Rocky Mountain Community Hospital –

Garcia waited pacing crying nervous tears outside of the Emergency Room. The chopper transporting Morgan was due to land momentarily. She was thankful and anxious to see him with her own eyes. According to the initial reports, he'd sustained serious injuries and would be headed straight to surgery. Still, she had to see him, to touch him and confirm that he was indeed breathing.

It had been a long few days of waiting and JJ was more than happy that Morgan would be rejoining their circle their family. Thoughts of him risking his life and being left in the forest alone had kept her awake at nights. She felt so guilty for benefitting from a promise he'd made. Finding out about Penelope's is pregnancy didn't help ease her guilt. She was anxious because Will was on his way back and she expected him to walk through her door any moment. She couldn't wait to have her arms around him again. She missed her son too; it had been too long since she'd seen him.

Thirty minutes later…

The helicopter touched down and rushed Morgan on a gurney toward the hospital door. Garcia ran and met them halfway. He was unconscious and bruised and battered he looked so weak and frail but at that moment he never looked better. She talked to him all the way through the doors until the doctors prevented her from going further.

She stood at the door of the surgical suite watching until he was wheeled out of her sight. Suddenly all the emotion that she had held in the last several days and all of the worry and fear flooded to the surface in the form of unbridled tears and her body rocked uncontrollably. There was so much she wanted to say, to tell him but still she had to wait. Her future with the man she loved was still uncertain in the hands of doctors who knew nothing of the man who's life they held in their hands.

Five hours later…

Penelope had decided to camp out in the waiting room to give JJ and Will some alone time. JJ's mom, Sandy had already returned to Quantico to check on her grandson and since JJ was not due to be discharged for another four days, she was going to surprise her daughter by bringing Henry back to see his mom. She knew her daughter desperately wanted to see her son and so she was going to make it happen. The doctors had reassured her that JJ was doing better than they had expected and so she felt confident in being gone for a day or so.

"Derek Morgan?"

Her thoughts were interrupted by the voice of a small middle-aged woman in worn green scrubs who'd entered the room without her noticing.

"Yes."

"I'm Dr. Abigail Smithers. I'm the surgeon that treated Mr. Morgan."

"Penelope Garcia. H-How is he?"

"Surprisingly well. We removed a bullet from his shoulder and repaired his rotator cuff that was injured as a result of the crash. He lost a lot of blood but it could have been worse. He also has a few bruised ribs and a slight concussion but I expect him to make a full recovery."

Penelope sighed in relief as the doctor continued to give her details that seemed a blur after, "full recovery", was mentioned.

"Can I see him?"

"Yes, of course. He's awake and he's asking for you."

"Thank you, doctor."

Penelope followed the doctor down the hallway. Slowly she opened the door and stepped in the room. The doctor had warned her that he would probably be drowsy, the after effects of the anesthesia. She didn't mind he was here, alive and safe. There was so much she wanted to tell him but it could wait.

"I want to see him."

"JJ, you're still recovering."

"Will, I want to see him! I need to thank him for what he did for us; for me."

"JJ, he just got out of surgery and he's probably still asleep."

"Will!"

"I'll make a deal with you if the doctor clears it, then I'll take you down to his room myself in the morning. Okay?"

"Fine."

Next Morning –

The room was quiet and peaceful and he was glad that he'd made it out of the forest in one piece. There was a time when he had his doubts as to whether or not he'd ever see Penelope again. Now here she was sleeping next to him her hand wrapped around his; he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she'd been there all night waiting for him to open his eyes. He squeezed her hand to confirm that this wasn't all a figment of his imagination. She slowly opened her eyes smiling at him.

"Good Morning Gorgeous!" His voice was weak almost a whisper.

"I'll show you a good morning, Hot Stuff."

Her tears were happy tears now. She stood and kissed his lips lightly. He grabbed her hand and held on as tight as he could.

"I'll go and get the nurse."

"No. Not yet."

"But they'll want to know you're awake."

"I'm afraid if I let you go I'll wake up and realize that this was just a dream."

"It's not a dream. I'm here you're here…safe…"

Reluctantly, he let go of her hand but she couldn't move, couldn't leave; she had to know it wasn't a dream too so she sat on the bed and they both stared intently at each other in a warm comfortable silence. She then caressed the side of his face and he leaned into her touch kissing her palm, relaxing satisfied that she was indeed real.

A knock and then a voice interrupted the reunion.

"Good Morning!"

"Good Morning, Doctor." Penelope answered.

"How's are patient this morning?"

"I've felt better but I'm glad to be alive."

Derek squeezed Penelope's hand and smiled.

"Well, I just wanted to stop by and I must say, you are doing great even better than I expected considering your condition when you were brought in."

"Thank you for everything." Derek said.

"You are more than welcome."

"When can I take him home?"

"Not so fast, Ms. Garcia. He's going to be with us for at least a week". The turning to Derek, "You're blood levels need to come up a little more and we're still monitoring you for any infections that may arise."

"I'll do whatever it takes to get out of here."

"Good, that's what I want to hear."

Dr. Smithers turned to leave then turned back to face the couple.

"Oh by the way, there are several people out in the hall waiting to see you. They say that they're family."

"Thanks, Doctor."

Dr. Smithers opened the door and allowed Hotch, Reid, Rossi and Will to enter.

"Please don't tire him out he still needs a lot of rest."

"We won't." Hotch promised.

After about twenty minutes, Morgan began to doze off and the group took that as their sign to leave. Will headed back to see his wife and Penelope fully intended on keeping her vigil at his bedside but Hotch was not having it. He knew she needed to eat and rest and so he took the necessary action by putting on his boss hat and insisting that she leave for a little while.

"But I can't leave!" She persisted.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you had a choice. Now let's go. There's a diner across the street. You need to eat!"

"But…"

"No buts! Dave since you are still an inpatient, we'll bring you something back and we'll all meet back in your room in about an hour."

"Sounds good to me. I'll see you three later."

Without another word of protest Garcia planted a soft kiss on Derek's forehead and headed out of the room.

Just as Will approached JJ's room he could hear the familiar squeals of his son. His heart leapt; he knew his wife would be overjoyed to see him. He hadn't told her that Sandy was bringing him back with her.

Pushing the door open he had no words for the sight before him. Henry lay next to his mom cuddled close to her side. He fought back the tears as he silently stared at the people that meant the most to him. He didn't want to imagine what his life would be like had things ended differently. He owed Morgan for his unselfish act of risking his life for his family; he wasn't sure he could do the same had he been in his place.

"Look who's here?" JJ looked up and smiled at her emotional husband.

"I see!"

Will walked toward his mother-in-law hugging her tightly for several moments. Then he approached his son who was beginning to nod. He wanted desperately to pick him up and squeeze him tightly but having him next to JJ was better than any medicine. He leaned down and kissed his wife.

"How's Morgan?"

"Better. He's sleeping."

"And Garcia?"

"Hotch ordered her to go with him and Reid to get something to eat."

"I bet she didn't like that very much."

"You know it!"

"Speaking of which, when was the last time you ate, Mister?" Sandy interrupted.

Will looked puzzled trying to remember.

"Just as I thought!"

"Okay, I promise I'll go and get something to eat later. Besides, I promised I'd take JJ to see Morgan."

Stat's Diner -

Hotch was starting to feel as if he were going stir crazy and like JJ he missed his son. It was only a matter of time before Cruz would be ordering them back to Quantico. Even though none of them had been released by doctors to return to work, the fact that the jet was sitting idle and costing a fortune sitting would weigh heavily on their boss. Still he was going to do whatever was in his power to keep the team here until they all could leave together. He watched as Reid and Garcia ate and talked he was relieved that they'd all managed to come out of the last several days in one piece. Somehow he knew it was more than luck it was a miracle and even in their line of work, he knew miracles still happened and he was grateful.

Meanwhile…

Morgan opened his eyes as JJ entered wheeled in by Will and he fought his emotions as Will pushed her closer to the bed before stopping close enough for her to touch her friend's hand.

"JJ, you're okay?" His voice was shaky.

"I'm okay, thanks to you." Hers was shaky too.

Neither of them knew what to say next and the room became heavy with silence and so many emotions. JJ spoke next breaking the silence.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better now." Then looking at Will. "Thank you, Man! You saved my life."

"No. You saved mine. I know what you did, the price you paid to make sure JJ was on that rescue chopper."

Will shook the agent's hand and stood quickly wiping away his own tears.

"She'd do it for me, right JJ?"

"Without a doubt."

It was silent again as the three fought to contain themselves. This time Will broke the silence.

"Well, I know you two want to talk so I'm going to go and check on Henry."

"Thanks, Man."

"Thanks, Sweetheart."

The door closed and JJ gathered Morgan's hand in hers. There was so much she needed to say to him.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked her.

"I'm fine. Can't wait to get out of this place that's for sure."

"I hear you."

"I heard Hotch ordered Garcia out of here."

"Yeah. She didn't want to go. She looked so tired. I'm worried about her. JJ, will you…"

"Yes, of course, I'll take care of her. All of us will." She interrupted him.

Then…

"I saw you."

"What?"

"I saw you…I know what you did."

"I don't know what you're talking about, JJ"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Derek Morgan!"

"JJ, I was so happy to hear the choppers. I rushed back as fast as I could and when I got ready to join you all, I heard the commander."

"Derek…"

"I heard him say that there was only room for one more. It wasn't a rescue mission! It was a recovery mission! The jet debris was more important than finding us alive, JJ!"

"Yeah, I hear you. I can't believe it myself!"

"I owe you. Thank you!"

"You don't owe me anything. Seeing you alive is enough."

"Still…"

"JJ, you've got to make me a promise."

"Anything, you know that."

"Don't tell Garcia what I did!"

"Derek!"

"Promise me, JJ! If Penelope finds out that I chose to stay back, she'll never forgive me! Promise me, JJ!"

"What? I can't believe what you just said!"

The two hadn't heard the door open, didn't realized that Garcia had returned. Both Derek and JJ looked up into the angry face of the woman who'd worried herself sick about him for the last several days.

"Garcia!" He began.

"You made me a promise! You promised never to do anything to make me worry!"

"Garcia wait, I'm sorry, I…"

"You lied to me! You can keep a promise to everyone else but you can't keep one to me? I thought you loved me!"

"Come on, Garcia, it's not like that…" JJ tried to intervene.

"No, JJ! It's exactly like that!"

Suddenly a wave of dizziness hit Garcia making her stumble backward. Her vision became blurry and her knees felt like jelly.

"Garcia! What's wrong?" JJ said panic in her voice.

"Baby girl!"

Morgan yelled struggling to sit up throwing the blanket off of his body wanting to get out of bed as he fought against the pain and injuries to his body.

"Derek!" She yelled.

Her body felt numb and she could no longer keep focused and the room began to spin as she hit the ground with a thud. Derek felt helpless and he couldn't believe what was happening.

"NO! Penelope! Please! Somebody help!"