Title: Learning the Hard Way.

Pairings: Primarily team centric, but will eventually be Morgan/Garcia

Summary: Morgan is forced to trust that his team will be the ones to rescue him this time, not the other way around, when he is unexpectedly kidnapped out of the blue. Will the team find him before too much damage is done?

A/N: Thank you once again for the reviews, alerts and what not. So I really meant to have this up yesterday. However since I didn't I figured I'd go and post it now before I literally head out the door. Oh and it will probably be Monday before there's a new chapter, we'll just have to see how it goes.

Chapter 7: On the Road to Recovery

Wednesday evening 6pm…

After a dinner of baked chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans everyone was both stuffed and anxious to head over to the hospital. Therefore as soon as the kitchen was clean they did just that.

Well actually Sarah had to make a detour and drop her kids off at home with her husband. However she arrived just in time to hear what her brother's doctor had to say.

"Are you all here for Agent Morgan?" Asked a short man who appeared to be in his early 40's.

"Yes, I'm his supervisor Agent Hotchner and this is his mother," Hotch said as both he and Fran stood up.

"Alright," The man said introducing himself as Dr. Johnston before continuing, "I'm not going to lie to you Agent Morgan took quite a beating. Several of his ribs are fractured; in fact more than one punctured his left lung. Luckily only part his lung actually collapsed; however we still inserted a chest tube to help him breathe easier."

"How long will he have to have the chest tube in?" Fran asked with concern.

"More than likely up to a week that way his ribs have time to heal and his lung is able to fully re-inflate," Dr. Johnston answered pausing briefly before going on to explain the extent of the shoulder injury. "We had to repair his rotator cuff because it was torn pretty badly. However in 4-6 months he should have full strength back in that shoulder. Other than he just has several bumps and bruises."

"Can we see him?" Fran asked once the doctor was finished.

He nodded, "Sure but only a couple at a time for right now. And I'm going to warn you he probably won't wake up until tomorrow which given the pain he's going to be in is a good thing."

It was quickly decided that Fran and his sisters would go in first, followed by Garcia and Reid.

Morgan's Hospital Room…

The beeping and buzzing of machines greeted the three Morgan women as they entered the room. Morgan himself lay perfectly still, his injured arm already in a sling. Fran could see the makings of a black eye as she drew closer to his right side. Taking his hand in her much smaller one she leaned over and placed a kiss to his brow before saying, "Hey baby, they say you're going to be just fine, but you still gave us quite a scare."

"Yeah bro kidnapping doesn't really become you," Des said with a little less bite to her normal sarcasm.

Sarah shook her head and wiped away a few stray tears before saying," Just ignore her Derek and get better because your niece and nephew are driving me crazy."

The three Morgan women continued their vigil for a few minutes longer before they each placed a kiss to his and head back to the waiting room so that his other family could see him.

Hospital Waiting Room…

The team waited in the waiting room as patiently as they could. Emily and JJ sat on either side of Garcia who was lost deep in her own thoughts. She like all of them was relieved that they'd gotten to Morgan in time. That except for a few injuries he'd come out of the ordeal physically alright. What she and all of them were worried about was what remained to be seen. And that was how this situation had affected him mentally and emotionally, particularly how being back in that cabin had affected him.

"They're back," JJ leaned over and whispered to her friend giving Garcia's arm a gentle squeeze.

Morgan's Room…

Garcia made her way quickly over to Morgan's uninjured side as soon as she and Reid entered the room. Reid meanwhile stood on the other side; his eyes first observing Morgan and then they fluttered around the room as he tried to figure out just what he wanted to say.

Garcia meanwhile took Morgan's hand and brought it up to her lips before tearfully joking, "You know handsome only you could look this good unconscious."

Then she sighed before speaking again, "I've been so worried about you these past few days. Wondering if you alright, wondering if you thought I was still mad at you. Which by the way I'm not; I don't think I ever really was. You make that too hard for me, you know."

Garcia then fell silent as she fought for control over her emotions.

Reid took that opportunity to finally say something. His mind the whole time thinking about what Morgan had said to him in the video. "You know I never thought I'd say this but I'm starting to miss you picking on me. So I'm hoping you'll wait up and be back to your old self soon because we're all different without you around, even Hotch."

What he left unsaid though was that he was thankful they hadn't killed Morgan, that he glad Morgan was still going to be there for him when all of this was said and done, and that like Morgan had said himself he wasn't going to be someone that had abandoned him. With one more lingering glance he stuffed his hands in his pockets and headed back to the waiting room. He knew it would be him that would have to give someone else a turn because Garcia wasn't going to be leaving Morgan's side anytime soon.

One by one JJ, Emily, Rossi, and Hotch took their turns and all the while Garcia remained by his side. By the time they had all had their chance to see him visiting hours were way past over. So with that in mind they all with the exception of Garcia eventually left the hospital knowing there would be plenty of time to see him tomorrow.

The next Morning…

Garcia was still sleeping lighting early the next morning when she felt her hand that still held Morgan's being squeezed weakly.

"Hey good morning baby-girl," She heard.

"It is now, it is now," She replied unable to stop the tears that followed. And for the first time in nearly a week they were happy tears.