AN: When I first plotted this story out, started typing it up and titled it I intended for Will to die. It made for really good angst in later chapters. However, after watching the season finale and seeing everything that he went through to get back to his family, I just couldn't kill him. I guess I am a softie. I haven't decided if I want to change the title or just incorporate it somehow into the story (without killing anyone)…any suggestions? Oh yea, this will have a happy ending…just not any time soon.

"Will is what?" Derek stuttered.

"He's alive," J.J. repeated. "The bullet went through his upper right chest. He lost a lot of blood but the doctors think he will make it."

"J.J. that's great." Even though Derek truly meant it, his voice lacked the enthusiasm to be believable.

"Any news on Pen?" J.J. asked

"Not really. Doctor said he needed to stop the bleeding and re-inflate her lung before he could begin to say whether she would live. I figure we're going to be here for a while." He didn't want to be alone but he knew that the others desperately needed food…and sleep.

"I'm not going anywhere," J.J. said. "Will's sister is coming to get Henry and he's going home with her. Come on Derek; let's find the closest coffee vendor, probably going to visit them often." She stood up and placed Henry on Reid's lap. She then latched onto Derek's arm and pulled him out of the room.

Hotch turned to the others, "I'm going to take Jack home." When Jack protested Hotch continued, "There is nothing we can do here. If something happens they will call us and we will come back. The next few hours are just going to be a waiting game and we can do that just as well at home."

Hotch turned to the three left in the room, "Please keep us updated." They all knew he needed to get Jack out of there; the young man was close to cracking. Spencer, Emily and Dave all assured him that they would be the one to call him if something changed. Hotch chuckled and told them just one call would suffice. Hotch placed his hand on Jack's shoulder and guided his son out of the room.

When J.J. and Derek returned with coffee for everyone, Henry was still asleep and Will's sister, Melanie, had shown up. J.J. gave her the latest update on her brother and a promise to call when he was out of surgery. After Melanie left with Henry, the five just sat in silence.

Reid was first to disrupt the quiet," How do we help her? What is the right thing to do or say around her?"

"Don't walk on eggshells, that's the worst thing you can do." Emily told him. "She won't want to be treated different just because of what happened."

"She's going to be fine" Derek said firmly. "Even at the end, he didn't break her. I would love to know what she was saying to him, because she looked pissed. When she head butted him I knew she was going to be ok."

"That was crazy," J.J. said. "I could not believe she did that. I was so proud of her."

They were all smiling at the thought of Penelope refusing to play Nathan's game and breaking bones in his face. She had given Hotch the opportunity to end the situation with her actions. They all knew Hotch was feeling guilty for not ending it before Penelope was stabbed.

"Our tech kitten will come through this," Rossi told Reid. "She may try to push us away, we just can't let her. She needs our support without being too pushy or overwhelming. We just have to break our 'no inter-profiling' rule and pay attention to what she isn't telling us and stay a step ahead of her."

"Ok, so how did Hotch know who this guy was?" Derek asked

"I don't know," J.J. said. "He started to tell me on the way over here but he didn't want to discuss it in front of Jack. He told me that he's going to have Jessica come over in the morning and he will fill us all in on it."

"How did you find out that Will was alive?" Emily asked.

"I was going to go see him before I went to get Henry. When I got in the house he wasn't anywhere to be found. Hotch stopped an officer and was told that two men with gunshots were taken to the hospital. One of them was one of the goons and the other was Will. Apparently Nathan decided to clean up after himself and had killed, or tried to kill, all of his employees."

A doctor came into the waiting room, getting all of their attention. Derek stood up but when the doctor called Will's name he flopped back into a chair. J.J. jumped up and moved towards him.

"Ma'am, your husband is going to be just fine. The bullet didn't hit anything vital but he did lose quite a bit of blood. He will be weak for a while but he shouldn't expect any serious complications. You are welcome to see him if you would like."

J.J. agreed and told the others to come get her as soon as they heard anything about Penelope. The four remaining continued to sit there. Reid had finished his coffee and grabbed the one Derek had bought for Hotch not knowing he was leaving. Derek got back up and paced the perimeter of the waiting room. Emily had fallen asleep in her chair and Rossi wasn't far from it. Spencer wandered over to where Derek was wearing out the floor and wished he could do something to ease his friend's anxiety.

J.J. had been back for an hour, leaving Will to sleep and Derek was still pacing. He had too much adrenaline to sit down. He couldn't relax until he knew Penelope would be ok. He was just about ready to go harass the nurses again when a doctor stepped into their room.

"Penelope Garcia?"

Derek moved towards him as the others stood up and gathered around the doctor that Derek had spoken to on the phone.

"She made it through surgery and barring any unforeseen complications should be home in a week or so. However, she is in for a long, painful recovery. Beyond the punctured lung she also had a dislocated shoulder, broken wrist and finger, several busted ribs, cuts and abrasions all over her body, a concussion and sexual trauma. It looks as if she were raped repeatedly and there was internal tearing and bleeding that we will have to keep an eye on. We've given her the HIV cocktail but she will still need to be tested 1 month, 6 months and 12 months out for HIV or any other STD's. We can give her an injection of the Morning-after pill equivalent, but we didn't want to do that without asking if she would want that. Should we give that to her?"

When they all nodded Dr. Axtell sighed and continued. "All of these injuries are going to cause her pain for quite a while but I fear the psychological damage is going to be the worst. I recommend you get her into therapy as soon as possible. We will have someone stop by and talk to her as soon as she is up for it. We have her situated in ICU for the night on a ventilator. When she wakes up tomorrow, if she can breathe without the ventilator, we will move her into a private room. For now I can let you guys in for a moment to see her, but only a moment, visiting hours were over long ago."

When they all nodded eagerly he said, "You need to prepare yourselves, though, it is very disconcerting to see a loved one in the condition Miss Garcia is in." When everyone just stared at him, waiting, he turned and led them to the ICU.

The ICU was a large square room with a big nurses' station claiming the middle surrounded by curtained off areas with patients. Derek understood the logistics of having all the patients close by, but the air in the room was thick with despair and illness.

"Just for a moment," Dr. Axtell murmured once again as he led them to a curtain in the middle of one wall. He turned and left them to their friend and headed to the nurses' station. Derek pulled the curtain open enough for them to step through. They filed in around Pen's bed and Rossi pulled the curtain closed behind them.

"Baby Girl," Derek whispered gently as he grabbed her right hand. She had tubes and wires coming off of her everywhere. But the one that disturbed Derek the most was the tube between her too-pale lips, helping her breathe. Her pale skin was marred by bruises and Derek was angry all over again at how hurt she really was.

J.J. leaned over and kissed Penelope softly on her forehead. "It's ok Garcie, you and Will and the boys, you all came back to us. You sleep and get better. You probably need a lot of rest after being such a bad-ass. We can wait until you're ready."

"Yea, just don't keep us waiting too long, P.G. We can't keep your hot-headed protector in line for long, you're the only one that can do that." Emily chimed in, winking at Derek when he nodded at her.

"Don't forget Garcia, you owe me. I expect you to be fully functional when the next Doctor Who convention gets here." Reid told Penelope, not making eye contact with any of the others.

Shaking his head and smirking, Rossi said, "Hear that Kitten? You wouldn't want to let your boy wonder or any of the rest of us down. You never have before, so don't start now. You keep those pretty eyes closed until you feel better and when you're ready, I will help you commit cyber vengeance on anyone you want." He patted her foot and looked up when the curtain parted.

They saw the doctor poke his head in and knew their time was up. As they left Penelope's side J.J. told the doctor that she would be in her husband's room and if anything should happen to let her know. Derek said he would also be staying, but he would be in the waiting room.

"You should really go home and get some rest. She will not be awake until tomorrow." Dr. Axtell told Derek.

"I know, but I won't get any sleep at home. I need to be close to her." Was Derek's only reply.

When they exited the ICU they went their separate agreeing to meet back in the waiting room in the morning if there was no change before then.