She was walking up the steps to her apartment building when he spoke again.

"Hey Garcia?" he called, and she turned back around. She was sure that she was grinning like a fool, but she didn't care. "I've been thinking about doing this all night."

She didn't even have a chance to react before there was a bullet in her body.

8888

Ariel's P.O.V.

I was just singing Michael to sleep when Spencer came running into the nursery, as pale as a sheet.

Michael was a little over two months old now, and although it would still be a little while before we could get him fitted for hearing aids, I still sang to him every night. I barely had a chance to stop singing before Spencer spoke.

"Garcia's been shot."

I could feel the blood draining out of my face as I processed the words, and my husband ran over to take our son out of my arms in case I collapsed. But I didn't, surprisingly.

Instead, I took Michael back and started to get him dressed again. "We'll be ready in ten minutes." I told Spencer darkly.

8888

JJ was the only one that I saw in the waiting room when we arrived, and Spencer hurried over to her, with me hot on his heels. That was when Hotch came back over, his face an unreadable mask.

"She's in surgery." she told us, standing up. "There's no word."

"This is crazy." Spencer said, and I couldn't help but nod in agreement as I set Michael down in his baby carrier before unbuckling him. That thing was heavy, and holding onto it for so long was a work out. I knew that focusing on that was my way of ignoring the actual issue for the time being, but I was okay with that. I handed him over to Spence, and once he was settled, I moved past the others, towards the nurses' station.

"Does anyone know anything?" I heard Spencer ask, but that wasn't what bothered me at the moment.

Instead, I walked up to the nurses and smiled. "Hi." I said, getting the nurse's attention. "I was wondering about a patient that just came in… Penelope Garcia?"

"I'm sorry ma'am." she said immediately. "But I'm afraid that I can't give you any information about her status at the moment."

"No, that's not what I wanted." I reassured her quickly. "I actually wanted to get any and all medical bills out of the way now, if you don't mind."

She looked surprised. "Are you sure?" She asked me. "Those are going to be pretty expensive."

"Trust me, it's no issue. I just want to make sure that she has nothing to worry about when she gets out of the hospital." I answered her as I started to dig through my purse, looking for my wallet.

She didn't appear to be convinced. "Alright." she said slowly, and I flashed her a grin before giving her my bank information and heading back over to my family. Spencer had moved to sit in one of the hospital chairs with Michael held against his chest, and I moved to sit next to him.

"She's going to be ok, sweetheart." I said, trying to reassure myself as much as I was trying to reassure my husband. "Penny is a fighter - there's no way she's going down without a fight."

That was when Agent Rossi entered the room, with Emily hot on his heels. He seemed like a good man, if not a bit strict. I could have been wrong about that, though - I hadn't had much of a chance to get to know him yet. "What do we know?" he asked.

"Police think it was a botched robbery." Hotch answered.

"Where's Morgan?" Emily asked, and JJ answered.

"He's not answering his cell."

"I'll call him again." Spencer said, handing Michael over to me before pulling out his phone and dialing. I started bouncing around a bit, trying to soothe Michael, who had just woken up.

"What aren't you saying?" Rossi asked, and I stopped what I doing to listen to the answer.

"I spoke to one of the paramedics who brought her in." Hotch said softly. "It doesn't look good."

"They can't give me an update." JJ said as she walked back over. Meanwhile, my husband was hanging up his phone, shaking his head.

"Morgan's phone keeps going straight to voicemail." he said.

"Where the hell is he?" Prentiss asked, but the conversation about Derek Morgan reminded me of something.

"Does anyone know if her date is okay?" I asked, and everyone turned to look at me.

"What date?" Hotch asked.

"Why didn't any of us know about it?" JJ added, sounding a bit hurt.

I rolled my eyes as I explained. "Penny got asked out by some cutie in a coffee shop. She fixed his computer and he asked for her number. She just didn't tell you guys because she was afraid that you would have the same reaction that Morgan did."

"When did you find all this out?" Spencer asked me.

"Yesterday morning when we went out for lunch." I told him. "She was asking for advice on what to do, and I told her to go for it. Screw what high-and-mighty Derek Morgan thinks." I knew it wasn't the nicest thing for me to say, but I couldn't help myself. He had hurt Penelope, and now there was a chance that she could die and he wasn't here.

8888

It was at least another hour before Morgan showed up. I was coming back from the bathroom when I saw him, sitting next to JJ with his head in his hands looking like his entire world had just come crashing down. Up until that point, I had been planning on letting him have it as soon as I saw him. But he looked so depressed already that I could barely stand it, and so I went over and pulled him into a hug.

"She's gonna be okay, Morgan." I reminded him, echoing what I had told my husband hours earlier. "I promise."

That was when someone called out Penelope's name behind us. Both Hotch and Emily responded at the same time.

"The bullet went into her chest and richocheted into her abdomen. She lost a lot of blood. It was touch-and-go for a while, but we were able to repair the injuries."

"So what are you saying?" JJ asked.

"One centimeter over and it would have torn right through her heart." the doctor explained. "Instead, she could actually walk out of here in a couple of days." Sighs of relief were heard all around as he continued. "And I'd say that's a minor miracle. She needs her rest. You can see her in the morning."

"David and I will go to the scene." Hotch said, gathering the team around him. "I think the rest of you should be here when she wakes up. I don't care about protocol. I don't care whether we're working this officially or not. We don't touch any new cases until we find out who did this."

He and Rossi walked away, while the rest of the team and I settled back down in the waiting room, ready for the long night ahead.

8888

Michael and I had to stay out in the waiting room while the team talked with Penelope. Morgan was the first one out, and I watched in confusion as he walked over and punched a wall.

Spencer made a beeline for him. "You need to calm down." he said, and Morgan glared at him.

"Don't tell me how to be."

I walked over, balancing Michael on my hip. "What happened? Did she say?" I asked him, and he shook his head.

"Ariel, what do you remember about Garcia's mystery date?" Morgan asked me, and his face was unusually stern.

"I think she said his name was James… he works as a lawyer, I think. Other than that, not much. Why?"

"Because he was the one who shot her." he answered grimly.

A/N~ Thanks to ahowell1993, tlcroft, Momochan77, gossamermouse101, and tannerose5 for their reviews! After this part of the story is over, all that's left is the final chapter for this part of the Ariel & Spencer saga. Don't worry, though - there's still a lot of their story left to tell.