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WARNINGS: Dark themes, violence, mild language

- I will put an extra warning on chapters if I believe it's necessary

Disclaimer: Our wonderful crime fighters are not mine

Set in season late 5/early 6

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Chapter 4 : Healing

…

After the team arrived back at the bureau late on Friday night, they were drowning in paperwork, especially Reid and Morgan.

'Emily should be at her desk, complaining about the amount of paperwork being held captive creates' Derek thought to himself as he continued filling out the papers.

Instead, Emily was now being settled into the Intensive Care Unit at Stafford Hospital, about twenty five minutes away. Derek, along with the rest of the team, had stopped by to check on her after they landed, interested to see her without the drain and to see where she'd be for the immediate future.

Aaron's voice penetrated Derek's occupied mind, causing the dark agent to swivel his chair towards the unit chief's office.

"It's late," Hotch said, gripping onto the railing that overlooked the bullpen, "why don't you all go home. Get some rest. The paperwork can wait."

The team quickly dispersed, picking up jackets, bags and belongings before exchanging a few exhausted smiles. Smiles of acknowledgment. Each member acknowledged the evil battles they'd faced the previous two weeks, offering each other a small smile of encouragement that expressed their support. We'll get though this. We always do.

As he watched each member of his team filtrate out the doors and back home, Derek Morgan decided to follow a different path. He gathered his items, shoving them into his go bag, before taking one last glance at his partner's empty desk. He sighed to himself, trying to keep the hope alive that she'd return to her desk some day.

…

No more than two hours away from the FBI's headquarters in Quantico, a man pulled up in front of a dingy motel, placing his car in park and removing the keys from the ignition. The drive from Washington to Quantico was only about an hour long, but he had to be extra cautious, hence the decision to crash at a hotel two hours away from the very people he'd been following.

"How much for one room?" He asked, pulling out his wallet, freshly stocked with cash.

An older man, maybe mid fifties, dressed in denim overalls and a cigarette between his lips hardly took his eyes off the daily newspaper. "Forty bucks."

Pulling out two twenty dollar bills from his wallet, he slid them across the table in exchange for the key.

"Room two, second one to your left." The clerk said as he filled in another number in the sudoku section.

Setting his bags on the ground, he stalked into his temporary home, noting the missing pillows from the bed. He'd have to request more later. For now, he went back to his bag and pulled out the thin picture from the side pocket. Letting his eyes scan over the image, his heart raced and he felt a surge of excitement flood into his blood.

"Soon, soon it'll be over. We'll be even." He said, grinning down at the smiling agent in the photo. "It's only a matter of time."

It was iconic, really. They'd been chasing him and now he was chasing them.

…

Derek held his head up with his left hand, barely able to keep his eyes open. Hotch had told them to get some sleep, but how could he? How could he sleep knowing his partner was in the hospital, alone, fighting for her life? If he'd only moved faster through the woods…

"I thought Hotch told you to get some sleep," A familiar voice said softly.

Derek jolted upwards, now fully alert. He turned to see David Rossi leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed across his chest. A slight smile licked at his lips as his eyes bore into Morgan's.

"I am sleeping."

Dave snorted back a laugh. "Yeah, I can see that." He said as he came deeper into the room. "Hotch gave us an order."

Just before Derek was going to defend his decision, a thought occurred to him. "You didn't follow them either."

Rossi's arms fell into his pockets. "Couldn't sleep." He looked passed Derek to the woman in the bed. "Any changes?"

Derek exhaled, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand, eyes searching her for any sign of improvement. "Nothing. The doctors here want to redo the brain activity test."

"Why?"

Derek shrugged. "The hell if I know." His hand made its way past the ventilator, IV, monitors and other multitude of tubes coming out of his friend before settling on her forehead. He soothed the hair back away from her face, simply studying her features. He just wanted to see her brown eyes open.

"Mind if I stay? We can go into work later, finish up those reports." Rossi asked as he took a seat on the opposite side of the bed.

"Sure." Derek said absentmindedly, never moving his eyes off his partner.

Rossi gently patted Emily's shoulder, unable to push down the surging need to protect the younger woman, one who he considered to be a daughter. He could feel his heart swelling with love, the same kind a father would have towards his children. Sitting in the chair next to her, one of his favorite memories bubbled to the surface.

They'd gone to the house where the outbreak had spread to, a home now tented and it's residents removed. Men in large, yellow suits wandered in and out of the house, monitoring the levels of toxins within the home. He and Emily exited the SUV just as a woman whose face was whittled with concern, approached the house.

They were told not to inform the public. Something he knew Emily was struggling with. How can they keep something so dangerous, yet important, hidden from the very people it targeted?

"Excuse me!" She cried, running across the street towards them. "What's going on? Why is he in that suit?"

"Ma'am, please stay back," Rossi said, holding out his hand to stop her.

"My kids are home," she briefly glanced back at her own home, "do I need to get them out of here?"

Rossi and Emily glanced at each other before Emily took a small step forward. "It's pretty bad."

"Emily."

With another brief glance back at Rossi, Emily continued to explain to the woman that the house was infested with toxic mold and that the suits were only to protect the men tearing down the walls. She concluded by assuring the worried mother that she and her children were in no danger.

As the woman retreated back to her house, Rossi and Emily continued walking up the driveway and towards the house.

"Don't Emily me."

The shrieking of his cell phone brought him back to reality. He fished the device out of his pocket, noting the time. Six o'clock. They had one house before they'd be expected back at the bureau.

"Hotch, what is it?"

"There's been a murder." A pause came from the other line. "A brunette woman, thirty nine, found severely beaten."

Rossi exhaled. "He followed us."

…

"Ms Thompson—"

The woman shook her head. "Please, call me Mary."

Derek nodded. "Mary, when did you notice your daughter was missing?"

Mary brought the light pink handkerchief up to her eyes, gently dabbing away the tears. "I didn't," she said, her voice cracking, "it's not unusual for us to go a few days without talking. I figured she was busy, you know? She's a lawyer, sometimes we don't talk for days."

"When was the last time you spoke to her?"

Mary paused, taking a moment to recall her last conversation with her daughter, Kerri. "A few days ago, Wednesday."

Derek shifted in his seat, leaning in a bit closer to the grey haired woman. "Did anything seem off when you talked?"

Mary shook her head. "Not at all! She was working towards some big promotion at work…she couldn't stop talking about it." She said, a ghost of a smile haunting her face at the memory of her daughter's excitement. "She was happy."

Morgan nodded again, standing up as he prepared to leave. "Thank you for your time, Mary. You've helped us a lot."

The woman's face held a soft smile that disappeared as her eyes found their way to his. Her blue eyes were empty, yet full of anger and hatred. "Agent Morgan, you find who did this."

…

Hotch and Rossi sat at the roundtable, neither speaking but both deep in thought.

"He's taunting us, we know that. But this feels more personal." Hotch said, narrowing his eyes at the image as if his glare would make the answer pop out at him.

The image, a picture of the note left with the latest victim, was displayed on their phones. Written in black pen on a piece of notepad paper was the message: My revenge is coming, watch out dear agent. I'm waiting.

Morgan walked in with JJ on his heels. "Coroner had nothing new. The injuries are consistent with the ones sustained by the Washington victims."

Rossi leaned back in his chair, frustrated at his inability to find the missing link. "He followed us from Washington back here, he's dedicated but patient."

"He's organized, pays attention to detail." Morgan said, opening up the files to pull out the images of the first three victims. "Look at how he dumped them."

Each woman, all with uncanny physical resemblance, were laid neatly on the side of a road. He had taken no measures to hide his victims. They'd concluded that he wanted them to be found. It was as though he wanted the team to chase him.

"Are we certain it's not connected to your abduction?" Rossi asked, directing his attention to Morgan.

Morgan shook his head. "Our guy was the opposite of this unsub. He was unorganized, lacked confidence. He was easily overpowered."

"Chief Berkley had a team go to the cabin in the woods where you were held," JJ said, recalling the phone call she'd had with the chief, "he was already gone. We have his prints but Garcia couldn't find a match. He's not in the system."

"Morgan, I want you to go to the hospital and switch with Reid. Tell him we need him back here" Hotch said. "The rest of us will keep working. If he sticks to his old pattern, another woman will be abducted soon."

…

Morgan had arrived at the hospital about an hour earlier, relieving Reid and sending him back to the bureau. Although he hated that this was how he had to spend time with Emily, he was happy to have a break from thinking about the case and just sit with his partner. He held her hand and simply stared at her, memorizing every detail of her face. The mouth piece of the ventilator covered the lower half of her face, but he was content with staring at her closed eyes. With each hiss of the machine, he was silently willing her to wake up so they could remove the damn machine.

Walking through the woods with one injured colleague was difficult. He was now responsible for almost all of her weight, while keeping an eye out for fallen branches, roots or rocks that could potentially cause both of them to trip and fall. His sole goal was protecting his wounded partner and getting her the medical help she so desperately needed.

"Kid, how much farther is the road? I don't know how much longer…" He trailed off. Multiple endings to that sentence swam in his mind. How much longer I can support her weight? How much longer she can make it How much longer until…we lose her?

Breathlessly, Reid paused and glanced at his phone screen. "Just a little longer."

Morgan inhaled deeply. Determined to fill his screaming lungs with enough air to continue. They couldn't give up now. If he did, she'd pay the price, not him. So he pushed forward.

No more than two minutes later, with her head rested on his shoulder, she looked up at him. He returned her gaze, noticing the cloudy and unfocused look in her brown eyes. "You're doing great." He said, offering her a small smile.

She blinked slowly, seemingly struggling to reopen her eyes. "Der…derek."

"Shh…"

She swallowed and licked her lips. "Tha…thanks."

His heart swelled with love for this woman, his partner. She'd never had an overly loving or close knit family in her childhood. Her parents were relatively cold and caught up in the politics of their work while their daughter was growing up. Now, he would prove to her that she did have a family. At the BAU, she was a part of a family.

"Hey, you don't have to thank me." He said sincerely, then letting himself grin. "And anyway, you can make it up to me in that sweet hot tub of yours."

He heard her snort, which was followed by a few coughs. "Deal."

Movement in his left hand tore him out of his dream. When he had fallen asleep, he had no idea. He glanced at the clock and saw it had only been three hours since he arrived at the hospital. Focusing back on the reason he woke up, he looked down at Emily's hand intertwined in his.

"It might just be a muscle twitch."

He waited several minutes, hoping to God that he'd feel her squeeze again. His eyes scanned her face for any sign of movement. His heart sank when after ten minutes there was nothing. Sighing, he reached for his cell phone which was resting on the bedside table and unlocked it. He saw a text from Garcia and two messages from Hotch.

He responded to Garcia's text quickly, telling her that Emily was okay

Hotch's first message was the same as Garcia's. "How's Prentiss?"

But the second one caught all of his attention. "We found the warehouse where he held Kerri Thompson. Team is headed their now. Stay with Prentiss."

Now, Derek Morgan felt torn. He knew he needed to stay with Emily, but he felt this strange urge to be with the rest of the team, backing them up in case something went wrong. However, the psychology classes he took in college explained this thought to him. When they got into the car crash, they were only suppose to be driving back to the station after an interview. Something that in their field, was not deemed dangerous, yet it had become deadly. After experiencing that, he felt the need to protect his friends. Irrational, yes. They were more than capable and could easily hold their own.

A squeeze. This time, it was a squeeze. Not a twitch.

He stood up over her, eyes once again scanning her face for any signs that she was going to open her eyes. "C'mon, baby. Open your eyes." He gently pushed back her hair, eyes boring down onto her closed lids. "Please…" He whispered.

Another squeeze. Weaker this time, but a squeeze.

"Emily, open your eyes. It's okay, I'm right here." He said, feeling his chest tighten in excitement and apprehension. His breathe was hitched in his throat and he found himself holding his breath.

Then, her eyebrows raised and he watched as her eyes slowly peeled open after being closed for a little over two weeks.

Derek smiled, his first genuine smile since the crash. "Hey there," he said softly while he let his finger press the nurses call button on the side of the bed. He studied her eyes, which now lazily looked around the room.

Three nurses then rushed into the room, quickly noticing that their patient was awake. "Well, look whose back!"

The head nurse, Sheryl, went to the side of Emily's bed and looked at the monitors. "Holly, she's not breathing over the tube. We'll leave it in and set up a consult with Respiratory." She said, grabbing her pen-light and clicking it on. "Let Dr Kuller know that Agent Prentiss is awake."

"On it." Holly said, quickly exiting the room.

"Agent Prentiss, my name is Sheryl. I have a few questions to ask you. Blink once for yes, twice for now. Do you think you can do that?"

For a few painstaking moments, Derek waited for her to respond. Please…give us a sign that your brain works..

Emily blinked once.

"Good!" Sheryl said, a big smile spreading across her face. "Do you remember what happened?"

Emily looked around the room, unable to pull the memory of why she was lying in a hospital bed with a tube down her throat from her brain. Her eyes watered a bit and she gave them two blinks.

"Okay, that's no big deal. You were in a car crash." Sheryl said and Emily looked back to Derek who simply gave her hand a squeeze. "You sustained a head injury."

Emily stared blankly back at the two of them and Sheryl decided to continue. "Emily, are you in pain?"

It was as if that one question opened the flood gates and the pain registered in her brain all at once, nearly suffocating her. She quickly gave them one blink, and then let the tears fall.

Derek nearly cried himself at her answer. She was in pain and she must've been in a great deal of pain in order to cry in front of them. Emily Prentiss was not one to show any weakness and in her book, crying was a big no-no.

"We'll give you something to help, okay? Just hang in there." Sheryl said, patting Emily's shoulder and moving towards the cabinets on the walls. She grabbed a vile and a syringe, extracting the dosage from the vile and then injected it into the IV bag.

Only moments later, Morgan watched as Emily noticeably relaxed and her eyelids began drooping. "She's probably going to sleep a lot for now. The pain medication often causes patients to be drowsy."

Hesitantly, Morgan stepped away from Emily and stood in front of Sheryl. "Why wasn't she breathing over the tube, like you said?"

"There are many reasons, but it could just be that she's exhausted after everything she's been through and her lungs are still recuperating. We'll have to recheck in a few days."

"Well, it's good that she answered the questions, right? It means she doesn't have any brain damage?"

Sheryl sighed. "Agent Morgan, the brain is a complex organ. Damage can occur in any area, causing issues. She may have to relearn how to do things we take for granted, such as walking or talking." Derek's eyes widened. "Just give her time. We will know more as time goes on. Be patient."

Sheryl gently squeezed his shoulder, offering a reassuring smile. "Dr Kuller should be here to check on her soon." She said and left the dark agent alone with his sleeping partner. Cautiously, he pulled out his cell phone again and pulled up the group message Penelope had set up for them.

"Emily is awake." He typed and then sent the message. He walked back over to Emily's side, sinking back into the chair. He'd expected her wake up to be a joyous event, one filled with hope and excitement. Instead, he was left with a feeling of even more uncertainty and dread.

…

Emily first noticed the fact that her eyelids felt like they were being weighted down with bricks, preventing her from opening her eyes and telling whoever was talking to shut the hell up so she could sleep. She felt unbelievably tired. It felt like the worst hangover she'd ever had, even worse than the one she'd managed to give herself in Vegas last year. Her head was swimming and she couldn't think straight. It was a familiar feeling but she just couldn't put her tongue on it…

Pain meds. She was on pain meds. Why though?

She could hear voices. They sounded familiar but she couldn't identify who they were coming from.

"Why couldn't she remember anything last time she woke up?" A voice asked. When had she woken up before?

"She is still on a handful of meds that are making her drowsy. There is nothing to be concerned about just yet. It's all a part of the waking up process." Someone responded.

Forcefully, she forced her eyes to open. Something that took way more effort than it usually did, but she needed to know what was going on.

As the two voices continued to discuss her injuries, a third voice joined the mix, presumably a male. "Hey, she's awake."

Suddenly, blue eyes were staring down at her and she immediately recognized them as JJ. "Emily?" The blonde asked, a slight hitch of worry laced in her words. "Can you hear me?"

Emily's eyes were open wide as she struggled to comprehend everything. As she tried to talk, she found that not only she couldn't actually make sound come out of her mouth, but there was something blocking her airway.

Rossi watched as Emily weakly lifted her hand, which was now trembling at the action, up towards the tube. Quickly, he grabbed her hand gently and then met her eyes. "Hey, Kiddo. You have to leave the tube alone, okay?"

Emily looked towards JJ who offered her a small smile, but it didn't reach her eyes which were packed with concern.

"Emily, my name is Sheryl. Do you remember me? Blink once for yes, twice for no."

Sheryl. The name sounded familiar and she had vague memories of her shoulder-length silver hair. She blinked once.

"Good," Sheryl said with a smile. "Now, I know the tube is uncomfortable but just relax and let it do the work for you, okay? You were in a car accident and your body is still recovering."

Rossi observed his friend as she struggled to relax in the bed, opening and closing her eyes as she struggled to regain control of her quivering body. She opened her eyes and he caught eye contact with her. He could see the panic and confusion deep in her brown orbs. Carefully stepping around the wires and tubes, he gently captured her hand in his, which she clutched forcefully. He leaned down closer to her, smoothing her damp hair out of her face. "Just relax. I know its hard, but let the machine do its job."

Rossi's soothing voice was all she needed and she finally began to calm down and release the tension in her muscles.

"There ya go." He said, smiling down at her. "You're doing great."

Once Emily was calmed down, Sheryl told them that a neurologist would be coming in later that day to run through a series of neurological tests and to start assessing any damage so they would have a better plan moving forward. She told them she'd be outside if they needed anything and that they could only allow two in Emily's room at a time, so they'd have to switch places with the other members of the team who were in the hall.

Rossi continued to hold Emily's hand, whose grip was stronger than he had imagined it could be in her physical state. His phone dinged and alerted him that he'd gotten a text, so he pulled the device out of his pocket. It was from Hotch.

'Come outside. Important.'

Rossi looked down at the woman in the bed, noticing that she looked as though she was on the verge of panicking. Her eyes darted around the room while she was unable to communicate. Not to mention the death grip she had on his hand.

'Can it wait?' He sent back.

'Sorry. No.'

With a sigh, Rossi sent Hotch, OK. He waved at JJ, who had been frozen off to the side of the bed, her hand near her mouth where her fingernails were taking a beating. He showed her the texts and she nodded.

"Emily, I have to step outside for a minute, okay?" He spoke gently, but he still felt her grip tighten and the fear bubbled in her wide eyes again and his heart broke. "JJ's going to stay with you, see?"

"I'm not going anywhere, Em." She said with a smile, slowly taking over Rossi's spot. "Here, take my hand."

Rossi had to nearly pry Emily's fingers apart from his own. Once he was free of her hand he quickly placed it into JJ's open palm. Emily wasted no time and wrapped her fingers around the blondes.

"I'll see you soon, Kiddo." He said, leaving her with a small kiss on her hairline before he exited the small room.

He noticed that all four of the agents waiting outside, Hotch, Morgan, Reid and Garcia, were noticeably on edge. Hotch was even pacing in front of Emily's room, his brows furrowed in either deep thought or concern, Rossi wasn't sure.

"What's going on?" He asked, looking around to each person.

"There's been another murder." Hotch said, taking out his phone to show the senior agent. "A man, late twenties."

"So? That's not our guy—"

"Morgan recognized him as the man who abducted them." Hotch said. Rossi looked at the dark agent. He was pacing like Hotch, but he had his hands clasped on the top of his head. "He also had a note." Hotch flipped his phone so Rossi could see the image.

Written on the same yellow notepad paper, written in black ink was a message that sent chills down Dave's spine.

'I see she's finally awake. The fun can begin soon.'

Dun dun dun...sorry about the wait, I'm busier than I expected. Work and preparing for college is consuming my life. Anyway, please do leave a review and let me know what you think :)