A/N: I hope you're enjoying the regular updates. I have been reunited with my laptop so this one was a little easier to write! Thanks for reading and reviewing.

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While the doctors tended to Emily, Derek could do nothing more than attempt to comfort Lucy, who was less than happy to have been prised from Emily's arms. The infant arched her back, fighting against the hold which had been good enough just a day before, and screwing up her face as she cried frantically. The noise was an obvious distraction to everyone in the room, but it took a nurse to alert him to the fact that they may be better waiting outside.

"Why don't you and the little one step out?" she asked, firmly but kindly. "Let the doctors see to her Mommy and you can come back soon."

He almost corrected her, pointing out that Lucy wasn't their child and that someone else should take the baby so that he could stay with his girlfriend. But though he couldn't convince himself to leave the hospital room, he also couldn't quite bring himself to let go of the child. In the end, he was shepherded outside without saying a word.

"How is she?" JJ asked, appearing beside him in the corridor almost as soon as he'd left the room. She'd been waiting, having finished up her conversation with Marissa as soon as she received news that Emily was on the way to the hospital, and was desperate for news.

"I don't know," Derek mumbled, stroking one hand over the back of Lucy's head as he tried to watch what was happening beyond the frosted glass doors.

As the initial shock had worn off, Emily had suddenly been in a lot of pain. The ambulance ride had been filled with her fighting against the nausea and dizziness which accompanied her injuries. In her typical fashion she'd been trying to convince him that she was okay, but there was only so much that regulating her breathing and gripping onto the edge of the gurney could do. By the time they arrived at the hospital she'd vomited twice and was hardly able to open her eyes without complaining of a searing pain across her temples.

"They're worried about her head injury," he continued, still not looking round at his colleague.

JJ reached out to give his arm a gentle squeeze. When Will was shot, Derek had to physically restrain her from rushing into the building. It was hard enough when one of their friends was injured, but even worse when it was a partner.

"Let me take Lucy," she offered, knowing there wasn't much reassurance she could offer. "It'll be easier for you to speak to Emily's doctors if you don't have a screaming baby in tow." Her attempt at a lighthearted smile was lost as he continued to stare straight ahead.

"No, I've got her," he insisted, his strong arms bouncing up and down as he persisted in his mission to soothe the baby on his own.

JJ sighed, wishing that he wouldn't be so stubborn but also wishing that there was something she could do which would really help. Lucy was probably providing him with the only distraction he'd find. She took a seat, far enough away to give him space but not so far that he wouldn't have a friend if he needed one, and sent a quick text to Garcia. She had a lot to tell the team about her conversation with Marissa, but at the moment she knew they'd struggle to give it their attention. In the meantime their tech queen could make a start.

/
/

"Hey, Princess," he smiled, placing a light kiss on her lips before he sat down on the chair beside her bed. He wouldn't normally get away with using that nickname without receiving a scowl in response, but right then she didn't even flinch. It only caused him to worry more. "How are you feeling?"

After several x-rays, scans and tests, he had finally spoken to the attending physician on her case and had been allowed back into the room. She had a skull fracture, which the doctor went to great lengths to insist was not as bad as it sounded, and an assortment of bruises and scrapes from her fall down the stairs, but as the only survivor of the altercation she appeared to have been relatively lucky.

"It doesn't hurt," she slurred, her attempt at a smile making her seem even more spaced out.

"I bet it doesn't," he chuckled, noting the IV which was pumping heavy duty painkillers into her veins. Even Emily's fierce will to stay in control couldn't stand up to the power of hospital grade narcotics. "Did your doctor speak to you?"

She nodded, immediately regretting the motion as it brought back the nausea and dizziness she was slowly beginning to escape. His hand quickly reached for hers, stroking his thumb back and forth until she relaxed again.

"Do you remember any of it?" he asked, with the ghost of a grin, doubting she'd been aware of much since the first injection of morphine.

"I think he said I'm okay," she responded, half closing her eyes, as though even the short conversation was too exhausting. He'd been warned that the concussion and the side effects of the medications would leave her drowsy, but it didn't stop his smile faltering with fresh concern.

"You're going to be fine," he assured her, smoothing back her hair as gently as he could, careful not to cause her any discomfort. "They just want to keep you here for a little while. Stop you getting into any more trouble."

The corners of her lips turned upwards at his remark, but her reaction was so muted that it was barely recognisable as coming from Emily Prentiss. He frowned, feeling his anger grow, as he realised how far from her sharp-witted, sarcastic self she was. He knew it was temporary and he knew he'd have her back soon, but somehow that was of limited comfort.

"Do you need anything?" Do you want me to call your mom?" His questions came more from a need to do something other than lose his temper, than a belief that there was anything useful he could do. He didn't even know if her mother would be contacted if she'd been injured on the job. Hotch was still the one who knew that sort of thing and it only served to remind him that their relationship was almost meaningless on paper.

"Just stay here," she mumbled, trying to sit up, but soon leaning back against the pillows. Her face contorted in a manner which revealed that the drugs weren't eliminating all of her pain.

Derek felt the heat of his unfocussed anger surge.

"Take it easy," he soothed, helping her to become comfortable again. "How about we hold off on moving for a while?"

Her response came in the form of another un-Emily-like half smile, as her eyes squeezed shut.

He felt the fingers that weren't wrapped around hers ball into a fist, and he shifted agitatedly in the hard plastic chair.

"I have to go outside for a minute," he told her, keeping his voice calm, despite the fact he was fighting the urge to scream. "I'm just going to check on Lucy and then I'll be back."

"Okay," she breathed, hovering between consciousness and sleep. He wasn't entirely convinced she was even aware of what he'd said.

Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he got to his feet, desperately needing fresh air and a chance to calm down before she became lucid enough to see just how much he'd been affected by her getting hurt.

/
/

Hotch was outside the hospital, pacing the dark parking lot as he discussed the events of the day with Strauss. She wasn't happy, but her frustration stemmed more from her concern for the team than from anger towards them. Times had changed since she was their dragon lady boss, and he was relieved to have her on side to deal with the fallout.

But that didn't change what had happened. He pinched the bridge of his nose as Strauss ran through what had to be done the next day. Two of his agents had ended up in the emergency room, and while JJ insisted she was fine, it didn't change the fact she'd been shot on his watch. Not to mention Emily. There still seemed to be no clear explanation as to how she'd even survived.

As he turned back to face the hospital, still listening, albeit half-heartedly, to Erin's words, he noticed Morgan storming out of the main entrance. And as their eyes met, and he saw the warning glare which coated his colleague's face, he determined that it was time to end the call.

"Has she been punished enough yet?" the agent demanded, heading directly towards his superior. It had been pure coincidence that he came across Hotch, but now he had a target for his pent up anger.

"Calm down, Morgan," Hotch responded, quietly and evenly. He wasn't willing to argue with the other man, particularly in such a public place, and when Derek was so evidently upset.

"Don't tell me to calm down," Morgan warned, the tension in his jaw making it clear that his aggression wasn't simply going to disappear. "It's on you that she's lying in there."

"None of us could have seen the attack coming. We thought the safe house was secure," the unit chief reasoned, sensing immediately that his words were only provoking Morgan further.

"You left her on her own. She was the perfect target. Did you prove your point?"

Now he'd started he couldn't stop, and in that moment he couldn't have cared less about the consequences. The men who'd put her in a hospital bed were already dead, and he needed an outlet for the rage that was threatening to burst from his chest. The man who had ordered her into a position where she could be hurt was the perfect fit.

"She wasn't on her own," Hotch responded, well aware that he wasn't helping the situation, but refusing to back down and admit to something he hadn't done. The day had been tough on them all and he wasn't about to become a scapegoat. "There were two agents stationed outside at all times."

"Then where were they when that bastard had a gun pressed to her head?"

"They were dead!" Hotch snapped, feeling the remains of his restraint blow as he thought of the families he'd be speaking to in the morning. "Emily wasn't the only one who got hurt at the house."

"Well congratulations on a job well done," Derek muttered sarcastically. "You made some good calls today, boss."

Hotch counted in his head, gritting his teeth and taking deep breaths to avoid retaliating. He knew that Morgan was scared - he'd heard how her condition had worsened in the ambulance - and he understood what it felt like to face losing a partner. As the leader of the team, it was his job to manage tensions, not to aggravate them. They both needed to cool off before something was said which couldn't be taken back.

"Was it not enough that you made us bury her once?" Morgan continued. His fists were clenched, ready for a fight. All he needed was an excuse to throw a punch. He didn't care that it was Hotch; he didn't care that he was losing control.

"You know that was to keep her safe, and that it was a last resort."

He was growing increasingly frustrated with Morgan's attitude and it was showing in every syllable he uttered and every expression he made. He was only too aware of the other man's feelings on his actions in the wake of the Doyle situation.

"But the lie came so easily," Derek taunted. Any excuse.

"After the way you and Emily have been acting you have no right to criticise me for lying!" His temper flared and his voice grew louder as the tension between the two alpha males came to a head. There was no longer logic to the argument, only a need to vent and not to back down. "The two of you have been pushing away from the team since this began!"

"Leave Emily out of it," Morgan spat, though his eyes dared Hotch to continue.

"Stop it!" a female voice shouted, causing them to turn their attention towards the figure clicking angrily towards them in her hot pink heels.

Garcia's arrival couldn't have been any better timed. She had been relieved that she was finished running the details JJ had provided, and that she could now finally check up on her friends. However, she hadn't even got out of her car when she noticed her best friend and their chief looking like two jocks about to start a fight on the football field. And she wasn't impressed.

"Derek Morgan, do you really think that Emily would want you throwing away your career? I know you're hurting, honey, but she needs you to get a grip, and so do I. And you." She turned towards Hotch. "As our valiant leader, I expect better of you than brawling in a hospital parking lot." Her hands fell to rest on her hips as they stared at her in a stunned silence. "We are a team; we need to stick together at times like these!"

The men remained quiet, avoiding looking at each other, or at the woman who had turned their aggression to embarrassment.

"I should call Strauss back," Hotch murmured after several seconds under Penelope's disapproving glare. He knew he shouldn't have risen to Morgan's hurt fuelled attempts to provoke him but sometimes the stress of the job, and of seeing friends injured because of it, became too much.

Garcia's tough demeanour collapsed as, now that the moment had passed, she realised she'd just shouted at her boss.

"Sir, I'm so..." she began.

He shook his head, cutting her off and making it clear that she had nothing to apologise for, before walking away.

Morgan made to head in the opposite direction, back towards the hospital.

"Uh, uh, Derek," she shook her head. "You are not going anywhere near our girl when you're still fizzing with testosterone. You are going take a walk and cool off. And then you're going to get back here and kiss and make up with the boss man. Do you hear me?"

For a second he stared, but then a weak smile crossed his lips.

"Yes, baby girl," he nodded.

"That's better, sugar," she replied with a grin, hoping that some time alone in the cold night air might be enough to turn him back into the man his girlfriend needed.

/
/

After dealing with Hotch and Morgan, Garcia had marched straight through the hospital towards Emily's room. Now that the immediate threat of the team coming to blows had passed, she could get on with the more important task of looking after her injured friend.

"Derek?" Emily mumbled, wincing as she tried to open her eyes and move, having sensed that someone was in the room. The effects of drugs were definitely weakening.

"No, sweetie, it's me," Penelope replied, keeping her voice low and soothing. "He'll be back soon."

"Is he okay?"

Garcia smiled. Even while she was laid up in hospital, Emily could always pick up on what was off about a situation. It clearly took more than a fractured skull to stop her.

"He's cooling off. You know how he gets."

Emily nodded, biting her lip against the pain. If Garcia had already dealt with him then she knew Derek would be fine.

"And Lucy?" she asked, feeling a flutter of panic as she realised she had no idea of the infant's whereabouts. A hazy memory of crying in the background while the doctors fussed around her was all she could recall.

"Completely fine. And at Quantico with JJ and Rossi taking turns to play mom," Garcia assured her.

"Have you found the shooter yet?"

The technical analyst frowned, unsure what Emily was meaning. As far as she knew, the brunette was unaware of what had happened during the meeting with Marissa.

"They got him in the park," she replied, just in case she'd been mistaken.

"No, the one at the house. The one who saved me. I told Rossi."

Emily looked expectantly in her direction, with a look which showed so much certainty in her statement that Garcia didn't doubt that they were missing a gunman. It seemed that what had been dismissed as Emily's concussed ramblings deserved a whole lot more attention.