"He that knows no guilt can know no fear"

Phillip Massinger

Dave felt Doctor Garrett surveying him,"She won't know any difference, you all need to go home."

Dave shook his head, "How long until we know something?" Desperation found its way into his voice if he heard it, there was no doubt the doctor could.

"We will let you know if there are any changes, the next 48 hours should tell us a lot."

The sound of footsteps drew Dave's attention, the team was back but they were all so quiet, it wasn't the normal kind of quite you would hear in a hospital. For Dave, it was a quiet that spoke of complete and total despair and he couldn't look at them.

He walked into the restroom and splashed cold water on his face, his hand throbbed from its impact with the wall. He looked down at the swelling knuckle of his third finger. It wasn't anything an ice pack couldn't fix.

Drying his face with paper towels, he went back into the hall with his strength returning. Erin needed him, and he would be there; he wasn't giving up on her.
Rounding the corner, he stared at his team. They were rooted in place, staring at Hotch as he spoke on the phone.

He caught Hotch's eye, as he hung up. "The UNSUB is dead, the locals just confirmed it. There was an explosion and he trapped himself inside the house."

"You guys deal with bombs and explosions," Penelope said, "why weren't you called in?"

"Because, we're here in New York. Curtis made it all the way back to Virginia," Hotch answered. Even he was trying to keep his composure.

Dave muttered a few creative curses under his breath and let his feet carry him down the hall. There was no way a stranger would have gotten past Erin Strauss; he'd missed something with the Replicator. He was supposed to protect her, it was the oath they all took, to protect and serve. But who was he protecting tonight? Certainly not the one he loved.

Morgan turned to Hotch, "Is he okay? I've never seen him like this."

Hotch shook his head, "No. He's not. He's known Erin half his life."

The break room was silent, his footsteps echoed against the linoleum floors.

Vending machines lined the wall. He pulled a Styrofoam cup from the stack and held it under the coffee machine as he fished in his pocket for a quarter and stuck it in the machine At the same time he pressed the button, expecting a stream of hot coffee but the coin hit the change return. He put the coin back in the slot and pushed the button he was greeted by a pathetic steamy wheeze.

"Dammit!" Pain tore through his hand as his damaged knuckle took another hit against the offending machinery.

"That's one hell of a caffeine need to beat up a vending machine," Alex said.

"I really need the jolt now."

"Try this," she said, handing him a quarter.

Dave shook his head, "Damn thing's broken. I'm done, I give up."

"David Rossi, defeated by a vending machine?" She joked. "Where there's a will, there's a way."

She stuck some money in another machine and two bottles of water emerged: she grabbed a cup and filled it with water and stuck it in the microwave. "Let's hope the microwave works," she said, tapping the buttons, and the machine whirred to life.

She took two packs of instant Folgers from her purse and poured one in the cup, passing it to Dave.

"You keep coffee in your purse?" He asked, half in awe.

"You bet," she said, mixing another cup and sitting down. "If I smoked, I'd have a lighter."

"You're a resourceful one," Dave said, taking a sip.

"Some might say that. Others would say I'm a good listener-"

Dave let her words hang in the air and released a breath, "This feels wrong, something feels wrong here. Sure, Erin 's done some shady things, but she doesn't deserve this," he said, shaking his head.

"I never thought John was capable of this, he hardly spoke if we didn't speak to him."

Author's note: I'm absolutely blown away by the response to this story! Ya'll are awesome!

-Z