Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds

A/N: Don't even know what to say, except I'm sorry I'm being so slow…gah. Allllsoooooo…this story is coming to a close. But, just so ya'll know, I was asked to write another Hotch/Reid story, and I have started doing that, so once I'm done with this one, I will start posting chapters for that, and that story will probably be a lot better, because I have an idea of what I'm doing instead of just writing an opening chapter, and then seeing where I go from there, which is what I usually do.

Reid opened his eyes…or were they already open? Either way, he began to slowly become conscious of the world around him. Or was he dead? From the small slivers of memory he had, he was fairly certain that he should, in all fairness, be dead. The last thing he was sure of was that he was bleeding profusely from the chest, some man's thick hand slipping in the blood in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding. However, a steady beeping noise floated into his awareness. It was not a sound he would have placed in heaven, or hell, or any other form of afterlife, all of which he did not believe in anyway. The point is, he was fairly certain it was the mechanical beep of a heart monitor.

His eyes had closed again, of their own accord, so he forced them open once more. The room was bright, and even though he was in a drugged, semi-conscious state, he became all too aware of the people in his room, one standing in the corner, arms across his chest, the other pacing by the door, and the third sitting in a chair next to his bed. He felt all too exposed, covered in the thin hospital blanket, and the too-bright lighting. Under the sheets, he was wearing hospital scrub pants, but no shirt, and the cotton sheets scratched at his skin where there wasn't any gauze. It was worse than being in a confined space without a vest with an unsub, or naked in his own bed with Shawn. He felt exposed to the eyes of his colleagues. And he didn't feel just physically exposed. His colleagues were here, which meant they knew…and he was sure Hotch was furious.

Reid licked his dry lips and opened his mouth, a small croaking noise taking the place of where words should have been. His throat was dry and sore, they must have just taken out the respirator tube. Reid watched as the dark scowl on Hotch's face softened into a look of concern. It almost looked as if Hotch were in pain, and then he turned around, grabbing a cup of ice chips off of the hospital's bedside table. As Hotch began to feed Reid the ice, Morgan stood up straight and stuck his hands in his pockets, slumping his shoulders as he walked over from his spot in the corner, taking a seat next to Hotch. Reid huffed slightly at his over-exaggerated attempts to look non-threatening, and Morgan's eyebrows flew up.

"Just because unsubs find you terrifying doesn't mean I do," Reid croaked, before taking another offered bite of ice. The blank, neutral expression on Morgan's face fell away, and a laugh forced it's way out as Morgan shook his head. Hotch's scowl had returned, but from the looks of it, it was just his way of keeping himself from smiling.

"Kid, you're afraid of the dark, but not me?" Morgan asked, incredulous.

"The inherent absence of light…and you're about as terrifying as a baby cat."

Hotch's immobile scowl broke as he snorted a laugh, and Morgan just blinked, seemingly offended as he sat back in his chair, crossing his arms menacingly. Reid snorted a small laugh, but then made a face at the jolt of pain this caused in his chest. A worried, motherly looking JJ sat down across from the two men, glaring at both Hotch and Morgan as she took Reid's hand.

"Spence is right, Morgan, but let's try not to make him laugh." There was a somber nod of agreement, a flash of guilt on Morgan's face. Reid rolled his eyes, and opened his mouth in an invitation for more ice chips. The awkward sense of being exposed was starting to fade, even though the guilt of not listening to Hotch was still fresh in his mind, the ache in his chest a good reminder of how close he'd come to death. Pursing his lips, Reid took on a more serious expression, and lowered his voice.

"How much longer before I'm allowed back at work?" The scowl returned to Hotch's face in an instant, and JJ and Morgan shared a worried glance. Reid swallowed audibly, and took a deep breath. "Assuming you aren't going to fire me?"

Hotch relaxed, but he didn't seem any less aggravated. "You're just lucky the bullet missed your lungs, and heart, Spencer. You will have to undergo physical therapy, and it will be at least a couple months before you'll be allowed back at work." Reid couldn't help the pout that formed, and Hotch's scowl deepened in response. "It'll be even longer before you can get back on the field. You're just lucky to be alive, so don't pout like that."

JJ and Morgan shared another look, this one more amused, with eyebrows raised, and Reid felt his face heat up. JJ wasn't a profiler, but she was apparently just as good at noticing relationship changes as Morgan. Hotch didn't seem to notice however, and was about to set the cup down, but Reid made a noise of protest without thinking about it, so he brought the cup back, shoveling another small spoonful of ice into Reid's mouth. Morgan stood up and stretched, shaking his head slightly.

"Well, I'm gonna go get some sleep kid. Haven't shut my eyes since I heard you were shot. But now that you're awake I think I'll go. You take good care of the kid, Hotch. I'll see you all later."

Morgan left the room, and JJ smiled slightly, giving Reid's hand one more squeeze before standing. "I think I'll go too…I'll call the others and they'll come in and see you some time later." She left, and Reid pursed his lips slightly as the door shut. He was alone with Hotch now, and he wasn't sure he was ready for that…

"Spencer…" Reid jolted at the sound of his own name, and took a deep breath.

"So why weren't the others here earlier? I would have thought Garcia would have insisted on being here," Reid blurted, trying to avoid the eminent conversation. Hotch raised his eyebrows, he wasn't easily fooled. However, he humored Reid, letting him take temporary control of the direction of the conversation.

"She fainted when she saw you, so Prentiss and David took her back to her apartment so she could calm down before they brought her back."

"Oh…." Reid swallowed dryly. He definitely felt bad now. He could remember how Garcia looked, after getting shot, and the flurry of odd emotions that he felt upon seeing her. It wasn't fair to put Garcia through that, or the others, for that matter. He was quiet for a moment, but then asked in a small whisper, "Shawn?"

"He's in jail. You don't have to worry about him hurting you every again."

Reid nodded, and let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, staring at the hospital blanket as he absorbed the fact that Shawn was in jail. Reid realized he was zoning out when Hotch cleared his throat loudly, and his attention snapped back to the present. Hotch's expression had softened again, so Reid stayed quiet, signaling that he was ready…well, as ready as he would ever be, to talk about what had happened.

"You said that you were going to stay right next to me the entire time."

Reid licked his lips, and answered in a small voice, that he knew sounded pathetic. "I was going to…but one of the police officers wanted me to go look at something with him…"

"Officer Kent." Hotch's voice was cold, and Reid flinched slightly, beginning to wonder just how much trouble he was in. Hotch sounded way beyond just angry.

"Yeah…H-hotch, I'm sorry."

"I'm not mad at you, Spencer. You were doing your job, unlike Kent."

Although Reid still felt mostly responsible for what happened, he decided that, as Hotch's 'boyfriend' he needed to be on Hotch's good side more than Kent did, so he didn't say anything. There was a moment of silence, and then Hotch let out a sigh, slumping in his chair as he leaned towards Reid, putting a hand on Reid's arm.

"I thought you were going to die."

"It's not the first time," Reid mumbled. Hotch let out a small dark laugh in response, shaking his head.

"Spencer…if this is going to work, you're going to have to stop getting into dangerous situations." Hotch's voice was light, and joking, but there was an underlying seriousness that Reid understood. He nodded, giving a tight-lipped smile.

"Okay."

END

A/N: Okay, lame ending, I know, but all my endings suck. But hey, I'm going to start a new story, probably after I'm all done with finals. I apologize, once again, for taking so long to post this chapter.