Keller


Keller instinctively ducked when she heard the loud bang, dropping to the floor, and using the sofa as over. She waited for five breaths, waited for more shots, yelling, anything that could give her an advantage. But no more sounds could be heard. I'm probably just being stupid, someone in the building probably just dropped a metal pot or some shit, Keller reasoned with herself.

Getting up from the floor, Keller went to peek out the window to see if Penelope was still with her date or coming up the stair to give Keller all the juicy details of her night. Keller saw neither of those things, for Penelope was laying on the front steps, with a pool of blood forming around her. "Son of a motherfucker!"

Keller sped to the front door, only slipping on a pair of boots, she didn't have the time to think about grabbing a jacket; she needs to get down to Penelope. Keller sprinted down the stairs, taking them two or three at a time, careful not to trip, she would be of no use to Penelope if she too were injured. Rushing through the door, Keller, went to Penelope's side. Pulse, pulse, where the fuck is her pulse? Keller's fingers fumbled around the sides of Penelope's neck, searching desperately for a sign of life, final she felt it and sighed.

"Penelope? Can you hear me?" Keller asked. Penelope only groaned in response. Looking up, Keller saw the contents of Penelope's purse scattered over the courtyard. Keller quickly got up and scanned the area until she found what she was looking for; Penelope's phone and called nine-one-one.

"Nine-one-one, what is your emergency?" The operator asked.

"My friend has been shot!" Keller responded going back to Penelope's side.

"Ok, can you tell me your friend's name?"

"Her name is Penelope Garcia," Keller was trying to stay as calm as she could, given the circumstances.

"Where has she been shot?"

"Um," Keller looked for where the blood was coming from, "Chest."

"Hold your hand's over the wound, keep the pressure on, an ambulance and officers are on the way," The operator informed Keller.

Holding the phone between her cheek and shoulder, Keller placed one hand over the other and pressed down against the wound, Penelope whined quietly, "I'm sorry."

It felt like an eternity before Keller finally heard the wail of sirens and saw the red and blue flashing lights. An ambulance pulled up to the curb and paramedics rushed in, Keller's hands were pushed out of the way and replaced by an older man with quick, alert eyes and she stepped to the side, out of the way. Hanging up with the nine-one-one operator, Keller went through Penelope's phone until she found what she was looking for.

"Hey, Garcia," Spencer's voice said on the other end, "The plane just landed a few minutes ago."

"Spencer," Keller's voice cracked.

"Keller? Is everything OK?"

"It's Penelope, she got shot," Keller told Spencer.

"What?! Hang on I'm going to put you on speaker," Spencer said.

"Please don't, Spencer," Keller didn't trust her voice and didn't want to let Spencer's team hear her cry. "Just tell me what to do, how can I help?"

"Go with Penelope to the hospital, we'll meet you there," Spencer told her.

Keller gave Spencer the hospital name that was on the side of the ambulance, and went over to one of the paramedics, "Can I ride over with her?"

"Are you a relative?" The man asked.

Keller thought up a lie quick, if she said no to his question she'd be locked out of Penelope's apartment, and the idea that this may have been the work of whoever was after her loomed overhead. "Yes, I'm her half-sister, visiting from out of town."

"We are loading her up now, stay out of the way," The guy told her. Keller climbed in after Penelope, and sat in one of the far corners, the ride was a blur as the paramedics shouted to one another and did everything they could to keep Penelope breathing. At the hospital, doctors were waiting, as soon as Penelope was out of the ambulance, they whisked her away for surgery. There were as well as police officers, who escorted Keller inside and began questioning her about what happened.

"I, uh, I was inside when it happened. I heard the shot, and went to see what happened," Keller started trying to remember as much as she could, but everything was so hazy, she knew she had to stay calm if she was going to help Penelope. But now with the adrenaline seeping out of her system she was shaky and couldn't remember anything but Penelope's blood on the concrete steps of her apartment.

"What else?" The officer on the right asked.

"I don't know," Keller said, she was trying to think of something, anything useful but she came up blank.

"Really? Your sister gets shot, and you can't remember anything?" The officer on the left snapped, Keller already didn't like him, she could hardly see him, and his tone made her uncomfortable.

"What do you think Tony? Maybe she had something to do with it," Officer one said, turning to his partner.

"What? No! I would never hurt anyone," Keller shouted, panic rising in her chest.

"We'll see about that," Officer Tony grabbed Keller by her left arm and pulled her toward him, "Why don't we head down to the station? Maybe you'll remember something."

Keller made the motion to rip her arm from the man's grasp by her just tightened his grip painfully and twisted Keller's arm behind her back, "Richie! Give me your cuffs this one's a fighter."

"Hey! Let her go!" Keller twisted enough that she could see Spencer jogging up followed by his team, except Derek.

"Butt out, son," The older cop said.

Agent Hard Ass stepped in, "Is she being charged with something?"

"She might be a suspect. She is covered in blood," The officer restraining her argued.

"Did you happen to think that it's because she was helping her friend?" Hotchner questioned.

"We still have to question her."

"And you can do that once she had had a chance to calm down and get her thoughts straightened out, but until then do as he said and let her go," Hotchner glowered at the officer holding Keller's arm, and it looks could kill, he'd be done for.

Releasing Keller, he stormed away with the other officer and Spencer rushed up, and gently took Keller by the shoulders, "Are you OK?"

Keller's only response was a small nod, she felt tired but at the same time edgy and wound up. Looking down, it was true what the officer had said, her hands were cover in blood, as were her knees from kneeling next to Penelope, and shorts from where she'd anxiously rubbed her hands. Spencer quickly shrugged out of his jacket and draped it around Keller's shoulders.

With a sigh, Keller leaned forward until her head hit Spencer's chest. In response his arms came up around her, one around she shoulders and the other cradled the back of her head. It seemed to take a lot of strength and effort back Keller embraced Spencer as well, clinging to him as if her like depended on it. Keller didn't know how long she and Spencer stayed locked together, but it was Emily who finally stepped in,

Keller didn't know how long she and Spencer remained locked together, but it was Emily who finally stepped in, "Hey, why don't we go clean you up?"

Noticing that she was getting weird looks from other people in the hospital lobby, Keller nodded, and together she and Emily went to find one of the hospital bathrooms. With her hands washed, and legs scrubbed clean of blood, Keller felt minutely better, but she could still feel the residue left behind that soap couldn't wash away.

Back in the lobby Keller sat next to Spencer, putting him on her left, and leaning her head against his shoulder. Spencer after a moment put his arm around her and ran his hand slowly up and down her arm. Keller shouldn't have been taking as much comfort from his touch as she was, after all, there was the possibility that Penelope might not make it off the surgery table, and it could be Keller's fault.

J.J. and Hotch came back a few minutes later, J.J. gave Keller an odd look, or perhaps it was for Spencer, but whoever the look was for Spencer tightened his grip just enough that Keller could feel herself be pulled a little closer to his side.

"Any news?" Agent Rossi asked, upon their return.

Hotch had a try of coffee that he handed to the Italian, to pass around, "She's in surgery, that's all they'd tell us," J.J. said, taking a cup, and giving one to Spencer, he passed, and handed it to Keller. She took a tentative sip and crinkled her nose, it was bad, but she'd had worse and took another sip, letting the bitter liquid warm her.

"Where is Morgan?" Emily asked.

"We've tried calling him; he's not answering," J.J. answered.

It felt like forever, sitting there in silence, every so often, Hotchner or J.J. would get up and try to pry a status report from a passing nurse, but the answer was always the same, she was still in surgery. I guess it's better than "I'm sorry, she didn't make it."

The one thing that was keeping Keller from freaking out was Spencer's strong arm around her, a few hours ago, he'd shifted so his head was resting on top of hers and she could smell his coffee scent mixed with citrus. He felt like home, whatever that was right now.

Glancing at the clock, that was hung up on the wall, it was about four in the morning, and everyone was sitting pensively waiting. Shrugging so Spencer moved Keller stood, and muttered, "I'm gonna take a little walk."

Keller had got to the first turn in once of the long, white, sterile corridors before she got the sense that someone was following her, glancing over her shoulder, Spencer was walking hurriedly to catch up with her, "You shouldn't go off on your own."

"Do you think whoever shot Penelope, was after me?" Keller whispered her biggest fear.

"We can't rule it out yet," Spencer said, while it wasn't the answer Keller wanted, she was glad Spencer was honest with her and didn't beat around the bush.

"This is fucking crazy," Keller said, running a hand through her hair.

"Is there anything you remember?" Spencer asked.

"I was up in Penelope's apartment, and I went to look out the window to see if she was home yet, she was, and her date looked like he was going to kiss her, so I went back to sit on the couch and not spy on her. I heard the shot, went back to the window, the guy was o where to be seen, and Penelope was on the steps," Keller rushed through the basics of what she'd seen.

"You saw the unsub?" Spencer asked.

"Not a good look. The guy was at a distance and in the shadows," Keller shrugged unable to be helpful.

"It's a start," Spencer said, placing his hand on Keller's shoulder close to her neck.

When Spencer dropped his hand, Keller laced their fingers together and started walking again. They didn't say anything, and there was no one around, other than nurses here and there doing rounds. "Thanks by the way," Keller said after a few laps around the hospital floor.

"What for?" Spencer asked.

"Not letting me get arrested," Keller said with a soft laugh.

"It wasn't about you getting arrested per say; it was more I didn't like the way that officer was touching you," Spencer muttered.

What he said warmed through Keller, and she turned and hugged him tightly. "We should go and see how Penelope is doing."

Spencer nodded in agreement, and hand in hand they went back to the waiting room. Morgan had arrived, and everyone was updating him on the situation, he'd been in church which was why he hadn't answered his phone.

After a while longer and doctor came up to the group, "Penelope Garcia?"

Everyone stood up, and the doctor explained the extent of Penelope's injuries and what they had done to fix it, saying she was going to be OK and that they could see her in the morning. Knowing Penelope was out of the woods, Hotchner and Rossi decided to check out the crime scene, but not before Hotchner said they were not to touch another case until they caught the guy who'd done this.

"Why don't we go home, and get cleaned up?" Spencer suggested to Keller. She was eager to take a shower and scrub her skin raw.

At Spencer's home, Keller kicked her shoes off and passed Spencer his coat. Instantly he took her arm and scowled at it. There was dark purple bruising in places where the officer had grabbed her. Touching his face, Keller made Spencer look at her, "It's alright; I've had worse."

Slipping away from Spencer, Keller fled into the bathroom, going through the motions of getting clean. It didn't take more than half an hour until she was out and dressed. Spencer was in the shower now, Keller sat quietly, listening to the sounds of running water. That was until her numbness gave way to anger, her sketch pad was still at Penelope's, but she went through her things until she found another and began drawing. She could sit back and twiddle her thumbs while Spencer and his team did everything the could to help Penelope. Remembering as much as she could from Penelope's description, Keller began roughly scribbling over the page, creating a rough sketch that she'd refine later.

She was still hard at work when Spencer came up, and gently patted her shoulder, "Who's that?"

"It might be the dick hole that shot Penelope," Keller growled, staring at her drawing, wanting to find the asshole, and pound his face in.

"I thought you said you didn't see him," Spencer said.

"Penelope was telling me about him the other day. I don't know if this is right, but it's probably close. I hope so anyway," Keller said.

"I got a call from J.J. Garcia is awake. Maybe she can give you more details, and tell us more about what happened last night," Spencer's voice was quiet, as he tried to straighten his tie.

"I'll do whatever I can to help," Keller agreed.

"What happened to Garcia wasn't your fault," Spencer murmured.

Keller looked up at him in shock, "What if it was?"

"You being there last night, may have saved Garcia. No one else came to help, if you hadn't called nine-one-one, she might have bled out and died that night," Spencer's words were a small comfort and Keller gave him a weak smile.

"Let's not keep Penelope waiting. Waking up in a hospital alone can be quite unsettling," Keller said.

At the hospital J.J., Emily and Derek were waiting for them, "Hey," J.J. greeted, giving Spencer a quick hug.

"Can we go see her?" Spencer asked, looking from face to face.

"We were just waiting on you," Derek said, his voice stiff.

"One more thing," J.J. said, stopping everyone, "I talked to Garcia earlier, don't treat her like she's a victim."

In Penelope's room, Derek and Spencer went to her bedside, while Keller hung back by the doorway. Derek hesitated for a second before placing one of his hands on top of Penelope's, "How are you feeling, Baby Girl?"

"Well, the painkillers are wearing off," Penelope said, her voice had a sleepy tone to it, or the doctors gave her some good drugs, and she was high.

"Are you up for a few questions?" J.J. asked, coming over to Penelope's side.

"He seemed so normal, I never even thought he'd hurt me," Penelope groaned, and then she gasped. "Keller! Sh-she was in my apartment last night. Is she OK?"

Spencer cleared his throat, and waved Keller to come stand next to him, "She's fine Garcia, she is the one who called nine-one-one and came here with you."

"Hi, Penelope," Keller murmured.

"Hey, gorgeous," Penelope said in return, making Keller grin. Derek and Spencer asked Penelope a few questions about the guy who shot Penelope, getting his full name, his occupation and what type of car he drove. Near the end of the questioning, Spencer asked if Penelope could describe the guy, and Keller would act as a sketch artist. Penelope didn't hesitate when she agreed, and Keller pulled a chair up so that she could rest her sketch book against her legs.

Spencer and Derek left the room, saying they'd have more questions later and were going to relay the info with Rossi and Hotchner. "So are you OK?"

Keller looked up from flipping through her drawings trying to find the one she'd started from this morning, "A little shook up, but I'm sure nowhere near as badly as you."

"I didn't know you were an artist," Penelope whispered, Keller could tell she was tired, but Derek wanted this done ASAP, wanting to catch the guy who did this to his friend, Keller shared the sentiment.

"I prefer drawing to singing," Keller said turning the page over. On it was a drawing of Spencer sleeping on Keller's couch, Keller grinned thinking of how simple things were a few weeks ago. She didn't notice that Penelope had leaned over as much as her IV's and discomfort would allow.

"Is that why you were asking about Reid?" Penelope had a wide grin and Keller turned the page quickly.

"Maybe. I don't know. My love life is just a shit storm of alcohol, drugs, and one-night stands. And Spencer could do so much better than someone like me," Keller said, finally finding the drawing she was looking for, after skimming through her numerous sketches of Spencer.

"You deserve a good guy," Penelope argued.

"It's a possibility, but I'm sure once this is all over, I'll never hear from Spencer again," Keller sighed. While she wanted this nightmare of anxiety to be over, she wasn't sure if she was ready to be back on her own without Spencer, he was a new constant in her life, a form of stability she hadn't experienced in a long time, or ever for that matter. "Can we keep this between us?"

"Of course," Penelope assured, reaching over and resting her hand and Keller's, though she winced while doing so.

"Let's get started," Keller stated. First, she showed Penelope what she had so far, and asked for further details, modifying areas that she'd been off on, like the fact there was a deep cleft in Colby's chin. Then she added the smaller less important details, which while small were clear identifying features, like the shape of the eyes and nose, how far apart nostrils were and curvature of his eyebrows.

With the final product done, Keller showed Penelope, "Wow, looks almost like a black and white picture."

"You rest up, I'm going to go give this to Spencer," Keller said standing and exiting the room.

She gave the drawing to Spencer and rubbed up some stiffness in her shoulders, "This is excellent, we'll get this over to the office, and they can start running this image through legal databases. Are you OK staying here, and watching out for Garcia?" Spencer asked.

"Hey pretty boy, aren't you supposed to be watching her?" Derek cut in.

"You know I can handle myself," Keller shot back, arching an eyebrow at him, though he may not have known that since most of her face was hidden.

Derek chuckled and walked away, leaving Spencer and Keller alone, "Are you going to be OK staying here?" Spencer asked again.

"I'll be fine, I think the most dangerous thing here is the bad hospital food," Keller joked, she doubted anyone would be stupid enough to try and harm her or Penelope in a full hospital where help was only a push of a button away.

"If you need anything, call me," Spencer ordered.

Keller's belly did an odd little summersault, and she smirked at his command thinking the domineering act worked for the scrawny FBI agent. "Yes sir," Keller teased, her tone husky.

Spencer cleared his throat, before giving Keller a stiff nod and walking away. Keller watched him until he was out of sight before she went back to sit with Penelope who was sleeping. Plopping herself in the chair, Keller leaned back and stretched out her legs; she wasn't all that comfortable, but she hadn't slept at all in the last twenty-four hours, and anything would do for now.


Spencer


Reid met Morgan by the black SUV parked out front, "So," Morgan started, drawing out the word.

"So?" Reid asked slowly.

"Is this going to turn into another Lyla situation?"

"No," Reid cut off Morgan knowing what he was implying, Morgan had relentlessly teased him for months after Reid confided in him about his romantic encounter with Lyla Archer. He didn't want Keller to be treated in the same manner, a situation as Morgan called it.

"OK, OK," Morgan said backing down with a grin. "But so that you know, I think she's sweet on you too."

Reid rolled his eyes and started straight ahead out the window. He needed to treat this as he would any other case, Keller was another victim, and eventually his team would catch the unsub, and then she would be out of his life.

Over the next three days, Reid and his team were basically living at the hospital, going over information with Garcia or just keeping her company, or at the office trying to get any leads and only finding dead ends. Rossi at one point sought to say it was Keller drawing that something must be wrong until Reid showed it to him, and Rossi furrowed his brows at the photo like quality. Prentiss was just as stunned, asked how no one could recognize such a handsome guy.

Morgan and Reid had just finished up another cognitive interview with Garcia and came back to the field office to share their information with the rest of the team. Such as he was someone who had more likely than not failed out of law school or didn't pass the bar exam. After talking back and forth on the unsubs personality and why he chose Garcia, Hotch had J.J. find another FBI analyst to take over while Garcia was out, leaving Reid to go back to the hospital, with Morgan who Reid originally had no intention of bringing.

Going to Garcia's new hospital room, Morgan entered with Reid behind him and paused, Penelope was sleeping in her bed, but Keller wasn't with her. Morgan went to the bathroom door and knocked as quietly as he could to let anyone in there know he was going to come in, but quiet enough that he wouldn't wake up Garcia. Opening the door slowly, Morgan peeked in and shook his head at Reid. "Where could she be?" Reid asked, feeling a touch of panic.

"Relax pretty boy, she probably just went to go and stretch her legs, I can't imagine sitting around a hospital for three days is fun, at least we get to leave," Morgan said trying to calm the young doctor.

Just then Keller crept back in with an arm full of little plastic cups, and she hadn't noticed them yet, until Morgan cleared his throat, making Keller flinch and turn slowly, "Hey."

"Hey," Morgan said chuckling.

"It's the only thing that doesn't taste like ass," Keller explained.

Reid glanced over to see what it was that she had, doing his best not to glance at her chest with Morgan standing right next to him. Keller had commandeered nine cups of cherry Jell-O. Reid took one.

"So I'm not under arrest for stealing Jell-O?" Keller asked, setting the rest of the cups on a coffee table.

"Depends," Morgan teased, picking up a plastic cap "You got spoons?"

Keller scoffed and pulled two out of her back pocket, "These were going to be for Penelope and me, but if it keeps me out of jail I will just eat with my fingers."

Morgan laughed loudly enough that Garcia woke up with a start, "Back already?"

"We've been gone all night," Reid said around a bite of Jell-O.

"Where did all those come from," Garcia asked, looking at the seven remaining cups.

"Donated," Keller said smoothly, though Reid knew it was a lie.

Morgan passed Garia a cup and gave up his spoon.

"Do you need anything?" Morgan asked, sitting on the side of Garcia's bed.

"Besides better food, and maybe something to wear other than these boring hospital gowns?" Garcia quipped.

"I can go get some donations from the gift shop if you want," Keller said.

Penelope laughed, before groaning, "No, I don't want you to get in trouble."

Keller shrugged, "I'd have Spencer cover for me, saying we needed it for top secret FBI business."

The four of them talked and laughed for a while, hiding the empty Jell-O cups when they saw a nurse coming to check on Garcia, Keller wanted to go back out and get more, but Reid talked her out of it.

After a few hours, Keller was leaning against Reid's shoulder; she started when a two sharp knock came, and Hotch swept into the room, "How are you feeling?"

"Well, I've had better dates," Penelope said trying to make a joke, but from what Reid could see from Hotch's posture and expression he was not in a joking mood. "We found encrypted files on your computer." Oh, not good. "Are you involved in something that I need to know about?"

"No," Garcia denied.

"What's this about?" Morgan cut in.

"Could the files be connected to whoever shot you?" Hotch persisted.

"I don't know," Garcia stated.

"What's the password?"

"Is this necessary?" Morgan asked.

"It is," Hotch said. "Password."

Penelope had hesitated before she gave it to him, "Gillman Street."

"They don't think Garcia is a security risk?" Reid asked.

"I don't know, but we've been ordered by IA to stop working this case, and until this has been cleared up, you've been suspended. I'm sorry, Penelope," Hotch said before leaving the hospital room.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Reid asked quickly, as soon as Hotch was out of the room Garcia started to pull off the monitoring devices.

Morgan stopped her, "Hey, hey, hey. Listen, we're gong to get this straightened out and we are going to find who did this to you."

"But one of the last things I had said before I got shot was, "Everything happens for a reason," Derek if I lose faith in that, nothing will make sense to me anymore," Garcia said, still making attempts to get out of bed.

"I get that," Morgan assured, still trying to hold Garcia down.

"But, you don't," Garcia replied.

"Then help me," Morgan pleaded.

Over the next forty-seven minutes, Garia explained to then how she was recruited by the FBI, starting with how she lost her parents and ending with why she had encrypted that file and what information she was protecting. Getting to his feet, Reid left the room to find a doctor who would release Garcia from their care. Twenty minutes later and hey were walking out the front door. Hugs were exchanged, Keller looked uncomfortable when Garia pulled her in for a tight squeeze, but she didn't resist. They parted ways at the entrance, and Morgan had volunteered on taking Garcia back to her apartment.

Reid took long strides across the parking lot, Keller trudged behind him, apparently tired from sleeping in a chair almost every night while he was at the office. "Spencer, why the fuck did you park so far away?"

"Sorry, I always park in the first available spot I can find," Reid explained, it was a habit he got from Gideon. The man had said they didn't have time to drive up and down parking lots looking for a better space. "We are almost there."

Reid pointed out his vehicle, an old light blue Volvo. Keller stopped short and stared at the car with a disappointed look on her face, "You drive that?"

"Is there something wrong with it?" Reid always found the car to be very reliable, and other than routine maintenance he never had any issues with the vehicle.

"If it drives than I guess not," Keller said, climbing into the car. On the way back to the apartment Keller kept dozing off in the passenger seat. Out of the corner of his eye Reid observed as carefully as he could, without crashing his car or going through red lights and stop signs, it would start with her eyes drooping, only to quickly snap open and then Keller would shift. Or her head would bob, and she'd catch herself. Reid knew the exhaustion she was feeling, but after his years in the BAU, he was used to feeling tired while on a long case, he just hoped the long hours and restless nights wouldn't weigh too heavily on Keller's shoulders.

At one point Keller almost hit her head on the dashboard when her head fell forward, when she'd nodded off again, Spencer lowered his speed and was now driving eight miles under the speed limit. He paid no mind to the cars that beeped their horns at him, before finally going around and speeding off, as long as Keller was comfortable.

Reaching the parking lot for his apartment complex, Reid learned back in his seat and looked over at Keller, her long hair prohibited him from getting the full view, and while he'd been driving he was only able to watch her from the reflection in the window. The sun was almost completely gone giving everything a purplish tint, the light glinted off of Keller earrings, and Spencer's eyes kept flickering down to the ring that weaved its way through her lip. He could correctly recall how the cool bit of metal felt against his mouth. She looked so peaceful in this light, so lovely; it was a shame that the moment had to inevitably come to an end, while it felt like he could sit and gaze at her all night; she needed to sleep in a real bed and relax for an evening without constantly glancing over her shoulder.

Reaching out, Reid slowing placed a hand on her shoulder and gave a shake. Keller lifted her head and turned so that she could look at him, "We home?"

Grinning at the idea that Keller thought of his home as she's as well, "Yeah, we're home."

"Fabulous, maybe I'll sleep more than three hours tonight," Keller yawned.

"Well if you want to sleep you'll have to walk up some stairs," Reid said.

Keller only groaned in response, getting out of the car and slamming the door behind her, and stomping toward the building, up the stairs and glaring at the door, until Spencer unlocked it and let her in. Keller kicked off her shoes, and stumbled over to the couch, before sitting down slowly. Reid sat next to her, and she closed the distance, resting her head on his shoulder. It took Reid a moment to think of what to do, but it came to him, he put his arm around her, moments like this were becoming natural for him, he no longer got tense or thought "What would Morgan do?"

"You want to know something?" Keller asked after a few quiet, comfortable moments.

"Hmm?"

"I think you might be the only person to hold me like this," Keller said, her voice was very sleepy and she kept yawning every so often.

There were a few emotions that welled up inside of Reid. The first was pride that she felt safe enough to snuggle up at his side and that he was the only man to get this close to her. The other was sadness for her, what type of life must she have lived that she never let anyone get close to her? Sighing Reid tilted his head and pressed his lips against the side of her head, her hair felt like satin against his lips and smelled of vanilla.

She must have felt his lips, "Don't start something you don't plan on finishing."

Keller moved her head from Reid's shoulder and looked up at him with a sharp, accusing look. Reid knew what she meant; there were times like this when they were alone, and they would snuggle, on the sofa, or how Keller slept in bed with him. But after the kiss in the bathroom, Keller seemed to be more careful, hardly ever initiated contact.

"I know," Reid murmured, lifting a hand and he didn't even bother to pretend like he was moving her hair or otherwise, curling his fingers Reid gently run his knuckles against her cheek, her pale skin was free of blemishes. He ached to know what she was hiding away beneath her hair, but he knew he couldn't force her to tell or show him.

Keller leaned in slowly, and pressed her supple lips against the side of Reid's neck, just below his ear, "Goodnight, Spencer."

Reid felt a shiver go down his spine, feeling her warm breath on his neck, watching her saunter away Spencer felt like all the blood rushed down from his brain to his groin, giving him a painfully stiff erection. Spencer grabbed one of his books, hoping that reading may hep the swelling dissipate, but he could only focus on a word or two at a time, his mind kept wandering back to the beautiful woman in his bed. He contemplated taking matters into his own hands, literally but his didn't quite feel like cleaning up the mess. Shower it was.

Standing under the cold spray hardly didn't anything to curb Reid'sarousale, but his body's instinct to protect his vital organs drew the blood away from his groin and to his core. Sighing as thoughts of Keller swarmed in his mind like a swarm of angry bees, Reid dried himself with a soft towel, trying to think of anything but her, but entering is room and having the bathroom light land directly on her sleeping face, made it impossible. He turned the light off and went about putting his pajamas on before he slipped into bed, rolling so a particular organ and his back were to Keller.

Reid spent wheat felt like an hour trying to think of anything that didn't have to do with Keller, and sex, and sex with Keller. But his mind kept slipping and contemplating how opposed she'd be to sexual relations with him. She had after all made attempts to get him into bed prior. But Reid knew better, and after a long hard day fatigue finally overcame him. But, he was not free from the slew of dreams he had, dreams which revolved around Keller.


Keller


Ring! Ring! Ring!

Keller groaned and rolled away from the annoying sound. She waited a moment, before letting out a sigh of relief. Good, it fucking stopped.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

God-fucking-son-of-a-bitch! The ringing kept going and pausing for a minute or two and then it would just start back up again. What is so god-fucking-shit-fucking important? Flinging the blankets off, Keller cracked her eyes open and rubbed the gross yellowish crust off her eyelashes. Looking over the top of Spencer's sleeping body to check out his alarm clock with read three forty-two in the god damned morning, Keller grumbled a string of obscenities as she left the room, doing her damnedest not to slam Spencer's bedroom door and wake him.

The culprit was sitting on the coffee table, and Keller snatched it up, not bothering to look at the caller ID before she accepted the call and snarled, "What the fucking hell do you want?"

"Where is Reid?" Keller knew the voice. It was Agent Asshat and his question only served to piss her off.

"He's sleeping, and so was I," Keller answered her tone snarky.

"Wake him up nd have him come to Garcia's apartment, the unsub made another attempt on her life and killed a cop in the process," With that he hung up.

How am I supposed to go back fucking to sleep now? Dropping Spencer's phone back onto the table Keller went back into his room and gave him a few shakes until he moaned and rolled onto his back.

"Is it morning already?" Spencer asked yawning.

"Sorry, no. Your boss just called," Keller explained.

"Did they get a break in the case?"

"Wrong again, the sack of dicks went after Penelope again. I guess he killed a cop too. They want you down at her apartment," Keller told him.
Spencer got out of bed immediately and started to change. It was then Keller noticed he had a boner, she stifled her giggle and left the room, knowing he liked his privacy when he got undressed. But she was curious as to what caused it, unlike most guys she'd woken up with, Spencer didn't get morning wood, and if he did he was extremely discrete when covering it up. If Spencer were a regular guy she'd blatantly ask him, but since she had to live with him indefinitely it would take some more subtlety than that.

Keller was in shorts and a tee shirt again like when Penelope had been shot again, luckily this time there was no blood on her when they went over to her apartment. "Hey, Spencer," Keller said.

"Yeah?" Spencer replied as he pulled up to a red light his fingers going crazy against the steering wheel with his growing anxiety.

"I got more than three hours of sleep. I think I may have made it to four," Keller's attempt at a joke fell flat as Spencer only's response was to slam on the gas when the light turned green.

Pulling p to the apartment complex Penelope lived in, Keller saw it was full of activity. Police were questioning the residents to see if anyone saw or heard anything. Spencer pulled what looked like a wallet out of his pocket and flashed it at one of the cops who then allowed them into the crime scene. Keller took a deep breath as she walked around a pool of blood, from the way the lights from the emergency verticals flashed over it, Keller knew it was still wet. She had the same reaction seeing Penelope's blood on the steps, the stain was a week old and had the color of rust. "You get used to it," Spencer commented, knowing what caused her reaction

Walking up the step Keller took hold of Spencer's hand and swallowed hard, suddenly feeling like she may start crying if she didn't get her shit together. "Spencer, I don't want to get used to being around crime scenes."

Spencer paused a moment, before pulling Keller into his arms, "I hope you don't have to."

Keller bit her bottom lip to keep the sob from escaping; she wasn't one to cry easy, but ever since Spencer showed up in her life it seemed her whole personality was being flipped upside down. Taking a few deep breaths and drying her eyes before the tears could escape Keller stomped her way up the stairs, wanting and needing to be furious.

Penelope's door was open, and when Keller poked her head in, she saw the whole team was gathered around the shaken up woman, Keller hesitated before going in, Spencer not far behind. With everyone here, they began to talk about the events that lead up to this attack, Keller was too tired to be interested, and took a seat on the floor, using her hand as a pillow. She was hoping to get some rest even if it was just for a few minutes, but Agent Rossi had other ideas because for whatever reason Keller could hear him shouting at Penelope. Jesus Christ! What did the poor girl do now?

The yelling was over, or at least Keller thought it was she was so tired that she may have just slept through whatever else was said, but she started when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She squinted up into the warm green eyes of J.J. "I have a couch in my office if you want to sleep on it."

Keller didn't understand the offer at first, but the thought of sleeping made her nod and struggled to her feet, "Fuck yes."

J.J. smiled a bit, and Keller gave Spencer a wave, telling him she'd be with J.J. Keller found herself in a little office, tucked away in a corner with no windows, it reminded her somewhat of Penelope's Batcave, though J.J.'s door had a window in it; she kept the blinds closed. Keller flopped on the sofa after J.J. moved some papers off of it. "So how are things with Spence?"

Spence? Hmm... Keller didn't think she liked that J.J. called him that. "Good."

"That's good to hear, I was a bit worried he'd have driven you crazy by now," J.J. said with a chuckle.

"Nah, he's a bit of a goof, but he's OK," Understatement of the year.

"Most people can only be around him for so long," J.J. said.

"I'm not most people," Keller responded, wonder what J.J. meant. Keller didn't see anything wrong with the way Spencer was. She liked how full of knowledge he was; she learned something new and usually exciting every day.

"I guess not," Keller didn't say anything else and neither did J.J.

Keller still didn't know if she got any sleep or not, she kept hearing the sounds of papers flipping and pens scratching. Sitting up, Keller glanced at a clock on the wall, five AM. "I'm going to hunt down a cup of coffee," Keller announced, "Want some?"

"No, thank you. Last time I had coffee in here I spilled it all over some important case files," J.J. said, not looking up, Keller left the little office and used her nonexistent sense of direction to find a coffee machine hopefully. Where Keller ended up was not where she wanted to be. She stood outside two large glass doors, she'd been in that room before, she wondered about going in and asking out of the guys where a girl could find a good cup of coffee, but she paused with her hand on the handle. Something was not right.

At one of the desks a man paced, rubbing his hands together while he looked around, he wasn't in a suit like everyone else but a cop uniform, every fiber in Keller's body told her he couldn't be trusted, it wasn't until he turned around could she tell why. She knew that smug face instantaneously, she drew him! That was the bastard who shot Penelope! As soon as their eyes met through the glass Keller's whole body felt as though it'd been dipped in ice water. Swallowing hard, Keller slowing backed away from the door and went to go and find J.J.

She wished she'd been braver; she knew Hotchner's office was across the room, and she could see him walk out of it and over to the one next door. But that would mean she'd have to walk past that man, and from the way, his face had changed when he saw her, the cop knew she knew what he had done. Besides what the fuck could Keller do? Stab him in the eye with a pencil?

Keller went inside J.J.'s office out of breath, and she peeked through the blinds to see if she'd been followed. "Is everything OK?"

"He's here!" Keller almost shouted.

"Who?" J.J. asked getting up from her desk.

"The bastard who hurt Penelope!" Keller did shout that time.

"He's here? Are you positive?" J.J. questioned.

"I do not forget a face I've drawn. I think he knows I'm on to him," Keller said, she was starting to panic. "Can you shoot someone?"

"Excuse me?"

"Can you shoot someone J.J.? Because I'm getting all sorts of bad vibes from that guy, and I have a feeling, this shit is not going to end well, if we don't do something now."

"You think he knows you know?" J.J. asked.

Keller nodded, not sure what that had to do with anything.

"I need you to do something for me," J.J. said.

"What?" Keller did like where this was going.

"Can you distract him?"

"How the fuck do you want me to do that?" Keller snapped.

"The bullpen is too crowded, for Hotch or Rossi to do anything if things go south. If someone can get behind him we may have a shot," J.J. explained.

"And I come in where?"

"All you have to do is walk across the bullpen to Hotch's office, if he suspects you are onto him, all his attention will be on you."

"I hate being bait," Keller groaned. Inhaling deeply, Keller put on her brave face and nodded at J.J. "Fuck it, let's go."

J.J. and Keller left the office J.J. stopped behind the wall so the "unsub," as everyone called him wouldn't see her. He was looking over his shoulder when Keller approached the door, but she refused to look at him as she pushed open the heavy glass door, she kept her gaze focused on Hotchner, who was walking slowly down the stairs with Rossi. Their eyes were trained on the officer. They must know too. Keller didn't know or care how her only goal was to make it to them.

She made it past two rows of desks, before someone roughly grabbed her hair, yanked her back on put an arm roughly against her throat making it hard to breathe, but that wasn't what had her terrified, it was the cold press of metal against te side of her head, that made her want to scream. That and the two guns she was staring down that were being held by Agents Rossi and Hotchner.

"Put the weapon down, and let her go," Hotchner commanded.

"You're a cop, and you know this isn't going to end well," Rossi responded.

"You're standing in the middle of the FBI," Hotchner added.

"You think I'm afraid of the FBI?" The cop shouted in Keller's ear. She really didn't like being a shield for this piece of shit. Come on J.J!

"We both know how this ends," Hotchner said. "This is the last time I will say this, lower your weapon and let the girl go."

"Best minds in the FBI," The cop scoffed, "You can't even save one little girl."

Keller saw Hotch glance overtop of the cops head, just as the sound of a gunshot went off, the arm around Keller's neck went limp, and she lunged away as the officer's body collapsed at her feet. Turning her head to look at J.J. who was slowly lowering her gun, Keller croaked, "Fucking took you long enough!"

Rossi came over the Keller, and took her by the elbow helping her to sit in a chair, "Are you OK?"

Keller didn't know how to answer, she'd just been a hostage, she'd been used a human shield, and she'd had a gun pressed to her skull, but she was unharmed other than the ringing in her ears. Keller thought she nodded, but that might have just been her shaking. Rossi stayed close; he'd put a paper cup of water in her hands, but she hadn't found the right motor skills to take a sip.

Everything seemed to happen in fast forward from that point, people milled around, made calls, someone shined a light in her eyes and said she was in shock. Keller wanted to call him a dumbass, but the words wouldn't come out, she heard Hotchner say they weren't to move her when someone grabbed her arm. She'd have to thank him later.

It wasn't until, a pair of green eyes came into her field of view did she move. Spencer looked so worried, his hands cover hers where she held the little cup of water, his mouth was moving, and Keller tried to read his lips. Are you hot? No. Keller shook her head, she wasn't hot, if anything she was freezing, she wanted to ask them to turn the AC down.

Spencer cupped the back of her head and pulled her in close. She felt something wet of her face. Damn it, Spencer. You made me spill my water. But then she remembered him taking the cup from her hands while he tried to get her attention. Keller pulled back and touched her cheek; she was crying, again. "Shit," She whined, rubbing her face with her hands, trying to get the tears to stop.

But a sob broke loose, and Spencer embraced her again. "Shh," Spencer soothed, rubbing her back, and holding her tight, "You're safe." He kept saying that over and over again. Keller believed him too, as long as Spencer was with her, she was safe.


A/N: Loooooong chapter! I hope it was worth it and that everyone liked it. Since Christmas is two days away, I want to do something a little special for my readers. My first thought was to do a couple of one-shots for you guys using your prompts, but I don't want to get to distracted from my writing. So what I'm going to do if you guys are up to it, is a Q and A. Comment any question you want to know, about me or the story, and I'll answer, as long as it doesn't give too much info away and ruin certain plot points. I think it'd be fun so, please leave me some questions, and I'll answer them as the next chapter ^^. Thank you all for reading!