Now on with the show. Enjoy.


When they returned to where they had left Emily and Reid, Morgan and JJ hadn't found anything during on their sweep of the rest of the house. Hotch was pleased to see that she was still awake and trying very hard, but unsuccessfully, to follow the conversation between the three agents. He could see her eyes flickering from face to face, going vacant when she lost her place. Emily still looked like she was in a lot of pain and ready to pass out.

"Was it Deputy Bennett?" Morgan asked as Hotch took Reid's place at Emily's side.

"Most definitely," Rossi said. On the way back both men had already decided not to tell Emily about the deputy's death until she was strong enough to handle it.

"So what do we do next?" Reid asked.

"Nothing we can do at the moment," Hotch said, keeping his eyes trained on Emily. "I spoke to Sheriff Holmes. It is a blizzard out there and all the roads are impassable. We're stuck here until the storm blows over. He'll try to get a snowplow out here as fast as he can."

"But Emily needs a hospital," JJ protested.

"I know she does, but there is nothing we can do until the plow gets here. Prentiss' injuries do not seem to be life threatening. We can take care of her for the next day or two."

JJ snorted in annoyance and Morgan let out a growl before he disappeared from sight. Not long after they heard him punching a wooden rafter. Even Emily in her concussed state flinched at the sound. A minute later he returned calmer. Reid kept his thoughts to himself.

Rossi clapped his hands. "Since it seems we are taking an unexpected mini vacation, we should probably see what supplies are here."

"Good idea," Hotch said.

Derek spoke up. "We can set up camp in the living room. It's big and it has a fireplace. I'll go see if it works."

Hotch nodded his approval. "And I'll get some pillows and blankets," JJ offered. "We can make a bed for Emily by the fire."

"I'll see if I can get to the cars for the flashlights and the first aid kit," Dave volunteered, pulling his coat tighter around his body and heading for the stairs.

Hotch was thankful everyone had a task to occupy their minds instead of standing around worrying about their injured teammate. With everyone else gone, the only ones left in the basement were Reid, Hotch, and Emily.

"We should realign her shoulder," Reid said.

"Shouldn't we just immobilize the arm and let the hospital do it?" Hotch asked.

"We could, but with the shoulder dislocated, Emily has to be in constant pain. She shouldn't have to endure that for a couple of days if we can alleviate it now."

"You're right. Hotch glanced up at the younger agent. "Do you know how to do it?"

"Yes, I do," he said quickly. "It's simple, but it will be extremely painful for Emily."

"I can take it," Emily said weakly. Her eyes were still unfocused so Hotch wasn't sure if she was with them or lost in some memories.

Hotch smiled. "I know you can. Reid, what is the first step?"

Reid scratched his chin. "It would be best if she was in a prone position. It would give you more leverage."

"Right," Hotch said. He gave Emily a slight shake. "Prentiss, can you look at me?" Slowly her eyes came up to meet his. "I am going to realign your shoulder but we need to have you lying down so we have to move you. Do you understand what I'm telling you?"

Emily nodded. "Just do it," she whispered.

"Okay." He looked at the young genius. "It's going to take both of us. You take her right side and I'll try to keep the arm from moving." Hotch waited for Reid to move to her side, sliding his arm behind her back. "On the count of three. One…two…three!"

Together the two men carefully eased her down onto the floor. Emily grimaced against the pain and paled. Hotch knew what was going to happen next. "We need to roll her on her side now!"

They had barely rolled her when Emily threw up again. Hotch gently rubbed her back like he would for Jack when he was sick. After the dry heaves had passed they finished moving her into position.

"What's next?" He asked when he thought she had recovered enough for the next step.

"Well. You need to make sure the upper arm is in its resting position, parallel to the floor. Then bend the arm at a ninety degree angle, rotate it and the shoulder inward toward the chest to make an 'L' shape."

Hotch stared at him and Emily let out a low groan. "Could I have that in plain English?"

Reid blinked. "Oh. Sure. Ummm…bend her elbow at a ninety angle. Her hand should be facing the ceiling."

Hotch took her arm gently and bent it until her hand pointed up. Emily hissed in pain. He felt for her. If it hurt that much with that little movement it was about to get a whole lot worse. "Next."

"Rotate the arm toward the chest."

He did as he was told until the palm of her hand hovered over her stomach. "Okay. Next."

"Emily needs to make a fist."

"Prentiss, can you make a fist for me?" She nodded and struggled through the pain to do it. Hotch laid his hand on top of hers to help her finish. "That's it. You did good."

"Now put your right hand on her upper arm to hold it still. Take her wrist in your other hand and rotate the lower arm back away from the body. Once it is past ninety degrees, the shoulder should move back into position," Reid instructed and took Emily's good hand in his.

Hotch looked her in the eyes. "Ready?"

Emily took a deep breath and brought her knees up. "Ready," she murmured.

Hotch took her wrist and slowly turned her lower arm. Reid winced when she clamped down on his hand. Emily squeezed her eyes shut and swore between clenched teeth. "FUCK!"

There was an audible pop as the joint slid back into place. Emily's body tensed then sagged in relief as the excruciating pain instantly faded.

"How is the shoulder feeling now?" the Unit Chief asked her.

"Still hurts," she panted.

"But not as much as before?"

"Yeah," came her tired answer.

"We should still immobilize the arm," Reid suggested.

"Definitely," Hotch agreed. "But let's get her upstairs first. Then we can find something to make a sling out of."

He rested her injured arm in her lap and moved to her good side with Reid getting out of the way. "Prentiss," Hotch said, pulling her fleeting attention back to him. "We need to get back upstairs –"

"Up…upstairs?" she interrupted, looking up at him with confused and unfocused eyes. "Where am I?"

"You're in the basement," Reid supplied.

Emily frowned. "How…how did I –"

"I'll fill you in later. Right now, we have to get you upstairs. Do you think you can walk or do you want me to carry you?"

A look of indignation flirted over her face. "I can walk."

Hotch let out a soft chuckle. "I knew you were going to say that but I had to ask." He was secretly relieved that she said she could walk. The basement stairs were rather steep and narrow and he hadn't been sure if he would have been able to maneuver her up the steps without hurting her more.

"Okay, let's get you upright." With a nod to Reid, the men eased Emily into a seated position and then held her in place, waiting to see if she was going to be sick again. She closed her eyes and swallowed hard when she tasted bile tickling the back of her throat.

"You ready to go?" he asked her when she reopened her eyes.

"Yeah," she confirmed after another swallow.

"Okay. Can you put your right arm around my neck?" Hotch asked, putting heavy emphasis on the word 'right' so that she wouldn't get confused and try to move her left.

Emily nodded once and sluggishly raised her good arm, laying it across his shoulders. Hotch took her wrist in his right hand and wrapped his other arm around her waist, taking a good hold of her belt. Reid held her bad arm in place with one hand and used the other to grip her belt on the opposite side of Hotch's. Between the two agents, there was no chance of Emily accidentally falling down. Hotch counted to three and as one, they eased her to her feet. With the Unit Chief taking most of her weight, they guided their injured friend over to the stairs, Emily struggling to get one foot in front of the other.

They paused at the bottom step. Hotch squeezed her wrist to get her attention. "Now when I say step, I want you to raise your foot. You got that, Prentiss?"

Emily blinked lazily at him and nodded. "Yeah. Step. Lift foot."

"Good." Hotch tightened his grip on her wrist and belt before setting his foot on the first tread.

"Step," he said and Emily raised her foot, the toe of her boot clipping the front of the step before settling on it. Hotch stepped up and pulled her up with him. They repeated the process twelve more times. Sometimes Emily found the step easily, other times she fumbled around for it. Hotch remained patient, constantly giving her words of encouragement, telling her that she was doing great.

By the time they reached the first floor, Emily was exhausted. She closed her eyes and let her head slip down onto his shoulder. Hotch took a quick peek at her and adjusted his grip on her so that he was basically carrying her. With Emily stumbling between them, the two agents made their way down the short hallway to the living room.

Inside Derek had managed to start a fire, its dancing flames filling the room with comforting warmth. JJ was waiting for them. She had removed the cushions from a couch she found in another room and had laid them out before the fireplace. They were placed close enough to keep Emily warm but not too close for her to get hot. Over the cushions she had throw a blanket and a pile of extra blankets and pillows were off to the side.

"Morgan is looking for more firewood," she explained as Hotch and Reid stopped next to the temporary bed.

He nodded and said, "With Reid's help I've managed to realign Prentiss' dislocated shoulder." He turned to the young man and said, "Let's see if we can put her down as gently as possible."

"Sure," he said and continued to cradle Emily's bad arm in his hands. JJ hovered nervously behind them ready to give aid when needed. She looked at her friend in concern, seeing that her eyes were closed. "Did Emily pass out during it?"

He smiled. "No. She soldiered through it without complaint. She just exhausted from climbing the stairs," he explained as they eased her down onto the make shift bed.

"That sounds like Emily. She's as tough as nails," JJ said with a chuckle.

Hotch held Emily in an upright position with her head still resting against his shoulder, now sound asleep. "We need to make a sling."

JJ smiled. "Way ahead of you, Hotch," she said, showing him the sheet she had cut up.

"Excellent," he said with a nod. Reid let go and Hotch gently moved her arm into position causing Emily to let out a low moan of pain in her sleep. JJ slipped the strip of cloth under and around the injured limb and knotted the loose ends behind Emily's neck. Then she spread the fabric out until it supported the lower arm from hand to elbow. She was about to wrap another piece of the sheet around Emily's chest to keep the sling in place when the storm blew Rossi in, his hair white with snow.

"It's miserable out here. I almost got lost walking the twenty feet from the porch to the SUV's," he marveled, putting down his bundles to shed his snow saturated coat. "I found some rope in the trunk of the cruiser and strung it between the cars and the porch railing in case we have to go back out."

"Good idea," Hotch agreed then turned his attention back to Emily tightening his grip on her when she shifted restlessly in his arms.

Dave went over to the fire to warm his hands. "I brought in the first aid kit. You might find something that might work better than the sheet," he said to JJ.

JJ retrieved the kit and flipped it open. Inside she found an elastic bandage. She wrapped it several times around Emily's chest and upper arm. As an afterthought she looped it around the arm and over her good shoulder, immobilizing the injured limb securely to her body. When she was done JJ nodded to Hotch and together they eased Emily down on to her back. JJ slid a pillow under her head while Reid covered her with one of the blankets he had plucked off the pile.

Morgan entered with an armload of wood. "We're set with firewood," he informed everyone. "There is a big pile on the back porch." He set his load down on the hearth and went to squat next to JJ. He then reached down to tuck the blanket more tightly around his partner. "How is she?" he asked JJ.

"She's sleeping." JJ gently tilted Emily's head to one side and squinted at the bloody gash. "I'm going to get some water to clean off the dried blood. Will you stay with her?"

"Of course," he said and settled into a more comfortable position. Derek wanted to hold her hand but Emily looked so pale and fragile, he was afraid he would break her.

JJ returned a few minutes later with a bowl of warm water and a couple of clean towels. Derek got out of her way and went to stand with the three other men. As one, they watched JJ gently clean out the head wound. Hotch stood with his arms crossed wearing his worried frown. Derek mimicked his pose. Dave had his hand buried in his jeans pockets while Reid fidgeted with is tie.

Hotch's frown deepened when he spoke. "Prentiss is our first priority. Her shoulder's realigned and it's clear she has a concussion, but I couldn't detect any other injuries. That doesn't mean that there aren't any, so we'll just have to wait for her to wake and tell us.

Dave chuckled. "Like that is going to happen. Emily gives a whole new meaning to the word 'stoic'."

A small smile tugged at Hotch's lips and his frown eased a fraction of an inch. "True but she did complain to me about her shoulder several times."

"She told me the same thing," Reid chimed in.

"We need to monitor her condition closely. One of us should be with her at all times." Hotch looked at the other men and they nodded their agreement.

"We should wake her every two hours and run her through a series of questions," Reid suggested. "Based on the answers we'll know if she is improving or getting worse."

Again there was another round of nods and Derek set his watch to go off every two hours. Dave looked at his fellow agents with a slight smirk on his face. "You do know that after a while Emily is going to be quite put out with us for constantly interrupting her sleep."

Reid smiled. "She'll be down right cranky."

"I think we can handle a grumpy Prentiss for a few days," Derek said, also smiling. "It will be a piece of cake."

"When Emily is awake," Hotch spoke up, reminding everyone of the seriousness of the situation, "We need to make sure she drinks plenty of water. We don't want her to get dehydrated. Plus we should try to get her to eat and see if she can keep it down. She's thrown up twice so far."

"Sure," Dave agreed for all of them.

"So what do we do in the meantime when Emily is sleeping?" Reid asked.

Hotch looked each one of his agents in turn. "We work the case and figure out what the hell happened here."


Looks like they are stuck for the night. Come back next week to see how it goes. Until then.