Fic: Live and Die This Way 12/13
Title: Live and Die This Way [12/13]
Author: wanderingjasper
Rating: FRAO
Characters: Morgan/Reid, Garcia/Prentiss, ensemble
Word Count: 1956
Themes: AU, action, angst, romance.
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, but I do take liberties with them for no financial gain.
Notes: Warning and rating deal with the chapter content. The story as a whole deals with the concept of sexual slavery and other adult themes. Previous chapters. Thanks go to my beta reader.
Warning: References to rape.
Summary: What happens after you're finally safe?
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Morgan had been under the radar before, but with Hotch’s help to enact his retirement plan, he ceased to exist. There was no record, no paper trail; he was free. Free, with a full bank account and a villa in a quiet town in the rural hills of northern Italy. One thing had not gone quite as planned, and he was standing next to him on the runway of the tiny airport.
Morgan was shaky on his feet, but standing none the less. The fluids had helped, and his wounds would heal. Reid and Hotch flanked him, and he was sure they both expected him to collapse.
“I don’t speak Italian,” Reid said.
“You could learn.”
From across the tarmac, a figure walked quickly towards them, and Morgan registered Reid tensing, fresh with the worry that their ordeal wasn’t quite over yet. He, however, was not worried, because he knew who the figure was. Tall and slim, in heels with a bob cut, she was grinning when they could finally see her face in the light from the plane.
“Derek!” she called, jogging the last dozen feet to wrap herself around him, hugging him tightly.
“Emily,” he returned, slightly pained as she squeezed his arm.
“You hurt?” she asked as she pulled away.
“I’m fine. Where’s Penny?”
“At the house with the kids.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, the guilt clear.
“Everyone’s okay, Derek. It just meant we had to do this sooner than expected.” Her eyes slid across to Reid, who had his arms crossed nervously. “This who got you in trouble?”
“Emily, this is Spencer.” They both nodded at each other in greeting.
“Hotch,” she turned to the man, and they exchanged greetings. “You staying for long?”
“Well I’m going to go see Rossi, but I have things to get back to.”
“Thanks, Hotch,” Morgan said, and clapped him on the arm. “You came through for us.”
“Any time, Derek.”
“C’mon,” Emily urged, waving them to follow her. “You can stay with us tonight. Your place isn’t far off, Derek, but I don’t even think it has running water or power.”
“I did ask Rossi for a fixer-upper.”
They drove for over an hour through rolling countryside in relative quiet, until they reached a small town that was large enough to have a few street lights. They drove through, into the hills, towards secluded villas that looked down over the town and the country beyond.
“Derek!” Penelope accosted him as soon as they’d entered the entrance hall, with a mosaic floor that would look beautiful with a little elbow grease to clean it up. “I thought for sure you’d got yourself killed this time,” she chided, pulling him down to kiss his face. “And who’s this?” She rounded on Reid, brandishing the wooden spoon in her hand.
“Penelope, this is Spencer.”
“Hello,” he said, giving a little wave in greeting this time.
“Hello yourself. You’re so skinny!” she said, but her tone was warm and kind. “Good thing I’ve got dinner, right? Dinner for the grown-ups, anyway, the kids are already fed and down for the night. You two probably want to freshen up first though, right?” She peered at them, and Morgan knew they must both be filthy after what they’d been through. “The guest room has a bathroom, it’s upstairs on the left.”
“Do you have medical supplies?” Reid piped up.
“Yes, we-” Garcia paused, looking between them, and then studying Morgan’s posture. “You’re hurt?”
“I’m fine, Pen. Hotch patched me up, I’m just going to need to change dressings after a wash.”
“Sure, sure,” she nodded.
Once they’d reached the privacy of the spare bedroom, Morgan couldn’t help reaching for Reid’s jaw and pulling him in for a kiss. Reid melted into the contact, both of their aching bodies resting against the other.
“C’mon,” he said as he toed off his boots, “let’s get clean.”
They undressed and Reid helped him peel away the dressings on his wounds, which were beginning to heal around the stitches Hotch had used to help. The shower was a little cold, but the atmosphere was closer and warmer than where they’d come from, so it was a gentle relief. Morgan let Reid ease him up against the shower wall, and gently cleaned his wounds, wary not to use too much pressure. Morgan switched their positions, guiding Reid to lean his front up against the wall.
“Your turn, baby,” he said softly as he gently washed his back and shoulders, and then further down to focus on the smears of dried blood on the insides of his thighs, the evidence of what Morgan hadn’t been able to stop. The last in a long history of abuse that was finally over, that would never be repeated again. As his hand got higher again, his pressed his mouth against the man’s shoulder. “It okay if I touch you here?” He tapped his fingers on the swell of the man’s behind to illustrate his point.
“I’ll be disappointed if you don’t,” Reid muttered, turning his face to peek out from his bracing arms. “I’m getting aroused.”
Morgan chuckled lightly as he gently parted the man’s flesh, fingers gentle against the sore and sensitive skin. “This is meant to be caregiving, not foreplay.”
“Can it be both? It’s been a long time since someone touching me meant I could anticipate pleasure instead of pain.”
Morgan fought the urge to wrap his arms around the other man and pull him close, even though he knew it wouldn’t erase what had happened. Instead he pressed his fingers along the skin of Reid’s perineum, massaging his prostate from the outside. Reid groaned and wiggled his hips back, encouraging more contact. Morgan gave it, and with his other hand working around to stroke the man’s cock, it didn’t take long for Reid to come undone, gasping and bucking his hips, and then reaching needily for Morgan for a kiss. He clung to him, burying his face in Morgan’s neck as water poured over them, his breathing hitched slightly, but he didn’t cry even though he had ever reason to. Morgan smiled as he kissed the side of the man’s face, hoping now, physically so far away from what had happened to him, he’d be able to heal.
It had been just a few days, and Morgan could already sense the telltale signs of edging towards the unstoppable decent into feelings and meaning, of like and want, before need and love. It was too rash, too fast, like the plot of a bad movie, but it was happening. He fought away the doubts and subtle terror at the edge of his mind, determined that even if just for a day, he was going to enjoy being free, and being with Reid.
They ate dinner with Emily and Penelope, and talked casually, as both were savvy enough not to ask Reid about the circumstance under which he came to meet Morgan; they had likely worked out enough to know it was not dinner conversation. Morgan put his head around each of the children’s bedrooms briefly, just to see them peaceful and unharmed by their sudden move. They were both tired, and went to bed without any words, just wrapping around each other and letting the other’s presence sooth them.
The next morning Morgan disentangled himself from Reid’s gangly limbs, smiling and kissing his forehead as he left the bed to use the bathroom. Afterwards he just stood in the doorway and watched Reid sleep for a little while, stretched out in the bed in the sunlight like a cat. He couldn’t bring himself to disturb him, especially when he suspected it would be the last time he ever saw him sleep.
Garcia and Prentiss were on the patio, the latter playing dinosaurs with Lucas and Clara, her camera within arm’s reach, while Garcia spoke on the phone and leafed through a catalogue, and by the sounds of things ordered furniture. They’d only been able to take what they could fit into the car, and Morgan suspected a lot of that room was given to Garcia’s computer equipment.
“You going up to your place?” Emily called as Morgan headed around the side of the house towards the front, mug of coffee in his hand.
“Not yet,” he called back, pausing to turn towards her, “just gonna look at the view.”
Emily's eyes darted towards the house and then back, and then she nodded.
Morgan stood in front of the villa and took in the view, keeping his weight off his injured leg; the rolling hills and the river and town below, and the surrounding country dotted with rural houses. In the near distance to the west, beyond the olive grove on the property, Morgan could see the villa he now owned, a neglected thing that was just waiting for him to help make it liveable once again.
The sound of footfalls got his attention, and he turned to see Reid padding towards him, wearing boxers and the shirt he’d taken off the night before, which were both too big for him.
“Morning,” he greeted sleepily.
“You sleep well?”
“Yeah.”
There was an expectant silence, where Reid looked like he was waiting for Morgan to prompt him. Morgan took a long breath in through his nose and reached into his back pocket, and brought forward a brown envelope.
“Here.”
Reid took it curiously, brow creased as he looked inside. His frown deepened as he pulled out clip of money and several slips of paper.
“What’s this?”
“It’s five thousand Euros cash,” Morgan explained, “and details on a bank account with a hundred thousand US dollars in it, and a contact who can get you a passport and papers if you need them.”
“I-” Reid looked at him, bewildered. “I don’t understand.”
“You can go, Spencer. You don’t have to stay with me.”
“You want me to go?”
“I want you to do what you want,” Morgan explained kindly. “You don’t owe me anything, kid. You don’t have to stay; you’re free. You can even go home, if you want.”
“I thought,” Reid said weakly, but he didn’t break eye contact with Morgan, “my home was going to be with you.”
“Spencer-”
“Derek,” he said. “You don’t have to protect me from myself, I know what I want. I don’t care if it’s only been a few days; I want to be here with you. I want-” he faltered, “I want to stay here with you, and talk about Star Wars, and find out if you read Chuck Palahniuk or were just quoting him by accident, what your tattoos represent, how you learnt Italian. Don’t ask me to go just to prove I’m capable of making that choice.”
He stashed the money back in the envelope and held it out for Morgan, waiting. Morgan didn’t break their gaze as he took the packet back, so he saw the relief easing into Reid’s face, and pressed his cheek into the contact when he raised his hand to stroke along his jaw. When Reid withdrew the hand, he shuffled closer and framed his fingers around the mug of coffee Morgan was holding at chest height, and turned the mug a little, in the process looking at Derek’s hand. The bite mark from when they’d first met was healing, and Spencer, with a brief glance up at him, lowered his mouth and put a lingering kiss on the mark. Then he eased the mug upwards and took a sip. Morgan felt himself smiling.
“Needs more sugar,” Reid said.
“There’s a pot, get your own,” Morgan said, though he made no move to pull away from the contact. Reid hummed contently, taking another sip.