The rest of the BAU team returned to the station to finish up and say goodbye to Harlan and the rest of the grateful Portland police force. It wasn't until late in the day that they were finally able to return to the hospital to hear the news on Cole and Christina, and to pick up JJ as she had been cleared to leave. As they met Hotchner in the lobby, they were all tired and relieved to be returning home soon.

"What's the status Hotch?" Morgan asked as they approached.

"JJ's bruised and a little beat up, but she'll be ok. She can return home with us whenever we leave."

"Did you get the story from her about what happened?" Reid asked curiously.

"I did." He said simply.

"And…?" Prentiss pressed.

"What we discussed is between me and her. I'll let her tell you the details about what happened, but she'll be ok."

"She's not in too much trouble is she?" Rossi asked, knowing all too well about how these things tended to turn out.

"She might face some minor disciplinary action for some of her decisions, but like I said, she's accepted them and she'll be ok, she's tough as we all know." Hotchner conceded.

"What about Christina and Cole?" Morgan asked.

"Christina is still in surgery; she was beaten pretty bad and has a few broken bones. She may have pneumonia as well. The doctors are very positive about her future prospects although they won't tell me too much for obvious reasons."

"And Cole?" Reid asked.

"The gunshot wound wasn't far from his heart so he lost a lot of blood, he just came out a little while ago and is resting, he should pull through too."

"That's great news, a success overall." Rossi said as Prentiss grunted.

"I still can't help but to feel Cole had something to do with him and JJ getting into the situation she was in." Prentiss said, still not trusting the man.

"Perhaps, but I debriefed JJ and she took full responsibility. Like I said I won't get into details, but the good news is it looks like all three of them are going to be ok eventually."

"So Cole didn't kidnap her?" Prentiss pressed.

"It doesn't appear that way, no." Hotchner answered.

Emily shook her head, still not entirely believing it. She was glad JJ was ok, but she remembered what she had seen at the precinct. Maybe it was just her lack of an overall trust in men, but she couldn't help but feel that Cole had used JJ and it had helped result in their near deaths. She wouldn't know for sure until she had spoken with JJ and they went over the details of what happened, but to Emily she felt like something was missing and that Hotch was simply accepting JJ's story too easily. Cole was a lucky man, she supposed.

"So when do we get to go home?" Morgan asked, the tiredness in his voice evident.

"You guys can start heading to the tarmac now, I'm just waiting for JJ and then we'll meet you there."

"Where is she?" Reid asked.

"She wanted to check up on Christina and Cole. Unfortunately Christina is still being attended to and can't have visitors, but she's having a quick talk with Cole. I'll go get her in a few minutes."

The others nodded.

"Ok, see you on the plane then." Rossi said as he led them away.

Hotchner sat down in one of the chairs in the lobby. He looked at his watch, deciding to give JJ five more minutes until he went and got her.

/

JJ walked into Cole's hospital room, happy to find that he was awake. As soon as he saw her enter his eyes brightened visibly.

"Hey, you made it." He said quietly as JJ chuckled.

"I think I should be the one saying that about you." She smiled, sitting gingerly next to his bed.

"Are you ok? You don't look so good." he winced as he took in her appearance.

JJ's hair hung in front of her face, hiding some of the bruises, but there was still a good amount of discoloration and some swelling, especially around her jaw where she had been punched.

"I'm fine, just a bunch of bruises that'll heal. I won't need to work out for a while either after that course." She tried to joke as she sniffled.

"Is that all? You sound sick."

"I might be coming down with a cold, but I'll live." JJ shrugged before blowing her nose.

"The better question is how you feel?" she asked.

"I feel weak, but I'm happy to be alive. I don't know what I was thinking to run away like that."

"You weren't." JJ said more evenly.

"You're right I wasn't. I just panicked when I thought he had killed Christina when we were so close…how is she?" he asked fearfully, having still not heard much.

"She's still in surgery but they expect her to pull through. She took quite a beating and it'll take some time to recover. At least Aiden should have his mommy back, and you, your sister." JJ smiled warmly.

"That's great." Cole's face brightened. "I know Aiden will be ecstatic, even if he has to go easy around her for a while."

"You'll have to take it easy too." JJ reminded him.

Cole nodded.

"I know, I'm just glad everything worked out, at least, compared to the alternative." He said as JJ nodded her agreement.

His eyes focused on her, staring more intently.

"Thank you Jennifer, for everything. I know I put you through a lot and that I'm not always the easiest person to deal with."

"You're welcome." JJ said simply.

Cole reached over and grabbed her hand, holding it gently.

"No, I mean it. I put you through a lot and almost got us both killed. I did a lot of stupid stuff and it really almost hurt you." Cole said, trying to get her to understand what he had done, that he mostly meant his apology, without divulging everything he had truly done to her.

He couldn't admit to her that he drugged her. If he did, she would leave for good and she probably would have him brought up on charges. That wasn't a risk he was going to take; especially if he still had a chance with her. To Cole, there was not enough to gain and too much to lose if he were to be fully truthful with her.

"Cole, I understand. I'll admit you weren't the easiest person for me to deal with, one of the hardest actually. But we pulled through. I'm ok, you're ok and you have your sister back. We all came through this thing, now we just have to focus on getting on with our lives." She consoled him, even if she didn't completely comprehend all that had happened between them.

"I know, I just…I put you in a very tough position, an unfair one really." He said, his eyes taking in how beautiful she was even all bruised and battered.

JJ felt his eyes and blushed a little.

"We're fine Cole. Everything is ok. What's past is past. I don't know if I would've attempted pulling a gun on someone if I were untrained and in your shoes, but I would've done a lot of the same things, put in your position."

"I deserve to be brought up on charges." He said, looking away from her, knowing she didn't realize just how much truth that statement held.

"You do, maybe, but you won't. I made a choice…"

"I didn't really give you much of one." He cut in.

"Maybe, but I still made a decision and now we're all living with it, things worked out overall."

Cole nodded as he turned back to her, accepting her words.

"So now what?"

"What do you mean?" JJ asked back, confused.

"I mean, between us?"

JJ paused, a little unsure of what to say.

"I, uh…I don't know. I live across the country with crazy work hours. It's hard enough to keep a short distance relationship with my job." She stuttered a little.

"I really do like you, Jennifer. I would love to pick up where we left off." He smiled, saying her name just so as he had done before.

JJ felt her face turn pink.

"I…I wouldn't mind seeing where things would head, but it just doesn't seem possible." She tried.

Cole frowned a little; although he knew what she said was true. After a moment of silence JJ spoke.

"I'll tell you what, here's my number. If you're ever near D.C. look me up and give me a call." She said as she pulled out her card and handed it to him.

Cole looked over her card and smiled.

"Maybe I'll have to take a vacation sometime soon."

JJ chuckled.

"Maybe you will."

"You can show me around town since I've never been and we can maybe finish what we started." He winked at her, causing JJ to get butterflies.

"We'll see." She smiled awkwardly.

Another moment passed and JJ realized that it was time for her to go. She stood, her hair falling over her face as she leaned in and gave him a light kiss on the cheek.

"Goodbye Cole, stay in touch." She said as she pulled away and he released her hand.

"Goodbye Jennifer, see you soon, maybe." He smiled, watching as she smiled back and slowly walked out of the room.

Cole turned his head, looking out the window as the last rays of sun splashed in. As his tired body slowly drifted to sleep, his thoughts were happily focused on how he had his family back together, and how he might see Jennifer again soon, someday.

AN: Well there you have it! I hope you all enjoyed and a special thanks to all of you who reviewed! I know it might not wrap up everything entirely in a nice bow, but my goal was to show that although Cole was a caring person, he also had some moral issues. Hence why he did some of the things he did and why he didn't confess everything to JJ. Someone pm'd me that they hoped Cole and JJ would hook up. That really wasn't my intention and I feel as it is this story turned more JJ/OC than I had meant for it to. So, I decided to leave open the possibility that they would eventually meet again someday. If you loyal readers REALLY want to see something like that, then maybe I'll do a one-shot sequel where that happens. Personally, I'm pretty happy with how it is now. Thank you again, and be on the lookout for some more JJ, JJ/Reid stories coming soon!