Never Together Nor Apart

[Chapter 11]

Hotch's POV:

"I've got four names on the bottom of the list Prentiss gave us," Morgan says.

I wince at her name. None of us knew where she was, what she was planning, or when she would be back.

"Luke Renault, Lawrence Riley, Lila Rafferty, Lyle Rogers," he claims.

"All with the initials L.R.," JJ figures.

"The CIA uses cryptograms like that to assign non-official cover agents working the same case," I reply.

"So do other foreign countries. These last four names are covers—spies," Morgan adds.

"Wait. No. This isn't right. Do you see this space? That shouldn't be here," Garcia spots the mistake.

"Could it be a formatting error?" Reid suggests.

"No, this is a spreadsheet template. Formatting doesn't allow for this. There-there's a missing name in here," Garcia insists.

"It's another spy whose cover is L.R.," I announce.

I watch Reid's face. It twists as if in deep thought.

"Lauren Reynolds is dead," he mumbles.

"What?" I shout a little too loudly.

"Lauren Reynolds is dead!" He yells, "Prentiss said that on a phone call 17 days ago. But her intonation wasn't surprise or grief. It was like a mantra, like she was reminding herself. Lauren Reynolds, L.R.," he trips over his own words.

"If Prentiss is the last name on that list, she's on Doyle's list too," JJ expresses her concern.

I throw myself to my phone, I needed to call her. How could Emily keep this from us? From me? This was very specific intel that was need-to-know. I wasn't sure whether to be furious or worried. Emily had gone off by herself, no doubt she was tracking down this bitch. She must be bat-shit crazy to think she could do this on her own. What if she had gotten caught? Hurt? Or even killed? I listen to find her phone was stowed away in her desk, along with her badge and gun. I begin running through her items, looking for anything and everything that could give me answers.

"Guys," I show them my findings.

"She left her badge and gun? Why would she do that?" Morgan grits his teeth.

"That doesn't make sense. Why run? We're her family. We can help," Reid pleads.

"Doyle's killing families. She's not married, not close to relatives. He was ready to wipe us out. She ran to protect us," Gideon states in disbelief.

I shake my head. No. I could have helped, I WOULD have helped. I know it was to protect us, but she's someone I would allow myself to be put in danger for. She's the only person that has made me feel anything since Haley's death. I was finally ready to admit it to myself. But it was too late. Too late to admit that I loved her, but now, it would be from afar.

*time skip*

"She's a trained spy she doesn't wanna be found," Gideon sounds panicked.

"She knows all our tricks. We don't know any of hers," Morgan buries his head in his hands.

"All right, then how do we find her?" Garcia sounds as if she's on the verge of tears.

I pull myself together. I'm the leader of this team, if anyone has to remain strong it's me. I'll make sure we bring Emily back to this team even if it kills me.

"Here's how. Ian Doyle is our unsub, Emily is our victim. We profile their behavior and we treat it like any other case. Because terrorism isn't an area we specialize in, I've reached out to an expert from the state department, someone who can also shed light on Prentiss' past," I announce.