Author's note: A sequel to "Elle Greenaway's Reaction To Reid Getting Kidnapped By Tobias Hankel." What if Reid called Elle Greenaway to tell her about Garcia getting shot by Jason Clark Battle? This story is mostly from Elle's point of view.
Gideon let Elle fly on the BAU jet back to DC from Atlanta, Georgia with Reid and the BAU team. And, Garcia changed Elle's flight ticket back to Brooklyn online for her.
Elle and JJ stayed with Reid in his apartment the following week helping Reid detox from the dilaudid he received from Tobias Hankel. Morgan, Garcia and Prentiss came to Reid's apartment and they helped him whenever they were not working on a case. But, Elle and JJ both helped Reid the most with his three days of withdrawal symptoms, his nightmares, his crying, his PTSD and his vomiting. When he was sleeping, JJ and Elle quietly cried in each other's arms over Reid's terrible time. JJ put on a swimsuit and she helped Reid take showers. After three days, JJ stopped wearing a bandage on her arm. After four days, Reid was strong enough to shower on his own again and he started keeping his food down again. To celebrate Reid's recovery, Morgan, Prentiss, Garcia, JJ and Elle gave Reid a movie night in his apartment watching "Star Wars" movies.
When Elle was ready to return to Brooklyn the following afternoon, she decided to give Reid some advice.
"Reid," said Elle. "I think that you should..."
"I know, Elle," said Reid while lowering his head. "I should apologize to Emily for snapping at her the other day."
"Yeah, you should," said Elle. "We've only just met, but I can see that Emily cares for you, Reid. You heard me snapping at everybody much worse when I first arrived at the hospital to see you. Emily told me to try keeping a cool head or I would get all of us kicked out of the hospital. Both of us need to learn to control our tempers better before they completely destroy us. But, what I was going to say, Reid is, I think that you should go for it."
"Go for what, Elle?" asked Reid.
"JJ," said Elle. "She's helped you this past week more than Penelope, Emily and Derek have. From a woman's point of view, JJ loves you, sweetie. I mean more than just a friend or a sister. JJ spent this past week putting just as much commitment into taking care of you as you did in taking care of your mom until you were 18. And, she's cried over you even more than Garcia cried. Now, that's saying something."
"I...I don't know, Elle," said Reid. "She's recently refused to go to a comic-con with me. What...What if you're wrong?"
"I'm not wrong," smiled Elle. "I just want you to be happy, Reid. After what you've just been through, you deserve some happiness. And if you don't go for it, then sooner or later another guy will come along and sweep JJ off of her feet. And, if JJ marries another guy instead, I don't want you to spend the rest of your life thinking, 'What if?' with JJ. So, just go for it, Reid."
"You're right, Elle," said Reid. "I'll ask JJ to come with me to the Beltway Clean Cops meeting tonight."
Elle smiled. JJ and Prentiss came into Reid's apartment.
"Okay, Elle," said Prentiss. "We're ready to take you to the airport. Garcia's downstairs waiting for us in Esther."
"Uh, one moment, ladies," said Reid. "JJ, would you like to come with me to the Beltway Clean Cops meeting this evening?"
"Spence," smiled JJ. "I would love to."
"Great," smiled Reid. "And, Emily, I'm...sorry that I snapped at you earlier this week. You didn't deserve that. Can you forgive me?"
"Of course," smiled Prentiss. "That was the drug withdrawal talking, not you, Reid."
"Friends?" asked Reid.
Reid held out his right hand to shake her hand, but Prentiss hugged Reid instead.
"Family," smiled Prentiss.
"Well, guys," said Elle. "I guess this is it."
Elle and JJ hugged each other.
"Thank you for all your help, Elle," smiled JJ.
"No problem," smiled Elle. "I love you, JJ."
"I love you, too," said JJ.
Elle and Reid hugged each other tightly.
"Thank you, Elle," smiled Reid. "For everything."
"I love you, little brother," smiled Elle. "And, remember, I'm just a phone call away if you need anything."
Around 6 pm, Reid and JJ were in the Beltway Clean Cops meeting together. Reid shyly stood up to speak.
"Uh, hi," said Reid. "My name is Spencer and I'm...honestly, I don't know what I am."
"Hello, Spencer," said the other members.
Reid continued, "Uh, this is my first meeting."
"Welcome," said the other members.
Reid continued, "Thank you. I was, well, recently kidnapped, tortured and handcuffed to a chair and my torturer...injected me with dilaudid 8 different times, addicting me to it. I've detoxed from it this past week, and I'm...trying to stay clean..."
JJ tearfully smiled at Reid's courage and honesty. She loved Reid even more for it.
Nearly a year later, Reid continued staying clean from dilaudid. Jason Gideon had quit the BAU shortly after a bad encounter with a killer named Frank Breightkopf who murdered Gideon's friend, Sarah Jacobs. Reid and Elle were keeping in touch with each other regularly over the phone. David Rossi had come out of retirement to help the BAU team. And, Reid and JJ were dating each other and becoming closer as a couple.
In Buffalo, New York, Elle returned home from her job at a local bar around midnight. She entered her apartment and locked the door. Elle put down her keys and she put her cell phone on her living room charger and she went into the bathroom to take a shower. While Elle was showering, her cell phone rang and it went to voicemail.
Reid was in a hospital waiting room with all of the BAU team members except for Morgan because Garcia had been shot. They were all waiting for her surgery results.
"Hey, this is Elle," said Elle's voicemail recording. "I'm not available right now. You know what to do when you hear the beep!" Beep!
"Elle," said Reid. "This is Reid. Please call me back when you get this message. There's something that I need to tell you."
JJ walked up to Reid saying, "Is that Morgan?"
"No, JJ," answered Reid. "I'm calling another family member. I'll try him again in a minute. Uh, please call me back immediately."
Reid hung up. Elle came out of the shower ten minutes later and she went into her bedroom to go to sleep. She left her phone charging in the living room. Her phone rang again but she didn't hear it in her sleep. It went to voicemail again.
"Elle?" said Reid. "It's Reid again. I'm hoping you've just got your phone on vibrate and you didn't hear my first call. But, I really need to tell you something."
Morgan called Reid's phone after hearing two voicemails on his phone about Garcia. Reid saw Morgan's caller ID.
"Oh," said Reid. "I have to answer this call, Elle. But, please call me back immediately."
Reid hung up. Elle's alarm clock rang at 6 am and she got up and she started doing her morning routine. A half hour of exercising to keep herself in shape. Then, she took another shower. Her cell phone rang again. And, it went to voicemail again.
"Elle?" said Reid. "It's Reid. You're really scaring me. I really need to tell you something. Please call me back immediately when you get this message."
A doctor walked up to the BAU team saying, "Penelope Garcia?"
"Yes," said Hotch.
"Elle," said Reid. "I need to go."
Reid hung up. Elle came out of the bathroom fifteen minutes later and she went into the bedroom and got dressed. Then, she went into the kitchen to fix herself some breakfast. Her cell phone rang again. Elle heard it this time and she saw Reid's caller ID on it so she answered the phone.
"Reid?" smiled Elle.
Reid breathed a sigh of relief.
"Elle," said Reid. "I...I was starting to think that something bad happened to you again."
"What are you talking about?" asked Elle.
"I've been calling you all night and leaving you voice messages," said Reid. "Didn't you get them?"
"No, sweetie," smiled Elle. "I'm sorry. I did a double-shift at the bar yesterday and I came home around midnight. And, after taking a quick shower, I went straight to bed."
"I see," said Reid. "I'm glad that you're okay."
"So, Reid," smiled Elle. "What's going on? It's been nearly a month now since the last time we talked about Gideon leaving the BAU. Please don't tell me that you and JJ have had a fight..."
"Elle," said Reid. "Garcia has been shot last night."
Elle gasped, "What?!"
"Garcia has been shot last night, Elle," repeated Reid.
Elle sat down feeling shocked.
"Is she all right?" asked Elle.
"Thankfully, yes," smiled Reid. "The doctor said the bullet entered her chest and ricocheted into her abdomen. But, they were able to repair the injuries. She should be able to walk out of the hospital in a few days, Elle. And, she's awake now. She's going to be fine."
Elle breathed a huge sigh of relief.
"Thank God," tearfully smiled Elle. "Garcia isn't even a field agent. What happened?"
"We've just returned from a case in Bridgewater, Florida," explained Reid. "While we were away, Garcia met a guy who she was attracted to. Garcia said he asked her out for dinner last night and she accepted. And after dinner, he dropped her off at home and she said good night to him. And, he started to leave. But, he turned around and he shot Garcia with a revolver right in front of her apartment building. And, he staged it to look like it was a robbery."
"A revolver?" asked Elle.
"Yes, Elle," said Reid. "The doctor said that if the bullet was one centimeter over, it would have torn right through her heart. I think that's what the shooter wanted. Morgan is raising hell wanting to get this guy."
"Well, he's not the only one," angrily said Elle. "I want to get this son of a bitch, too! And, he shot her at her own home?! Nobody hurts our sweet Penelope Garcia and gets away with it!"
"I know, Elle," said Reid. "I know. But, I want you to give us some time to catch him before you come over here. This literally just happened."
"What?!" angrily said Elle. "No way! You know that I can take care of myself, Reid!"
"Elle, please calm down," said Reid. "I do want you to come here, but not while you're angry like this. Please, take a few days to calm down first. Remember, you snapped at everybody when you came to see me in the hospital after the Hankel case last year. You couldn't control your temper and you and Morgan almost got everybody kicked out of the hospital. Elle, you said yourself that we both need to control our tempers better before they completely destroy us."
"I don't understand, Reid," said Elle. "If you don't want me coming to DC now, then why the hell did you tell me about Garcia in the first place?"
Reid answered, "I didn't want you hearing about Garcia getting shot on the news like you did about my abduction last year, Elle, so..."
"...you picked up the phone to tell me about Garcia almost immediately after you found out yourself," finished Elle.
"Yes," said Reid.
Elle's heart soared.
"I love you for doing that for me, Reid," tearfully said Elle. "Thank you. Okay, because you did that for me, I will give you guys four days to catch the son of a bitch who shot her. But, if he's still at large after those four days are up..."
"...then I will pick you up myself when you arrive in DC," said Reid. "We both know it's only a one-hour flight from New York to DC."
"Yeah," said Elle. "But, in the meantime, please keep me updated on how she's doing. Deal?"
"Deal," said Reid. "Elle, Morgan said Garcia briefly told him about meeting this guy but he doesn't remember anything that she said. Did Garcia recently call you to tell you anything about this guy?"
"Just a minute, Reid," said Elle. "Let me check."
Elle looked at her caller ID list on her answering machine. There were three messages from Reid from the last nine hours. But, there was also one message from Garcia.
"Reid," said Elle. "I have a voice message from Garcia from two days ago that I haven't listened to yet. I will put the phone over the speaker so we can listen to it together, okay?"
"Okay," said Reid.
Elle held her cell phone to the answering machine speaker and she played the message.
"Hi, Elle," said Garcia's voice message. "It's PG. You'll never ever guess what has happened to me today. I went to the coffee shop for my usual order and I helped a smoking hot man unfreeze his Windows computer. He said his name was James Colby Baylor. He invited me out to lunch to thank me for helping him. He gave me a business card and I gave him my main cell phone number. This has never happened to me before, Elle. Very few smoking hot men have ever asked me out right off the bat. Am I paranoid? Don't answer that. You used to be a profiler and I don't wanna know the answer because, no offense, but I hate profilers! I will call you back when I decide whether or not I will go out with him. Garcia now bids you a simple adieu!"
"Did you hear all that, Reid?" asked Elle.
"Yeah, all of it," said Reid. "Thank you, Elle."
"James Colby Baylor?" said Elle. "Well, if he tried to make her shooting look like a robbery, then that's probably not his real name, Reid."
"I came to the same conclusion," said Reid. "I'll keep you updated on how Garcia is doing. I love you, Elle."
"I love you, too, little brother," tearfully smiled Elle.
Reid hung up. Elle spent the next two to three hours working off her angry temper in the gym hitting a punching bag. She bruised her hand from punching too hard. Then, Elle angrily screamed into a pillow in bed and then she started sobbing over Garcia.
Two nights later, Elle was taking a refreshing bubble bath while pondering why Garcia of all people would get shot. She lit a lavender scented candle and laid back in the tub.
"Garcia once told me to try relaxing and letting my mind wander a little," thought Elle to herself.
Elle closed her eyes and completely relaxed in the soothing bubble bath. She suddenly imagined herself fully dressed in the bullpen at Quantico watching a mesmerized Garcia walking by her.
"What are you doing out of your bunker?" asked Elle.
"I was on my way to file the things that I...file," answered Garcia.
Elle looked over where Garcia was staring and she saw a very handsome young man looking around the bullpen holding a motorcycle helmet. It was Sean, Hotch's younger brother. He saw Elle and Garcia and he walked over to them.
"Excuse me?" said Sean.
"Hi," said Elle.
"I'm..." said Sean.
"Sean?" said Morgan. "Hey. Derek. You must be looking for your brother."
"Yeah," said Sean.
"Right this way," said Morgan.
Sean followed Morgan to Hotch's office.
"Brother as in..." said Elle. "That's Hotch's brother?"
"Maybe Hotch is adopted?" said Garcia.
JJ walked over to them.
"Why are you saying Hotch is adopted?" asked JJ.
"You haven't seen his smoking hot brother," said Garcia.
A few minutes later, Sean angrily stormed out of Hotch's office.
"Oh, there he is," smiled Garcia.
"That's Hotch's brother?" asked JJ.
"Yeah," smiled Elle.
"Uh, huh," smiled Garcia.
"I don't see it," said JJ.
"Sean, listen to me," said Hotch. "All I'm saying is that you're 25 years old..."
"You know what?" said Sean. "Don't profile me, Aaron!"
Sean was about to walk past the three ladies. Elle suddenly realized that this was her dream and that she could do whatever she wanted to in it. She got up from her desk chair and she stepped right in front of Sean and she passionately kissed him on the lips right in front of everybody.
"Wow," whispered JJ.
"I did not expect that," said Garcia.
"Hi," smiled Sean. "Sean Hotchner."
"Elle Greenaway," smiled Elle. "I need your help. Let's get out of here."
Elle took Sean's hand and she led him out of the bullpen. Elle suddenly found herself sitting in the beach chair in Jamaica wearing a green bikini and watching Morgan trying to ask three girls if he could help any one of them with their suntan lotion. Sean appeared in Morgan's chair next to Elle wearing swimming trunks. Elle smiled while enjoying the view.
"So," said Sean. "What help did you need from me, Elle?"
"I'm trying to figure out why my friend, Penelope was shot," explained Elle. "She's family to me. I can't just do nothing, Sean."
"Well," said Sean. "I'll be happy to help you any way that I can."
Elle grinned at Sean and she took his hand. Suddenly it was nighttime in Jamaica and Elle was wearing a summer dress dancing closely with Sean to Reggae music. He was wearing a light shirt and shorts. Morgan and his date walked up to them.
"Well, you all right there, Greenaway?" asked Morgan.
"Go away," smiled Elle.
"See you tomorrow?" asked Morgan.
"Afternoon," said Elle.
Morgan grinned and he and his date left. Elle kissed Sean on the lips. In the bubble bath, Elle was happily grinning.
"Well," smiled Sean. "Tell me what happened to Penelope."
"She called me to tell me that she helped a hot guy fix his computer and then he asked her out to lunch," affectionately explained Elle.
"Is that so unusual?" asked Sean.
"It is for her," said Elle. "She doesn't see herself as the type of girl who a hot guy would ask out on a date."
"Did she go out with him?" asked Sean.
"Yes," answered Elle.
"And, what happened?" asked Sean.
"When he dropped her off at home," said Elle. "He shot her."
Suddenly, there was a loud gunshot and Elle found herself in her DC apartment lying on the floor bleeding from getting shot. Sean appeared as an EMT. He looked up and saw the bloody "Rules" writing on Elle's wall in her blood.
"Oh, man," said Sean. "This happened to her?"
"No," groaned Elle. "This happened to me a year and a half ago."
Sean saw Elle lying on the floor struggling to stay alive. He got down on his knees and he held her hand while another EMT used defibrillator paddles on Elle's chest.
"If you want to help your friend, Penelope, then why are we here?" asked Sean.
Elle answered, "I...can't seem to dream without returning to this moment again."
"She's an FBI agent," said Agent Anderson. "I'm sorry, Agent Greenaway. I didn't know that I was supposed to keep an eye on you."
The other EMT looked at Sean saying, "If we don't get her pressure up, we're going to lose her again, permanently."
"But, you survived this?" asked Sean.
"Yes," weakly said Elle. "And, so did Penelope. My friend, Reid told me that she will be okay."
Elle suddenly found herself in recovery after surgery waking up in her hospital bed wearing a hospital gown. Sean was standing beside a surgeon wearing scrubs.
"There you are," said the surgeon to Elle. "You can sleep. You're going to be fine."
In the bubble bath, Elle had tears in her eyes. Elle suddenly found herself in her hospital bed a few days later. Sean appeared sitting by her bedside watching the others in the hospital room. Reid gave Elle flowers. JJ kissed the top of Elle's head. Garcia gave Elle some "Get Well Soon" balloons. Gideon was holding Elle's hand. And, Morgan came into the room claiming that they were out of red Jello for him to bring Elle. But, he had a red Jello tongue giving away that he ate the Jello himself.
"Derek, you dirty sneak," smirked Elle.
"What did you want me to do?" asked Sean.
Elle suddenly found herself wearing motorcycle gear sitting closely behind Sean on the back seat of his motorcycle riding with him down a road.
"What you have been doing this whole time," answered Elle. "Just being here for me. Helping me control my temper."
"Well, I'm not a profiler," said Sean. "Why don't we just go ask my brother, Aaron and his team to help you, Elle?"
"I can't," said Elle. "He fired me over a year ago."
"Wait a minute," said Sean. "Didn't you just kiss me right in front of Aaron and his team?"
"Yeah, I did," smiled Elle. "Which means that I can go to them here."
Elle suddenly found herself normally dressed and sitting in the round table room with Hotch, JJ and Prentiss. Sean appeared sitting right next to Elle. JJ put up a picture of Garcia on the evidence board.
"Okay," said Sean. "What would my brother ask you to do?"
"Let's look at victimology," said Hotch.
"Garcia was the victim," said Prentiss.
"Well, why would somebody target Garcia?" asked JJ.
"She's not a field agent," said Elle. "She's our technical analyst."
"Meaning she's never arrested anyone," said Prentiss.
"Right," said Elle. "She said that she helped a guy fix his computer at a coffee shop and then he asked her out to lunch."
"And later on, he called her to change it to a dinner date," said Hotch.
"It was only the one date because they've just met," said Elle. "So, we can rule him out as a long-term abusive boyfriend. Plus, none of us would let Garcia get abused by anybody."
"Agreed," said Hotch.
"She also said he was hot," said Prentiss.
"Smoking hot," said Elle.
"He would have to be to get her to stop fantasizing about Morgan," said JJ.
"But, his sketch didn't get any hits in the criminal database," said Hotch.
"Most of the people we've arrested during my time here are either dead or still in prison," said Elle. "So, that rules out a recently released unsub trying to get back at the BAU team through Garcia."
"Yeah," said Prentiss.
"Well, maybe you're looking at this the wrong way," said Sean. "What does Penelope Garcia do for this team?"
Elle suddenly found herself and Sean walking into Garcia's lair.
"Garcia looks up anything online about any suspect we've asked her to," explained Elle.
Inside, Reid had his mouth open while looking deeply into the computer screen right next to Garcia.
"You're breathing on my neck," smiled Garcia.
"Um, sorry," said Reid. "Ahem! Sorry for that."
"You two having fun?" asked Elle.
"Oh, yeah," answered Garcia. "Sifting through the life and times of this suspect with Dr. Reid here is a party I wouldn't wanna miss!"
Reid looked confused. Elle smiled at Reid and said to Sean, "Her quirky sense of humor was always a fringe benefit for all of us."
Elle put her coffee cup down on the desk next to Garcia's screen. Garcia moved the cup over to her left. Reid and Elle started looking at some files asking Garcia to find online history of a man named Vincent. Elle put her coffee cup down again on an open file book. Garcia picked up the cup and she dropped it in the wastebasket.
"I was still drinking that," said Elle.
"Not only is this equipment expensive, it's also extremely sensitive," said Garcia in a warning tone.
Heeding Garcia's warning, Reid held onto his coffee cup and finished drinking his coffee. Sean handed Elle another cup of coffee.
"Thank you," smiled Elle. "I almost forgot how much she hates having too many people invading her personal space."
Elle took a sip of her coffee.
"Mmmm, Hazelnut. Perfect," smiled Elle. "Garcia's online searching has always assisted our profile and given us more evidence on who was committing the crimes before we could go out and arrest them. Wait a minute..."
Garcia, Reid and Sean looked at Elle.
"What is it?" asked Sean.
"Online evidence?" said Elle. "That's it!"
Elle grabbed Sean's head with both of her hands and she kissed him on the lips and she hugged him tightly.
"Thank you, Sean," smiled Elle.
Elle woke up in the bubble bath while gasping.
"Online evidence," thought Elle to herself. "That's why Garcia's been shot!"