They're in Arizona on a case about a boy who went missing and another boy who a family found on the side of the road. Derek, Bedelia, and JJ are at the hospital to talk to the first victim.
"You can't examine the scars?" Derek asks.
"Can't get close enough. He has the most severe case of C.E.R. I've ever seen." Dr. Larson says. "Conditioned emotional response. I've only seen it in vets."
"That's worse than PTSD." Bedelia says.
"He had an adrenaline rush when he escaped, but coming down from that will be just as extreme." Larson says.
"And I'm sure he's sensitive to light and sound." Derek says.
"Incredibly. We're keeping it as quiet and dark as possible." Larson says.
"It's probably what he's used to." JJ says.
"He's also been somewhere cramped. His legs show signs of advanced arthritis." Larson says.
"Any idea how old he is?" JJ asks.
"It's hard to tell. His growth has been stunted. He's got major tooth and skin decay, clearly from a massive vitamin D deficiency." Larson says.
"Best guess." JJ says.
"Maybe 16." Larson says.
Derek shows his badge to the cop outside of the boy's room and he nods. The three go into the room and the lights are off, the blinds to the windows shut. The bed is empty and Bedelia looks around, spotting the boy under the table in the corner. Derek moves his shirt so it hides his gun.
They walk closer to the table and kneel down, keeping a fair distance.
"Hey." Derek cautiously greets. "My name's Derek. I'm one of the good guys. And these are my friends."
"I'm Bedelia." She softly informs.
"I'm Jennifer." JJ says. "You're safe now."
"Doctor says you haven't been eating much. Food looks pretty good." Derek says.
"You must be thirsty." JJ says, grabbing the water bottle off the tray of food. "Here you go." She holds it out, but the boy swats it out of her hand. "Okay. It's okay. It's okay."
"Guys, this is years of conditioning. Have Garcia go back to 2000 for missing kids." Derek says.
"Yeah." JJ mumbles, getting up and Bedelia follows her out.
+++
JJ and Bedelia walk into the room where Derek and the boy are sitting across from each other on the floor and rolling back a coin. Bedelia softly smiles at Derek making some progress with the kid.
They notice the two women and the boy starts to retreat.
"It's okay. It's okay." Derek promises. The two walk in and sit in the chairs that are behind Derek. "What did Garcia find out?" He asks them.
"She broadened her search, but nothing that matches his description." JJ says.
"Somebody's gotta be missing this kid." Derek says.
An alarm starts beeping outside of the room. The boy scurries back over to the table.
"No, hey, hey, no. No. No. No. That's not for us. That's not for us." Derek says as the boy retreats under the table. "It's for the doctors outside. It's for the doctors, it's not for us. It's all right. It's okay. It's not for us." He assures. The boy slowly comes out from under the table. "There you go. Come on back." The boy slowly moves back to his previous spot across from Derek.
"Here. Just take it." Derek holds the coin out and the boy takes it. "There you go." He quietly sighs. "I, um, I got him to nod, but... not much more than that."
"And you asked him his name?" JJ asks.
"Yeah." Derek nods.
"What about in Spanish?" JJ asks.
"It doesn't matter the language if he won't talk." Derek says.
JJ slowly lowers herself, sitting next to the Derek on the floor.
"Mi nombre es Jennifer. Como te llamas?" She asks him. "What's your name, sweetheart?" He still doesn't answer. "Can I see what you have there?" He holds it up so she can see. "Ah. Do you like eagles?"
The boy points at the eagle's wings on the coin.
"Yeah, the wings are-- are beautiful, aren't they?" JJ asks. The boy taps his hand on his back. "Your back?" He taps the coin. "Wings?" He taps his back again. "Wings on your back." She takes a moment. "Angel? Is your name Angel?" The boy smiles.
+++
"Do you think Angel blames himself?" JJ asks as the three agents walk down the hall.
"I know I did." Derek says.
"You know, seeing his mom for the first time may not go well." JJ says.
"Well, right now it's just about the shame he's feeling. She's gonna have to realize that he may not want to see her for a while." Derek says.
They walk into Angel's room, his back to the door as he sits on the bed.
"Angel?" Derek calls and Angel cries out in pain and they realize he's cutting his arm. "Angel! Angel, no. No! Angel, no, no!" They rush over.
Derek grabs Angel from behind. JJ hits the button for help.
"Angel, stop! Stop! Stop! Stop!" Derek yells, holding him. He and Bedelia try to wrestle the blade out of Angel's hand without hurting him further. "It's okay."
Bedelia finally grabs the blade and grabs a towel, holding it to Angel's arm.
"Angel, listen to me. You're safe. You're safe. It's okay." Derek soothes, holding the boy against him. "Angel, you're safe. It's all right."
+++
Bedelia is in the hallway and her phone rings, the woman answering it.
"Yeah?" She asks.
"Hey." Spencer greets.
"Hi." She says. "You guys got anything new?"
"Not since we last talked to you guys. I, uh, I really just wanted to call you. I'm actually hiding out in the broom closet." Spencer says.
"Spence, we can still talk on the phone. You don't have to hide in the broom closet." Bedelia says.
"I do when I wanna say "I love you."" Spencer reasons. "So... I love you."
Bedelia smiles, biting her lip as her cheeks heat up.
"I love you, too." She quietly says.
"That's really all I called you for." Spencer says making Bedelia giggle. She looks up, spotting JJ walking over.
"Oh, uh, I gotta go." Bedelia says.
"Okay. Bye."
"Bye." They hang up. "Hey." She greets the blonde.
"Hey. Who was that?" JJ asks.
"Oh, uh, wrong number." Bedelia dismisses.
JJ nods, noticing the woman's red cheeks and having noticed her laughing.
"This nobody, uh... has a strong effect on you then." JJ says.
"What? No. I flush when I'm tired." Bedelia says.
"Mm-hmm." JJ hums, knowing it's a lie.
+++
"Please, he's right there. I have to-- I have to see him. I thought he was gone all these years. My sweet boy. Don't you understand? I need to hold him." Angel's mom starts to go to the room, but Bedelia and JJ stop her.
"Okay, listen." Bedelia says. "Angel hasn't been held in a very long time. Things happened to him. He's going to have a hard time at first."
"Come on." JJ leads her away.
~ ~ ~
The three are sitting in the cafeteria.
"I have to help my boy."
"And you will. But first, we need your help." JJ tells her. "Someone else's little boy is missing. We're trying to find out how this man knew both your son and Billy, and to do that, we need to know everything that happened the day Angel disappeared."
"It was a Tuesday, after school. The children were in the front yard. It started raining, but Angel never came back in." She cries.
"Did you see anyone talking to them?" JJ asks.
"No. No cars, nothing." She sniffles. "The neighbors-- the neighbors helped me look. I wanted to tell the authorities. I really did. But-- but we'd have to leave the country and I had to think of my entire family." She sobs. "Dios Mio."
+++
"What did he do?" Derek asks Angel. "You can tell me."
"He used to... he used to bite me." Angel says. "He hasn't for a while. But he did... he did other things."
"Will you let the doctor take a look?" She asks Angel. "Maybe we can match dental records." She says.
"Okay." Angel quietly answers.
+++
"A puppy?" JJ asks.
"Yeah." Hotch says.
"Ohh... that's right." Angel's mom says. "Some of the neighbors were giving them away that day. They had a whole box. But I wouldn't let the boys keep one."
"Hotch, you hear that?" JJ asks.
"Yes. Thanks, JJ." Hotch tells her.
"Uh, wait, Hotch." JJ takes the phone off speaker and turns away from Bedelia and Angel's mom. "Um... we're trying to get a dental match. He's got old bite marks on him." Bedelia hears JJ say.
+++
"You think he's got a secondary location?" JJ asks.
"He could, but guys like him keep their victims close." Rossi says. "We'll search every inch of the property."
"Keep us posted." JJ says.
"Will do." Rossi promises. JJ hangs up.
"Guys." The two turn to Derek. "What's going on?"
"They're going to find J.B. Allen." JJ says.
Derek immediately gets angry, marching past them.
"Morgan." JJ calls.
+++
They got J.B. and saved Billy. Angel and the three are standing outside of his hospital room. Derek points and Angel follows, seeing his mom.
"Are you ready, Angel?" Derek asks.
"Yeah." Angel mumbles after a couple of moments.
"Nino Mio, mi Nino." His mom cries as she walks over, hugging him. "Mi Nino." She tightly hugs him and he hugs her back.