lullabies through the window

Seventeen: Evacuation

Hotch, Rossi, Emily, Morgan, JJ, and Penelope watched Spencer breathe unevenly. 

Even though his heartbeat would randomly slow or speed up, even though his breathing was forced and assisted, they felt calm knowing that he was here, and was most likely going to make a full recovery. At least he was breathing at all-- he had stopped breathing twice on the way to the hospital, and had coded three times during surgery. 

"Think he'll wake up tonight?" JJ whispered. 

Hotch shook his head. It didn't feel right to be smiling right now-- Spencer was still seriously injured-- but he was just so relieved that Spencer was safe now. "The doctors aren't sure. We're cleared to stay here tonight, so even when none of you go back home tonight, you should get some rest." 

"What about the unsubs? Charles got some pretty good shots in, I don't think Sarah could have made it without medical help. But Amber recovered from that shot to the shoulder that Spencer gave her without going to the hospital; if they fixed up Amber by themselves then I bet Margot made it out fine. That means two of them are still out there." Morgan said to Hotch. 

Hotch looked from Morgan to Spencer, then slowly back to Morgan.

"How tired are you?" Hotch asked. 

Morgan looked surprised. "I feel great. I... are we going to go find them?"

Hotch looked hesitantly at Morgan. "Yes, but I don't know if you should."

"What?" Morgan whispered-yelled. "They-- I can't just--"

"Derek, I know." Hotch reasoned. "But you just got away from the middle of a shootout. Spencer could wake up while we're gone and we need someone he really trusts here."

Morgan looked to Spencer's pale form, and nodded. "Yeah, okay." He said quietly.

"If we find where they took Spencer, we can probably find them." Emily said, standing up. "I'll come, Hotch."

He nodded, then looked to Rossi."If you're too tired--" He began.

Rossi interrupted. "No, I'm coming." 

JJ stood up, too. "I... I would usually stay. But this time, if it doesn't make the group too big, I wanna come. I wanna help end this." She clenched her jaw.

"Okay. Garcia...?" Hotch began to ask.

"Oh, no. I'm staying here. Definitely not coming." She whispered. 

Morgan smiled and took Emily's seat beside her.

The team waved silently and left the room.

"Be safe!" Garcia whispered after them.

Outside, they all climbed into one of their black SUVs. They had already reasoned that the place would be near to the address they had met the unsubs at, and narrowed it down to one abandoned hospital. They began to drive to it.

"How long do you think he'll just lay there like that?" Penelope whispered worriedly to Morgan.

"Like what?" He asked, standing up to see if Spencer was doing anything weird.

"No, like... like so still. The doctor said he wasn't in a coma, but even injured people who are asleep move. Especially Spencer, he always moves in his sleep. I haven't even seen a hand twitch. I just... I keep having to check the heart monitor to make sure he hasn't flat-lined."She admitted quietly. 

"I thought that was weird, too." Morgan admitted quietly. He sat down and rubbed his head, then turned to her and smiled, trying to keep any trace of worry off of his face. 

"Hey. Why don't you go find something in the gift shop for Spencer. Something to make him smile. Would that make you feel better?" He asked. 

She tried to suppress her grin. "...Yes."

Morgan stood up with her and pulled his wallet out. He handed her a wad of cash and whispered, "Don't come back with any of that, we need our genius to smile." She opened her mouth to answer and he interrupted, "Now, I know you can do that on your own, but you know what I meant." 

Morgan pulled her into a hug and she left smiling.

He took a seat by Spencer's bed and let out a sigh. The room felt so empty with Spencer's motionless body being the only company.

"She was right." Morgan thought back to Penelope's words. "He looks dead."

*************************************************************

The team had just arrived at the hospital with SWAT. It was too big of a space for them to yell FBI at the opening, so they had to yell it every so often as they searched the large building. 

"Hotch, I found something!" JJ called from a long way away. Hotch hurried to her.

"What is it?" He asked. In response, JJ led him into a surgery room. Blood was dried over the surface of it, and some still liquid drops dripped stickily in strings off the sides.

Hotch turned to a crime scene technician. "I want all of this processed." He said briskly. 

Emily walked to Hotch, momentarily stunned by the amount of blood. She recovered and said, "I think I found a torture room-- or something. There's a chair with cuffs covered in blood, and there's a ton of tools and stuff in the room."

Hotch nodded. "Okay, good. Or-- not good, but at least we have a better reason to believe they were here." 

As he said this, Rossi walked quickly over to their group. "We found Margot and Sarah." He said gravely. 

"Sarah's dead?" Emily asked. 

"Both of them are." Rossi sighed.

The team paused. 

"What about Amber?" JJ asked.

Rossi shook his head. "Nowhere to be found."

Penelope looked through the shelves and racks of colorful (overpriced) consolation gifts. She had picked out a few things, but knew that, even with the amount of tax being added, it was not enough to make sure Morgan didn't get any of his money back.

 But then an alarm began ringing. 

"What the--"

"There must be a fire!"

"Dammit, I just wanted to buy a balloon."

The people continued to grumble, scramble, and freak out when the PA System crackled to life. "A hostile intruder has entered the building. Please evacuate in a calm, orderly fashion. We have security guards overseeing and searching the building. Please wait to evacuate until the floor below you has exited the building."

Morgan jumped up in surprise, listening to the announcement. He looked over to Spencer.  He was still attached to a small CPap machine and a drip. He was properly hydrated again, and the doctors had informed them that his blood levels were normal. The floors below them would never evacuate in time. If worst came to worst, Morgan would have to carry Spencer and the CPap machine somewhere safer. 

"Hopefully it doesn't come to that..." Morgan thought, dialing Hotch's number.