AN: Well, this is it guys. Sorry for the wait but here it is... Hope you guys enjoy it!!

Enjoy!

All things considered, this was not his ideal way of waking up. Drug induced sleep for Reid was nothing more than a reminder of his time with Tobias Hankel and his weakness that had him coming back willingly for the same drugs that had previously been forced into his veins. The groggy, heavy feeling that encased him scared the hell out of him as he began to question if he had ever left Henkel at all.

"I think he's waking up," a familiar, yet completely harmless female voice said. Definitely not that of Tobias and at the moment that was enough to calm Reid down.

And with this statement came several other sounds that he had been unaware of before. There were others in the room, shuffling about in chairs or on their feet and there was beeping. Incessant and yet comforting beeping. He was in a hospital.

With this realization, memories of Southside City Bank and Miles Masterson came flooding back as though a dam had opened up and he distinctly heard the beeping increase.

"Reid," someone said now, penetrating his foggy thoughts. "You with us? Come on, kid. Wake up."

That was without a doubt Derek Morgan. Did that mean that the rest of his team was there too? He remembered vividly the moment he was shot and how all of them had been watching, thinking he was going to die but he hadn't and surely they knew that now…?

"Open your eyes, Reid," Morgan said again, sounding slightly anxious this time. Either way, it was enough to motivate him to at least try to obey Morgan. It proved to be difficult though; his eyelids felt so heavy. He began with just moving them around beneath his lids, then moved on to trying to open them but only got as far as constant blinking.

"There you go, man," Morgan said now, apparently seeing Reid's struggle with his eyes.

Finally, he managed get them open enough to see around, had to close one more time for good measure, then reopened them. Standing directly over him was Morgan, of which he had expected to see, then behind him was Garcia and over in the chair said the team leader, Hotch. Honestly, he couldn't have been happier to see them. Of course, the whole team would have been nice but Reid doubted all six of them would be allowed in the small room at once so he could live with three of them.

"There's those stunning eyes!" Garcia said, coming to stand next to Morgan with a huge smile on her face.

"Hey now," Morgan said, turning to face her with a childish grin. "Just 'cause he's in the hospital bed doesn't mean he gets all the compliments."

"You hush," Garcia said playfully then turned back to Reid who was simply enjoying the banter. "How are you feeling?"

Reid tried to say something but really only managed to croak. He coughed some and realized right away he had been on a ventilator and judging by the dryness of his throat and the taste in his mouth, it hadn't been out for very long. Luckily, however, as his brain screamed for water a glass of it appeared beside his face. Reid looked at Hotch gratefully and allowed him to assist Reid in drinking it. Once it was down and his throat was bearable again, Reid attempted to talk again.

"M'good," he choked out, coughed some more but then felt much better. "Better, I think. What… what happened, exactly?"

A valid question because after the ambulance ride, Reid only had vague memories of lights and whispers among other things that he couldn't distinguish between truth and fantasy. He knew he had been shot in the shoulder, but everything beyond that he could only guess.

"You were taken straight to surgery where they removed the bullet and alleviated the pressure the ricochet bullet had put on your lung," Hotch answered, getting right to the point. "The doctor said that as long as you go about the recommended physical therapy, you'll regain full usage of your arm."

Reid smiled at this. "That's good news."

Everyone seemed to agree with this and as a silence fell over them, Reid was quite certain there were other things they wanted to say.

"How long have I been here?"

"You've been in and out of it for almost a day, now," Morgan answered. A day? Reid had absolutely no way to account for the past day and that feeling made him uneasy.

"What about Masterson? Was everyone okay?"

"Everyone is alive," Hotch said, looking seriously at Reid. "You did an outstanding job in there. I'm guessing you know we were going for a minimal loss scenario again?"

Reid did his best to shrug with his eyes. While he was certainly glad he could say he had a part, however big or small, in getting everyone out alive, there was still a gnawing at the back of his mind that he could have done it another way. A way that wouldn't have hurt his team so bad.

"Miles Masterson was treated for a head wound," Garcia said, picking up where Hotch left holes. "And from what I understand, has since been placed solely in police custody. He's going to jail, baby boy."

Reid smiled at this as well. He was glad Masterson was being locked up instead of being buried. He didn't really know what had happened to Miles, only that Jim had taken him out somehow. He'd seen Masterson breathe but he never woke up so for all Reid knew, he could've died. But knowing that even he was still alive made Reid feel better; no one had died on his accord.

"We've got to let the doctor know you're awake," Hotch said, standing up and then turning to face Morgan and Garcia. "So we'll be back when he's done."

"Be right back, kid," Morgan said as he made his way towards the door.

"Yeah, we'll be right out there," Garcia added with a loving smile.

Reid watched as they all left his room and the doctor soon after entered. He felt pretty numb to his situation and was instead relieved to see his team and learn they weren't upset with him. Of course they still didn't know the details but there would be a time for that. Right now he just wanted to listen to what the doctor had to say. The man reminded him very much of Hotch due to a serious face and a to-the-point nature.

"Dr. Reid," he began, glancing over the charts on his clipboard. "You're vitals are all looking pretty good right now and I'm certain of a full recovery. You will certainly have to undergo a good amount of time in a rehab center for your shoulder; they will be able to give you a better estimate of the amount of time you'll need to be there, of course.

"But overall you were quite lucky. We're going to keep you here for one more night to observe your lung and make sure it continues to function properly but after that, you should be free to go."

"Thank you," Reid replied, trying to reposition himself.

"No problem," he replied. "Now as far as your visitors go, as long as you're okay with it, your whole team can come in for a few. They've been taking turns and I figure it would be easier to just give them all a chance to talk to you. Not exactly protocol but I can pull a string or two."

Reid didn't answer for a moment or two while he attempted to understand what the doctor had said. He hadn't expected a doctor to allow that many people in at once but he was thankful for it.

"Yeah, that would be great," Reid replied finally. "Thank you."

The doctor nodded. "But not for long. You still need to rest." He then left the room and Reid attempted to get comfortable before everyone else came in.

It only took a few minutes for his room to start filling up again. He couldn't help but smile as he saw some of the people he cared about the most come in and find places throughout the room. He had so badly wanted to see them all again and here they were.

"What did the doctor say?" Rossi asked after they all gave him a silent 'hello'.

"I get to leave tomorrow," Reid replied with a smile. As much as he liked the Sunshine State, he longed to go back home to Quantico.

"That's great," Morgan said. "That will give the rest of us a chance to go to Disney World."

This got quite the laugh from everyone, including Reid who enjoyed the image of a group of profilers riding the spinning teacups.

"How are you feeling, Spence?" JJ asked now, coming to stand beside his bed. Reid was suddenly reminded of the ambulance ride and how much comfort she had given him and was eternally grateful for it.

"Um, pretty good actually." It wasn't a complete lie. He was quite certain he was currently on a sort of high with seeing them all but there was still pain in his chest and aches throughout his stiff body. It could all be ignored for right now, though.

There were mumbles of "good" amongst them but Reid could tell there were all curious still about what had happened in the bank. He didn't blame them and actually didn't mind telling them.

"I guess you are all kind of curious about what happened, huh?"

They peered at each other, apparently taken off guard by his forwardness but it was obvious they wanted to know so why not now when he had them all in one spot?

"Yeah," Emily spoke up first. "We wouldn't mind hearing if you're up to sharing."

Reid nodded to tell them he didn't mind sharing at all and began explaining. "Basically, I knew he'd end up wanting to kill someone to speed things up a bit, so I addressed it early on and convinced him to only make it seem like someone had died."

"And that someone was you," JJ added.

"Well, it proved my loyalty to our deal," Reid explained.

"And what was that deal, exactly?" Rossi asked, which made since given the fact that Masterson had been flaunting their deal in Rossi's face.

"That I would help him as long as he didn't hurt anyone," Reid said, suddenly feeling kind of embarrassed though he wasn't sure why.

"That was a very brave thing to do," Emily told him, making his face feel hot all of the sudden.

"Any one of you would have done the same," Reid countered.

"So you convinced him to shoot you and act as though you were dead?" Hotch asked.

At this, Reid nodded once again. "I told him that as long as you guys thought I was dead, that was all that mattered. But just in case he did get caught, if I was still alive his sentence would be much less."

"Good thinking kid," Morgan said though Reid could tell he still didn't like the idea one hundred percent. "But next time, try not to fake your own death."

Reid smiled, having expected a comment such as this, and shrugged with his good shoulder.

"It was just a little white lie, Morgan," he said with a grin. After a moment of processing, the rest of them got the joke and laughed. It was a wonderful moment for Reid as the tension seemed to clear almost instantly and Reid was sure they all understood what he had done and why he had done it.

"Is that so?" Garcia said with a smile on her face. "Then I propose Special Supervisory Agent Dr. Spencer Reid should hence forth be banned from telling any white lies."

Reid, along with everyone else laughed once again at this proposal and enjoyed the moment immensely. While he knew they supported his decision to act the way he did, he also knew their joking around with him being banned from actions such as that was needed for all of them at the moment. Besides, Reid had no intention of being in a situation such as that again.

"I think we're all in agreement with that one," Hotch said, surprising everyone a little by playing along with the joke. "Now I think it's time you got some rest so the plane ride tomorrow will be slightly more bearable."

Reid could agree to this seeing as how he was being overcome with fatigue once more.

"Get some rest, Spence," JJ said as a farewell.

"Yeah, I'll be checking in on ya," Morgan added.

"See you later…"

"Feel better…"

Reid nodded and smiled at the various good wishes and goodbyes and watched as the team began to file out until only Hotch was left behind. Reid watched him approach his bed and gaze down at Reid.

"I really am very proud of you," Hotch said, taking Reid completely off guard. "You managed to do the unexpected entirely by yourself and that in itself is very honorable."

"Thank you," Reid said quietly, still shocked by Hotch's sincere, kind words. Not that he wasn't capable of them, he just rarely voiced sentiments such as these.

Hotch nodded and began to walk towards the door, but stopped. "However, I could do without your white lies if you find that possible."

Reid saw slight beginnings of the remarkably rare Hotchner smile, and felt better about himself than he had in a long time. Finally, he did feel good about his choices in the bank.

"No more white lies," Reid replied with a smile. Hotch then nodded and followed the rest of the team out of the room. Reid sank down further into his pillows and just before sleep overtook him, he knew without a doubt that everything was okay.

End.

EN: Thanks for taking the journey with me everyone! Hope it was worth it for all of you :) Thanks for everything!!