Chapter 1

The pub was dimly lit and stuffy, but Emily spotted her target straight away. The familiar face was older and gaunter than the familiar visage from her past, but the smile that appeared hadn't changed a bit. "John!" Emily grinned widely. "It's so good to see you!"

"You look great!" He said politely as she sat down at the battle-worn wood table. "How have you been?"

"Great! I've been busy, but good." She signaled the waiter, who scurried over. "Scotch on the rocks, please." The man nodded and walked away, leaving Emily alone with her old friend.

"Is the FBI keeping you busy?" The question seemed innocent, but Emily's mind was piqued on the sudden hesitation in his voice.

"No more than usual," she responded evenly. "How about you? Are you still working at the record store? What are you doing in DC?"

"I'm just on my way down to see some friends. And I haven't worked at the record store for a while now." He took a sip of his beer nonchalantly, but his vagueness did not pass undetected. Emily's drink arrived at the table and she took a sip, surveying John over the top of her glass. "So tell me about your life. Do you still travel a lot?" John continued. He ran a hand through his peppering hair, tousling it just like he was prone to do years before, in Rome. Emily suppressed a slight smile.

"I'm well on my way to seeing all 50 states." The dim light in the bar cast shadows on his face, and as they each waited for the other to say something, Emily swore that she could see wrinkles forming beneath his five o'clock shadow.

"So, do you see your parents much?" She took another sip of the scotch, savoring the slow burn as it went into her system. His parents had worked in the American embassy in Rome, and while Emily's mother was frequently relocated, John's parents tried their best to stay in one place until he was out of school. Emily knew that they had returned to the states, but she wasn't sure where they had moved to.

"Mom died two years ago." He didn't seem upset by the news, just accepting. "Heart disease."

"Oh John, I'm so sorry." Emily said, putting her hand over his. Her sympathy was genuine; unlike their friend Matthew's parents, John's had always accepted Emily as part of their small family.

The man shrugged, taking another sip of his beer. "It was her time. My old man took it hard, but he's better now. I got him set up in an apartment not too far from mine in the city."

"Good, that's good. So, what are you doing for work now?" The scotch in her glass was thinning out, and she motioned to the waiter to bring another round.

"Oh you know, odd jobs here and there." He peered into the bottom of his empty glass as if he was hoping there might be some left, then picked up the bottle and began to absently pick at the label.

Emily knew something was wrong by this point. John had never hidden anything from her, even when they were teenagers. She took the bottle from him and set it on the table, perhaps a bit harder that she meant. "Alright John, what's going on? Why are you really in DC?"

The waiter came by with their next round, and John skillfully poured his beer into the tall glass before responding. "I didn't leave the record store, I was fired. I thought DC could be a new start for me so I thought I'd look for a few jobs. But honestly, I'm fine. I just wanted to see you again. I mean, the last time we got together was after Matthew…died."

Emily paused for a second, remembering their friend. It had been five years since his death, but the loss of such a good childhood friend had left her rattled. "If you don't mind me asking…why were you fired? You've been working at that store for almost six years now."

"The owner and I had a disagreement. It was nothing, really." John saw her eyebrows rise, and he scoffed. "I'm a big boy Emily; I can take care of myself."

"John, I didn't say anything like that. I'm just worried about you." She wasn't sure how their conversation had taken such a bitter turn, but she knew that he had contacted her for a reason other than simple reminiscence. "What's the real reason you asked me here?"

"To see you. Emily, we haven't talked in years."

"I've tried. I've emailed you, left messages. It just doesn't work for us to play phone tag." By now, Em could feel the scotch warming her veins as well as her will to argue. "You're the one that dropped off the face of the earth. And now you contact me, out of the blue."

"Believe it or not, Emily, people can make mistakes. I just wanted to fix this one. I know that after Matthew died, we said we'd keep in touch, but I just…I couldn't. He was the one that introduced us, Em, and I just…I couldn't." Just as quickly as her anger had grown, it silently ebbed away, replaced by a melancholy sentiment. Emily opened her mouth to say something, but quickly shut it. "It's no one's fault." He finished, resolutely staring into her eyes.

"You're right." She deflated. "Let's just forget it." She took another swallow of the scotch, letting the amber liquid wash away her suspicions and doubts. "So, what kind of work are you looking for?"

"Anything. Like I said, I just got here. I don't exactly have a strong resume. Job hopping is acceptable in your twenties, but less so once you're our age."

"True." They sat in silence, sipping their drinks. Just as Emily was about to say something, her phone buzzed. She swore under her breath, then looked up apologetically. "I have to take this, I'm sorry." John nodded, and she stepped away. "Hey JJ, what's going on?"

"We have a case." JJ responded quickly, her voice hurried. "It's local, but Hotch wants us in ASAP."

"I understand. I'll be there in half an hour or so, I'm out with a friend."

"Ooh…A male friend?" JJ's far too eager voice made Emily smile.

"An old friend," she corrected. "I'll see you soon."

Heading back to the table, she passed for a moment. John had his head in his hands, and even with his back facing her Emily could see the tension. She glanced at her cell again, wondering if she could wrangle a few more minutes of time. But she knew that she would already be the last one in, since the office was on the other side of town. "John, I have to go into work. I'm so sorry that I can't stay longer." He looked up and grinned, but Emily noticed the circles under his eyes that she hadn't seen before.

"No, that's fine." He stood, giving Emily a quick hug. "It was good to see you."

"You too." Emily responded carefully. She wanted to say something about staying in touch, but couldn't bring herself to make any promises. "Take care of yourself. I'm only a phone call away."

"Will do," he smiled. As she walked away, she tried to shake off the feelings of unease. She reassured herself that people changed over time, and she had given him the opportunity to tell her if anything was wrong. After all, they had been friends since they were teenagers. If he needed something, he would have asked.

JJ smiled as the two of them walked out of the briefing room. "So, tell me about this old friend of yours," she started cheekily. "Do I know him?"

"Actually, you do. John Cooley? You met him when Matthew…I mean, during the exorcism case. You know, when we had to involve the consulate?" Immediately, JJ's smile faltered. Of course she remembered the case.

"He was an old friend of yours from Rome, right?"

"Yeah, his parents worked for the embassy too. He, Matthew and I hung around a lot." Emily could see that JJ was hesitant to broach the subject but wanted to ask, so she brought it up herself. "A lot of memories resurfaced."

They stepped into JJ's office, and she gently squeezed Emily's arm in sympathy. "Everything alright?"

Emily nodded. "We didn't really talk about Matthew. John knew him just as well as I did, if not better. When he started getting into drugs, John is the one that would see him every couple of months to make sure he was okay…"

"So is he doing okay?" JJ could hear the concern in Emily's voice.

"I don't know. Something was off…he told me that he was just fired and was moving down to DC to get a new start." Emily leaned against the wall, speaking as she glanced through a file.

JJ took the file from her and put it down, forcing Emily to fully join the conversation. "Was he acting differently?"

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Something about him…he was just different. Tense. I'm sure that I'm just overreacting; I haven't seen him since…you know. I asked him about it, and he said nothing was wrong. I'm sure everything's fine."

JJ cocked her head, wondering whether or not to press the subject. "Maybe you should call him, just to make sure," she suggested.

"Yeah, I'll call him tomorrow. Thanks JJ." Taking the file back from JJ's hands, she walked back into the bullpen to her desk, writing a post-it note to call John the next day.