January 18, 2012- San Francisco Police Department

On the other end of the line, Prentiss tapped the table rhythmically while waiting for Garcia to respond. Morgan and Rossi were talking through the profile in front of her. JJ was completing the press conference with Reid and the Chief of police.

"Oh God," Prentiss suddenly heard from Garcia. Prentiss sat up and narrowed her eyes. "Garcia, what is it?"

"Oh God….."

Prentiss heard Garcia fumbling for the doorknob. A minute of silence passed before she heard Garcia scream.

"Penelope, what happened?" Prentiss exclaimed. Her tone instantly caught Morgan and Rossi's attention. "Penelope?"

"Oh God! What did you do?" Prentiss heard Garcia scream. Prentiss gripped the edge of the table while Garcia began to whimper.

"Garcia! What happened? Is Hotch ok?" Prentiss exclaimed.

"Aaron…it's ok. Give me the knife…Aaron; give me the knife….."

"What? What did Hotch do?" Morgan took the phone from Prentiss and clicked the speaker phone button. "Baby girl, talk to me!"

"I got you…Oh God…..Derek, he- he stabbed himself and I-I-I'm covering the wound, but I have to call 911…so I have to go…" Rossi's heart dropped when he began to hear the slight sound of Hotch's staggered breaths. Before anyone could respond, Garcia hung up.

The three of them stood silently before Morgan spoke quietly, "Prentiss, clean up the file and the whiteboard. Call the airport and tell them to get the jet ready. Rossi, go get JJ and Reid and get everyone checked out of the hotel. I'll talk to the Chief and Strauss about getting another squad to take our place." He looked up to see Rossi and Prentiss still staring at the phone in shock. "Go!" he exclaimed, which put both agents into action.

Outside, JJ and Reid stepped away from the crowd of reporters and into the police station. There was an unusual ease between the two, each losing the anger they had towards each other earlier. JJ felt ready to apologize, but stopped at the sight of a frantic Rossi and Morgan.

"Chief, I need to speak to you immediately," Morgan stated as he pulled the chief over to the side. "Reid watched them for a moment then asked, "Rossi, what's going on? Did you-"

"We are leaving immediately. Get your stuff as fast as you can."

"Why?"

Rossi swallowed at JJ's worried face. "We just got a call that Hotch attempted suicide."

"Do you think you can handle the case on your own now?" Morgan asked after he pulled the Chief aside.
"What? Of course not, we need you guys. That's why I called you."
"I know; it's just that there is a pressing matter back in Quantico that my team and I need to attend to."
" A pressing matter? What could require all five of you to fly back home?"
"It just requires all of us: it's very important. Look, we will be available by phone and I can send a few agents as soon as you need it."
The chief paused and thought it over. "I guess. We have your profile, so we should be ok. I hope that the emergency ends ok,"
"Thanks," Morgan panted. He turned around and gave Rossi a thumbs up. Within an hour, all five members sprinted out the police station and headed towards the airport.

Return flight to Quantico

Morgan lay in his usual spot on the jet with his large gray headphones over his ears. Usually music helped him fall asleep after a long day, but tonight it seemed ineffective. All of the agents were wide awake as the Learjet glided through the starry night sky. It was like the team were all in a state of shock over Hotch' suicide attempt. It especially hit JJ, who was rocking gently in her seat. Prentiss watched her carefully, feeling empathy towards her worried friend. Reid was toying with a chess piece that an old team member, Jason Gideon had given him. Rossi sat next to him with a book in his lap, but only stared at the same spot on one of the pages.

Was this my fault? Morgan thought, if I had not said anything, would this have happened?

"Morgan, are you ok?" Reid called out to him. The young profiler placed the chess piece, a knight, on the table in front of him.

Morgan sighed. " I'm alright, kid. I just- I'm alright. How are you holding up?"

"I don't know what to feel. I guess, I feel like- my dad left me, Gideon left, and now Hotch tried to leave…."

"Spencer, he's in a dark place. His demons won and pushed him over the edge."

Reid looked at the chess piece. "I know. It just sucks."

It could be worse, Reid. He could have died….

Quantico, Virginia

"Jessica!" JJ called as she entered the waiting room at Quantico Medical Center. The rest of the team was a few steps behind her. Jessica sat on a couch Indian styled with her head buried in her hands. Garcia stood next to her, nervously biting her nails. Jessica jumped up when JJ called her.

"I can't- what do I tell Jack? What do I do about this-"she exclaimed. JJ grabbed her shoulders and said, "It's going to be ok. Where is he?" Suddenly she turned and faced Garcia. " And you! Where were you when this happened?" she snapped angrily.

"I was- in the living room. I fell asleep-"

"Penelope, we told you to watch him!" Morgan exclaimed, " How the hell did you fall asleep?" Reid and Prentiss glared at Garcia while Rossi was scanning the room for Hotch.

"I just fell asleep. He didn't-didn't sleep much the night before. I stayed up- u-up with him and I was just so tired. I'm so sorry guys!" Garcia whimpered.

"What if he had died?" Reid asked. "Then what?"

"Hey! Quiet down; all of you," Rossi snapped at his younger team members. He turned to Jessica who was crying. "Jessica, where is Jack?"

"At a friend's house. He doesn't know what happened."

"Ok, good. Where's Aaron?"

"In surgery; they said it's not looking very good! I can't lose him, Dave. I just lost Haley-"

"Jessica, calm down," Rossi interrupted, "We know Aaron, he will pull through this."

Prentiss held out her hand towards Jessica. "Sweetie, it's ok. Let's go get some fresh air and some coffee. Come on." Jessica hesitantly took a step towards Prentiss before bursting into tears. Prentiss guided her out of the waiting room while Jessica wept. JJ and Morgan sat down on a couch while Reid started to pace around the room. Garcia was standing as close as she could to the surgery doors, nervously watching for Hotch's surgeon to come out.

"Penelope?" Rossi said, " This isn't your fault."

She began to cry before saying. " This is my fault. I was supposed to watch him and I fell asleep. Now, he might die because of me."

Rossi grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "In no way, shape, or form is this your fault. Aaron did this all by himself. I'm happier that we woke you up in time to find him. On top of that, you acted rationally and got him to the hospital without falling apart. You got him to the hospital where the doctors will bring him back to us- alive. "

Garcia sniffled at the comment and wiped her face.

Rossi continued, "It's interesting that we always think that we have the hard part- you know going out in the field while you are here in Quantico. However; I think we sometimes forget that you work just as hard as we do. I'm guessing that you haven't slept much in the past month either?"

"No…two weeks ago, I was at the office for 36 hours straight while you guys were in Minnesota."

"See that's what I'm talking about. You feel and do the same that we do- the guilt of losing a victim or anger towards a killer. The thing that makes you special is that you know how to handle yourself- sleep deprived or not. Penelope, you have handled this the best out of all of us. In San Francisco, we were all at each other's throat and probably will still be for the next few days. I'm proud of you for that."

"Thanks, Rossi," Garcia answered, giving him a weak smile. "We should do these talks more often."

"Under better circumstances, I hope," Rossi answered, causing Garcia to chuckle.