Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds

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Derek was about to turn his phone off as he walked the corridor towards Penelope's room when it rang. He saw Hotch's number flash on the screen and burrowed his eyebrows with confusion.

'Yeah Hotch?'

'Come down stairs we need you.'

'Downstairs?'

'Yes... we have a case in Chicago.'

'Can I see Pen first?'

'Yeah... but we need you for this one.'

'Okay... gimme 10 minutes okay?'

'Yeah that's fine.' Hotch said closing the phone. Derek sighed; life without work for over 2 weeks had been bliss, well for the most part anyway. He sighed and walked into Penelope's room and noticed she was dosing. He smiled and was about to leave when he heard intake of air and a yawn.

'Handsome?'

'Morning baby girl.'

'Where you going?' She asked confused and tiredly.

'You were still asleep so I was going to pop and get some things.' He said quietly and approached the bed. 'How you feeling?'

'Like absolute crap.'

'Anything I can help with?'

'No, but if I think of something you'll be the first to know.'

'You in pain baby girl?'

'A little but it's fine.' He raised his eyebrow. 'Really.' She reassured him and closed her eyes in a long blink.

'Right I just got to pop outside but I'll be back okay?' She nodded, and he bent down and kissed her forehead as she fell into another slumber. 'I love you.' He said as he exited the room and made his way out to the front, there in front of an SUV were the team. 'So what's the case?'

'Abductions of mixed raced families... the children not the adults themselves.' They saw Derek cringe a bit; the cases he hated most were child related ones. 'We wouldn't ask but we need another team member for this.'

'I know but Pen's not doing so good today.'

Hotch worried but he needed Derek's expertise. 'Well JJ's going to stay, she's done her part for us, if we need her we have to call her and vice versa.' Derek nodded hesitantly.

'Don't worry... I'll look after her.' JJ said with a smile that reassured him endlessly.

'I know you will.' He said and then watched her walk into the hospital. He then got into the SUV and called his mom to give her the heads up as to why he wasn't in the room when she arrived later that day.

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JJ watched Penelope asleep and could see the lack of sleep that had occurred in the last 46 hours since they had last seen one another. She had been here just over an hour; already several nurses had come in evidently understanding as to why Penelope wasn't feeling so good.

She took Penelope's hand when she saw her start to open her eyes. She leant forward and smiled. 'Morning.'

'Morning JJ.' Penelope answered obviously JJ's presence next to her hadn't sunk in. 'JJ!' She said sitting up a bit.

'Whoa Pen, stay like that... we have a case in Chicago so Hotch needed to swap me over with Morgan for expertise.' Penelope nodded. 'So how you feeling? Derek said you weren't doing so good today.'

'Hmm, I have definitely had better hours sleep and better hours awake.'

'What's up?'

'Nightmares... and with that come the pains and they take it out of me.' JJ nodded, knowing exactly what Penelope was talking about. Nightmares made it real, you thrash and you twist and you gasp aloud and feel the pains in nightmares. For Penelope that probably meant sucking in deep breaths which would endlessly aggravate her damaged lungs and ribs which would only in return exacerbate the pains she already had.

'Has Derek not been here?'

'I sent him home... he doesn't need to be here 24/7 it's unfair for him.'

'Pen... he almost died the moment we found Esther, your purse and the needle. I think it's unfair for him to not be here at the moment, seeing you is affirming to his mind that you are well and truly alive and back with him.' Penelope just nodded and smiled at her thankfully. 'Now soap opera cheese should be starting any moment so shall we?'

Penelope laughed the worries and problems gone for the moment. 'We shall.'

The pair had been laughing endlessly at the crummy acting and the shoddy storylines to each and every programme that they had watched. Both thinking of what would be great storylines, in turn the conversation had turned into what their lives would be like if it were a soap opera.

'Penelope.' The nurse said at the doors, her and Penelope had become known to one another over the weeks and Penelope liked it to not be called Ms Garcia. 'You have visitors.'

JJ and Penelope exchanged questioning glances. 'Who?'

'Three gentlemen.' She entered the room and helped JJ sit Penelope up slightly more. 'Let me check you over and then I'll let them in.'

She nodded and then spoke. 'Did they give a name?'

'They said they were family.' She then checked Penelope over, the head wounds that were taking a while to heal, the look of the bruises had seemed to frozen, the chest IV still in place as was the one in her hand and finally the feeding tube that was in the process of the important part of Penelope's recovery. 'Right you seem okay... do you have a headache?'

'A little why?'

'You heads bleeding slightly, so I'll let the men in and then I'll come and change the bandage okay?'

'Yes that's fine.'

The nurse left, JJ sat on the bed, taking Penelope hands as the 3 men walked in. 'Penelope.' One of them gasped, not expecting this sight.

'What are you doing here?' Penelope asked immediately in response.

'Well Antonio invited us down this weekend for a brother's fishing trip and we get here to see the place taped off with police swarming everywhere.'

'So what brought you here?'

'The police took our names when we said Garcia they told us to get here... what happened? We thought it was Antonio.'

'Yeah Penny what's happened? Where's Antonio?'

'Antonio's in prison.' Penelope whispered and coughed but never lost their attention, she knew they were eyeing her up and down in an attempt to register what had happened to her and Antonio.

'What?'

'When?'

'How?'

'I really want to know something... did you enjoy your football match? It sure sounded like it.'

'What? How did you know?'

'Don't you want to know first why the place is sealed off?' JJ asked, knowing Penelope was not ready for hundreds of questions to be filed at her.

'Yes...'

'Your brother kidnapped you sister and kept her in his basement for 4 months.'

'Oh shit no!'

'Fucking hell!'

'No!'

'Yes.' JJ said back sternly. 'Something about a family teaching .'

The nurse came in and squeezed past the 3 men. 'When I've changed this do you want something for the pain Penelope?'

'No thanks.'

'Are you sure, Derek said something about you being in pain before he left this morning.'

'Maybe later.'

'Okay well you let me know when okay?'

'Yup.' Penelope answered as the nurse set to work, all the time her hand never leaving JJ's, as though it were the only form of human comfort in reach at that moment in time and in the world.

'I don't believe you.'

'Oh... this is all self inflicted really.' Penelope replied sarcastically, her voice on the verge of cracking.

The brothers remained quiet, they had watched the whole time what was going on, as the nurse finished up. 'When that bleeps push for me and I'll come and sort it out okay?' She placed her hand on Penelope's arm and Penelope smiled at the simple gesture that told her she was there for her.

'We didn't say that... how could it have been Ant when we were round there 5 or 6 times.' Penelope remained quiet, here came the reliving. The silence answered it all. 'I'm going to kill him.'

'You better get to the back of the line then because there are about 9 other people waiting to do that job.' JJ said sarcastically, her thumb now massaging Penelope's hand slightly, an obvious unconscious gesture.