Chapter 21: Last Chance

"It is your lucky day. Stand up." Rossi ordered with a myriad of emotions paling in comparison to the anger seeping from his words. Alderman smirked, smirked until he knew Rossi had seen his glee, then stood up to hold his wrists out as Rossi slapped the cuffs around them. The door behind Rossi swung open as Reid appeared behind to escort Rossi and Alderman out. As they exited the room, Hotch stood around the corner with a lingering stare that would make Medusa cry.

"Let's go." Hotch ground out with something akin to an unspoken threat and they strolled away.

"Are you sure we have to do this?" Garcia cried. "I don't want that awful man anywhere near our JJ."

Morgan sighed and looked at his hands, his hands that now displayed permanent crescent moons, a reminder of his clenched fists and struggling ability to remain in control.

"He's our last shot, baby girl."

Emily reached out and placed her hand on Garcia's shoulder, an act of comfort that didn't quite reach its destination. JJ laid between the three of them, her heart rate keeping steady, but her fever hadn't broke, and the seizure had put her in a state of never-ending unconsciousness.

"At least she won't have to talk to him or see him," Emily rasped.

Garcia choked back a half-sob. "Oh my goodness, what if he refuses because she's not awake?"

Emily and Morgan shared a nervous glance.

"Hotch has a plan," Emily reminded her.

Garcia nodded several times. "Okay, yeah... yeah, you're right."

Rossi and Hotch walked on either side of Alderman while Reid followed behind. The hallway to JJ's room kept getting shorter and shorter the further they walked. But Reid never lacked intellectual confidence, and right now was no different. Reid had analyzed every word Alderman spoke and all of his subtle body language. The scumbag had given himself away.

He just didn't know it yet.

"Man, you guys must be desperate- bringin' me here like this. I guess I did a real number on your blonde friend."

"So what's the antidote? I mean, a smart man like you, creating your own drug and antidote, it is curious." Reid reveled, ignoring the antagonizing banter.

"Oh, Dr. Reid, you've never been as smart as me. The antidote has been in front of you this whole time; even I was worried you would have figured it out by now. But again, you disappoint."

"So we don't need your slimy hands."

"I never said that," Colton shot back.

"But you did. Now listen to me," Reid took a step closer, "you are not smart enough to create your own toxin. So you used a known poison, something simple." Colton's mouth opened, but Reid continued on. "Sure, you could have mixed poisons and gave it to JJ, but what you needed was something specific and controlled, something that would allow you the time you needed for your plan to work. Mixing poisons couldn't have done that. But you made one mistake."

"Oh yeah? What's that?" Colton managed to reply through gritted teeth.

"You were blinded by your desperate need to see JJ that you didn't see us calling your bluff." Reid reached out and ripped the tube from his hand.

"Hey!"

"You were never going to give an 'antidote' to JJ. You were going to kill her. With the same poison you already gave her."

Colton's face turned bright red.

Reid smirked.

"I'll spell it out for you since your subpar brain probably can't keep up." Reid gestured to the tube in his hands. "Once we find out what is in this tube, we will know exactly what you poisoned her with and exactly how to reverse it."

Reid took another step forward.

"Mr. Alderman, you lose."

Colton screamed out and lunged for Reid but not before Rossi and Hotch pulled him back.

"Nice work, Reid. Get that to the lab; we'll take him back." Hotch instructed as Reid began sprinting down the hall.

"Thallium poisoning." Reid shook his head. "It's so simple. I should have known. I'm sorry, guys." Reid muttered to the rest of the team as they sat patiently in the hospital waiting room.

"Hey, Boy Wonder, you still figured it out," Morgan replied as he reached over and rustled Reid's hair. "It could have been anything and if we had treated her with what the doctor suggested before this, then she would have had a bad reaction and not been here right now, okay?"

Reid nodded with a side smile that accented his dimples.

Just then, a nurse walked towards the group.

"You're here for Agent Jareau, right?"

They all stood and nodded their heads eagerly.

"Dr. Lewis said the treatment is working, and she is starting to wake up. You can head up there now."

"It's over. It's really over. And I'm not going to let anyone hurt you ever again, I promise."

"Okay," JJ nodded her head and forced her eyes to stay open while Morgan kissed her forehead and grabbed hold of her hand.

She hated how weak her voice sounded, how fragile and unlike herself it ached. But exhaustion crawled through her bones, anxiety snuck around her mind with ill intentions, and after the last couple of months, she wasn't sure how much more she could take.

And after all that, after everything she had overcome and worked through, she said something that completely took Morgan by surprise.

"I wish he was dead, but he's not. And if he's still alive... I don't want to be."

A/N: Hi sorry, I am not doing well lmao but here's a short chapter for you. The next chapter will be the last one. I love you all and thank you for the reads, reviews, and alerts. :)