alot of progress in the last two minutes.

Suddenly I remember the day I had learned just how bad his bullying in high school had been.

"I was in the library and Harper Hillman comes up to me, and she tells me that Alexa Lisben wants to meet me behind the field house. Alexa Lisben was, like easily the prettiest girl in school."

I feel a strong sense of anger at this girl, knowing what this led to. Knowing what awaited Reid behind the feild house. How could she do that to someone so young and so innocent? Someone so trusting? Suddenly I don't think its anger I'm feeling at Alexa. Its hate. A strong, burning hate.

"She was there. So was the entire football team. They stripped me naked and tied me to a goal post. So many kids were there, you know, just watching."

The hate is no longer just for the girl, its for the whole football team, and for everyone there who didn't do anything to help him. Nobody helped him.

"I begged them too, but they just…they just watched."

If I had been on the field that day with you, I would have helped you.

I would have beat each and every one of them.

I would have untied you from that goal post, so you wouldn't have to spend hours trying to do it by yourself.

Heck, I wouldn't have even let them get your clothes off. I would have beat them the second you called for help.

The second they grabbed you.

If I had been on the field with you, you would have made your first real friend that day. I would have stuck by you from then on, fighting off anyone who even tried to mess with you.

You wouldn't have been alone for so long.

You would've learned sooner that not all jocks are jerks.

I would've helped you.

I would've saved you.

If I ever find those people, I'm going to beat them black and blue, and I'm going to make them get on their knees and beg for forgiveness for hurting someone in my family!

How could they do that? How could that have brought them any pleasure at all, to see a twelve year old boy tied up, trying to pull himself free? Those sick sadistic bastards.

If I had been there...

But I wasn't there on that field. So you had to save yourself.

So I'm going to protect you now.

Across from me, Reid closes the book, having finished it just seconds before. It only took him ten minutes to read that whole thing. Man, his last name is Reid for a reason.

He puts the book on the ground next to him, and curls up to sleep. He closes his eyes.

"Night, Pretty-boy." I say.

He yawns and doesn't open his eyes, only curls up tigher.

"Night, Morgan." he mumbles quietly, and within seconds he is asleep.

I smile and close my eyes too, nestling into myself, ready for sleep to take me away.

Man...

I wish I had been there on that field.

I would've helped you.