A/N: Thanks to reviewers and my beta! :)

Disclaimer: Same as always.

Chapter 4 – Rekindling a Spark

The BAU, Elle, Emily, and Morgan arrived at the Springfield field office early and ready to work. "One of my agents can take your team to the crime scene just outside of the city," Agent Newman announced shortly after their arrival.

"And I've already been to the scene in Missouri so I can take some of you out there," Clark added.

Agent Colburn stepped into the bullpen with a very confused look on his face. "The front desk just called and said that someone is heading up here that wants to see the BAU."

The initial reaction was distrustful; Hotch's and Burke's hands instinctively found the butt of their guns. Tension rose as they heard the elevator doors 'ding' open but a collective sigh of relief was released when the person in question walked into the bullpen.

"Dave, what are you doing here?" Gideon asked curiously as he looked at his old friend and former team-mate.

He chuckled lightly as he approached the agents. "I was in town for a lecture at the University of Chicago."

"I read and enjoyed your newest book, Agent Rossi," Reid said excitedly.

Rossi gave the young, overzealous man a small smile. "Thank you." He turned back to Hotch and Gideon. "Do you think that I could be of some assistance with this case? Heard about it through the FBI grapevine," he added with a sly smirk.

"Of course," Gideon replied quickly. As if upon order, Reid took a copy of the case file out of his messenger bag and handed it to Rossi. "We're going to the crime scenes."

"In different states, right?" Rossi asked as he attempted to get all of the accurate information.

Hotch nodded, "Yes. Missouri and Illinois both seem to be comfort zones. Agent Clark, where exactly is the farm on which Katrina Miller's body was found?"

"Its outside of Kirksville, Missouri, not far from where the Mississippi River runs through, basically two hours from here sir."

"And who is the owner of the property?" Hotch questioned.

"A Mr. Ryan Powell," Clark answered quickly.

Emily's head snapped up from the file that she was reading. "What?" She asked panicked.

Clark turned to her in misunderstanding. "Uhh…Ryan Powell is the owner of the property that Katrina Miller's body was found on."

"You gotta be kidding me," she said quietly to herself and with a sigh.

"What is it?" Morgan asked concerned. He and Emily had gotten quite close over the past year; she was like one of his sisters now.

"He's my ex-fiancé," she answered in obvious shock.

"No!" JJ gasped. She remembered discussion of Emily's fiancé while they were in the safe house.

The dark haired woman nodded. "Yeah."

Hotch took a moment to compose himself before he spoke. He wasn't a fan of the feelings that were awakening in him at the mention of someone who had once been a huge part of Emily's life. "So you know the property?"

She nodded once again and prompted Gideon to make a bold suggestion. "You should go to the crime scene."

Her eyes widened slightly but she remained utterly professional, "Of course, because I know the property."

"Okay, so Agent Clark will take Prentiss, Burke, and I to the Missouri crime scene," Hotch stated firmly while looking at Gideon.

Emily picked up on the meaning behind his words; he was distancing himself from her by using her last name.

"And Reid, Rossi, and I will go to the crime scene here," Gideon replied to Hotch's division of labour. He might be the Unit Chief, but Hotch and he ran the team together.

"Agent Hicks will go with you," Newman ordered the younger agent.

"JJ, call Garcia and see if she's dug anything else up," Gideon called on the blonde before beginning the walk towards the elevator with Hicks, Reid, and Rossi.

"Okay, let's leave too," Hotch said while looking at Agent Clark and gesturing towards the door.

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Emily sighed heavily; she was driving down the all too familiar stretch of highway. They were approximately twenty minutes away from Powell Farm.

She was in the backseat of the SUV with Agent Clark from St. Louis with Hotch driving and Burke in the passenger seat. It made sense that she was travelling with them since she knew the land and its owner but she was dreading seeing him again.

"Agent Prentiss, what can you tell us about the land owner?" Clark asked turning towards her.

"The question is what can't I tell you," she spoke to herself quietly.

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry," she apologized. "Ryan Powell, 30. The land used to belong to his parents but they legally turned it over to him two years ago when they moved to St. Louis. He's the son of a minister and a housewife. He has an older sister and a younger brother."

"He's a preacher's kid?" Burke asked laughing.

"Yeah, the family is quite wealthy, old money," she explained. "His grandfather on his mother's side owned most of the farm land outside of the St. Louis metropolitan area for decades, so he has money and resources." She stopped and gathered her thoughts. Her friends had always claimed that he was with her for her money and her connections when really he had his own. "He owns an apartment in St. Louis but spends most of his time out here. He has a degree in accounting from Notre Dame so whenever he has business in the city he stays in his apartment. But he loves the farm and does the majority of his work from home." She stopped again and sighed, she was rambling about her ex-fiancé. "I think that's it."

"How big is the land?" Hotch asked, changing the topic. He wasn't exactly in the mood to hear about one of Emily's former lovers.

"A dozen acres, I can't say for sure."

"The body was found on the north end of the property," Clark stated.

"Ooh, we turn off here," Emily pointed out the beginning of a dirt road on their left. "We should be there in about ten minutes," she approximated.

She was practically spot on; Hotch parked the SUV just outside of a wooden fence that encompassed the property as far as their eyes could see nine minutes later. The four FBI agents exited the vehicle and, almost in unison, put on sunglasses. It was a very hot day in Missouri and the sun was bright and pouring down on them.

Emily immediately regretted her decision to wear her red blouse and black pant suit as the temperature hit her. She almost blushed from embarrassment when she saw Ryan chopping wood in the front yard. He was dressed in a pair of jeans; he had never really understood the concept of wearing a shirt when he wasn't accounting. He looked like a stereotypical farm boy with cowboy boots and a cream coloured cowboy hat. The sweat was practically pouring off of him and it caused the large, hard muscles of his upper body to glisten. She sighed as they began to walk towards him. Why did he have to be so visually appealing?

Hotch reached him first and pulled his badge out of the inside pocket of his suit jacket and held it in front of him. "We're looking for Ryan Powell."

Ryan smiled and carefully laid down the axe that he had in his hands. "Yes, how can I help you?"

"Yeah, that's him," Emily responded to Hotch's confused glance. He wasn't exactly what the FBI agent had expected.

"Emily?" He asked excitedly as he sized up the woman in front of him. It was without a doubt her, with her tall, slim body and shoulder length, dark hair. Large sunglasses covered her face but he didn't spend five years with her to not be able to recognize her. Besides, her voice was unmistakable, smooth and sultry but when she got excited it became rather high-pitched. He loved her voice.

"Yeah," she replied quietly, "it's me. We need to talk to you."

"Yeah, sure." He smiled brightly. He never would have imagined that he'd be this happy to see her.

Agent Clark stepped forward and held out his hand. "We spoke the other day, Mr. Powell."

Ryan wiped his hand in his jeans before shaking the man's hand. "Yes Agent Clark, what else can I do for you?"

"These are agents Hotchner and Burke from the Behavioural Analysis Unit and Agent Prentiss from the Chicago field office," Clark made the introductions.

He gave the two men strong handshakes and gently took Emily's hand. "Pleasure," he smiled.

"So can you show us to the crime scene?" Clark asked eagerly.

"Yeah sure. I just have to go to the house first," he answered.

"Agent Burke will go with you," Hotch stated as he made eye contact with Burke. Burke nodded after receiving the order from his supervisor and followed Ryan Powell to the farm house.

"Did you say that you had a previous relationship with Mr. Powell, Agent Prentiss?" Clarke asked nosily.

"Yeah," she nodded, "a serious relationship."

An awkward silence fell over the three agents until Burke returned with Ryan who had pulled on a plain, white t-shirt. "Okay, so you can just follow me," he said pleasantly.

As they followed the young man to the crime scene, Hotch began to look at him as a suspect. He was certainly physically capable, standing at about six foot five with strong muscles and used to farm labour, so handling another person would not be strenuous. Their unsub was a sexual sadist and Ryan certainly came off as honest, sincere, and innocent, exactly what they were looking for. And he was most definitely heterosexual.

"Emily, does he smoke?" He asked her quietly. They had found cigarette burns on the bodies.

She shook her head. "No, I was the smoker."

They saw the bright, yellow crime scene tape from a distance. "Okay, there it is," Ryan announced.

Hotch looked to his right and saw a large barn. "Prentiss, would you mind searching the barn?"

She shook her head again. "No, not at all," she replied professionally when really it was the last thing that she wanted to do. She walked up to Ryan and spoke awkwardly, "May I search your barn?"

He nodded with a smile on his face. "Sure, I'll show you around in case you forgot." He led her away from her colleagues and to the barn, and pulled open one of the large doors.

"Hotch, you do realize that if Powell is the unsub then we just handed him his victim type?" Burke asked him concerned.

The older man nodded, "Emily can take care of herself."

Once inside of the barn, Emily pulled her mini flashlight out of her pocket and gave the lower layer a thorough scan. She peered into all of the horses' stalls before being satisfied with her search. "Do you want me to bring you up to the loft too?" He asked with a small smirk. They were both aware of the memories that were going to resurface when they went up to the loft of the barn.

She nodded, took a deep breath, and tucked her hair behind her ears. "God its warm," she said to herself but he overheard.

"Then take off your jacket for once in your life," he said laughing. She gave him a subtle glare before she did decide to remove her black blazer. He smiled, "You look really good."

"Thanks," she said softly, "you do too."

"Okay, so after you," he said while gesturing towards the ladder that led to the loft.

She groaned as she looked down at her black heels, another wardrobe decision that she regretted today. She began to climb the ladder and Ryan followed her. When she reached the top, she practically turned blood red as she looked at the large pile of hay in the top corner of the loft. "Oh God," she whispered to herself. This trip was ten times more embarrassing than she had originally envisioned.

She started to shine her flashlight around the area but stopped when something that was shimmering caught her eye. Her heart sank. She may not be involved with him anymore but she couldn't even wrap her head around the fact that Ryan may be a sadistic serial killer. She knew that blood gleamed in the light so she moved forward to investigate.

"Em, be careful, some of the floorboards over there are really loose." He had barely gotten the words out of his mouth when her step produced a loud cracking noise. He immediately leaned forward and wrapped a strong arm around her waist, pulling her out of harm's way. He swept her up into his arms and cradled her against his chest. "Are you okay?" He asked frantically as he heard the offending floorboards hit the bottom of the barn, 20 feet below them.

"Umm…yeah…I think so," she replied, still in a state of shock. "I think that I rolled my ankle, but that's no big deal."

"No, it is, here. I gotta bring you back to the house," he said firmly.

"Ryan…" she began to protest but he cut her off.

"No, it might swell so I'm bringing you back to the house," he replied determinedly. He made sure that she was secure in his arms before he walked down the ladder forwards. He had done it many times before carrying things much heavier than Emily so he didn't think twice about either of their safety.

"I can walk, you're not carrying me the whole way," she stated annoyed.

He smiled down at her. "Stop being stubborn."

"Hey what happened?" Burke asked curiously when Ryan emerged from the barn with Emily in his arms.

"She turned over her ankle," Ryan explained, "so I'm taking her to the house to put some ice on it." Burke could see the uncomfortable look on Emily's face but he merely grinned. "You can continue analyzing your crime scene."

"Okay man, we'll come and check on her when we're done," Burke replied before returning to where Hotch and Clark were standing.

"What's going on?" Hotch asked concerned.

"Prentiss hurt her ankle," Burke replied simply.

"Is she okay?"

"Yeah," Burke nodded, "Powell is just taking her to put some ice on it."

Meanwhile……

Emily sighed and took off her sunglasses as Ryan made his way across the farmland. "Can you please put me down?" She begged, bordering on angry.

He laughed, "This is for your own good. Does anything else hurt?"

"You mean besides my dignity?" She asked rhetorically.

He laughed again, "Come on, I've seen you much less graceful than that. You didn't leave anything in the barn did you?"

She had her blazer and sunglasses in her hand, her flashlight in her pocket, and her gun was still on her hip. "No, I have everything."

"You've lost a little weight, I think."

She blushed, "Let's just stop talking."

Once he reached the house, he carried her up over the front steps of the porch, manoeuvred the screen door open, and brought her into the living room. He laid her gently down on the couch before running into the kitchen and retrieving a small pack of ice. He knelt down on the carpeted floor and insisted on removing her high heel shoe and black sock. "Oh, it's swollen all ready," he declared before gently pressing the icepack against her right ankle. "I'm going to go get you a bandage."

She leaned forward and held the icepack in place in his absence. "Ryan, why are you doing all this?" She asked confused when he returned to the living room with a bandage in his hand.

"Because I'm a gentleman," he grinned as he knelt down in front of her again. "Hey Em," he started as he began to wrap her foot.

"Yeah," she replied as she looked up at him.

"You know that you still have some of your stuff here, right?"

"Yeah," she answered awkwardly.

"Then why didn't you ever come and get it? Same with the stuff in the apartment?" He asked puzzled.

"Well I thought that you wouldn't want to see me," she explained rationally.

He gave her a small smile. "I always want to see you."

She raised her eyebrow in confusion. What the hell was he getting at? Luckily they were interrupted by Burke walking through the front door. "How's the klutz?"

Ryan laughed, "She can't put on her shoe."

Burke laughed along with him. "No big deal, I'll piggyback her to the SUV," he teased.

"Are you guys finished?" Emily asked anxiously.

He nodded, "Yup, we just have to get you out of here now."

Ryan walked towards her and Emily looked up at him fearfully. "What are you doing?"

He laughed, "I'm going to carry you out to the SUV." She didn't have time to protest before she was scooped up by strong arms so she sighed heavily as a substitute.

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The crime scenes in Missouri and outside of Springfield were identical and just what they had expected from looking at the photos. They were completely controlled.

The profiler in Hotch told him that never in a million years would a sexual sadist dump a body on his own property, but he couldn't help but be suspicious of Ryan Powell. All of the victims resembled Emily, his ex-fiancé, and that was highly unnerving.

They had taken Emily to the emergency room and she was now on crutches for a few days after being diagnosed with an ankle sprain. So the FBI agents returned to the hotel with Rossi, who was technically in his second retirement, and he got himself a room. Gideon had asked Reid to call Garcia after the entire computer system of the Springfield field office had spontaneously crashed. She would be joining them in the morning and the team that had assembled a year ago would be together again, with the addition of Burke.

They ate dinner at the hotel before returning to their respective rooms.

Hotch immediately pulled his tie loose after he had entered his hotel room and Gideon had followed him, for what reason he did not know. Gideon observed Hotch curiously, the younger man had been quiet since returning from Missouri and Gideon felt that he knew why. It had something to do with the dark haired woman staying down the hall. He wasn't quite sure of all of the details but he could read his friend and co-worker just as well as any unsub, and something inside of Hotch had definitely snapped upon seeing Emily Prentiss.

JJ entered her room and got ready to go to bed. She had a press conference to give tomorrow. She was especially excited for morning to come because Garcia would be joining them and it would be her first case out of her office. It would be nice to have that same team from a year ago reunited. They had worked extremely well together and had blended as if they had known each other forever.

Emily slowly made her way down to the vending machine in the lobby on her crutches. She had never spent so much time and energy to get a chocolate bar. She wasn't in the best mood and she was hoping that chocolate would help. She was debating who was annoying her more right now, Ryan Powell or Aaron Hotchner? The man who had broken off their engagement a year ago and was now showing renewed interest in her, or the man who she hadn't spoken with in six months and was now acting like her feeling of being 'over it' was abnormal? She sighed heavily as she made her way back to her room. She didn't want to think about men anymore.

Rossi placed his suitcase in the corner and settled into his hotel room. He was back at work yet again and happy about it. He told himself that he was only consulting this time because he did not have a badge or a gun, but he would invest all of his thoughts into the case like he always had. He took the file that Reid had handed him earlier and began to read it through again.

Morgan flicked on the television in his room and decided to relax a little before turning in. It was nice to get out of Chicago for a little while, especially when it meant meeting up with old friends. He had come over to the FBI from ATF shortly after returning from D.C. a year ago and he couldn't be happier with his new post. He spent almost every day working with Emily and they had grown quite close. She was probably his best friend, besides his mother of course. On top of that, he had maintained regular contact with Penelope Garcia and was looking forward to seeing her in person tomorrow.

After quickly changing into pyjama pants, one of her many Princeton affiliated t-shirts, and flip-flops, Elle took the elevator down to the first floor and walked to Reid's room. She knocked softly on his door and patiently waited for someone to answer. A part of her desperately wanted Burke to be out; she wanted some time alone with her boyfriend. She inwardly sighed when Burke was the one to open the door.

"Good evening," he smiled.

"Hey, what are you guys doing?" She asked, sounding pleasant.

"Nothing," he replied as he pulled the door wide open and allowed her to step inside the room. "We were just talking."

She smiled as she saw Reid sitting on his bed, under the bedcovers, in pyjama pants and a plain blue t-shirt. She walked over, crawled under the covers, and sat next to him on his bed and Burke took a seat across from them on his bed. "So what were you guys talking about?"

"Just a case we had last month in New Hampshire," Reid answered anxiously; he wondered what Elle was up to with these nightly visits to their room.

"Yeah, but we don't need to continue talking about something so depressing," Burke said quickly as he shot Reid a glare.

Elle gave him a small smile as she decided that she was going to verbally distract the older man. "So where are you from?"

"Queens, New York," he responded smiling.

She laughed lightly, "Brooklyn."

"No way," he laughed.

She nodded as her hand out of Burke's sight snaked over to Reid's body and slid up his thigh. She heard the young genius produce a low squeak but it did not deter her and she continued her conversation with Burke. "What did you do before the FBI?"

"I was NYPD," he answered proudly.

"My Dad was an NYPD officer," she commented before asking, "how long did you serve?"

He paused for a moment. "Uhh…six years. But I liked being a beat cop."

She smiled, "So did my Dad." She smirked to herself as her boyfriend twitched when her hand reached its final destination.

"What did you do before the FBI?" He asked curiously.

"I was a teacher, high school chemistry," she laughed lightly. She turned towards the clock on the bedside table and smiled as she said, "Actually, I should probably go now, we have to be up early tomorrow." She gave Reid's inner thigh a light pat before she got up off of the bed. She could see the look of shock and frustration on his face and it caused her to playfully wrinkle her nose at him. "I'll see you guys at breakfast."

Burke smiled, "Yes ma'am." She smiled at both men before she left the room. Burke laughed before he turned to his roommate. "Reid, what the hell?"

"What?" He squeaked and quickly cleared his throat. "What?"

"Why were you so quiet?"

"Well, I already knew all of those things about you and I already knew all of those things about her," he explained rationally. He sighed inwardly, his girlfriend was a huge tease and he would be talking to her about it as soon as possible.

"Yeah, but you could have made pleasant conversation just to humour her, she sat on your bed."

"Because she feels comfortable with me," Reid answered simply. He had the answers to all of these questions.

"You should see how comfortable," Burke smirked.

Reid sighed and shook his head before announcing that he was going to the bathroom to brush his teeth. This act that he was putting on for Burke wasn't challenging but it was slightly irritating and eventually Burke was going to smarten up and not be blinded by Elle's looks.

A/N: So they're almost all back together again. LOL. Tell me what you think about the surprise appearance of Emily's fiance!! Review!! :)