"Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle; love is a war; love is a growing up."

-James Baldwin

Derek rapped twice on the door to the hospital room. "Baby Girl?" He inclined his head towards the door, listening for her to allow him inside. He waited for a beat and knocked again. "Penelope?" He called, melodically. "You can't avoid me forever."

"Watch me," she responded, crossing her arms over the crinkly, hospital-issued paper gown.

His lips turned up in amusement, he was making progress. "Can I come in?"

"I could still be out of my mind, but I thought I told Reid to tell you that I don't want to see anyone," she snapped, stubborn to a fault.

"Pretty Boy went with Hotch to get your car. The nurses are planning to spring you out of here-"

"I don't care," she huffed.

"Why?"

"I could have messed up everything. The whole frickin' FBI is on my computers, and I lost control- anyone could have hacked my servers and I wouldn't have any idea. I-I didn't notice the stuff-in the-I didn't know the ventilation in the lair was screwed up. I didn't pay attention. I was high off my ass in my office, and I didn't even know it."

"None of that is your fault," he insisted, with his hand on the doorknob, surprised when it turned easily under his hand.

"See?" Cassie said evenly in Dave's ear, just as pleasant as she could be. "This is why Grandma hates you."

"Oh really?" Dave's brow rose, half intrigued but mostly annoyed. "Can you elaborate on that?"

"Well," Cassie crossed her arms over her chest, even though he couldn't see her over the phone. "She says and I promise this is a direct quote. I didn't say it."

"Go on."

"She said, 'David is only around after the bad stuff happens and you don't do anything to help before things get bad. She says you're a day late and a dollar short."

"Oh gee," he rolled his eyes. How would he ever sleep again knowing how Vera felt about him? "Well, your grandma is welcome to call me and share this with me herself, any time she wants to."

"I know," Cassie rolled her eyes. "She can't take what she dishes out. Drives me nuts."

"Sorry, Kid." He commiserated, Vera was a pain in the ass on a good day and he expected about a hundred voicemails after she watched the five-o-clock news. He planned on ignoring 99 of them. "Anyway, your mom's fine and we'll call when we're on the way home."

"'Kay, see ya later." Cassie said, ending the call. Dave shoved his phone back in his pocket and kept on wearing a hole in the carpet. The antiseptic scent that permeated the air of the hospital was forever burned into his brain. He was certain of it. It soaked through his clothes, his skin, his psyche…. There was no getting rid of it. Dave paced the waiting room, the sound of his footsteps echoed in the empty room. The silence was making him crazy, it reminded him that he was alone with only his thoughts for company.

He couldn't get Erin's blank, vacant expression out of his head. He'd never seen her so disconnected.

He pulled his eyes away from the ugly hospital flooring, when another set of footsteps sounded behind him. "What the hell are you doing here?" his eyebrow rose, "Aren't you supposed to be halfway to Canada by now?"

"The BAU's all over the news!" Gideon rushed through the room and paced the opposite direction. "I turned around! What the hell are you doing in here? Don't you have a hand to hold or a…" He thought for a second. "A claw to caress, Sweet Jesus in short-pants, Dave. I thought you had better moves than this."

"Hey!" Dave spat, jabbing a finger at Gideon, "I thought I told you to knock it off with the pot-shots."

"And I never listen to you," Gideon threw back. "I'm a prick on purpose, doesn't change the fact that you're still in here-"

"Trust me, I'd rather be anywhere else than stuck in here with you. Where's Stephen?"

"He's in the car. He'll get hot eventually and come inside."

"What's going on here?"

Dave turned around at the familiar voice. "Hey, Pete. Erin's being checked on; but I don't know what's going on yet."

"Erin's here?" Peter Strauss cleared his throat. "Did she seem okay to you? The hospital called and said Maryanne was here too. I thought she'd had a seizure at

work-"

"Maryanne?" Dave repeated, eyes widened, "you're seeing Erin's assistant?" What kind of parallel universe had he been sucked into?

"David Rossi?" A voice rang out from the doorway across the room.

He spun on his heel towards the nurse and tried to read her expression. "How is she?"

"We're about to debris the wound, she's asking for you."

"We'll talk later," Dave threw over his shoulder following the nurse. He didn't pause to knock when he heard Erin's voice on the other side of the door. Dave took it as a good sign that she was arguing with the doctor. "I'm fine," Erin's voice rose. "When can I go home?"

"Your vitals look good. Once your arm is clean and stitched, we can discharge you," the doctor answered.

"Good. Here's how this is going to go," Erin said matter-of-factly and laid her arm on the table in front of the doctor, wincing as he injected the area with lidocaine.

"The nurse is going to bring David in here. He'll yell at me for exactly three minutes. Then I'll tactfully tell him why he's wrong, he'll consider my point and realize I'm right, but he won't admit it till we get home. The whole thing should take around 10 minutes. Can you have me stitched up by then?"

"I uh-" The doctor bit back a laugh, the patient in front of him knew what she was up against. "It's not a terribly serious cut. I'm pretty sure I can do it in eight."

Dave pushed the door open and walked in, facing the doctor's back.

"Are you okay?" Dave asked, rushing in beside her. Staring at the way her arm lay limply on the other side of the bed.

"Apparently, I put my arm through the window-" Erin answered Dave's unspoken question as he sat in the chair beside her.

"You don't remember?" He pressed, leaning towards her, his fingers drumming impatiently against his thigh.

She shrugged, trying to piece it together. "I didn't have time to think about it."

"You should have left and let HAZMAT send someone in-" Anyone else would have been a better choice. If he were being honest, he would have said, 'send a stranger in.' Someone he didn't love. Someone he didn't know…. someone who wasn't carrying his child. He'd rather pass this fear to someone else than be proud of the woman in front of him.

She fixed him with a look, daring him to lie to her. "Would you have left Aaron?"

"No!" His face twisted in denial, "but that's not the same thing. Hotch is my partner, we put our asses on the line every day-"

"How?" She threw back, her numb fingers curled against the metal tray. "How is Maryanne any different than Aaron? She's only twenty years old and she deserved to go home to her family, just like you and Aaron."

"Someone else could have made that happen- you didn't have to put yourself in danger-"

"Who else, David?" She asked, coldly. "Nobody else was coming in that building, I saw you out the window, fighting with the LEOs when they wouldn't let you in."

"We were coming-" he insisted, begging her to see it his way for five minutes. "I swear, we were coming. I'm sorry you felt like you had to do it on your own, Erin. I promise I wasn't going to leave you there."

"I know that" she never doubted.

"At least we're on the same page there," he lifted her other hand off the mattress and squeezed it. "How's Carlo?"

"He's being monitored," she nodded towards the monitors beside the bed. "If this had happened earlier, I'd be worried, but the OB said all his organs are developed by now and his heartbeat looks good. Whatever was in the humidifier shouldn't have much effect."

"Good," the pressure in his chest lessened and breathing became a little easier.

"All done," the doctor announced, snipping off the thread, before checking his watch. Keep the bandages clean, wash it gently with soap and water and follow up with your regular doctor in 10 days." He stood up and peeled off his gloves before tossing them in the biohazard bin.

"Thank you," Erin called out, as he walked out the door and closed it behind him.

"Morgan!" Penelope called out shrilly, propping her laptop on the edge of the bed. Her breath hitched in her chest as she replayed the black and white footage, just to make sure of what she was seeing. She climbed out of the bed, not caring that the whole world could see her granny panties as she rushed out the door.

"Whoa!" Derek said, catching her arm as she rounded the corner of the nurse's station. "Slow your roll, Penelope." He demanded, passing her a package of Cheetos from the vending machine.

"Get in here!" She hissed, dragging him back to her room. "You have to see this- did someone get a sample from the humidifiers?"

Derek nodded, closing the door behind them. "Hotch called in a team from D.C. They cleaned out the building. They're testing the humidifiers-"

"The vents?" She asked quickly, "are they checking the vents?"

"The filters, vents, fans…everything."

"They cleared the whole building?" Her fingers typed lightning fast across the keyboard. "I told Reid to bring me a computer from my car. I didn't know Hotch had sent me all this-'' She rotated the screen to show him what she'd found.

"We're waiting on the reports from the humidifiers," Dave said, "We're going to figure out what happened today."

Erin nodded, pinching the bridge of her nose, her head ached, and the lights were too bright as she leaned back against the pillows. "Good."

"You alright?" The mattress dipped as he sat down beside her, still holding her hand. "Can I get you something?"

"No, thanks."

"Erin, tell me what you remember," he demanded, an earnest expression lit his eyes. "What happened in that building?"

She paused, her throat went dry, and her chest tightened. Who would believe her now? She was sure that she saw Blake in the hotel room, now… the knot in her chest squeezed tighter. Who would believe her if she said it was a man? "I-uh-" She shook her head. "David…I'm sorry, I can't remember."

"You don't remember anything?" He pressed, something in her tone told him otherwise.

Her fingers curled around the sheets, anchoring her to the bed. Fresh tears stung her eyes, if he believed her, and she knew he would, and she was wrong, that would make things worse. "It's blank." Her tone was flat as she watched him.

"Whatever was in the air must've wiped my memory."

"Look," Penelope pointed to the screen. Footage of the hospital in New York filled the screen. "Here, at the hospital a man walks in. Two minutes later-"

"Strauss codes," Derek finished the thought, watching the black and white footage. "He never looks up," he said, watching the man on the screen adjust his ball cap.

"Here," She pulled up another set of footage, "at the hotel in Jersey, the same guy dropped a FedEx box in front of Rossi's publicist's room. I know it's the same guy…because…" she outlined the figure of the man, from one set of footage, with her cursor and laid it on top of the figure from the other. "They're an identical match."

"Right down to the cap." Derek threw in, the way she worked would never fail to amaze him. "What about the BAU?"

"That-" she closed the screen, "I haven't figured out yet- and the hotel in New York hasn't gotten back to me."

"Gideon?" Hotch walked into the waiting room, expecting to find Dave. "What are you doing here?"

Jason gestured to the TV hanging on the wall, which played footage of the BAU evacuation on repeat. "I had to come back, make sure you guys were okay."

"We're fine." Hotch eyed him skeptically, adjusting the duffle in his hand. "How long are you in town for? Reid will be happy to see you."

"Oh… "Gideon pulled his gaze from the TV, "I didn't tell him."

"Why?"

Gideon shrugged and went back to the TV. "I can't stay long. It's a hell of a thing going on here. Where's the press liaison when you need her?"

"Derek-" Penelope zoomed in on the picture of the baseball cap. "Peep that logo."

"It's FBI-" Derek spat; his gut tightened. "There's no way we have three moles in the Bureau."

"No." Penelope shook her head, "More specifically, it's from the FBI's Little Scientist's program. It was a Summer program that ran for seven years-"

"Well?" His hand involuntarily curled into a fist. "Who went to the camp?"

"How's it going?" Hotch rounded the corner from the nurse's station, meeting Dave outside of Erin's room. He'd brought them both a change of clothes and Dave's car, just in case.

"It's alright," he shifted from foot-to- foot in front of the door. "We're waiting for discharge papers."

"I saw Gideon in the waiting room," Hotch passed Dave the duffle bag.

"He's still here?" he took the bag, the hair on the back of neck stood on end. "Something smells fishy in Denmark."

"It's weird," Hotch finished the thought. "We haven't heard from him in 6 years, then you run into him on tour-"

"Out of nowhere…" Dave agreed quickly. "Hotch, something's not adding up. Whoever did this know when we were coming back. If they wanted to come after Erin, they could have got to her at home; except, Jason's never been to my house."

"He hasn't?" Hotch raised a brow in surprise. "I thought he knew where you lived."

"I had my place built before I came out of retirement, and we weren't that close." Dave said flatly, he never got around to inviting Jason over.

"Here's what bothers me; how were only Erin and Garcia affected? The poison was confined just to their offices." Dave said quickly, his blood pumping invigoratingly through his veins. In a way that only happened when they were getting close to catching an unsub.

"Clearly this was a coordinated attack, if Erin's the target, then they went after Garcia because they knew she would have access to the information to crack the case."

"They knew the layout of the BAU-" Hotch picked up where Dave left off. "A janitor or a custodial manager would know which air vent would lead to Strauss's office and Garcia's, guaranteeing that it only got to them-" Hotch pulled out his phone and dialed Garcia's number as he walked towards her room, leaving Dave standing in the hallway.

Dave stayed, rooted at the spot, he wanted to stay with Erin, take her home and cover her in bubble wrap. The other, louder part of him begged to follow Hotch to Penelope's room. He kept an eye on Hotch's back as he boarded the elevator, before turning the handle on Erin's room.

"Dad," Stephen hissed, his chest heaving with exertion as he raced into the waiting room. "I think we need to get out of here."

Gideon turned on his heel and sipped his cold, hospital issued coffee. "Why?"

"We're making terrible time if we're going to make it Canada-" he said, louder than intended.

"I've been to Canada," Jason kept his tone even and took another sip studying his son's haggard appearance. His hair was disheveled, his eyes were red like he hadn't slept in a week, despite sleeping in a motel the night before. "It's not that great."

Erin froze against the mattress, she knew that voice, the one drifting through the hallway. Her legs tingled, as if preparing her to run out the door. She squeezed her eyes shut, pushing passed the sharp lightning bolts of fear that prickled through her veins. "Who are you?"

"Look!" Penelope jabbed a manicured finger at her screen "John Curtis, aka, The Replicator was a camp counselor at the Camp. He and Blake were chaperones and counselors there for the first 4 years."

"Then what happened?" Derek asked, leaning towards her.

"Curtis was fired because of the experiments he was doing with a group of the kids. He armed them with laboratory grade safety equipment and let them loose on the rest of the camp with spores from magic mushrooms and the powdered version of MDMA. Both of which were found in the humidifiers in the BAU building."

"Erin," Dave called, stepping into the room. She sat ramrod straight on the edge of the bed.

"I'm signing myself out," she declared, sliding off the bed, reaching for the bag. "We need to get out of here-"

He reached behind his back and turned the lock on the door. "Hotch thinks we're getting close to the unsub."

The color drained from her face, "Dave-"

"I think he's here, someplace." he cut in, an excited fervor filling his tone, his face alight with excited energy. "He has to be." He paced the length of the room with his hands behind his back. "Nobody comes up with such an elaborate way to poison someone, without sticking around to see the after-effects. The son of a bitch is here, watching us."

She should have been surprised, should have been afraid… instead an odd sense of calm filled her, he might believe her. "Dave-"

"If I'm right-" He continued, "I need to know where you want me. I can be the supportive partner who drives you home and makes you dinner. Or I can help take this jagoff down."

"David!" She shouted, throwing her head back, to get his attention. "He was with me in the building."

He stopped in his tracks; eyes wide with shellshock. "What did you say?"

"Guys?" Hotch knocked twice on the door. "Garcia's got something."

Dave turned the lock and let him in, "what is it?"

"Erin, you might need this," Hotch closed the door, before propping his foot on the chair beside the bed. He unstrapped his ankle harness and passed the gun to her. "The unsub is Stephen Gideon. Garcia found evidence that he had ties with both Blake and Curtis through the FBI's Summer program when Stephen was a child. He's kept in contact with both. We need to keep him here until the warrant comes through."

Dave gestured to her ankle, "can you reach that? Stephen's going to shoot up the hospital if we're not careful and I'm not about to let you be a hostage."

"I got it," she leaned forward and tapped the handle of the gun. "We need to secure the building. Call in SWAT and HRT and get the patients and staff out of here."

"No," Hotch argued, "if Stephen thinks we're onto him, he'll escalate and start shooting, before we can put together a plan to stop him."

"He's outnumbered," Dave pointed out. "Between the team and the hospital security guards, once we get the warrant, we can make the arrest." He turned towards her, "we need to get you out of here while we can."

"Why not have security escort him out?" She asked, ever the diplomat. "This doesn't have to escalate."

"That'll tip him off-" Hotch explained, "if he's not armed, he'll try to disarm the security guard-"

"Before shooting up the building, with the guard's gun," she finished. "We're not equipped to handle this. We need to call in SWAT, even if they don't bust in."

"They need to set up down the street and Metro will put up roadblocks." Hotch pulled out his phone, "down the street as inconspicuous as possible." He said, walking back towards Garcia's room.

"Once SWAT and Hostage Rescue is enroute, we'll have security cordon off this floor, they've already started to evacuate patients." Dave said, "now," he thought for a minute, "how am I going to get you out of here without walking past Stephen? He's holed up in the waiting room with Gideon."

"I'm not leaving," she stated, digging in her heels. "If I'm the target then he needs to think he has me."

"No!" Dave said quickly, "that's too risky, Erin."

"He's worked too long to scare the hell out of me, punishing me for whatever he thinks I did to him. He'll lose his mind if he thinks he's lost the chance at confrontation."

"And we can deal with that," he argued, jabbing a finger in her direction. "Don't act like my Section Chief right now. Turn your brain off and act like Carlo's mother."

TBC