A/N: Takes place sometime after Vega survives the shooting, when her and Wylie are together. Written for Nicole (WeBuiltThePyramids), and I'm very, very, late on my delivery, but here it is. (It's been sitting on my computer mostly completed for over six months because I was having trouble with the ending.) Anyway, she wanted to see something with Vega reacting to Wylie getting hurt on the job. Enjoy!

Wylie wasn't even supposed to have been in danger.

The thought keeps running through Vega's mind as she sits in the uncomfortable plastic chair, waiting to be allowed back to see him.

This wasn't supposed to happen.

Jane and Lisbon are sitting nearby, talking quietly, and Cho has stepped outside to take a phone call. Vega wraps her arms tighter around herself, hating how helpless she feels, how there's nothing she can do but wait. Despite the doctor's earlier assurance that Wylie is expected to make a full recovery, the sight of the crushed van he was in keeps popping into her mind, and she knows she won't feel better until she can see him with her own two eyes.

And she still has no idea when that will be.

…

She remembers waking up for the first time in the hospital after she was shot - groggy from drugs, piecing together what must have happened from her scattered memories and the sharp pain in her side. And then she looked over and saw Wylie asleep in a chair next to her bed, folded in on himself in a manner that she just knew had to uncomfortable, and she felt the panic that had begun to bubble up inside her slowly ease away.

She was alive, and she had friends that would help her through this. She'd be okay.

And now every minute that she's stuck in the waiting room is another minute that Wylie is back there alone, another minute where he might wake up to an empty chair beside him.

…

When Wylie's nurse reappears and walks towards them, Vega is on her feet immediately, trying to read his face and expression for any clues as to what he is about to tell them.

"Mr. Wylie has been approved for visitors, but can only have one at a time right now," the nurse says.

Vega automatically steps forward before remembering that she's not the only one who has been waiting to see him, and she pauses as she glances back at the others.

"Go," Lisbon assures her, "I'm sure he'd want to see you first."

Cho, who has returned from his phone call, gives a silent nod in agreement, and that's all Vega needs before she turns to follow the nurse down the hallway.

...

His face is cut and bruised, and his right arm is in a cast. Vega gingerly takes his left hand between her own, needing to feel him solid and warm, and is startled when his fingers gently curl around hers.

"Michelle?" He cracks open his eyes, his voice rough.

"Yeah, it's me." She sniffs, realizing then that at some point she'd started crying. "I'm here."

"What happened?"

"The, uh, suspect we were tracking tried to make a run for it." Despite her best efforts to stay calm for him, her voice is wavering. "But he lost control of his car and crashed into the van you were in." While Vega and Cho had been tracking down the suspect in the building, Wylie had been parked outside and monitoring the surveillance feeds.

Wylie laughs, and then winces in pain.

"What could possibly be funny about that?" Vega demands.

"It's just - ironic," Wylie says, still smiling. "You're the one with a history of crashing cars, and somehow I'm the one who ends up in the hospital after a car accident."

Rather than share in the amusement, Vega looks away as she suddenly feels worse.

"Hey - I'm gonna be fine," Wylie assures her. "It's okay."

"It's not that - or, not just that," Vega says, shaking her head. She tries to sort through the emotions rushing through her. "You're always reminding me to not to crash another car -"

"As a joke."

"But not entirely, right?"

Wylie's hesitation gives Vega her answer.

"See, exactly - because I've crashed two cars. On purpose. And I've been shot. And I keep - I keep going out there and taking risks without thinking how other people feel. How you feel." She entwines her fingers with his as she tries to find the right words. "Then tonight… I got a taste of what it's like to be on the other side out in the waiting room. And it sucks. It really sucks."

"We're FBI agents," Wylie counters. "It's our job to take risks. And getting shot was not your fault. Besides," he gives her hand a squeeze, "your fearlessness out in the field is one of the things I love most about you."

Vega lifts Wylie's hand so she could press a kiss to the back of it.

"How is it that you're the one in the hospital bed, and somehow you're still the one comforting me?"

"I'm just that good of a boyfriend," Wylie says, his smile cocky. Vega rolls her eyes but still easily returns his smile.

She knows she should let the others have a chance to see Wylie soon - knows the rest of the team was just as worried as she was.

But for the moment she allows herself to relax, grateful that once again they'll make it through okay.