The sun peaked through the hospital windows and JJ's eyes fluttered open. Her head hurt, a lot. Her eyes focused, seeing Dave sleeping in a chair next to the hospital bed. JJ squeezed her eyes shut, as her memory came flooding back of the damage that had been done to her. She didn't remember being rescued, only the feeling of relief that Dave had found her. She watched the sleeping man, a man that many seemed to fear, but with her had been nothing but gentle and loving. She refused to think of what had happened with Will. She really wished he was dead, but didn't know his fate. She took Dave's hand in hers, and squeezed it. He awoke with a start, and realized immediately that she was awake.

"Sleeping on the job, Rossi?" JJ spoke low, attempting to joke.

"No, it's no job. I'm just with the one I love." Dave smiled at her. The bruising was very evident, and thankfully the swelling was starting to go down.

"Is he dead?" was all she asked next.

"I don't know, hon. Hotch hasn't come yet, so I'm taking they are still interrogating him. I wish he was dead though. They shot him, I know that. We tried to talk him down, but he was holding you hostage. The SWAT team acted, and the last I scene of the bastard, he was lying on the cabin floor with a lot of guns pointed at him."

"I hope he's dead. I hate him, I truly do. How could anyone do that to someone they "love"? He kept making me say I still loved him. He questioned whether Henry was his. I thought he'd killed Henry, I truly did."

"JJ, you don't have to talk about this if you don't want. I want you to know that." Rossi held her hand tightly, giving her support.

"A few minutes ago, I was trying to block it out of my mind, but I have to tell you, I do, Dave." JJ whispered.

"Okay, sweetheart, I'm listening."

"He showed up at the house, just after I fell asleep the other night. I fought back, but he had chloroform on a cloth, I guess. I didn't remember anything til we were traveling down the road. He had me tied, bound and gagged in the back of my vehicle. Anyway, he wouldn't tell me where Henry was. And then we ended up at that hellhole, and he kept slapping me, he questioned me about you, how long I've been screwing you and if you were why I left him. He wouldn't believe me when I told him only three weeks, he kept hitting me. He wanted me to say I still loved him, and then he tried to rape me, but he couldn't "perform". And that's when he started to beat me. I don't remember too much after that, just laying there, staring at the wall. The pain was so bad, I kept coming in and out of it, he really hurt my face. And I felt like I couldn't breath." JJ finally stopped, the story had come pouring out of her.

Dave looked at poor JJ, relieved that Will hadn't been able to force himself on her. At least she'd been spared that. But what he'd done in return wasn't too much better. He felt the need to get a hold of Hotch, find out what had become of Will. He'd really hoped he'd made a run for it and been gunned down. He hated to leave JJ, but he had to. Just then, the nurse and doctor came in to see her, and after promising her he'd be back shortly, Dave headed outside to use his cellphone and find out what had gone on.

The call went through shortly, and Dave was talking to Hotch "Aaron, JJ's awake and telling me details. What happened to the little bastard? What's going on out there?"

"Dave, how's JJ? Is she going to be alright?" Hotch ignored Rossi's question to begin with, wanting to know about his friend.

"She'll be okay. He beat her pretty badly. She has a couple of broken ribs, a lot of facial contusions. She's sore and bruised. She says she wasn't raped, thank god for small favors, but apparently it wasn't from lack of trying on his part." he spat out.

"Will has been taken to a different hospital, we're over there. No word yet on his condition, he took a bullet to the chest when the cabin was stormed."

"He deserves to die for what he did to JJ. Do you know how long poor Henry was alone when he kidnapped JJ? For over 10 hours! No wonder the poor boy was wailing so much. Some father, doing that to his son. My god, I wish I'd been able to beat him like he did to JJ." Ross ground out.

"Well, I hate to say this, but I agree with you on that. As a father, I could never do that, no matter how angry I was at my child's mother. He seriously had something wrong with him mentally."

"Listen, his doctor is coming out now. I'll phone you back in a few. Bye Dave."

Rossi stood there, thinking about all that had transpired in the last 24 hours. He couldn't believe it had escalated like this, that Will had gone this far. And he didn't know how JJ was going to hold things together. All he knew is that he would stand beside her, no matter what. And their fledgling relationship would be tested more than he could possibly imagine, all because one man couldn't let go.

After a couple of minutes, Dave's phone rang shrilly. Seeing it was Hotch, he picked up.

"So, what's the verdict? Is he gonna make it?"

"He died on the operating room table, Dave. The bullet nicked a major artery, and he bled out. He was practically dead when he was brought in here." Hotch relayed the information with little emotion.

"I don't feel real sorry, you know that? He needed help, he really did. Too bad he didn't get it before he did something like this. And now, JJ will have to pay for it." Rossi sighed.

"Listen, Hotch, I'm heading back up to JJ. I promised her I wouldn't stay away too long. She's still scared, very scared of him. He hurt her badly."

"Okay, Dave, we'll be there shortly. Let her know we're on our way." With that, he disconnected from Hotch, and headed back up the elevator to JJ's room.