"Don't be dismayed at goodbyes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends."
-Richard Bach-
J.J. is being questioned by a Senate Committee while, outside the room, the rest of the team waits and paces. Maya decided to tag along even though she's not being questioned since she wasn't present during the Emily Prentiss case. J.J. came back and she wasn't a fan of Maya. She didn't like how she did things, how tough she was and slightly careless she was. Maya didn't have a problem with J.J. except the fact she criticized everything she did. It was like J.J. was purposely trying to pick a fight and find something wrong about Maya.
"Why aren't we in there?" Reid asks as he paces. Maya stands up against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest. "They're just trying to intimidate you. You of all people should know that" Maya states as she lets out a sigh while looking around the building.
"You didn't have to come" Derek says as he looks over to Maya who shrugs his shoulders. "I figured I come for support" Maya states and Derek smiles at her answer.
TWO WEEKS EARLIER
"Derek, I know nothing about this case. How could I be of any help?" Maya asks as she looks to Derek who sits on her living room couch, begging for Maya to help out with this case. "I can tell you all that you need to know. I need all hands-on deck; you have to help me" Derek begs and Maya sighs as she looks into Derek's pleading eyes.
"What's so special about this Emily girl? She's dead" Maya states as she takes a seat next to Derek. "She was my friend, and she didn't deserve to die the way she did." Derek says and Maya was convinced.
____
Derek, gun drawn, bursts into an apartment with J.J. and Maya by his side. Maya whistles to the closed closet door and points her gun at it before she quickly opens it, only to find it empty. They look up to see a hatch in the ceiling and someone moving around. Why do people move up instead of down sometimes? When they are running away to higher places...
They then head to the roof. The three spilt up and out of nowhere, a shadowy figure tackles Maya from above. "Ah!" Maya groans as she swings her elbow and hits the mysterious man in the face.
She tries to crawl away, but the man grabs her by her hair and slams her into the metal door that goes back inside the building. "Maya? Maya!" Derek shouts as he pistols whips the man to the ground and points his gun at him.
"Don't move" Derek orders but the man moves anyway and swings his feet under Derek's causing Derek to land on his back and his gun to release from his hands.
A struggle ensues before Derek is able to get the man off of him and retrieve his gun. Maya groans as her head is in pain but she manages to find her gun. The shadowy man starts running until Maya cocks her gun back, letting him know that she's there.
"This is him, isn't it?" Maya asks breathlessly, referring to Doyle. The man Derek informed her about. Finally, the shadowy man is revealed to be Doyle, who raises his arms in surrender. "Want to kill me yourself agent or let your girlfriend do it instead?" Doyle taunts as both Maya and Derek point their guns in his direction.
PRESENT
J.J. exits the room and walks over to the rest of the group. "How did it go?" Garcia asks and J.J. shrugs her shoulders. "Horrible, they don't even care to hear your side of the story" J.J. says just making Garcia even more nervous while J.J. looks as if she has something more to say.
"What's on your mind?" Rossi wonders. "They want to speak to Maya" J.J. says and Maya pushes herself off the wall and looks to J.J. with confusion. "That can't be right" Maya says and J.J. nods her head. "Yeah, you joined Morgan in on the case. You're a part of this now" J.J. declares before an officer comes out of the room asking for Maya.
Maya starts walking towards the room when Derek walks back from the restroom. "What's going on?" Derek asks as he rushes over as Maya gets further into the room to be questioned. "Stand back" The officer orders. "She had nothing to do with this" Derek defends until J.J. walks over and grabs Derek's arm, trying to pull him away.
"They know she helped you" J.J. states and Morgan furrows his eyes brows in confusion as the doors to the room shut, leaving Maya in there with 3 people from the Senate Committee looking down at her.
"You told them? That was between us" Derek says and J.J. shrugs her shoulders. "They pushed me, and I broke" J.J. says but Derek couldn't help but think J.J. had a bigger reason for informing them on something they promised to keep quiet.
"Did you know Emily Prentiss before this?" The Senator asks. "No, sir" Maya answers as she adjusts herself in her seat. "But you still helped with this case. Still helped Derek Morgan search for the child Declan" The Senator states and Maya's face drop into a shocked one because she didn't think they knew about that.
"Um, he asked me to help" Maya states. "So, you got involved in a case that you had no business doing?" The Senator asks and Maya shakes her head. "No, sir. I helped because that's my job" Maya says as she leans forward in her seat, not wanting the Senator, despite his authority, to twist her words around and make her out to be the bad guy when all she did was help out a friend.
"You we're off the clock. You didn't need to help. That means Agent Morgan came to you personally and you still chose to help. Still chose to risk your life for a person you don't even know. The reason you got this job was because we had lost an Agent before this and you do the same thing that got them killed, it's outrageous" The Senator rants.
"I got this job because of the sacrifices I made, sir. I helped because it is what I do for a living. I stop the bad people so people like you can sleep good at night" Maya states and The Senator clears his throat, feeling personally attacked and he should, because that's what Maya was doing.
"Now, can I go?" Maya questions as she relaxes in her seat while narrowing her eyes at the Senator Committee in front of her.
TWO WEEKS EARLIER
Maya had assisted Derek on a stakeout outside Doyle's makeshift apartment as did J.J. "Did Hotch really say, take the shot?" Maya asks as she looks over to Derek whose eyes fall upon her. "Yeah, but he's pissed" Derek answers before looking back at the security footage until his phone rings.
"Hey, Reid" Derek greets, putting the phone on speaker. "I can't find him" Reid declares and Maya furrows her eyebrows in confusion. "Can't find him? Can't find Declan?" Maya asks which Reid says yes to. "The headmistress said Declan got sick and went home" Reid replies. "Reid, call for back up and get to the house" Derek orders but Reid was already there.
Derek, Maya and J.J noticed movement coming from Doyle's apartment as multiple squad cars came by. Just like before, they stormed the apartment and ran up to the roof while J.J. checked the back stairs. Because of this, Doyle was able to be found, handcuffed, and led to an interrogation room. Derek demands to know where Declan has been taken but Doyle claims not to be involved. In fact, the man appears as worried about Declan as Derek is.
So, who took Declan?
"Who hates you enough to take him?" Derek demands. Doyle either doesn't know or he isn't talking. Garcia, meanwhile, presents a recently returned, with a large beard, Aaron Hotchner, "Woah, nice beard" Maya compliments making Hotch smile for one second before getting back on the case.
Hotch looks at the list Garcia provided of Doyle's top 10 enemies. One of the men on the list, Richard Gerace, recently returned to the states and was spotted wearing a ski mask outside of Declan's home. Hotch relays the information to Derek, who relays the information to Doyle. Doyle will only say that Emily might be able to provide guidance. Alas, she is dead.
Or is she?
Hotch then gathers the team to break some big news. "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. The doctors were able to stabilize her. And she was airlifted from Boston to Bethesda under a covert exfiltration" Hotch explains and Maya tilts her head as she starts to understand where Hotch is going with this and all though she can't be mad because she didn't know Emily. The other members of the team did, and they knew her well.
Her death was faked in order to protect her. "I take full responsibility for the decision," Hotch says. "If there are any issues, I want them directed towards me" Hotch says as Maya covers her mouth in shock. "Issues? Yeah, I got a lot of those" Derek exclaims when suddenly, Emily enters.
Jaws drop as do tears. Some members of the team don't know how to react, especially Derek and Reid. They look like they feel betrayed. But there is no time for conversation at the moment, so the agents fill in Emily on the case and she explained that she has a hard time believing that Gerace had the "balls" to do this alone.
_____
Maya was looking through some photos that could help with the case when Emily came up beside her. "Oh, hello" Maya greeted as she held the pictures in her hand. "I wanted to thank you for helping with this case even though you knew nothing about it" Emily says with a smile while Maya looks over at J.J. who watches them from the window in the round table.
"Yeah, yeah" Maya says as she nods her head before looking back to Emily. "Something wrong?" Emily asks with a slight chuckle. "Nope, but now that you're back it makes me wonder if I get to keep this job" Maya says before she walks away leaving Emily speechless.
_____
The team meets back up in the round table where Reid notes that the nanny taking care of Declan was particularly brutalized. Could the mysterious woman be Declan's mother? Doyle, Emily explains, had always claimed that Declan's mommy was dead. He must've been lying. So, Emily confronts Doyle.
"Of course," the gangster sneers upon seeing the very alive Emily. Doyle then IDs Declan's mommy from a series of photos -- Chloe Donaghy. And with that the team has a suspect.
Chloe is also not the best either-- with a long, long record of international criminal activity. Hotch notes that Chloe isn't the mothering type and that she might just be trying to hurt Doyle. Indeed, Doyle admits that Chloe tried to kill herself when she found out she was pregnant. So, Doyle chained her to a bed for seven months, then paid her off once Declan was born.
But if mommy has no interest in keeping Declan -- and Maya believes just that after everything she's heard-- she might be interested in giving the boy to an enemy of Doyle's in exchange for money/ weapons/ whatever. Doyle gives Emily a list of people who are associated with Chloe and might want to see him harmed. Garcia quickly discovers that one name on the list, Lachlan McDermott, stands out above the others. Doyle murdered Lochlan's brother and Lochlan now owns a warehouse in Baltimore, Maryland. Bingo.
Maya was putting on her vest when J.J. rushed over to her. "You don't have to help us anymore. Emily is back" J.J. declares and Maya scoffs as she places her gun in her holster and starts walking out with everyone else. "This is my job, Jareau" Maya says, not letting J.J. say another word.
_____
The team arrives to the warehouse and check every corner and every room until they find Gerace shot and killed. Maya kicks the gun away that lays near Gerace while J.J. checks his pulse and he is definitely dead. "Doyle said Chloe would clean house" Derek recites. "He must've been dead weight. If she wanted to leave the country, she couldn't take him with her" Maya says as she's been in a situation like this before. Having to run. "She thinks she's going to get more for the kid without him." Hotch adds.
The team and Doyle then head to an airfield linked to Lachlan, who is aboard a private jet with Chloe and Declan. Hotch gets on the megaphone: "We will give you Ian Doyle and you send out the boy!" Chloe objects so Lachlan shoots her. He then drags Declan outside and onto the tarmac. Emily and Reid escort Doyle to Lachlan. Just then, a wounded Chloe emerges from the plane, firing her weapon. Lachlan is struck dead. Doyle is shot in the neck. He reaches out to touch his son's hand... and dies slowly.
Case closed... but not the day.
_____
It's time for Senator Cramer to level his verdict. He dismisses everyone except for Emily, who passionately argues for her team. The speech sways Cramer. Suspension is listed for everyone, but they can continue to work together. Even Maya. The team, however, will be closely watched.
Later, the team gathers at BAU headquarters. "Hey," Derek greets Maya who sits at her desk alone while everyone stood outside in the hall with Emily, greeting her back with open arms. "Hey," Maya says softly as she watches the team closely.
They're a family and nothing could break them apart. "I want to thank you, personally. You didn't have to help me, but you did" Derek thanks before he rest his hand on Maya's gracefully.
"Why aren't you out there with them?" Maya asks, clearing her throat and looking up at Derek before moving her hand away from his. "I feel betrayed" Derek admits. "Then you should stop feeling that way. She did what she did for good reasons. You didn't deserve that, no one does but things happen. She needed to be protected and she was. She's alive so why can't you accept that?" Maya wonders as she stands up from her seat.
"You say that as if you've been through something similar" Derek notices. "I haven't faked my death, but I know what it's like to have a past you want no one to know about" Maya admits as she grabs her car keys off her desk about to leave.
"I'll see you later, Agent Morgan" Maya says before she leaves with a smile on her face, walking past the rest of the team who seem even more happy.
Emily is back. J.J. is back. Maya gets to keep her job. Everything is good again... for now.
"No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth."
-Robert Southey-