A/N: Sorry it's been so long! More to come! Review pretty please :)

Penelope Garcia thought she might throw up. She hadn't meant to eavesdrop. She didn't even know Will would be in the hall with Rossi and Hotch. She simply hated leaving her baby genius so soon and wanted to keep him company.

But then she heard it.

SVU. Special Victims. Of course, she thought, Reid was a victim, and he was special, but not that kind of special. Not the SVU kind of special. Because that kind of special meant…

Stop.

They're profilers. Somebody would've said something by now.

But Reid's a profiler too. And a genius. He knows how to keep a secret.

STOP.

"Penelope? Are you alright?"

Rossi's voice brought her back to reality, and she realized she must have looked quite strange staring into space in the hallway.

"What? Oh, just fine, my silver fox. I was hoping to go back in there and get some time with boy wonder. Any idea when he'll get to go home?"

"Doctor said probably tomorrow. They still want to keep him under observation."

"Right. Right, of course."

They stared at each other for what felt like forever before Penelope spoke again.

"Sir?"

"Hmm?"

"If there were something, I mean, something really bad that happened to one of us, it would be important for all of us to know, right? So we could help?"

"Yeah, I guess. Are you referring to something in particular?"

"No, no. Just a thought. You know, thanks to the situation."

It wasn't a very convincing answer, but it didn't matter. Rossi knew the jig was up.

XXXXXXXX

"Knock, knock."

"Hey, Garcia."

"Aw, darn," she started, but promptly pressed her jaw shut. She was going to comment about hoping to see Reid's "cute little tush" in the backless hospital gown, but given what she had potentially just learned, she was glad she caught herself.

"What was that?" Reid looked up questioningly from the hospital bed, dressed in what she noticed were the sweatpants and "State of Virginia" t-shirt JJ had bought from the gift shop.

"I said, uh, darn, because I, uh, forgot the teddy bear I bought for you." Smooth, Penelope, real smooth.

"Oh," Reid smiled softly. "Well, we can get it when I get out of here, right?"

"Of course, sweetheart. Which will be really soon, by the way. Probably tomorrow."

"That's good, thank you."

They were saved from an awkward silence from another knock at the door. They both turned to see it was the nurse assigned to Reid.

"Sorry to interrupt, I just need to change Dr. Reid's bandages."

"Right, of course. I'll be back later," Garcia said, kissing her hand and pressing it to the younger man's forehead.

XXXXXXXX

When she returned to the waiting room, Penelope realized that it looked more like the BAU's new makeshift command center. Glancing around the room, she saw Hotch and Tara sitting on the uncomfortable hospital chairs, facing each other, and Morgan leaning against the wall clutching a cup of coffee for dear life, Rossi standing against the other end of the wall, doing the same thing, and Will and JJ standing off to the side, speaking in hushed tones.

"I've worked with Special Victims before, Will. All their victims are either victims of rape, or neglected or missing children. And since Spence isn't a child…"

"Cher, I told you, he didn't say anything to me. Spencer's a genius. He knows not to lie during statements."

"What if he did? I mean, what if it happened to you? Would you honestly be comfortable being honest about that?"

"Jen, I don't-"

"Do you think he was raped?" JJ interrupted.

"I don't know what I think. What I do know is that if it did happen, Spencer's not going to tell one of you."

If looks could kill, Will would be a dead man. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? We're his family. We're here to protect him."

"That's just it, JJ. I know you love him. You all do. But if he told you something like this, you-you would treat him like a child. He's an adult. And right now, I think he wants to be treated like one."

"Well what the hell are we supposed to do? Just sit here and not suspect anything?!"

"I think Rossi knows something. And Hotch maybe. Just try and stay calm, cher. Everything will work itself out eventually. We'll figure this out, I promise."