She's Back

Where's My Love

 Aaron was sitting in the waiting room of the hospital when the rest of the team ran in an hour after he had last seen them. They all were frantic and out of breath from running up the entrance's stairway.

"Excuse me, is there any news on Emily Prentiss yet?" Spencer asked the nurse at the waiting room desk. None of the team had seen Aaron yet; he was in the corner of the room, head in his hands, lost deep in thought.

The nurse shook her head with a small smile. "Not yet, they are still operating on her. The doctors will come out to let you know what's going on as soon as they're finished," she said reassuringly. The nurse looked around the half-empty waiting room before spotting Hotch in the corner. She pointed towards him. "Do you know that man over there? I believe he is here for Emily Prentiss too," she said. "Hotch?" Derek called, with concern in his voice. At this, Aaron looked up and saw his team standing and sitting in the chairs around him. Everyone was looking at him, their concerns and worries etched on their faces. They're waiting for me to reassure them that she's going to be okay, Hotch realized. But he couldn't do that.

"There was so much blood," Hotch muttered quietly, staring at his feet. Spencer bit his lip in worry as his eyes started to tear up; JJ turned and pulled him into an embrace, murmuring reassurances. Derek put his hands on his head and started to pace up and down the waiting room aisles. Rossi sat down next to Aaron and put a comforting hand on Aaron's back, not saying a word.

"Sabrina's still dealing with the press, she'll be here as soon as she can," Rossi said, though he knew Sabrina would be the last thing on Aaron's mind right now. His team members tended to forget that he had been profiling for longer than most of them had been alive, and for that reason he was quite adept at noticing stolen glances and tense conversations. Especially when they were between a certain BAU Unit Chief and a recently returned SSA.

It was another hour until the doors to the hospital slammed open again, and Penelope Garcia appeared. "How is she? How is my girl??" Penelope asked Derek. "Still no word, Baby Girl. I can't believe you were able to get here this fast," he said with a small smile. "Well, it helps having access to a private jet, but that's beside the point," Penelope responded. She took a long look at her team; JJ and Spencer were sitting next to each other silently and holding hands, staring at the doors to the surgical wing. Rossi was a few seats down from Hotch, who, for the first time since Penelope had known him, looked like he might break down in tears. Derek was standing next to Penelope and had a protective arm around her back, trying to be strong for her.

It was then that the doors finally opened and a doctor walked out in their cap and scrubs. "Is anyone here for Emily Prentiss?" he asked. "Yes, that's us," Hotch quickly answered. The doctor walked over to the anxious members of the BAU.

"Is she going to be okay?" Penelope asked before the doctor could get a word out. He smiled politely at the extravagantly dressed, frazzled woman. "Yes, Emily is going to be just fine. The bullet missed all the major organs, it just took us a while to get it out of there safely without damaging anything else," the doctor said. The relief among the team members was evident as everyone let out a long breath they didn't know they were holding. However, Aaron sensed there was something else the doctor wasn't saying.

"What are you not saying, Doctor?" Aaron asked in a low voice. The doctor took a breath. "Like I said, the surgery took longer than expected because we didn't want the bullet to damage any organs or old injuries in that area."

"Wait, wait, wait, what do you mean?" JJ asked in a confused voice.

"Well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I know you are all FBI agents, and I treated hundreds of FBI agents in my last job at a hospital in DC, but there were a terrifying amount of scars on Agent Prentiss's body, specifically on her back, stomach, and upper thighs." At this, the team went still, their minds trying to comprehend what the doctor was saying. "There was also a lot of scar tissue in her stomach that we had to fix, most likely from unhealed stab wounds," the doctor finished gently. He could tell by the looks on all their faces that this was a shock to them, so he tried to end on a good note. "Agent Prentiss is still sleeping for now, but you're welcome to see her," the doctor said and left the FBI agents sitting in the waiting room.

Spencer was the first to speak. "Did you guys know?" he asked in a small voice. "I just feel like she would've said something to us. I mean, she's been on the team for the last 5 years. How could she not trust us enough to tell us about her old scars?" Derek said, anger creeping into his tone.

"I don't know about you, but I certainly wouldn't want to relive the pain of any old injuries by telling people about them," Rossi offered sagely. JJ nodded her head in agreement. "If she didn't tell us, she must've had a good reason not to," she said. As his team members were talking, Aaron was looking around the room at each of them, noting the confusion and pain on their faces. As he got to Penelope, he realized that she was strangely quiet, which was odd since she was one of the most emotive and extroverted people on the team. She was typing furiously on her phone, not making eye contact with anyone else.

Aaron stood up and walked over to where Penelope was sitting. "Are you okay, Garcia? You're uncharacteristically quiet," Aaron pointed out. Garcia looked up with wide eyes and gave Hotch a quick smile and nod before going back to "typing" on her phone. "Yup, all good, considering everything." Aaron noticed the sweat that started to form on Penelope's forehead and that her hand holding the phone was shaking slightly.

"Garcia, do you know something about Emily?" Hotch asked. The rest of the team stopped talking to see what Garcia was going to say.

Penelope visibly swallowed. "No, sir, I'm just as shocked as you are," she said in an unconvincing voice. Derek walked over and sat down next to Garcia, "Penelope, Baby Girl, if you know something the rest of us don't, you need to tell us," he said softly. She just looked at him and sighed, still not saying anything.

Aaron kneeled down in front of Garcia, putting himself at face level with the technical analyst. "Garcia, what do you know," Aaron said the question instead of asking it, hints of anger and frustration lacing his voice. Derek put a hand on Hotch's arm. "Hotch, man, come on, we've all been through a lot tonight, no need to take it out on Garcia," he said, trying to get rid of the tension that suddenly appeared between Hotch and Garcia.

Garcia took a steadying breath and made direct eye contact with her boss. "Sir, I know you have a lot of questions - you all do. Yes, I do know how Emily got those scars. But, as her friend, I absolutely can not tell you what happened. I am very sorry, but I am going to go check in on my friend now and make sure she's okay," Garcia said in an uncharacteristically firm voice. And with that jarring statement, Garcia grabbed her purse and left her team members staring after her in confusion.