A Criminal Minds / Demily Fanfiction: Blast From The Past

Chapter 24

Hotch's Pov

   I kept telling myself that Emily would pull through. She was strong and when she wanted something, she would fight until she got it. I had to believe that everything would be fine because I don't think this team could've gotten through losing her again.

   "Hey Hotch, where d'ya want me?" Finally, we could actually get somewhere.

   "With Reid. He's about to go back to the Unsub's apartment building and interview his neighbours." Derek looked confused; he had to be wondering why I asked Reid to do the interviews. "He's not himself. He's worried about Emily and right now he doesn't trust that I won't lie to him again. He needs you!" I didn't blame Reid for not trusting me after what JJ and I did to him after Emily's showdown with Ian Doyle.

   "Okay. So basically you want me to babysit him?" Derek was on edge, and I understood why. We all knew how he felt about Emily, just like we all knew that he was still seeing Lauren.

   "No! I want you to look out for him, and be there if he needs you." Derek nodded and made his way over to Reid, who was slumped at a desk looking over the case file again in case he found something he missed the first time.

Reid's Pov

   "Reid, you find anything?" I looked up from the case file to see Derek making his way towards me. I was pretty sure that Hotch had put him up to it, but I couldn't prove it and there was no way that I was gonna trust him or JJ again in a situation like this that concerned Emily.

   "Yeah, look" He peered over my shoulder at the piece of paper I was holding in my hand. It was a witness statement from one of the London cases that Emily brought with her back to the states. The victim's name was Alice Rutherford; she was 24, same physical appearance as the rest of our victims. In fact, the resemblance between her and Brooke was uncanny; same hair colour and eye colour as well as being the same height and weight.

   "What exactly am I looking at?" Derek was smart, but I sometimes forget that not everybody is a genius. I pointed to a small paragraph towards the bottom of the page and glanced up at Derek to gage his reaction. I knew that once he'd seen it, he too would realise its significance.