Never Together Nor Apart

[Chapter 36]

[2 weeks since Lily was born; Emily is 3 months pregnant (12 weeks)]

Hotch's POV:

It's been 2 weeks since JJ had Lily. It's also the first day we go back to work. Reid wanted to stay longer, but JJ had insisted he go back to work with the rest of us. I sit at the round table waiting for her to enter the room.

"I'm gonna miss JJ," Garcia sighs.

"She'll be back don't worry Baby Girl," Morgan assures.

"Well what if her replacement isn't nice. What if she's all snobby and stuck up? I did a little research on her and she could turn out to be that type of person," Garcia rambles.

"I'm sure she'll be nice," Reid chuckles.

Seconds later a tall brunette woman enters.

"Alex Blake," I shake her hand, "how are you?" I ask.

"Doing just fine! I hope you all are doing the same?" She grins.

"Oh, hello there! You seem very nice. The nicest of nice," Garcia turns red with embarrassment.

She receives a laugh from Alex.

"I'm Derek Morgan," he extends his arm.

"It's nice to see you, and you are?" She refers to Emily.

"Emily Prentiss," she gives a gentle shake.

"I'm David Rossi," he gives her a flirty smile.

I make a mental note to speak with him about that later.

"Garcia, the files," I begin.

"Yeah. The files,"she begins passing the out.

"A few hours ago there was a prison transfer to the county hospital in Abilene, Texas. The ambulance crashed and the prisoner escaped. He's wearing an EMT uniform, and he's armed with the guard's weapon," I inform.

"Aren't the U.S. Marshals on this?" Morgan asks.

"Yes, they are. But they need our help because this is what the found inside," I play pictures of the ambulance, "the EMT and the driver died in the accident. The guard however, suffocated," I explain.

"What's on his mouth?" Emily asks.

"It was sewn shut," Dave mumbles.

"So the prisoner is the Silencer," Alex infers.

"Or this guy's a copycat," Morgan suggests.

"Forensics confirmed it's the same unique double-knit ligature he used in all three murders," I inform.

"His last known victim was in 2004 and he was never caught," Reid explains.

"Well, why not just escape. If he hadn't sewn the guard's mouth shut, we would never know it was him," Morgan asks in confusion.

"He wants us to know he's back," Dave mutters.

"We've got his face. What's his name?" Alex asks.

"John Doe. He was pulled over in '04 for a traffic violation. No registration, no rages. He carried no I.D.," I look over to Emily.

I noticed she had been unusually quiet.

"No way he did eight years for that," Alex counters.

"They searched his car and found a gun with a silencer," I recall.

"A silencer. He was practically telling them who he was and no one made the connection," Dave says in disbelief.

"It's a federal offense and carried a 30-year minimum sentence but it was actually what he did inside that guaranteed him life without parole," I continue to focus my gaze on Emily.