Title: Memories
By: LoraLee2
Pairing: gen
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers, I do not own any CM characters, I'm just borrowing them and will return them in the same condition as I found them.
Summary: Reid tells Morgan his memories of his own birth.

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"So, Mozart was your favorite?"

"What?"

"Come on, Kid, what you said on the plane; you preferred Mozart."

"Well, he's a little more mellow, Beethoven's louder, I mean listen to his 5th Symphony, that's scary when you're not expecting it. The waltzes were always a lot more soothing."

"And you remember all that?"

"What? No, not like that. I mean how could I have known the names and composers? I remember the sounds and the moods. You know, loud/scary, soft/happy, slow/sleepy. It's all pretty vague, it's more I remember hearing them later and knowing that I liked that one, or didn't like the other."

"How much later?"

"Hmm? I don't know. Kids don't keep track of that kind of thing."

"Come on, it's not like I'm going to laugh at you about it."

"Why not? You find the rest of my life funny."

"Hey, you know I don't mean anything by all that. I tease because I like you, it's just the way I interact with people."

"I know. But I'm still not sure I want to give you any more ammunition."

"Come on, we all already know your memory's amazin', what am I going to do with that fact that I don't already?"

"I don't really want to know."

"It's a simple question; how far back can you really remember?"

"Well, it's really misty, cloudy, but I do have this one very early memory: I start out all comfortable and floaty, it's dark and quiet, I'm snuggled in really tight, and I'm just happy, no worries, no fears, everything's right with my world.

"Then all of a sudden snuggly turns to squished and it's a little hard to breathe, but it's okay because I don't really need to breathe and it's happened before and it always goes away. It does go away, but it comes back. And then it comes back again.

"I try to stretch, I like to stretch and wave my arms and kick my legs, it always makes me happy, but now it's hard to move, everything is just tight. Then I realize I'm moving, but I'm not doing it and I don't understand what's going on. This has never happened before and I don't like it.

"The tightness and the squeezing keep getting worse and worse, and I feel my head being crushed and I'm terrified. I don't know what dying is, but if I did I'd think that's what was happening.

"I cry, but I don't make any sound. But there is sound, a lot of it. I hear a muffled screaming, and two voices I know and lots of voices I don't. And a strange beeping, it's rhythmic, but I don't like it, it's annoying, not soothing. And I can't identify the pattern, it goes fast, then it goes faster, then it's only fast again. It matches the feeling in my chest, fast, then faster, then just fast.

"I'm unhappy: I want my sleepy sounds back. I want my floating back. Most of all I want the squeezing to stop.

"Then the pressure on my head stops and it's so bright, I've never seen so much light, it hurts my eyes and I squeeze them shut. I'm hurt and scared and I want to cry, but I can't breathe in to do it.

"Then suddenly all the squeezing is over and I'm loose and I'm going to fall. Something's keeping me from falling, but I don't know what it is. I'm not even sure what falling is, but I know I don't want to do it.

"I'm so scared. I can breathe again, but it feels funny, not right. I cry and now I'm making noise. A lot of noise. It's weird I've never made noise before. I have a voice.

"And it's so cold. I've never felt cold like that before. Then there's a new feeling, rubbing. It feels nice. And I start getting warmer, but I'm still all loose, I want the snuggly feeling back.

"Then it does come back, and it's warm. So, now I'm warm and snuggly, but I'm being moved again and I'm a little afraid of the falling feeling, but not as much as before.

"I stop crying, mostly because I'm just too tired to do it any longer. I'm tired and I want to sleep, but there's so much light and everything's so loud and there's so many voices.

"Then I recognize the two voices I know. They're louder than they used to be. But the rest of the voices start to go away and it's just me and the voices I know.

"So, now I know the voices, and I'm warm and snuggly, and the falling feeling is going away. I open my eyes and the light's not quite as bright as it was. I see two faces; these are the voices I know. I feel safe. I close my eyes again and go to sleep."

"Man, that's --."

"Uh-huh."

"You remember being born?"

"You don't?"

"Reid, I'm serious, do you really remember that?"

"Jeez, Morgan. Can't you tell when someone's pulling your leg? Of course, I don't remember being born. Mom told me I always quieted down when she played Mozart and kicked like crazy for Beethoven. And I've read everything I can get my hands on about pregnancy and birth since I found out about JJ, so faking that was easy. And you tell me I'm gullible."

AN: I have to wonder which way the writer's really did mean that, but after having trouble deciding whether his nightmare was caused by a memory from age four or his imagination, I decided on this ending for Reid's last word on the subject. Hope you liked it.

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