A/N: Hello again, everyone! I hope you're all doing well and hanging in there—that's all anyone can do. This chapter takes place a couple of days after the previous scene.

Long story short: I had some PC problems, and I had to go through AN ENTIRE MONTH without my PC (which was hell in a basket), but I'm BACK IN BUSINESS, BABY!

"Daddy?"

"Hmmm…?" Spencer snapped out of his thoughts, shaking his head. "What…?"

"May I please have another pancake?" Séraphine asked sweetly, pointing to the delicious and sweet-smelling stack of mixed berry (blueberry, raspberry, and strawberry) waffles on the white ceramic plate in the middle of the table.

Spencer yawned, covering his mouth as he did. "Uh, yeah, sure." He poked his fork into the stack, picked one out, and set it on her plate. "There you go."

"Thank you, Daddy…" Séraphine smiled cheekily before greedily taking the maple syrup and pouring some on it when Élise strolled in, carrying Éliana in her right arm while holding Isaac's hand in her left and Opal tailing behind them. Opal barked once before she went to her dog bowl and began eating.

"Morning, again, everyone," Élise smiled to Séraphine and Spencer, walking towards the fridge and grabbing a carton of organic orange juice. She continued smiling until it slowly faded away. She watched Spencer slowly getting up from the table, treading towards the sink, turning on the faucet, and beginning to wash the dishes.

"Hey," she whispered to him. "You still upset about Morgan?"

Spencer sighed and admitted, "A little bit."

Élise laid her hand on Spencer's shoulder. "It's not like he's gone forever; you can always call him. Saying of which," she drew herself closer to his earlobe, "Think it's time the kids meet their new godbrother?"

Spencer chuckled. "That would be nice. But his family from Chicago is visiting now, so it's best to give them some space."

Élise moved her shoulders up and made a good point expression on her face.

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Spencer sat at his desk, working on the last of his paperwork, when Garcia approached his desk, holding her tablets in front of her. She slumped her posture and frowned. Her eyes were bright, but her face was still puffy like Garcia had been crying. She quickly pulled herself together.

"Hey, Spence," she muttered, trying to sound joyful, but there was nothing to be cheerful right now, especially without her Derek 'Chocolate Thunder' Morgan.

Spencer looked up at her right back and asked, "You okay?"

Garcia sighed. "What do you think?" No doubt she was taking Morgan's departure hard. And it's only been a few days since he retired from the Bureau. And…Hotch is in the talks of hiring a new agent to be on the team—the Bureau doesn't like to leave spots open.

"If you want, we can go see our godson together." Spencer proposed. "Derek said it himself; he's just a phone call away. But not right—family's visiting."

Garcia sniffled, wiping a fresh tear and curling her lips into a smile. "Yeah. Yeah, that's always true." In a touching manner, she pulled Spencer into a heartfelt hug.

A familiar voice appeared out of nowhere. "Awww, what are we celebrating?"

Spencer and Garcia turned to see Tara and JJ approaching their cubicle desks. "I see hugs."

A sentimental Garcia urged the ladies to join in, and as they did, "Ahhh. This is for Morgan." She gasped; her eyes widened. "And speaking of which, I almost forgot to tell you an über juicy story involving a certain former teammate in London," she finished the sentence while imitating a British accent.

JJ's lips curled. "Is that someone Emily?"

"Mmm-hmm…" Garcia nodded cheekily. "And rumor has it she's seeing a significant other named Mark…"

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One of Séraphine's teachers, Ms. Costa, used a pointer to point out giant, removable, colorful shapes on the whiteboard, from circles to stars. "Okay, clase. Today, we're going to learn about geometry: shapes, finding and describing them.

As Mrs. Morales passed out white activity sheets and colored 3D tiles to the kindergarteners, Ms. Costa went on, directing her pointer at a star. "What is this shape?"

"Star! ¡Estrella!" the kindergartners, especially Séraphine, shouted.

"¡Sí, clase! This is a star or estrella en español." Ms. Costa gave the students a thumbs up. "How many tips does una estrella have?"

"Five! ¡Cinco!"

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In the spare time she had for herself with Alexander and Éliana napping, Élise took the time to take up some of her time exercising. Her cholesterol was a little higher than she would typically be tested for. Still, considering her family's history, she doubled the exercise load from the usual fifteen-thirty minutes max to thirty minutes to almost an hour.

Taking long strides up the staircase, Élise finally strode into the kitchen and poured herself a tall glass of lemon, cucumber, and lavender-infused sparkling water from the glass pitcher that Rose had left on the countertop (she had the afternoon off and said she was going to meet up with some old colleagues from the Bureau).

There was a rustling at the door, making Élise jump a little. Then she heard William's voice as the door opened and closed and the sounds of him punching in the house's security codes. He bustled into the kitchen, lugging in shopping bags from Whole Foods.

"I'm back," he tugged the bags on the countertops and began unpacking. He opened the fridge, putting away fresh mixed greens as Élise had another glass of water. He asked as she gulped down half her glass, "You were working out?"

"Yup," Élise answered, leaning back and stretched. "I'm trying to fight the urge to do more, but…" she shrugged and swallowed. Less is more—as they all say. Helping her father-in-law unpack some of the groceries, she whipped her head when she heard Éliana's crying coming from the baby monitor.

"Looks like someone needs Mommy." William smiled cheerfully as he was organizing the pantry.

Smirking back, Élise picked up her cell when she heard it vibrate. It was a text message from Spencer saying the team had a case somewhere in California while Tara would be in Atlanta for the time being.

"Mommy comes to the rescue." Élise said to herself, marching upstairs to attend to Éliana.

xxxxxxx

What else would anyone on the team describe these last cases (most of them were local, either in D.C., the state itself, or Maryland) without Morgan other than…different? It even felt kinda weird without him calling Spencer 'kid' or him and Garcia having their overly sexual greetings over the phone. It didn't feel that way when he was gone for six months, but that still didn't make it easier for any of them now that he's gone. It was like a piece was missing, the muscle that helped put together the strength of the team. The empty seat on the plane reflected that—everyone missed him.

But now, they had to set that aside…

Their former teammate turned Interpol agent, Emily Prentiss, enlisted their help in New York City. According to her, she's been on the hunt for an international criminal who's been copycatting some of history's most notorious killers.

With Tara reuniting with them, everyone, especially Prentiss, wasted no time getting down to work.

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William helped Séraphine and Isaac get ready for bed and was now sounded asleep; Élise cooed Éliana to sleep and now was tending to Alexander, adjusting his favorite blue pacifier in his mouth while rocking him to sleep. Lately, his teething phrase has gotten him more fussier than usual, which included drooling, irritation, and the occasional disrupted sleep, but the usual remedies (rubbing his gums and giving him something cold to chew on) have been going down.

Élise shushed him gently. "Ooookay…" she rested him on his back after planting a kiss on his forehead and temple. "Nighty night, Lex."

Alexander's mouth made a small but cutesy sound that made Élise grin before she backed out of the room and blew a kiss. She jumped when her cell vibrated and almost threw her back against the door. She checked her phone and slipped her finger to accept the call. "Hey. I just put Alexander to sleep…"

"How is he?" asked Spencer in hushed him.

"He's fine. Hopefully, he'll sleep through the night," said Élise, tiptoeing to her own bedroom. She then asked Spencer, "So… how's New York?"

Spencer blew a sigh. "Better now that Emily Prentiss from Interpol has joined us."

Élise's jaw dropped. "Say what?"

"We're collaborating with her, tracking down a serial killer she's been hunting for a while on US soil. Inspired by history's most famous serial killers"

Élise planted her hand on her hip. "Mmm…the cases you work on. But at least it's nice to see her again; it's been a while. Sucks that she didn't go to Morgan's wedding…"

"But she was busy with work and sent her apologies, so…" Spencer sounded nonchalant. "But I can't help but get that she's taking this case…kinda personal."

"Isn't every case personal?" Élise retorted with a question—even Spencer knew she wasn't wrong about that. "So glad you called; I love hearing your voice."

"If I wasn't working on this case right now, I'd give you my voice in Latin. And I've been practicing my French."

Élise bit down on her tongue and giggled before she accidentally let out a loud snort.

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After another series of crimes inspired an infamous serial killer, the team and Prentiss delivered the profile that the unsub's a narcissistic international copycat serial criminal with a certain active timeline (to finance his crimes) and is always on the move. His fascination with serial killers may have been embedded at a young age.

Spencer predicted that the unsub's next stop could be Chicago due to the city's rich history of serial crimes dating back over a century. On the flight, Prentiss experienced a nightmare about the unsub, and JJ was the victim in the dream.

Prentiss explained that one of the unsub's victims was someone she knew and talked her into going undercover. And now, she feels a tremendous amount of guilt for her murder.

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"Did you get a good night's sleep, Lex?" Élise brushed her fingers through his hair before planting a kiss on top. Alexander responded with babbles. She gently opened his mouth and had a peek inside. "Ah…it looks like it's coming along; your teething."

Alexander's mouth made a small smile, making Élise giggle.

xxxxx

Another case well done for the team, especially Prentiss, avenging her late friend and all the unsub's victims—Michael Lee Peterson—when she shot him down.

A/N: Sorry if the chapter seemed a bit short but my mind's been feeling mentally exhausted.