Criminal Minds

"If you'd like, I can bring three of you down to the ICU to visit Mr. Hotchner. It's a stretch of our rules, so I'll bring the three of you personally." His eyes, older than his thirty or so years, scanned the group, asking them silently who would be going. When Rossi rose from his seat to join the doctor, nobody muttered a word of protest.

When Reid met the eyes of the others, Morgan nodded. "I'll go with Garcia." He didn't wish to leave her alone right now. Besides, he needed her as much as she needed him. Prentiss nodded towards JJ, letting her know to go with Rossi and Reid. She rose and joined the group heading towards the ICU.

"Now, remember, he'll be hooked up to a ventilator, due to his lung." Doctor Breslin said, and the group nodded their recognition. "Once he wakes, we'll be keeping him on sedatives so he doesn't become worked up." He continued as they rounded a corner, the ICU coming into view through a swinging double door.

Hotch's room was third on the right.

Rossi led the way, as Doctor Breslin hung back now. The room upon which they entered was a private room, spacious, but Agent Rossi felt that on stepping inside, the walls closed in, suffocating him.

The bed in the middle of the room held the man that they'd all come to respect, and honor. Seeing him without a suit shocked Reid, who'd nearly come to believe that a black suit and tie were his natural skin. Aaron Hotchner had a thin hospital sheet covering his lower half. His chest was bare, but that hardly mattered for the large white bandage that covered one half of it. Wires exited and entered his body everywhere one could look.

No one could ignore the machine that breathed for him, a sound that seemed to suck away the silence, keeping time, a ticking clock.

"Aaron." The word escaped Rossi, breaking the haunting feel that had taken over the room. "I, uh…" The senior profiler reached a hand into his pocket and removed something, taking a step forward to the table that stood some ways away from his bedside. JJ wrapped a shaking hand around Reid's as Rossi placed something on the table.

Rossi backed away, and Reid's eyes lit upon the object- Hotch's FBI badge.

"I took it from his house. He doesn't like not having it." Rossi said, explaining himself. When the BAU had gotten the call that their Unit Chief had been shot in his home, they'd rushed there immediately, just in time for a departing ambulance. "Aaron, we'll catch that bastard for you. You just focus on getting well."

"He's right, we've got everything handled." JJ offered, trying to keep the tears that threatened to intrude, at bay. "Jack, he was here for awhile. He's fine, Haley's fine. They just need you back."

"We all do." Reid added, his voice far more quiet than normal. "Soon, if at all possible. Before Morgan puts a fist through a wall or Rossi scares a nurse into giving two weeks notice." Reid viewed Rossi with a certain amount of fear in his eyes, but was elated to see the older agent crack a smile – it had seemed days since he last saw one of those rare expressions from anybody.

"I may have frightened a few." Rossi admitted, just as Doctor Breslin entered the room himself, signaling that their time had run out.

---

Morgan, Garcia, and Prentiss entered the hospital room together, having received the same debriefing from Doctor Breslin as Rossi, Reid, and JJ.

Morgan's eyes slid closed briefly upon seeing his boss in such a condition, neither conscious or breathing on his own. He barely managed to take a breath himself, feeling slightly dizzy. This was wrong – a man such as Aaron Hotchner shouldn't be in this condition.

"Handsome as ever, boss man." Garcia said, her voice hoarse from her crying. "Don't let that get you down." Her words received no reaction from the man in question, unconscious as he was, but then again, she hadn't expected any. The blonde blew him a kiss, and Morgan snaked his arm around her.

"I, uh," Prentiss sighed, shaking her head slightly and starting over. "You scared us."

"And trust me, man, we're not easy to scare." Morgan added, entirely truthful. "I'd rather face down seventeen serial killers than this, any day." He muttered, shaking his head in anger.

"I think that goes for all of us." Prentiss offered.

"Me too, and that's more than I've faced in, well, an entire lifetime." Garcia said, eliciting a laugh from the group. Doctor Breslin appeared behind them, nodding in confirmation of their suspicion that time was up.

"Darn, boss man, that's our cue – I better be seeing your smiling face tomorrow, yes?" With another blown kiss, Garcia exited the door.

"Ditto on what she said." Said Morgan, following her out the door. Prentiss remained a second longer, her eyes on her boss's still form. After another moment, and another nod, she turned and exited the room, realizing just how lucky Hotch had been.

This wasn't over yet.

---

TBC

Author's Note:

Well, this one was slightly longer – more to come, my readers!

This chapter's going out to Agnixx, Happy Birthday. Me liking Criminal Minds is your fault. Entirely. As are most things.

Thanks to my reviewers- Sami Marie, Nexis44, Ecda, GreenIz, and jeannieann.

Until next time!