"If you have chemistry, you only need one other thing. Timing.... but timings a bitch"
-Unknown-

Maya doesn't move. She doesn't wake up, or even bat an eyelid. Her body is limp, and breathing is slow. Derek holds his head in his hands and lets out a scream of agony as he holds Maya's body in his arms, not wanting to let go. And not wanting her to let go.

"Maya!"

The paramedics were driving quickly to the hospital and Derek just finished calling the team to inform them on what happened. "Maya, can you hear me?" One of the paramedics asks as him and his colleagues scramble around in the back of the vehicle, putting an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth.

Derek holds Maya's hand tightly as the paramedics feel her pulse. "Pulse is still shallow" The women announce to her fellow workers as Derek fights the sob that wants to escape him. Maya's fingers begin to twitch, but blood still seeps from her shirt and her eyes are still closed, not showing any true signs of waking up.

"Come on, come on" Derek whispers to himself as they use a light to check Maya's pupils and sees she is responding well, but her pulse still isn't picking up. "Make sure the hospital has an OR ready!" One of the paramedics' shouts as they arrive at the hospital, kicking the back doors open and strolling Maya inside where multiple trauma doctors and nurses rush over.

A doctor uses his stethoscope to listen to Maya's heartbeat and she barley has one. "How long has she been like this?" The doctor asks one of the paramedics as they move Maya to her own trauma bed. "Since we arrived, doc, so for about 10 minutes" The paramedic answers and the doctor widen his eyes secretly.

"The women is a fighter. Get her to OR2 now" The doctor orders as he wraps his stethoscope around his neck and snatches off his surgical gloves. "Is she going to be, okay?" Derek asks, wishing he could do more for Maya as she lays on the hospital bed helpless.

"We're going to do everything we can" One of the nurses says as they stroll Maya out of the room and straight pass Derek.

Derek wanders out into the hallway, looking down at his blood-soaked clothes when Natalie is the first to arrive, "Derek! What happened to my sister?!" Natalie asks frantically, rushing up to Derek, who has blood staining his clothes and no way of getting it off.

"Who shot my sister, Derek!?" Natalie asks, demanding to know the answer, but Derek shakes his head, his breathing ragged. "I---I don't know. I don't know" Derek says as he takes a step, and his body begins to wobble to the side. Natalie gasps and grabs onto Derek's shoulder, leading him to one of the chairs.

"Whe--where's the team?" Derek asks, "Rossi, Reid and Tara are at the office since the police got their first. Hotch, JJ and Garcia are on their way here now" Natalie states as Derek nods his head slowly.

__________

At the office, Rossi looks down at the shattered glass before looking at the tall parking garage building right across from them and see's it's enough open access on the roof for a sniper.

"Whoever this guy is, he's organized, but it's hard to tell if the bullet was meant for Maya" Tara says as she picks up the bullet casing from the ground since Maya was shot through and through.

"That's a large bullet, it was meant for someone" Rossi states as he calls Garcia, who is riding in the car with Hotch and JJ. "Garcia, I need you to try and get some security footage from the camera at the office and see if there is any at the parking garage. The unsub definitely shot from across the street" Rossi orders as he hears Garcia typing on her laptop through the phone.

"A lot of agents went home for the night, but a few people a few stories down heard the shot, but it was faint" Reid states, walking into the room after questioning fellow agents and colleagues at the office.

"I looked at our security footage already and I only seen a vehicle drive out onto the street moments after the shooting, but I'm search for the parking garage ones now" Garcia states before Rossi hangs up the phone, giving Garcia time to search as Hotch, JJ and she arrive at the hospital.

"Morgan!" JJ calls out as she rushes over, Hotch and Garcia following behind as JJ greets Morgan with a hug he truly needed. "Where is she?" JJ asks, her eyes clouding with tears.

"Surgery. They haven't come and talk to me" Derek says as he looks to Hotch, who sends him a comforting nod while Garcia sets her laptop down for a moment.

"I'm searching security footage as we speak. I'm so sorry" Garcia says before she wraps her arms around Derek, feeling him weakly hug her back, but she didn't care as long as she was caring for him in some way.

"Garcia, continue the search" Hotch orders and Garcia nods her head as she grabs her laptop off of the seat and urges Derek to follow her to a waiting room.

Natalie watches Derek walks off and stands next to Hotch and JJ. "He's barley said a word since I got here. He's not doing good" Natalie informs as Hotch puts his head down sadly, knowing Maya means a lot to Derek and for him to be there when she was shot is probably sending too many emotions through his body.

"He's not going to be able to handle this case" Hotch says and JJ looks over at him, knowing Derek won't like that decision. "Hotch, Maya would do the same for him. He's going to be upset" JJ defends.

"Maya did do the same for him because believe it or not, Maya is tougher than all of us. She's able to put her emotions aside and deal with the hardships. Derek is a wreck and he'll continue to be until Maya makes it out of surgery" Hotch argues and JJ doesn't even try to rebuttal because she and Natalie know he's right. Maya worked hard to find Derek up until she had to go to the hospital.

"You didn't say if" Natalie says, recalling Hotch's rant. "Like I said, she's tougher than all of us" Hotch states, knowing he didn't make a mistake when he said, 'when Maya makes it out of surgery'.

__________

"Sit, please" Garcia says as Derek paces around the room nervously and anxiously. "I was there with her-- I was an easy shot. This is the second bullet she's taken for me so if she dies--" Derek rants until Garcia cuts him off, "She won't. You can't think like that" Garcia states as Derek looks towards around the waiting room, his breathing heavy.

"I need them to tell me how she is" Derek says he sniffles in his tears. "They're working on her. They'll let you know when they're done" Garcia reassures, accepting Derek's anger and sadness because she knows it's for a valid reason.

Suddenly, Hotch enters the waiting room and Garcia grabs her laptop and starts to leave, wanting to hug Derek while also giving him his space. "You got something?" Derek asks and Hotch makes sure Garcia has left.

"You can't investigate this case" Hotch informs immediately as Derek is left shocked and speechless. "Excuse me? Like hell I can't" Derek argues before Hotch explains to Derek that he's a witness and a target, which he has been for the past 6 months.

"You of all people can't ask me to sit this out" Derek states, shaking his head. "But I am, Morgan. It's too personal" Hotch states, saying the honest truth. "But it wasn't personal when Foyet attacked your family!?" Derek shouts before he realizes what he's just said.

"It was... and look how that turned out" Hotch says as silence falls between the two men. "I'm sorry, but I care about her Hotch, and someone tried to kill her, and I can't sit back" Derek says before Hotch gives his final answer that Derek shouldn't and won't be working on the case tonight.

Natalie walks through the halls of the hospital, going to check on Derek in the waiting room and when she turns the corner, she sees Derek angrily leaving the room and roughly tossing sutures kits across the hall. Natalie goes to reach for Morgan, but he continues walking.

Natalie then turns her head and locks eyes with Hotch, who looks like he just gave Derek the bad news.

__________

In their mobile office at the hospital, the team learns that there were no security cameras on the roof the shots were fired from. Hotch also finds out that after Derek and Maya were put on a leave, they all continued to work on the case because for some reason they just knew it wasn't completely over.

Derek had found only so much information while Garcia checked into family history of the people who abducted him and came up with a long family tree of assassins and turns out, Giuseppe Montolo's family line is the shortest since his mother died when he was young, and his father was killed in a bank fire last year.

"Wait, wait" Natalie pauses as she has Garcia zoom into the pictures of the news article about Chazz Montolo"s, who is Giuseppe's father, death.

"When did Giuseppe die?" Natalie asks as Reid quickly reads the article.

"A week before his father's death" Reid says, his voice filled with confusion as he looks around at the team.

"I'm not the only one who thinks that's not a coincidence, right?" Natalie wonders, looking around at the team, who is slowly starting to see where she is going. "Whoever poisoned him also killed his father" Tara says confidently, but Hotch shakes his head, "Or he staged his own death so nobody would come looking for him..."

__________

"It hurts--" Maya states as she gets the taste of a tangy substance and realizes it's blood. "It's okay, just stay with me, baby" Derek begs before Maya's eyes flutter close and she loosens her tighten grip on his jacket. "Maya, baby?" Derek questions, slightly shaking her limp body in his arms as the sounds of ambulance sirens ring out through the area.

Maya doesn't move. She doesn't wake up, or even bat an eyelid. Her body is limp, and breathing is slow. Derek holds his head in his hands and lets out a scream of agony as he holds Maya's body in his arms, not wanting to let go. And not wanting her to let go.

"Maya!"

A loud gasps escapes Maya's lips as she wakes up in a hospital bed, but when she looks down at her clothes she's dressed in the same shirt and jeans she was in wearing when she was shot. She notices a large red stain on her shirt and looks around the room and it's warily quiet.

"Hello?" Maya calls out, but no one answers.

She removes herself off of the hospital bed and opens the door to leave. She turns to look back at the hospital bed, making sure she's not missing anything and proceeds to walk out of the room backwards.

Her boot hit the hard wood floor before the sound of her boots hitting the floor is nonexistent. Maya furrows her eyebrows in confusion as she turns around and she's at a place she never wanted to be at again. Her childhood home.

"Mom! No!" A little girl, who seems to be around 12 or 13, screams as she watches the man, she cared about continuously hit her mother. He hit her until he saw blood. He hit her until she wasn't able to fight back anymore. He hit her until her skull cracked beneath his hand and he felt no remorse. No sadness. He was only afraid of getting caught by the police and not upset about the life he took.

"You killed her! You killed my mother!" She cried out as she leaned over hugging her little brother who was cuddled up in the corner because he was afraid. "Hey! Shut your mouth!" The older man shouted as he walked over to the little girl with blood staining his hands. "Get away! Get away!" She screamed.

"No.." Older Maya mumbles as she covers her mouth her hands and watches the horrible scene she lived through and continues to happen right before her eyes.

"I- I can't breathe... Stop- Stop" The young girl choked out. "I always hated you, Maya! I knew you'd never live up to my expectations!" The man shouted at his daughter. His daughter Maya Regan. "P-Please" Young Maya begs but she was too young and too weak to take on her father. Her crazy father.

Suddenly, police sirens ring in the distance catching the father off guard and he quickly let go of his daughter's neck. His daughter collapsed on the ground, gasping for air. "Shit! Shit!" The father yells as he looks around the room frantically, but the police have already broken down the door. Maya was weak but she managed to crawl to her brother and hold his hand. His small hand.

"I shouldn't have done that to you" Maya hears from beside her and when she looks over it's her father. The same guy who wrapped his hands around her throat and had the intent to kill her just like he killed her mother.

"Why am I here?" Maya asks as she looks around, the memory of the night that changed her life fades away.

"Because you're dying, Maya" Her father states and Maya shakes her head as she looks down her blood-soaked shirt. "No, people care about me. I-- I have to go back to Derek" Maya says, swallowing a fearful lump in her throat as she looks to her father, who moves closer and closer towards her.

"It's about time you be with the person who made you the person you are today" Her father says before he tackles her to the ground, causing a groan to escape her and when she opens her eyes she sees her brother, Thomas hovering above her now and they are in the same childhood home except it is now burnt to the ground.

"Thomas?" Maya questions as she pushes her brother away and looks up at him, his back now turned to her. "You remember what happened here. When Delilah betrayed me, and you shot me in the same spot you lay right now" Thomas says, his back remaining turned as smoke surrounds his body as if it's steaming off of him.

"I'm sorry. You weren't going to stop. I-- I had to" Maya says, her voice shaking as she proceeds to stand to her feet and hears a click. Like the click of a gun.

"No more excuses. It's time you suffer!" Thomas shouts as he turns around, a gun pointed towards Maya and Maya's eyes widen as she sees Thomas's burnt flesh and the smoke still steaming off of his body, in the condition he was in after the explosion.

Thomas proceeds to fire multiple shots, causing Maya to fall onto the ground, her eyes forcing shut.

Once Maya's breathing steadies, she realizes she's okay and starts to open her eyes and sees a large chandelier shining above her. "What?" Maya questions quietly before she turns her head and sees a dead body with his eyes open lying right next to her.

"Ah!" Maya shrieks as she feels someone grab onto the collar of her shirt and pull her up. She furrows her eyebrows in confusion as she sees Jospeh Perez holding her up with blood running down his face, but still remaining recognizable.

"You've gotten weak. If you were still with me, you wouldn't scream at the sight of a dead body you killed!" Joseph shouts as he throws Maya onto his desk, her back hitting the hard wood roughly.

"How come you get to survive, but me, my daughter?! Have to die because of you!" Joseph shouts as Maya breaths heavily, looking down at his hands that continue to grip her shirt and she remembers when those hands would touch her without her permission. She remembers when those lips kissed her for the first time, and she got an eerily feeling in the pit of her stomach, but he just wouldn't stop.

"Your time has finally come, and you'll be here with the rest of us" Joseph states before Maya grabs a vase off his desk and slams it against his head, watching as his body falls to the floor. But she doesn't stop there. She continues hitting him until she was too exhausted to keep going.

Maya lifts her head up and Joseph is no longer under him, and she is no longer in his office. She's somewhere else. Somewhere beautiful. She was sitting on a white bench as she looked out onto a garden of purple and white flowers.

"I wish I got to see you grow up" A women says as she rocks back and forth on the bench, sitting right next to Maya. Maya looked to the women who had dark brown hair like her own and she looked a little bit older. "Mommy?" Maya asks, tears instantly falling down her cheeks as the women turns to look at her and it's a very familiar face. She didn't have any blood on it, and it wasn't caved in like how the police found it.

It was the face Maya forced herself to see. The gorgeous sight of her mother. "Don't listen to what they say, honey. You don't belong here even if I miss you so much. I'm always with you" Her mother states and Maya wraps her arms around her mother with happiness and reassurance running through her.

"Go be with that wonderful man of yours. Give me grandbabies" Her mother whispers softly as Maya sobs into her mother's shoulder, inhaling her familiar scent.

"I love you, mom" Maya informs as she pulls away from her mother and watches as her mother places a hand on her cheek, "I love you more."

Suddenly, her mother's body starts to disappear until it's no longer and Maya is left looking at the beautiful garden all by herself...

__________

"I remember one time when we were little. It was my first-time meeting Maya and it's the first time I seen my dad not angry," Natalie reminisces as she sets down the flowerpot next Maya's bed, the flowerpot containing white and purple flowers, "She hated me, but when we went to the park our father was off... being himself and someone came up to me and pushed me. I had problems with that kid before, but Maya instantly came over and beat the kid's ass" Natalie states as Derek chuckles whilst holding onto Maya's hand tightly as he examines her heartbeat on the monitor.

"I thought she was so cool. I still do" Natalie says as she pushes a strand of hair behind Maya's ear and sniffles in her tears.

As Derek holds onto Maya's hand, her fingers begin to twitch in his hold. Derek knits his brows together in confusion as he looks up at Maya and notices her eyes starting to flutter.

"I think she's waking up" Derek says as he quickly stands to his feet and hears Maya let out a soft gasp before he eyes open and start to adjust to the bright hospital lights.

"Maya?" Natalie questions before a groan escapes Maya's mouth, "What happened?" Maya asks as Derek lets out a sigh of relief.

"You, um, you got shot" Derek states and Maya rolls her eyes in annoyance, "Again?" Maya questions jokingly, allowing Natalie and Derek to burst out into laughter before she turns her head and sees the white and purple flowers in the flowerpot.

A smile forms on Maya's lips as Natalie notices what she's looking at. "They were the only ones available at the hospital gift shop" Natalie says and Maya shakes her head, not wanting to excuse the gesture Natalie made for her. "They're beautiful."

"I'm sorry" Derek voices, tears immediately falling down his cheeks. "I'll give you two a moment" Natalie says as she excuses herself and Maya looks towards Derek, who keeps his head down.

Maya removes her hand from Dereks and places her hand underneath his chin and forcing him to put his head up.

"It is not your fault" Maya reassures as she uses her thumb to wipe the wandering tears sliding down his cheeks. "I promise you; this isn't your fault. I don't remember you pulling the trigger" Maya says softly as Derek leans down and places his lips on Maya's, happy she is finally awake and survived because he doesn't know what he would have done if she didn't.

"Morgan," Hotch calls out from the door and both Maya and Derek whip their heads in his direction. "Sorry to bother, but I want to give you some information" Hotch says as he greets Maya with a smile and friendly wave, happy to see that she has finally woken up.

"I'll be right back" Derek says as his hand leaves Maya's and she starts to feel empty but knows he will be back.

Not knowing what to till then, Maya looks up at the ceiling before she hears the door creak open. "That fast?" Maya asks before she looks towards the door and it isn't Derek, it's a man in a nurse's outfit.

"Oh, sorry" Maya says as she watches the man pull a syringe out of his pocket and insert it into Maya's arm with no hesitation.

"What the--" Maya calls out as she reaches over and roughly pulls the needle out of her arm as she looks at the man at her bedside and her vision starts to become blurry. "It's time he understands how I felt" The man says, his voice echoing through Maya's mind before all she sees is black.

Meanwhile, the team are huddled in a circle in the hallway, putting all their ideas together before an alarm blares through the hospital. The team looks around confused before Derek rushes to Maya's room and sees she is not in her bed, but a note is...

The team rushes after him and sees the same thing he sees. The note on an empty bed where Maya is supposed to be. "Where the hell is she?" Natalie asks as she looks around the room before Derek picks up the note and reads, 'Do you see red? I see red'.

"Morgan, what does that mean?" Hotch says as he reads the note over his shoulder. "I'm off the case remember" Derek says as he crumbles up the note and proceeds to walk out of the room.

"Morgan! What does it mean?" Hotch shouts as the group starts to follow Derek until they reach outside the hospital.

"Morgan, this is my sister were talking about, if you know something, tell us!" Natalie shouts in the open air as Derek uses his truck keys to unlock the doors. "We can save her, but you have to help us" JJ states as Derek opens his driver side door.

"I can save her."

__________

"Garcia, I need you to start tracking" Hotch orders as Garcia frantically types on her laptop, trying to pinpoint a location. "I'm trying, sir, but his phone has been in the same spot for several minutes. I think he threw his phone out" Garcia says as she shows the team Derek's phone location beeping in the same spot over and over again.

"Damn it" Rossi mumbles under his breath as the team still tries to work together.

Meanwhile, Derek arrives at a house with painted red door and uses the key to unlock it before strolling inside. Derek tries to clear the house, his gun raised as he enters the home. He turns the corner into an empty living room and see's Maya resting in a chair unconscious with her arms tied behind her back and tiny blood droplets seeping through her hospital gown.

"Maya!" Derek calls out, but before he can get to her, he is pushed to the ground with his gun on the ground a few feet away. "Don't even think about reaching for your gun or I kill the girl" Chazz states, his voice demanding as Derek slowly turns to face him.

"You failed six months ago, that's why you're doing all this. Now, you shoot my fiancé and try to make me feel like how you felt when your son died" Derek states as he slowly stands to his feet.

"You mean after you killed him" Chazz corrects, making Derek furrow his eyebrows in confusion, "Is that what you think? He was poisoned!".

"He was murdered! By you so don't try and lie to me because I know the truth" Chazz Montolo states, his voice echoing through the house as Maya starts to wake up from her forced slumber.

"I arrested your son; I never killed him" Derek states as Chazz shakes his head, not wanting to believe Derek when he's made up a whole story in his head. And in that story Derek killed his son Giuseppe.

"You killed my flesh and blood, but it's too bad I can't kill your baby... again" Chazz states and Derek tightens his fist before Chazz tosses a chair his away and forces him to sit down inches away from Maya's half unconscious body.

"What do you want? To make me feel the way you did. Well, I do, okay? I wasn't there when my finance was going through losing our baby. You won, now let her go and kill me... right here, right now" Derek says, trying to negotiate as he notices Maya starting to wake up.

"It's not that easy, Agent. You don't get to rush this" Chazz declares waving a gun in Maya's direction and making an angry Derek twitch in his seat.

"I use to care about someone like that" Chazz states as he takes out all his bullets from his revolver and only keeps in one before twisting the clip and placing it back together with the rest of the gun. Derek eyes him suspiciously as Maya starts to become more aware of what's going on.

"The person I cared died because of my job. Funny how things come full circle" Chazz Montolo states as he points the gun towards Maya and pulls the trigger, but no bullet escaped, giving Maya another chance.

Derek gasps as he shuts his eyes angrily after hearing Chazz spin the clip one more time and when he opens his eyes then gun is pointed back at Maya. "Derek" Maya calls out, Derek turning his head to face her as Chazz pulls the trigger again, no shot ringing out again.

"I'm so sorry" Derek pleads, and Maya shakes her head, sending Derek a sad smile.

"Yes, it's all your fault" Chazz says, watching a tear fall down Derek's cheek as a smile forms on Chazz's face. "I'll stop all of this if you tell me the truth. Did you kill my son?" Chazz asks and Derek puts his head down, knowing he didn't, but whatever answer he gives Maya or him could be dead.

"Tell me or I fill the whole clip up and shoot your fiancé right here. I'll have her take another bullet for you, Derek!" Chazz shouts while Maya tries her best to get out of her restraints.

"You want him to lie? He didn't kill your son you sick son of a bitch" Maya voices, bringing the attention off of Derek.

"Oh, she's feisty" The older man, Chazz, notices as he walks over to Maya, standing in front of her. "You must really want another bullet. This time, you'll get one right through the skull" Chazz taunts and Maya burst out into laughter, making Chazz's smile drop into a slightly scared one.

"I would take a million bullets if it meant he could live because Derek is a great person and a better man than you would ever be" Maya says as she looks past Montolo and locks eyes with Derek. "You say you cared about someone the same way Derek cares about me, but yet, you stand there pointing a gun at my head" Maya says as she watches Derek stand to his feet quietly, not making any sudden moves.

"If you ask me, I don't think you've loved anyone in your entire life especially not your psychotic son" Maya taunts and watches anger flood through Montolo's eyes. "You don't know anything about me, bitch!" Chazz shouts and Maya stares at him directly in his eyes, not afraid of his gun pointing at her.

"I know you only did this to feel young again. You miss the thrill of the kill and the mafia life, right?" Maya asks as Montolo tightens his hand around his gun. "Shut up!" Montolo shouts, "Or what?" Maya asks and suddenly Derek comes up behind Chazz and lifts his arm, in which he's hold the gun with and makes him toss the gun on the floor before throwing Chazz on the ground next to it as Maya unties herself at the same time and rushes next to Derek before eyeing the gun that Derek dropped earlier.

Derek pulls a gun out that was hiding in his sock and points it down at Montolo, "Pick up the gun" Derek orders and Chazz stares at his revolver, a smirk forming on his lips. "Pick it up!" Derek demands, looking down at Chazz with anger and revenge flooding his facial features.

"So, you can feel like you killed an armed man?" Chazz asks and Derek bites the inside of his cheek as Maya secretly grabs the gun off the floor and see's the clip is full.

"I rather rot in prison then let you pull the trigger that kills me" Chazz states as he moves onto his knees and holds his hands up. Maya holds the area in her stomach where she got shot and looks down at the gun in her hand.

"You can't kill an unarmed man, Agent Morgan" Chazz Montolo says as Maya tightens her jaw. "No, but Agent Regan can," Maya's voice booms as she stands next to Derek, holding up his gun and pointing it down at Chazz, "and she'll have a pleasure doing it" Maya says before she pulls the trigger of her gun and watches as Chazz falls to the ground with a gunshot wound to the head.

Maya looks down at the body as she notices Chazz's gun lies on top of his revolver, indicating when authorities arrive, it'll look Maya had no other choice...

Maya turns to Derek and pulls him in for a hug despite the excruciating pain in her stomach. "I'm done being everyone's target..." Maya states as Derek nods his head, "Then were done."

They both pull away from the hug and start to make their way outside where multiple black SUV's pull up, their sirens blaring throughout the neighborhood.

Maya shields her eyes from the red and blue lights and holds onto Derek for support as he helps her down the steps of the home. The team rushes up to them, already having a specific feeling of what has happened, but doesn't question it and embraces Maya and Derek as paramedics and police officers arrive shortly after...

"No matter what happens, you will always find your way back to the person who is meant to hold your heart. That's just the way it works"
-Poetic Spirts-

soooo, i have literally ONE chapter until this book is over. Maya and Derek will BE GONE, but more characters will appear 😉😉