Disclaimer: I had a lot of free time, and a lack of inspiration, so for some reason this came out. I don't have Scotty or Lilly or anything else Cold Case related that would make me deliriously happy.

Chapter 11: You Make It Real

They waited for the paramedics in silence. It wasn't a comfortable, amicable silence like it had been this morning. It was a shocked, horribly heavy silence that comes from realizing how quickly situations can turn on a dime. Stillman paced around the bullpen, talking on the phone, supposedly to whatever higher authority he had to report this incident to. Jeffries had gone down to meet the paramedics, brought them back upstairs, and disappeared to get everyone some coffee, while Vera and Kat hovered right outside the interrogation room, at a loss for what to do.

When Scotty had gotten tired of seeing Lilly on the floor, he'd tried to help her get up. They'd only gotten as far as a sitting position when Scotty had given up, too scared by the pale look on her face to touch her any more.

"I don't need to go to the hospital," Lilly said softly, but defiantly, as she swatted away a paramedic's attempt to dab at the cut on her face. She was sitting against the wall of the interrogation room and hugging her knees to her chest, and she hadn't moved for the past 20 minutes. She was frozen. Even if she tried to get up, to move her aching body and ignore the obvious injuries, she just couldn't.

The paramedic stood up with defeat, gesturing helplessly toward the other detectives. Stillman nodded imperceptibly, we've got it. His gaze seemed to say.

"Lil, come here…" Scotty said, reaching down to take her hand. When Lilly wouldn't budge, he reached down to slip one arm under her knees and the other behind her back. She was light and she fit perfectly into his arms. He lifted her up and Lilly immediately put her arms around his neck and rested her cheek against his chest. Lilly sighed softly and wondered how she'd gotten to this point.

Scotty walked over to the other detectives with Lilly in his arms, without a thought of how it would look to them, and the secret he still had to keep. If Lilly didn't want to go to the hospital, than she didn't have to, he decided. "I'm takin' her home," he announced.

Immediately Kat blocked his way to the door defiantly, "No." She said with finality. Incredibly frustrated, Scotty attempted to give a lethal glare and make her move aside, but the small woman wasn't moving, and Scotty knew it. Time to try a different tactic.

"No?" Scotty stared incredulously. "You want her to keep workin' or something?"

"No, you idiot, she needs to go to the hospital." Kat looked at Scotty and Lilly and her suspicions of the past few days were confirmed. They were involved, way more seriously that she first suspected. She thought it was just sex, but this was more… at least on Valens' side.

Scotty looked down at the woman in his arm, "She doesn't want to," he said softly. He knew he sounded like a child, that if he stopped and thought logically for a few minutes, he'd realize that it wasn't up to her, but in the aftermath of what had happened, his brain – or rather, his heart – was telling him firmly, what Lilly wants, Lily gets.

"Look Valens, I don't care how much you care about her, or what you guys got goin' on…" Kat wanted to let them go home, let them comfort each other and pretend that's all they needed, but Lilly needed stitches, and if Valens was too stupid to realize that she'd have to show him.

"There ain't anythin' going on, Miller, so mind your own business." Scotty yelled back. He spun around wildly, frustrated with the way the conversation was going and looking for another exit. When he heard Lilly's sharp intake of breath, at what could only be pain, he stopped and stood rooted to the spot, determined not to move again if he didn't have to. "Sorry." He whispered to her.

Kat lowered her voice and spoke quietly, "You don't be more careful, you're gonna drop her. Listen, I've got a kid, and when she fell off the jungle gym I took her to the hospital even though she said she didn't need it." Give a little to get a little, Kat thought. Sharing a terrifying experience involving Veronica, the daughter she loved, would surely make Scotty see the light. And as always, Kat's tactic was dead on.

Scotty's face softened in defeat and Kat said, "I'll drive."

When Scotty looked back at his other colleagues, observing this exchange with both worry and curiosity, Stillman, Vera, and Jeffries, silently conveyed that they'd meet them at the hospital. Nodding, he followed Miller into the parking lot.

"Is she asleep?" Kat indicated Lilly, who was still lying in Scotty's arms, the seat belt buckled around both of them.

"Hope so," he replied, planting a gentle kiss on her hair. Then he looked up at Kat, wondering if she saw and illogically hoping she did, even though if Lilly been awake, she would've kicked his ass. Despite his assurances to her that they could keep this a secret, that it was alright with him, Lilly had been right all along. Scotty wasn't a secretive person, he needed others to know how happy she made him, how much it was hurting him to see her like this, and how far this thing had gone. He needed to tell someone, damn it.

Raising her eyebrows, Kat said, "So nothing's goin' on huh?" She knew there was no need to pry any further. Valens looked like he was 10 seconds from telling her himself, like a doer after maintaining their silence for decades. All he needed was a gentle nudge from her.

If the situation wasn't so dire, if Lilly wasn't hurt, and they weren't on their way to the hospital, Scotty would have laughed out loud. So much for keeping all of this a secret. "Lil… doesn't want anyone to know," he admitted.

"I ain't tellin' anyone," Kat said, "Lil was about to let me in on the secret anyway." She didn't need to ask what the secret was. She'd seen the way Lilly clung to Scotty in the few moments when consciousness and weakness overlapped, and she'd seen the pure venom with which Scotty had accosted Simms, that far exceeded anything she'd seen from him before.

"What?" Scotty glanced down at Lilly, "she was about to tell you?"

"I got my ways Valens," Kat replied smoothly, "even Lil don't stand a chance." When Scotty remained silent, Kat continued, "I won't tell anyone, but you guys are gonna have to come clean sooner or later. There are rules, but as long as you're honest…" She trailed off.

"Thanks, Miller." Scotty smiled weakly at her, "Why are you doing this anyways?" He had to admit he was confused, that Kat Miller was helping him out, when usually she took every opportunity to screw with him.

"Doin' what?" She replied.

"You know, helpin' us out, not tellin' anyone…"

Kat shrugged helplessly. Underneath the tough, detective exterior, she was a romantic after all, not that she would ever tell Valens. "I could change my mind and spill the beans you know…" When Scotty blanched, Miller chuckled and said softly, "but I won't, 'cause you guys make each other happy, in a disgustingly sweet kinda way."

Soon Kat fell silent, leaving the rest of the car ride for Scotty to ponder and occasionally press a kiss to Lilly's forehead, free for the first time to show someone else how much he loved her.

As soon as they got to the hospital, Scotty was lost in an array of doctors, nurses, and orderlies bustling about and not telling him anything. Someone had taken Lilly from his arms and disappeared with her. If he wasn't so worried he'd get in the way, he'd have put up more of a fight, but here he was now, sitting in an uncomfortable hospital chair with the rest of the team, instead of being with Lilly.

Scotty cursed quietly and pulled himself out of the chair. He wondered idly why he'd let those doctors confuse him with medical talk about what injuries Lilly might have and what tests they were going to run. Without anything else to do but worry, Scotty began pacing the hallways of the hospital. He knew she was going to be okay. It wasn't like last time, when he had her life to be worried about. All he had to worry about was… what? Scotty wasn't completely sure, nor did he want to contemplate this in front of his colleagues, who were all beginning to look at him with concern, so he decided that he best get out of here. Find somewhere quiet to sit – or pace – until an anonymous someone, who'd mean nothing more to him than another person in a sea of thousands, brought Lilly back.

The chapel. Hospitals had those kinds of things right? Deciding that it would be perfect for his current mood of worry and confusion, Scotty set off in search of the only peaceful place – or what people here would consider peaceful – in the antiseptic smelling, shiny white hospital.

He never found the chapel.

Instead, he found himself sitting on the floor somewhere. Where? He wasn't sure, just like he wasn't sure of why he was feeling so horrible, when Lilly was sure to be fine. If he wasn't worried about her life, than what the hell was he worried about? She's fine. Scotty reassured himself. Bumps, bruises, maybe a few cuts, which albeit was way worse than what should've been just an interrogation, but she was fine all the same.

It could've been worse. He could've had a weapon; you could've gotten there a few seconds later. Scotty felt fear run up his spine. It could've certainly been worse. If the situation had been tweaked in any way, Lilly could be way worse off. And him… well he could be drinking himself into oblivion. It had been close. Damn it, it had been way too close. And that, Scotty realized, is what had been eating at him.

He hated that once again the woman he loved was put in a position of danger. Hated that, even though he knew they'd gotten lucky again, there was even a possibility it could've been worse. Because it scared him damn it, scared him so bad that it paralyzed him. He had been harboring these ill advised feelings toward Lilly for years now. Feelings that, frankly he was barely aware until the influence of an angry shooter and a night at the bar. They'd fought through most of that night, and fallen into each other's arms for the rest of it. And somehow, she became his, and he became hers.

Scotty wished silently that he could go back in time and go into the interrogation room with her. He wished that he could've protected her, but he knew logically that there was no protecting her from this job. Every time they went out for an interview and every time they blindly reached for their service weapon, they were taking a huge risk.

Pain. Fear. Grief. Injury. Death. Prospects and possibilities that cops learned to push out of their minds, lest it make them too scared to move, too scared to breathe. But once in a while, one of these feelings would rear its ugly head and makes itself known. When they were sitting in the hospital, observing at a funeral, or toasting one of the pictures on the wall of the bar, each of them was acutely aware of how big these possibilities really were.

"Excuse me? Are you with Detective Rush?" There was a nurse. She was smiling down at him, obviously completely oblivious to his inner musings.

"Yeah," Scotty replied, looking up at the nurse from his position on the ground. "She's my partner, or – my girlfriend – actually she's both, but…" Scotty trailed off.

"Well, in case you want to go see her…" The nurse crouched down beside Scotty, reached for his hand and wrote a four digit room number in his palm, "…she's in there."

Scotty just nodded, and the nurse continued, "If you decided you don't want to go see her, you can call me." She smiled in a suggestive, flirty way and jotted down her phone number on his other palm. When Scotty again barely acknowledged her presence, she stood up with a sigh and walked down the hall.

Scotty looked at the phone number in his hand and chuckled ruefully. There was a time, a couple of years ago where he wouldn't have hesitated to call up that mystery nurse. But now… now there was that number on his other hand, and that was the only one he could see.

He knew where Lilly was now, and his old self would also be bounding down the hallway, pushing aside people and distractions to get to her as soon as he could. But he didn't move. He couldn't go to her, not like this. Not if seeing her, bruised and broken, would illicit the kind of anger he felt before. She needed gentle, loving, caring Scotty, not bull in a china shop Scotty that often made his presence known.

What's the matter with you, Valens? Scotty asked himself. Lilly could be awake. She could be awake and scared and needing him, but somehow he was too chickenshit to go find her. Standing up so fast that the blood rushing out of his head made him slightly dazed, Scotty looked around frantically for directions to Lilly's rooms. He cornered an orderly.

"Hey, hey. Can you tell me where I can find this?" He held up his palm.

The orderly looked confused for a second, "Um. There's a phone over there." He pointed at the payphone right outside the hospital.

"What? No, I mean…" Scotty held up his other palm, too rushed to explain the confusion, too eager to get to Lilly, bull in a china shop be damned. Once he got his directions, Scotty turned the other way and ran down the hall.

Catching the door just as the elevator was closing, Scotty joined a mismatched gaggle of people. Some doctors, some patients, some nurses, some frantic, grieving, happy… He jabbed the elevator button, willing the whirring to go faster, and wishing fervently that he'd taken the stairs. Standing idly, it just wasn't his thing.

Finally. Finally he was there, in front of her room. From the hallway, he could see the rest of the team gathered in there. They were all smiling, chatting happily, and Lilly was sitting up in bed. The moment Scotty got in the room, eyes blazing, all conversation stopped.

Kat spoke up first, "Will, why don't you and Boss see about gettin' that doctor in here?" She gave Will a pointed look, get Boss out of here.

As soon as they were out the door Kat turned to Vera, "Nick, could you go to the cafeteria and get us some food?"

"I ain't hungry." Vera protested.

Kat shot him a look, "Well that's new, but I am, so … cafeteria."

"Yes ma'am," Vera grumbled as he walked out the door.

"I'll watch the door for you guys, but no funny business." Kat warned on her way out. "Remember, this is a damn hospital."

When Kat finally left, Scotty walked up to Lilly's bed. The cut on her face was stitched up. There was a darkening bruise along her jaw line and a bandage of sorts wrapped around her right wrist. "Hey." He said.

Lilly smiled wearily at him, "Hey."

Scotty continued to look at her. Then he sat down on the edge of the bed and brushed some hair behind her ear. "Hey," he repeated.

Lilly giggled slightly at the expression on his face, "How is it that I have a bunch of stitches and what I think is a sprained wrist, but you look worse than me?" she asked.

"Don't be ridiculous, Lil. You look beautiful." He shifted himself so that his legs were on the bed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

He wondered if he was hurting her somehow, "Are you okay?" He asked.

Lilly snuggled deeply into his arms, "I think Kat knows." She commented. Lilly looked up at Scotty and was surprised to see his guilty face.

"Yeah, about that Lil. She kinda got it outta me." Scotty expected her to be mad, especially since she'd stressed so much how important it would be to keep this a secret. But instead, a faint grin crossed her face and she just sighed. "What?" Scotty asked.

"She kinda got it out of me too." Lilly couldn't help but be surprised, even in her current state. She'd definitely underestimated their colleagues, or overestimated their ability to hide things. But she decided that at the moment it didn't matter. Here she was, lying in a hospital bed because she, as a cop, was unable to defend herself. The walls were down, completely shot to pieces, and Lilly wasn't sure how to build them back up, not with Scotty holding her like that, talking to her like that.

Kat knew. Kat Miller knew that she and Scotty were in a relationship. And for some reason, instead of ratting them out to Boss and to the rest of Homicide along with IAB, she was standing guard outside Lilly's hospital room, giving them a few minutes of peace and love. For that, Lilly would be forever grateful. Sighing sadly, Lilly trailed her uninjured hand down Scotty chest. He caught her hand, brought it to his lips and kissed her fingertips tenderly. Nothing else needed to be said for now.

Leave me a review, please? *Sad, pleading eyes* Oh, and Criminal Minds reference?