"Determination becomes obsession and then it becomes all that matters."-Jeremy Irvine

Asami's POV

Six months.

It had been a whole six months. The job was still the same, and we almost always caught the bad guys but it wasn't the same. Even after half a year I couldn't get used to the idea of her being gone. I'd go to her tombstone four or five times a week before work and leave her flowers, tell her what went on. Senna had called me a few weeks ago and she had sounded a lot better than before. It looked like she was slowly moving on, something I wouldn't be able to do yet. Iroh had moved in with me and he helped me forget a little, as did my job but I still thought about her constantly.

My phone rang and I sighed, answering it and letting Hotch know I'd meet them at the crime scene. I dusted off the dirt from Korra's tombstone before standing. "Duty calls," I told her. "You know how that goes."

Not long after I was at the Memorial Park in the middle of the city, ducking under the yellow tape and joining the rest of the team. I tilted my head to the side as I spotted the body. Whoever did that must have really hated her, seeing all the lacerations and blood on the victim's back.

"What do we have?" I asked our supervisor.

"Victim is Susan Murphy, 38, multiple stab wounds and it looks like she was out jogging," he answered. "Robbery is not a motive; they found a twenty Yuan bill in her pocket, credit card and her I.D."

"So why are we here?" This seemed like an average murder.

"She's the niece of President Raiko," Rossi informed me. "And there's something else."

"What is it?"

"The baby is missing," Iroh informed me.

I looked around, seeing a stroller a few feet away from where the victim was found. I turned back to the team. "We need to find that baby."

Mako's POV

Despite the situation I couldn't help but be happier than usual. I had been getting good news for the past three months and I couldn't help but be glad for the progress made. However, when I saw the look on Asami's face I knew she was going to have us on a leash until we found that baby. Whenever the cases were about kids she'd be on it, which is why I wasn't surprised that by the time we got to headquarters she already had a name and picture of the missing kid.

"Brian Murphy, almost one year old," she informed us as we sat down in the conference room.

"Have you checked hospitals, fire houses, churches, any safe haven where you can surrender a baby?" I asked, though this was merely a formality. Of course she had.

"Iroh and I area already working on it. But so far we aren't having any luck."

"Then tell Saikhan to get an Amber alert out, have his picture on all the buses, airports, borders and have them do another perimeter around that park."

"You got it, boss," Iroh answered, typing away.

"Any relatives? Criminal history?" Bei Fong questioned.

Asami shook her head. "No criminal history, has a sister and…" She paused, tilting her head to the side. "Here's something. She was married but divorced not too long ago and it wasn't pretty, for him at least."

"Name?" I asked.

"Raymond Murphy."

"Lin, take Bolin and see if he has an alibi. I'll stay here with Rossi to see if we find any other leads. Let's find this kid quickly."

Lin's POV

I was beyond irritated with this whole missing baby mess. The only reason the B.A.U. was involved was because the victim had been the president's niece, or else Saikhan would be handling this. Well that considered, we had a better chance of finding that kid alive than that old idiot did. I hated being stuck with the rookie but Hotch had made it a point to keep him with an older team member at all times. It wasn't surprising at all that he'd keep a close watch on his younger brother given his past record. The only reason he was even here was because my younger sister had put in a good word for him, because she thought people 'changed'. I really doubted that but Su had turned her life around after she had a family so I could consider the notion. For now.

We arrived to the victims was to be ex-Husband to find him with someone else. Katelyn, his current girlfriend. Well it seemed he had moved on pretty quickly. I filled him in on the situation and he looked surprised but I wasn't really buying it. Something was off, I just couldn't put my finger on it.

"This doesn't make any sense," Raymond said after a moment. "Who would want to hurt Susan?"

"Mr. Murphy, I have to ask," I began. "Where were you last night?"

"You think I killed Susan?"

"Its standard procedure," the younger Hotchner replied.

"My divorce was messy, sure," he admitted. "But I'd never hurt her." He paused, his brow furrowing. "Wait a minute, where's Brian? Where's my son?"

"Sit down, Mr. Murphy," I told him. "We don't know where he is, we are currently looking for him. Now answer my question, where were you last night?"

"We were going to visit Ray's mom in the Earth Kingdom," his girlfriend replied. "But we were stuck in traffic for a long time so we never made it. We stopped by a gas station on the way though, you can check my credit card."

I hummed at that. What a coincidence. "What was your relationship with Susan?" I asked the man.

"We got past the lawyers and everything. I wouldn't hurt her. We were fine."

"I think we have all we need for now," I answered standing up. "You can come to headquarters and wait for news on your son."

"Thank you," he whispered.

I asked Bolin to follow him before calling Hotch. Something was very wrong with this whole thing.

Iroh's POV

I had to admit it had been a while since I had seen Asami so…committed. Sure she'd came in to work every day, helped with cases, did paperwork but very rarely did she submerge herself like she currently was. I had noticed that it was always when the case had something to do with kids and I couldn't help but sigh. Half a year had passed since she'd lost her best friend but she still hadn't fully moved on. Most days she'd get up and go to the cemetery and talk to her, tell her about the cases we were working on. It helped her cope and I really didn't have a problem with it. But there were times when I wondered if this would ever be something she could move passed.

"Did you find anything?" I heard her ask.

"Currently checking the sex offender registry," I answered as she took a seat next to me.

Before Bolin was hired she had made it a point that no one would occupy Korra's office. She moved all her stuff out from her own office and placed all her tech equipment in mine and some other stuff in her best friend's office. I didn't mind sharing my office with her, seeing as we could spend more time together. However, whenever she breathed down my neck like this…well it got a little uncomfortable.

"And?"

"Here's something," I said, showing her the screen. "Here's a map of the area surrounding the park." I pressed enter and a lot of red dots popped up. "And these are all the pedophiles."

"You have to be kidding me," she murmured.

"I may be able to narrow it down," I said. "I've been looking at all the places Susan went and there's a playground in the park that she took Brian to every day. There were complaints filed of a man taking pictures there several times."

"You have a name?"

I smiled and pulled up a picture and address. "He lives right across the park."

"I'll tell Hotch," Asami replied, giving me a kiss.

"Where are you going?"

"To bring that guy in."

I sighed. Spirits help that man.

Asami's POV

As soon as Iroh had a suspect, which happened to be a pedophile, I was on it. I knew the reason for this, we all did. Korra had suffered too much under the roof of that…thing, and I would do my best to make sure no one went through that again. I gave Hotch the information and he grabbed his keys, not saying a word as I followed him out the building. He knew I would tag a long, which was rare. I didn't really like leaving the office but for these kinds of sickos I was more than happy to make the exception. Spirit's help that man if he so much as touched a hair on Brian's head.

Soon enough we arrived and we went around, looking for his apartment when we heard a baby wail. I quickly turned in the direction of the noise, pulling my gun out before Mako stepped ahead of me and knocked the door down only to find the pervert watching a video of a toddler. My jaw clenched and I went over to him, telling him to turn around as I placed the cuffs on him, ignoring him when he said they were 'too tight' and we drove him back to headquarters.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked when I sat him down in the room.

"You're a pedophile living by a playground," I answered, barely able to keep the anger at bay. He shrugged, this amused gleam in his eye as he studied me and Mako.

"I was convicted of an offence or two many years ago but I served my time."

"Well the condition for your probation was that you don't live within five hundred yards of a gathering place for children," Mako stated.

The animal scoffed. "That playground was built two years ago, I've lived in the same apartment for sixteen years," he replied. "I'm grandfathered into the neighborhood."

"We'll see how your probation officer feels about that," I said.

The man shrugged once more, and his lack of caring was starting to grate on my nerves. "He retired. His replacement never contacted me."

I took a deep breath, trying not to lose my patience before tossing a DVD with Brian's name on it. "Explain this."

"Well it's not finished yet so don't judge the quality," he began. "Needs music and a part when his mother is changing him." He looked at the disc on the table, a somewhat thoughtful look on his face. "Maybe even a close up."

I started to make a move to grab the smug little rat but Mako grabbed my arm, holding me back. The scumbag smirked and leaned against his chair. He was enjoying this, and unfortunately I'd given him prefect ammo.

"Lose the attitude or lose your freedom," Hotch snapped.

"It's my job. People bring me videos and I turn it into a digital memory. It's a good and honest living." With twisted perks for this freak.

"Who hired you to make the DVD for Brian?" Mako asked.

"His mother," he answered as if it were the most obvious answer. "She wanted it to be finished by his birthday."

"Where did you meet his mother?"

"In Republic City Memorial Park. I gave her my card."

"Where were you last night?" I questioned.

"A client asked for some last minute changes for his daughter's birthday video," he said. "I was with him until late at night."

"We're going to need your client's name," Mako said.

"Rob Riley. He's an old client that will speak highly of me." And then his lips curved up into this perverted little smirk. "I've done all his children."

I went at him again and Mako had to practically drag me out of the room. That bastard. "Control yourself, Asami."

"He's a creep!" I snapped.

"I know that. Stop letting him get to you." He paused. "Go back with Iroh, see if you can find any other leads."

"Hotch-"

"That's an order."

I clenched my jaw before walking away. I wasn't through with that thing just yet.

Mako's POV

Asami had completely lost it with our suspect. He had been enjoying getting under her skin, watching as she tried to fight the urge to incinerate his sorry ass. I would see the twitch of his lips every time and it took all of my self control. But I needed him to cooperate and Asami wasn't doing a good job of reigning in her own temper. So I had sent her out to see if she could find anything else that might help us while I dealt with the pervert. I wanted him gone. Just the fact that we were sharing the same room irritated me. Not even twenty minutes had gone by when I got a knock on the door. It was our female tech.

"Asami, I already told you-"

"I've got something," she replied. "Please, give me a second chance."

I sighed. "What you got?"

"The M.E. report is back," the tech began. "Stab wounds indicate that the killer is a woman."

"I'm not following." What did this have to go with the pedophile?

"I had Iroh play the DVD of Brian and I found something out of the ordinary," she continued. "This…suspect said that Brian's mother requested the video." I nodded my head. "But she's not in it. But guess who is?"

I thought about it for a second. Of course. Lin had told me that something felt off about Raymond and his girlfriend, Katelyn. Looked like she was right.

"Katelyn."

She nodded her head. "Now will you let me prove it?"

I took in a deep breath before allowing her inside. She set down three different pictures in front of the suspect and I saw him roll his eyes. Looked like his patience had finally run thin.

"Would you mind pointing out Brian's mother for me, please?" Asami asked.

He raised a brow at how she asked but nodded his head before pointing at the picture of Katelyn. "That's Brian's mom." He paused. "Can I go now?"

"No," we both replied.

"I have an alibi," the man defended, sounding indignant as he uncrossed his arms. "You spoke to my alibi, did you not?"

"Yes we did," the tech replied. "But you're still under arrest for failure as a registered sex offender to report to his probation officer. Have a good time in prison."

I asked a pair of officers to take him away before sharing a look with Asami.

Senna's POV

I couldn't help but smile as I looked through the album Korra and Asami had put together for me while I was at the mental institution. I hated the time that I had been there but it was this album, the letters my little girl sent me, and her visitations that made it bearable. I could remember how the older girl had been the one to suggest the idea, to document what they did whenever they could. They already had a few pictures of how they met. I took a deep breath as I found a photograph of my daughter when she was nine and had her arm in a cast. It wasn't till a few months ago that I found out that she hadn't fallen off her bike like she'd told me, but that monster had broken it on purpose. However, when I came across a too familiar photo I smiled, remembering the very first time I had met the Sato tech.

Korra had been thirteen and she came by every day after school to visit me. She was relatively small for her age, short and lean, something that even then I should have realized wasn't good. Each time she'd tell me about what she had done and on occasion she'd mention Asami's name. I had known they were friends for a long time and I wondered why she hadn't brought her by so I could meet her. But of course I knew the reason for that. She didn't want to have to explain how unfit I was, why I was in here.

"Momma?" I looked up and she placed a hand over mine, giving it a squeeze. "You know I'm not ashamed of you," she said as if reading my mind.

"I know," I whispered.

She smiled before furrowing her brow, looking in deep thought. "Would you like to meet Asami?" my little girl asked after a while.

"If you want to bring her," I replied, tucking a strand behind her ear. But inside I was ecstatic, it felt like I was going to see another part of my daughter's life that I was being denied.

Korra had nodded her head, throwing her arms around me as I hugged her tightly, kissing the top of her head. It was only a week later when she came in as usual, except that this time she wasn't alone. Behind her was an older looking girl, a lot taller than my daughter. Korra spotted me and ran over to me, hugging me tightly before introducing her friend to me. The raven haired girl smiled and shook my hand, and I told her about how much Korra talked about her.

We went to my room and my daughter reached into her backpack, taking out her report card. I smiled and took it, seeing straight A's as usual. Korra had always been smart, I could see if even when she was toddler, how she'd figure how to open or work things on her own. I told her how proud I was and she smiled at that hugging me again. She let out a yawn and I placed my hand against her cheek, noticing how tired she looked and figuring it must have been a long day at school. If only I would have known.

"So, what have you two been up to?" I asked as I wrapped an arm around my daughter, her head resting against my shoulder.

"We're actually planning a sleepover for the three day weekend," Asami answered. "It's been a while since we've had a weekend to ourselves."

"Are you excited, baby?" Korra nodded her head and I kissed her temple, realizing in that moment how she was getting older. "You're getting so big," I whispered. "I wish there was a way to keep track of how fast you're growing."

"What about a scrapbook?" Asami suggested. "I have a few photos Korra and I have taken. Maybe you two can work on it. I can give the material to her."

I saw my little girl smile at her friend and I nodded my head as well. And that was how this album had come to be.I sighed when I reached the end, looking up to see my favorite patient, giving her a smile. For the last two months I had been volunteering at a rehabilitation center in the Fire Nation while my husband took care of some business with the Fire Lord. It gave me something to do and the staff and patients were mostly cooperative and nice.

But oh, how I missed holding my daughter in my arms.

Bolin's POV

Rossi and I had called Susan's sister and informed her what had happened. She had taken the first flight from the Earth Kingdom to the city and had arrived just a few moments ago. Hotch told us to ask her a few questions seeing as we had a suspect in mind already. Turns out Katelyn had been posing as Brian's mom which practically gave her a motive. Not to mention Asami and Iroh had gotten the report from the Medical Examiner which revealed the killer was more likely than not a female. We took the sister and her husband to the conference room, telling them we were sorry for their loss and that we were doing everything we could to find Brian safe and sound.

"How was Susan and Ray's relationship?" the older team member asked.

"Fine," she answered. "I mean the divorce was bad but they got everything worked out…until Katelyn came along."

"What happened then?" I questioned.

"Well first Ray started missing alimony payments. He promised he would catch up but he just kept falling further behind."

"And the drop off," her husband whispered.

"Oh, yeah, and Katelyn was always late dropping Brian off and last week she called last minute to say Brian didn't want to go back to Susan." She wiped away her tears. "That's crazy I mean…he's a baby."

Rossi nodded his head. "What happened next?"

"Susan was so upset she called her lawyer saying she wanted full custody."

We shared a look. Interesting. "Did Katelyn know about that?" Zuko asked.

"Ray did."

"Thank you, you've both been very helpful," I told them.

"Agents?" she called causing us to turn. "You'll call us when you find my nephew? Please?"

"Of course."

One thing was certain. This wasn't looking good for Ray or Katelyn.

Iroh's POV

After rechecking Ray's and Katelyn's alibi over a dozen times I finally had something. Of course it helped that I had been able to get a few hours of sleep, something that my girlfriend had not managed. We had gone home in the middle at the night but I doubted she had even slept a wink but I couldn't function that way, not anymore anyways. I went over my finding once more to make sure I actually had something before calling Hotch and her over to my computer station.

"Okay so Ray and Katelyn said they were stuck in traffic on their way to see his mom, right?" I began, already knowing the answer.

"He's lying," my girlfriend replied.

I shook my head. "No, an oil truck overturned, huge mess." She let out an irritated sigh and I knew I had to get to the point soon. "Anyways, he drives this huge truck from the ninety's, that happen to waste a lot of gas."

"What is your point, Iroh?"

"Well even if he had started off with a full tank, having to wait in traffic and going all the way to the Earth Kingdom, he'd have to stop for gas," I explained. "So I pulled up surveillance videos from the gas stations to and from the route he took and I found this."

The video came up and we could see Ray as he pulled up to put gas. Hotch's brow furrowed, immediately noticing who was missing.

"Where's Katelyn?" he asked.

"Good question, I don't know." Both he and my girlfriend glared at me, looks like she wasn't the only one that missed sleep over this case. "But that cell phone he's holding, it's Katelyn's."

They hummed at that. "So he took her phone so that it would pingoff the cell towers, giving them an alibi," Asami concluded. "Clever. But now she doesn't have an alibi, because she's the one that stayed to kill Susan. Nice job, babe."

I grinned at that and she gave me a quick kiss before following our supervisor out.

Mako's POV

After seeing the evidence and putting it together, it was safe to say that Brian's father and his girlfriend had something to do with Susan's murder. Asami informed me of her plan to break Ray, lowering the temperature of the room to match that of the street, which was quickly dropping as nightfall approached. I told her I'd give a crack at Katelyn and I asked Lin to sit in with me, knowing that getting information out of suspects was her specialty. She hated the whole baby thing but was more than willing to put the murderer of the kid's mom behind bars as she had lied to her.

"Why am I here?" the red haired woman asked, her voice wavering slightly. She was a good actress.

"Because you killed Susan Murphy," Lin answered, throwing a file on the table as she sat down.

"What? I was with Ray, on our way to see his mother!"

"Your phone was with Ray," I replied, showing her the image of her boyfriend alone in the gas station making a phone call.

"I was sleeping in the backseat," she quickly tried to explain.

"Or maybe you were here in the city, in the Memorial Park," I said as I opened the file and took the infant's photo out. "You left him somewhere so that he'd be found, or turned in, or taken care of but he hasn't been. Where did you leave him?"

"Ask the person who killed Susan."

"We are!" Bei Fong finally snapped, making her jump.

The ginger met her gaze before lowering it, wringing her hands together. "I want a lawyer," Katelyn replied.

Lin scoffed and shook her head. Now we just needed to find Brian.

Asami's POV

Once I made sure the room where Ray was being kept was as cold as a freezer I went in, bringing a glass of cold, iced water with me. He was visibly shivering from the cold and I pretended to not notice before sitting down, giving him the cup. He whispered a shaky thank you before taking a seat in front of him. I could never understand how people could kill people like Susan, a mother dedicated to her only son that did everything to ensure he was happy. But money was a powerful force that made people do the unthinkable, and it didn't help that his girlfriend, Katelyn, had a history with the law. I wouldn't doubt it had been her idea and he had just followed along wanting to have his son all to himself.

"Have you found Brian?" he asked after a moment.

"No," I replied. "And I'll tell you why." He gave me his full attention. "Because Katelyn stabbed and killed Susan before taking Brian." His eyes widened, pretending to be surprised. "And she left him somewhere safe where he would be found quickly. It was a good plan, only we figured it out and now the both of you are going to jail. Now the only question that remains is if Brian will be alive to visit you when he grows up."

Ray didn't say anything, just muttered something under his breath, shaking his head as a tear slipped to freedom. I grabbed his hands, and placed them against the cold water, not that they needed to be any colder, but I needed to prove a point.

"It is fifty-eight degrees in here, and it is getting dark outside, the temperature is dropping and it is supposed to hit forty-nine," I began. "He's already been missing for one night. And your son, Brian, your baby, is somewhere out there, alone." I paused watching as more tears fell. "Tell me where Katelyn put Brian."

"In the arena," he whispered. And just like that I was out the door.

I immediately told Hotch and he ordered the team out except for Bolin and Iroh, telling them to stay and make sure Ray and Katelyn didn't leave as we went out and searched for Brian. We saw a homeless couple and asked if anyone had seen the baby and they nodded saying an older man, Gommu, had been asking for change to buy milk and a bottle. We asked where he was and they led us back to the park, telling us he camped in the bushes next to the bridge. I couldn't help but smile when I spotted him, identifying myself and letting him know we had been looking for the baby.

"I saw him outside the arena," he informed us as he handed me over the toddler. "I couldn't just leave him there, he'd freeze to death! So I went back today to see if whoever left him would have a change of heart and take him back."

"You did a good thing, Gommu," I told him as I cooed at the baby in my arms. "You did a good thing."

We finally found him.

Iroh's POV

I couldn't help but smile as I watched Asami interact with the baby as she handed him over to his aunt and uncle. She had gone nuts looking for him and she really did have a soft spot for kids. I'd often see her cooing at a baby whenever we went out, trying to get them to smile. As I watched her with Brian I couldn't help but think how she'd be when she had a child of her own. We had been…not trying, but definitely exploring the possibility of having a child together. My mother constantly nagged me of wanting to have grandchildren and Grandpa Zuko wanted me to settle down. If I were being honest, there was no one I wanted to be with than with her so I decided maybe we should talk about the possibility.

"He's adorable, isn't he?" she said, walking over to me.

I smiled and nodded my head. "Have you thought about having kids?" I asked. "I mean…I know we've been together less than a year but-"

"Of course I have." Asami wrapped her arms around me and I did the same, kissing the top of her head. "Korra," she said after a moment.

"Hmm?"

"If we have a girl. I want her name to be Korra."

"Of course," I said before giving her a kiss. "So…when do you want to start?"

She bit her lip looking up at me. "We sort of need to talk about that."

I frowned.

Mako's POV

I had to admit that it had been a while since we had solved a case under forty-eight hours, and it felt good. I could hardly sleep the night before knowing there was a baby out there, thinking he was alone. I knew I would go crazy if my son ever went missing, it's something that changes when you become a father. Thankfully Gommu, a homeless man, had taken care of the infant, feeding him, giving him love and warmth, and even trying to see if whoever abandoned him would come and claim him. I dismissed everyone for the day and I saw our female tech analyst in Korra's office. I sighed, remembering when she had requested for it so that no one would take it.

"Asami, I was just about to-"

"No one gets this office."

I sighed. I knew this would happen. This had been Korra's place, where she spent the time we were in headquarters, looking over different cases, doing what she did best. It wasn't going to be easy for Asami. "We have to fill the position eventually," I reminded her gently.

"Then the new guy can have my office and I'll move my stuff here. But no one, and I mean no one, is going to have this office. This is," she flinched as she caught herself. "Was Korra's space. And it's going to stay that way."

I decided not to argue any further on the subject as I stepped inside, intending to tell her what a great job she had done when something caught my attention. The Sato tech looked at me before closing the case file, trying to put it away in her purse but I had already seen it. This had just turned into an unpleasant conversation.

"Asami, I don't know what you think you're going to accomplish with this," I began after seeing that she had Unalaq's file. "But whatever it is…it won't bring Korra back."

"You think I don't know that?" she asked. There was something about her voice, something that sent shivers down my spine. It was hard like steel, something more vengeful than when she interrogated criminals.

"I've stood where you stand right now, being consumed with rage, you can hardly breathe, and you think that taking revenge will make it better. But Asami, it won't. It only makes it worse."

"He murdered Korra."

"This isn't what Korra would have-"

"Don't you dare tell me what Korra would have wanted!" Asami snapped, slamming one hand on the desk. "Don't tell me to think about her because I am thinking about her."

"Give me the file, Asami," I told her, extending my hand to take the file from her. "I won't let you seek revenge." She made no move to give it to me and I shook my head. "Give it to me or I tell Iroh."

Her eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't."

"Actually I would. Hand it over."

She met my gaze head on before she reached into her purse and slammed the file on the desk, bumping into me on her way out. I sighed but took the folder, going over to my office and seeing that something was coming out of the printer. I raised a brow, going over to see what it was. My jaw clenched and I immediately pulled out my phone. It rang a few times before a familiar voice answered.

"Hello, Mrs. Morgan," I greeted. "It's Mako."

"How are you?" the older woman answered. "It had been a few days since you called."

"I know, we had a case," I explained before looking at the image again.

"Is something wrong?"

I didn't say something for a moment. "I need you to come back to Republic City. I'm going to send two Marshalls to pick you up. All of you."

"It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways."- Buddha