"You really should stop making promises to them like that," Angel said as soon as Aitana finished her phone call with her mother.

She put her phone down on the kitchen counter and propped her elbows to rest her cheeks over her fists. "I can't help it. She asked if I wanted to stop by for dinner."

"Not me?" Angel flashed her a cheeky smile.

Aitana rolled her eyes at him. "This is a girl's night out. Least it's supposed to be if I can make it."

Angel hummed as he went looking through the cabinets for his usual mug. "That job of yours doesn't exactly let you make plans in advance. Why would you promise her you could make it on Sunday?"

"Because it's only a couple days away and maybe this time might be different?"

Angel paused as he took his mug out. He peered around the cabinet door to smirk at Aitana. "Se vale soñar."

Aitana frowned at him. "I can too dare to dream and I dream that this weekend, I will get to spend time with my mother!"

Of course only two minutes later, she got a call from Penelope with an odd case. When Aitana hung up, Angel already had his coffee prepared and was standing on other side of the counter with a stupid smug face.

"Not a word!" Aitana warned him as she got out of her stool.

Angel started laughing when she rushed out of the kitchen to get ready. Sometimes, she made it too easy for him. Aitana hurriedly put on the first thing she saw in the closet and was out the door in half an hour. What Penelope had found was a terrible case yet with some unusual details.

"I didn't interrupt your morning, did I?" Penelope said when Aitana strode into her office. By this point, Aitana wasn't surprised to find Penelope making herself at home in her office. She had her laptop set up on the desk with a couple of hard copy files beside her.

"Don't worry about it, two more minutes and I may have murdered Angel," Aitana said as she dropped her bag over the desk.

"Trouble?" Penelope quirked an eyebrow. She should probably keep her nose out of Aitana's love life but Morgan made it very hard to ignore the signs of their resident genius' little affections. It wasn't like she wished any trouble for Aitana in her relationship but if said relationship wasn't going well, then...all's fair in love and war, right? Does that apply even though it's not exactly love?

"Penelope?" Aitana unknowingly pulled the blonde out of her thoughts that were admittedly getting away from her.

"Huh?"

Aitana smiled lightly. "Are you alright there?"

"Me? Yeah! Course! But this case is not!" Penelope plopped down on her chair. "And I really think we should present it to the others already. I may have already called them in."

Aitana chuckled. "You are the best partner I could ask for."

Penelope beamed. "It's always so easy working with you." They shared another laugh. It was funny how they slowly fell into sync when it came to working together after starting out on a rough patch.

~ 0 ~

"Two DC homes torched, two families, on the same night, last night." Aitana brought up individual pictures on the screen of each of their victims. She preferred to leave the charred corpses on the hard copies for Penelope's sake.

"I'm surprised it still hasn't hit the news. It's already mid-day," Morgan remarked what the others thought as soon as they saw the file.

"Yeeah," Aitana held onto the remote a little tighter while her body leaned back. "It was the first thing Garcia noticed when she caught the case." Penelope hummed in agreement. "I know that I've only been here a couple months but don't these cases usually attract huge media?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Hotch confirmed.

"Okay, well, after careful searches we only found one online article."

"Yeah, it was written by this guy Jeff Hastings but other than him, no one's running with it," Penelope said. "All anyone's talking about is this storm that may or may not hit."

"How strange. They usually thrive on tragedy," said Rossi. They weren't sure whether to take the win or not.

"Yeah, and it gets weirder," Aitana regretted to say. "Ron and Lauren Cosenza and their 10-year-old son were found in the master bedroom of their home, each shot through the forehead. The gun belonged to the father."

"Murder-suicide?" Seaver presumed.

"Well, it looks like Metro PD's investigation is going that way, but it's still the first 48 hours and they want our help. Kerry and Frank Fagan, like the Cosenzas, were found in their master bedroom from a suspected gas leak."

"It had to be massive to cause that," Spencer said after taking a look at the pictures of the destroyed home. He looked up to Aitana with a genuine confusion. "How does the news miss a house explosion?" He didn't mean to imply that maybe they'd missed an article or news broadcast. It was simply strange that nobody batted an eye at the story.

Aitana shrugged her shoulders. "Beats me."

"Any connection between the families?" asked Seaver.

"Only one," Penelope answered. "A continent. Kerry Fagan was born in Germany, Ron Cosenza is from Italy."

"So 2 of the 5 victims are from Europe. How does that help?" Morgan said if only because he didn't quite see anything useful yet

Penelope shrugged. "It doesn't. I'm just stating the facts, and the facts happen to be…"

"Guys, I'm sorry I'm late!" Emily came rushing into the room.

"You ok?" Morgan didn't seem very surprised but then again, why would he? He noticed weeks back how strange Emily had been.

"Yeah, it's just one of those weeks, I guess," Emily waved it off and sat down, grabbing the copy of the case on the desk. "I'm sorry. What did I miss? Arsonist?"

"One appears to be murder-suicide, the other a freak accident," Seaver said.

"So why are we looking at it?"

"House fires are rare. Add to that a few Miles apart, within the same hour, kind of tips the scales of coincidence," Hotch explained. "If somebody did this, they're highly motivated and organized."

"And if he wants to strike again, he's got 72 hours before the storm shuts the city down," Penelope said.

Aitana turned the screen off behind them, prompting the end of the meeting. She headed out first to gather a few more hard copies for the evidence boards they would be constructing in a few. At least this case would be right at home. With a bit of luck, she might just make her plans with her mother on the weekend.

~0~

Each family had their own board to full up the space with. Only one board remained empty in the middle while they tried finding connections between the two families. Hopefully when Hotch and Morgan got back from the coronary and Emily and Rossi from the crime scenes, they would have more to work with.

"There is no history of any kind of psychological weirdness with either family," Penelope reported her findings from her seat. She'd made herself comfortable beside Spencer at the conference table. "They were healthy, happy, fit. Until last night."

"Any signs of financial stress?" Seaver asked her. Much like the others, she kept going back and forth between their two filled boards to spot any connection they may have missed.

"No. They were healthy on that front, too!"

"What's with the…?" Seaver made a gesture to Penelope's extra warm clothes as well as the fact she wasn't in her own office.

"Oh. The heat is out in my lair!"

"Still?" Aitana came around with a coffee cup in hand. Her office had become Penelope's second home during the early morning.

Penelope nodded then went back to her computer. "Not a single snowflake has fallen and yet the weather remains the top news story."

"That's really weird, has anything like this happened before?"

"Nope," Spencer was the one to answer, and quite certain of it. He had yet to look up from a pile of papers in front of him but even then, nobody would think he was wrong.

"The media is a giant piranha and that" — Aitana pointed to the boards — "is exactly the type of thing they would be all over." It was really bugging her and she wasn't sure whether or not she should be. The lack of media in this case could either help them work through the case quicker or help derail them. No eyes meant no witnesses, no caution amongst the neighborhoods.

"They're bound to get hip to it," Penelope said, sounding much more confident than Aitana was at the moment. "Once our presence is felt and we connect the cases, it'll be a ballroom blitz."

"You know, considering the time these fires occurred, the habitual patterns of both families were in direct conflict with where the bodies were found," Spencer said suddenly. For a moment, the others wondered if he was talking to them or himself. The question wasn't answered until he looked up at them. "Normally Lauren Cosenza would be downstairs helping her son with his homework, and Ron wouldn't even be home from work yet."

"What about the Fagans?" asked Seaver

"Their routines were less established. They traveled a lot. But they were expected at a dinner party last night."

"So if someone did this, what are the chances these victims are random?" Aitana asked the question she already knew the answer to. She was beginning to answer her other question about the lack of media. They definitely needed it.

~0~

By nightfall, both Aitana and Penelope were deeply confused that the media had stayed radio silent. In fact, they were thoroughly shocked when they noticed something about the only article Penelope had found earlier.

"It's gone!" Penelope exclaimed, startling the group when she and Aitana returned to the conference room.

"What is?" Morgan was immediately front and center with the blonde, thinking that something had been stolen from her possessions.

Aitana appeared less anxious than Penelope but Penelope just as perturbed. "The article written by Jeff Hastings was pulled."

"What?" Morgan's eyes flickered back to Penelope who nodded fast.

"The media blitz never came and the only article we had was pulled! I smell a conspiracy in the air!"

"Garcia," Hotch's tone was calm yet still a warning. Penelope sighed.

"It's very odd that this would happen," Aitana said, pursing her lips. "Worth an investigation at least. A separate one."

The subtle implication pulled Hotch's attention from the evidence board. "You want to look into it on your own?" Aitana hesitated for a second under his stare but she eventually found the courage to nod. "Are you sure?" He wanted her to think about it before she officially took the task. Up until now she had done most of her duties under their supervision. He was actually a little proud that she wanted to take something on her own, or at the very least take charge of it.

Aitana nodded again. "I was thinking maybe I can borrow Garcia to find his usual whereabouts?"

"Oh yeah!" The blonde exclaimed, only settling when she gained some odd looks from Morgan, Seaver and Rossi. "I mean...of course I can help."

Hotch gave them the 'go' sign. "Be careful," he warned them.

"Of course." Aitana made to leave when Spencer came in.

~ 0 ~

The night would be a long one for them and the rest of the team when murders started like a domino chain. Emily and Morgan got caught up in a pseudo street fight with some serious heavy weapons. They managed to hit one of the men, accidentally killing him in the process and identified a tattoo that had taken a bullet right in the middle. With that kind of injury, it was very difficult to make out what it used to be. The case kept getting more and more difficult. Because at the other end of the block, Hotch and Rossi were going over another murder. From what Penelope gathered, and their own reasoning, they went down the route of suspecting their unsubs were at least ex-military. It wasn't much to go off by but it was something nonetheless.

The next morning, Aitana readied herself to leave the BAU for her separate investigation. She left her office and wrapped her sweater closer around her. There was no storm yet but the air might as well freeze them.

"Here you are." She surprised Spencer when she planted a travel mug on his desk.

He was deep in a sketch of what was supposed to be the recreation of the tattoo Morgan and Emily found on one of their unsubs. "What is that?" He crinkled his nose at the faint scent of…? He actually couldn't tell what it was in the mug. There were too many scents mixed in.

Aitana smiled at his reaction. "Your voice has been cracking. Got a cold coming because of the weather?"

"Uuhm...maybe," Spencer shrugged. The weather had been more cold than what they were used to but he was pushing through. It was just a minor itch of the throat. "Nothing to worry about."

"I have you, Dr. Reid," Aitana slid the mug closer to him. "Whenever I get sick, my mom makes me drink this tea and it always gets me back on track within a couple days."

"That's very nice of you, Aitana, but I'm good. You shouldn't have."

"Well I already brought it over so you have to drink it," Aitana said ever so innocently, even holding her hands up to complete the look.

Spencer deadpanned her and all her antics. "What is it?"

"Well, I'm not going to lie, the ingredients are a little bit, uh...odd…" She reached over to take the mug but stopped midway. Spencer was very rigid when it came to his things. Her fingers touching the lid of the mug may not be what he wanted. "Uh, you can open it on your own." She pulled her arms back and behind her back in case she got a little excited and forgot her prudence.

Spencer appreciated she remembered his (weird) antics. He reached for the mug and gently pulled the lid off so as to not spill anything. Immediately he was assaulted with a stronger series of scents. He sniffed the air a couple times. "Cinnamon?" He checked Aitana's reaction and saw her nod. "What's the other…?"

"Onions," Aitana said with a scrunched face. She waited for Spencer to either go "blegh!" or merely ask the reason behind the ingredient. "I would've put a dash of lemon but I wasn't sure if it would make it better or worse for you."

"Well…" Spencer laughed slightly.

"It's cool if you don't want to drink, I was just trying to offer an option but I get the combination is weird!"

"No, no, it's fine, thank you," Spencer picked the mug up. "Raw onions are commonly used to fight colds. It gets the phlegms out."

Aitana watched him intently when he took a sip. She chewed on her bottom lip when his nose scrunched from the obvious tangy taste. "You don't have to drink it," she reiterated in case he needed one more push to tell her the truth.

"No, that...actually feels really good." Spencer took another sip and relished the heat going down his throat. Normally he wasn't too thrilled when things were blaring hot but this tea was different.

"You sure?"

"Mhm," Spencer nodded. He took a bigger sip and hummed. "Did you make this?"

"Yeah, I learned it after so many years of having to drink it. But really, if it doesn't taste good — which I know it doesn't — please don't drink it. You don't have to."

"I am going to, even though it's not really a cold," Spencer assured. "Though I guess after this, there won't be anything at all which is better, so thanks." He raised the mug in salute then took another drink.

Aitana couldn't help the beam on her face.

"Hey!" They heard Penelope's greeting as the blonde made a hasty way up to them. "You ready?" she asked Aitana.

"Mhm," the brunette nodded.

"Where are you two off to?" Spencer eyed them curiously.

"My dear Penelope found the author of that article that got pulled," Aitana explained.

"Jeff Hastings?" Spencer took another drink. The heat was really hitting that spot.

"That's the one! And we are on him!" Penelope said with a finger raised in the air. "I dare him to get away from us! C'mon!" She turned around and marched towards the doors.

Aitana lingered behind, her lips tugged into a bemused smile. "This should be interesting," was her parting comment.

Spencer wholeheartedly agreed. He would be curious to know how that went.

~ 0 ~

Aitana and Penelope had arrived at the coffee shop where Jeff Hastings tended to go each morning. They had to order ahead of him but it worked out better so they could study him while he waited for his drink to come by.

"He's so normal," Penelope made the remark so off-handedly that Aitana nearly choked on her own coffee. They sat together at a table by the wall.

"What were you expecting? Lois Lane?"

Penelope raised an eyebrow at her. "You think that was funny?"

Aitana dove for her cup again. "Oh, he's coming back," she nodded Penelope to see Jeff. He was returning to his table with his drink in hand. He had a book he was starting to read. "He's kind of cute."

Now it was Penelope nearly choking on her coffee. "What?"

Aitana shrugged her shoulders. "He's got a familiar vibe to him, you know? It's cute."

Penelope shook her head. "Oh, sprinkles, if I tell you who he reminds me of…" Well, Spencer might kill her. Or do whatever he thought was mean.

Aitana was none the wiser and continued to study Jeff. "He seems to be alone. And he's got a workbag. He's probably going in later today."

"To write an article and then pull it?"

Aitana smiled. "Maybe, the day is young. Let's go make some conversation!" She picked up her coffee and stood up.

"I don't know about this," Penelope mumbled after her. She wasn't all for talking to random people. The last time she talked to someone random at a coffee shop...he ended up shooting her. For that matter, she spontaneously decided to let Aitana take over completely.

The brunette wouldn't notice she was all alone until after she introduced herself. "Sorry," she chuckled nervously, "She must have gone to the restroom." She threw a look over her shoulder to Penelope. "That's a good book you're reading," she said to Jeff, taking up her own seat.

"Uh, yeah?" Jeff wasn't sure what to make of her yet.

"I'm sorry, I must be weirding you out," Aitana cleared her throat. "So how's about I just get to business. I'm with the FBI."

"Good for you," he said slowly, making her chuckle.

"Well, being from the FBI who's working a case that has to do with an article you wrote has me wondering...why it was pulled?" Aitana could pinpoint the moment Jeff's face went pale. Of course she was more confused when that pale expression morphed into anger.

"You should know!"

Aitana startled. "Uh, no, I really wouldn't. The FBI didn't tell you to pull it, did they?"

"No, no, no, I'm not saying Jack to you!" He started putting his book away, more like dumping it into his bag, and stood up.

"Well that's a shame because I really don't know what's going on," Aitana remained calm and cool. "Two families died in those fires. You were suspicious and you were right to be."

Jeff raised an eyebrow at her. "You don't look like an agent to me."

She smiled. "Thanks. And you don't seem like the type to run away from a good story. I read it. It was good. And definitely right in some parts."

Jeff slowly sunk back into his seat, eyes still trying to figure her out. She had a warm smile that didn't go with the image of an FBI agent. "Are you sure you're an FBI agent?"

"Liaison," she said, "Partly. And profiler. So right now I know that you're trying to figure me out. I needed to meet you because I don't understand why the article was pulled."

"There's no story."

"Yeeeah, but I kinda think there was." She quirked an eyebrow at him. "C'mon, don't leave me hanging here."

"It wasn't the one I wanted to tell," Jeff supplied and it could have easily been the truth if Aitana knew better than that.

"I think it was because you wrote well. And you know what, when whoever is telling you to pull it is no longer a threat, with the right source it could be front page." Jeff seemed to stiffen at her words, even more when she added, "It could be the next Watergate."

So she did know some things. And she was being careful not to drop it for anyone to hear. She cared enough.

"It could lead to a book," she said, eyes pointedly waiting for him to make a response. "Your book."

"The threat being to the shareholders," he finally helped her out a bit.

She cocked her head. "Shareholders that are affected detrimentally?"

"I think you mean financially," he corrected. He rose from his seat, much more calm than earlier.

She hummed. "Ah, money makes the world go 'round, right?"

"It might have made a couple rounds," he said, "See where it's been."

"Follow the money like a chase? Oh, that sounds like a very good ending," Aitana smiled and for the first time, Jeff smiled back at her.

~0~

Later on in the day, the one victim they had was what they would work with. Hotch tasked Aitana with the dispersal of the man's photograph. The man had died with the intentions of it being made to look like a heart attack. It was strange enough. While she did that, the others focused on the other important evidence piece they had.

"Reid, you got anything?" Hotch asked, the others soon gathering around Spencer's desk. He'd been working nonstop on the sketch all morning.

"The damage is pretty extensive, but luckily some of the tattoo remains." He was close to finishing it and he was confident that it was right. "Give me a few more seconds."

Penelope came around with her laptop, also confident with what she found. "I think I know who dug the hole!" She announced, planting her laptop on the side of Spencer's desk. "The journo told Aitana to follow the money, like straight up, so I did. It turns out "the gazette" is owned by a multinational global conglomerate... oil, new technologies, shipping, air and ground transportation, all of which employ the services of one company...CWS."

While everyone else looked puzzled with the name and even the picture Penelope had found on the internet, Hotch seemed less surprised with. "Clear water securities?"

Penelope startled. "You know them?"

"I've come across them. They're a private counterintelligence group out of Geneva."

Nobody noticed the way Emily paused where she stood.

"Well, Ron Cosenza, Byron Delaney, Kerry Fagan all worked for CWS," Penelope went on.

"How long ago?" Emily asked.

"Seven years ago."

Bang. Emily had to right herself so as to not breathe so heavily.

"Serrano!" Hotch suddenly yelled, startling the entire group. "Serrano!"

In a short minute, Aitana came running out of her office. "Yes!?"

"Did you get the picture dispersed?"

"N-no, not yet—"

"Good, don't."

"O-okay?" Aitana looked at the others, her expression asking them what was going on but she found them to be just as confused as she was.

It was that same confusion that allowed Emily to slip away from the group to make an important call. Of course Penelope would be the one to notice later. Meanwhile, Hotch started taking the rest of the team without giving much of a reason or explanation for anything. Only Rossi seemed to understand more but the rest were left in the dark until further notice.

~0~

Emily was forgetting how to breathe. Each hour that went by brought her closer to the past she was desperately trying to fight off. Already she had confirmation that the man she was supposed to be hunting down was hunting them down. Worst of all, he was bringing in her team just like he promised he would. They were all innocent and she was dragging them through the mud with her problems.

Coming out of the meeting in the scif, Enily couldn't get away fast enough but not without already having tasks to do. The name Ian Doyle had been assigned to Aitana to disperse his image everywhere in the media. She was full fledged drowning with different media reps calling her for more information.

Aitana came out of her office a tad too fast that she crashed into Emily. "Sorry!" With everything in her head, Emily didn't even register the crash until she was stumbling back. Aitana shook her head, her curls bouncing madly with her. "Sorry, Emily! I'm going back and forth trying to get this whole media thing under control!"

"S'okay," Emily mumbled, pressing her blouse down.

"Swear to God, I may never get this!"

Emily paused suddenly, her head flipping up to see Aitana looking uncertain between a few papers in her hands. "Don't do that," Emily ordered, startling Aitana.

"Huh? Do what?"

"That," Emily pointed.

Aitana mistook it as a point for her papers so she looked down at them to see what was wrong about them. "What? The papers—"

"No, you," Emily insisted. She had an urge to say things much like she already had with Penelope earlier. The words were bursting from her mouth at this point because, as much as she wanted to pretend that it wasn't going to happen, the ending was approaching.

"I'm...confused…" Aitana lowered her arms to her sides.

Emily thought she might as well do it. "You need to stop doubting yourself."

An insecure laugh slipped from Aitana's mouth, a clear intent at washing away exactly what Emily talking about. "I don't…"

"You do," Emily cocked her head to the side, "And I see it and know it because I was you a long time ago. I came to the BAU unknowingly replacing another agent. I overcompensated because I didn't feel like I was part of the team and it took me a very long time to get over it."

Aitana's mouth opened several times, no doubt to retort that this wasn't the case, and yet the ping in her heart told her not to. Why keep lying? "It's my fault," she whispered. "Nobody's done anything—"

"I know," Emily nodded. Of course she knew. Nobody did anything to make her feel out of place, not part of the team, but the feeling kept lingering there no matter how much she fought against it. "But you are doing a good job here, alright? I know it and so does everyone else. You're not replacing anyone and you don't have to prove to anyone that you deserve a spot here. You belong here, always have."

Aitana couldn't help the prickly feel of tears in her eyes. She laughed slightly, though this time it was a little less forced. "Always?"

"You clicked with us from the first day you worked with us in San Diego," Emily brought a hand to Aitana's arm, rubbing it comfortably. "You definitely clicked more with certain people too." Aitana's confusion lasted little as Emily went on. "You're part of this team, Aitana. I...enjoy working with you." Emily had to think twice before saying the words otherwise they would've come out wrong and very much telling of what was running through her head.

"Thank you," Aitana said, now feeling ridiculous she was almost in tears. Emily smiled softly at her before continuing on her way. Aitana stayed in her spot, smiling to herself when a new thought came to mind. Where had this conversation come up from?

~ 0 ~

After another examination of their last victim, Emily and Morgan were able to find a definitive piece of evidence that connected all of their victims. Penelope hooked up said evidence to the screen so that everyone else in the conference room could see it. A photograph of their victims together on the back of a truck stared back at them.

"That's Dreyer. Kerry Fagan, Ron Cosenza," Penelope stepped back slowly, remote still in her hand. "Delaney's not in it but, according to Morgan and Prentiss, it could be because he was their handler. But my million-dollar question is...does anyone know what language that is?" She zoomed in on a sign to the side of the picture. Nobody could understand, not even her.

"Those are villages in North Korea," Emily said suddenly, gaining Penelope's grin.

"I love you. Of course she does!"

Emily only briefly smiled. "There's a political prison near Haengyong-ni. Camp 22. Kwan-li-so. North Korea denies it exists."

"You think they took Doyle there?" asked Rossi. "That would explain why he's after them. Even his prison is off the grid."

"All we know is that he was never married, had multiple residences, and was arrested at his tuscan villa," Hotch said, startling Emily with the new information that they were definitely not supposed to know.

"There's paperwork to back that up?" she made the question casually. She felt her insides churn when he nodded.

"And a list of who was there that day. There may be photographs. Reid's looking into that now."

"Right. So those people need to be warned that he's on the warpath," Seaver said.

"They already have been," Aitana assured them. "But there's a whole different life this guy's led, one that isn't in any file."

Hotch agreed and switched gears towards Emily. "Prentiss, did you hear from your European associates?"

"I'm waiting for them to send me a document."

"We need it now."

"Okay," Emily got up from her chair, having no trouble getting out of the room as quickly as she could.

"He's locked in this hellhole for 7 years," Morgan said afterwards, "How did he get out?"

"Another million dollar question," Penelope pointed.

"Does it really matter?" Aitana challenged the pair. This man was as dangerous as they came. They shouldn't focus on how he escaped but instead on how to put him back in.

"As soon as the roadblocks are finished getting in place, we're conducting the search," Hotch said, eyes landing on Aitana who straightened in her spot. "Are you prepared to start making the calls? It'll be a lot connecting several agencies together."

It was hard not to think of what Emily had told her earlier. When she nodded her head, she did it much more confidently than she ever had. "I will go set that up," she declared, rising from her chair.

It would take her all of that night as well but she wouldn't be the only one working through. Emily and Morgan were called out on another murder that was more than likely connected to Doyle. The case was becoming a joint force now and their time was precious. By morning, the bullpen was flooded with agents and associates from other agencies, preparing for the meeting that was soon to commence.

"Hey, hey, hey," Penelope found Aitana standing by Seaver. Both women had been surveying the amount of people now taking spots in their bullpen. Penelope reached Aitana's arm, gently turning the agent away. "That journal is eating out of our hands! He knows your full name by heart now! He might as well love you!"

Aitana chuckled. "I wouldn't go that far. Guess he thought I was kidding about the story."

"We handed him a full-fledged manhunt!" Penelope exclaimed.

"I'd say it's more than that," Seaver remarked. "I've counted reps from 5 agencies."

"Oh, I love me and multi-agency task force, and on our turf!" Penelope grinned. "It gets my blood up. When are we going to get started?"

Aitana jerked a thumb towards Hotch's office. "Oh, they're drawing up the battle plan with the troops"

But shortly later, he and Rossi would emerge from the office. Everybody soon fell silent as Hotch started.

"It's not often that we know a subject's name, and in this case, knowing Ian Doyle's identity doesn't give us very much. He's known to a select few, and those who know him well either work beside him or they're on his list. 2 or 3 of his victims worked for CWS and were responsible for his transport to North Korea. There were 7 operatives on the mission altogether, and the remaining 5 have been warned. All the federal and international agents responsible for tracking him down are now on his list of targets. We'll find Doyle the way we find any other offender... By studying his behavior. We'll dissect his every move since he regained his freedom. When he escaped from north Korea, he killed a man and he used his vehicle to cross the border into Russia…"

Everything seemed to fade from Emily's ears and itch wasn't exactly being quiet either. This was of the utmost importance and yet, she couldn't focus. There was no point. She had the means to end things and keep everyone out of harm's way. It wasn't what she had hoped for-because for a while she did have hope-but it was what she had in hand and she would take it. Her eyes raked over the bullpen, scoping out her teammates to take one last look at them. If all went well, they would soon be able to go home and rest. She didn't know where she would end up, but that didn't matter. It never did.

A/N:

We're getting to that part...*shudders*

As always, I have AO3/Wattpad accounts under "noblecrescent" and a tumblr account under "saiilorstars" if you'd like to follow! :)