Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds or the characters. Some "guest stars" are based on or named after people in my life while others are totally made up, as are some places and events

Heads up: Sweary, sweary, sweary.

Chapter 25

The loud clatter of the clipboard echoed around the silent room. Penelope woke with a start and looked around the room. She gasped when she saw movement at the foot of her bed. She reached over and tried to grab her glasses but she knocked them down off the table and spilled the water at the same time. She tried to hit the call button but it slipped off the bed and clattered to the floor.

She closed her eyes in fear as the figure walked closer. She was practically blind anyway without her glasses and in the darkened room and unable to defend herself. She wanted to spend her last moments thinking about her beloved Derek and not the monsters that would stop at nothing to kill her.

"What's the matter, Penny?" the figure asked. "You don't recognize your big brother?"

Penelope's eyes flew open again and she tried to focus on the face that was no longer hidden in the shadows. The face was slightly lined and his hair was thinning but she recognized her brother Greg instantly.

"What, cat got your tongue?" he chuckled. He leaned in close and looked her up and down. "You look like hell, Penny. Who'd you piss off now? I'm not surprised, with your behavior. I'm am surprised this hasn't happened sooner. How many illegitimate brats do you have, anyway, besides that one?" he gestured to her belly, which she instinctively covered with her bandaged hands. "I see you still use my father's name, so you aren't married."

Penelope rolled her eyes. Derek, where are you? she silently cried.

"Don't you dare roll your eyes at me, Missy!" Greg snarled. "That little attitude of yours may have worked on Dad but it won't work on me. You're my responsibility now and you will show me respect!" Penelope's eyes narrowed.

"Remember, all it takes is one little phone call and you can kiss your freedom goodbye!" Greg threatened.

Penelope trembled. "That's better," Greg smiled. She gasped when Greg put his hands on either side of her pillow and leaned in close to her face. "What did you do?" he asked through clenched teeth. "Did you hear I was getting ready to announce my candidacy for mayor and decide to punish me again!?" Penelope shook her head fiercely.

"What's the problem here?" Nurse Jen demanded as she ran into the room.

"There is no problem," Greg straightened up and stared at the nurse. "I am Penelope's family and we're discussing private family matters. Now, leave before I decide to sue this hospital for failing to protect Penelope's privacy."

Nurse Jen looked at Penelope, who was clearly terrified. She left and whipped out her phone. She pulled the card from her pocket.

"Morgan," the familiar voice on the other line greeted.

"Agent Morgan, this is Nurse Jen..."

"Morgan," Derek snapped into his phone.

"Morgan, what the hell is going on?" Hotch asked.

"Someone's in Penelope's room and won't leave. He's yelling and she's upset." Derek replied as he pulled up to the hospital.

"Where's the hospital's security?" Hotch asked.

"Nurse Jen said that he told them he'd sue the hospital if they made him leave," Derek explained as he bolted into the building.

"We're right behind you."

"I'm not waiting," Derek replied as he ran into the elevator and hung up the phone.

He tapped his foot impatiently as the elevator took him up. As soon as the elevator doors opened he saw Nurse Jen standing outside Penelope's room. Penelope screamed and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Derek upholstered his weapon and gestured for Nurse Jen to move our of the way. He opened the door and ran in. His blood ran cold as he saw a man standing over Penelope, holding her burned hands while she screamed in agony, with blood running down her arm.

"So, Penelope, where were we? Oh, yes. I came here to see how much damage control needed to be done. And it's obvious you haven't learned a thing. I can't believe you've gotten yourself pregnant! Why do you do these things to me? Do you still hate me that much?" Greg raged.

Penelope shook her head and started to cry.

"What? Is Penny speechless? Why aren't you saying anything?" he screamed in her face.

"Argh!" he yelled in frustration as she continued to remain silent. He walked away from the bed. "I told you... I warned you. I thought you'd learned, matured, and grew up. You were quiet for so long. I can't believe you had one of your hacker friends call me and pretend to be the FBI," he raged.

"Who is the father? Do you even know? You're going to get rid of it, I'll tell you that right now. And I'm taking you home to California and you will not be causing me any trouble, ever. I'll speak to a judge. Tell him you're sick and injured and that you're all alone here. I'll make it my duty to take care of my mentally ill baby sister."

Penelope shook her head and tried to rip out her IV, hoping the alert would bring Nurse Jen back. Greg ran over and pulled her hands away but instead he snagged his own hand on the IV line and ripped it out of her arm. Blood started pouring out but Greg ignored it and grabbed her bandaged hands. She screamed as the pressure on her burns was too much.

"See! You're completely out of your mind!" he yelled.

Penelope felt light-headed and just as she was going to lose consciousness she felt Greg being pulled away from her. "Penelope!" Derek yelled. She could barely make out Derek holding Greg in a headlock. "We need help in here now," Derek yelled out of the open door. Nurse Jen rushed in and put pressure on Penelope's arm. The team burst in after her and JJ and Kate went immediately to Penelope. Hotch and Rossi grabbed Greg and forced him out of the room while Derek rushed to Penelope's side. She was crying hysterically and reaching for Derek, who gathered her in his arms while Nurse Jen put a bandage on Penelope's arm, then started a new IV in the other arm. A different nurse came in with a syringe and inserted it into the new IV.

Derek saw JJ and Kate leave as he felt Penelope's muscles relax and he gently pushed her gently onto the pillows. She was still crying softly and shuddering. "It's all right, Baby Girl. He can't hurt you," he whispered as she closed her eyes and fell asleep. He felt his heart tug as he looked at the tears that fell into the stitches, knowing that she was in more pain because of them and... him. He gently brushed the tears away from her cheeks with his thumb, skirting over the stitches.

"He was holding her hands and she was screaming," Derek explained to the nurses as they began to change her gown. He lifted Penelope off the bed so they could change the sheets faster.

"I'll call the doctor in to check her injuries," Nurse Jen replied.

Derek left the room and walked into the waiting room, where Rossi and Reid were standing over Penelope's attacker. He pushed them out of the way and grabbed him by his shirt collar. "Are you crazy? You just attacked a federal agent!"

"I did no such thing!" Greg snarled back. "I'm Penelope's brother. I was trying to keep her from killing herself!"

Derek let him go and stepped back in shock. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"Who the hell are you?" Greg demanded.

Derek pulled out his credentials from his pocket and stuck his badge in Greg's face. "Supervisory Special Agent Derek Morgan, FBI,' he growled.

"My sister is ill. She needs help," Greg said.

"She didn't need help until you showed up," Morgan countered.

"She wouldn't talk! And she tried to rip out her IV!"

"She can't talk, you dumb son of a bitch! She just had a trach removed from her throat. She was given doctor's orders to not speak until tomorrow..." Morgan roared.

"And when she does speak, I'm willing to bet she'll tell us a different story," Hotch interrupted as he walked in. "He checks out," he told them.

"Who are you?" Greg demanded.

"I'm Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner. Penelope's boss. I believe I spoke to you on the phone."

"Wow. Penelope is really a fed," Greg sneered. "I thought she got one of her hacker friends to lie to get my attention."

"She had no idea I even called you. She's never once spoken of you or her other brothers," Hotch glared at him.

"Well, how is she? You said she was in a coma but she's obviously awake," Greg demanded.

"Yeah, she woke up," Rossi rolled his eyes. "And she was not at all suicidal. And as long as we've known her, she never has been."

"And you're some kind of expert?" Greg mocked.

"Actually, we are," Reid replied. "We are part of the Behavioral Analysis Unit. We study human behavior."

"Oh." Greg looked nervous.

"Yeah. So tell us, what are you doing here?" Hotch demanded.

"I wanted to see what kind of trouble my sister was causing now."

"Excuse me?! Your sister was abducted and tortured and was nearly murdered!" Morgan roared in Greg's face. Rossi and Hotch held him back before he could go after him.

"Morgan, Hotch? The doctor needs to speak to you guys," JJ announced as she and Kate stepped into the room.

Derek and Hotch walked out and Greg tried to walk behind them but he was stopped by Rossi's hand on his shoulder. "Where do you think you're going?" Rossi asked.

"I'm going to see what the doctor wants," Greg replied with an air of superiority.

"No, you're not," Rossi pulled Greg back and forced him into a chair.

"Excuse me! You have no right to keep me from my sister!"

"Actually, we have every right," Reid said angrily. "Agent Morgan and Agent Hotchner are Agent Garcia's next-of-kin and emergency contacts. You have no authority to make any medical decisions on her behalf."

"For now," Greg muttered under his breath.

"Is Penelope OK?" Derek asked. He stroked her hair as she whimpered in her sleep.

"The burns on her hands are irritated. The skin that had healed is now damaged again . She lost some blood when the IV was ripped out. It doesn't look like she needs a transfusion but that may change. Her breathing is fine and it doesn't look like her vocal chords are damaged any worse than before," Dr. Davis answered.

"He said she refused to speak but I heard her scream before I came in," Derek said.

"OK, I have to ask: who was that guy?" Dr. Davis demanded. She crossed her arms over her chest.

Hotch sighed. "He's her brother."

"I don't recall seeing anything about family in her records," the doctor frowned.

"There wouldn't be anything to see. Garcia erased her past after joining the FBI. She actually has four older brothers and she's spoken of them twice in the twelve years I've known her. They still blame her for their parents' deaths." Hotch shook his head. "When her abductors made her say her final goodbyes she didn't mention them."

"Then why is he here now?"

"He thinks she did this to spite him or something. He actually thought I was lying about being FBI when I called the other day," Hotch replied.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah. She had to have been terrified. She couldn't see and she knew she couldn't jeopardize her voice by talking so soon. It looked like she tried to get her glasses and she couldn't put them on by herself," Derek was getting mad again just thinking about it.

"She may not remember her ordeal but she will remember this," the doctor said.

"She was already showing signs of PTSD," Derek sighed. "Who knows what that bastard said to her. I don't believe a word he says. He's saying she tried to kill herself."

The doctor's jaw dropped. "I can personally vouche that Penelope has shown no signs of wanting to harm herself," she said, trying to sound calm and failing.

"So can we," Hotch affirmed.

"He is not to enter this room without me, Agent Hotchner, Agent Rossi, Agent Jareau, Agent Callahan, or Dr. Reid present and he is absolutely not to make any decisions involving Penelope's health and well-being," Derek ordered.

"He has zero grounds to sue you or the hospital," Hotch assured her. "You are protecting your patient who is also a federal agent. I don't care that he's her brother. He lost what little merit that gave him when he came in here and frightened her enough that she is more injured than before and needed to be sedated."

A/N: Thanks for reading.

XOXO,

PitaCake