A tall, skinny man knocked on Apartment 2B just before it struck 6am.

He was carrying nothing but a wallet that only had cash in it.

The door opened eighteen seconds after he knocked.

"Well, well, well, you haven't changed a bit," the woman with long brown hair, said, smirking.

"Is that a good thing?"

She shrugged and invited him in.

"Thank you, anyhow, for having me."

She ruffled his hair playfully.

"C'mon, we're family."

The man smiles at her and hangs his coat up on the wooden coat rack that sat quietly in the corner of her bare living room.

"It's good to see you, Reid." She says, hugging him tightly.

"You too, Elle."

It takes the whole team some time to mend. Reid had become such an important part of their lives that they didn't realize how different it would be when he was no longer there. They didn't realize how much they took him for granted, and you would think they did, after they "lost" Emily.

But that's the thing about humans – even those that analyze human behavior the deepest – we only learn to love something when it's no longer there.

Everyone thought that Alex would take it the hardest, but JJ did. There were no tears from her, just so much pain it radiated everywhere she went, like an inexplicable feeling of being pulled down when she was near you.

Morgan knew it was like a huge part of her died too. A huge part of him died too, but he and Reid, they ended on good terms. JJ and Reid – not so much. Garcia tried getting her to talk, but she just clammed up and wallowed in self-blame and guilt and trapped herself in a world of what-ifs. Even after the team started to move on, a big part of her continued to hurt, no matter how much she tried to hide it behind her smiles.

On top of the hurting, the members of the BAU were accompanied by armed agents wherever they went – literally. They guarded their door, their car and even stood outside the toilet – something that pissed Garcia off to no end. Even though Hotch himself was starting to get annoyed with the guards who were just doing their jobs, he couldn't bring himself to lift the ban.

Rossi and Morgan demanded Hotch to tell them the truth, since none of this happened when Emily died, but Hotch kept his mouth shut, which led Rossi to think that this wasn't just about Reid – it was about Zugzwang – The Replicator.

Hotch eventually gave in and told them yes, he suspected (he knew, but if he said he knew they would be hounding him with a new set of questions) it was Zugzwang, and he couldn't risk losing anyone or even getting anyone injured.

They accepted the answer, but didn't seem much happier about it.

Back home, Will felt lost.

He knew JJ tried to smile and tried to be happy when he did things to cheer her up, but she wasn't really happy. If there's one thing he's learnt from loving her for the past decade – was to watch her eyes. They were no longer lit and behind those eyes there was so much pain.

It wasn't like Will didn't try, but every thing he tried just made him feel worse. Reid's death didn't affect him, but JJ's reaction to Reid's death did.

He tried taking her out to nice places – she refused. He brought back flowers – she left them to die. He brought back chocolates – Henry finished them. He brought back balloons and poems and gifts – she didn't open them. He begged her to sleep earlier – she ignored him and slept on the couch, her computer still on her lap. He kissed her – she merely brushed his lips.

He told her he loved her – she didn't say it back.

hello yall. WOW yall get really anxious when someone "dies" huh. OK I HONESTLY APOLOGIZE FOR LEAVING YOU IN A BAD PLACE. Honestly i already have the rough story sketch. SO RELAX I AM NOT THE KIND TO RANDOMLY KILL CHARACTERS i love reid too honestly. all right? :) i'll address things all in good time and if i really do end up killing someone, i'll be sure to warn you beforehand ok? haha alright have a great day :)