Gold Blood (Criminal Minds, Derek Morgan x OC Fanfiction)

02.44 A.M.

[Trigger Warning: Mention of suicide.]

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[Elizabeth’s Point of View]

My feet protested as they dug into the snow. Icy cold air burned my lungs; I could see my breath fogging before my eyes as I panted for oxygen. My heart pounded in my chest with fright. Running away seemed to be my default–both literally and figuratively–until a pair of strong arms intercepted me.

I screamed.

I trashed within his grasp, desperate to free myself. I punched blindly, kicked–anything to get away from him.

“Baby!” his voice was off. “Elizabeth!”

My eyes propped open, startled. Derek’s chocolate eyes trained on me; alert and wary. That was when I realized that I had been dreaming and tried to punch him on the face in my sleep. Realization began to sink in as the remaining of my slumbers left me.

“Derek…” I sighed in both relief and guilt, “…I’m so sorry.”

His firm hold on my wrists loosened. Had Derek was not an avid fighter himself, there was a chance that I would’ve hurt him.

The handsome agent carefully brought my hands down to rest on top of my stomach. Brushing my sweat-drenched hair back, he then planted a sweet kiss on my temple. “It’s okay, baby. It’s just a nightmare, sweetheart.”

I let myself melted in his welcoming embrace.

“You’re still shaking,” he murmured, rubbing my arm as if trying to warm me up. As if he knew the deathly cold that was in my dream.

“Scoot over,” he said knowingly.

I happily did what he asked, scooting my weight in the small hospital bed while being careful not to disturb the IV attached to my arm, or the injury on my right leg and my ribs. As soon as I gave him the space he needed, he carefully climbed next to me, wrapping his left arm around my shoulders and pulling me close to his chest.

The warmth that radiated off of his sturdy form and the close proximity between us brought the solace that I needed. Soon I found my breathing normalize. Inhaling his comforting Derek scent, I began to close my eyes again when he started speaking softly.

“It must be very frightening for you.”

I hummed. “Dying?”

A soft but bitter scoff escaped Derek. “Yeah, that too.”

I shook my head. “Mm, no. It wasn’t.”

Derek pulled his chin away from on top of my head to look at me questioningly. I explained myself. “It was peaceful, actually,” I said with a hint of smile on my face, remembering my hypothermic hallucinations that led to my cardiac arrest a few days ago before the medics brought me back to the land of the living. “Blissful, even.”

There was a mild surprise on his face as he stared at my face. I smiled softly at him, not realizing that I was giving him quite a reverent look as I reminisced my near death experience. “You were there.”

There was a conflicted look in his kind eyes as he gazed at me. “Really? Can you tell me, hm?”

“You saved me,” I said, smiling to the fact that while I had been hallucinating about him saving me, he had actually been trying to save me from certain death in real time. “Then you gave me your coat and a very, very warm hug.”

I had never seen such gentleness in both Derek’s eyes and smile as he listened to my story. It was almost as if he was hanging upon every words I said. I continued.