The plane ride is long but nothing like the ones to Paris had been. The plane all those months ago for Emily had been so lonely and frightening and painful. The plane ride for Aaron and Jack before Paris had been long. Jack had been asleep for most of it, so Aaron had been left alone to his own thoughts and they had not been pleasant. He had been scared for him and his son in this new city when they still knew so little and so few things had been prepared for them. He had been plagued by thoughts of Emily lying in that hospital bed. Questions about her well-being and their future were wreaking havoc on his mind. It had been long and horrific, but this plane ride was different. The anxieties associated with their return was present in both of their minds and fear for Declan was especially difficult for Emily, but they were together. The three of them were together, and as long as that is true, they will be content even with the outside issues disturbing them.
They walk now into the FBI building through the back elevator late at night. There is no one roaming the halls, not even a stray janitor completing nightly duties.
As they approach the BAU, Emily stops suddenly with a gasp as she grasps Aaron's arm. "Look, Aaron," she says, and he does. Up on the memorial wall in front of them is both of their ID photos in black frames with screws driven into them. It's a small detail in overarching story of their lives, but it strikes Emily. She had always known that it was possible that she, or Aaron, end up on that wall and with what happened, of course they would be, but to actually see their faces up there... It's so permanent, and she hates it. She was resuscitated when she died, but that was just luck. Aaron managed to make it out of that explosion, but it was just luck. She realizes, every single danger in every single case they have worked could have led to their faces on that wall. She can't live with that possibility anymore.
"It's okay, Em," Aaron says, as he places a kiss on her forehead. "We're alive, and it's time they all know it too."
Their attention is suddenly turned from the wall then with a loud gasp and the sound of something—coffee, they see when they turn—falling to the ground. The young man's face that they have seen almost daily around the office for years stands in front of them, and he is entirely shocked.
"Anderson," Aaron says warmly. "It must be crazy seeing us here."
"Long story short, we had to fake our deaths," Emily says quickly to keep the agent from thinking he was seeing ghosts.
"Agent Rossi had told me to expect a surprising visitor. I wasn't expecting this," he says, gesturing between the three of them quickly after regaining his composure.
"What else did Rossi say?" Emily asks.
"That I would be watching over something—I guess, someone," Anderson said, looking at Jack who waves happily.
"That makes sense. I hope you're getting paid time and a half for this," Aaron says. "He has plenty of toys in his backpack, so once we get done with greetings, we'll just send him to Rossi's office."
"I'm glad to help. I don't know what's going on up in that briefing room, but I'm guessing it's serious," he says
"It is," Emily responds.
"Are they all in there?" Aaron asks.
"Yes, sir. I watched as they all went in and closed the blinds," he says.
"Okay," Aaron says. "Give us a moment."
Anderson turns to walk back through those glass doors and says, "I'm really glad you guys are okay."
As they thank him, Aaron, who holds Jack, and Emily turn toward one another again. All they have with them currently is Jack's backpack and Emily's purse with Sergio asleep inside since their bags are all out in the car that had been waiting for them at the airport.
"Are you ready for this?" Aaron asks Emily.
"Are you?" she counters, and they both know that they aren't. "And you Jack?"
"Yes!" he says with a little clap. Even as Emily reminds him maybe for the third time in the past few hours that only Uncle Dave and JJ know they're alive, the boy's excitement doesn't cease.
"Looks like he's ready enough for both of us," Emily says.
Aaron agrees, taking her left hand in his and holding it up so they can look at the engagement ring. "Are you okay with them seeing this now?"
"Yes, but I think they will be too distracted by everything else to notice it...at least to immediately notice it," she says, and he nods.
With their fingers interlocked, they walk side by side down the remainder of the hall, through those big glass doors, and across the empty BAU. "Come on, Rossi. Why won't you tell us what's going on? I could be in there interrogating that bastard right now." Derek says.
"We can't just sit around for a lead to present itself," Reid chimes in.
"Pretty boy's right. We need to be working on this. Not sitting around," Derek agrees. Meanwhile, Emily and Aaron with Jack held at his side climb the few steps, and Emily and Aaron both smile to see the tense scene before them. David and JJ stand up at the front of the room in front of the screen while Derek and Spencer stand to either side of the table and Penelope sits between them. Those three are facing away as they quietly approach.
"We just need to wait a few more minutes," JJ says looking at her watch.
"Why?" Penelope asks.
"Because we need more help. Someone is coming who will hopefully have all the information we need to save Declan," JJ responds.
"Who?" Derek asks.
Standing in the doorway and clutching tightly to Aaron's hand, Emily pulls her heavy and oversized sweater around her front. In a soft voice with a gentle, apologetic smile, she says, "Me." Everyone spins towards them in shock. Derek stumbles back a few steps until he is leaning against the closed blinds, and Reid leans forward against the table. Tears fall from Penelope's eyes. Emily looks over at Aaron and Jack when he squeezes her hand and reminds her she isn't alone. She will never be alone again. "Us…" she says quietly. "I'm sorry." She silently curses how emotional the pregnancy has made her as she has to lift her hand to catch tears beneath her eyes before any of them have the chance to slip down her cheeks. Behind the three shocked faces are the two smiling faces and Emily looks at them both in hopes of feeling less terrible, but it hardly works.
"How?" Penelope barely manages to say.
Aaron, whose own emotions on his face are in check while crazy in his head, sets down Jack, who immediately moves to stand between Aaron and Emily. "We almost died. I made the necessary decision to protect us. I understand your anger, and I am sorry for your grief. But in time, I hope you can understand that I had to protect them," he says firmly but there is sensitivity that they can all sense.
"And you both knew," Spencer says as a statement, not a question, to JJ and Dave.
"I need all of you to understand that I made this decision," Aaron says, cutting in before either JJ or Dave have to respond. "I did it alone. All of your anger and blame should be placed on me. I made the decision before Emily was even conscious. Before she was bre—"
"—Aaron," Emily cuts in quietly, nodding down at Jack, and Aaron agrees silently. "Jack, we're going to need you to go to play in Uncle Dave's office. If you need anything, ask Agent Anderson that we met in the hall, okay? And if you need one of us, just tell him," Emily says so gently.
"Okay," Jack says sadly. "Will you both be safe?"
"We will," Aaron and Emily say simultaneously, and the tension in the room changes as if everyone is struck by the sound of Jack's fearful voice and their quiet response.
Sergio's head pops out of Emily's purse then, and there is a loud gasp from Garcia as Emily realizes that she had forgotten all about him. "And take Sergio with you, kiddo."
"Ok. I love you," Jack says as he looks between them.
"Love you too," Emily and Aaron both say as he runs back to Rossi's office, pulling a snack from a side pocket of the backpack as he goes.
Everyone is silent until he reaches the office and closes the door behind him. "Like I was saying, Emily was not involved in the decision-making, and I forced JJ and Rossi to go along with it because I required their help. If I hadn't, they wouldn't have known either," Aaron says matter-of-factly.
"That's just not—" Spencer begins with irritation, anger even, rising in his voice. Meanwhile, Derek paces back and forth with his hand to his forehead while Penelope stares at them in shock.
"I'm so sorry, Spencer," Emily interrupts in a firm tone. "I want to discuss this. I want to discuss a lot with all of you, but this is not the time nor the place. There is a boy missing that I care about. A boy that nearly cost me my life, that could of have been the reason that Aaron and Jack lost theirs. I will get that boy back safely. We need to be briefed. Tell me about Declan, and tell me about Ian Doyle."
Derek, Spencer, and Penelope fall silent to face the screen while Rossi takes the clicker to present images of the house where Declan had called home which is now the scene of the murders of his former nanny turned adoptive mother and two FBI agents. The moment the pictures of the bloodshed flash on the screen, Emily raises the hand that is not currently holding Aaron's hand (which no one has seemed to take note of yet) in front of her face as a shield from the images.
"We don't need to see those pictures," Aaron says sternly as he reaches for a chair in front of them and next to Penelope. He pulls it out and leads Emily to sit there. She accepts the seat with a kind smile to him of thanks as she lets go of his hand, wringing her hands together and staring down until she knows that the images are gone. She had realized at some point over the past months in Paris, and especially since becoming pregnant, that she has seen enough blood. Enough people dead. She doesn't want to see this kind woman that she once knew dead as well.
"Oh…okay," Rossi says slowly while looking between them. Aaron now stands behind Emily's chair with both of his hands braced on her chair. Rossi eyes Aaron for a second before he continues, "So to the point then: we think it was Declan's mother."
"Parental kidnapping makes the most sense," JJ says. "Most of Doyle's allies have been arrested or taken out, current and former. We don't know everyone, of course, but—"
"—Yeah," Emily says with a perfect understanding of their reasoning. "I don't know who Declan's mother is. Ian never discussed her at all…" Emily looks at the faces around the room who stare at her. Wringing her hands together beneath the table, she stares down at her diamond ring sparkling on her finger and releases a deep breath through pursed lips. "That's what I'm here to find out."
Aaron's hand reaches down to squeeze Emily's shoulder as he sighs unhappily. His dislike is clear, but he remains silent about it while Spencer asks, "Doyle's in interrogation, but are you sure you can do that?"
"I have to. It's for Declan," Emily says firmly. "Let's get this over with. Bracing with her hands on the arms of the chair, Emily stands a little slowly with her back having begun to ache. Beside her, Emily hears a quiet gasp and looks over to find Penelope looking down at the engagement ring with a look of shock. Emily gives her a tight-lipped smile that she hopes can express how she wants to talk and how sorry she feels, but of course it doesn't.
Emily steps back from the chair to stand next to Aaron, and they both look back at Jack who they can see through the blinds as playing happily, and making a mess, in Rossi's office. "You can stay here?" Emily says, trying to provide him out so he doesn't have to watch her interrogating the man that had almost killed them all.
"No, I can't," Aaron says with a little smile pulling at his lips and she nods, turning towards the door to go out the office. She pulls her long and oversized sweater around her subconsciously as Aaron's hand finds the small of her back. They walk out into the hallway while they are watched intently, even gawked at. Rossi and JJ soon follow after looking at the other three with concern. Penelope stands from her chair as she looks at Derek who just sighs with confusion and frustration, having been lied to even after he made the difficult decision of accepting the promotion. He just shakes his head as he joins Penelope to follow after the others.
Spencer, being left behind, stands silently in that room. Sure, he never thought that they knew everything about each other, but this…these secrets and lies are so big. They might as well be betrayals. He gives the briefing room a backwards glance, missing what it had been like for the years where he knew he could trust any one of them implicitly, before following after the silent group. After all, they have a boy to save, and nothing will stop them from doing exactly that. Not a flood of emotions, not personal trauma, and not a family broken by secrets and lies.