Chester Barker wasn't finished; even as he sat handcuffed in the back of a patrol car he was determined to make them pay. He'd come so close to avenging the deaths of his family; so close to ending the life of Derek Morgan and the two little boys forcing the others to watch as he took their lives. Something had gone wrong he'd underestimated the BAU and because of it here he sat on his way to jail. If he were to get any satisfaction it was in watching Special Supervisory Agent Derek Morgan being rushed to a waiting ambulance. Perhaps he'd get his wish after all.

Life was funny just when you thought you were on the right track and dedicated to doing the right thing something happened to remind you that despite all of your efforts, sacrifice and intentions it just wasn't enough. Morgan and the rest of the team had fought against evil for a long time. They'd sacrificed personal lives, relationships, and families to keep the innocent safe. Yet, like the last twenty-four hours had taught them they were still human, and sometime still late despite their efforts to be on time and be the champion for the helpless and innocent.

Morgan had made the mistake the others on the team had made. More often than not the things that people remembered were your mistakes and seldom did the ones they'd save stick around to say thank you. It was their job plain and simple and there were times that the only thing that mattered was that they maintained a standard of perfection. Today they were reminded that they had failed to maintain that standard; the simple truth was it was a standard no one could maintain and even those that insisted on their perfection were not perfect themselves; they were flawed, broken, demented and angry willing to take the lives of others as retribution.

Potomac General Hospital –

Both Jack and Henry were cleared to go home with their parents. Physically both of them were fine. The last several hours had made an impact on their little minds no doubt and Hotch, JJ and Will silently prayed that one day this incident would be a dull memory at the most.

Morgan hadn't faired as well; he'd endured hours of beatings and torture and the team waited impatiently for word on his condition. Rossi had been the one who'd seen him lying still on the floor in the small room of the warehouse. It had taken several seconds before he could find a pulse and that fact was something he'd chosen not to share with the rest of the team. He watched Garcia pace the room periodically wiping tears from her eyes. Reid sat fidgeting with the hem of his sweater and all he could think to do was watch the hands of the clock mounted on the wall across the room move painfully slow.

"Derek Morgan?"

A thin gray-haired man stood near the entrance looking around the near empty room.

"Yes!"

Rossi stood and made his way toward the man followed by Garcia and Reid.

"Hello, my name is Dr. Amos Foster. I'm the attending on call today."

He extended his hand toward the three.

"David Rossi. This is Dr. Spencer Reid and Penelope Garcia."

The three shook the doctor's hand and waited for his report on Morgan.

"Mr. Morgan suffered several injuries all of which could have been quite serious." He began. "He has several fractured ribs, a punctured lung, which we've inserted a chest tube to help him breathe."

The three looked back and forth at each other somehow they knew there was more.

"Is he going to be okay?"

Garcia held her breath waiting for an answer to her question.

"He's a very lucky man I'm confident that had you not found him when you did our conversation now would be very different."

"Thank God!"

Rossi placed a gentle hand on her shoulder as she let the tears slowly trail down her face.

"So what are you saying, Doctor?" Reid asked.

"I'm saying that in time he should make a full recovery."

Doctor Foster smiled as the three agents exhaled in relief. It was seldom he had the opportunity to give good news.

"Can we see him?" Rossi asked.

"Of course. He's in room 211."

"Thank you doctor." The three said in unison.

Rossi, Garcia and Reid smiled as the doctor left the room.

"We better call Hotch and JJ they wanted to know as soon as we got word on Morgan." Rossi said.

Garcia began fumbling through her bag for her phone as they headed toward Morgan's room.

Home of JJ and Will LaMontagne –

JJ held onto her son for dear life. Even though they'd been home for almost two hours, she couldn't bring herself to put him to bed even though he'd fallen asleep on the way home from the hospital.

Will watched his wife and son. She was determined not to let him leave her sight. He was grateful they'd found them in time and he refused to let his mind wander to the "what-ifs" of the last several hours. He knew that even though he and JJ were law enforcers it didn't guarantee that the evil they chased everyday wouldn't one day come knocking at their front door. But this time they were lucky; his family was home and safe and he was grateful.

JJ finally placed her sleeping son in his bed gently running her fingers through his blonde tresses. Her tears began again she was thankful but she was also angry; angry at the man who'd stolen her child and brutalized her friend. Morgan had been on her mind even through the indescribable feelings of relief. She still wondered how he was. Even though Rossi hadn't told them much she could tell that it was serious by the look in his eyes and the way the paramedics had rushed him to the ambulance and sped off.

She heard her husband enter their son's room stopping behind her and placing his hands on her shoulders. She felt comfort in his gentle kiss on her head and she smiled as she placed a hand on top of his while lightly running her hand down her son's face with the other.

"He's safe now." Will whispered.

"Is he?"

"Yes. He is."

"How do you know? How do we know?"

"JJ…"

"No Will…these people forced their way into Morgan's house and took our son!"

"But he's here with us now safe sleeping in his bed. He's safe with us."

"He was supposed to be safe with Morgan!" She began. "Nobody is stronger than Morgan! I'd trust my life with him in a second because I know what he can do and there are very few men who can beat him, Will! But our son was still taken!"

Will gently pulled her to her feet and led her to the door. Reluctantly she followed him stopping at the door and looking back at her son.

"He's fine. Come on, we need to talk."

He pulled her in his arms and led her to the living room where they both sat on the couch in each other's arms. She didn't cry like this often in fact, he could count the times that anything brought her to such a gut wrenching sob.

"Talk to me, JJ."

"I was so afraid we'd never see Henry again."

"Me too but we got him back and he's going to be fine."

"I want to believe that. I'm just so angry."

"I hear you. There's nothing I wouldn't give for five minutes with Barker!"

"Garcia said that I blamed Morgan for Henry and Jack being taken."

Will remained silent for a few seconds before speaking running his fingers through her hair.

"Do you?" He asked.

"Do you?" She responded.

"No I don't blame him. He did everything he could to protect our son. Even when they were being held captive, he tried his best to get them home."

"If he hadn't thought to make it a game, 'working the case' that man would have killed our son and Jack."

"It was too damn close!" Will added.

"What really makes me angry is that we fight crime everyday. We hunt and bring down the worst of evil…you'd think it would…"

"Would what?"

"I don't know…buy us a pass…or something?"

"We'll no such luck."

The couple sat in the quiet of the room for several more minutes processing the horror of the day.

"Knowing Morgan, he'll blame himself." JJ began.

"And he'll think we blame him too." Will added.

"Well, we better make sure that doesn't happen."

Potomac General Hospital – Morning –

It didn't take long for Morgan to remember why he was here. His eyes were pried open by the sunlight creeping through the blinds. The silence confirmed his feelings of utter failure and the fact that he was alone told him that his team had indeed blamed him for what happened. He understood that Hotch and JJ would never trust him again and being that they were all like family, the others no doubt would blame him too. He wanted to get out of bed and go home but the pain and the I.V. and chest tube held him in bed against his will.

"Hurry up you two! I don't want him to wake up without us being there!"

Garcia, nearly jogging, rushed down the hallway, holding coffee cups in both hands. Reid and Rossi following her struggling to keep up.

"Garcia, he's probably still asleep. Besides, we've only been gone for thirteen minutes and twenty-one seconds." Reid said.

"Well, I don't care. If he wakes up and we're not there he'll think we're all mad at him."

"But we're not mad. He's been unconscious for over eight hours how would he know if we're mad at him?" Reid asked.

"Because that's Morgan, that's why. He'll blame himself for what happened and he'll think we blame him too." She answered.

"But we don't blame him…"

"I know that Reid, but Morgan doesn't know that! Now both of you hurry it up!"

"Take it easy, Kitten, we're coming, we're coming." Rossi chimed in.

Morgan began to fill panic well up inside. As alone as he felt at that moment…and he felt utterly alone, he realized it was better than seeing the look of disappointment in their eyes. If Hotch, JJ and Will came through the door which he didn't expect to actually happen, he knew they'd be infuriated and he wasn't up to seeing the anger; he wasn't up to hearing them tell him that they would never trust him again. It was only a matter of time before one of them came through the door. He had to stop them.

He grabbed the call button. A few minutes later, a nurse walked in with an exaggerated smile plastered across her face.

"Good morning, Mr. Morgan! We weren't expecting you to be awake so soon; that's a good sign."

"Yeah. Listen can you do me a favor?"

"Sure."

"I'm not feeling great and I probably look worse than I feel."

Actually, the young woman thought he looked pretty damn good for someone who'd gone through what he'd gone through.

"The doctor is expecting a full recovery even the bruises and swelling will go away with time. You won't even know they were there."

"I don't want to see anyone."

"I just saw your friends. They've been here all night..."

"I'm sure they have but I don't want to see anyone."

"Talking to your friends might help get your mind off…"

"I don't want to see anyone! Please!"

Startled, the young woman flinched and looked at him confused.

"Okay, okay, I'll let the front desk know and I'll put a sign on your door."

"Thank you."

Morgan felt guilty for losing his temper and yelling at the woman. He watched as she rushed toward the door.

"Wait."

She turned slowly toward him.

"Listen…I'm sorry I didn't mean to bite your head off. I just…I just can't see anyone right now."

An understanding half smile appeared on her face.

"No worries. I'll make sure you're not disturbed."

"Thank you."