A/n hey there everyone, here's another chapter for your consideration. Thanks to all who continue to support this story through reviews or adding it to your alerts. Feedback is a wonderful gift.

Disclaimer: Nope... I looked very carefully and I don't own them. The original characters are mine.

At the Hospital

Hotch and JJ arrived at Mercy General Hospital about fifteen minutes behind the ambulance carrying Morgan and Emily. Hotch had called Kayla and she was on her way to join them.

"I'm the emergency contact for Spencer Reid and I want to know how he is." Hotch demanded of a tall blond nurse at the emergency room check-in.

"I'm Dr. Rosenberg." A voice said from behind Hotch. He turned to face a small dark haired woman in scrubs. "You're agent is fine. The bullet grazed his arm. He'll have to have a few stitches, but there's no major damage to bone, or muscle."

Hotch visibly relaxed and JJ let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. "Thank you doctor, can we see him?"

"No… he's getting patched up. I'll let you know when you can see him." She smiled and patted him on the arm before going back to her patients.

"What about Jessie." JJ asked anxiously? That little girl had to be okay for her mother's sake. In spite of all the obvious hurt Kayla had done to Spence, JJ liked her and wanted her girl to be okay.

"They won't tell us. I'm not her emergency contact or parent. We'll know when Kayla gets here."

They were allowed to go see Spencer a few minutes later. He was bandaged and his shirt was beyond repair, but he was awake and smiling.

"Where's Morgan? I thought he'd be chomping at the bit to make some remark about me getting shot."

"He and Prentiss are in rooms upstairs, they both have prize winning bumps and slight concussions."

Reid smile faltered. "What the hell happened?"

"I'll tell you later. You need rest."

Reid went to get off the bed. "I'm not staying here." He stood and grimaced, the pain in his arm was cranking up. He had to refuse narcotics and the pain meds they had given him were only partly effective.

"Reid… You need -" Hotch was cut off by the appearance of Kayla in the room. She ignored him and JJ and launched herself at Reid. He groaned when she hugged him hard.

"Oh… I'm sorry Spencer. What happened? Where is my little girl? They won't tell me anything. They say I have to wait for the doctor. Thank you so much, you saved my baby!" She said all of this very fast and followed it up with a kiss that would have given Morgan teasing ammunition for weeks if he'd been there to see it.

Reid couldn't extricate himself from her embrace as he only had one good arm, so he decided to enjoy it.

"Hey Spence… you're supposed to be hurt remember." JJ said good-naturedly.

Kayla pulled away and she was blushing harder than Reid. He was grinning happily at all of them. The pain in his arm was better for some reason.

"Sorry Hotch…" He looked guiltily at his boss but Hotch was smiling. It was good to see Reid happy.

Dr. Rosenberg entered the room at that precise minute and looked Reid over with a critical eye. "I see you're not following orders Dr. Reid." She gave Hotch a conspiratorial grin. "Doctors make the worst patients!"

"Well… I'm not a medical doctor I'm a PhD and -"

"Hey Spence… it was a joke." JJ cut in and they all laughed.

"I'm actually looking for Kayla Rogers." Dr. Rosenberg said. "They said she would be in here with you."

"I'm Kayla Rogers. Is my daughter okay? Can I see her?" She grabbed at the doctor like a life raft.

"The bullet hit her shoulder. It was a small caliber and it went all the way through the flesh. There's no bone damage. There's some muscle damage. She'll be out of surgery soon and she'll be fine. She'll need a little physical therapy, but there's no reason not to think she won't get the full use of her arm back." Dr. Rosenberg smiled encouragingly at Kayla.

"Thanks Doctor. When can I see her?" Kayla had relaxed, but she still clung to Reid's good hand. He squeezed it and the look she gave him made him warm all over.

"She's going to be in recovery for a couple of hours after surgery. I'll send a nurse to come get you when she's done."

"Doctor… Please stay for a moment," Kayla asked when the woman turned for the door. Kayla looked anxiously at Hotch and JJ. She seemed to be worried about the effect of her next words. "I want to thank you so much for finding my baby." She paused for a moment and looked up a Reid. He nodded slightly and addressed Hotch.

"Would you excuse us for a moment? Kayla need's to talk to the doctor and -"

"It's okay Reid." Hotch said, he clasped Reid good shoulder and gave him a rare smile. "I understand," he and JJ left the examination room and Kayla looked back at the doctor.

"Dr. Rosenberg… I don't know quite how to ask this, but my daughter was kidnapped and I wanted to know if he hurt her." Kayla asked going red in the face and looking utterly miserable.

Dr. Rosenberg looked pointedly at Reid, and Kayla told her it was okay to speak in front of him. The doctor gave both of them an encouraging smile.

"Your daughter is fine Ms Rogers. The only injury we found was the bullet wound."

Kayla sagged against Reid and he squeezed her hand again. "Thanks doctor," he said and the doctor left the room.

Reid let go of her hand and went back to his bed. When he'd gotten comfortable, he looked over to the chair Kayla had drawn up to sit close to him.

"She's okay Kayla. This isn't like what happened to you." Reid said bluntly.

"I know Spencer… I was so frightened. I spent all this time wondering if what happened to me in that room with those boys was happening to her, and I couldn't bear it."

"I wish I could've stopped them." He said wistfully. He was looking down at his hands and didn't see the expression on Kayla's face.

"Stop blaming yourself!" She said angrily. He jerked up in surprise at her tone. She was leaning forward in the chair and pointing a finger at him. Her hand was shaking.

"You did everything you could, and they beat you nearly senseless because you tried to stop them. They're responsible, not you and not me."

He stared in amazement because the old Kayla was back. This Kayla was the one that had fought off the boys that were beating him up all those years ago. He'd missed this Kayla very much.

She was still glaring at him and he began to laugh. She slapped his leg, hard. "Spencer Reid… What is so damn funny?"

"You reminded me of the day we met. It was always take no prisoners with you. I'm glad to see that again. You really scared me. I thought Jessie getting kidnapped had killed that part of you."

She was still red faced, but now it was from embarrassment. "I was such a little smart ass, all fired up to take on the world."

He took her hand in his good one again. "I like that in a woman." He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand and she leaned in to kiss him again.

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Jessie's head was fuzzy when she opened her eyes. The ceiling was different and there were lots of lights.

"Mommy…" She said, her throat hurt and she was thirsty.

"Hey there cutie…" A kind voice said. There was a woman with red hair and lots of freckles standing next to her. She wore a funny green shirt, but her eyes were nice.

"I want my mommy."

"I know sweetie. I'll go get her for you. My name is Vickie and I'm going to be your nurse tonight okay?"

"Nurses take care of sick people. Am I sick?" Jessie asked in a raspy voice.

"No baby… you have a hurt shoulder. You'll be okay."

"Can I see my mommy now?"

"Okay little one… I'll go get her."

Jessie looked up at the ceiling and tried to remember what happened. The bad guy was gone and Miss Vickie said she could see her mommy. She bet that the knight had rescued her. Would he stay with them now? Would he come see her too? She hoped he would, she wanted to say thank you.

"Jessie… Sweetheart, you scared mommy so bad." He mommy was there and hugging her carefully so she didn't hurt her baby's arm. Jessie started to cry. She'd been scared for so long!

"I was scared Mommy. I didn't know where you were. I prayed that God would send the knight in the story. He came, didn't he Mommy?"

Kayla was red in the face again and she couldn't look at Spencer who looked like he'd just put the pieces of a very difficult puzzle together. He fidgeted next to her and Jessie saw him for the first time. He waved at her and she grinned at him.

"You're my mommy's knight. I knew you'd come to get me." She said happily.

"Sweetheart… how did you know who Spencer is?" He mother asked.

Kayla had let go of Jessie and the girl lay back on the pillows. At first she wouldn't tell them, but Kayla gently pried the truth out of her.

"I'm sorry Mommy. I wasn't supposed to be in your room, but I wanted some clothes to dress up in and I found that box with the pictures and the ring."

Kayla went even redder and ignored Spencer who was looking floored. "Honey… I told you not to get into Mommy's private things.

Jessie looked so upset that her mother smiled and relented. "I know you're sorry honey. I'm sorry I was mad. I was very worried about you and I'm glad you're going to be okay."

She introduced Spencer to her daughter and he mumbled out a hello getting redder with every word. The hero worship in the little girl's eyes was freaking him out a little.

"You're like the Knights of the Round Table. Can you do magic tricks?" Jessie asked excitedly. Her voice was still rough and Kayla gave her some water from the cup next to the bed.

"Ah - yeah…" He forgot to be shy and made a quarter appear from Jessie's ear and she laughed delightedly. He did a few more simple tricks, and then her eyes began to flutter shut.

Kayla kissed her on the forehead before they left the room. "I think you have a new admirer." Kayla said. He shot her a shy smile and she remembered the little boy he'd been.

Dr. Rosenberg was coming down the hallway when they turned out of the room. "Ms Rogers… I just wanted to tell you that everything went well and Jessie will make a full recovery. I want to keep her here for a couple of days and then she can go home."

"Dr. Rosenberg… can you tell me how Agents Morgan and Prentiss are." Reid asked.

"Oh yes… Agent Hotchner wanted me to tell you they're being released tomorrow. They're both fine. Agent Morgan is flirting with the nurses. He tried it on me too, but I'm happily married and he will stay put whether he likes it, or not."

Reid wanted to kiss her. Finally a female that stood up to Derek! "Yeah… don't let him charm them into letting him leave." He told her and she laughed.

"Don't worry Dr. Reid. He's here till I say he can leave."

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Morgan came looking for Reid the next morning. He wanted to get out of the hospital, but his usual charms weren't working on his doctor. He'd had two gorgeous nurses during his hours there, so he wasn't going to complain too much, but that Dr. Rosenberg was something else. She was beautiful, married and utterly immune to his charms. Maybe he was losing his touch.

Reid had come to see him with Kayla Rogers. That was another fine looking woman and he was amused to see the way she looked at Reid. If Reid played his cards right, he'd get some lovin' before they went back to Quantico.

He charmed a nurse into finding out where Jessie's room was. He wanted to find Reid and give him Hotch's message, and he wanted to see the little girl for himself.

He nearly tripped over his own chin when he entered the room. The cause of his gaping mouth was the sight of Reid lying back on the raised bed with the girl next to him, his arm around her, and Kayla sitting on a chair next to the bed.

All three of them had their eyes glued to the TV. He looked at the screen and saw three men fighting with what looked like brightly colored laser swords. He snorted inwardly at the impossible martial arts moves they were pulling off. One of the characters had a double laser sword. The computer effects were really good. The fast paced background music was engaging and perfectly timed to the moves of the actors. He wasn't sure but he thought maybe this was one of the Star Wars movies Reid liked so much.

"Well… This is pretty cozy." He said after recovering from his shock. All three of them jumped. Reid was so red he looked like a ripe cherry.

"Hi Morgan," he squeaked out.

"Don't you 'hi' me Reid." Morgan said with mock severity before giving in and laughing at the look on his partner's face.

"Did you want something, or are you just here to be a smart ass." Reid demanded.

"Yeah… I wanted to see how you're all doing and Hotch wants to talk to you." Morgan informed him.

"We're fine." Reid said, struggling off the bed.

"Jessie, this is Morgan. He's a profiler too." Reid said.

Jessie took one look at Morgan and then looked at her hands. She didn't say anything.

"Say hello Jessie." Her mother prompted, but the little girl just shook her head.

"I don't know why she's so shy all of a sudden" Kayla said.

"That's okay little lady. I just wanted to make sure you're okay." Morgan said with a grin.

"I've got to go talk to Hotch; I'll be back in a few minutes." Reid told Kayla and as he left with his partner, they heard Jessie say in a loud whisper to Kayla, "he's scary mommy"

Reid grinned at the older agent who looked like he'd just swallowed a worm in the bottom of a bottle of tequila.

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"Mommy, can Spencer stay here with us?" Jessie asked after the men left.

Kayla wanted Spencer to stay but she knew he couldn't. "No sweetie. He has to go back to his job. He has to help other people."

"I want him to stay with us." Jessie pouted.

"He has to go home sweet pea. He has a very important job. He helps people that can't help themselves."

"I don't care! I want him to stay here. He's the knight in the story. You said the story was true." Her eyes filled up with angry tears and her bottom lip was beginning to tremble.

"Honey… Spencer can't stay. I wish he could, but it wouldn't be fair to other little girls and boys like you. What if another little girl was selfish and he didn't find you when you needed him?"

Jessie was sobbing and Kayla moved to the bed and gathered her up carefully. "Jessie Laura Rogers… You're too big to fuss like this. You're a big girl and you know how to share. We have to share Spencer baby."

She knew how Jessie felt. Spencer would leave and what was she going to do then? Ever since they'd moved back to Las Vegas a year ago, she's ached for him and now he was here. It wasn't fair, but she had to let him go and so did Jessie.

"Honey... I know you like him. I like him too, but he has to go back to Quantico and help other people." Jessie didn't say anything, but continued to cry stormily in her mother's arms. When Reid returned, he was stunned at the way Jessie was crying.

"What happened?" He asked bewildered.

"We've got a problem Spencer." Kayla said looking helplessly at him.