AN: Thanks for the reviees; I am not going to beg for them because I have a stat tool on ff that shows how many people are reading. It has remained stable, which means a lot of people are reading and that means the world to me!

So, thank you for reading :)

Katie Duncan looked over the chart in front of her; years of the head of the cardiology transplant department told her his patient had no chance. But then Ross had come in and charmed his way through the initial assessment procedures. 'Damn you, Ross' Katie said. This was the part of the job she despised, she hated telling a family that their loved one wouldn't qualify for a transplant and she had no doubt, this patient was one of those. She sighed and leaned back in her chair, trying to figure out how to tell them. Should she examine this patient and give them false hope, or should she just let them know, based on this patient's current condition and history, that she stood no chance.

She knew she would have a social worker accompany her into the room and knew LaDameon was the man for the job; he had a knack for breaking bad news to people in a way she could never attempt.

She rubbed her eyes and looked at the clock, it was nearly noon and she had promised Ross she could be in to assess Agent Jareau before one in the afternoon. Groaning, she stood up and sent a text to LaDemeon, pleading for him to meet her in her office.

'Please' she texted him, hoping she wasn't swamped as he typically was.

'Uh-oh,' LaDemeon replied quickly, 'I can't even hear your tone and I know this is bad.'

'Free beer on me; meet me at ICU 4,' and she had headed out, her mind already made up.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

LaDemeon knew the moment he saw the text from Dr. Duncan that he was about to help her deleiver catastrophic news; he hated doing it, but would prefer it was him or another social worker on his team. He had done it for years but it never got any easier.

'You know me big time," he smiled, seeing Katie walking towards him.

"Don't I know it," she smiled at him.

"Want to give me a Cliff Notes version?" He asked, leaning against the nurses station.

"I don't know much, I know she's gone through signficant trauma and she was brought in after being held captive in a cabin for a few days. She was intubated on the way in and we haven't take her off the vent yet." She stepped towards the door but as she came close, two men stepped out.

"Who are you?" One of them asked, eyeing her.

"Who are you?" She asked defensively.

"Anyone that enters this room needs to have been cleared by the FBI."

"What the hell?" Katie growled back, "I'm a doctor here, I am here to assess this woman."

The man stared at her, "Name?"

"Dr. Duncan, from cardiology." She said, feeling her temper rise.

"Stay here," she watched as the man stepped into the room while his partner stayed outside, silent.

"You ddin't tell me this part, Duncan…" LaDemeon whispered to her.

"I didn't know," she replied, now knowing Ross had told her next to nothing about what was truly going on.

"You didn't know she had armed guards standing outside her door?" LaDemeon laughed, "Katie, what else don't you know about her?"

Katie shrugged, knowing she was in for a roller coaster. She was about to reply when the man stepped back out. "Doctor, you are welcome to go inside but the FBI is requesting that no information about this patient is to be released to anyone; including coworkers unless strictly necessary."

"Okay.." she looked at him, now wondering what she had gotten herself into.

"Katie," She looked into see Ross standing near the bedside, his hair ruffled. "Thank you for coming,"

"Want to tell me what is truly going on?" She ignored the greeting and stepped closer to her patient, mindful of the other man inside the room.

She saw Ross look to the other man, and watched as the second man nodded silently. "Katie, this is Special Agent Jennifer Jareau; she goes by JJ."

And for the next hour, Katie listened as Ross explained everything he could. "You are shitting me," Katie replied after an hour; "there is no possible way…"

"I know its insane, trust me, we know. But when JJ was first abducted, she was exceptionally healthy; when she was found, we thought she was in heart failure, but were able to correct it. When we found her a few days ago, we knew she was back in failure. Tests last night confirmed it,"

"Do you know the cause of it?" She asked, looking down at her newest patient.

"Hotch?" Ross turned to him.

"We do, but it is an open investigation and I am not comfortable releasing it right now…"

But Ross interrupted him, "she needs to know Hotch,"

Hotch took a deep breath before speaking, "We have sufficient evidence that supports that JJ's heart was transplanted into a person who was experiencing heart failure; it was switched with the failing heart. We have the person who received JJ's heart…"

"No," Katie shook her head, "this is science fiction stuff. Was this done at a hospital? No ethical surgeon would have done this…"

"They weren't ethical; they caused significant harm to my agent." Hotch growled, "none of this is her fault; she was forced into this. It's organ trafficking."

Katie brought her hand up to her face and shook her head; she had not been expecting this. "I don't know what to say." The two men nodded, understanding the statement completely.

"Just assess her Katie, that's all we are asking." Ross said softly. "I know typically she wouldn't even be considered for…"

"Typically? Ross, she is a mess right now; if I approve and list her and a heart becomes available, what do I do? Everything I am reading in her chart… she wouldn't survive the surgery Ross. She has a critically low immune system, how would I put her on immunosuppressants if her system is already decimated?" Katie explained, as she stepped forward to her ventilated patient.

"Because this was forced upon her; her body didn't attack her heart, it was forced. If she gets the transplant, she will be a success; she has no other factors that would concern me about rejection."

"Ross! She is paralyzed, she is septic, she has burns and blisters all over her body…"

"She's a human being, Katie. She's a mother and a wife, she's a friend and she is one hell of a fighter. She was simply on a crime scene when this all started; she is an amazng human being." Ross plead.

"I am sure she is, Ross." Katie replied as she pulled the sheet away and gaped at the wounds, "Hi there, Agent Jareau," Katie's tone changed as she started talking to her newest patient. "Oh honey," Katie said softly, seeing the scars up and down her body; the injuries, and she shook her head, trying not to let emotion get a head of her.

"Katie, put it on me. Put it on my license. If something happens, its my license, not yours." Ross said softly. "I am confident enough in this, that I am willing to risk my license."

Katie took a deep breath, wondering what the hell she was thinking. "Let me get in touch with some contacts." She rubbed her head, "she seems stable right now; she looks decent for someone in her condition. Let's go ahead and extubate her this afternoon; I want to talk with her and make sure she understands. And yes, I know it'll probably be at least two days before she is coherent enough to understand." She paused and looked back down at JJ before looking up at Hotch.

"If I do this; you promise me you will catch the bastards responsible?" She glared at him. "And you promise me I get to come to court to testify."

Hotch smiled, "you have my word, doctor."

Katie nodded and brought the blanket back up over JJ. "Let me go talk to people and pull some strings. I cannot guarantee anything as I have to speak with the transplant team but I will do everything I can."

And Ross nodded, grateful for the skilled surgeon. "Thank you, Katie." He smiled at her and laughed when she mumbled something before darting off. He turned to Hotch and took in a deep breath. "That is one hurdle cleared; now only fifteen more." He reached down and grabbed JJ's hand in his own and smiled again as he felt her instinctively squeeze it back.

JJ was fighting her way back.

Ninety miles away, Talia Cruz sat in her cell, smiling as she pressed her hand against her chest; feeling the strong heartbeat. She smiled as she saw the "guard" walk towards her and unlock the cell; she smiled as she looked around to see nearly everyone unconscious and slumped on the ground.

"Nice," Talia smiled, taking the hand of the guard. "Thanks for the heads up," she laughed, holding up a make shift facemask; "made my day,"

"My pleasure, ma'am. Now, let's get out of here."

And without a backwards glance, Talia casually walked out of the prison cell, smiling the entire time.