"So there was no new attack on Friday?" Blake asked as she joined everyone in the conference room Monday morning.

Erin nodded and gave her a tired smile. "You would be correct, Alexandra."

The woman took the seat next to Erin, resting her hand on her arm. "Are you okay?"

Erin shrugged, looking over at Dave, and he smiled at her, nodding slightly before turning back to his conversation with Hotch. "So, that's why we're leaving early. Erin wants to be home before the children get back from school. She is still freaked out."

"As well she should be. Are you certain that you don't want to go to the judge right away and have the custody agreement revisited? It's going to look bad for both of you if you put this off."

"We both want to wait until we catch this unsub…" His voice trailed off, and he focused his gaze on Erin. "He wants to punish her. Hotch, you need to get Erin out of the room, now."

Erin perked up at the sound of her name and she looked over at them. Her face fell, and he knew that he hadn't schooled his features well enough. "Davie, what's wrong?" In that moment, he knew that she wouldn't leave his side until he told her the truth, and he sighed deeply. "You know something about this case, don't you?"

He nodded, holding out his arm to her. "I think that Alan may be the unsub we're looking for." She gasped, pushing the back of her hand against her mouth in an attempt to keep from crying out. "Think about it. He wants to punish you, but can't. He's taking out his rage on these surrogates. We have to tell the children, so that they can be on alert. Do you want to call their high school, or should I?"

"Do we have to ruin their day?" she whispered. "Can't it wait until supper? Please?"

He shook his head and her face crumpled as she gave into the sobs. Stepping forward, she let him close his arms around her and he rubbed her back gently. "We have to do this now. They're only with us today and tomorrow, since this Thanksgiving is his."

Penelope gasped. "You're not going to let him have the kids, are you?"

"We have to abide by the court order, Kitten. It sucks, but right now, he's only a suspect. There's nothing else that we can do." He locked eyes with the younger woman and let his lower lip quiver a little, unable to keep his emotions in check completely.

"Well, that sucks! There has to be something you can do. Hotch, you were once a lawyer, surely the idea of a suspicion that Alan is our unsub trumps some silly custody order."

Dave heard Hotch let out a long breath, and knew that he was trying to find an easy way to let Penelope down. "I'm sorry, it doesn't. We don't have enough evidence to issue an arrest warrant. Without an arrest warrant, we cannot move in on him. The most I can do is have the police watch the house, like we do with the other women. I'm so sorry, Erin."

"I know. We have to deal in absolutes. But we are going to wait until tonight to tell them. Let them have one last normal day." Her spine stiffened as she pulled away to stare into his eyes. "You make that vow to me, David James. Now."

"I vow that none of us in this room right now…"

"No, there is no way you're calling Cruz to tell them, either," she interrupted, two steps ahead of him as usual.

He sighed. "Fine, bella, I vow to not let anyone ruin this last normal day for our children."

"Thank you." And then she kissed in front of everyone else, digging her fingers into his shaggy hair and holding him close as the kiss lingered on. In the background, he could hear Penelope giggle and Blake and JJ sigh. And then, Hotch was clearing his throat, and he gently pushed Erin away from him.

"All right, so let's go over the variables and see if we can't get some of the pieces to fit," his best friend said kindly, gesturing for everyone to take a seat once more. Erin sat and was quickly flanked by Penelope and Blake, which surprised Dave, and yet gladdened him. This case was really drawing them all together, though he wished it had been due to better circumstances. "Dave, why do you think that Alan Strauss is our unsub?"

As Hotch wrote his name on the whiteboard, Dave cleared his throat. "Over the weekend, there was an incident with the children. Alan went out on Friday evening, and then returned rather quickly, according to Karen. And he was angry enough to punch Tabby in the face, requiring her to get emergency surgery to repair the tooth he busted loose."

"Oh," Penelope breathed out, resting her head on Erin's shoulder.

"While we were waiting for her, Karen told me that Alan has been heading out these last few Fridays that they spent at home, and he was gone for hours at a time."

"So they don't spend every Friday at Alan's house?" Reid asked, and he shook his head. "How many Fridays are we talking about, then?"

"When I probed Karen for answers, she said eight to ten."

"So there might be more victims. Which makes sense, he would have had to build up to this. When did you get shared custody of the children?"

Dave looked over at his wife and smiled. "Fourteen weeks ago. Or two weeks after Erin was released from the hospital. I fought long and hard to get them with us."

"So that leaves us with eight women who were attacked before the first case that came on our radar," Morgan mused, rubbing his chin with his thumb. "Baby Girl, would you look at open rape cases in the DC and Quantico area? Focus on blondes, like Erin, in the same age range as her."

"Derek," Penelope said lowly, cocking her head towards Erin.

"Oh, sorry." He smiled at Erin and she shrugged, giving him a small smile. "You're taking this in stride."

"I'm mentally counting a Fibonacci sequence. It's the only thing that's keeping me from leaving this room and seeking out some alcohol."

Reid looked at her, understanding and concern in his eyes. "I often do something similar. I try seeing how high I can get in the prime numbers. Concentrating on that seems to chase away the cravings. But this time, you need to talk about it. What about Alan being our unsub is making you crave?"

"Telling the children. Worrying about them losing a parent once more. If he really is the unsub, he will be cut off from them in a very permanent way." A few more tears began to roll down her cheeks, and Blake quickly plucked out a tissue from her pocket, handing it to her. "Thank you, Alexandra."

"You're welcome, Erin." They shared a look, and as Dave watched, every moment of animosity between them melted away. "We'll stop him before he gets close to you or your children. Okay?" Erin nodded and smiled sadly. And then, Blake offered out her hand, and she clasped it, threading their fingers together. "All right, what's our next step?"