A/N: I may have to check back for mistakes on this chapter. Also, there are a few time jumps here, so just a tiny warning.
A little over two months had passed since JJ had been able to finally mourn over Emily's death. Since then, she felt all the weight being lifted off her shoulders. She also kept a close eye on Henry, who seemed to have been coping a lot better than she had, through his imagination. There had been, however, moments where Henry would stay quiet or cry about Emily leaving them. Those were times when JJ held him and brought him to her room at night, so he could peacefully go to sleep.
In turn, whenever he noticed JJ looking sad, he would tug her hand and ask if she could fill in for Emily's roles when Henry and Emily used to play together. It was all he could do to bring a smile to his mom's face again.
One day, while JJ was playing with Henry in the living room, her phone began to ring from the dining table. As she got up from the floor where they were playing, she ruffled his hair before answering her phone.
"Hotch?"
Hotch's voice came through the phone. "JJ, how are you doing?"
"I'm good. Just spending some time with Henry right now." She looked over her shoulder to see her son making sound effects as he was playing with two action figures.
"Is everything ok with you guys?"
JJ took a deep breath for two seconds and exhaled. "Yeah. We're doing alright. Uh, Hotch, what's up?"
"I wanted to know if you are cleared for work, that is, if you want to come back," he explained.
JJ raised her eyebrows at the request. "If that's alright with you," she said. "I wouldn't mind coming back." There was a small bit of hesitation in her voice, and Hotch noticed it.
"You don't want to come back?"
"I do, but," she looked over to Henry again. "It's Henry I'm worried about. He's scared that something might happen, if I'm not back home safely. He's still trying to get a grasp on Emily's…" she trailed off, leaving Hotch to understand the missing word. "I'll have to think about it first. I'll let you know as soon as I can."
With that, she hung up and heard Henry calling for her. "Mommy, who's that?"
She kneeled down right beside him and rubbed his back. "Um, it's my boss. You remember him, right?"
"Uncle Hotch?"
"Yeah. He wanted to know if I can go to work soon. Is that ok with you?"
Henry pursed his lips in thought and registered her words. Nodding, he looked up at her again. "That's ok! You're gonna catch the bad guy."
JJ lightly chuckled, a little surprised about his reaction to the question. She combed his hair with her fingers and nodded. "Yeah, I guess so."
"Are you gonna come back?" He mumbled with his shoulders slightly slumping.
JJ sighed. "I'm not sure, buddy. But I will be back here as soon as I can," she promised and finished with a kiss on top of his head. In a quick second, Henry wrapped his arms around her neck, resulting in her being pulled down with a surprised gasp.
"Be ok, mommy," he whispered in her ear as he held on tighter. He wanted her to come back safely, and JJ's heart clenched at his words, suddenly feeling more protective of her child.
JJ softly smiled at his words and brought him closer, placing a gentle hand behind his head. She felt her eyes begin to prick with tears and kissed his cheek. "I promise, baby. Everything's going to be ok."
Later that night, JJ notified Hotch that she decided she was going back to the office the next morning. He agreed and they discussed things that morning about her gun and badge return, and her job, more specifically, a new role in the team.
"Hotch, are you sure about that? What about liaison? Who's filling in that role?" She expected she would just come back to work, go through some paperwork, and get approved for clearance. What she wasn't expecting was the sudden promotion of becoming a profiler.
"The team is beginning to downsize, and so I've been assigned to work overseas, as a result. I'll be leaving next week."
"What about the others? Are they staying or leaving, too? Did Strauss put you up to this?" JJ scoffed once she mentioned the section unit chief's name. She was also asked to leave the BAU last year for "better opportunities" and "a flexible work schedule, so that you can spend more time with Henry". She was perfectly fine with her job at the BAU, so she declined the offer.
Hotch didn't respond with a head shake or a nod. He did suspect after talking with Strauss about the grief assessments, it would be her who had been involved with the decision, but he wasn't certain. "The Director called a meeting two days ago to discuss budgets. I'm not entirely sure if Strauss has anything to do with it, as far as I know. For now, the rest have decided to stay. Morgan declined an offer from a field office in New York, so he will be acting unit chief at this time. Garcia will take your place as liaison for now, so you'll be working out on the field a lot more."
His face softened a little and he sighed. "JJ, you've been able to pick up on profiling for the past almost seven years. I trust you will work to improve them over the next few weeks, or even sooner. Morgan will help you as he leads the team now."
JJ took a moment to process all that information she was hit with. She wanted to come back to work and felt she was ready. She gave a nod. "Ok."
A month had passed since JJ returned to the BAU. The team was functioning relatively well, even with Hotch (and Emily) gone and under Derek's leadership.
Derek and Penelope were now in his office, sifting through files on Ian Doyle, or rather Declan, his son. Actually, ever since JJ the BAU left nearly four months ago, Derek had gotten access (with the help of one Penelope Garcia) to files on Doyle once again. He decided to keep this a secret between him and Penelope, and not let the others know until they were sure they found Doyle. JJ was the one he avoided the most because he knew she was going to lose it if she found out what was going on.
"Ok, Emily needed to get Declan a new identity, so she must've used someone she trusted," Penelope concluded, sitting down across from Derek.
"Alright, well, that's a short list, but it's probably not even written down. Even if it was, she's had contacts all over the world."
"Oh, tell me about it. Two columns, domestic imports." Penelope said.
A knock came from the door, and JJ gave a quick smile at the two of them. "Hey, you guys seen Spence?"
"He's at the firing range," Penelope answered.
JJ sighed. "Again?"
The tech analyst sympathetically nodded. "Yeah. Ever since Prentiss died, he…"
JJ frowned, being reminded of Emily's death. "Right," she nodded, gazing down at the floor.
"Are you ok, JJ?" Derek quietly asked.
JJ blinked and waved a dismissive hand. "Yeah, yeah. I'm all good. Uh, did you guys just get a new case?" She pointed at the files piled on Derek's desk, hoping she did her best to cover up her sadness.
Derek and Penelope gave shrugs and head shakes. "It's just an old one," he replied.
JJ immediately perked up, standing up straighter with a hopeful smile. "Do you want some fresh eyes?"
"Not just yet."
JJ nodded in understanding. She tapped her hand on the door twice before leaving. "Ok, well, just let me know."
Penelope turned around to face Derek with pleading eyes. She felt guilty about not having JJ by their side, looking through Doyle's files. "Shouldn't we tell her? I hate seeing that frown on her face. Poor thing." She clicked her tongue and shook her head in sympathy for JJ.
Derek sighed, putting the current file down on his desk. "Garcia, this has been a long shot for six to seven months. Why get her hopes up?"
"I'm worried about JJ," Penelope said. "She hasn't been herself ever since Emily died."
"Things have changed around here since she died, Garcia," Derek pointed out, slumping back in his chair.
"But not like this. I'm no profiler, but haven't you seen how JJ's been beating herself up ever since? She barely comes out with us to Ziggy's. That's never happened before. She'll only go, if Emily goes. She freezes when Emily's name comes up in conversations, and Emily's watch! JJ's been wearing that since she came back, and I always see her play with it." Penelope thought about what she said, and it suddenly hit her. "Derek, is it just me or is there something more than what JJ's leading on about her and Emily?"
Derek frowned and shrugged. "They were pretty close before."
"Yeah, awfully close! And the way JJ's been acting… Come on, don't you see it? JJ's in love with Emily," she exclaimed.
Derek raised one eyebrow at her, almost in disbelief. "You think JJ's in love with Prentiss? Come on."
Penelope swatted his arm across the table. "Seriously! There was this one girls' night we had, and she was drunk and telling me all these things she loved about Emily. Even Henry says she's always sad about her. Maybe that's why Emily's death has been getting to her so much."
Derek sighed once more. "Look, even if that's true, we still can't tell her. One mention of Ian Doyle, and JJ's going to lose it. She's been wanting to kill this guy since Emily died. I can't let anything happen to JJ, especially since she just came back to work."
Penelope let out a slight huff, crossing her arms for a second in thought. "Alright. We won't tell her."
JJ and Derek sat in their SUV, waiting for updates from the FBI sniper on the roof or Spencer or Rossi on Doyle's whereabouts. Earlier, Penelope told Derek that she found Doyle through one of the security cameras of the house Louise Thatcher and his son, Declan, were currently residing in. Derek had split him, JJ, Rossi, and Spencer into pairs, bringing JJ along with him.
"You got any movement?" Derek asked the sniper.
"Negative. No movement detected."
"That's all Hotch said? Take the shot?" JJ asked with raised eyebrows. When Derek called Hotch about what was going on, he was sure he heard those three words. Truthfully, JJ wanted to do more than just "take the shot". She wanted to make Doyle suffer for what he had done to Emily, and for taking the older woman away from her.
"Yeah, but he's pissed," Derek admitted with a sigh, running a hand down his face.
JJ's phone rang and she picked it up. "Hey, Spence."
"I can't find him."
"What do you mean you can't find him?" Derek noticed there was a hint of annoyance and impatience in her tone, but it wasn't directed towards Spencer (or even Rossi).
"The headmistress said Declan got sick and went home," Spencer explained.
JJ sighed. "Ok, uh, call for backup and get to the house."
"We're already here."
"You see the agents?"
"The lights are off." Spencer checked his surroundings once more before nodding into the phone. "I'll call you back."
"What- Reid!" JJ furrowed her eyebrows and turned off her phone with a huff.
"Nothing?" Derek asked.
JJ shook her head and put her phone back into her back pocket. "Nope." Sighing, she let her guard down for a moment to speak to Derek as a friend, not an agent. "Look, the way I've been acting today and, well, lately, I'm really sorry. I just want to find this son of a bitch, finish the case, and go home. I promised Henry I'd be back safe and in one piece."
After that little revelation from Penelope earlier that day, Derek gave it some thought. "JJ, are you sure everything's alright?"
JJ nodded in reassurance, but he sensed the tension in her body language. "Yeah, why?"
"Listen, I don't mean to put you on the spot here, but did you have feelings for Emily?"
JJ blinked a few times, internally panicking at the question. She didn't know how to properly answer that. "What- who, who told you I did?"
"So, you did have feelings for her?"
JJ glanced away from him and looked straight ahead, tensing her jaw. "I don't want to talk about it. My feelings have nothing to do with this case."
Derek saw that JJ was shutting down and building her walls back up. He let out a small sigh and softened his eyes, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's ok, JJ. You don't have to talk about it right now, but I just wanted to make sure everything's alright. Whatever it is and whatever happens, I'll still be here for you."
JJ turned her head towards Derek and nodded, putting her own hand over his. She felt a little relieved about that coming from him. "Thanks."
"Anytime." Derek smiled. Then, the sounds of sirens passing by interrupted their moment. "The squad car that went by got Doyle's attention. You see that?"
"I got movement," the sniper said.
"He's in there," JJ concluded.
Derek and JJ exited the SUV with their guns loaded and steady in front of them. Derek kicked the door down before the two agents made their way inside. Checking every room and their surroundings, JJ looked through the closet and found an opening to the vents.
"Morgan, he's going to the roof," she said and made her way ahead of the other agent.
Going upstairs to follow Doyle, JJ kicked the last door down, finding herself on the roof. She pointed her gun forward and scanned her surroundings. Before she knew it, she was slammed to the ground, crashing into metallic objects, and suddenly, her gun was out of sight. Struggling with the suspect JJ now noticed was Ian Doyle, she rolled them over so she was above him. JJ began throwing punches across his face, switching between fists and seeing his head move side to side with each blow.
Doyle pushed her off of him and it was his turn to defend himself. JJ grunted and attempted to dodge his punches. She tried to search for her gun across the floor, and found it three feet away from Doyle and herself. She headbutted him before scrambling to get her gun, but was stopped by a few kicks to her stomach. Groaning and holding her stomach, she took deep breaths and weakly reached for her gun again.
"Almost feels like deja vu, Agent," Doyle remarked with a smirk, towering over her body. "I remember having Emily in the exact position you're in now."
Something snapped inside of JJ upon hearing Emily's name, and she growled at him. She regained her strength and grabbed her gun, swiftly turning around to face Doyle. Unfortunately, he ran away and she chased him, catching sight of him again.
"I've got the shot, Agent," the FBI sniper said to JJ, following Doyle's tracks through his scope.
"Don't take the shot, I got him! Don't shoot!" JJ shouted for the sniper to hear. "Ian Doyle, freeze!"
Both of them stopped in their tracks and JJ pointed her gun towards him. He turned around and JJ took note of his appearance. Derek and Penelope were right about him being in hiding for a while. He had scruffy and barely shaven facial hair, and weary eyes with dark circles around them.
"You're going to kill me yourself?" Doyle asked with his hands up in surrender.
"Morgan, I got him," JJ said into her mic piece. Walking over to Doyle, she lowered his hands behind his back and took out her handcuffs. Deciding to give him just a little taste of his own medicine, she roughly and tightly twisted his arm, hearing the man wince at the action. Feeling slightly satisfied with the reaction she received, JJ restrained his wrists and read him his rights.
Back at the BAU, Doyle was finally taken into custody. Another BAU employee shoved Doyle down into his seat in the interrogation room. He barely flinched, JJ noticed and crossed her arms over her chest. She didn't realize how relieved she was to finally catch Ian Doyle. There was so much she wanted to do with him, to make him pay for what he did to Emily. But right now, Declan was all that mattered regarding the case. She now knew that Emily would've wanted him to be safe, especially since Louise was now dead.
"Forgotten where I've been, Agent?" He said and looked up at JJ. "Places far worse than this."
JJ slowly shook her head before sitting down across from him. "Doyle, where's Declan?"
"Don't play dumb. You found him a month before I did. He's living in that lovely little house our friend set up for him. I should've found him sooner. Finally remembered she likes cul-de-sacs. Has she ever told you that?" His statement ended off with a small smile, knowing how it would affect JJ. The blonde agent knew he was referring to Emily, and she clenched her jaw at the mention.
"Where is Declan now?" She gritted out through her teeth. She received no response. "Come on, you're telling me you had no part in this?"
"You're telling me this isn't part of the strategy? You're telling me my son is missing when I know he was safe a few hours ago. You'll have to be more creative," he answered. "If you think this is all it will take to bring Emily back, you're wrong, Jennifer."
JJ's chest slowly began to heave in anger and her fingers dug into her palm as she made a fist under the table. Pointing a sharp finger toward him with her other hand, she warned him again. "This isn't about her, we are talking about your son! Now, you listen to me, Ian. I don't want to do anything I'll regret, so if you care about anyone other than yourself, you'll give me a list of who would have done this. I'm going to ask you this one last time, and you better give me a damn good response because I'm not going to repeat myself. Where is Declan?!"
"I don't know!" Doyle fired back at her. "I don't."
JJ examined his body language to see if he was lying or not. His eyebrows were scrunched together in the middle in confusion. Down to his eyes, JJ couldn't find anything that was challenging her. They were shifting back and forth, and dilated. He was an international criminal who showed no mercy, there's no way he would be showing those signs, if he didn't mix business and personal. The carotid in his neck pulsed, possibly from anger and… fear. JJ added them all up; Doyle was telling the truth. He was now concerned about where Declan could be. Declan was his weakness, and JJ realized it was beginning to show.
Quietly nodding, she gave herself a little time to calm down before continuing. "Ok. Then, how about this? Who hates you enough to take your son?"
"I don't know," Doyle sighed in defeat and shrugged.
"Think, Doyle," JJ said with determination.
"How long has it been?"
"Six hours."
"You've had your time to find him. Now let me have mine."
JJ shook her head. "That's not going to happen. I'm done playing games." Her phone began buzzing and she picked it up, only to find a text from Hotch, who apparently came back to the BAU while she was interrogating Doyle. All she could make out was someone named Richard Gerace.
"Ian, do you know anyone by the name, Richard Gerace?"
"Gave him a nasty scar in Belfast 20 years ago. Hasn't been my problem since."
"Whose problem was he?"
Doyle shook his head. "She won't help."
"Why not?"
"Because I killed her."
She was going nowhere with Doyle, and was even more frustrated than before. After a moment of silence and contemplating, JJ left the room to get more details about the case.
Hotch arrived back at the BAU office, and called the team for an emergency meeting in the conference room. He decided it was time to tell them what had been going on the past almost seven months.
"Welcome back," Derek greeted.
"Thanks. Everybody have a seat." Deep down, Hotch was nervous about what he was going to receive from his agents. He had to make sure everyone will start checking in with him afterwards, to see if they're good to continue working and moving forward.
"Is everything ok?" JJ asked, choosing to stand up instead and shoved her hands in her pockets.
"Seven months ago, I made a decision that affected this team. As you all know, Emily had lost a lot of blood after her fight with Doyle. But the doctors were able to stabilize her. And she was airlifted from Boston to Bethesda under a covert exfiltration. 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."
"She's alive?" Penelope asked with a tear rolling down her cheek.
"But we buried her," Spencer frowned.
"As I said, I take full responsibility for the decision. If anyone has any issues, they should be directed toward me," Hotch said.
JJ's heart was beating so fast that she could practically hear it in her ears. She was thankful her hands were in her pockets because they were starting to shake. Derek noticed from the corner of his eye how JJ's eyes were casted down towards the floor and became shifty, as she tried to comprehend Hotch's words.
The sounds of quiet footsteps came from the threshold of the conference room door, and there stood Emily. The allegedly "dead" woman, whom JJ held in her arms in her final moments. Everyone froze in their spots, staring at Emily, who looked very much alive and well.
Emily's eyes scanned everyone's reactions before they landed right onto JJ. The blonde slowly and silently looked up at her with wide eyes. Her mouth was partially opened, but no words came out. JJ only stared at her, wondering if it was all just some dream.
Emily's gaze softened when she saw her.
I'm so sorry, JJ.