Rossi and Prentiss moved toward the garage and observed Garcia's cadillac. Everything seemed untouched, except for when they looked at the steering wheel. Instead of it being the old traditional wheel, a wheel with an air bag was installed. Rossi looked at Emily and asked, "Do you know if Garcia has had any work done to Ester recently?"
"No, she actually was debating selling her for better case mileage." Emily looked at the car and studied the steering wheel. It was too new, too perfect. Time to shoot the Messenger flashed through her mind and she motioned Rossi to stand back. Looking around, she saw a phone booth. "David, give me the phone book from the booth!"
Rossi ran and grabbed the book handing it to Prentiss gently. "Now if I am right, the note attached to her vehicle will make sense." Emily threw down the phone book and a gun emerged from the steering wheel. A shot fired right through the neck cover and across the lot. Looking at David, Emily said, "That shot was meant for Garcia. She was their focus point."
Clenching his teeth, he looked around the parking structure and sighed. "Why Garcia? How is she in any relation to this organization?"
"Do you think they may have done their research and decided to hunt down the FBI's technical analyst? Penelope is the core of the technology in this field. If they were to go after the heart of the organization, they would have succeeded entirely by eliminating her."
"Where could she have met them?"
"Coffee shop, grocery store, department store, she could have encountered these people doing anything." She sighed and started moving toward the exit looking for JJ. "Rossi, call Reid and ask if he Morgan knows if Garcia has volunteered at any more counseling centers in the past 3 months. Those who go to these meetings are vulnerable and are looking for belonging. If they found out anything about Garcia, that may have set off the trigger."
Rossi nodded and moved out of the structure quickly for a better signal. Prentiss noticed the news teams departing and was relieved that they didn't need to play buffer anymore. Finding JJ, she saw her on the phone and stood back giving her privacy.
"Will?"
"JJ, I am so relieved. You weren't in the fire?" Will took a sigh of relief as he held their sleeping son closely.
"Yes, Im fine physically. I won't be home for a while." She felt her heart rate increase and her palms grow sweaty.
"JJ, what happened? Im sure Hotch would let you go home."
"Will, its Penelope. She's..."
"She's? She's what JJ?"
"She's been hurt. Morgan found her. She... I don't know what I am going to do if she is gone. She's my sister in so many ways, Will."
"She's going to be okay, cher. She has seen times like these before. How is Morgan handling this?" Will walked through their house and put their son in his toddler bed.
"I don't know, he looked so frightened. I just, I don't know how any of us will handle it if she doesn't make it through this." Looking up she saw Prentiss wiping her eyes staring at the damage. "Will, I need to go."
"Do you need me babe?" He asked.
"I will call if I do. Love you." Hanging up the phone she moved toward her friend and gave her a hug, "What are you thinking about Emily?"
"I didn't mean to eavesdrop but you are right, JJ. If anything happens to Garcia, I don't know what will happen."
"Any updates from Hotch?"
"No, but Rossi and I took a look at her car. There was a gun planted in her car to shoot her when she sat in the drivers seat. She was targetted."
"What? Why Penelope?"
"That we don't know yet. We need to figure this out and fast!"
"Ladies, I think we should go to the hospital. We are needed." Rossi said looking at the quiet women.
Nodding, they made their way to Rossi's SUV and they made their way to the hospital.
Derek's leg was bouncing wildly as the fourth hour passed. There was no word and he saw nurses go in and out of the hospital doors masked and marked with blood, blood he shared with them, his baby girl's. He couldn't think of the case. He couldn't think of anything but memories of him and his Penelope. He thought of her smile, her kindness, her selflessness, her light. He called her his God given solace, his Goddess, his baby girl, but what did that really mean? Could he be honest with her and himself when she woke up? He knew he would live in regret every day of his life if she didn't make it through the surgery.
Hotchner and Reid were watching Derek while waiting for any news of the Garcia. After receiving Rossi's call about limiting information, Reid looked at Morgan and thought of ways to breach the conversation about her. "So Morgan..."
Morgan was staring a picture of him and his Baby Girl at their most recent christmas party. They had been so happy, their typical flirtatious selves. He had kissed her that night under the mistletoe, but she had Lynch. She wouldn't leave her boyfriend for him, right? He kissed her softly, smiled for the camera while holding her close and then dutifully released her when her wimpy man turned the corner. When he heard his name he only nodded at Reid but kept his gaze on his Penelope's smile.
"Morgan, do you know if Garcia has added more counseling centers to her volunteer lists?"
His head shot up and he looked at his young friend in alarm. "How do you know about that? Thats personal to Pen."
"Derek, after Battle, we all had to track her to make sure she was safe."
"And you didn't think I was able to take care of her," he growled standing and looking down on Spencer.
"No, but it isn't like she is yours in any socially stated format. I mean there is flirtation but nothing concrete..."
"Nothing concrete!" Derek slammed his hand against the wall in frustration and Reid and Hotchner stood in alert. "I told her I loved her! She is my God given solace! She's... She's... She's in..." Derek felt his heart racing and he could barely breathe.
"Morgan you need to calm down," Hotch said as in a calm tone hoping the ease his friend's frustrations. He saw the rest of his team come through the elevator doors and motioned at them to stay calm and enter the room quietly.
"She can't leave me. Not when.. not when she doesn't..."
"You can tell her when she wakes up. You just need to stay calm."
"She bled in my arms. I couldn't protect her again." Morgan felt his heart tear piece by piece.
"None of us could have predicted this, Derek. We thought we solved the case. We thought it was over."
"I can't lose her." Derek laid his head against the wall and took a deep breath.
"Mr. Garcia?"
Derek's attention turned to the doctor and everyone's eye brows shot up at the name. Reid looking at JJ asked her, "Really, Mr. Garcia?"
Derek looked at the doctor and searched for any indication of success or failure. He wanted her safe and he wanted to be near her.
"First, let me inform you that Mrs. Garcia is in for an interesting recovery. Her foot will be placed in a cast in a few hours. We had to stabilize the injury by inserting metal bars for appropriate growth to reset her bones. She will be in a cast for the next six weeks. Her wound to her side scared us often through the surgery. It appears that two of her ribs punctured her lung and her blood loss was dramatic. That is was caused her to flat line in the ambulance. We were able to stop the bleed and she is now able to breathe on her own. She seems to have hit her head and there was significant bruising to her brain. We are hoping that this won't have any lasting damages. We won't know how much this will effect her until she wakes up."
"But she will wake up?" JJ asked speaking for the first time since they entered the hospital.
"Yes, but her body is healing, we don't know how long it will take for her to respond or even awaken. We will grow concerned if she doesn't wake up in the next 48 hours."
Growling, Derek looked up at the doctor and said, "48 hours? That is two days!"
"Yes Sir, but she has significant injuries. This isn't something to take lightly."
"Take lightly..."
"Derek, calm down."
"Mr. Garcia, I have informed the nursing staff to allow you unlimited visitation, but if you continue with this hostile behavior, I may just have to change my mind."
Taking a breath and unclenching his fists, Derek looked up at the doctor with sad eyes. Choking on his words, he asked, "What can I do to bring her back to me?"
"Talk to her, hold her hand, give her mind reasons to return. The brain is more powerful then any of us understand."
"Statisically, our brain does 20 times more work in our unconscious than when we are awake and observing our surroundings."
The doctor smirked at the young man expelling this random data. "You are correct, sir. Now until Mrs. Garcia wakes up, I must ask that she has no more than two visitors with her at once until she wakes up. Once she is out of recovery, a nurse will come to take you back, Mr. Garcia. My name is Doctor Juliet Ford if you have any questions." With that she walked away preparing to observe her very loved patient.
After they all said thank you to the doctor, they looked to Hotch for instruction. Almost smirking at the situation, Hotch looked at his team with sad eyes. "She is going to make it, we have to believe it. However our hours won't be wisely spent if all of us are at the hospital. We all need rest. I suggest we meet at my apartment tomorrow morning for a briefing to discuss our options. Hopefully the bureau informs me of our new location until our building is repaired. Morgan..."
"Im not leaving her, Hotch." He said looking at the doors.
"Yes, but you do need rest. I can ask if they can bring a cot for you to sleep on while you are next to Garcia. Prentiss, can you create a schedule for us to come and stay with Garcia so someone is with her at all times. Once she wakes up, we are going to need her to give us any information about what happened prior to the explosion. This has been a big day for all of us, let's just take a breather. Morgan, call me if there is any change to Penelope's condition. I will be here at 10 AM."
Rossi and JJ made their way in the front position eagerly awaiting their long lost beds. Reid followed them and pulled out his phone, dialing a newer number and relaxed when he heard a kind yet concerned hello on the other line. "Can I see you, Rebecca. I just..."
"No need to explain. I will text you the address. Drive carefully and I will see you soon." is what he heard before a dial tone. He didn't know what he was getting himself into meeting this girl, but he couldn't wait to see her tonight.
Emily and Aaron were the last to leave and as they entered the elevator, he grasped her hand tightly, needing to know she was beside him and thankful to God that she hadn't been in the BAU.
As for Morgan, he sat down and stared at their photo once again. Minutes felt like hours as he waited to see his goddess. He just wanted to see her, to touch her and believe she wasn't going to leave him tonight. "Mr. Garcia, she's ready." is all he heard before he made his way down the long white hall.