A/N: Hello again, everyone!

A shout-out to ahowell1993, TwilightMelodic, Rese Clark Van Noy, Miffybeth, criminalmindsrocks, lolyncut, Kelly, Skylar, Martha, Betty, Susan and Amy for either reviewing Chapter 20, favoring and/or following the story.

Again, sorry for any delay!

My apologies if I had made any mistakes but please do enjoy the chapter!

Also, I would like to credit ahowell1993 for helping me with this chapter.

"Baby!" Élise could practically speed-walked into the room as she had large bags in her hands. "Oh!" Giving Reid a kiss on the lips as she rushes to her side; Hotch was resting.

Reid asked, "How was your night?"

"Lonely." She answered, stroking his cheek, and brushing his hair away. "I had to wake up alone because you weren't there. But I'm here now."

Eyeing the bags, "What's in the bags?"

"I got some books for you." Setting the bag on the nearby chair next to the bed, pulling the books out one-by-one, "The Illustrated Man. I, Robot. Empty Planet. Carrie. To Kill a Mockingbird. An Edgar Allan Poe Collection. Ulysses. Margery Kempe. Shakespeare."

"A great collection, my Queen." Reid kisses Élise's lips again. "And the other bag?"

"DVDs!" Rummaging through the bag. "Forrest Gump. National Treasure and its sequel. Robin Hood. Dumbo. Babar. The 1995 and 2005 versions of Pride and Prejudice. Ever After: A Cinderella Story. Oh! And my one of my favorite movies from childhood, if not, my favorite." Elise pulls out.

"Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie?" Reid raised his eyebrow.

Excitedly shaking her head. "I pretty much remember every word of the movie. Especially since whenever I was at my grandmother's house in the islands, all we could do was watch movies and television."

"Well, I'm excited to see it." Reid kisses Élise again as she gently jumped onto the bed and soon began to soft make out before hearing Hotch grumbling, signaling that he is waking up.

"Hey there, Sleepy Head." Élise greeted him.

"Hey, you two," Hotch smirked as soon as he caught sight of Reid and Élise kissing.

"How are you feeling?" Reid asked his boss.

"I'm hanging in there." Hotch weakly answered.

Élise said with compassion, "I heard about what happened with Haley and Jack."

"Yeah." Hotch starts to reflect on what happened during his ordeal with Foyet.

"You guys are going to get Foyet. He crossed state lines, meaning I get to finish him off by prosecuting him to the fullest extent of the law and I'll definitely petition for the death penalty."

"I love it when you get all judicial." Reid gushes.

Élise gushes, "And I love it when you say I get all judicial."

"And I love it when…" Reid was interrupted.

"Okay, you two," Hotch said with his hand on his head. "Can we please order some breakfast?"

Playfully rolling her eyes as Élise takes a brochure on the side table. "Okay. what do you want for breakfast? Did I mentioned a suite like this comes with gourmet meals made from organic and mainly locally grown ingredients?"

"Really?" This interested Reid.

"Yeah-yeah," Élise said, nodding her head. "Only the best for my man. And the man who introduced us."

Glancing at the brochure, "Says here that one of the suite's amenities comes with afternoon tea, a full-sized bathtub, private nurse services…"

"And a personal assistant and butler," Élise added, raising her eyebrows. "Not to mention concierge and business services."

"You really know how to pick them, huh, my Regal Legal Eagle?" Reid kisses Élise again.

"Why, yes, Gray Brain Matter." Élise kisses Reid back.

"Uh, you two?" Hotch again interrupted their kissing for a moment. "Breakfast?"

"Don't worry, Hotch," Élise assures him they'll have some breakfast.

"I love Forrest Gump," Élise said as she sat next to Reid, popping a popped corn into her mouth and one in Reid's mouth for him; watching the film. "It's such a classic."

"I know." Hotch agreed with Élise as he has his own bowl of popcorn.

"It's a bit inaccurate with some of the historical events," Reid said. "But still, it's a classic."

"I feel for Jenny." Élise sadly said. "You know, watching this movie when I was younger, I never knew that when Forrest was narrating about Jenny's father, 'kissing and touching her and her sisters,' I never knew until I was older than he was…"

"I know." Reid nods his head. "Considering what happened to her, I don't blame her for her self-destruction."

"Sometimes, I guess there just aren't enough rocks," Élise recites one of the movie quotes. "One of my favorites. I know that at some point, you have to leave stuff in the past or you'll start pissing people off, but at the same time…I get why you can't because it can hurt too much or you can't because…you just can't."

"I know."

"Personally, I would have loved to prosecute Jenny's father," Hotch added.

"Amen to that, Hotch," Élise agrees. "That and I can think of simpler ways of handling people like him. It may not be legal, but…"

Reid cleared his throat before asking Élise, "Élise…would you want to wait 30 years to finally be together after meeting as children to marry? For you, I'd marry you right after college."

"Ditto. And just so you know, for you, I'd wait a lifetime." Élise sweetly answered before passionately kissing Reid.

"Careful, you two because the heart monitor goes crazy," Hotch warned Reid and Élise.

"And if it does…shit happens." Élise said, causing her and Reid to giggle.

Hotch's cell phone vibrated on the bedside. He looked at Reid and Elise, who was napping, before answering it.

Hotch said, "Hotchner."

"Agent Hotchner."

"Who is this," Hotch answered.

"This is William Reid."

"Hello, sir." He said, trying to control his voice and said sir in a parenthetical way.

"I just heard from Diana that Spencer was shot. Her brother is on vacation, so she called me instead. She was crying so much over the phone when she tried to tell me; I had to leave work and go to Bennington myself."

"Really?" Hotch dully said.

"How's he doing, sir?"

"He's fine; he just had surgery done in his left leg, but he is going to have to be on crutches for the next few months and let me just say, sir, you got some nerve calling me on my phone. Honestly, I'm surprised you're taking your calling Reid to see how's he's doing. And I'll tell you this, I really wanted to call my contact in Nevada and get your license to practice law revoked when I learned about you leaving a 10-year-old Spencer with Diana. But surprisingly enough, Reid didn't want me, too. If you want to be a decent father to him now, why just not stop being the workaholic you are and come out here to Washington DC to see Spencer for yourself instead of calling me? And if you ever call my phone again, I'll have you arrested for harassment." Hotch abruptly hangs up and Élise and Reid, who were still sleeping, but soon had sleepy smiles on their faces.

Elise was strutting out of the hospital, decked out in all Ralph Lauren: navy/cream windowpane virgin wool twill jacket with matching pants and vest, cashmere top, and slingbacks; carrying her navy Ricky bag by her elbow. She was just on her way to her car when,

"Elise?"

Elise turns around, only to see,

"Hey, you guys." Elise plasters a polite smile on her face the second she saw the team at the parking lot.

"We tried to visit yesterday," Prentiss starts off explaining, "But we had so much paperwork that we were too wiped out to do anything else."

"Knowing Hotch and Reid, we would have been finished like that," JJ said, snapping her fingers.

"Hmm-mmm." Elise's lips were in a straight line.

"Are you okay there, Elise?" Rossi asked.

"No," Elise said in a quiet tranquil tone. "No, I'm not okay. I'm a bit pissed off." She tranquility seethed.

"By who?" Morgan was a bit scared.

"You." She growled quietly answered. "But mainly you." Elise points her index finger at Prentiss.

"Me?" Prentiss points to herself.

"Yes." She cleared her throat; she was really glad she had that bottle of water. "What the effing bloody hell were you thinking? Leaving my fiancé without any backup, knowing you have a killer on the loose?"

"Elise…"

"Don't talk when I'm talking, Prentiss. Please just keep your mouth shut." Elise warned her before her voice grew louder. "I mean, for chicken cheesin' rice sake, you didn't have the sense to know that maybe the killer would try to kill Dr. Barton by breaking into his house? You didn't have the sense to bring anyone like Rossi, Morgan, or even JJ for backup? You didn't have the sense to ask for backup agents to watch Dr. Barton's house? You didn't have the common sense to know any of that?! Did any of that cross your damn mind?!"

Prentiss stammered, "I admit, I wasn't thinking…"

"Exactly," Elise interrupted. "You were not thinking. And because of that, Spencer got shot in his left leg." Prentiss tries to explain but Elise kept going, "No talky when I talky. Now suppose the bastard had shot Spencer in the abdomen, or God help us, put a bullet to either his heart or his head. Huh?! Huh!? Do you know what you would have gotten? You would have gotten a grieving mother who lost her only child. A grieving family mourning the loss of one of their own. And a grieving fiancée who would have slapped you with a negligent lawsuit and had given you a West Indies beatdown and had rubbed lemon, salt, and pepper on the wounds."

Elise took a deep inhale and exhale before continuing but in a calmer tone, "And none of you guys didn't have the damn decency to tell Hotch about Reid?"

"We just wanted to wait until the case was over."

"But still…" Hissing through her teeth. "I understand you guys wanted to protect him, but Hotch is still top dog. You have to let him in on what's going on since he's still team leader."

"Of course." Rossi nodded his head.

Taking another deep breath, "Now…I'm going to go to work. And if you think I'm done, ho-oh, let me tell you all this, I've just begun." Unlocking her car, "Have a good day to you all." Before getting in. "Oh! And…the next time any of you, especially you, Prentiss, ever do this to either Spencer or Hotch again…you're not only going to have to deal with his mother, who is Every-Bear-Species protective of him, but also an aunt who wants great-nieces and great-nephews, and me and you'll really see why I'm called the Silent Eliminating Enforcer." She winked at them before leaving. "Again…you all have a good day."

Elise had a long day at work; she mostly had paperwork to do, but at least she was done with that and she gets to spend more time with her loving fiancé and the man who brought them together. As she had just walked into the hospital,

"Hey, you guys," Elise smirked at the team, who was standing in the waiting room

"Hey, Elise," Morgan said as he and the team got up from their seats. "Where's Hotch?"

"We went to his room, only he wasn't there," JJ said, worried.

Prentiss had her hand on her forehead. "Don't tell me something happened to him."

"Follow me, people. And Morgan and Prentiss." Elise smirked.

"Hotch!" Morgan, JJ, Prentiss, Garcia, and Rossi hurried into the room only to see,

"Spence?" JJ puzzlingly asked. "You're rooming with Hotch?"

"Oh, yeah," Elise snaps her fingers. "It slipped my mind; I ordered the nurses not to let anyone in the room unless I was there."

"Think of it as a lesson to teach you all about how I felt when I didn't see Reid until I learned about his shooting," Hotch commented.

"Hmm-mmm," Elise nods her head, crossing her arms. "And let me you all, he wasn't a happy bunny."

"Not the least." Reid agreed.

"Hotch," Prentiss stepped up, "Let me be the first to say I'm so incredibly sorry that we didn't tell you about Reid."

"Me, too," JJ said.

"Me, three." Rossi raised his hand.

"Same here." Morgan and Garcia raised their hands.

JJ continued, "Reid's shooting could have been preventable had any one of us was with him."

"Damn straight." Elise could not have agreed more. "But it's a good thing his surgery went well. Otherwise…oh-oh-oh, you all would have crawled under the bed for cover."

"If you're going to give another tongue-lashing, can we have some earplugs?" JJ asked.

Garcia said. "So glad I wasn't there."

"Unfortunately, I have to be on crutches for the next couple of months," Reid said.

Prentiss asked, "Is there anything else we can do to make you more comfortable?"

Elise raised her eyebrow as she sat down next to Reid, "Well, now that you mentioned it, Spencer could use a wheelchair every once in a while. And perhaps a shower chair. Or I can just run your bath for you."

"Oh, I like that." Reid was enjoying Elise tickling under his chin, giggling.

"I have an idea," Morgan said.

"It better be a good idea." Elise lowered her eye and eyebrows.

"It is," Morgan assured her.

Shrugging her shoulders, "We're listening."

Morgan said, "You two can rent one of my properties for about…$2,000."

As Reid and Elise thought about it, "Make it $1,000."

"$1,000?" Morgan slightly protested.

"You'll take it what we give you and like it." Elise said, and just before Morgan opened his mouth, "Or would you like $500 a month?" Elise smirked.

"$1,000 it is."

"The day after Reid is cleared, we'll visit the property and if we like it, we'll take it." Elise extends her hand. "Deal?"

"Deal." Morgan shook her hand.

"I'll have my people draw up the paperwork." Elise cuddles closer to Reid.

"And because your apartment's a walk-up, you two can stay in one of my first-floor guest bedrooms until you get moved in," Rossi offered. "And I'll hire people to move your stuff out of the apartment."

"Why, thank you, Rossi." Elise smiled.

Garcia wobbles over to Reid's bedside with a bowl of red gelatin, "Okay, let's move on to something more important. Who wants Jell-O?"

Reid raises his hand, "I do!"

"Want me to feed some to you?" Elise kisses Reid.

Reid kisses her back. "Oh, I really like that."

"I think I'd really like to leave," Morgan said as soon as Reid and Elise started kissing.

"Bye, Felicia." Reid and Elise simultaneously said before resuming kissing.

Until next time, everybody!