Morgan looked across the room at his friend; she'd saved his life and ended the life of Andrew Kirkwood. Glancing at Garcia laying unconscious on the floor behind him his mind was distracted until Elle's voice jerked his attention back to her.

"There's a bomb!"

Morgan jumped to his feet and headed toward Elle who had already begun running back down the hallway. His eyes fell on the makeshift contraption and he cursed to himself. It was obviously made by a novice, which often were the most deadly because the maker was playing with something they had no business toying with and a slight miscalculation or misconnected wire could spell tragedy.

"Shit!" He spit out under his breath. "Thirty seconds! Elle, that's not enough time!"

"It has to be, Morgan! The team is behind that door! I've seen you do it before. Come on!"

Morgan kneeled down in front of the bomb…28 seconds…

His hands were sweating and shaking…27 seconds… so much to do in so little time…

"Elle, I need you to get out of here…now! I know Cruz heard the gunfire and he won't wait for my call…he'll be here any minute."

"Morgan I'm not leaving you here…"

"Elle…go! I don't want you getting caught, neither one of us can explain why you're here."

Morgan continued to work with the bomb as the time ticked away…23 seconds…

"Please…go…before it's too late…I can handle this."

Elle slowly stood and glanced down both ends of the hall. Morgan continued his work as she turned to leave.

"Elle…"

"Yeah, Morgan?"

"Thank you…I owe you."

Elle smiled at her friend keeping score wasn't a part of their friendship, never was and never would be.

"No you don't."

Quickly turning and smiling back at her he nodded as she made a speedy retreat into the darkness.

10…9…8…7…6…

So close…just one more wire…red? Yellow? Blue?

5…4…3...2…

Pulling the yellow wire for no particular reason holding his breath and then exhaling as the clock stopped and the neon light faded to black.

Now to get his team out he jumped to his feet and blasted the door with his foot knocking it off of its hinges. The sight of Hotch, Rossi, JJ, and Reid was overwhelming but the feeling was immediately replaced with fear and confusion…one of them was missing.

"Where's Alex?"

"Kirkwood and his men took her and never brought her back." Reid began.

Morgan looked at the others there was something they weren't telling him.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Kirkwood said she was dead." JJ answered.

"No! She can't be dead…"

"Morgan…" JJ continued.

"NO! If she's dead then he wins. No!"

Morgan began pulling them from the room.

"Take this hallway to your left it'll lead you to the main entrance and the way out. Garcia…she's hurt…please take care of her…get her out of here!"

"What are you going to do?" Rossi asked.

"I'm going to find Alex. Now, go, quick! Garcia needs help now!"

"Morgan, I'm going with you." Hotch insisted.

He knew not to argue; he'd seen that look on his boss' face more than once and if he were honest, he welcomed the help. The rest of the team headed toward the front of the building as instructed and Morgan and Hotch headed in the opposite direction down the dark hallway. From the distance the two men could hear Cruz and his team rushing through the door identifying themselves as FBI agents and Morgan let out a sigh of relief as the two continued down the hall.

Hotch followed Morgan down the hallway peeking into the rooms behind closed doors searching for their missing agent. The door to the last room on the right was open. Morgan shot a glance at Hotch and then entered flipping the switch on the wall and illuminating the room. He saw her still body dressed only in her underwear lying on the floor. Morgan didn't allow his mind to wonder what she had gone through before she ended up in a pool of her own blood alone in this cold dingy room.

Without saying a word he walked over to her kneeled down placed two fingers on her neck…and prayed. His plan was to bring the team home…all of them…alive and the thought of failing was something he wasn't ready to accept. He dropped his head, held is breath for a brief moment before turning toward Hotch.

"Hotch…she's alive."

Potomac General Hospital – 1 Hour Later

Rossi, Reid and JJ had been cleared by the ER doctors and sat restlessly in the waiting room. Hotch's bruised ribs were being tended to and was expected to join them shortly. Morgan's mind was preoccupied with thoughts of Penelope; she had been bruised, bloody and unconscious the last time he had seen her. The good news was that she had come to just before arriving at the hospital but he still hadn't been given an update and it was driving him crazy. Alex had been taken immediately to surgery; she'd lost a lot of blood from a stab wound to her stomach. The team had been told she was dead and the fact that she was hanging on gave them a strand of hope.

A dark haired middle-aged woman stepped through the doors and assumed the weary looking group was all here for the two agents that had recently been brought in.

"Penelope Garcia?"

"Yes!" Derek quickly answered and neared the doctor.

"I'm Dr. Angela Myers. I'm the attending treating Ms. Garcia."

"How is she?" JJ asked voice trembling.

She has a minor concussion and several bruises and abrasions on her face. It looks like someone with a heavy hand took out their anger on her."

Morgan ran his hands over his head trying to remain calm.

"Is she going to be okay, Dr.?" Morgan asked.

"We'd like to keep her overnight for observation, but I expect her to make a full recovery."

The four released a sigh of relief as they thanked the doctor.

"Can we see her?"

"We're getting her settled in her room, give us about twenty minutes and you can go in and see her."

"What about Alex Blake?" Rossi asked.

"I'm sorry, I don't know anything except she's still in the O.R. Her injuries were pretty extensive and she lost a lot of blood. I'll make sure to have the nurse come out and update you as soon as possible."

"Thank you doctor." Morgan said.

As the doctor turned and left Hotch entered and joined the four. JJ filled him in on Garcia and Blake. JJ watched as he held his hand lightly over his bruised left side and grimaced in pain.

"How are you feeling?" JJ asked her boss.

"Just a few bruises nothing serious."

The four returned to their seats and continued their waiting thankful that Morgan had found them in time and that Kirkwood had not been able to carry out his plan for them.

MEANWHILE…

Mable watched the five exhausted agents from a slight distance. She found that people didn't pay much attention to a middle-aged woman, especially in a hospital. Nurses, doctors, orderlies and other hospital personnel had passed her for the last hour and not one asked her if she needed help. She was just a part of the scenery, furniture she thought with a private chuckle.

Derek Morgan had proven to be a superior opponent responsible for the death of her nephews Antoine and Andrew Kirkwood who were no match for the man who brought criminals to justice every day. She had no family left; he had taken her last living relative today. She didn't like being alone and it wasn't fair. This time she would have the upper hand and she promised her dearly departed nephew that SSA Derek Morgan would pay for what he'd done. He wouldn't see it coming; he knew her as a kind elderly computer tech who had helped him on a case, nothing more.

Just like the men and women passing her by in the hospital, he'd never perceive her as a threat...she'd let him get comfortable in the assumption that the death of Andrew Kirkwood spelled the close of the case. Little did he know it was just the beginning of what she had in store for Derek Morgan.