Life at the BAU continued at a predictably, unpredictable pace. The days were long and filled with analysing the worst of humanity. Spencer focused on the lives they had saved, the good they had done and the found family he'd formed along the way. When Gideon left he was broken, the action ripped open deep seeded abandonment issues that wounded him to his core. But the rest of the team had grouped round him, not allowing him to spiral into the darkness. Whenever he felt himself start to fall, inexplicably a member of his team would appear at his door with a home cooked meal or a film to take his mind off things. With their support he had made it out the other side and as a team they were stronger than ever.

One positive to the sudden departure of his mentor came in the form of his replacement's arrival, one David Rossi a man he admired and respected. He'd read all of the man's books multiple times finding nuggets of wisdom in each chapter. Admittedly he may have come across too eager at first, reveling in childlike wonder at getting to meet a literary great. He supposed looking back at his behaviour he probably nearly sent the older agent running for the hills. The prospect of working with an overexcited young fan was not something Rossi was interested in and yet they somehow got past the initial awkwardness and made it work.

Rossi fit into his BAU family perfectly. Fondly, Spencer compared him to a wise older uncle figure. He left no room for nonsense. He kept Reid on the straight and narrow while not being afraid to show his affection for him when he felt he deserved it. The thought crossed his mind that Rossi was not unlike his father in many ways, taking out the criminal aspect that is. Maybe that is why he found himself seeking the older man out more and more. From Rossi he learned how to cook, a much needed life skill that he was severely lacking. As well as the game of poker which he was soon regretting as Reid took to the game like a duck to water. Out playing the rest of the team and most of Rossi's friends when he was occasionally introduced to their monthly poker games. The games always ended the same way, with a large glass of some intoxicatingly strong alcohol and the toast of.

"Saluti"

Rossi would clap him on his shoulder recounting parts of the game he found particularly entertaining. Spencer would sigh contently wondering if he and his birth father would ever of done these kinds of activities. The next morning Spencer would wake up in one of Rossi's many guest rooms the smell of breakfast cooking reviving him from the hangover he undoubtedly had. Morgan always said he couldn't hold his alcohol and even with his semi-regular exposure to it through poker nights his tolerance was still non-existent. After a rushed breakfast Rossi would drive them into work. Where they would be met by their unit chief who would fix them both with a disapproving stare muttering a few displeased words to Dave about being a bad example followed by a reminder to not go overboard on a work night again. Hotch was definitely the stricter of the two but even he had a chink in his armour. Spencer knew this from the fact that once he'd finished chewing them out he'd hand him a mug of heavily sweetened coffee and push him towards the sanctuary of his office to recover. At around midday, with the worst of his hangover past Spencer would head back to his desk where a stack of paperwork and the inevitable ribbing from the remainder of his team awaited. He could sense Morgan's eyes on him even now and his musical laughter gave away the man's giddy delight at what was to come. At least Emily would take pity on him and call a stop to it after an hour or two. She always knew just when to swoop in, a skill Morgan had never quite managed.

All this came to a crashing halt one day when he walked into the briefing room early one morning to find Prentiss on the phone repeating the words.

"Lauren Reynolds"

Hearing the name aloud immediately grabbed his attention, forgetting his search for a pen in his messy bag and fixing her with his full focus.

Her words sent a wash of fear over him, could it be that she'd figured out who he was? Was this the day that his past finally came to light? But then she continued.

"Lauren Reynolds is dead"

He wasn't expecting her to say that. His brow furrowed, why would she be talking about this now? What had changed? Who could she possibly be talking to? He was stopped from spiralling by Emily turning towards the doorway. Unable to hide he did the next best thing. He stepped into the room pretending to have just arrived. Busying himself by pulling out the case file and flicking through it as he made his way round the table to his seat. The sight of him had Emily hurriedly ending the call.

Hearing the name was enough for the seed of doubt to be planted inside his brain. Could she have worked out his secret? He had to find out, so against his better judgement he blurted out.

"Who's Lauren Reynolds?" He attempted to sound casual.

"She was a friend of mine" Again not the response he expected but it was a standard enough lie for a cover story. He gambled with one last question.

"How did she die?"

"A car accident" Was Emily's brief response.

Her answers were straight out of the FBI undercover handbook. Mundane enough not to be questioned. A fact that wasn't lost on Spencer. This was good, if she's using her cover story on me then she doesn't suspect my involvement, his logical side told him. Even with this reassurance he subconsciously started to push his hair onto his face covering as much of his features as possible. Had he become too comfortable here? Maybe it was time to dig out his old, oversized glasses again just to be safe…

Spencer wasn't sure if it was his own paranoia that he was projecting onto Prentiss but he couldn't help noticing a change in Emily over the next few weeks. She'd started to bite her nails again. Something he had not noted her doing since she had just started with their team. Added with the increasing number of private phone calls that she was taking at all hours, on what Spencer suspected was a burner phone. Followed by her sudden need to check up on the rest of the team when they split up. While out on cases she started to phone Garcia multiple times a day under the pretence of catching up, not that the technical analyst minded. She'd also started to invite the team round more often on their rare days off and after work. Wanting to keep the team where she could see them. Her coffee intake had gone up tenfold no longer attempting to even add milk or sugar. Preferring a new order of strong, dark, double espressos. He'd caught her on many occasions filling two mugs at a time. Drinking the first mug before she'd even made it back to her desk. Which only added to her jumpiness when out in the field.

Reviewing her resent actions Spencer didn't need to be a profiler to know something was bothering her. The classic nonverbal cries for help were too much for Spencer to ignore. So he summoned up his courage. He'd planned it all out, on the way to work he would pick up two decaf coffees and breakfast wraps. With full stormacs and a considerably lower caffeine level than either of them would be used to he would broach the issue with Emily while the office was empty, before the morning rush. Unfortunately even the best laid plans fall apart and that day was no exception.

Spencer walked into the bullpen, he scanned the area looking for Emily. Her desk was empty, so was the conference room and the kitchen, he even stuck his head in the offices.

All empty.

He pondered the oddness of her not being in. Lately she'd seemed to be coming in earlier and earlier and staying long after the rest of them had gone home. He was starting to believe she never went home. He placed her coffee and wrap down on her desk ready for when she arrived. While he busied himself working on his paperwork.

Without realising time slipped away from Spencer minutes turned to hours with no sign of Emily. Slowly the bullpen started to fill, one by one the rest of the team took to their desks starting to get to work. All the while Emily's desk remained conspicuously empty. Emily's absence could be felt by all. Hotch and Rossi stood in the kitchenette an open case folder between them that neither of them were truly reading too busy casting glances at Emily's desk then to their watches before murmuring in hushed tones. Morgan was more vocal in his concern, asking anyone that came into the bullpen if they had seen Prentiss. Before giving up the pretence of work altogether he stood up in a huff.

"Right I'm gonna go look for her, she's probably in baby girls lair or at the coffee cart out front and just lost track of time, she's not that late" No one needed to ask who the 'she' he was referring to was.

"Good idea" JJ too stood putting on her cardigan.

"You go see if she's with Garcia and I'll check the coffee cart"

While they were gone Spencer got up wanting to help find his friend he started to check her desk for a note or any clues to where she might be. But there was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Nothing here to say where she's gone" He announced to Hotch and Rossi who discarded their file and came over to join him by Prentiss' desk just in time for Garcia to rush in, followed by Morgan. Who just shook his head at the group. Clearly their friend was not with Garcia. The notion that Emily might not be just running late was firmly fixed in everyone's minds.

A few minutes later and JJ returned alone.

"Coffee guy's not seen her since yesterday" She stated in a worried tone, dropping into the closest occupied chair.

It wasn't long before multiple members of the team had pulled out their phones to repeatedly call Emily. All unanswered.

After the second round of calls Garcia got up and all but ran to her lair, ready to start a trace. Morgan the ever supportive friend was hot on her heels. Trying to offer support to Penelope who was reeling off every possibility to what might of befallen Emily. This set into motion a series of events none at the BAU could of predicted.

So once upon a time I had a plan for this story but as is the way life happened and the plan and the drafts of the few chapters I was working on got put aside and lost over time. Now I've finally dug them up and gone back over them. I thought it only fair to upload what I have and see if it inspires me to get back into a writing mood. As always I apologise for my update schedule. My writing speed is that of a snail, followed by a long period of editing and reediting. And one last apology for any mistakes or inconsistencies there may be, it's been a very long time since I've watched the episodes which this story is set around. So think of the original episodes as more of a jumping off point, for this story to be its own thing. Let me know what you think of this chapter.