Everything had changed, including JJ. Her time on assignment overseas had made her a better agent in many ways. Her new skill set had not only gotten her reinstated at the Bureau, but had also earned her a promotion to profiler. Will had moved out and she had to adjust to split custody. She hated the nights she'd come home to an empty house, but she didn't regret her decision. No one at the BAU knew about the separation. JJ knew they would wind up profiling her to get to the cause and would end up finding out much more than she was willing to share.
In the three and half months she had been back, she and Emily had communicated minimally. The team never asked her questions about her time at the State Department, but she also didn't want to raise any reason for them to be suspicious of her time away. The women took every precaution to avoid detection. Messaging through the Scrabble game was untraceable and had worked well for short conversations. Once a week Emily would call from a pay phone so they could hear each other's voice, but even then the conversations were an hour at best.
Until Ian Doyle was caught there was no way for Emily to return. She had been placed on assignment in Paris and was adapting to the new role, but fervently missed the BAU. After Agent Seaver was transferred and Hotch reassigned, the BAU just did not have the man power to devote to the Doyle case. It left Emily's return indefinitely on hold. JJ knew the longer Emily was gone, the harder it would be for the team to accept her return but there was no other option. She had to bear the secret alone until the time was right to bring Emily home.
Much to her surprise, that time came sooner than expected. It turned out that Morgan and Garcia had been secretly tracking down Declan Doyle, in order to find Ian. Months of dead ends finally lead to a break in the case when they located the fake identities Emily had set up for Declan and his nanny. The two decided to set up surveillance on the boy until they had proof Ian was out of hiding. Morgan knew when his private investigation was brought to light Struass would have his head, unless it lead to Ian Doyle's long overdue arrest. Sure enough, Morgan's hunch paid off when his surveillance captured images of Ian Doyle casing Declan's home.
The team moved in without hesitation or approval from the higher ups. There would be no time to waste if they wanted to take down Doyle once and for all. Morgan called Hotch overseas and filled him in on the case, Hotch informed him to take the shot if he had the chance. There was nothing Morgan wanted more than to take out the man who had murdered his best friend, but when he and JJ stormed Doyle's apartment Reid called with troubling news. The young agent and Rossi had arrived at Declan's house to find the protective detail and the nanny slain. If Ian Doyle was killed, they would likely never find Declan.
Much to his dismay, Morgan took Doyle into custody unharmed. During the interrogation the team learned that Doyle had no idea Declan had been abducted, leading them to believe an old nemesis of Doyle's had taken the boy out of revenge for an old feud. Unfortunately, without much more to go on the team hit a dead end.
Hotch arrived back in DC late that evening. He confirmed what JJ had been suspecting, Emily was already on her way back. She had boarded a flight immediately after she received a call from a trusted friend whom she had enlisted to watch over Declan. JJ knew Emily would be the only way they could get information out of Doyle and hopefully track down Declan in time.
Hotch had summoned a meeting in the conference room to prepare for her arrival. He and JJ had previously discussed how they would reveal the news when the time was right and unfortunately this was in no way what they had prepared for. A young boy's life was on the line, leaving no room for pleasantries.
"Seven months ago, I made a decision that affected this team," Hotch began to explain. "As you all know, Emily had lost a lot of blood after her fight with the doctors were able to stabilize her."
He paused for a moment as the team took in the information. They looked perplexed but remained silent and waited for Hotch to continue.
"And she was airlifted from Boston to Bethesda under a covert ex-filtration. Her identity was strictly need-to-know, and she stayed there until she was well enough to travel. She was reassigned to Paris where she was given several identities, none of which we had access to for her security."
JJ breathed slowly and kept her best poker face. Hotch had no idea she and Emily had been in contact the whole time. He was taking full responsibility for the cover up to avoid her taking any backlash from the team. She felt bad for betraying his trust, but now was not the time for amends.
"She's alive?" Penelope was the first to break the silence.
Morgan and Reid shot looks between each other and Hotch. Hotch again insured that he had acted alone in the cover up and concluded than any issues were to be taken up with him directly. Before anyone had a chance to argue, Emily Prentiss appeared in the doorway alive and well.
JJ felt her heart quicken and her cheeks flush at the site of the beautiful brunette. She wanted so badly to wrap her arms around Emily and never let go.
"I'm so sorry," were the only words Emily could say. She took in the looks of shock, betrayal and relief. It would take time to mend the bonds she had broken, but there would be plenty of time to catch up after Declan was safe.
After their initial surprise had worn off the team got down to business. Emily was able to deduct the second abductor was most likely to be a woman seeking revenge. She had Garcia compile a list of Doyle's past female companions.
JJ and Emily left Garcia's office and found themselves together for the first time since Paris. There was so much to say.
"How mad is the team?" Emily asked truly concerned.
"They're in shock," JJ deflected. She paused and looked at Emily, really looked at her. Those brown eyes had been all she had thought about for months. She gazed longingly and smiled, "It is really good to see you,"
Emily wrapped her arm around JJ's shoulders and squeezed slightly. Her head was focused on finding Declan but her heart belonged to JJ. She leaned in and planted a chaste kiss on JJ's lips before realizing what she'd done. JJ froze before they both started laughing. It It was a welcomed escape from the serious atmosphere, but they both knew any further affection would have to be postponed for the time being.
They rejoined the rest of the team in the conference room to go over the information Garcia had complied. After running over the details they deducted the second abductor was Declan's mother, Chloe, who Doyle had told Emily was deceased. Morgan made a sarcastic comment about people returning from the dead that made Emily bite her tongue. She did not look forward to having to explain herself to him later, or any of the team for that matter. It had taken her some time to gain the trust of her fellow agents when she transferred to the BAU. They had become a family over the past years but now she had committed the ultimate betrayal and would have to accept the consequences.
"Hotch, we have to do anything we can to save Declan," Emily pleaded. She had staged Declan's death and relocated him in order to give him a life free from his father's violence. Yet it was her actions that lead to his abduction. She would survive if the team never forgave her, but she would never recover if she lost Declan. He was the son she never had. She had watched him grow up and loved him as her own. It took great strength for her to stare into those blue eyes, seeing so much of his father's features staring back at her. Declan was the reason she had joined the BAU to begin with. She moved to be close to him, to protect him. She couldn't imagine what he was going through, she only knew she would do absolutely anything in her power to save him.
It was discovered Chloe had struck a deal with Lachlan McDermott who was out to kill Doyle. Chloe had convinced him she could draw Doyle out of hiding by abducting their son. The team tracked down the pair attempting to flee on a charter flight with Declan. Doyle was offered as trade for the boy, but Chloe was apprehensive. McDermott ignored her plea to save her son and shot her when she tried to stop him.
With guns leveled at McDermott, Ian Doyle was produced as collateral. Before the trade was made, Chloe stumbled from the plane firing at McDermott. Reid opened fire and shot her square in the chest, killing her immediately. Emily rushed to Declan, relived he was unharmed.
Ian Doyle laid on the asphalt in a puddle of his own blood. He had caught a rouge bullet to the neck in the chaos. He looked into his son's eyes and apologized before darkness consumed him.
"It's okay now. I'm here. I've got you," Emily wrapped her arms around Declan as tears streamed down her face.