Monday morning Emily drops her briefcase on her desk and heads for the kitchenette. She glances towards the hallway and groans internally as she sees Straus heading her way.

"God, not before coffee," Emily moans to herself.

"Agent Prentiss," the chief says by way of greeting.

"Ma'am. Coffee?" Emily offers.

"I'm good, thank you. How is Agent Jareau?"

"She's going to be sore a few more days but things are looking okay so far."

"Good to hear. When you skipped work on Friday I assumed she'd had a turn for the worst. Obviously you just wanted the day off."

Emily stiffens at the implication. "Actually, ma'am, Henry was sick. I took him to the doctor, which I informed Unit Chief Hotchner about, as I am required to. I'm sorry if you didn't get the message but I followed the chain of command."

Straus knows that last bit is a dig about the section chief's own stance on chain of command. Straus stares down her nose at Emily a moment. It bugs the older woman that the profiler refuses to be cowed by her.

"I see. Is he feeling better?"

"Yes, ma'am. He'll be on antibiotics the next couple of days but he's already much better. Thank you," Emily relates.

"Good. Well, I'll let you get to work. I'm sure you've got lots to catch up on."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am."

Emily watches Straus leave, wishing the woman would trip over her own feet and embarrass herself. No such luck. Emily finishes making her coffee and heads to her desk. She is enmeshed in a case file when a shadow falls across her desk.

"Hey, Princess, how's JJ?"

Emily smiles up at Morgan. "She's good. Sore and frustrated mostly but she'll be okay in no time. In fact, I figure by the end of this week she'll be giving me reasons she can report to work or begging me to bring case files home to her."

Morgan laughs. "Yeah, I can see Blondie doing those things. Henry feeling better?"

"Yep. He even ate dinner last night without excessive fuss. He'll still be on meds the next couple of days but he's tough. He'll be fine."

"Good. We were all a bit worried about you. I think Garcia was getting ready to assign us times to check on you but Hotch got her calmed down."

Emily laughs. "She's so awesome. Remind me to thank her."

He pats her shoulder. "You got it." She looks around. "Where is everybody?"

"It's just you and me in the office today. Reid and Hotch are on an inmate visit. Rossi is in New York to testify in those home invasions he consulted on."

"Ah, okay. Well, we best get to work before Straus wanders in again. She's already scolded me once this morning for shirking my duties. Don't want to give her any more ammunition."

Morgan rolls his eyes. "Good grief."

He heads to his desk and starts to go through his files. A couple hours later, Emily stands.

"I'll be in the conference room. I need to spread these pictures out," she says frowning.

"Need a hand?" Morgan offers.

"Not just yet. But maybe. Let me look at it a bit more."

Morgan nods as Emily carries a large box into the conference room. She pulls out the pictures of the 8 strangulations and spreads them out on the table in order of their discovery. Something about them is nagging at her but she just can't figure out what. She leans against the wall and starts to re-read the first case summary out loud, hoping it will help her see the link she feels is there.

"23 year old prostitute. Blonde hair, green eyes. Nude. Raped. Ligature marks. No DNA left by perp." She lifts the next summary. 25 year old drug addict. Blonde hair, green eyes. Nude. Raped. No ligatures. No DNA." She lifts the third. 22 year old homeless woman. Blonde hair, green eyes. Nude. Raped. Ligature marks. No DNA." She places the case summary down. She starts to pace, talking the cases out loud.

"Okay, so same hair and eyes…he has a type. No ligature marks on junkie could mean they just weren't needed. Nude and raped is what he likes to do. No DNA means condom or unable to ejaculate and he cleans up after himself, since all three show traces of rubbing alcohol on their legs and vagina. So who is this guy?"

She picks up the next three case files. This is where things start to diverge a bit but her hunch is it's the same guy.

"22 year old student. Hair and eyes match; nude and raped. Ligatures and signs of whipping. Still no DNA." She opens the next one. "21 year old student. Hair, eyes, nude, raped match. Ligatures on arms only. Why not the legs?" She turns and writes that question on the white board they keep in the room. She picks up the next file. "23 year old student. Hair, eyes, raped, nude. No ligatures but traces of Rohypnol in her system. No DNA." On the white board, she adds the question why no ligatures, why the date rape drug instead?

She stares at the two questions then picks up the last two cases. "24 year old single mother. All mo matches, including ligatures." The last one is the one that truly has her baffled. "32 year old single mother. Blonde hair, blueeyes. Naked, raped. Ligatures on her ankles but not her wrists. Bizarre. No DNA."

She starts to pace. "The eighth victim is older and her eyes aren't the right color. So far that has not varied. All are natural blondes until her. She's a dye job and even has roots showing. He would have seen that. She is a lot older. And if her legs are tied, she would have been fighting with her hands but there's no proof she did that. No Rohypnol or other sedative in her system. Why wouldn't her hands show signs of fighting if her hands were free?" She stops and stares at the woman's death photo. "I'm so sorry. You're not part of the other kills. But someone wanted authorities to think you were."

She sets that case aside and starts to look at the other seven. They are definitely the work of the same unsub. But something is still bothering her.

"Okay, so he gets better. Goes from high risk victims to lower risk. And appears to be progressing to even lower risk by victim 7. Does he really just kill three in each victim range or are there more out there? If only 3, that's part of his psychopathology. Could be OCD or could be he has a goal set for each victim-type. If so, he's got his sights set on 2 more single mothers."

She picks up the phone in the room and calls the detective who sent her the case. She tells him what she has discovered, warning him to get the word out in the press for blonde-haired single mothers to be careful. She also breaks the news that the eighth case is a copy cat.

"A copy cat? But, Agent Prentiss, there were things we kept from the press. Only the killer would know them!"

Emily bites her lip. She hates this part of the job. "I promise you, based on what I see, she is not connected to the other seven. And if there was hold-out evidence, well, you may need to look at her specifically to see why someone would want her dead. And, Detective, you may want to do it quietly."

She hears the sigh at the other end of the line. She knows it. It's when your worst fear is confirmed. "I was really hoping you wouldn't say that, Agent Prentiss."

"You suspected what I was going to tell you?"

"Yes. My captain and I both did. I'll let him know to contact IAB. No way am I taking down another cop even though the bastard deserves it if he really did it."

"I'm sorry."

"I know. Thank you."

"I'll get my official report on the other 7 written up and sent out to you. If you need any more help, please don't hesitate to call or email me. Good luck."

"Thanks, Agent Prentiss. I'll be in touch when we bring both of these bastards down."

She hangs up the phone and starts to recollect the files. Morgan pops his head in.

"All okay?"

Emily shrugs. "As okay as it can be. Just had to tell a detective something he already knew: one of these deaths doesn't belong and is most likely the work of another cop."

"Ouch," Morgan says sympathetically. "What about the others?"

"Definitely serial. And, truthfully, something's still bugging me I just don't know what."

"I need to get away from my desk for a few. Mind if I take a look?"

Emily shakes her head. "Go for it." She spins the white board over so he doesn't see her notes. "Let's see if you click on the same things I did. Maybe together we'll figure out what's wrong with this picture."

He nods and gets to work as she heads back to her desk. She sees an email with attachment from Jen and quickly clicks on it.

"Henry did it. I swear,"is the text. She clicks open the picture and sees the wall splattered with what looks to be oatmeal, a bowl on the floor. She laughs and responds.

"Not my perfect little angel. Tell him to keep his Mommy in line for me."

She starts on her next case file. After 15 minutes, Morgan walks up to her.

"Prentiss, what if the unsubs a woman?"

Emily slowly sits back in her seat, contemplating that. "The deaths are clean. The smaller the woman the fewer the ligatures. Or in the case of one Rohypnol was used. Rape could have been done with a surrogate for a penis. Alcohol was used to clean them up so no one would get the gender marker out of the DNA. And they would have trusted another woman sooner than a man which could be how 3 students and 1 mother got caught." She mulls it a second more. "I like it, Morgan. I think that's what was bugging me. The killer is a woman. Thanks, Derek."

He nods and heads back to his desk. She grabs her phone and calls the detective back. When she tells him the additional bit of news, she hears silence at the other end.

"But…are there really women serial killers?"

Emily rolls her eyes at the question. "Trust me, Detective, murder was the first thing women achieved equality in. There have been female serial killers around since the dawn of society."

"Oh. Um, sorry. No offense was meant it just…you don't really hear about them."

"To be honest, it's because a lot of society won't admit they can exist. It just stuns people that mother figures can kill. Even the media shies away from these types of stories. You need to make them understand they have to warn women to watch out for other women. This unsub will keep killing until she is stopped. Save lives, Detective, makethe media report it. If she holds to pattern, your next victim will be taken next week. You'll have my full report in an hour."

"Thank you again, Agent. I'll do what I can to get them to listen to me."

By the end of the day, Emily has sent 5 case profiles back to their origins. Three more are awaiting searches from Garcia. As Emily stretches, she tucks her briefcase under the desk. Morgan sees and smiles.

"Not taking work home?"

"Nope. I have two patients to take care of. They get my full attention each night this week."

"Good for them. And you. See you tomorrow."

She says goodbye and heads towards the elevators. She sees Garcia heading her way and pauses. They analyst had been so busy that day they'd barely said three words to each other.

"Hey, Emster, any chance I can stop by to see my godson and Jayje?"

Emily smiles. "I think they'll love that."

"Coolness! I should be out of here in about an hour. How about I bring pizza?"

Emily nods. "Sounds perfect. I'll call you if Francesca or JJ has something prepared already."

"Perfect. See you in a bit."

Emily heads out and calls to let JJ know she's on her way. She finds out Francesca has already prepared baked ziti…enough to feed an army, according to JJ. JJ offers to call and let Garcia know so she can chat with her friend a bit.

When Emily arrives home, she finds JJ sitting at the table with about 100 home listings spread across it. She raises an eyebrow.

"Busy today, sweetheart?" She leans down and gives JJ a kiss.

"Your Mom texted me the name of a realtor she knows. I called her and she sent some preliminary listings for us to look at and narrow down what we want in a home and neighborhood."

"Your texting with my Mom again?" JJ nods. "Pod person," Emily mutters with a grin as she walks away. A balled up piece of paper hits her in the back of the head. She laughs as she heads upstairs to get changed. She pokes her head into the nursery and sees Francesca changing Henry. He sees his Mama and starts to wiggle.

"We thought we heard Mama!" Francesca says as Henry cackles.

Emily walks over and feels his forehead. "He looks and feels great, Francesca."

"Si, the worst is past I am sure. He is a strong boy, aren't you Henry. Just like your Mothers!"

He giggles and waves his arms. Emily is so happy to see him back to normal. She heads into the bedroom to get changed. By the time she comes downstairs, JJ is feeding Henry and Francesca is preparing to leave.

"Timer is set for the ziti. When 5 minutes are left put in the garlic bread, cara."

Emily nods and salutes. "Yes, ma'am!"

Francesca chuckles and slaps her on the shoulder. She gives each of them a kiss then heads next door to her condo. Emily sits down and starts to thumb through the houses. All are 4-5 bedrooms, have at least an acre of yard and are in nice neighborhoods. She has no doubt a realtor suggested by Ambassador Prentiss would only have such listings at her disposal. She does notice the lack of price on each listing. She glances at JJ.

"Why aren't we seeing price ranges on these?"

JJ stiffens. "Uh, according to your mother, these types of listings don't need prices."

"Ah." Emily stares at JJ's back. "Jen, we don't have to spend a mint to get the right house. And we don't have to use a realtor like this one. This needs to be a comfortable search for you. I don't want it to stress you out."

JJ slowly turns and looks at Emily. "I…I just…I can't believe I'm going to say this."

Emily swallows, all her doubts and insecurities racing to the surface. "Jennifer is going to divorce me," she thinks before she can stop herself.

"I'm scared, Em," JJ admits. "How do I say yes or no to places I know I can never afford? I don't want to seem like I'm…I'm using you or something." She shakes her head. "I don't know what I mean. Shit." She blushes as she realizes she has cussed in front of Henry. She sighs. "Let's face it…if we buy one of these it's Prentiss money buying it. And I know my name is on those accounts but I didn't earn that money. It just seems…I don't know the word…"

Emily stands up and moves to her wife. She pulls her to her feet. "Jennifer, look into my eyes and understand what I'm about to tell you: I haven't done a damn thing to earn 'Prentiss' money either. I didn't go into one of the businesses; I sure as hell didn't go into politics. I fight with everything in me to keep from touching the trusts and accounts. I want to earn my own way in the world. You know that. But when it comes to you and Henry and anyone else that comes along, I will tap into those funds for our safety, security and happiness. So don't look at it as something we didn't earn. Look at the money as a way to give Henry and his siblings the best life possible. If that means a million dollar home, fine. If it means a cheaper home in a nice neighborhood so be it. Where ever we end up is what matters, not how much is paid."

JJ stares into Emily's eyes. "I love you, Em. You never fail to amaze me by getting to the heart of my fears." She strokes a hand down her wife's face. "And don't think I didn't notice that flash of fear and doubt in your eyes. I'm not leaving you, honey. My life would mean nothing if you weren't here to share it with."

Emily smiles, "And you think you're not a profiler."

They share a kiss, once again Emily fighting her own urges back to let JJ lead the way. It ends when there is a knock on the door.

"That would be Pen." Emily glances at the stove and sees 2 minutes left. "Damn it! The bread!"

She slides the loaf into the oven as JJ chuckles. She lets Garcia in and they spend the rest of the night enjoying food, fun and lots of laughter.