2 | Unforgettable Chemistry [S. Reid]

i. molybdenium

"WELCOME BACK." DEREK greets Hotch as he walks in the briefing room, a beard adorning his cheeks.

"Thanks. Everybody have a seat." Hotch instructs, making them do so, with a look of worry.

"Why? What's going on? Everything all right?" Derek asks his supervisory chief, who crosses his arms over his chest as JJ stands next to him.

"7 months ago I made a decision that affected this team. As you all know, Emily had lost a lot of blood after her fight with Doyle. But the doctors were able to stabilize her. And she was airlifted from Boston to Quebec where I left her with Willow." They all look at each other in shock at Hotch's words and Spencer leans back in his chair. "Her identity was strictly need-to-know. And she stayed there until she was well enough to travel. She was reassigned to Paris with Willow, where she was given several identities, none of which we had access to for her security."

"She's alive?" Garcia breaths out, making Hotch nod in confirmation.

"But we buried her." Spencer says, shock and betrayal evident in his eyes.

"As I said, I take full responsibility for the decision. If anyone has any issues, they should be directed toward me." Hotch lets them know, making Derek sit ups straight, anger evident.

"Any issues? Yeah, I got issues." Derek snaps, as Garcia looks over his shoulder and tears form in her eyes. Spencer and everyone else notices her look, before turning as well to see Emily standing there, with Willow by her side.

"Oh, my God." Garcia gasps, as they all stand up and walks up to the two woman. Spencer hugs her, tears burning his eyes as he holds on to tightly, afraid she'll disappear.

"I am so sorry. I really am." Emily says softly, before she lets go of Spencer and hugs Garcia. "Not a day went by that I didn't want to... Really, I... you didn't deserve that. And I'm so sorry. There's so much I want to tell you guys, and I will. I promise. But right now I really need to know what's going on with Declan."

"Emily, was there a man living at the house?" Spencer asks, clearing his throat as he avoids to look at Willow. He noticed the change in her, and he wasn't sure yet if it was a good or bad one.

"Yes. My friend Tom Koehler. He was raising Declan as his own." Emily answers as she moves to stand at the front, and Willow walks closer to the round table.

"I never saw him where is he?" Garcia asks the dark haired woman.

"He was on assignment overseas." Emily answers swiftly.

"But he's all right?" JJ asks, making her nod.

"Yes. He's on his way back now. He got a call from Declan, he called me, and when I landed, Hotch told me that you had Doyle in custody." Emily hums, before Hotch jumps back in.

"And because of Tom's line of work, that's why you enrolled Declan in a boarding school." Hotch concludes, making Emily nod in confirmation.

"I made sure that he, Louise, and I were the only ones allowed to take him off campus." Emily lets the team know.

"Louise took him home last night because he was sick." Spencer informs Emily.

"Food poisoning."

"Yeah, a few of the kids had it, apparently. So whoever did this got to him on campus. They knew they only had one chance." Spencer muses, making Hotch frown.

"Current suspect is Richard Gerace. He's the most recent arrival into the states. We've been tracking his progress through the city, but we came up empty." JJ says to Emily who seems shocked my the information.

"But we know it's him because he has the scar." Garcia says confidently, making Emily shake her head.

"That doesn't make sense. Gerace gave up on Doyle a long time ago." Emily points out.

"He said you were the only one who knew Gerace." Spencer says.

"Which is why I'm pretty sure he doesn't have the balls to pull this off. There was no forced entry at the house?" Emily asks to make sure.

"I had two agents working security." Derek says softly, making Willow look at him and she can tell how badly he was affected by Emily's fake death.

"We think Gerace and his partner posed as the next shift, and one of the agents was a woman." Spencer says, making Emily nod in understanding.

"She's the Alpha."

"So we're looking for a woman who's getting back at Doyle." Hotch says, making Emily scoff.

"And our suspect list just got a whole lot longer." Emily says, before she leads Garcia and JJ out to make a list of women as potentiometer suspect, leaving Willow with the rest of the team.

"Willow. Thank you for coming so soon and abruptly." Hotch nods, making all the attention go on to her, as she crosses her arms over her chest.

"Well, you always told me to be a call away. Only fulfilling my duty." Willow smiles tightly as she shifts on her feet uncomfortably. She hadn't dared look at Spencer since she arrived and she still wasn't ready to do so.

"What have you been up to? Since you've left? Back to giving lectures?" Rossi asks, as he walks up to her and gives her a welcoming hug, which she gratefully accepts.

"Well, I've decided to be that Medical degree to use." Willow says as she pulls away from the hug, making him look at her in interest.

"So no longer Professor, but rather Doctor? Well, that's a very interesting switch. I'm glad to you're back." Rossi says, making her smile softly.

"Willow, I know last time you were here you said you didn't want to come back, but right now we could use all the help we got." Hotch says, just as the three women walk back in, making her nod, as they gather around Emily, who puts all the possible women lost on the screen.

"These women are associates of Doyle's who may have crossed paths with Gerace." Emily explains, as they look intensively at the screen.

"Anyone have a deeper personal connection with Doyle?" Derek asks, having regained his composure.

"Whoever took Declan showed a lot of rage at the nanny." Hotch points out.

"She had been with Doyle since before Declan was born." Emily says, making them look at the board.

"The nanny represents a caregiver, a mother figure." Spencer points out, making Willow frown.

"Who is Declan's mother?" Willow asks Emily, who shakes her head.

"Doyle told me she was dead."