Dave fumbled with his phone, finally pulling it out of his pocket as he gazed down at Erin. She was crying softly, clearly scared out of her mind, and he nodded before dropping a soft kiss to her forehead. "I'm going to call Penelope and then 911. I promise you, I won't let this be the end for us."

"I know, darling. But if it is, I want you to know how much I love you and our children. Aaron might tell you that I favor my son, and maybe I did because I recognized you in him, but I love them all equally. Because they are mine, and now ours." She reached up and caressed his face lightly as he blindly touched Penelope's name on his screen.

"Kitten, he was here," he said the moment he heard her connect. "I need you to send an ambulance to the hotel and then try and find Curtis. He's on the run, and I have no idea where he might be or what his next move is."

"Did he hurt her?"

"Yes. He injected the MDMA. I didn't want to shoot him in case that made him inject it faster. Oh god, Kitten, I failed her!" He broke down into tears, and hugged Erin tighter as he tried to get control of his emotions. "I need to get off the phone with you now and call 911. Have Hotch call me in about fifteen minutes."

"I will. And we will find him."

"I pray that we do." He hung up without saying goodbye, and then quickly dialed 911, telling the operator as much information as he could while still holding Erin close to his chest. "And you will need a machine that will cleanse her blood of the drug. If it's not out of her system in two hours, she will die. That was what happened in those other cases. Yes, I will be here when the paramedics arrive. Thank you." Hanging up, he set the phone on the nightstand before caressing Erin's face sweetly.

"Don't leave me, David."

"I won't, I promise. Not until the paramedics get here. I might have to join the team to hunt Curtis down, and bring him to justice. I won't want to leave your side, but there's my oath that I took."

She nodded as she winced. "I don't feel well, David. I think that it's the drug. Hopefully the fact that I didn't drink any alcohol, like the other victims, means that I'll have a little extra time?" He nodded, hating to hear how scared she was, and he pulled her closer to his chest as he started to cry a little harder. "Oh, Davie, if something bad truly does happen, please, look after our children. Tell them about how we loved. Tell them how loved they are."

"As if there was ever a doubt of that, bella." He kissed the top of her head. Before he could say anything else, his phone rang, and he picked it up to see Aaron on the line. "This is Hotch."

Erin nodded and he answered the call, bringing the phone to his ear. "Garcia said that you wanted me to call?"

"Yeah, I just needed to see if you wanted me to join you on the hunt for Curtis. Because I know that it's my duty to be out there in the field, but…"

"But you're going to be no good to me out on the field while you're distracted, worrying about Erin. Stay by her side and give updates to Garcia while we track him down. That's an order, Dave."

"Yes, Aaron. And have her keep me updated on your progress, too."

"Of course. We'll meet you at the hospital as soon as we've caught him and know where you are. Talk to you soon."

They ended the call, and in good time, too, since there was a heavy rapping on his hotel room door before a keycard was used to open it. A warm wash of relief spread across his body when he recognized the paramedics uniforms and he allowed them to get to work, taking Erin's vitals as he looked on. "Are you Mister Rossi?" one of them asked, and he nodded. "Are you planning on riding with us to the hospital?"

"Yes. I am very concerned that the person who did this to her might try to do something either on the way to the hospital or once we get there, and so I will not be leaving her side."

"That's perfectly all right, sir. We're going to start bringing her downstairs now, and I don't think there will be room for all of us in the elevator. I'll take the stairs so that you can be with her." He nodded and followed them out. Erin looked up at him, giving him a tired smile, and he took hold of her hand, threading their fingers together as she was wheeled down to the elevator.

It was difficult to focus and be with her as the elevator made its way down, as he tensed up with every floor they passed, his free hand reflexively drifting to his service weapon every time the car paused and the doors opened. Curtis wasn't there, but he still felt like the man would just jump in and try to finish the job he had started. His heart was pounding from adrenaline by the time they reached the ground floor, and he let out a deep sigh as he took stock of the lobby, making certain that man wasn't there as they took Erin to the waiting ambulance.

Again, even though it was late, the traffic in the city was horrible, and it felt like they were moving at a literal crawl as they made their way to New Amsterdam. He felt his phone vibrate against his thigh, and he pulled it out to see that Penelope had texted him, asking for an update. "Excuse me, I need to make a call."

The paramedic across from him nodded, her focus on Erin and how she was doing. He smiled at his partner as he tapped on Penelope's number, bringing the phone to his ear. "How is she, Dave?"

"We're hanging in there, Kitten. The paramedics are bringing us to New Amsterdam, as they have the facilities to best make certain that this drug gets out of Erin's system as quickly as possible. Do you have an update for me?"

"I wish! I've been using the CCTV around the city to try and track Curtis's movements, but it seems like he's a cipher! He knows where the cameras are a lot of the times, so that makes my job all the harder. And we're still waiting for Blake to check in, but don't tell Erin that. I'm certain she just got caught up in traffic, and I'll send her a text soon to see where she is."

"Okay. I didn't even think to check her hotel room when I got back here, since my focus was on Erin. Maybe she had to get something before she started back."

"Maybe. I just don't like this, after everything that happened to Erin. I'm trying not to worry, but I am worried."

"I know. Everything about this situation is painful and worrisome and I cannot wait for Curtis to be caught and put behind bars so that we don't have to worry about him ruining our lives any longer."

"From your lips to God's ears, Dave. I'll call Hotch to let him know where to meet up with you once everything is done and dusted. Stay safe out there."

"That's the plan. Hopefully, we'll see you soon." Penelope kissed into the phone, and he couldn't help but smile at the gesture as he ended the call and slipped the phone back into his pocket, turning his attention back to Erin, praying to heaven above that everything would work out for good.