A/N: So, as I promised the reviewers, I'm not leaving that last cliffhanger for too long! Thanks for the response to the last chapter and to everyone following this story. I hope you like this chapter, and that there are enough twists to keep you on your toes!

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The stillness of the corridor was almost eerie. Patients, visitors and hospital staff cowered against the walls, trying to keep themselves out of the line of any further shots. JJ, who had reached her colleagues seconds before the gun was fired, seemed frozen to the spot as she stared ahead with wide eyes. And Emily felt as though she was the only one moving in an odd, statue filled world.

She watched the tangle of limbs that consisted of her boyfriend and the suspect with a sickening apprehension. Her eyes searched for some sign of blood, or some indication of whether either of them was hurt. Before she could find her answer, she heard JJ's shout for medical assistance and suddenly the blonde was crouching in front of her.

"It's okay. It's just a graze," she said calmly, offering Emily the sort of smile she reserved for the family of victims.

"Derek?" Emily questioned, trying to stand up and push past JJ to where she could hear movement from the men. "Is he okay?"

"He's fine," JJ replied, easing Emily back down to where she had been sitting on the floor.

"I need to see!" Emily exclaimed, once again attempting to get onto her feet. What stopped her this time was not JJ's gentle touch, but rather an excruciating pain close to her collar bone. She collapsed back to the ground, touching her fingertips to where she felt the burning sensation, and experiencing a new sense of panic when she came into contact with the wetness of her own blood. "I've been shot," she breathed, as the realisation set in.

"Emily, look at me," JJ instructed, taking hold of one of her friend's trembling hands. Only when Emily's frightened eyes met hers did she speak again. "You're going to be fine. The bullet grazed your shoulder and it's embedded in the wall. But I need you to stay calm until a doctor can take a look at you." She was concerned, not only by the bleeding wound a few inches from Emily's neck, but also the effects of the rather spectacular fall she'd taken following her collision with the suspect.

"Is she okay?" Derek's worried voice enquired. He had taken advantage of the moment of stunned silence and stillness to roughly handcuff the suspect and was now impatiently waiting for someone to take control of the struggling man so that he could be with his injured girlfriend.

"She's fine," JJ replied, giving Emily another reassuring smile. "Right?" she added, for the brunette's benefit.

"Right," she replied quietly, as JJ squeezed her hand once again.

A doctor and two police officers arrived at more or less the same time, allowing Derek to hand over custody of the suspect and take his place at Emily's side as the doctor examined her.

"You've been very lucky," the doctor said as he pressed a temporary dressing against Emily's shoulder to stem the bleeding. "Your wound is deep but it looks superficial."

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" Morgan asked. His hand was resting gently against the small of her back but he was resisting the urge to scoop her up in his arms and pull her against his chest. A couple of inches to the right and the bullet would have hit her neck. It didn't bear thinking about.

"No," she replied. "I don't think so." Her voice sounded a little uncertain.

"Did you hit your head when you fell?" the doctor asked, pulling a penlight from his coat pocket.

"She did," JJ replied. She had moved back to allow Morgan and the doctor to get to Emily, but she was only a few feet away, standing with her arms folded and a worried frown on her face.

"Did you lose consciousness?" the doctor asked as he flicked the light across Emily's eyes.

"No," she responded. She was sure of that answer – she hadn't missed a second of what had happened since they reached the corridor. Except, apparently, from when she got shot.

"Okay then. Let's get you into a treatment room so I can fix up that shoulder and examine you properly," he proposed. "Do you think you can walk?"

Emily nodded and soon she was being helped to her feet. As they made their way along the corridor, Derek's strong arms kept a firm grip of her body, and she knew that no matter how much she was shaking, there was no danger that she would fall.

Derek, on the other hand, had no such confidence in his abilities to support his girlfriend. As the minutes passed the nauseous feeling in his stomach only grew. He tried to remind himself that she was alive and breathing – she was even walking. But that didn't change what he knew. That didn't change what everyone would soon find out. The bullet, which was currently at the centre of a police crime scene, had originated from his gun.

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As the doctor continued his examination of Emily in the treatment room, Morgan remained in a chair at the side of her bed. At one point, as the dressing was removed from her shoulder so the wound could be cleaned, he thought he might be physically sick. The torn flesh and all of the blood – he had caused that. And each time she flinched or winced at the doctor's touch, he felt her pain in the form of his guilt. He wouldn't forgive himself for this.

"Emily, I need to tell you something," he announced, when they were finally left alone for a moment while the doctor left the room to fetch another suture kit.

"Can it wait until the hole in my shoulder is fixed?" she responded jokingly, though her voice sounded anxious. Hospitals made her uneasy, especially when she was the patient.

He stroked his hand up and down her arm in a comforting gesture, but persisted in his need to speak to her. He couldn't let her find out from anyone else.

"This is serious, Em," he told her, realising the stupidity of his words after they had left his mouth. Everything about this situation was serious.

"What's wrong?" she asked, frowning at his obvious discomfort.

"It was my gun," he answered quickly, before he could chicken out. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened or how it ended up going off. I don't even know if it was me who pulled the trigger. Emily, I'm so sorry – if you'd been more seriously injured…"

Emily's face fell slightly as she processed the information, but then she took a breath and spoke.

"It's okay," she replied softly, before he could say anything more.

Derek looked back at her with surprise. How could she be so calm?

"I know it was an accident," she continued. "And no one got seriously injured – that's all that matters."

"But you got hurt," he stressed, his eyes reflecting all of his distress and pain.

"It was an accident," she repeated more forcefully, wrapping her fingers around his and giving him a look that told him she didn't want to hear any more on the matter.

Instead of arguing his guilt, he pulled her closer, silently thanking her for being so understanding and strong, and leaned in to kiss her.

"Someone will see," she mumbled just before their lips met.

"I don't care," he responded, and in that moment he really didn't. Screw professionalism. After everything that had happened since they returned from the last case he needed to kiss his girlfriend and believe that she really was okay.

Just moments later they were interrupted by someone clearing their throat in the doorway.

"Sorry," JJ apologised, as the couple jumped apart. "I didn't want to disturb you but Hotch wants to speak to Morgan."

Morgan noticeably tensed at the thought of speaking to his boss about what had happened. He could only imagine the bureaucratic nightmare which would surround the accidental shooting of a federal agent by a fellow agent, particularly when their relationship already attracted negative attention from above.

"Just tell him – it'll be okay," Emily soothed, brushing her hand across Morgan's as he nodded lightly in response.

"Will you be okay without me holding your hand?" he asked, attempting to return to his usual teasing tone but still sounding concerned.

"I think I'll survive," she responded with a laugh. "Really. I'll be fine," she insisted, when his reluctance to leave became evident.

"If you need me…" he began, hesitantly getting to his feet.

"I'll scream really loudly until you come running," she finished sarcastically.

He allowed his face to break into a small smile and placed a quick kiss on her head.

"Keep an eye on her?" he quietly asked JJ as he stepped past her and into the corridor.

"Of course," JJ agreed with a nod, and though the sense of dread which leaving Emily and anticipating the conversation which lay ahead remained, he at least knew that she wasn't alone.

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Hotch looked especially stern as he stood in the hospital corridor waiting for Morgan. Any doubts over whether the team should be involved in the investigation of the young mother's death disappeared when Doyle's chosen symbol turned up on the body. The disappearance of said body, the shooting of the medical examiner and the attempted kidnapping of the baby only confirmed that this was something which required the involvement of the FBI.

"Hotch," Derek greeted his unit chief as he came to stand beside him.

"Morgan," Hotch nodded in response. "How's Prentiss?" he asked. While JJ and Reid had brought him up to speed on the events which had unfolded, he hadn't had a chance to inquire about his agent.

"She's okay," Morgan replied. "She's tough."

"The bullet came from your gun" Hotch stated, watching as a crime scene examiner extracted the small piece of metal from the chalky wall.

"Yes," Derek nodded. "How did you know?"

"The suspect's gun was a replica," Hotch replied with a frown.

"You can't be serious!" Morgan exclaimed, attracting the attention of everyone around. The pair fell silent for a moment until the hospital staff and police officers returned to their tasks. "So he wasn't the shooter at the ME's office," he continued in a quieter voice.

"It seems unlikely."

"Damn," Derek muttered. That meant there was at least one suspect still on the loose.

"We can try to interview him but I don't expect him to give us much."

"Who's going to do it?" This man had some involvement in the mystery and Morgan would be lying if he said he didn't want to take a shot at him.

"Rossi. You're too involved," Hotch replied without missing a beat.

"What about the baby?" he asked, moving on since he knew better than to challenge Hotch over his decision.

"I've arranged additional security for the NICU and if she's discharged before we get to the bottom of this then we'll take her into protective custody," the unit chief explained.

"Did the medical examiner survive?"

Hotch's face became even more severe at the thought of the doctor they had worked with numerous times over the years.

"She's in surgery but it doesn't look good," he replied.

"I should update Emily," Morgan frowned, wishing he had some good news to take back to his girlfriend. "Do you need me to do anything else?"

"Make sure you can explain how your weapon came to be discharged," Hotch instructed. There would certainly be an internal investigation into what had happened. "I'll try to stall Internal Affairs for as long as I can but they'll want to speak to you."

"Thanks, Hotch," he replied sincerely, relieved that his boss seemed to be on his side.

"Just get back to Emily. You can take her to my house when she's done here and I'll see you both later."

Morgan nodded before setting off to do as he was told – he didn't need any encouragement to return to Emily's side. But he couldn't help but be concerned that, while he had some answers to offer, there were also many more questions which they hadn't yet started to address. The full depths of this case were only just coming to light and he worried about what surprises lay ahead.