"Prentiss! Jareau!" Hotch called frantically over the radio. "Do you copy?"
The team was still a floor and three corridors away. Garcia barked directions in Reid's ear while Rossi and the team leader followed. Hotch's call was met with silence. "Garcia, get medics to 1147. Now!"
JJ couldn't breathe. Her lungs desperately tried to expand but couldn't find any air to inflate with. She watched helplessly as Emily tackled the redhead, fighting for her gun.
Emily knew JJ was collapsed against the wall, but instinct drove the adrenaline rushing through her veins. If she fired at Brazen, she risked hitting Morgan- who was passed out on the bed. Emily didn't have a clean shot. Instead, she lunged, wrapping both arms around the woman's shoulders and tackling her to the floor.
Emily landed on her injured arm, but ignored the searing pain as Brazen attempted to regain control of the gun. The women wrestled for it, Emily's own firearm ten feet away. Brazen saw the blood that had begun to soak the brunette's shit and used her elbow to punch Emily's shoulder. She yelped as Brazen managed to contort herself so that she was on top of Emily, the gun now in her possession and pressed against the agent's forehead.
The sound of JJ's hysteric scream pushed another course of adrenaline through Emily's blood stream. She head-butted the redhead so that a crack sounded across the room.
Brazen fell backward, her finger squeezing the trigger as she collapsed.
Emily dodged the rush of air whizzing past her face and rolled to gain control of the redhead. Brazen squeezed off another round, her vision too fuzzy to aim for anything other than the figure diving towards her. Emily knocked the gun from her hands, landing a fist sharply against the woman's jaw.
Brazen retaliated by biting the agents forearm and kicking her in the ribs with a knee. Emily winced but continued fighting, punching the woman across the face.
Hotch and Rossi blew through the door, their guns drawn and aimed at the duo wrestling on the floor. Hotch tried to get a clear shot but couldn't; Prentiss and the redhead were moving too much. Rossi glided over and retrieved Brazen's abandoned pistol.
"She's not armed!" Emily panted, avoiding the woman's fist. "A little help would be great." She dodged another blow, but couldn't evade another kick to the ribs.
"Prentiss, move!" Hotch commanded, his gun trained on the redhead.
Emily tried to retreat but Brazen pulled the brunette's body back onto hers, using Emily as a shield.
She struggled to breathe as Rachel's arm wrapped around her throat. Suddenly, a knife appeared and pressed into Emily's vest. "Hotch!" She cried. "Help!"
"Rachel Brazen, that's a federal agent!" Rossi bellowed. "Stop resisting and put your hands up!"
Brazen laughed and again tried to stab Emily. The blade punctured her Kevlar vest before Rachel pulled it out and jabbed it into the agents already-bleeding shoulder.
Emily screamed and collapsed against the woman, blood pouring over them both.
A hot echoed through the air as JJ fired her gun. Rachel sunk back into the carpet, releasing her hold on the brunette. Hotch and Rossi both approached cautiously, intently watching Rachel for any sign of movement.
Emily rolled off, clutching her shoulder with a shaking hand. "Thank God." She sighed, letting the world fade away.
"Good shot, JJ." Rossi nodded, clasping an arm around the blonde's back. "How are you holding up?"
Agent Jareau glared at both men. They were standing in Emily's hospital room, waiting for the agent to return from x-ray. "I wouldn't have had to take it of one of you had helped her." JJ was still furious that the men hadn't intervened.
Hotch grimaced. "I couldn't get a shot."
"Then why didn't you jump in there, at least?"
Rossi shrugged. "It was Aaron's call. But it wouldn't have gone much further, JJ. I promise."
The blonde shook her head, dismissing their apologies. Her own abdomen was tightly wrapped with an ace bandage; the bullet had lodged itself in her vest, bruising her already sore ribs.
Reid popped into the room, smiling. "Morgan's awake."
During the fiasco, Reid had gone back to the bar to apprehend the bar tender before he heard about the battle upstairs and bolted.
Rossi nodded. "Good. Is he okay?"
"Yes. They're keeping him overnight to be safe, but the doctor said he'd be fine." He glanced around. "Where's Emily?"
JJ answered, "X-ray."
"Why?"
JJ looked to Hotch and Rossi. "You want to explain it?"
Rossi sighed. "She got into a fight with the unsub, and they're making sure nothing is broken."
Reid picked up on the tension between the agents in the room. "Am I missing something?"
JJ glared. "The fight wouldn't have happened if one of them had stepped in. Emily was stabbed before I managed to take a shot."
The silence was cut off by a nurse knocking on the doorframe. "Everyone watch out." She ordered, wheeling the bed back into the room.
Emily was somewhat sedated, but whimpered softly at the throttling of the bed. JJ took her hand, bringing it to her lips, making Reid's eyes widen.
Rossi chuckled. "I guess JJ didn't tell you they're dating?"
Reid stumbled over his words. "No, but that's uh… good?"
JJ ignored his awkwardness and sat down beside her girlfriend. Man, did it feel good to sit.
"We'll be back in a bit, JJ. I'm going to go check on Morgan." Rossi asked gently. Do you need anything?"
She shook her head. "Thanks, guys."
Twenty minutes later, a doctor softly tapped the woman's shoulder to wake her.
"Agent?" He said. "I just reviewed the x-rays and nothing is broken. She's going to be pretty sore- well, you are too, actually. But she'll be fine with a few days of rest. She can go home whenever she wakes up."
JJ smiled gratefully. Nothing sounded better than going back to the hotel for a warm shower and a soft place to lay down. "Thank you, Doctor."
He nodded and added, "there will be a few prescriptions in the discharge paperwork for you both. Just s few things for pain and an antibiotic for Emily."
"What does she need that for?" JJ asked, suddenly more alert.
"It's just a precaution to ward off any chance of infection with her shoulder."
She sighed a breath of relief. "Okay. Thank you."