AN: So this is unlike me because I usually do not do AU's. Buuut... I rewatched "Faceless, Nameless" and it suddenly became so obvious: I had to write this. Done :) So anyway, here is my idea on what could have happend.
Warning: Major spoilers for "Faceless, Nameless" - the season opener for Season 5. Also, this starts from the point right before Reid gets shot, so if yo aren't familiar with this episode, the beginning of this story may be a bit odd. Other than that, this is unbeta'd so the mistakes are mine. That's it, I think.
Reminder of what's going on right before the story starts:
The team is working a case in which an unsub is taunting a doctor by saying he'll kill the doctor's son, and is signing his messages with "L.C." At this moment, Rossi, JJ and Morgan are at the son's school, Hotch and Prentiss are at the hospital (Hotch has been stabbed by Foyet) and Reid is at the doctor's house. Emily, having just spoken to a nurse after seeing "L.C." on a clipboard in the hospital, discovers that it stands for "Living Children." She has just called Reid to tell him this, and that's where the story picks up:
Enjoy!
Reid held the phone to his ear, processing the information Emily had just told him. His mind worked a mile a minute, wondering briefly why he had not considered the prospect of L.C. standing for 'living children' earlier but he only come up with the solution that he needed to invest some time in the study of medicine. Despite this, a startling, but obvious new possibility arose:
"What if the UnSub was trying to tell Dr. Barton that he is actually the target and that he was going to leave his son without a father…?"
Emily did not answer right away, but the fear of this possibility had already engulfed Reid and had him flying out the door to catch Dr. Barton. If this theory was right, now would be an opportune moment for the unsub to strike seeing as how most of the attention would be on Jeffry's school, not his home.
With his phone still in hand, Reid rounded the corner through the open front door just in time to see the unsub standing in the yard, a gun in hand and being aimed at Dr. Barton's head. And, given the profile, Reid did not need to hear the sound of a gun being fired to know what was about to transpire.
Perhaps it was just programmed into him after becoming a Federal agent, but without a moment's thought, Reid's body flung itself forward with the intention of knocking the doctor from the trajectory of the oncoming bullet. As expected, a single shot rang out right before Reid's body collided with the doctor's and sometime in between that moment and when he hit the ground, Reid felt a slight pinch in his stomach.
After a very brief moment to catch his breath, Reid realized that the pinch was more than that. He had been shot. With a warmth now growing across his abdomen but the pain still pushed aside by adrenaline, Reid seized the opportunity to grab his gun and point it right at the unsub. However, even with the adrenaline, he was only able to prop himself up with one hand while the other held the gun.
"You don't want to do this," he stated, his voice slightly weaker than he expected.
"He killed my son!"
"No," Reid said, his outstretched arm now becoming increasingly difficult to hold up. "Your son was killed… in a car accident. Put the gun down. This is not what he would have wanted."
Reid watched the grieving man as he had a brief internal battle, but Reid knew that he would not end up surrendering. No, his pain was far too immense for that. Besides, the sound of sirens now filled the air which no doubt catalyzed the man's inevitable choice.
"I'm sorry," he said as his gun aimed once again.
Without another moment's thought, Reid's finger tightened around the trigger, the gun emitted a much hated sound, and the unsub went down. As the smoke from the gun cleared, every bit of air that Reid had been holding in his lungs was released and with it went all of his energy as well. The arm that was holding him up buckled under his weight, leaving Reid lying on his back in the grass.
"Dr. Reid!" Dr. Barton yelled, suddenly kneeling beside Reid. "I need to…"
"No," Reid interrupted, still trying to catch his breath. "Go to him. Go to him and take his gun. Make sure he… he can't get it."
Dr. Barton seemed to consider this for a moment, not wanting to leave Reid but then apparently decided Reid's instructions were more important. By this time, however, two ambulances and several cop cars were pulling up, filling the street around the home.
"I need a back board and a C-collar," Reid heard Dr. Barton calling to the first set of paramedics. "GSW to the chest cavity. Have them redline him to the O.R. stat!"
As the doctor began running back to Reid, the team's black SUV pulled op and Reid was vaguely aware of his friends and colleagues running towards him. Actually, Reid could even seen Jeffery Barton.
"Go… go to your son," Reid tried to say but the pain in his stomach was now reaching critical. "I… I'm fine."
"Reid?!"
"What happened?"
Morgan, JJ and Rossi were now all grouped around him as Dr. Barton kept applying excruciating pressure to his wound.
"GSW the abdomen," Dr. Barton responded.
"Oh my God," Reid heard JJ say.
Reid's mind was beginning to fog over. He felt chills starting climb up his spine and knew he was going into shock. But there was something he had to tell his team. Something very important. He focused his eyes on the people standing around him.
"Emily," he gasped, still desperately holding onto consciousness. "Call Emily. F-find Emily."
"Where is she?" Rossi asked, concern clear in his voice.
"H-hopsital." Reid said, then took a deep breath. "Something's happened to Hotch."
Several things then happened at once: his team began to exchange glances, paramedics were now surrounding him, Dr. Barton was shouting something but all the while, nausea enveloped Reid. The sky above him began to tilt, his face felt extremely hot and he suddenly knew what was about to happen. He threw himself onto his side to the best of his abilities and vomited, knowing that all eyes were on him. This, unfortunately, meant that they all witnessed the fresh, bright red blood now dripping from the corner of his mouth.
Morgan stood amongst the multitudes of evacuating children, ensuring that they all safely boarded the buses and the school was cleared out. The last thing the country needed was another school shooting of any level, even if the shooter only intended to kill one student. Of course, the team had already established that the unsub would likely take as many out as many as possible which explained the vast number of police and agents surrounding the school and the buses.
"Single file, everyone," he said calmly, trying to mask the sense of danger that could very well be surrounding them. But they didn't know this. Or, they didn't know just how bad it was. It didn't take a genius to know that something was wrong but they did not know a deranged gunman could be hiding around the corner.
The anxiety began to fade, however, as the final student loaded a bus and it pulled away, leaving a parking lot filled with police and Federal agents. Now came the hard part: getting Jeffery Barton safely into his getaway vehicle.
Everyone moved into position, just as they had planned, the car pulled around to the front and Derek, Rossi and four police officers surrounded the teen until he was safely in the car. No sooner had the door shut did one of the officer's radio crackle.
"We've got a shooting at 120 Kensington Road. Federal Agent down."
Morgan's heart nearly stopped. That was Barton's address and there were only two Federal Agents in that house and he knew and cared for both. He looked over at Rossi and JJ and saw the same look. Morgan quickly looked at the officer who thankfully seemed to know exactly what Derek was thinking.
"Go," the officer said. "We've got this."
They didn't need to be told twice. Morgan, JJ and Rossi all darted for their SUV, anxious and scared to discover what had happened at the house. As Morgan raced through the streets of the small Virginian town, all he could think about was how they had just left Reid and Prentiss there alone with no other backup. True, they had been sure that if the unsub was going to strike, it would be at the school and yet that obviously hadn't happened.
Nearly the whole way there their SUV was surrounded by several cops cars and even ambulances. As they neared the home, which was only blocks away from the school, Morgan felt his stomach and jaw clench. Cop cars and ambulances already lined the street in front of the home and he wasn't sure, but Derek thought he could see people standing in the yard. Is that where it had gone down?
Morgan whipped the car into the drive way, coming to a stop behind Jeffery's car and caught his first glimpse of the situation.
He first looked at the paramedics who were grouped around a body on the ground that was obviously neither Prentiss nor Reid. But closer to the house laid another body that was dressed in a light pink shirt.
"Reid!" JJ yelled and she and the rest of them raced toward Reid and Dr. Barton.
"What happened?!" Morgan asked quickly.
"GSW to the abdomen," Dr. Barton responded, his hands still pressed against Reid's stomach.
"Oh my God," JJ breathed, putting her hand over her mouth.
Morgan was sick and tired of always seeing Reid in horrible situations, mostly recently it was anthrax, and now this. The kid looked horrible and Morgan was sure he could see Reid visibly growing paler by the second. The growing amount of blood around Dr. Barton's hands was not too reassuring but it also didn't appear to be quite excessive enough to imply a major artery or some other organ that would cause him to quickly bleed out had been hit.
As Morgan continued to watch him, he noticed Reid trying to gain better focus before he attempted to speak.
"Emily," he breathed. "Call Emily. F-find Emily"
It then hit Morgan. Where was she? Was she also hurt and if not, why had she left him here alone?
"Where is she?" Rossi asked, mirroring Morgan's thoughts.
"H-hospital," Reid grunted, visibly growing weaker. "Something's happened to Hotch."
Morgan frowned. Hospital? Hotch? What was going on? But before he had time to even attempt to piece it all together, he was getting pushed aside by the paramedics and right before he lost sight of Reid, he witnessed the kid flip onto his side and vomit. This had apparently expelled all energy that he had been maintain because he promptly collapsed onto his back and fell into what Derek assumed to be shock. However, the thin line of blood running from his open mouth was not lost on any of them.
"GSW to the abdomen. Have them redline him to the O.R.. Make sure they have a bed open for both of them and if not, you make sure Agent Reid goes first," Dr. Barton said.
Morgan, despite his concern and confusion, felt a sense of gratitude towards the doctor. Derek wasn't positive but he was pretty sure that the man could not choose the order of the patients; it was simply supposed to be determined by who was in worse condition.
It didn't matter now though. The medics were already loading Reid onto the stretcher and rushing him to the ambulance. Morgan, JJ and Rossi followed behind them while Dr. Barton, after looking at his blood-stained hands, went straight to his son.
"I'm going with him," JJ announced before slipping into the back of the ambulance.
Derek stood with Rossi, who already had his phone out, and watched as Reid's ambulance pulled away with its sirens blaring.
"Emily," he began. "What's going on? Where's Hotch?" Rossi asked right away but before she really had time to answer, Rossi was speaking once again. "He was shot in the abdomen. He's being rushed to the hospital now, we don't know anything yet. Now where are you?"
Rossi listened to her for a moment while Morgan waited anxiously. He either wanted to know what the hell was happening or else be speeding towards the hospital where he at least knew Reid would be.
Rossi quickly hung up, however, and started off toward the SUV.
"Hotch is at the same hospital Reid is going to," he said as they both got into the vehicle, Rossi driving this time. "He was apparently stabbed. He's stable but she believes it was Foyet."
Morgan felt anger accompanied with several other emotion stir up in the pit of his stomach. Hotch stabbed by Foyet and Reid shot and coughing up blood. This was just way too much and all at once.
EN: Hope you guys like it so far and as far as an update goes... not sure when I'll get too it but it will definitely be within the next week, but before next weekend because I'm going to a Jimmy Buffett concert which is an all day thing! Ha and then very next day I'm seeing the Goo Goo Dolls! I'm beyond excited at this point!!