AN: Ok, so this is Chpt 12. Hopefully it turned out as well as I hoped.

After Hotch, Rossi, and Director David had come back into Alecta's hospital room Hotch had taken a seat in the chair that was next to her bed. He pulled it as close as he could and still be comfortable; he took her left hand into his, pulling it as close to him as he could without jostling her too much. He had only intended to shut his eyes for a moment or two; but as soon as his eyes shut, he was back asleep, hard.

Although the group hadn't done much in the days leading up to the attacks by Jake and his merry band of losers, the last 18-24 hours had been nerve wracking and Hotch was mentally and emotionally tired. The nurse had brought in a couple extra blankets in case anyone needed one. It seemed to her that these men weren't moving anytime soon. A cot had been brought in just on the off chance that anyone else decided to bunk up. Rossi took one of the spare blankets and draped it over Hotch's shoulders to ward off any chill. Hotch didn't even make a move, he was out cold.

Over time, exhaustion began claiming Rossi as well; he could barely keep his eyes open.

"Go old man, take the cot. I will stay here in the chair. I haven't had the excitement that you have had today; I'm not as worn out. I can take the first watch. Just get some rest." Eli's thick accent was reassuring. Rossi took him up on it and stretched out on this cot; while it wasn't the most comfortable piece of furniture on earth, it was better than another chair.

For about two hours, all was calm. Eli was reading his book, Rossi was planning his next one as he slept peacefully on the cot, Hotch was practically drooling out of one side of his mouth onto the edge of the bed as he slept with Alecta's left hand still being held by his.

Suddenly, Alecta sat straight up in the bed, soaked in a cold sweat, screaming. All three men jumped up from their stations, Rossi nearly tumbling off of the cot he turned over so fast.

"Ah!" Alecta practically yelled in agony as she sat up, forgetting momentarily about her stitches and injuries.

Hotch put his hands to her shoulders to try to keep her down, 'Lay back down, you're going to hurt yourself….more."

"I have to get up. Let me up." She kept struggling against him to get up out of the bed.

"You can't just…"

"I. Am. Going. To. Throw. Up. Move."

"Here, take this." Hotch said hopefully handing her the small plastic container they give you to use at your beside for just such a moment.

"Oh honey, this isn't one of those little 'cute girl' moments when I just toss my cookies a little bit. This is full on 'Linda Blair'….Please don't get in my way."

Hotch decided that under the circumstances, seeing that she just wouldn't listen to reason, he might as well help her up; at least that way she was less likely to hurt herself any worse than she already might have.

He got her onto her feet; after helping her take her first three steps, she doubled over, one hand going to her stomach, the other going to her mouth. "I'm not gonna make it,' she managed to get out before clasping her hand back over her mouth tightly.

Hotch scooped her up as easily as possible, which considering the situation wasn't all that easy to do, and raced to the bathroom with her and set her down on her own two feet; next thing he helped her get knelt down close to the commode as he lifted the seat for her.

"Damned kid,' Alecta muttered as she leaned closer to the bowl and started emptying any scrap of food that was left in her stomach. Hotch was standing next to her holding her hair back. Rossi came in carrying a chair for Hotch to sit in while he held her hair. After Rossi came back out of the bathe room, Eli came into the bathroom, having filled a cup with some cold water for her to be able to rinse her mouth out and have something to drink.

"What pain meds do they have me on?"

"Fentanyl, I know that one for sure."

"Oh my God, I think we need an exorcist." Alecta said as she buried her face back in the bowl of the commode as another round of vomiting began.

Rossi came running back into the bathroom carrying a pony tail holder that he found in a bag that Eli had brought with him.

Hotch asked her between all the retching, "What's wrong with Fentanyl?"

"I'm allergic to it I think. I have only had a reaction to it one other time though, and I was pregnant then…or….had been." Hotch wrapped her hair up as much as he could in the elastic that Rossi had passed to him while she was hunched back over the commode yet again.

"Kill me now." Alecta groaned as she rested her arm on the rim of the toilet and then rested her head on top of that.

Eli came to the door of the bathroom to check on her muttering something in his native Hebrew about women having babies for centuries before her…Alecta had really stopped listening as she was face down in the thick of things again.

After throwing up one of her kidneys, she wiped her face on a rag that Hotch had passed her, and smiled at Eli. "You know, this kid is shaping up to be as big a pain in my ass as you are old man. I might have to name it after you."

This started the two of them off in some crazy conversation filled with laughter in Hebrew; laughter at least when Alecta wasn't doubled over the toilet. Alecta asked about the book shop keeper that she had made friends with while she was there. Eli told her how he missed his best customer. Nobody knew it yet, but Eli had brought her a book that he had managed to get from the book seller before he hopped his flight. It was some old dusty thing, it was from Istanbul. The book seller, a man named Adnan, had said that it seems as though this book was from around 1462. It was in the style of Turkish that would have been spoken and written during the Ottoman Empire. After reading the book, Adnan had done some research on his own. According to what he found, 1462 was the year that Vlad Dracula had tried to assassinate Sultan Mehmed II in his famous 'Night Attack'; it lead to Mehmed fleeing Dracula's territory of Wallachia. Eli thought he would wait until a more opportune time to give it to Alecta. Adnan had said that the way he came about it was quite odd; he wouldn't even talk of it openly in the streets. They had gone to a Mosque before the man would utter a thing about the book. He said that a stranger, an Eastern European stranger, had come to his shop, poking around. The stranger wanted to buy several books that he had come across.

FLASH BACK-

"My friend he was buying some books that I had seen our friend reading the last time she visited. I put them to the side so she could finish them if she ever returned. They were locked in a case near my counter. He asked to see them, and so I showed them. I can't explain why, but something told me not to argue with the man. He began to take out money; I told him they weren't for sell. He only replied that everyone has their price. He offered me double what the stack of books was worth. It was at least as much money as She would have given, he seemed to know this. And he passed this book to me. He said he wanted me to give it to her the next time I saw her, that it was a gift from a friend….how does he know her?"

END FLASH BACK-

His friend Adnan had been worried. He described the stranger vaguely. Eli knew the description; anyone who had heard would know it without thinking. The only difference between Adnan's description and the typical representation of the Eastern European stranger was that, Adnan's stranger had shorter hair….it just did brush the collar of his shirt…instead of hanging around his shoulders. Eli knew, as well, why this person was trying to reach out to her. He's the reason she hasn't gone back to Romania in years. If it hadn't been for that Gypsy woman hiding her for two or three days, he would likely have caught up to her. It's part of the reason that she picked the hospital closest to the Hagia Sophia to have her twins, Sofie and Emma; she named Sofie after the church in appreciation of the safety its proximity gave them.

The last thing Alecta needed to worry about now was that He was trying to find her now. Eli hoped that by keeping the book with his things back at his hotel room that it was far enough away that whatever sort of metaphysical Lojack that was on this book would be thrown off. Not to mention the fact that Eli had taken the liberty of wrapping the book in a scarf that had religious iconography on it; that should scramble a few signals. She wasn't strong enough to run right now. And she had children this time. Twenty or 25 years ago, packing a bag and getting the hell out of dodge was a logical option. She could run to any corner of the known world….but with kids. It got harder. And right now, she was not physically able to run far enough fast enough.

These are the worries that occupied Eli David's mind; he told Alecta and the two agents that he was going back to his hotel room for the night, but that he intended to be back tomorrow.

"Eli!" Alecta called quickly from the floor of the bathroom.

"Yes, Tzofiya?"

"Take this,' she flipped a medallion to him. "I know it's not your usual thing, but humor me alright? I have been having bad feelings."

Eli merely nodded, bowing to her before he left. He placed the medallion in his pants pocket. It was a Gypsy medallion, one of the ones that she received from that old woman. Did she suspect? Surely she had no idea…perhaps she was just nervous with all the things that have been happening lately. With that Eli took his leave gathering his coat and briefcase.

"What was that all about doll face?" Rossi seemed spooked.

"Just my gut telling me that something isn't quite right. Eli had a look in his eye. There was something…he looked sort of guilty, like he was hiding something from me. I guess he thinks I have enough to deal with just now so he didn't want to tell me. But something's not right. When I asked him about our friend, Adnan, he seemed to be startled that I would bring him up. Everybody in Israel knows how much I adore Adnan, including the director."

"Well, if he didn't tell you he must have thought he had a good reason. Just focus on getting better right now."

"Aye aye cap'n." With that Alecta leaned back over the toilet and tossed another load of cookies down the drain. A nurse came in to do another check on Lex and found her sitting in the floor, now on a pillow that Hotch had gotten for her to keep her from having to sit on the cold floor.

"What's going on here?" the young woman asked quietly.

"It seems that the baby doesn't like Fentanyl at all."

"Hmmm…I will let the doctor know about this and see what he might be able to change it to. Are there any medications that you are allergic to normally?" The nurse knew it seemed odd asking Alecta this now, but she had been virtually unconscious earlier, and there wasn't really anyone around that knew for sure.

"None that I'm aware of. I usually don't take a lot of medication anyway. So, I don't really know."

The nurse left to find the doctor as Alecta turned her attention back to the toilet.

"Remind me to never do this again."

"Which part? Get caught in a burning house, having wings carved into your back…"

"This whole getting pregnant thing. The next time I decide I want a kid….there has to be an easier way."

The sickness went on for another three hours non-stop. When she wasn't tossing cookies, she was having something smart to say about being in this position. Hotch and Rossi saw it all for what it was…a coping mechanism.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, she seemed like the bout of sickness was over. She was just asleep, resting her head on her arms which were folded across the edge of the toilet bowl. Hotch carefully picked her up, trying his best not to wake her. If he woke her would she be able to go back to sleep, or would she be sick again? It was a coin toss.

The doctor came in with a different sort of pain medication, 'I would have brought it sooner, but we had to wait until it was time for another dose."

"Well, now she's asleep, we don't want to wake her."

"No, of course not. I'll just set them here, off to the side. When she wakes up, one of you can see if you can get her to take them."

"Thank you doctor."

After speaking to the two agents a little more about what to possibly expect over the coming hours, the doctor made his exit.

Making sure that she was really out of it, Rossi turned to Hotch, 'When are we going to tell her about….?"

"Cinnamon and Moira?"

"Yeah."

Hotch pinched the bridge of his nose, in the area where the corners of his eyes met it, 'I don't know for sure. I want to wait until I know she's physically able to handle the strain. It'll hit her hard enough emotionally, she doesn't need to be hurting so bad that she can't cope with that. Besides, it's likely she already knows. She was there ya know."

"Yeah. I know."

Post AN: I may have ended it in an awkward fashion, but it seemed like a decent place to wrap this chapter up…didn't want to force it to go on if it didn't want to, didn't want it to come out too contrived…I know there may have been some spots that were pushing that as it was….hope all of you like it. Thanx.