Reid exhaled with difficulty as he began to regain function. He felt like a sledgehammer had been beaten repeatedly into his chest… mixed with a soothing sensation of fingers going through his hair. The pain weighed down on him and each breath felt like he had two knives sticking through his chest cavity. His eyes remained closed, letting his other senses come to before he woke up.

"Are you sure?" was the first thing he heard. It sounded like he was underwater.

"Definitely," a man answered. Sounds were beginning to clear slowly. "I speak from experience."

"But he's been out for almost a half an hour." As she spoke he absorbed the feeling of her familiar fingers stroking his hair.

"Each body takes the hit differently, and you see how skinny he is. He's breathing; he'll be fine, just relax."

"I just want to make sure he's okay," She explained.

Riley. His mind finally caught up to the moment. Reid's mouth curled into a smile. "It's nice to know you care," he mumbled.

Her hand stopped at his words, half way through his hair. "How long have you been awake?"

"Several seconds, approximately," Reid replied, opening his eyes. Riley was knelt beside him, her red sweater and vest removed. She now sat in her jeans and a black spaghetti strap top over a red bra, matching the former sweater. The sight of her, kneeling beside him like some merciful angel, made his head foggy and his heart beat quick, beating dangerously against his bruised chest. Reid took several deep breaths to adjust to his new pain, sitting up slowly.

A light switch had been found, giving the room a soft glow from a dim bare bulb. His eyes hurt as they adjusted to the light. "What happened?" He asked, taking in Riley's new attire. His eyes then drifted to the floor where Alex and the unsub had been. A dollop of blood the size of a half dollar sat on the floor. "Oh my God… "

Riley answered immediately. "I called 911 as soon as I heard the gunshot. I know you told me to stay put, but… I ran in here, you were on the ground and there was a fight… the unsub was knocking someone out. As soon as he saw me, he rushed forward with a knife and… sliced Alex's throat."

"He killed him." Reid assumed.

"No!" Riley exclaimed, taking his hand. "He's okay, Alex is okay. The cut wasn't too deep; he did it in a hurry… to create a diversion He barely nicked the jugular artery. I got my vest off and used my sweater to help clot the blood until the ambulance got here."

Reid let out a long breath, impressed and slightly amazed. He looked over, noticing Morgan was here, too, standing off to the side. "And you didn't want her to come."

"You wanted to leave her in the car," Morgan pointed out.

"Wait, though… the unsub didn't have a gun… who shot me?"

"Detective Novak," Riley explained. Confused, she continued. "Apparently, she heard the police report on the car. She was already on her way Lloyds Crew and decided to take it upon herself to come and… attempt to show up the FBI. She had snuck into the basement – I told you I had heard a car – and was searching down here when we arrived. Her aim was bad in the dark, hitting you instead. When you went down, she became alarmed and he… took her by surprise, knocked her out for a few minutes."

"Where is he?" Reid asked.

Riley hesitated. "He got away. While I was helping Alex… he got away."

The rest of the team had arrived. Along with them were the local and Seattle police, searching and investigating the property, and an ambulance. The EMTs were busy attending to the sick teenager, getting ready to take him to the hospital.

"Ow," Reid muttered, sitting on another gurney outside of the ambulance with his shirt and sweater vest removed. He didn't enjoy being exposed like this in the cold air. Riley had insisted on checking him over herself. Two large bruises were already forming on him.

"Just hold still," she said, her hands pressed against his skin pale skin. "I need to make sure you didn't break any ribs."

"I – Ow! Stop it!" He cried, gritting his teeth.

"Oh, it can't hurt that much." She said, trying not to laugh.

"It does – ow, you're hurting me on purpose!"

"What are you, 6?" She giggled. Her laughter rolling over her vaguely crooked teeth. "I don't think you have anything broken. Just hold still," She reached over and grabbed a stethoscope.

"I don't trust you," he muttered, watching as she adjusted the device in her ears.

"As I asked yesterday, who has the actual medical degree, Dr. Reid?" She set the device on his chest. "Take a few deep breaths for me."

He breathed easily for a moment. Riley looked up with a skeptical expression. "I know for a fact you can breathe heavier than that. A lot heavier."

Reid smiled, locking eyes with her. He breathed in deeper, a great effort with the injury. "I haven't breathed that heavy in a long time," he said, exhaling.

"Really?" she asked, her eyes went to her hands, moving over slightly. "How long?"

"I told you I wasn't seeing anyone." He explained.

"Maybe not seriously… I mean… you haven't even been on a date?" she asked, moving over to his right lung. "Breathe."

After another breath, he answered. "No. There hasn't been anyone since you." He paused a moment, as she shifted to the left side. "Why, do you care?"

"Do you want me to care?" She asked, finally looking in his eyes again.

"Do you want me to want you to care?" He smirked.

Riley removed the stethoscope, "I'm not even going to dignify that with a response." She said as she went around to listen from behind, placing it on his back.

Reid breathed again, knowing he'd won that little spat. Jealousy could be a powerful thing, he knew that from experience. Feeling the cold device on his back, he breathed deeply for her. He paused for a moment, feeling her warm hand rest on his waist. It was her injured one, wrapped in a bandage, and it was just as warm as always. He half expected her to wrap her arms around him, like she used to do, and kiss his neck from behind.

"That was… pretty quick thinking before." Reid said. "With Alex… I mean. You'd make a pretty good agent."

Her hand stroked against his flesh for a moment, sending a shiver through his stomach and up his spine. "I don't even know what happened, I just… reacted. I remember thinking… well, I guess I mean I remember forgetting… you had your vest on."

Her voice began to shake. Before Reid could reply, her hand slipped away, and Riley removed the stethoscope, setting it aside. "You're fine. You'll be sore for awhile, but you'll be fine. You can put your shirt back on."

He grabbed his shirt and pulled it on. Unaware to Reid, out of the corner of her eye, Riley watched him; buttoning his shirt with his long agile fingers. Her eyes lingered on his stomach. Five long scars, each with a series of stitch marks. Riley felt nauseous with guilt, those scars a constant reminder of what he had went through, her mind coming to a conclusion… she could have lost him today. If he hadn't been wearing that vest, or if the gun had been aimed at an unprotected part of his body…

"How is everything?" Hotch asked as he approached. It startled Riley, causing her to drop the bag of medical supplies she'd been pretending to occupy herself with, spilling some of the contents to the ground.

Hotch and Reid stared at her as she scooped down to pick it up. "Sorry," she said quickly, "Yeah… we're good here. How's Alex?"

"He's alright, but it's going to be awhile before he can talk." He explained as Riley stood back up, pushing her hair off her face. "They'll be leaving in a minute. Forensics is working over in the field right now. The school and the shed was clean, there's evidence someone's been living in there, but no evidence any victims were kept there. The field is another story."

"They found a victim?" Reid asked.

Hotch continued, "They've found two victims buried in the field. One is Addie Zachariah."

Reid and Riley both had matching expressions, their jaws dropped in shocked, giving the expression of trout out of water.

"She was buried like Maria, directly into the dirt. But, she wasn't alone in the grave. They found a coffin underneath her… the coroner identified him as the private owner of Jefferson Avenue Middle School."

"There was no note for that one." Reid stated.

"There wouldn't be," Hotch said. "He had no family, no one to report him missing." He paused a moment, taking a glance behind him, where the others were gathered. "Look, we're going to be here awhile." Hotch explained, handing a set of keys to Reid. "If you don't need to go to the hospital, why don't you guys take off, we'll handle this."

"Thanks, Hotch," Reid said as he turned and took off. He carefully took himself off the gurney, tucking in his shirt. His eyes ran along the goose pimples along Riley's arms and shoulder. "You look cold," he said.

"That's probably because I am cold." She said, smiling. "Ready?"

"Yeah," he replied. He watched Riley open her mouth, but then close it. "What?"

Riley avoided his eyes. "You're going to stay with me tonight… right?"

He had hoped she wanted him to stay, choosing to wait until she suggested it so as not to over step his boundaries. "Of course I am," Reid explained. "I just need to get a change of clothes."

They turned and started to head towards the street, leaving the commotion behind. Closer to the curb, they ran into Novak standing with Levinson. She had a large contusion forming on the side of her head. Levinson did not look happy.

"Look, I did what I thought was right. You can write me up, you can get me off this case, but I feel no remorse. I'd do it again."

"Leona, you could have gotten killed, you could have gotten four other people killed, including an abducted boy. The captain is going to throw the book at you. Plus, I have to take your statement when we get back to the station to explain why you fired your weapon. On a federal agent, no less."

"That was an accident!" She said, her eyes flashing to Riley and Reid as they approached. "He had a vest on, he's fine!"

"Oh, really, Leona?" Riley said as they approached. "So had you aimed a few inches higher and hit him in the head, would everything still be fine?"

She scowled at Riley. "I don't have to explain myself to any of you. Even you Logan, I made my decision and I'm proud of it."

"Try to explain that to his distraught mother when she sees a knife wound across her son's neck," Riley said.

"You know, Dr. Riley," Novak snapped as they started walking away. "Maybe if your boyfriend and his team would do the job they came out to do, the job their supposedly so talented at, none of this would have happened in the first place."

"You know what," Reid yelled, turning back. "You can be mad all you want, Detective. The truth of the matter is still there. The unsub got away. That boy almost died and had Dr. Parker not been on the scene, he would have. And it's all because of you."

She took a step towards him, a homicidal glint in her eye. Reid wasn't intimidated. "What are you going to do? Hit me? Big deal, you already shot me. Twice. The point is the unsub got away and Alex almost died because of you. We're not here to get you fired, we're not here to make you look bad. Get over yourself and, instead of trying to deserve your job, start doing it."

With that he turned, slipped his hand into Riley's and dragged her towards the car. He was moving a little fast for her bad ankle, but she didn't protest.

"Wow," she said once they got to the car. "Where did that come from?"

Reid didn't answer. He was angry. Not because he'd been shot. He was angry because the unsub had gotten away. Reid had seen what this man had done to victims, what he wanted to do to Alex and what he had almost done to Riley… and Reid knew the Undertaker wasn't finished with her.