AN: I am sincerely sorry for the long wait. I blame Matthew Gray Gubler. If I ever get a response to the email I sent him, I will fill you guys in on the rest.

Garcia watched as Derek entered followed by everyone…but J.J. She closed her eyes for a moment; sure she had lost her friend when her husband took a bullet that should have killed Penelope. When she opened her eyes again everyone had positioned themselves around her bed. Derek and Reid were on her right side, Emily and Hotch on her left with Rossi at the foot of the bed.

"Hey," she whispered to them.

"Hey, Baby Girl," Derek said to her and everyone else just smiled at them.

There was a moment of awkward silence and then Reid said, his face completely serious, "Hey Garcia? Time Life called and they're interested in making a new kind of compilation…What song did you hear this time?"

Derek and Penelope both laughed, but Pen stopped short at the pain it sent through her midsection. "Boy Genius, I cannot believe you just said that. I think that is the most successful attempt you have ever had with a joke." Garcia told him, her words slurred and soft.

At the other's looks of confusion, Derek explained, "When Garcia was shot, she told us she heard David Bowie's song Heroes playing while she was in the ambulance."

Hotch and Rossi laughed and Emily gasped out, "Reid" while trying not to laugh.

"It's ok Em, you can laugh, it is funny." Pen told her.

"I know," she replied. "I just can't believe that REID is the one that said it."

"What? I can't learn from others and pick up new things?" Reid asked innocently.

"Should I change lanes?" Pen asked softly.

"Baby Girl, you're in a hospital bed," Derek told her as he patted her hand.

"I know, but should I change lanes?" Pen asked again, her eyes glossy with painkillers.

The others laughed quietly while Derek told her, "No sweetness, you're fine where you are."

"Ok, good." Penelope's eyes drifted shut and she fell asleep.

"I'm going to go tell J.J. what's going on, she will want to come see her." Rossi murmured and left the room.

Derek grabbed a chair and pulled it near the bed where he could sit and hold Pen's hand. Emily pulled up a chair on the other side and sat down too. Hotch and Reid sat on the couch that converted into a bed for overnight stays. They talked amongst themselves, keeping their voices low to not wake Penelope up.

The next time Penelope opened her eyes it was dark outside. The lights in her room were dim but she could still make out the forms of her friends spread around the room. They were all staring at her and it made her feel cornered and on display.

Trying to break the tension, she looked at Reid and said, "What would it be called?"

"What would what be called?" He asked her, his brows furrowed in confusion.

"The cd…what would it be called?"

Derek was the first to catch on and laughed out loud. "The Time Life compilation genius, what would it be called? Greatest Hits of the Flatliners?"

Penelope snorted, trying not to laugh and rasped out, "Melodies of the Nearly Deceased?"

Emily jumped in with, "Turn around…we're not ready for you?"

At this point, they were all smiling, even Hotch. Reid's response made the smiles turn into full blown laughter, "Shoved from the Stairway to Heaven".

Pen couldn't help but laugh, and instantly regretted it. Pain sliced through her left side and her chest felt like it was on fire. When she started gasping and her heart monitor went crazy the laughter died and everyone jumped up to help her.

The nurse came bustling in and shooed everyone, with the exception of Derek, away from the bed. She quickly grabbed an oxygen mask and slipped it over Penelope's face. "Just try to breathe in as slowly and deeply as you can," she said calmly. "It's very difficult to get your breath back when ribs are as busted as yours are, but just keep slowing your breaths down and you will be fine."

She continued to talk to Pen softly as her breathing evened out. The loss of air and the subsequent battle to get it back had left her exhausted. She laid her head on the pillow and was asleep in moments. When the nurse was satisfied with Penelope's breathing she turned the oxygen down to a lower flow and turned to the visitors.

There was a fire in her eyes when she addressed them, "Whatever happened to cause this should not happen again. The doctor explicitly told you not to stress her out. She cannot handle another episode like this. We can and will ban visitors if you cannot do what is best for her health."

Before Derek could respond and possibly get them all kicked out, Hotch stepped in. "I know you have Penelope's best interests in mind, but you are out of line. We did exactly what the doctor told us to do. We were joking and she started laughing, that's what caused this. Next time, please ask before you start accusing. There isn't a person in this room that wouldn't give their right arm to keep Penelope from being in pain and it is insulting for you to accuse us of deliberately putting our friend in more misery."

The nurse took a step back and said, "I am truly sorry. I'm used to families not listening and I jumped to conclusions."

"It's ok," Rossi soothed. "It's good to know that someone is watching over our girl as close as you are. What I would like to know is, if we are supposed to be normal, how can we do that, without making her laugh. The only times we are all together and serious are when we are on a case. Even then, when you throw Penelope in the mix, we laugh."

"While this may not be a popular suggestion, it may help if there are fewer people in the room," the nurse said. "One or two people can be watching TV or reading a book and when she wakes up there wouldn't be the amount of focusing on her that there is with five of you. Also, if she wants to talk she can, but if she doesn't, it can stay a comfortable silence."

They saw the wisdom in what she said and as she left the room, Hotch was the first to say goodbye. He wanted to get home to Jack but promised he would be back in the morning. The other four stood debating who was going to leave and who was staying. They all knew Derek wasn't going to leave and he was adamant that the rest go home and sleep in their own beds.

Emily said, "Derek, I will make you a deal. If you will go to the cafeteria and actually eat dinner, we will all go home. You haven't eaten since breakfast and you didn't even eat much of that. You know it would piss P.G. off if you passed out because you didn't eat."

"If you're buying, I'm eating Prentiss," Derek joked with a smile.

"You drive a hard bargain, Morgan" Emily replied with her own grin.

Derek got assurances from Reid and Rossi that they wouldn't leave until he got back and he and Emily headed towards food.

The two men hadn't been sitting there for long when Penelope woke up. She blinked a couple of times and then reached up to pull the mask off her face. "Ok, as much as I hate to say it, there will be a ban on laughter for me until my ribs decide to quit being mean."

Rossi smiled at her and said, "It will happen before you know it, Kitten. Are you sill in pain?"

"No, just tired."

"Then go ahead and close your eyes and get the rest you need. You won't be alone." Rossi told her.

They thought she had fallen asleep, but she started talking to them, without opening her eyes. "How is my girl doing? I know she must hate me right now and that's ok. I just need to know that she's ok. Well, as ok as she can be."

Rossi ad Reid exchanged a look. Both were slightly stunned that they had all forgotten to tell her and a little wary of what her reaction would be when she did find out. Rossi pulled out his phone and sent a quick message out.

He turned to Penelope and said, "Bella, I have to tell you something, but it is very important that you keep your breathing as even as possible."

"Rossi, you're scaring me. Please tell me that J.J. is ok, tell me that Henry and the new baby are fine too."

'New Baby?' Reid mouthed to Rossi who shrugged. "Garcia, is J.J. pregnant?" Reid asked.

Pen blushed and said, "Oops, I wasn't supposed to tell anyone, but it slipped out. Please just tell me what's wrong?"

Rossi's phone beeped and he said to Garcia, "Nothing is wrong, Kitten. In fact, everything is better than expected. Honey, Will didn't die." He turned his phone around so Penelope could see the picture on it. He had asked J.J. to send a pic of her and Will because he knew Pen would need visual confirmation. "They are just a few rooms down from us. J.J.'s been switching back and forth all day. You just haven't been awake long enough to see her."

"But…but…how?" Pen stammered.

"The bullet didn't hit anything vital and paramedics were able to get him to the hospital before he lost too much blood. Bella, he's going to be just fine."