At 3:45 on Friday Emily gives JJ, who is on the phone, a kiss on the head and makes her way down to the lobby. She waves goodbye to the security guys and goes out to the waiting Mercedes. Outwardly she appears fine. Inside it feels like a flock of seagulls has taken flight in her stomach. She opens the back door and puts her briefcase in the back. As she gets in the front seat she smiles at the driver.

"Hi, Father."

Gerald lifts his eyebrow. "Father? Sounds like someone is already putting up walls."

Emily blushes and chuckles nervously. "Uh, yeah, guess I am." As he pulls away, Emily lifts her hand. "Wait. Wait. Wait."

"What's wrong, honey? Did you forget something?"

"No. I just…will this end up doing more harm than good? I don't want to start a self-fulfilling prophecy in motion." She looks at him. "I don't want to drive you away."

Gerald takes her hand. "The fact that you know things could be said to scare me off tells me we need to have this chat with your doctor. I can never make final amends with you if we don't say everything we need to say. Will you hurt my feelings? Most likely. But I'm not running away, Emmy. I'm in this relationship for the long haul."

Emily gives him a smile, too choked up by his honesty to speak right now. She takes a deep breath and settles in for the trip to Dr. Westfallen's.


"Agent Jareau," JJ answers her phone.

"JJ, this is Sam down in the lobby. There's a lady here said she has evidence of a serial killer and needs us to take a look at it."

"Is she an LEO?"

"No, civilian." His voice drops to a whisper. "JJ, she says the killer is her son."

"Whoa."

"Yeah."

JJ glances around. "Okay, let me get…uh, Rossi just got off the phone. Let me grab him and we'll be right down."

"Thanks, JJ."

JJ hangs up and waves to Rossi as he lifts his phone. He puts it down as she waddles up the stairs to his office.

"Hey, mind coming downstairs with me?"

"Need a big run at the vending machine?" Rossi teases.

"Ha ha." JJ tells him about the woman.

Rossi looks surprised. "Not often a suspect's mother walks in to convict her kid." He stands and grabs his blazer. "Let's go see what she has."


Dr. Lara Westfallen has Emily and Gerald sitting across from each other. This is how she had started the session between JJ and Emily but that time both women had immediately started talking. Father and daughter, however, seem to be playing "Who Can Be Quiet the Longest." She finally sits forward before it becomes a marathon session.

"Emily, what is your favorite memory of your childhood involving your father?"

Emily thinks a moment, a small smile on her face as she stares at the floor. "We were in Spain. Father took me to a bullfight. The colors, the cheers, the excitement were so intoxicating. I was 6 and it was just so incredible." She chuckles. "Then the first fight came to an end. When I realized they were actually killing the bull I burst into tears. I was so upset." She looks up at her father. "You picked me up, and I was pretty tall already, but you picked me up and whispered to me that it would be okay. You even lied and said the bull was just being drugged to sleep. You were there to schmooze a business contact but you carried me out and we went to a little café. We had pastries and coffee, well, my coffee was mostly milk, but just spending time with you like that made me feel so important and so loved. When I spend time with Henry and Rocky I often think of that afternoon."

Gerald is smiling. "I remember that day. It was when I realized what a wonderful heart you had. It's a cherished memory for me, too."

Dr. Westfallen smiles. "Nice memory. So, on the other side of the fence, what is your most painful memory of your childhood involving your father?"

Emily's smile fades. A curtain seems to fall over her eyes. "There's…there's too many," she admits quietly.

Westfallen looks at Gerald. "What about for you?"

"Italy. Emily's fifth birthday. I missed it because…because I was with another woman." He takes a deep breath. "Um, two actually."

"Son of a bitch," Emily mumbles. "Mother said you'd been called away to America." Emily stands and starts to pace. "It was the first time I'd been allowed to help plan my party. It was everything I asked for. Except you, Father. Do you remember me calling you?"

Gerald nods. "I do."

"Where were you? Mom said you were in New York. Where were you really?"

He sighs. "Monte Carlo. They were twins and I was…I felt like…"

"Like what? A big stud? Like you weren't some thirty-something money bag to them?"

"Yes. All that and more. They made me feel important, something your mother didn't anymore."

Emily rolls her eyes. "Oh, Heaven forbid a woman be more important than a man."

Gerald leaps up. "It wasn't supposed to be that way back then!"

"Well maybe if you had put the bottle down and your dick in your pants you'd have been powerful to more than horny gold diggers!"

Westfallen smiles. This is the start of the cathartic explosion. She lets them yell at each other about that day until they both run out of steam. She sits forward, watching as they both pace in agitation.

"Let's jump forward, shall we? High school. When did Emily upset you the most, Gerald?"

Emily spins towards the doctor. "What are you asking him for?"

"Trust me, Emily."

Emily rolls her eyes and goes back to pacing. Gerald sits down again.

"I wouldn't say I was upset, at least not angry. I was…damn, disappointed doesn't seem the right word, either." He runs a hand through his hair. "Russia."

Emily spins, her face pale. "When I came out to you?"

"Yes. I knew any plans we'd made about who you were going to marry were out the window. I saw business deals falling apart, saw mergers not happening. And a split second later I saw the fear in your eyes. I saw you were so scared and yet so openly honest that short of putting you in an institution you weren't going to change." He takes a deep breath. "I went to your mother and told her we had to do something to fix you. Next thing I knew she tells me she had talked to a priest and she's saying you can be who you want to be and love who you want to love. I was furious with her and with you. Add that to being stuck in Russia and I was so bitter towards both of you. It was like a…a slap in the face."

"A slap in your face. So is that why you fucked my girlfriend?"

Gerald thinks about that question. "I…I think so. She came to me with a bottle of Stoli and a smile. She took off her clothes and- -"

Emily throws up her hands. "SHIT! FUCK! NO! Stop! I don't need to know details. You fucked her and screwed me over. I was so fucking lonely over there and she was the only friend I had. And you STOLE that from me! Did it make you feel better? Were you happy I was as fucking miserable as you?"

He sighs. "I thought I would be. Then your mother couldn't bear to watch you wasting away so she sent you to live in the States. To be honest, once you were gone, it was easier for me to have my affairs and to…to live for myself."

"Gee, glad I could help," Emily grunts. She spins towards him. "You've told me that during all that time you still loved Mother and loved me. I'm not really catching that vibe here."

Gerald shrugs. "I don't know how to explain that, Emily, except to say no matter how often I strayed I always went back to Liz."

"BECAUSE YOU COULDN'T DIVORCE HER! Look me in the eye and tell me if it hadn't been for Catholicism you'd have left her years ago!"

Gerald stares into Emily's eyes. "I loved her, Emily. Had we been any other religion, I'd have never divorced her."

Emily studies his face. "You son of a bitch. It wasn't the church it was appearances. You forget I'm a profiler, Father. Your pupils gave you away. Mother stopped you, didn't she? She warned you against divorce because she knew what it would do to the Prentiss name. And she knew that could come back to hurt me." She runs her hands through her hair. "How the fuck didn't I see it sooner. And why the fuck can't you admit it now?"

Westfallen studies the two stunned people in her office. Emily is shocked by what her job has helped her reveal. Gerald is shocked because he had never really admitted any of that to himself. He drops down in a chair.

"She…she said…she wanted…" He runs his hands over his face. "She was looking out for both me and you when she should have been happy to kick my ass to the curb. I never…realized that."

Emily walks over and stares out the window, trying to sort her emotions. Gerald sits staring at the floor as he comes to see just how much Elizabeth must have loved him; a love he took for granted and nearly destroyed.

"I've not made the proper amends," he finally mutters.

Westfallen reaches over and takes his hands. "I dare say the only help you've had to try to overcome your demons is AA, am I right?" Gerald nods. "They can help you with your drinking but they can't help you come to grips with what really drove your actions. It's the easiest thing in the world to hide our demons in a little box in our mind and think we are cured. It's another thing to open that box up and confront what those demons really represent. Your daughter has been taking on those demons 1 by 1 over the past couple of years. She's had her ups and downs as I'm sure you know but I also think she'll tell you the good outweighs the bad."

He just nods. Emily turns from the window to look at her father. He seems broken. He was supposed to come here to help her feel better about their relationship; to help her break down the final barriers that keep her from trusting him completely.

"It worked," she whispers.

Westfallen looks over at her patient, unsure what the soft words were. "I'm sorry?"

"He's finally said the things I needed him to say. Or at least acknowledged what I needed to know. He did what he could to destroy our family through his drinking, his affairs and now I know he really did want a divorce. All I need to know now is: did you stop loving Mom? Did you stop…" she clears her throat as her voice chokes up. "Did you stop loving me, Dad?"

He looks up at his daughter. "I never stopped loving you, Emily. Ever. But I was angry with you because your mother cared more about protecting you than she did about what I wanted."

"So that's why when I went off to Yale you basically wrote me out of your life until a couple of years ago."

Gerald nods. "Yes."

"And you swear you didn't realize this before today?"

He stares into her eyes. "I've lied to you, your mother and myself for a lot of years, Emily. Even in my sobriety I've been lying. I swear to you: I didn't know it until today."

This time Emily sees all markers of honesty and shame. She leans back against the window. The session had been tense and stressful so far. She glances at her watch and sees they still have 25 more minutes. She walks over, squats down in front of him and takes her father's hands.

"How about I go out to the waiting room? Doc is a good person to talk to about all sorts of crap. Maybe she can help you start facing these things."

Gerald stares into strong, confident brown eyes. "I don't deserve this from you, Emily."

"Maybe there was a time you didn't but I think you do now. We can't keep growing together if you don't really come to grips with your past. Let today be the start of really admitting to yourself why you were so self-destructive. Please, Dad."

Gerald slowly nods. Emily looks to Westfallen who smiles.

"I'll take good care of him," the doctor promises.

"I know you will," Emily replies.

She kisses her father's forehead and goes out to the waiting room.


Rossi and JJ slowly approach the woman holding a large box. JJ gives her a friendly smile.

"Ma'am? I'm Agent Jareau, this is Agent Rossi of the FBI. I understand you have some information for us?"

The woman stands and shoves the box into Rossi's arms. "My boy is a killer. Please, you have to stop him!"

"Uh, how about we go over to this room for a little privacy?" JJ suggests, leading the woman to one of the conference rooms on that level. "Can I get a coffee or anything for you?"

"No, just arrest my son before he kills someone else. Please!" the woman begs.

Rossi sets the box on the table and starts to pull out the contents. JJ convinces the woman to sit down.

"First of all, what is your name?"

"Rosaline Quinn. My son is Angelo Dubosi. He's from my first husband who was a no good, stinking drunk. He was the kind of bad boy your parents warn you about but he was so handsome and mysterious. When I found out I was pregnant he did the right thing and married me. Then he went to jail for killing a man over a gambling debt and died there, the rat bastard. But I had Angelo and then I married and my new husband raised and loved that boy as his own!"

"That's nice," JJ encourages.

"It was! We had three more but never once did any of us treat Angelo as if he wasn't blood to us. Even changed his name to Quinn. Then a couple years ago he starts to really look into his birth father. Talked to people that used to know him, got copies of his record from the jail. Next thing I know he's cold, distant, and then changes his name back to Dubosi. My husband and I tried to talk to him! His siblings tried to talk to him but…but he just got…worse." She nods towards the box. "Then I found all that and I realized what he had become."

JJ turns to Rossi, who is looking at the various items in confusion. He holds up a couple of books and some notebooks with clippings about murders in them.

"This is all…just paper," Rossi says carefully. "There's nothing here that points to him killing anyone."

"Read the articles! None of those cases are solved! He committed all those murders, Agent Rossi! He did it!"

JJ can tell that Rossi is not convinced, though the woman is more than sure. She turns back to the woman.

"Can you tell us where he was during the murders?"

"No! See, he has no alibi!"

"Did you go to the local police?" JJ presses.

"Yes. But the detectives didn't want to listen to me. They never even questioned him."

"I see. Tell me, when he was a child, was he violent? Or a bully? Maybe liked to pick on neighborhood animals?"

The woman shakes her head. "No. He was a good boy until he started looking into his father. It's like…like just the memory of that man poisoned him."

JJ glances at Rossi who gives a one shoulder shrug, letting her make the call. JJ takes the woman's hand.

"Are you local?"

"No. I drove down from Indiana. I can stay a hotel, though, while you look at things."

JJ nods. "That's good. I'm going to arrange for you to stay at a hotel just off base. If you can avoid it, don't use your credit card. If your son is a killer and he finds out you came to see us he could come after you to try to get this evidence back," JJ hedges as she sees the fear in the woman's eyes. "Agent Rossi and I will get our team looking through all these cases. We'll work on it tonight and even tomorrow." Rossi gives JJ a look, knowing she is overstepping in authorizing weekend work for the team. "As soon as we know anything I will call you, okay?"

The woman nods rapidly. JJ pulls out her phone and has Garcia get a reservation set up at the hotel just north of the gates. She tells the woman how to get there and walks her out to her car. Rossi meets her at the door.

"I've called Hotch. He's a little peeved you volunteered us to work this."

"We don't all have to. Garcia can start runs today. You and I can do what we can today and I can take it home with me if needed to get Emily to help. You and I both know this is probably a kid angry at his lot in life, maybe being bullied by others because of his father, and so he's withdrawing from his mother and collecting stories on murder because it's what teenagers do when they are angry."

Rossi grins. "Hotch will be happy. Emily, not so much."

JJ grins. "I'll tell her it will help me and the babies sleep better if I can help that mother."

Rossi laughs as they get on the elevator. "Nice one, kid."


Emily stands as her father walks out of Dr. Westfallen's office. He looks like Hell warmed over.

"Oh, Dad…I'm so sorry."

He forces a grin to his face. "I'm okay, honey. Let's just say I took a look in the mirror for the first time in a lot of years and didn't like the face staring back at me. It…shocked me."

Emily looks beyond him to Westfallen. "What can I do for him?"

Westfallen smiles. "I'd say you've done it, Emily. You forced him to come here and face you and, in doing that, face himself. It's never easy taking that first look at the ugly under the beautiful." She turns to Gerald. "And I know there is lots of beautiful to see, Gerald. My colleague in London can help you continue to chip away the sediment to find the treasure below."

He smiles. "Thank you, Dr. Westfallen. Whatever Emily is paying you isn't enough in my book."

Emily grins. "She hears that a lot from us," the agent admits. "I make sure to gift her with Dupois wine when I can."

"And that is perfectly acceptable to me as a bonus," the shrink assures him with a smile. "Now, you two take care of each other. If either of you need me, you know how to reach me."

"Thank you so much for this, Dr. Westfallen," Emily says to her.

"No problem. Oh! Wait a second: when you all left here Wednesday you were going to find out what sex the twins are. What's the verdict?"

Emily smiles, her eyes lighting up just at the thought of the babies. "A boy and a girl. Lucas Didier and Madison Emily."

"Wonderful! Extend my congratulations to Jennifer."

"I will. Thank you."

Emily and Gerald grab their coats and go down to his car. As they get closer, Gerald hands Emily his keys.

"Do you mind?"

"Not at all. Still flying to London tonight?"

He nods. "Yes. I need…need to see your mother while all this is still fresh in my head. And I have an appointment on Monday with a shrink Dr. Westfallen knows. He specializes in people with dependency issues and the lies we tell ourselves to justify that dependence." He manages a smile. "In other words he will call me on my bullshit with no problem."

The two sit in the car for a few minutes. Emily takes a deep breath.

"I really missed you, Dad. As much as part of me hated you, the larger part missed you."

"I know, Emily," he croaks. "Let's face it, if you hadn't you wouldn't have been so open to me that day at the Redskins game, not to mention dinner that night in your old condo."

Emily nods. "Yeah. I wanted a chance for what Jen has with Alan. I'm glad I'm getting it and glad my children are getting a grandfather to be proud of."

The exchange a hug in the confines of the car. Emily then drives him to Dulles so he can get his flight to London. He's flying commercial since Liz flew back on their jet. As they hug outside the drop off, he kisses her forehead.

"I love you, Emmy."

"I love you, too, Dad. Uh, what do I do about your car?"

"Drive it home tonight. I'll have the storage facility pick it up tomorrow."

"Okay. Text me when you get to Heathrow."

"I will. Take care of your family, Emily. Don't make the mistakes I did."

"I won't. I promise."

They hug again. Gerald then grabs his bags and hurries inside. Emily watches until he is out of sight then gets in and makes her way home, eager to see her wife and children. They are her blessings and she really needs them right now to help steady her after the emotional afternoon.


"Agent Jareau," Hotch calls as the two agents get off the elevator.

Rossi takes the box on to the conference room as JJ waits for Hotch. She recognizes the look of irritation on his face.

"Do we need to review the chain of command regarding authorization for weekend investigations?" he asks.

"No, sir."

"Then explain this case to me," he orders.

"A woman drove all the way down her from Indiana to- -"

"I know that part. I'm talking about the part where you told her we'd work on it through the weekend to get her answers."

"The truth is she's a hurting mother looking for why her oldest child is now turning away from his stepfather and looking to his birth father for reasons why he feels alienation common in most teens. Maybe he's even being bullied by those who know who his father is. This woman is terrified he's a serial killer. We have a chance for 1 of 2 wins this weekend. 1) She's right and we stop a killer. 2) We can show she's wrong and her son is just going through growing pains. I'll use Rossi and Garcia tonight then Emily this weekend at home. I won't make anyone give up their weekend, sir. Well, no one other than Emily and I can take care of her," she admits with a grin. "Sir, when I culled cases for this unit as a liaison you came to trust my gut instinct. I am asking that you trust my gut again now."

Hotch sighs. "You're right, I do trust your instincts. I always have. Let's go see what she sent up here. And if you need Garcia this weekend, you have her."

JJ smiles. "Thank you, Hotch."

The two go to the conference room to find the whole team setting up a murder board. JJ blushes.

"Uh, I, um just thought…"

"Trying to steal your job back from me, Blondie? Watch it," Garcia teases.

JJ looks at Hotch. "Seriously, I didn't mean for the whole team to drop what they were doing and work on this."

Hotch shrugs. "It's late on Friday. Lucas and Madison don't need to be here all night so we thought we'd help you get out at a decent time."

JJ smiles. "And the scolding in the hallway?"

"Just making sure you remember who technically runs this unit," he says with a grin.

JJ chuckles. "I'll never forget, Hotch. Promise."