After we finished I could barely breathe. Carefully, I got off of him, gasping for air as I steadied my hands onto his shoulders. As I swung my leg over his lap I heard him chuckle. Out of habit, I chuckled too, shaking my head as I plopped down next to him and dropped my hands. I closed my eyes and let out a satisfied sigh, hearing him shuffle around the bed beside me.

"You're so stupid," I whispered with a smile.

"I'm a certified genius who makes bad decisions, what can I say?"

I laughed again, clutching my stomach as I felt the pain in my body begin to ignite again. Throughout the entire time we had sex, despite how nice it felt, I couldn't help, but feel somewhat uncomfortable. Thanks to the multitude of injuries surrounding my body we had to get creative with positioning, so there was a lot of pausing. On more than one occasion we had to stop completely to readjust, transitioning to a slower pace to make sure I was okay.

"Is it illegal to have sex in a hospital bed?" I asked.

"Not technically, but I'm sure it's frowned upon," he responded.

I smiled and opened my eyes. As I did I noticed Reid moving to the edge of the bed, his bare ass peeking out from underneath the covers. I bit my lip and looked away, guessing he'd probably want some privacy. His body rose off the bed before he padded over to the bathroom.

Once he was gone I let out a heavy breath of air and adjusted the bed so that it was laying flat. After that I laid down on my back, staring at the ceiling as I listened to the sound of him getting dressed in the other room.

I felt weird. I brought my hands to my face, palming the sockets of my eyes as I tried to wrap my mind around what just happened. Reid and I had had sex and while that fact was obvious I couldn't help, but wonder what that meant for the future. We both said we didn't want to rush into anything. We wanted to be friends and take things slow and while I knew for a fact there were cases where friends had sex and they were fine, I figured that probably wouldn't be the case for us. There was too much history established; to many missed opportunities and what if's.

He closed the door to the bathroom and walked back over to the bed. Instead of getting inside he sat on the chair, letting out a small groan as his body made contact with the seat. When I looked over at him he smiled, reaching out his hand to grab mine and lace our fingers together. "Hey."

"Hi."

"How are you feeling?"

"Sore," I responded.

He snorted.

"But good."

"You should probably get some sleep."

I closed my eyes, giving him a small head nod. As much as I wanted to stay awake and spend more time with him I could feel my body drifting. After being tortured for days, followed by a having a couple of rounds of sex it was no surprise how dead my body felt. My muscles ached, along with the cuts and bruises as I rolled onto my side, still tightly clutching his hand in mine.

He stood up from the chair, leaning over the edge of the bed to place a quick kiss on my forehead. "Goodnight."

"Night," I mumbled.

When I fell asleep I dreamt of hands. The dream itself was foggy, the details fading in and out as my body moved throughout my vision. Everything was in third person, like my soul was floating aimlessly around my physical body. I was sitting in the dark, strapped to the same chair in the warehouse. Tears streamed down my face as a body of hands groped my torso, their fingers gripping at the skin. They pinched and pulled while I screamed, desperately trying to make it stop.

By the time I woke up it was morning. I shot out of bed, feeling my chest tighten as I looked around the empty room and started to panic. Where was Reid? What was happening? Why wasn't he here? I swallowed hard, throwing the covers off of my body as I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood up. The gash in my leg burned as I took a few steps toward the door. As I moved, his tall frame came into view, his eyes fixated on the two cups of coffee in his hands.

When he stepped inside he looked up, giving me a worried expression. "Are you okay?"

I swallowed hard, nodding my head. "Yeah, just, uh wanted to find you."

"You sure? You look pale." He narrowed his eyes in my direction, scanning my face.

I licked my lips and ignored his curious eyes. After the nice night we had I didn't want to ruin it by freaking him out so I didn't say anything. Instead, I grabbed one of the coffee cups and breathed in its scent. The second the burnt, sweet smell hit my nostrils I let out a relaxed sigh. I released a plume of air from my mouth, hoping to cool it down before I took a careful sip and smiled.

"I ran into one of the nurses in the hall," he paused to take blow on his drink, "she said Dr. Brandt wants to talk to you, but that afterwards you're allowed to leave."

"Really?" For some odd reason I was surprised. I knew my injuries weren't that bad, but for some reason a less than twenty-four hour stay seemed pretty minimal.

He nodded, bringing his cup to his lips again. As he did he closed his eyes tightly, quickly retracting the cup away as he cringed. "Ah, too hot," he grumbled. He smacked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, shaking his head in disgust. I laughed, causing him to give me a dirty look and walk past.

"You have to be patient," I smirked.

"You know this whole throwing my own jokes in my face gimmick you've been doing lately is getting old." He sat on the edge of the bed and smirked back, patting the space beside him.

I rolled my eyes and wondered over, moving slowly in order to not further stress my already damaged body. I sat down, immediately feeling his arm snake around my waist and pull me in. "You're the one who fell for the mean, awful woman," I pointed out.

He snorted, giving his head a quick shake before taking another sip.

"That's still a thing right?"

He raised his brow in response.

"You liking me?" I knew for a fact that he liked me. He wouldn't have had sex with me if he didn't. At the back of my mind though I second guessed it. In the end Reid was still a guy and even though I knew he definitely wasn't the type to fuck around I still felt like I needed a bit of confirmation.

"Well, given the fact that we had sex in this b-"

I threw my hand over his mouth, giving him an intense stare as I cocked my head towards the door. Reid furrowed his brow at me, pulling his face away from my hand as followed my eyes. Once he saw the man at the doorway he swallowed hard, a nervous expression filling his face as he sipped his coffee again.

As the man (who I assumed was Dr. Brandt) walked in, I prayed he hadn't heard. I smiled sweetly at him, pressing my lips together as I forced myself not to scream from potential embarrassment.

"Dr. Brandt," he introduced; a polite smile slowly forming across his face. "sleep well?"

"Mhm, yup."

He looked over at Reid, nodding his head as he brought the clipboard behind his back forward. He gripped it tightly, scanning the front page for a couple of moments before turning it over and clicking his tongue. "Alright, well, Mr. Reid if-"

"Doctor," I corrected.

"Yes?" Brandt looked over at me, narrowing his eyes curiously.

"No, no," I shook my head, immediately realizing the confusion. I placed my hand on Reid's shoulder. "He's a doctor."

"Oh, uh," Brant cleared his throat, "I see."

I realized how awkward I was being, so instead of continuing to linger in silence I let out a quick sigh and apologized. "Sorry, uh, what were you saying?"

"I was going to ask Dr. Reid if he'd mind leaving for a moment so you and I could discuss some things in private."

I shook my head. "Nah, it's cool if he stays." I gave Reid's thigh a quick pat, watching as he gave me a quick smile.

"Oh, is he your partner?" We both kind of looked at each other, our mouths slowly opening. Obviously we hadn't really talked about it, which made things awkward. Despite that though, in the end, we both just shrugged and sipped our drinks, looking back over at Brandt who sighed. "Alright, well..."

Brandt gave me a quick run down on how the healing process would go in regards to my injuries. According to him I'd have to take some time off, which was something I figured would happen regardless, and get lots of bed rest. Along with that he suggested I'd get in contact with some sort of support group or therapist, claiming that often times people who suffered the same trauma I had often sometimes struggled to readjust to a normal lifestyle. Something I obviously already knew. Near the tail end of the conversation he pulled a couple of pamphlets out from the back of his clipboard, giving me a quick run down on how to properly contact each facility. After the second one though, I stopped listening, giving Reid a subtle eye roll as I sipped my coffee.

As much as I hated to admit it I knew getting help was probably a good idea. People didn't just heal from trauma overnight and given the nightmare I'd already woken up from this morning I knew I wasn't going to be an exception.

After rattling on for a couple of minutes Brandt finally finished his spiel, offering the coloured booklets to me. I took them without a word, believing it was better to just be polite and nod rather than making the scene. I gave the pamphlets a quick look over, sighing heavily at the thought of having to potentially talk to someone other than Reid about my problems.

"I'll write a prescription to help deal with your pain." He took a pen from his coat pocket, scribbling onto a notepad attached to the top corner of his clipboard.

"So I'm good to go?"

He ripped the sheet of paper away and nodded, handing the prescription my way. "Just check with Linda out front. She'll be able to approve the discharge and set up an appointment for you to come back to get your stitches removed." He pointed to the gash on my leg, which despite looking pretty mangled, only hurt a bit.

"Sounds good, thanks doc." I looked down at the prescription curiously, narrowing my eyes at the messy writing as Brandt said a quick goodbye and wandered out. "What does this even say?" I offered the paper to Reid who gave it a quick once over.

"It's just a higher dosage of acetaminophen mixed with codeine," he responded, handing it back.

"How can you read that?"

He shrugged his shoulders and took a sip.

After that we got ready to go. Apparently while I was sleeping Penelope dropped off a bag of stuff she thought I might need. I grabbed it and wandered into the bathroom, curiously fishing through to find a clean set of clothes, along with my phone and wallet. Without even thinking I grabbed my phone and turned it on. As I waited for it to boot up I carefully got dressed, cringing at the pain as I slipped on a pair of sweatpants.

When I was fully dressed I threw the bag over my shoulder and grabbed my phone again, staring at the screen as I opened the bathroom door and wandered to Reid's side.

"Ready to go?" He asked.

I nodded my head, my eyes still fixated on the screen which had been taken over with notifications. I checked through my missed texts, sighing at the vast amount of names that popped up. I figured most of these were probably texts wondering where I'd been. I read a couple, frowning at the amount of worry laced in each message. I couldn't imagine how everyone felt; how scared the must've been.

Reid sighed beside me, pulling me into his chest. "C'mon, you can read them when you get home."

I looked up, realizing he was right. I threw my phone back into the bag and started walking towards the door. Reid's palm fell from my shoulder, slowly sliding down my arm to grab my hand and pull me backwards. I let out a surprised sound and raised my brow.

Instead of responding he stepped forward and placed a kiss on my lips. When he pulled away he smiled and moved forward, gently dragging me out into the hall. I tightened my grip on his and smiled, watching him dart around the bodies of nurses as he lead us to the front desk. When we got there a middle aged woman with fiery red hair and pink scrubs sat in front of the computer, giving us a warm smile as she asked us what was up.

After a small conversation and an ID check I was officially discharged and given a return appointment to get my stitches removed. Once it was all over I thanked her and followed Reid out towards the front of the building. "Where's your car?" I asked.

He ignored me and pulled out his phone, glancing at the screen before looking back up and scanning the parking lot. Once he found what he was looking for he pulled me forward, his long legs moving quickly as we made our way to a black SUV. In the front seats sat Morgan and Garcia who immediately jumped out to greet me. Without hesitation, Garcia pushed her way through Reid, completely ignoring the holdings of our hands as she pulled me in for a tight hug and sighed. "Oh, I missed you so much," she said.

I groaned in pain, feeling her grip on me loosen. She gave me a meek smile, muttering a quick apology as Morgan came up behind her and smiled. Instead of hugging me he opted to give me a had pat, running his hand down to the roots of my hair as we glanced over at Reid who looked only a little jealous.

"How you kids doing?" Morgan's eyes darted between the two of us, eventually landing on our interlocked hands. Almost instantly we both let go, staring nervously at Morgan who cocked his brow upward and held back a smile.

I cleared my throat, feeling the uncomfortable tension grow. Reid looked over and swallowed, quickly nodding his head as he racked through his brain for the right words to say. Eventually he settled on, "good," and silently hopped into the backseat of the vehicle.

Garcia followed suit, thankfully being too excited about my discharge to catch on.

Morgan however, knew right away, his once hidden smile appearing in front of me. I rolled my eyes in response and moved towards the open door, gripping the handle aggressively. "Shut up," I mumbled.

He raised his hands up in defence, watching as I slid in and closed the door. After that he walked around to the driver's side and opened the door. The second he did I saw Reid tense up, moving farther away from me as he watched Morgan get inside and throw on his seatbelt. I tried not to laugh at his sudden nervousness, opting to look away and scan the hospital parking lot. I couldn't wait to get home.

Unfortunately though, home wasn't our first stop. As Morgan drove I watched him turn down a series of familiar roads, sighing angrily once I realized we were headed to the BAU. Even though I knew it was coming I still hoped I'd be able to rest a bit first. Maybe talk to Reid about last night, before having to talk about Kane and what had happened between us.

When we arrived I mentally groaned, reaching for the door handle lazily. We filed out together and made our way inside. As we headed towards the elevator though, I heard a familiar voice screaming my name, causing me to turn on my heel and narrow my eyes.

"Oh, my god, she lives!" Cooper scurried over to my side, uncharacteristically pulling me into a tight hug.

I looked over Reid, giving him a confused look as Cooper went off about how scared he was when I'd gone missing and how he was afraid that I would be his next science project. As he spoke I couldn't help, but laugh. I pulled away, placing my hands on his shoulders as his voice slowed and eventually stopped.

"I missed you too, Dick."

"Okay, I didn't say that I missed you," he pointed out, "I said that I was glad you were alive. If you died I would've had to find another replacement a-"

I rolled my eyes; cutting him off, "while I appreciate the concern I'm sure you would've found someone just fine."

Before he could respond Morgan cleared his throat, causing us to both glance over. Cooper understood immediately, giving me one last hug before saying a quick goodbye and running towards his office. Once he was out of earshot I laughed, shaking my head as I followed the rest of the group into the elevator.

"He's so weird," Garcia muttered.

"Yeah, but he means well." I shrugged.

We rode the elevator up, moving through towards the office once the doors opened. As we walked in I saw Rossi and JJ standing near Hotch's office, talking amongst themselves as we made our way up to meet them.

"Hey guys," Morgan gave the two of them a nod, watching as they turned their attention to us and smiled.

"You're finally out," JJ responded, opening her arms for a hug. I walked into them, feeling them wrap around my back lightly. She snuggled her face against mine, letting out a happy sigh once she pulled away and offered me over to Rossi.

"Glad you're safe," he said. He hugged me too, placing a quick kiss on my cheek before pulling away.

"Is Hotch in there?" I pointed to the doorway.

Without missing a beat Hotch appeared at the doorway. He gave the group a quick scan, nodding his head at Reid who nodded back. Once they finished their exchange he looked over at me. "You mind if we talk?"

I shook my head and brushed past, feeling the curious gazes of the rest of them as I walked into the office and Hotch closed the door. Once we were alone I walked over to the empty chair across from his desk and plopped down, letting out an exhausted sigh.

I knew I was here to talk about what happened, something the BAU did with all the victims. I figured, due to the nature of my relationship to the case though, this was probably going to be a bit different. So, to prepare I settled into my seat, watching intently as Hotch walked around to the other side of his desk and sat down.

"So..." I popped my lips together nervously, glancing around the room.

"How are you feeling?"

I shrugged my shoulders and leaned back. "Good, I guess, given the circumstances," I replied, "I'm tired and sore, but I'm guessing this conversation isn't really about physicality's is it?" I raised my brow.

Hotch snorted and shook his head. "No, it's not."

"Okay, well, in that case, mentally I don't know how I am," I responded honestly. It'd only been twenty-four hours and while what happened was still fresh in my mind, I'd had enough distractions to keep myself busy.

"Obviously I know you're familiar with how the body deals with trauma so I don't need to explain it to you, but are you feeling any particular effects?"

I nodded. "I had a nightmare last night," I paused, trying to think, "obviously I'm pissed off, but when am I not." I laughed. When Hotch didn't respond I cleared my throat. "I, uh, feel pretty gross. What happened in that place sucked and even though I know it's over I know that mentally I'm going to have a hard time processing it for a while."

"Healing does take time," he agreed.

"I know," I nodded, "but I also know how impatient I am, so..."

This time he chuckled and leaned back in his seat. "Well, I'm here to support in any way I can and I'm sure the rest of the team would say the same."

"Yeah," I agreed.

"I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but whenever you're ready I'd like to discuss the events of what happened." Hotch swallowed hard, scanning my face.

Like everything else about this conversation his request wasn't much of a surprise. In order to fully understand what I was going through he needed to know what happened. Without hesitation I told him, knowing how safe I was in his hands. As I spoke I forced myself not to cry, relaying all the details I could possibly remember as I recounting the four days I spent knocking on death's door. When I finished I felt the tightness in my chest begin to loosen. I bit my lip and wiped my slightly teary eyes, thanking Hotch for listening.

"Is there anything I can do to help, right now?"

I shook my head. "Honestly, all I want to do is go home and have a shower."

He understood. At that point I figured I was free to go so I stood up and wandered around the desk to hug him. "If you need anything please don't hesitate to ask," he said.

I pulled away and smiled. "Will do, boss."

"I'm not your boss," he chuckled.

"Would you rather I call you dad?" I suggested.

"Please don't, I get enough of that from Garcia," he rolled his eyes, holding back a grin.

"Boss it is then." I concluded.

After one last shoulder pat, I left the office and walked down the ramp to see the rest of the group standing near the coffee machine. I wandered over and stood next to Reid, glancing over as his body tensed up at the sight of Morgan raising his brow. I forced myself not to laugh and turned to Morgan shaking my head.

"Want me to drive you home?" Morgan asked.

"I can," Reid piped up, "Garcia you dropped off my car here last night?"

Garcia nodded, sipping the cup of tea in her hand as she flashed him a pleasant smile.

"Well, okay," Morgan responded, sounding fake surprised.

The rest of the group remained silent. I figured at this point it was pretty obvious what was going on, but thankfully, like always, they didn't mention it.

Reid and I said our goodbyes. I gave everyone one last quick hug, relishing in the amount of love I felt radiating through my chest. Once we finished we made our way to the elevator, stepping in when the doors opened. Reid pressed the button to get us to the main floor while I leaned against the wall and sighed.

"Sorry about being weird," he said.

I smiled. "It's fine. I know how Morgan is."

"I know," he responded, "I just didn't want you thinking I'd changed my mind or something."

I took a step closer to him, turning my body to face his as I wrapped my arms around his neck and pushed my body against his. The second our chests touched I felt his heartbeat quicken. His eyes darted around the elevator as his hands snaked around my torso, eventually finding their way to the small of my back. When he looked back at me I smiled, planting a quick kiss on his lips before the doors opened.

"What was that for?" He asked.

I shrugged and gave his chest a quick pat before grabbing his hand and leading him outside.