"There is a kind of magicness about going far away and then coming back all changed.
-Kate Douglas Wiggin-

"You killed my daughter! You owe me an explanation" Joseph shouts and Maya shakes her head as she sits up, holding her stomach and groans because of the pain. "I didn't mean to do that. You know that. It was supposed to be you" Maya says as she breathes heavily.

"But it wasn't and now my daughter is six feet under!" Joseph shouts...

Or was she?

TWELVE YEARS AGO

BAM

Maya shot the last man standing right in between the eyes. This was her only way of escaping and if she had to kill to get out, that's what she would do. "What the hell did you do?" Jospeh Perez asks as he walks into his office, seeing most of his men dead on the ground.

"I told you. I'm done working for you, but you wouldn't let me leave! Maybe this will make a statement" Maya argues, gripping the gun tightly in her hands.

"You knew what you were dealing with when you joined this establishment. You don't get to leave when you want because those are the rules!" Joseph shouts as he steps over one of the dead bodies.

"Those rules are bullshit and you only have them to have control over me and everyone else" Maya says before she raises the gun and points it towards Joseph, making him stay in place.

"Not anymore. You don't get to control me anymore!" Maya cries out, trying her hardest not to cry as she thinks about the horrible things, he's done to her in this very room and house alone.

"You liked every minute of it" Joseph taunts when suddenly a door opening is heard behind Maya and wasting no time and thinking it's one of his guards, Maya pulls the trigger.

"No, no no!" Joseph screams in agony as he rushes to the little girl. His daughter, Michelle. "Oh my god" Maya gasps before she drops the gun in her hand and covers her mouth, looking at the blood stain Michelle's shirt as she's been shot near her heart.

"D-daddy" Michelle gurgles out, looking up at her father Joseph Perez. "I'm- I'm- Sorry- I-" Maya stammers, more tears sliding down her cheek because she didn't mean to shoot the little girl. She didn't even know she was in the house at the time.

Joseph works so much and doesn't talk to her much at all that he doesn't even call her by real name, Delilah...

PRESENT DAY

"I think we gave her to much" Thomas says before him and Delilah follow behind Strauss, laughing quietly as she aimlessly wanders the streets of New York. Delilah steps in front of Strauss, pushing her hair back behind her ear.

"No one is coming to save you. I don't blame them; you are quite a bitch" Delilah states as Strauss plops down on the cold bench set on the sidewalk.

"If you remember or even live to tell. Tell your team, tag, there it" Thomas whispers, putting Strauss in more of a daze before he pulls his hood over his head before him, and Delilah walked off together.

Meanwhile, Maya and Derek were in the car together after getting word that The Replicator was in New York because he took the pictures he had taken of the team and hacked Garcia's computer system, showing them to her before revealing the message Zugzwang.

"Are you okay?" Derek asks as Maya bounces her leg up and down, practically shaking.

"Yeah, my psychotic brother, who also seems to be a murder, is here. I'm fine!" Maya snaps before she leans back in her seat only getting more anxious by the second. "I think we should get you out of New York. It's not safe for you here" Derek states and Maya scoffs, "I'm not leaving. There is an endgame here and I need to be here to figure it out" Maya argues, not wanting to leave a case that is so obviously about her.

"For one second, can you think about your well-being! People care about you, Maya" Derek argues and Maya sighs sadly as she shakes her head. "It's not about that. My brother is out here somewhere, and he wants me so why not just let him come and get me-" Maya was cut off by the SUV being hit from behind and serving off the road.

"Hold on!" Derek shouts as the car crashes into a wall, the airbags coming out of the dashboard and steering wheel.

"Ah!" Derek groans as he places his hand on his hand, groaning in pain while red and blue lights flash all around him. "Maya?" Derek questions but gets no response. "Maya!" Derek shouts a little louder before JJ and Hotch arrive at the window.

"Derek, are you guys alright?" JJ asks as she opens the car door, ambulance walking up check if he's okay.

One of the paramedics go to the passenger seat while one of them help Derek out of the car. He can stand so he didn't get hurt that badly. "I thought you said there were two people" The paramedic states as he holds his first aid while looking through the car.

"There is. Maya was with you, Derek" Hotch states as he looks in the car, seeing no sign of Maya.

"Hotch, where is she?!" Derek asks as the paramedic and JJ start to pull him away from
the crash. "No- Where is she!?" Derek continues to shout but JJ urges he stay back and get help because he might be in shock from the crash.

Hotch stays by the car and sees a light trail of blood coming from the passenger side of the car. He follows it but it stops shortly.

"Where the hell is she?" JJ asks, standing next to Hotch. "The Replicator has her" Hotch declares as he locks eyes with JJ, knowing this is not good and everything that could go wrong, did.

____

"Mm" Maya mumbles as she tries to move her arms but feels them tied above her head. "What-" Maya stammers over her words as a rush of adrenaline stirs up in her body and her vision starts to become clear.

She was in a dark room, but she could tell it was house since she was laying down a bed. Very little light shined through the room and whoever took her made sure the windows were bolted shut so there was nowhere to go but out the door.

Maya continued to look at her surroundings. There was a dresser just a few feet away from the bed and it had very little items on it. But the items didn't look like items you'd have at home. They were items you would hit someone with, such as torture. "No no" Maya shakes her head as she tries to pull the tape off of her wrist but ends up banging the headboard of the bed up against the wall.

Her breathing picked up as she heard footsteps getting closer and closer to the room, but they weren't just one set of footsteps, there were two but when the door opened, only one walked in.

"Thomas..." Maya trails off as her brother comes out of the darkness, his curly hair sticky to his skin from how sweaty he is. He smiled brightly as he looked down to his struggling sister, feeling completed even though his job wasn't done, he was just getting started.

"The replicator" Maya states as she swallows a large lump down her throat, actually nervous because she has no idea what Thomas is capable of, but it must be enough since the BAU has been looking for him for a while.

"Replicators" Someone corrects, making Maya's eyes go wide. "We're a team" The person declares as the come into the light. Maya knitted her eyebrows in confusion as she had no idea who the person standing in-front of her was.

"You have no idea who I am" The girl realizes as she steps towards the bed that Maya is laying on. "My name is Delilah but... you might know me as Michelle. Michelle Perez. The girl introduces and goosebumps ran up Maya's spine as the girl had said her name, her last name mostly.

"Perez?" Maya questions, shifting uncomfortably as she looks to her brother who is practically enjoying watching Maya squirm.

"D-daddy" Michelle gurgles out, looking up at her father Joseph Perez. "I'm- I'm- Sorry- I-" Maya stammers, more tears sliding down her cheek because she didn't mean to shoot the little girl. She didn't even know she was in the house at the time. Joseph works so much and doesn't talk to her much at all that he doesn't even call her by real name, Delilah...

"I killed you- I shot you" Maya states before Delilah clicks her tongue 3 times. "That's what you thought because you ran like a coward" Delilah states as she slides her shirt down, showing a scar that's near her heart. It was bullet wound in which was stitched up.

Delilah lived but Maya couldn't stay to see it because she was filled with too much guilt. She needed to escape and promised herself that nothing would get in the way. Even the 'death' of a little girl and Maya always regretted that.

"I'm sorry" Maya whispers as she looks to Delilah who shakes her head. "You don't get to apologize. You don't get to do anything! I was ten years old!" Delilah cries out, making Maya flinch at the sound of her voice because it sounded way to much like her fathers.

"I didn't mean to shoot you. I'm sorry" Maya apologizes before she feels Delilah slap her across the feet. "Shut up!" Delilah shouts and calms down as Thomas walks towards her, rubbing his fingers through her hair.

"She's a bitch, okay? Don't give her the satisfaction of seeing you upset" Thomas whispers before he leans in, placing his lips onto Delilah, taunting Maya. "You're sick" Maya scoffs as she jerks her wrist forward, trying to get out of their hold.

"Don't be mad, sis" Thomas states as he pulls away from Delilah. "Trust me, I'm not mad" Maya says, and Thomas nods his head slowly. "Right, because you have your own piece of meat. Agent Derek Morgan" Thomas states making Maya whip her head in his direction as he says Derek's name.

"I wonder how he's feeling right now" Thomas says, a smile growing on his face as he looks down at Maya, no emotion in his eyes.

____

"What we know is Thomas Regan has been following this team for a while and he managed to get into one of the members hotel room, drug her and kill her" Hotch says as he stands in front of the room, looking to team who is distraught about the situation.

After Thomas (and Delilah, who the team doesn't know about) had left Strauss she soon died in the arms of Hotch on the very bench she was found at, and Rossi is and was absolutely devastated at the sight.

Derek is sat down, a bandage on his forehead and an ice pack resting on his shoulder due to him being in pain. He looked to the ground, leg bouncing up and down and his patience slowly starting to give out since he worried about Maya.

He didn't know where she was, and he was starting to feel it was his fault. He was driving the car and talking with her before the crash had happened. Derek felt he was the only one to blame in this situation.

"Morgan, I need to know that you will keep your cool and help us find Maya" Hotch states as he looks to Derek who lifts his head up, looking as if he's in some kind of daze. "I just need to know where she is" Derek voices as JJ slowly rubs his back in reassurance.

"I'm here! I'm here" Garcia calls out as her and Kevin storm into the conference room with two laptops. Garcia looks to Derek who's obviously not in the mood and she didn't know what to do so she looked away and got back to work, knowing the only Derek could even be slightly happy is if they found Maya alive and well.

"Did you gather more information on Maya's brother?" Alex asks and Garcia nods as she turns on her laptop. "Uh, he was in the mental hospital for 9 years or so, but he was checked out 2 years ago by a woman named Michelle, no last name" Garcia says as Kevin, who sits next to her starts typing on his laptop.

"And we checked for Michelle's that live in New York and thousand came up" Kevin declares.

"Check in Rochester, New York" Derek voices and Kevin nods his head as he clicks away on his laptop. "Narrows the list down to 87" Kevin states as he looks up at the team, wondering if they have any more information so they can narrow the search.

"Wait, Michelle? Isn't that Joseph Perez's daughter, the one who died?" Reid asks and Garcia widens her eyes as she remembers that case back at the auditorium.

"Yes, yes-" Garcia states as she looks up Joseph Perez and finds his daughters name, Michelle Perez but when Garcia tries search her up, it's as if a Michelle Perez doesn't exit. "What- No Michelle Perez comes up" Garcia states as she continues to type away on her laptop.

"Well, this man was in a drug cartel. I'm sure he had ties to databases like this" Derek declares. "Michelle might not even be her real name which is why you can't find it" Alex states as the team looks around at each other, knowing they are running out of time.

_____

Maya breathes heavily throughout her nose as black tape as a cloth has been put in her mouth along with tape to keep her from spitting the cloth out. She looks up and uses her nails to try and dig through the thick tape that is around her wrist while Delilah holds a pistol in her hand, sitting in a chair in front of the bed, not wanting to take her eyes off Maya.

"You'll never get through the tape. I put three layers on" Delilah states as she rests her elbows on her knees, tilting her head to the side as she smiles slightly. Maya looks to the bedroom that's wide open, and she still tries to calculate where she could be, but nothing comes up. She doesn't even recognize the wallpaper, but Thomas would obviously make sure of that.

"Even when you're fighting for your life, you still profile" Delilah realizes as Maya turns her attention back on her which is what she wants.

"You don't even look scared" Delilah declares as she stands to her feet, the floor slightly creaking as she does. She places the barrel of the pistol on Maya's leg and slides it up further and further, making Maya jerk her leg a little due to the tingle it sent through her legs. Delilah snatches the tape off of Maya's mouth and pulls out the cloth, tossing it on the ground.

"Maybe, because I'm not scared of you. I'm not scared of Thomas. I'm not even scared of this janky ass pistol" Maya spits before Delilah lets her intrusive thoughts win and she swings the pistol in her hand to hit Maya across the face, creating a cut on her cheek from the impact.

Maya catches her breath, pushing through the pain as she turns her head back towards Delilah.

"This isn't you. It's so obvious. You don't belong in this lifestyle, Delilah" Maya declares and for the first time since she's seen Delilah she sees a hint of humane in her.

"You think you need to hurt me to get back at me but- I didn't mean to hurt you. I was trying to get away from you father because he was a bad person who did bad things" Maya states, starting to choke up on her words as Delilah presses the pistol to her forehead, "That why you killed him?" Delilah asks, a tear sliding down her cheek.

"I killed him because he tried to kill me. I was trained to kill and that's what I did and I'm not sorry for that. But I am sorry is that I hurt you when you were young, but you are not your father, Delilah" Maya tries to reassure before her nail cut through the last bit of the tape.

"And I'm sorry for this" Maya states making Delilah knit her eyebrows in confusion before Maya punched her right in the nose, knocking her back a bit.

"Ugh!" Maya grunts as she pulls her wrist apart, ripping the tape in half. She watched as Delilah caught her balance and point the gun straight towards Maya but before she could shoot Maya kicked her leg, her foot hitting Delilah's hand hard enough to throw the gun in the doorway of the bedroom.

"Bitch!" Delilah cries out as she rushes towards Maya. Maya swiftly spins around, grabbing Delilah by her arm and throwing her up against the wall, watching as her body fell to the ground.

Maya rushed towards the doorway where the gun was, but Delilah extended her leg, tripping Maya and making her hit her head on the edge of the dresser. "Ah" Maya groans, squinting her eyes shut as she painfully holds the side of her forehead. She hears footsteps and manages to open her eyes, her vision becoming clear.

Thomas stood in the doorway holding the gun carelessly in his hand. "You want to have fun? Let's have fun" Thomas states as he lets out a mischievous laugh while admiring the gun in his hand, actually bringing fear to Maya as she watched her little brother not look so little anymore.

_____

"I got something!" Garcia shouts as she rushes out to the team who sits in the lobby. "So, I couldn't find a Michelle Perez, but I did find a Delilah Perez. I went through Jospeh's life and found out he was sending money to a woman. That woman being Delilah's mother" Garcia states, having the team on the edge of their seats.

"That doesn't tell us where she is" Derek snaps and Garcia stammers over her words.

"Right- Sorry" Garcia says as Derek sighs sadly before Garcia comes up with more information. "The only places I could find that were in Joseph's name were some bars and a few houses, but they were all torn down" Garcia states, feeling like she's no help at all.

"This isn't about Joseph. Not anymore. Thomas's motive is abandonment and Delilah's is being shot by Maya" JJ declares. "If they are working together then we've been wrong about the profile all along" Hotch states as the team sighs defeatedly.

"Wait, if this isn't about Joseph then who is it about?" Alex wonders. "It's about Maya but we don't know Thomas and Delilah's endgame. Maya left him at a hospital for 8 plus years, he'll want to get her back for that but somewhere secluded. He's been copying the murders we've done for months without being caught and he thinks he won't get caught now" Hotch states as he turns to Garcia.

"He has her and it's somewhere both Maya and him know about" Hotch adds.

"I'll look for buildings in Maya's name" Garcia states as she takes a seat at a desk and starts typing away at her computer, finding Maya's file and going through it.

_____

"What is this place?" Maya asks as Thomas holds one of her arms and Delilah holds the other, dragging her through a home. They bring her into a room and it's a twin bed in the corner with a nightstand right next to it.

"This is just like the room they put me in at the hospital" Thomas states as he and Delilah push Maya onto the ground, Thomas pointing the pistol at her.

"Thomas, you wonder why I put you there and this is the answer! I am your sister-". "And I'm your brother! You left me, I begged, and I cried but you left" Thomas states as he bends down to Maya's level, holding the gun right to her throat.

"Thomas... you didn't cry when mom died. You aren't even crying now. You're crazy but you don't want to admit it" Maya declares and she can see Thomas's knuckles getting red because of how tight he's balling his fist up.

"I told you, I'm not crazy" Thomas says as he uses the end of the gun to scratch the top of his head as he stands to his feet, looking down at Maya who's afraid to move an inch since Thomas's finger is right on the trigger.

Maya swallows nervously as she looks out the bay window and her face falls to one of realization. She stands to her feet, being careful not to startle Thomas. "Are we- Did you bring me-" Maya stammers as she looks around the room, recognizing the wallpaper. "Welcome home" Delilah taunts from behind Thomas while Mayas breathing becomes uneven.

"Why would you bring me here?" Maya asks, turning to Thomas in disbelief while he just laughs carelessly.

They were at the house where it all started and ended. This was Maya and Thomas's childhood home. The place where they laughed, cried and even screamed. The place where there mother died right on the living room floor just inches away from the kitchen. Thomas knew that and he still decided to bring her here and make her relive all those memories over and over again. The memories she hated to remember were all coming back and she couldn't hate Thomas even more than she already did.

"Don't worry... it'll be gone soon" Thomas says which only makes Maya question. "And we'll be going with it" Thomas adds before he looks down at his watch, "26 minutes to go..."

_____

"Okay, so we all know how Maya's mother died. Well, turns out the house it happened in is still standing but no one ever sold it because of what happened inside of it" Garcia informs before she sends the address to the teams' cellphones. "Are we sure she's even there?" Derek asks as he grabs his gear, "It's our best shot but where are you going?" Hotch asks, looking to Derek.

"I'm coming with. Don't stop me on this one Hotch" Derek demands as he walks past Hotch.

"Morgan, you were just in a car accident-". "I don't care if I fell from a 8 story building and broke both my goddamn legs, Hotch! I'm going" Derek states, quieting Hotch down. "Fine. Strauss was right, this team goes rogue when loved ones are involved" Hotch words before he walks past Derek who takes a deep breath before following the rest of the team out to the SUVs to drive to Maya's old home.

19 minutes to go...

_____

"Thomas, I'm not dying here" Maya states, shaking her head.

"You have no choice!" Thomas shouts, pushing Maya up against the wall. Maya looks to Delilah who stands in the door, hands shaking. She's scared. "Please" Maya begs as she looks between Delilah and Thomas.

"Shut up!" Thomas shouts, grabbing Maya by her hair and pulling her closer to him, "Thomas, calm down" Delilah voices making Thomas turn his head in her direction, his hand still holding onto Maya's hair.

"You are telling me to calm down?" Thomas asks as Delilah looks like she regrets speaking up. "You came to me with this idea and now it's calm down. You wanted revenge and now we got it but it's Thomas, calm down" Thomas argues as he drags Maya in front of him, putting the gun to her head.

"Should I calm down now? Or pull the trigger?!" Thomas screams, spit coming out of his mouth as he pushes the pistol closer to Maya's head causing an indent. "I wasn't saying it like that. I want revenge but-" Delilah says and it's as if Delilah about to say more three Thomas over the edge.

He knees Maya in her stomach and elbows her in the back, causing her fall to her knees and cough in pain as he rushed towards Delilah until they were out in the hall.

13 minutes to go...

Maya looked to Delilah as she was being pressed up against the wall in the hallway. "We made a pact-we get her and blow this place up. Go out together" Thomas breathes out, using the gun to push Delilah's hair out of her face.

"I was just sayin-". "Stop talking!" Thomas screams, banging his hand onto the wall angrily until he created a hole.

Maya looked around the room and looked at the night stand that was next to the bed then looked back to Thomas who was still taunting Delilah. "You- You gave me this idea. I think it's a great one, she deserves to pay for what she did to you- to me" Thomas states and Delilah pushes Thomas away.

"You, see? You act like you're the only who was hurt! She shot me and killed my father! I was hurt too, Thomas" Delilah cries out as Thomas stammers over his words, becoming speechless at Delilah's outburst because this isn't how he planned for it to go.

Everything and everyone are going off script and Thomas just can't handle it. 9 minutes to go...

"You sound like you're sticking up for her" Thomas notices while Delilah swallows nervously, not knowing Thomas's next move.

"She doesn't have to be on my side to know I'm right, Thomas. You're crazy" Maya voices as she swings the night stand at Thomas, slamming it against his back as Delilah swiftly moves out the way before Thomas hits the ground. Maya holds onto to one of the wooden legs of the night stand and looks down at Thomas who reaches for the gun that fell a few inches away from him.

Maya walks over and slams the wooden piece onto his hand, hearing as his knuckles crack and break underneath. "Son of a bitch!" Thomas screams out in agony as he slams his other hand on the hard wood floor before Maya grabs the gun herself and looks down at Thomas.

"Tag, you're it" Maya says breathlessly as she throws the wooden piece onto the ground.

6 minutes to go...

Delilah walks next to Maya and looks down at Thomas. "You know, they're going to arrest me" Delilah declares as Maya nods her head, pointing the gun down at Thomas who remains still, not having any more power.

"I know" Maya sighs as Delilah grabs Thomas's watch off his wrist at the same time sirens are heard in the distance. Maya removes her eyes off Thomas for one second and she was tackled to the ground.

"Thomas! Give it up!" Delilah begs as she tries to pull Thomas off of Maya which causes Thomas to throw her to the ground. "No! No! No!" Thomas screams as his fist collided with Maya's cheek multiple times.

"Stop-" Maya begs before she was hit with another punch to the face, this one harder. Thomas wanted to cause damage. He wanted Maya to feel the pain of 10 years of abandonment. He wanted her to feel anger, the sadness, the loneliness that he felt.

Maya felt the gun right next to her and before Thomas could deliver his next punch, a gun went off. Maya looked to Thomas who looked down at his stomach, seeing blood start to cover his shirt.

"I'm sorry that I'm not sorry" Maya says softly, a tear sliding down her cheek as Thomas's body fell limp onto hers. "Oh, Thomas" Maya whimpers before she rolls over, looking down at Thomas as he struggles to speak.

"Zug...Zwang" Thomas breathes out before he let out his last words. His last breath. His last glance.

Maya shook her head as she rested her head on Thomas's chest. She knew as long as he was alive, she was in danger but that was still her brother who she laughed with and cried with. Who she watched when her father was in a drunken rage and her mother was too sore to even get out of bed. The one she confided in even if he didn't understand what has happening. They had their good moments but they also had their bad. They were two different people who went down two different paths.

"Maya, we only have 25 seconds" Delilah informs, looking down at Thomas's dead body,
not knowing how to feel. "Okay, okay" Maya says as she looks down at Thomas, using her shaking hands to close his eyes before she stood to her feet.

"Maya! Maya!" Derek shouts from outside when suddenly...

BOOM!

"Get down!" JJ shouts as the team ducks and covers their heads as they watch the house burst up into flames, not knowing whether or not someone was inside. "No..." Derek whispers as he holds his head in his hands.

"Derek" JJ calls out, wanting to comfort him until she saw two people start to walk away from the house.

"We got somebody!" The officers shouted as they all pulled out their weapons. It was Delilah and Maya. Delilah had her hands raised, ready to be taken away. Maya walked further away from the house as the officers grabbed Delilah, immediately putting handcuffs on her wrist.

"Maya!" Derek shouts as he rushes to Maya but stops when he gets to close, not knowing how to feel. Maya sniffles in her tears as she drops the gun in her hand onto the grass as the house behind her continued to flame.

"Derek- Hi- Hi!" Maya cheers, slamming her body into Derek's, wrapping her arms around his neck while he wrapped his arms around her waist, holding the back of her head before they both fell to their knees in agony and relief. "I thought I lost you" Derek says, not wanting to ever let go of her. Maya then pulled away from the hug and looked to Derek despite the bruises and blood on her face.

She placed her hand on his cheek and smiled as they pressed their foreheads together. They were now together again and nothing else mattered. No one mattered.

Derek helped Maya to her feet and watched as the rest of the team rushed over. Reid immediately pulled Maya into a hug, his head hiding in the crook of her neck.

"Oh, hi" Maya smiles, rubbing Reid's back before receiving greetings and hugs from the rest of the team and Maya knew that they were her family now and she was going to live and fight for them because no one else mattered. Not to her.

CASE CLOSED

"Families are like branches on a tree. They grow in different directions yet all remain as one"
-Unknown-

THE END OF BOOK 1...