Note: To the guest who posted the review who kindly has told me that "this sucks" and you "wouldn't even bother posting a second chapter."

Thanks for your input, but really, it could have been a bit more constructive. Maybe this chapter will change your mind...

Chapter 4

The BAU was empty and dark as JJ wobbled through the door. Automatic lights turned on, emitting just enough light to avoid running into the plate glass doors. Rossi was walking carefully by her side carrying her baggage, but dropped it to the ground and switched on the full lights as they entered. "I thought there would be a welcoming party for the injured hero." He tried to joke lightly, but JJ was having none of it.

"That's because our injured hero isn't home," she said sadly. "and I shouldn't be either."

"JJ, you need to rest. Staying at the hospital wasn't going to help you at all...and Emily would have been pissed."

"Screw Emily. If she takes care of us so much, why doesn't she just let us take care of her for once? Damn!" One of her crutches had caught on a chair, and she stumbled. Rossi caught her and gently lowered her into Reid's desk chair. Suddenly, they heard the clomping footsteps of Garcia's
pumps as she made her way towards them.

"JJ! Oh god, are you okay?" Garcia's face was awash with concern, and JJ could tell that she had been crying recently. The corners of her mouth were turned down, and her eyes were puffy and bloodshot.

"Garcia, I'm fine."

"You guys were shot! With bullets!" The tech looked down at the brace and mess of bandages covering JJ's leg. "You were bleeding!"

JJ smiled weakly. "It's not the first time, Garcia."

"But Emily...how's Emily?"

"Aaron is going to call me the first second that he has any news. She's in surgery now. The paramedics thought that even though the vest had stopped the shot, he was using such a high caliber gun that the force of it cracked a couple of her ribs."

"Why didn't they catch that? Honestly, I am going down there to give them a piece of my-"

"Garcia, calm down." Rossi said, pulling up a chair beside JJ and leaning back. "We're fairly certain Emily never actually went to get checked out."

The tech pulled up a third chair, nervously spinning side to side. "But broken ribs...that's not that bad, is it?"

"There was evidence of internal bleeding, so the medics think that the broken ribs might have punctured an organ, and the altitude of the plane ride only exacerbated the problem."

"Oh God."

"And that's all we know." JJ said, looking crestfallen. "Hotch sent me home with Rossi so I could heal."

Garcia looked relieved. "I could drive you home, honey."

"Thanks, Garcia, but Will and Henry are coming to pick me up."

"Correction." Will's twang rang through the empty bullpen. "They're here."

"Mommy!" Henry shouted, running towards her. JJ cringed away, laughing and grimacing in pain, as Henry tried to climb up onto her lap. Rossi scooped up the little guy, who was still in his dinosaur pajamas. "Whoa there, buddy. Momma's got a boo-boo."

Henry turned his trusting, gray-brown eyes toward his mother, suddenly concerned. "Is mommy going to be alright?" He asked, his perfect little face locked into a frown.

"Mommy's going to be fine." JJ responded. "She just needs to rest a little...just like you! Did Daddy let you go out in your footy pajamas?" Will smiled as he picked up her bags, and Rossi held Henry by the hand as he walked them out to their car. As they drove away, Rossi walked back into
the BAU to find Garcia still sitting and spinning in the chair.

"I want to go with you."

"Who said I was going back?" Rossi asked, surprised.

"You left your bags on the plane."

"I'm impressed."

"I work with a team of profilers, Agent Rossi. You learn to pick these
things up pretty quickly."

"Okay. I just need to run to Emily's apartment and get some clothes for her, then we can head out."

"Sounds like a plan. I'll drive!"

"Garcia, wait!" Rossi called, but she was already racing back to her office to grab her purse. Rossi looked around the BAU, and for the first time, felt doubt creep into his heart as he thought about Emily, lying prone in a hospital in the middle of nowhere.

Emily could literally feel the morphine flowing through her veins, capping the pain little by little. The blissful ignorance left her cloudy, and also left her vulnerable. Memories flooded her mind, a montage of clips of her life. It was sobering, but also lovely. She saw her friends, her family, and her friends that had become her family. In the back of her fuzzy mind, she noticed that certain faces stood out from others.

But they weren't the faces that she loved, or that loved her. She heard herself scream as Doyle stalked towards her, the clover brand burning in his hand. Suddenly, his face disappeared, replaced with Clive Easter's dispassionate frown. He was soon joined by the Pianoman, smirking and laughing at her pain. Foyet joined the party, idly playing with a knife. As more unsubs and targets slowly joined the growing crowd, Emily began whimpering, shrinking into the depths of her mind.

She could find the faces of her team in the background, fading in and out of the circle of predators that surrounded her. Their usually positive faces now displayed an array of emotions: Hotch worried, JJ devastated, Reid confused, and Morgan…Morgan was hurting. Somehow, Emily knew that she knew the reasons behind the emotions, but could not find them in her muddled head…especially faced with the monsters that stood before her.

Her voice was lost in the silent commotion, and she felt her world slowly collapsing. This was her last chance, she knew. She had to do something now, before she succumbed to the battle raging inside her. She felt strength and cognition leaking from her battered body, and summoned the last of her energy to whisper. "Morgan…"