Trying to Remember

Soon, Mel was cleared from the hospital. I brought her to the BAU to help her remember something. I had called the team to let them know what happened.

"The poor girl." JJ had said.

All I knew was that I was going to kill whoever did this to her.

We pulled up to the BAU. Mel went to unbuckle, but I stopped her.

"What's the last thing you remember?" I asked.

"I remember dropping out of collage and my dad wanting me to move out with my uncle, Aaron Hotchner. I don't remember much after that and even that memory has holes in it."

"Do you remember Justin?"

Her eyes widened and I could see fear cloud over her face. Obviously she did, but not the way the Mel I knew remembered him.

"He's in jail. Don't worry." I assured her.

"W-what happened to him?" she asked.

"I think it would be better if the team and I explained what happened in the last year in chronological order, together. It would probably make a bit more sense."

She nodded and got out. I watched her walk around to the front of the vehicle and stop, waiting for me. She looked down at her engagement ring and twisted it a few times, almost like she was trying to decide whether to keep it on or take it off.

I took a deep breath and got out of the car. Mel jumped and dropped her hands.

"Let's go." I said in a quiet voice.

I walked into the FBI building. Mel looked around, amazed. I smiled. Her amusement with the building was cute.

We walked into the elevator and I hit the button. The doors closed and we started going up. I smiled as I remembered the time when Mel and I had gotten stuck in the elevator and we told each other out feelings. Everything had gone so far from there.

The elevator doors opened and Mel and I exited. As we approached the doors, I noticed that the team had put up a sign that read "Welcome Back Mel!".

I opened the door for Mel. The moment she was in, Garcia ran up to her and hugged her tightly. Mel stood, unsure of what to do.

"Oh, Mel! I'm so glad you're okay!" Garcia said.

"Um." Mel looked to me for help.

Before I could talk, Garcia pulled away from the hug and said, "Oh right! You lost your memory. I'm Penelope Garcia, one of your best friends at the BAU."

"Penelope." Mel repeated, nodding. "Okay. Thanks."

"Mel," JJ said, approaching us. "I'm Jennifer Jareau, but everyone here calls me JJ. You've been know called me Jen sometimes. We have been close friends since you started here."

"Jennifer. JJ. Jen." Mel said, starting to look lost.

"Call me whichever is more comfortable at this point." JJ said. "It doesn't really matter."

"Jennifer."

JJ smiled and hugged Mel, gently. Mel hugged JJ back and awkwardly smiled. I could tell she wasn't very comfortable right now considering he events, but I could tell she liked that we were helping her.

Once JJ pulled away, she gave a mom like smile to Mel and turned to walk off. Mel looked at the ground, shyly. I put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. I wasn't sure if I should've done more than that. She was just getting to re-know everybody.

Morgan walked up to us. Mel looked up at him and slowly shied away, like a child on their first day of kindergarten. Morgan extended his hand.

"Derek Morgan." he said.

"Mel."

They shook hands as if it was their first time meeting. I smiled and walked over to my desk and leaned against it.

"I know you." Mel said, pointing to Rossi. "You're David Rossi, famous author. I've read one of your books. Big fan, sir."

Rossi smiled.

"I know that, Mel. Once you go back to your uncle's, look for one of my books that was signed." he said and winked. Mel smiled, excitedly.

"I'm Alex Blake. Just like you, I'm a newbie, so you and I should stick together these next few weeks until you get your memory back." Blake said, approaching Mel. Mel smiled, slowly coming out of her shell.

"Actually," Hotch said. "She's not going to be working the next few weeks. She's going to be at rest and trying to get her memory back."

Mel looked at her uncle and walked up to him. She stood like a cadet in the army and smiled.

"You're my uncle. I remember that." she said. "Aaron Hotchner."

"Call him Hotch." almost everyone said. Hotch and Mel smiled.

"Welcome back, Melanie." Hotch said and hugged his niece.

There. Now everyone was re-introduced. I looked down at my point-tip shoes and sighed. I had an idea, but I wasn't sure if I should say it aloud or not.

"So, can I be brought up to speed?" Mel asked. "The last I remember is my dad wanting me to move out here. I don't remember anything after that, not even the plane ride here."

"You flew out to Virginia. I brought you in and you caught an UnSub your first day-" Hotch started.

"Wait, wait. Explain the FBI terms for me please." Mel said, putting her hands up, almost frustrated.

"UnSub is just and Unknown Subject. Like, the person who did this to you is an UnSub." Morgan explained. "The UnSub you caught was a rapist. He had been raping for 8 days and each of his victims' ages went up by one year, starting at 18 and ending at 26, the age you were when you caught him."

"You then became a part of the BAU. About a week later, you, my dear, were with our little doctor over here." Garcia teased, causing me to smile like an idiot.

"Yeah. That's a story that everyone likes to tell around here." I said, avoiding eye contact with about everyone.

"What about Justin? What happened to him?" Mel asked, sounding into her own stories.

"Do you remember your friend, Molly Jets?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah! Molly's my best friend."

"She was your best friend." Rossi corrected her.

Mel looked around the room, trying to process the information. Her eyes widened as she realized what Rossi said. I came off my desk and hurried over to her. She collapsed into my arms and cried on my chest. I held her close. It wasn't like when she found out the first time. She wasn't tough now. She didn't remember anything, making her vulnerable.

"Shh, Mel. It's okay." I soothed, rubbing her back.

She took a deep breath and back out of my embrace, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"I'm sorry. Anyways, what happened? Is that why he's in jail?"

"No. He's in jail because he was stalking you, finding out everything he could about you so that he could scare you, make you know that he was after you. He threatened Reid, so you went to this abandoned warehouse to meet him. He beat you. He was about to kill you, but Morgan and Reid got there just in time. You were in hospital for a while, but the injuries were minor." Rossi explained.

"That's when I proposed." I jumped in.

I knew that this was more about trying to get Mel to remember as much as possible and try to find out who could've done this to her, but, our wedding. It was in three months. Mel was the love of my life. The first one, to be exact and I wanted to get her to remember me. I couldn't lose her. One scare was enough.

"For the second time." Garcia said under her breath.

JJ laughed. I scowled at both of them.

Garcia and JJ were the only ones that knew that I proposed to Mel once before she was in the hospital. She had turned me down because we hadn't been dating that long, but her fight with Justin made her re-think the proposal.

"Remember any of this?" Blake asked.

"Gosh, no! It sounds exciting, though! I never thought I'd be able to do any of this stuff." Mel replied.

"That's because you're memories gone. All you remember is whatever happened before, which we still don't completely know yet." Morgan said. "It'll take a while for you to become your usual self again."

Mel bit her lip. She looked down at the ground then back up at Hotch.

"What happens now?" she asked.

"Your car is still downstairs. Rossi and Reid, you two go down and search it, see if there's anything you can find. Any pieces of the bomb, anything." Hotch said. "Mel, you have to go somewhere to rest."

"She can go to my house!" I quickly said. Everyone looked at me. "I mean, my apartment. She's spent so much time there lately, it's pretty much her home now, too. So, I was just thinking-"

"No, it's a good idea." Hotch said. "Morgan, you bring her there."

"How will I get in?" Mel asked.

"You have a key. It's in here." I said, passing her her messenger bag. "And Morgan knows where my apartment is, so don't worry."

"Thank you, Reid."

"Not to mess up your head anymore or anything, but, you called me Reiders."

Mel's face lit up.

"I love that name!"

*Note!! Sorry if this chapter is crappy. Next one will be better. Also, this story will be told mainly in the point of view of Reid. Mel does tell the story in some chapters and some of the other BAU agents tell the story, too, but it's mainly Reid. Kk. Bye!!*