Reid had been correct about the early hour of the call summoning them to Annapolis. Luckily though, Spencer was obsessive about pre-planning, and by the time the phone calls came, breakfast was on the table, and the coffee poured.

Dave saw Aaron smile after Spencer as he ducked into the shower. The two older agents sat down to eat breakfast. Spencer had prepared scrambled eggs and sausage, with toast and French Roast coffee. Rossi took a bite, and looked up in surprise. "He cooks breakfast too? I think I'm starting to understand...I could definitely get used to this."

Hotch looked at his friend quizzically. "Dave...you were married three times..."

"Yea, but none of them could cook like this. If they had, I might still be married..." mused Dave wistfully.

As expected, the initial meetings with the CDC and the military unfolded in very much the same fashion as before. Reid met with Doctor Kimura and discussed the progression of the outbreak, while Rossi and Hotch met with the representative from Fort Detrick. Once all of the military scientist had arrived, Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner went to work. To the untrained eye, Hotch came off a simply a driven individual that wanted answers. To Reid and Rossi, his questions were pointed and specific, and being directed straight at the individual that had the answers he wanted.

Once Dr. Lawrence Nichols had been identified as the possible Unsub, Hotch wasted no time. "Morgan...you and Reid head over to Dr. Nichols house and see if you can find anything there that might tell us where his next target might be."

Rossi and Reid, who had been needlessly forming a geographic profile, raised their heads simultaneously at their supervisor's orders. Hotch acknowledged the confused expressions of his agents with a smile.

"Reid," said Hotch carefully, "get with Dr. Kimura and see if she can set Morgan and you up with some bio hazard suits. We don't want to take any chances that he might have some more of this stuff laying around his house."

Reid nodded, and joined Morgan after speaking with Dr. Kimura and the CDC staff. Hotch took the opportunity to contact Garcia and preemptively asked her to search any additional outbreaks, suggesting she begin her search at the hospital closest to the book store.

Smiling to himself, Hotch took a brief moment to lean up against a desk in the makeshift command center, and exhale slowly. Rossi sidled up next to his supervisor, and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Aaron," started Rossi, "I know your feeling a lot of pressure here, but as far as I can tell, everything seems to be falling into place."

oOo

Morgan and Reid made it to Dr. Nichols' house just as the CDC techs had begun setting up. As they donned their protective gear, Reid took the opportunity to show Morgan how the self-contained breathing apparatus functioned, and verified that the seals at the wrists and ankles were secure.

Spencer smiled and gave Morgan a thumbs up, before they began the somewhat awkward trip up the driveway, towards Nichols garage/workspace. Reid smiled to himself as he carefully stepped around the overgrown rose bushes, when he suddenly heard his name from behind him.

Reid shook his head and laughed when he turned to see Hotch and Rossi getting out of their vehicle at the Nichols home. The young genius yelled to his partner, "Morgan, hold up a sec...Wait for me."

Satisfied that Morgan would wait, Reid turned to his supervisor and smiled. "Wow. Am I being followed?"

Rossi grinned. "We're just here to make sure that everything gets taken care of as quickly as possible, Kid."

"Okay, Dad...Morgan and I promise that we'll be home before curfew." He smiled as he turned, until he realized that Morgan had already entered the garage alone. The two older agents saw a flicker of fear in the young Doctor's eyes before he turned and ran towards the workroom.

Hotch moved to follow, but Rossi held him back. "Aaron...he'll be okay. They're both wearing protective gear..."

Spencer got to the sliding glass door, and cautiously peered in at Morgan. Derek was leaning over the body of Dr. Nichols, and Spencer sighed in relief. He opened the door, and called Morgan's name.

Morgan looked up from his crouched position. "Reid...its Dr. Nichols...but look what I found next to his body!"

The larger man stood quickly and turned to face his partner. It took Spencer a beat before he realized that Morgan was holding the broken vial containing the virus. He knew in that second that he was standing too close, and tried to back away, but the bulky suit prevented it.

"MORGAN!" yelled the young genius, just as the broken glass cut through his protective suit, and his black dress shirt, opening a small cut in the skin just below his ribs. He watched as a small drop of blood ran ever so slowly down the pale skin of his stomach, before looking back up into Morgan's horrified eyes.

Morgan raised his arms, barely keeping hold on the broken vial in his hand. "Kid? Oh, God Reid? What did I do? Oh God. What do I do now?"

Reid couldn't prevent his hands from shaking, but looked back at Derek with calm eyes and a slightly amused smile. "Derek...don't worry right now, okay? I don't need you freaking out on me. I want you to go outside and get Hotch, okay? I need you to leave this room and close the door behind you and get Hotch."

Morgan was in a panic, and while he appreciated that his friend was trying to keep him safe, his instructions made no sense. "Reid." said Morgan with conviction. "What your asking me to do makes no sense. I'm already here and..."

The young genius cut off his friend with steely determination. "Morgan I appreciate your concern, but please do exactly what I'm telling you to do. I don't really have a lot of time, and the more anxious I get, the faster this is going to travel through my system." Reid took a deep breath and gritted his teeth. "Leave this room. Close the door tightly behind you. Walk down the driveway, tell Hotch what happened, and send him back here...NOW!"

Hotch and Rossi were at the end of the driveway, talking. Per their plan, Reid was to go inside, just long enough to locate Chad Brown's journals, 'discover' the asthma inhaler, and get the hell out. So when the two agents saw Morgan running down the driveway in a panic, they knew something had gone wrong. Rossi moved to grab his supervisor by the shoulders, but Aaron wrenched away from him, running full speed towards his lover.

Morgan tried to talk to him as he passed, but Hotch didn't wait for an update. He shoved his agent to the side, knocking him to the ground without a second look.

Rossi got to Morgan within moments, and helped him up. "What the hell was that, Rossi?"

Dave put a stern look on his face. "Tell me what happened, Morgan, slowly...and don't leave anything out."

As Hotch approached the entrance to Nichols workroom, he saw his lover standing at the window with a sheepish smile on his face. The supervisor had to grin a bit as he noticed Spencer standing with one hand on the sliding glass door, and the other holding the asthma inhaler. The older agent walked to the window and placed his hand over his lover's.

"I take it that all didn't go as planned." asked Aaron with a chuckle, pressing his forehead to the glass.

Spencer reciprocated his action, until the two men were forehead to forehead, nose to nose, save for a thin piece of glass. Looking into each others eyes, they started to laugh.

oOo

After getting the particulars from Morgan, Rossi immediately got on the phone, coordinating evacuation procedures with Dr. Kimura and her staff on site. When the details were complete, Rossi approached Morgan. "It wasn't your fault, you know that, right?"

"How can you say that, Rossi. I turned around without thinking and sliced Pretty Boy's suit open. I know better than that." Morgan began to pace, rubbing his head as he walked, slowly moving closer and closer to the back of the driveway.

"Morgan...it was just adrenaline. Sit down, and work this case. Think. What is this UnSub's motivation?" He was trying to distract the large agent from a scene he could only imagine was going on between the two lovers.

Derek kept pacing...edging closer, trying to get a look into the workroom he had left behind. His guilt was overwhelming, and his need to check on Reid over-rode Rossi's directions. He made it to the end of the driveway, and the scene in front of him made him stop in his tracks. What he had expected to see was his stoic supervisor attempting to calm his agent, and focus his attention on the case. What he didn't expect to see was two of his team members, hands pressed together on either side on the glass door, looking as if they were ready to bed each other at any moment. He crouched behind a bush, and continued to observe the two men carefully.

Reid took a step back and pulled open the sliced shirt, to show the older man his injury. Aaron crouched down to observe the wound closely. Aaron smiled. "Can I kiss it and make it better?"

Spencer stuck out his tongue at his lover. "Babe, you get me out of here, and I will let you kiss me any place you want to!"

Aaron raised an eyebrow lasciviously, before both men began to laugh. He stood back up, and motioned for his young lover to come closer to the glass. "I love you, Babe. You're gonna be fine."

oOo

Derek stared at the two men intently. He was just close enough to hear the words they shared. At this point, he was positive that he had gone completely crazy.

As he backed away from his hidden position, he found Rossi standing over him with an amused look on his face. "Could you see enough from that vantage point?"

Suddenly, Morgan was indignant. "You knew about this?" asked Derek in anger.

"Knew about what?" responded Rossi innocently.

"Rossi!" roared Morgan. "The fact that Hotch is obviously taking advantage of Reid?

Dave had to keep himself from laughing out loud. "Is that what you think?"

"What else could it be?" growled Morgan. "For a second there I thought they were gonna start licking the glass."

Dave chuckled. "No matter the circumstance, I highly doubt that Spencer would resort to glass licking...he has always seemed pretty particular about what he puts in his mouth..." The words trailed off as he realized what he had said. "That came out wrong, but you get my drift. Now, lets move out of the way so the extraction team can get in. We can talk about this more, later."

The older agent moved to the side, as Hotch ran quickly down the driveway.

"Morgan...get on the phone with Garcia, and have her check out a man named Chad Brown. I believe that he is our Unsub. Verify any connection he may have with the bookstore, and get his home address. Rossi, stay here with Reid until Dr. Kimura can verify that we have the antidote...I have to go talk to General Whitworth. Morgan...once you get the information you need from Garcia, go pick-up Emily and head over to search his house for anything that might tell us what his next move is." With that, Hotch nodded to his two team members and headed to his vehicle.

Rossi could see that Morgan's body had tensed visibly. The older man put a hand firmly on his teammate's shoulder. "Now is not the time, Derek. We need to help those patients, and help Reid. Get in touch with Penelope like he asked. We'll talk later."

oOo

Derek tore off his safety suit, and threw it to one of the CDC technicians angrily before getting in his SUV and dialing Penelope. If anyone knew something about this, it would his favorite technical analyst.

"You have reached the Goddess of Wisdom...speak my Chocolate God."

"Yea, Mama." began Morgan stiffly. "I need you to run a check on a Chad Brown..."

"One step ahead of you big guy! Our Junior G-Man called me from his quarantine just moments ago...I have all your information right here...sending his home address to your phone as we speak."

Before she could disconnect the call, Garcia paused. "Derek? Is everything alright? I heard about the accident with Reid's suit, but that wasn't your fault."

"Nah, beautiful, it isn't that...well, some of that obviously, but something else weird happened. Something is going on between Reid and Hotch. Do you know anything?"

"Oh, my! Do you think there is something to know? You mean something like...SOMETHING, right? Something as in a hot, sexy and adorable thing, not some other something. You must give me the details NOW."

Morgan felt guilt building up inside of him. He needed to talk to Reid before he started spreading rumors. "Not, now Baby Girl. Just let Prentiss know that I am on the way to get her. Thanks."

The phone disconnected abruptly, and as Garcia dialed the raven haired agent, her mind was a whirl of images. As soon as her duty was complete, she quickly called JJ. "J...I wanted to let you know that our super heroes are just about to win the day, so no more worrying about your little angel. Now, get down to my Oracle's Lair at once...we have some salacious snooping to do."

oOo

Reid awoke in the hospital several hours later to the sound of Rossi snoring in the chair by his bed. "Rossi?" asked Spencer as loud as he could considering his physical condition. "Dave?" he asked a little louder. "DAVE." yelled Spencer in a hoarse cry. The third time was the charm.

Rossi jumped, and almost slid out of his chair. "Kid! Your awake. Sorry, I just dozed off for a second." The older agent straightened his jacket and checked his watch. "Okay, maybe a little longer than a second. Let me go get the Doctor."

Rossi got up to let Dr. Kimura know that Reid was awake, when he felt a hand on his wrist. "Not, yet Rossi. Tell me what happened...maybe ice chips first, but then tell me."

Rossi smiled, and spoon some ice chips into the young man's parched mouth. "I have to say Kid that I consider this a big win. You were right, we couldn't save them all, let alone you, but we did good...we did really good."

Reid looked at Rossi suspiciously. "What do we consider a good outcome?"

Dave smiled. "Thirteen of the original twenty-five victims are gonna make it, including those four kids. Twelve of those victims were already dead before we were even called in, so, yea...saving everyone else...a huge win in my book."

Reid grinned and scanned the hospital room. "The first time we lost all but four...Obviously, certain things seem to be inevitable..."

Suddenly Aaron appeared at the doorway to Spencer's hospital room. "They certainly do, including your ability to find trouble."

Rossi looked at the two men and smiled. "I'm gonna go let Dr. Kimura know that you're awake...and just a heads up before the shit hits the fan...Morgan saw the two of you together over at Dr. Nichols house, and he is definitely gonna have some questions."

The two men laughed as Rossi left the room. Aaron looked down at his lover and shook his head. "Why do you always make me worry, Babe?"

Spencer looked up at the man he loved. "Honestly, I think you're attracted to my damsel in distress routine. It makes you work harder!"

Aaron shook his head with a laugh as he pulled a jello cup from his jacket pocket. "It's cherry for Anthrax, right?

oOo

Hotch had left Prentiss and Morgan on the scene to finish up with the Military as they took charge of the suspect. Prentiss noticed almost immediately that Derek was rushing through the process. Several times she had tried to get his attention, to no avail. He was obviously in a hurry, which she attributed to his concern over his best friend.

Finally, the female agent had reached her boiling point. "Morgan! Stop for a second. What is wrong with you?"

Morgan shot an angry look at his partner. "I need to get to the hospital, okay? I don't need you dragging your feet while Hotch has the opportunity to..."

Emily, confused and frustrated cut him off. "Hotch has the opportunity to do what? He's there checking on Reid. Remember...anthrax exposure?"

Morgan growled. "Emily...Do. Not. Go. There...At. All!"

Shocked, the female agent backed away from her partner. "Derek, you need to calm down right now, or I'm gonna call Hotch. You are way out of line."

Morgan grabbed Prentiss by the arm and pulled her to a nearby alcove. "I'm not out of line, Hotch is! I need to get to the hospital before Hotch does something to Reid that he'll regret. You didn't see what I saw."

"And what do you think you saw?" she asked as she pulled herself free of the much stronger Agent.

Morgan lowered his head in regret as he realized what he had done to his teammate. "Emily, I am so sorry. Please...Reid being exposed was all my fault, and I'm not handling it very well. I just want to get there to make sure that he is all right...that no one is hurting him."

Emily, immediately realizing that she wouldn't get any more information from Derek, chose to step back. "Okay Morgan. I'm gonna go check in with General Whitworth to see if he needs any more info from us. You go ahead and finish up the witness interviews, and we can button this up in no time."

Placated, Morgan rushed off to check on the witnesses, while Emily quickly called Garcia. "PG! Do you have any idea what Morgan is going postal about? I almost had to pull my weapon on him...he's scaring me. Did he say anything to you about Hotch or Reid?"

Garcia and JJ sat mute for a moment before answering Prentiss. "Guys? What do you know? If he is about to kill someone, I need to be prepared...this isn't funny!"

"Well..." began Penelope, "we may have seen something...something that is SOMETHING...a hot and adorable and sexy something."

Prentiss was totally confused. "What are you talking about? Nothing about today was hot, adorable or sexy. What set him off?"

JJ cleared her throat. "Apparently, Morgan called Garcia earlier to ask if she knew if something was going on between Hotch and Reid...and it's quite possible that we have found the something that he was talking about."

Emily laughed. "Hotch and Reid? What are they doing? Marathon chess games?"

Garcia piped in immediately. "Kissing! There was kissing!"

"What are you guys talking about?" asked Prentiss in confusion. "Who was kissing?"

"Okay..." began Garcia breathlessly. "I totally have video of Boss Man and our Junior Genius making out in the parking garage two days ago."

"Making out?" cried Prentiss.

JJ interrupted. "Making out is a bit of an exaggeration. They kissed..."

"With tongue!" screamed Garcia enthusiastically.

oOo

Shocked, Prentiss hung up her phone carefully, then noticed that Morgan was nowhere in sight. She checked in with one of the soldiers from Fort Detrick, and was informed that Morgan had left around five minutes earlier, leaving her behind. She immediately hit the speed dial button for Rossi. "Sir...Morgan left here without me, on his way to you...in a hurry. I thought I should warn you. I have to say, there is talk...about Hotch and Reid..."

"Thank you Emily. I am more than aware of the talk, and we can handle it from this end. Can you grab a ride back to the hospital with one of the Military transports, or should I come get you?"

Emily tried to convey as much distress as she could. "No, I will get back there even if I need to take a taxi. You cannot leave those two alone...Dave, he scared me."

oOo

Rossi hung up his phone and turned back to his friends, who were in the process of arguing about which Hulk movie truly represented the essence of David Banner.

"Guys..." said Dave carefully. "I think we may have a situation."

Hotch immediately tensed, and stood. "The antidote is working, right Dave?"

Rossi smiled. "The case is over, Aaron...it's all fine. This is something a little more...personal."

Reid was intrigued. "Personal?"

Rossi began to pace. "There is a possibility that Morgan may have seen the two of you interacting...in a less than professional manner, back at Nichols' house."

Hotch was curious. "Less than professional?"

"I think his exact words were...'I thought they were gonna start licking the glass...' or something similar to that."

"Do you know how many germs there might be on that glass? I would never..."

"Spencer, calm down. I mentioned that." said Rossi without a thought. "While I may have been able to clear up that particular detail, it doesn't mean that he isn't suspicious. That was Emily on the phone, letting me know that Derek left the scene without her, and he's headed here."

Hotch nodded. "We can deal with this."

Dave turned and gave his friend a patronizing look. "She also mentioned that there is apparently a rumor..."

Spencer giggled from his hospital bed. "He called Garcia."

Aaron turned to his lover. "and that matters because?"

Reid's smile was electric. "Remember that terrorist event you mentioned? The one that would be the only reason for anyone to review the parking garage video feed from two days ago?"

Hotch threw his head back and laughed heartily. "I have no idea why I ever question your logic. I am always wrong."

"Aaron," said Spencer carefully. "We were gonna need to tell them eventually. We knew that there was no way we could do this on our own, even with Dave's help."

Dave nodded in agreement. "That is, if Aaron is still alive after Morgan gets here."

oOo

The three men didn't have to wait long before Morgan showed up at the hospital. When he got to Reid's room, he was greeted by a chess match between Rossi and Spencer, while Hotch busied himself with numerous phone calls regarding the case. This was not what Derek had expected. This was perfectly normal.

As Morgan entered the room, Reid smiled guilelessly. "Where have you been? From what the nurses told me, the Unsub was caught an hour ago."

Morgan was taken aback. In his imagination, he had anticipated walking into a scene much less PG, and much more NC-17. "What the hell is going on here?" he asked, a little too loudly.

Hotch pulled the phone from his ear in irritation, and stared down his Agent. "Morgan. If you haven't noticed, we're in a hospital...act like it." before returning to his conversation.

The admonishment from his supervisor confused the volatile Agent. He looked to answers from Rossi, but what he saw was a look of confusion. "What happened out there Morgan? Are you alright?"

Still wary, the muscular agent sat down to watch the end of the chess match. Before the game was complete, Prentiss pounded into Reid's room and glared at her partner. "Really? Really, Derek? You left me at the crime scene? What the hell were you thinking?"

An annoyed Supervisor again pulled the phone away from his ear. "What part of 'HOSPITAL' are you all unfamiliar with? Do we need to go back to FBI remedial training to remind you how to behave in a professional manner?"

Both Morgan and Prentiss gave their boss a sheepish look. "No, Sir." they said in unison.

While their heads were lowered in perfunctory shame, Hotch grinned and winked at the two remaining team members before returning to his phone call.