A/N: Keep the reviews coming in!! I am so happy that so many of you are enjoying this story.

Three hours later

The entire team, minus Hotch gathered in JJ and Garcia's hospital room. Hotch was still with Emily, who at this point was moved to a private room in the ICU. She has yet to regain consciousness. Rossi has just returned from keeping Hotch company for the last half hour.

"How is she?" asked JJ.

"No change," replied Rossi.

"And Hotch?" asked Garcia.

"He's still refusing to shut his eyes."

"He's afraid that she will wake up while he is asleep," observed Gideon.

"Emily finally admitted to us that they were together," said JJ.

"It was clear in his eyes how much he worried about her," said Elle.

"It's amazing that they thought that they could keep it a secret. After all, they work with profilers," said Reid with a small smile.

"That was one thing that Brad got right," said Rossi.

"What do you mean?" asked Reid.

"This unit," he explained. "It's filled with the best profilers in the country."

Hearing this caused JJ to shudder as she could still hear Brad saying those words. She looked over at Garcia and saw that she was thinking the same thing.

Garcia's grip on Morgan's hand tightened when JJ spoke the words. "Baby girl, you okay?" asked Morgan.

"I'm fine. He . . . Brad kept referring to everyone as just that. He would speak it in a mocking tone, convinced that you were all wrong about his brother."

Elle looked from Garcia to JJ and noticed the faraway look in her eyes. She placed a hand on her shoulder, "Everything okay?"

"I just keep going back to the moment when you all came into that room. You were the last one I pictured walking in and shooting Brad," she answered.

"And Gideon," said Garcia, "I didn't even see you enter the room. I thought I had passed out and was dreaming that you were there when I heard you speaking behind me."

"Hotch knew he was going to need some extra help. He was also worried that his feelings for Emily would cloud his reasoning. He didn't want there to be more stress placed on the shoulders of Morgan, Reid and David than needed, so he called me to help. We figured that having a full team would be the best to find you all safely."

"I had just finished a case when Gideon called me after he hung up with Hotch. He filled me in on what he knew and we were back at the BAU in an hour," finished Elle.

"Thank you both," said JJ.

"I did the wrong thing just getting up and leaving," said Gideon. "But, it wasn't because I stopped caring about any of you." He shook his head. "I somehow lost the trust in my decisions. With everything that happened with Frank and Sarah, and then those college kids, I was second guessing whether I was able to do this job anymore. I took my vacation time, and then I went back to the academy to teach behavioral analysis classes."

"Does that mean you're ready to come back?" asked Morgan.

Gideon shook his head, "I don't know if I will ever be ready to come back full time. I am willing to assist when it is needed, Hotch knows that. This was personal. No matter what we go through in our lives, we are still a family. The things we've seen and experienced no one can understand. It bonds us all in a special way. I forgot about that, and it took almost losing three members of my family to realize that."

The room stayed silent for a while until Garcia spoke, "How long do you think it will be till she wakes up?"

"It shouldn't be too much longer," said Reid.

"I'm going to go and keep Hotch company," said Gideon as he left the room.

Gideon quietly entered Emily's room. He had stopped by the cafeteria on his way and was holding two cups of coffee. He saw Hotch sitting next to her bed holding her hand whispering to her. For a moment, Gideon thought that she had woken, but when he was nearer to the bed, he realized she was still asleep. He looked down at Emily and noticed that the bruises on her cheeks have turned a darker shade of purple.

Hotch never looked up to acknowledge that he was there, he just kept staring at her. Gideon handed him the cup of coffee causing Hotch to finally look away from Emily. He rubbed his teary eyes.

"She hasn't woken up yet," said Hotch.

"She will. She is going to be okay," said Gideon.

"I know that," he replied.

"How long have you been together?" he asked. Hotch gave him a surprised look. "Aaron even the most skilled profilers drop their defenses when their loved ones are in danger."

Aaron let a small smile appear on his face. "Three months. The whole team knows, I guess."

Gideon nodded his head in agreement. "Emily told the girls, but they already knew."

"We knew that they had their suspicions. We were just trying to keep it separate from work until I was able to speak with Strauss." He looked over at Emily, "Jason, I just want to see her eyes. To take her in my arms and tell her that I love her."

"You will," said Gideon. "You heard the doctor. She is going to be fine and you will get that chance."

"After my divorce with Haley, I never thought that I would ever feel the same way about another woman. I was right, I feel so much more for Emily. I don't know what I would have done if she didn't . ." Hotch couldn't continue the sentence. He just took lent down and kissed Emily's hand that he was already holding in his own, imagining that she was squeezing it as he kissed it.

The next thing heard, was a slight groan escape her lips. He looked up at her realizing that he wasn't imagining her tightened grasp. She was starting to wake up. "I'm here Em. Come on, wake up," he spoke to her standing up and moving closer to her face.

"Aaron?"

"Yes it's me honey. Open your eyes." A big smile finally showed on his face as her eyes opened and met hers. "Hey," he said.

"Hey."

"I love you." He bent down and gave her a kiss.

Tears formed in Emily's eyes, "I love you, too." Aaron wiped the tears from her cheeks. It was then that Emily heard someone else in the room as the person moved closer to the bed. "Gideon," she stated.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Tired, and in pain," she admitted.

"I'm going to go and inform the nurse that you have woken up and then go and let the others know as well," said Gideon as placed a comforting hand on Emily's legs.

"Thank you," said Hotch.

"Aaron, JJ and Garcia are they . . . "

Knowing what she was asking he interrupted her question. "They are fine. They have been admitted overnight just for observation to make sure that there are no complications from the shocks that they received."

Emily breathed a sigh of relief as the nurse walked into the room. "I hear that someone has finally woken up," she said with a smile. "I am just going to take your blood pressure. The doctor is on the way to check you out as we speak."

"How long was I unconscious?" asked Emily.

"About five hours," Hotch answered. "You lost consciousness just after the paramedics got you into the ambulance."

The doctor walked into the room. "Agent Prentiss, my name is Dr. Martin. I took care of you when you were brought into the ER this afternoon."

"Hello, please, call me Emily," she answered.

Dr. Martin smiled and then asked the nurse, "How are her vitals?" The nurse handed Emily's chart to the doctor. "Your blood pressure is still a little low but it is better than when you were brought in. There are some bruises on your left breast. I need to listen to your heart beats so I have to place this on your chest." Seeing Emily nod her understanding, the doctor placed the chest piece of the stethoscope carefully. Emily winced at the soreness as it connected with her skin. "Okay Emily I want you to take some deep breaths but don't force it, you're respiratory system is still recovering from the shocks."

Emily took a few deep breaths. The third one sending her into a coughing fit. Hotch gave her a cup of water, "Take a sip, Em. It will help."

"Very good," said the doctor, "the coughing fits are expected as you're body continues to recover. They will become less frequent so don't worry about them." She gave Emily a reassuring smile and continued, "I know that Agent Gideon is on his way up to inform everyone else that you have woken. I am allowing let them all to come into the room to visit."

"Will JJ and Garcia be able to come as well?" asked Emily.

The doctor nodded her head. "They are both recovering fine and are only being kept hear just as a precaution. Plus, I doubt that anyone would be able to keep them from coming." She added with a chuckle.

"You are right about that," confirmed Hotch.

"The nurse is going to give you some pain meds and you might fall asleep while they are in the room," advised the doctor.

Emily shook her head. "I'll be okay."

"This is no time to be your stubborn self, Em," argued Hotch.

"Aaron, I need to make sure for myself that JJ and Garcia are okay." Tears formed in her eyes as she continued, "I tried to protect them. I need to see with my own eyes that they are okay." He just smiled at his girlfriend as he once again wiped her tears from her cheeks. He looked up at the doctor.

"Okay," agreed the doctor. "Emily, you have to promise me that once the pain is too unbearable that you let us give you the medication."

"I promise," answered Emily, nodding her head.

"Okay then, I will be back in about a half hour to check on you," promised the doctor as she turned to leave.

Finally alone Hotch kissed Emily again. "I was so worried that I would never see you again," he admitted."

"I heard what you were saying before I woke up," she admitted. "I feel the same way about you, Aaron. It was the need to see you again that gave me the strength to get through everything that happened these past two days. I told JJ and Garcia about us. Apparently they already figured it out," she said with a smile.

"Does that surprise you?" asked Hotch.

"It did at first, I thought we did a good job covering it up, but they are just too good at their jobs."

There was a knock on the door and both Emily and Hotch smiled at the faces walking through the door. Gideon was pushing JJ in a wheelchair followed by Garcia being pushed by Morgan and the rest of the team.

"Em, are you okay," asked JJ as her and Garcia were wheeled closer to the bed.

"I'm in a little pain but I'll be fine," she answered. "Are you two okay?" she asked them.

"We're fine," said Garcia. "I was so scared when he picked up those tools," she continued as tears formed in her eyes.

"Pen, I'm fine, just a few bruises and no permanent damage," assured Emily as she smiled at her. Emily than looked around at her friends, her eyes falling on the one person she could not recognize.

Hotch saw the confusion on Emily's face. "Em, I would like you to meet Agent Elle Greenaway. I called her and Gideon in to help us look for you three."

"Hello," said Emily, hoping that no one in the room could pick on how uncomfortable she was meeting the Agent whom she replaced.

"It's nice to meet you Agent Prentiss," said Elle feeling a little uncomfortable herself.

"Please, you helped save my life. I have heard a lot of good things about you from when you were with the BAU. You are part of this family. No formalities needed." Elle smiled at Emily's remark and the tension in the room seemed to have been lifted with Emily's spoken words. Emily turned her attention back to her now public boyfriend. "What about Brad and his brother's?"

"How much do you remember?" asked JJ.

Emily turned her head towards JJ. They locked eyes for a while as Emily seemed to be trying to remember the events that took place that morning. "Brad was standing over me. He had taken a marker and drew something on my chest."

"It was a circle mapping out where your heart is," said JJ.

"He picked up something in his hands. I felt cold metal on my chest." Emily started to experience another coughing fit as she gasped for air, the memory she was experiencing causing her to hyperventilate.

"Calm down, honey," said Hotch. "Take some slow breaths . . . Here take a few sips of water . . . Better?"

Emily nodded as the coughing fit subsided and her breathing returned to normal.

JJ continued for Emily, "He wanted to kill you the same way that Joseph Smith killed his victims, but he thought he would put you through one last round of torture." JJ swallowed as she braced herself and readied to continue explaining. "He put the metal stake against you and tapped it with the hammer. You were screaming in pain. We were screaming, begging him to stop."

Tears were now visibly running down the cheeks of all three women as they relived that horrifying moment. JJ continued, "After a few of the hits you seemed to have slipped into shock. You were staring ahead but you were not really looking at anything. I-I don't know if that makes any sense." JJ shook her head wiping the tears from her eyes.

Emily just nodded at JJ letting her know that it did and she asked JJ to continue. "Well," said JJ noticeably having trouble explaining the next part. "Brad noticed that you were not screaming anymore so . . . so he said it was time . . . for you to d-die. He raised his arm . . . ready to make the l-last blow powerful enough to cut through your skin." JJ couldn't continue her voice drifted off.

Morgan spoke up continuing the story for JJ. "We were outside the room. Looking in, Elle was the first to notice what Brad was holding in his hands. We saw him raise the hammer and heard JJ and Garcia screaming for him to stop. We busted into the room at the same time that he was bringing the hammer down. Elle shot him before he was able to make contact with the stake. A second later and . . ."

"Paul and Tim were both arrested and they are facing a long time in jail. Three counts of kidnapping a federal employee and one count of attempted murder of a federal agent – they'll be spending the rest of their lives in a federal prison," said Hotch as he wiped the tears from his and Emily's eyes.

Emily looked around and saw the tears in each of her friend's eyes as the story of those scary moments were told. She settled her gaze on Elle. "So you just didn't help save me. You literally saved my life. I don't know what to say. Thank you doesn't seem enough."

"I'll take it," said Elle as she wiped the tears from her own eyes and smiled.

Emily smiled back, "Thank you." She looked at Aaron, "Aaron my parents, they are in Europe."

"They already know. It took us a while, but we were able to track them down. They're plane is due to land in about an hour. Strauss is picking them up personally and bringing them here," he replied to her.

"Strauss? What are we going to do? After what happened, I don't want to hide my feelings for you anymore," cried Emily.

"Shhh calm down honey or you will cause yourself to have another coughing fit," said Hotch as he ran his hand over her head. "Don't worry. I'll take care of everything." He bent down and kissed Emily.

Dr. Martin walked into the room with the nurse behind him. As promised, it had been a half hour since her last visit. "How are you feeling, Emily?"

"I think I am ready for the pain medication," admitted Emily.

The doctor smiled at her. "I figured you would be." The nurse walked over to Emily's IV and injected the medication. "In about five minutes you will probably start to feel sleepy. Don't fight it you need your rest, and so do our other two patients," said Dr. Martin as she pointed to JJ and Garcia.

Taking the hint Derek spoke up, "Come on, Baby Girl, let's get you back to your room."

"We'll be back later, Em," said JJ as Reid took hold of her wheelchair and followed behind Garcia and Morgan. Elle left the room with them leaving Gideon and Rossi behind with Hotch and Emily.

"Okay," Emily called back to her friends. She turned her head and looked at Hotch. "You look exhausted."

"I'm fine," he told her.

She knew the he was lying to her. "Promise me something?"

"Anything," he answered with a smile.

Emily yawned as the medication started to work. "Once I am a sleep, you sit in that chair in the corner and sleep as well."

"I don't want to be asleep when you wake up again. I don't want you to be alone," he said shaking his head.

"Aaron, please. You are no good to me if you don't get any rest. Besides, I am fine, and I am sure that Gideon, Rossi or any of the others will gladly stay here so that if I wake up and you are asleep I will not be alone."

"She's right, Aaron," said Gideon. "We'll be here."

Hotch let out a deep sigh. "Okay you win, but if anything goes wrong wake me up." They nodded in agreement and Emily let sleep overcome her as she was satisfied that everything was going to be okay.

A/N2: Up next: The Prentiss' arrive with Strauss and they find out about their daughter's new boyfriend!! I'm in the middle of midterms as school so I am not too sure when I will be able to get the next chapter up.