JJ stopped Penelope from running into the emergency department with a well timed arm around her waist, tugging her back to the SUV before pushing her hand against Penelope's shoulder, holding her against the door. "We cannot go in there like chickens with our heads cut off. Calm, cool, collected will get us where we need to go. Reid will take you in, but you're going to follow my lead."
She nodded, hitching her computer bag a little higher up on her shoulder before slipping her hand into the crook of Reid's elbow, allowing him to guide her into the hospital in JJ's wake. She headed straight for the information desk and showed the woman sitting there her badge. Penelope absently listened to the short conversation they were having, not able to focus on the words being said as she thought about the fact that somewhere in this hospital, her friend was lying in a bed, maybe dying. Her breath hitched in her throat as she clenched onto Reid's arm a little tighter.
"It will be all right, Garcia. One of them would have called if she had taken a turn for the worse while we were driving."
The repeat of the previous platitude did little to soothe her, and she let out a shaky breath as she shook her head. "You don't get it, Reid."
"I do. And so does JJ and Hotch. We've all had an unsub hurt someone very close to us. Even though she's just your friend, you love her, and that is making your heart break and your mind wonder what you could have done to prevent this. The short answer? Nothing."
"That's so reassuring, Reid."
"There's nothing you could have done because Curtis would have found a way to get to her. He found the first vulnerable moment and exploited it. Had you gone back to the hotel with you, he might have killed you and taken her. Or killed both of you. What happened? Was probably the best case scenario, because you gave her a tool that would help you find her, and then you used your skills to mobilize forces to reach her before there wasn't a chance to fix things. You are getting the chance that Hotch and I didn't get. Keep that in the forefront of your mind."
She could hear the raw pain in his voice, and she nodded, finally allowing his words into her heart and mind. "I'm just so terrified, Reid. I told her that I would protect her, that I wouldn't allow this to happen to her, and then I failed." Her voice cracked on that word, and she felt his arm shake off her hand before he wrapped that arm around her waist, tugging her close to his chest as they followed after JJ to a bank of elevators.
"You didn't fail her, Pen. You saved her."
"Listen to Spence, PG. He's right. She's in critical, but stable condition right now, and we're going to go up and see her." She gave JJ a watery smile as she nodded, letting her head come to rest on Reid's chest as they waited for the elevator to arrive. They were not able to get a private car, so the ride up to the fourth floor was silent, though she still continued to cry, unable to turn the waterworks off.
JJ took hold of her free hand and led them down the hall until they came to a stop outside a private room, where Derek was standing with his back against the wall, staring at the floor. "We got here as soon as we could," JJ said softly, and he looked up at them, anger and frustration on his face. "What is it?"
"No one's heard from the helicopter that Hotch and Blake were using in about twenty minutes."
"What?! Why didn't you call me! I could have started pinging off their phones!" Penelope cried out as she slung her computer bag around to the front of her body, starting to fumble with the clasps on it. "Well?"
Derek shrugged a little before looking at the open doorway. "We were a little more concerned about making certain Erin got up here safely. We're still waiting on security to come and guard her room."
"Well, screw that. You are all going to find them! Obviously, you're going to need my help with that, and since I'm not about to leave Erin's side, that means I'm going to have to get set up in her room." Without looking at the others, she slipped out of Reid's embrace and made her way into the room. Penelope felt her breath stolen from her lungs as she looked at Erin lying in a sterile hospital bed, hooked up to way too many machines then seemed humanly possible. Rossi was holding onto one of her hands, weeping quietly, and that was what broke the dam on her own tears. "We, we got here as soon as we could. How…?"
"We don't know yet, Kitten. And my best friend is now missing, too. What am I going to do?"
She came over to his side, letting her bag slip down her body to thud softly on the floor as she wrapped him in a tight hug. "You're going to do your job first, and find them. Erin and Alex have reconciled, and I don't think that this is where their story is supposed to end. I'll sit here with her, and help you all out as much as I can. This is what we do, we find the unsubs and we bring them to justice."
"He forced her to drink."
"I know. And JJ brought the bottles so that hopefully her doctors can figure out the best way to clean her blood of the MDMA." She rubbed his back gently. "Please, find Curtis and end him. End him for Erin, for Alex, for me."
He looked up into her face, and she pursed her lips to hold back the sobs that threatened to break from her throat. "I'll try, Kitten. She loves you, I hope you know that."
"I do. And I love her. Not like you do, but in my own way." He nodded as he got to his feet, enveloping her in a warm, tight, hug. "Now, go, find them. I'll call you in about five minutes with all the details that I know, all right?"
"Make it ten, Kitten. JJ and I will have to talk to the team leading Erin's recovery, and then we'll have to get under way."
She nodded as she turned her head and pressed her lips to his cheek in a tender kiss. "Stay safe, watch your six, and get the bastard."
"Yes, ma'am," he said, giving her a small salute before hugging her once more and then leaving the room. She looked around and found a wheeled table that held a few of Erin's personal belongings. Penelope brought it over to the chair Rossi had recently gotten up from and figured out how to lower it so that she could easily use her laptop while still keeping an eye on Erin. After placing her laptop on the little table, she rummaged around for her cord, pulling it out and finding an empty outlet to plug it in and then starting to search for a ping on either Hotch or Alex's location.
The first ping came from Hotch's phone, and she was startled to see how far out he was. Taking a deep breath, she pulled out her work mobile and called his number, hoping he'd pick up. "Penelope? What's happened?"
"I could ask the same of you! Are you all right?"
There was a short pause before he took a deep breath. "I'm fine, I was just knocked out by Curtis after he brought the helicopter down."
"What?"
"I don't know how that happened, but it did. And he managed to take the pilot out of commission as well."
"And what about Lexie?" she asked, wondering why she hadn't been mentioned, absently using Erin's nickname for her.
"She's gone missing. I need you to divert the team to me, and then search the general area for places she could have been brought. I don't know if there even is a place like that this far out in the countryside, but once we had a lead on him, we couldn't let him get out of our eyesight. How's Erin?"
"She looks so tiny in this bed, hooked up to all these machines, and with me unable to help her. But I think that she will be all right in the end. Or at least, I'm praying that she will be."
"That's all we can do, sometimes."
"I know. But, I should probably call and update the team with your location, and send them to you. Let me know the moment you find her, and I'm telling you the same thing I told Rossi – you take that bastard down, and you make certain that he cannot hurt another person in our world ever again. Do you hear me?"
Hotch chuckled a little. "I will do my best to do just that, Garcia. I just never took you to quite so bloodthirsty."
"He almost murdered my Erin, and god knows what he's doing to Lexie! We protect our own, and we neutralize the threats. I've learned that from you. As much as I have a tender heart for those I love, you know that I am also fiercely protective of those I love."
"I know, Penelope. And I will do everything in my power to bring about the results that you want." She sighed and nodded as they hung up, and as she dialed Rossi to give him an update, she reached out her free hand and took hold of Erin's hand, trying to pour all her love and care for the woman in that tender clasp.