Sunday after both sets of grandparents had left, Emily looks nervously at JJ. "So, uh, how do I look?"

JJ studies her wife. She wears jeans, a red sweater and her black leather jacket with matching boots. She looks sexy as hell but that's not what Emily is going for. JJ smiles.

"You look fine, honey. Are you sure about the hair?"

Emily runs her hand through her still light brown locks. "I have no idea. If I look too much like Lauren I could hurt him. But if I don't look like her I could scare him. I'm screwed either way, really."

"Are you sure you don't want me to come? I could wait in the car if you want," JJ offers.

Emily takes a deep breath. "No. No, I need to do this on my own for the first meeting. Or reintroduction, I guess it is. Jen, are you sure about this?"

JJ takes Emily's hands. "If he needs a home he has one here. I'm sure."

Emily pulls her close. "You're an amazing woman, Jennifer Prentiss. I love you."

"I love you, too. Good luck."

They exchange a kiss and Emily heads out to Occoquan Park to meet up with Tom Colter and Declan Doyle Colter. She pulls in and sees her friend passing a football with a young, blonde boy. Her mind briefly flashes to playing hide-n-go-seek with a four year old boy who was just happy to have someone to play with. He was a sweet little boy. Now he's a 12 year old, apparently well-adjusted pre-teen. But what would he think of Emily…or rather Lauren?

Taking a deep breath, running her thumb over her wedding band she gets out of the car and slowly approaches them. Declan sees her coming and his mouth drops open as he stiffens. She forces a smile to her face even though she is terrified.

"Hi, Declan," she says nervously.

"La—Lauren?"

"Yes. Sort of. Um, actually, my name is Emily."

"Emily? But…why? I thought you were going to come with us. Where have you been?"

"I…I lied to you, Declan. I couldn't go with you. It would have been too dangerous. But…I loved you too much to admit that. It tore me up to watch you get on that plane and know I'd probably never see you again. I can never say I'm sorry enough. All I could do was pray that you'd find a good home with Tom. I'd say you did."

Declan stares at her. He looks at Tom and back to Emily. "So…so you made sure I got to Dad? With Louise?"

Emily nods. "Yes. And then to keep you safe I had to stay away. But your father always knew how to reach me if he needed to. I never stopped caring about you, Declan. And I never stopped missing you." She smiles at him. "You've grown into a very handsome young man."

Declan smiles. "Thanks. So, uh, why are you here now? Why is it suddenly not dangerous?"

Emily glances at Tom who nods. "Declan…do you remember…your birth father?"

Declan shrugs. "Kinda. I remember you more because he wasn't around much and didn't really do much with me. You and Louise were the only ones who really played with me and stuff. And I remember you singing to me, too."

Emily smiles. "Yes, I did." She takes another deep breath. "Declan, when I knew you back then…in Tuscany…I worked for Interpol. And your father was…well…he was…"

"He was a weapons dealer," Declan says.

Both Tom and Emily look shocked. Tom steps forward.

"Declan, how did you know?" Tom asks him.

"Internet, Dad," he answers as if it should be obvious. "I…I wanted to know why you and Louise always got so nervous when I asked about him. One search and I saw all about him getting arrested in France and how he was a really bad guy."

Tom lays his hands on Declan's shoulders. "Dec, I wish you'd told me."

Declan smiles. "I didn't want to upset you. And I got enough answers to understand why you had to tell me he's dead. You didn't want me to think I could be like him."

Tom pulls him into a hug. "You never cease to amaze me, Dec." He looks at Emily. "Is it any wonder why I love this kid?"

"Da-ad," Declan says in the embarrassed way only a teenager can intonate.

"He's seems like a good kid. He had a good man raising him." She sighs. "So, if you know about your birth father does that mean…you know about…about me?"

Declan shrugs. "I can guess. You were one of the cops that took him down."

Emily nods. "Yes. I spent over a year working my way to him. Then I had to…to get close to him. Declan, I…I got close to your father so he could be stopped. It was my fault he was arrested and that you and Louise had to go into hiding for a time before getting adopted by Tom. And I couldn't risk seeing you because I couldn't let…let Ian Doyle or his friends or his enemies know where you were. You would never be safe if I was around. I hope you understand that."

He shrugs. "I do. But why can you be around me now?"

Emily sighs. "Dec, Ian…your birth father…he's really dead now and his whole network is crushed. And, well, I know Louise wants to go home to her family. She hasn't seen them in so long."

Declan nods. "I know. Dad and I talked to her about it and we're happy for her. I can stay in touch with her and stuff. I'll always love her."

Emily smiles. "That's good." She looks at Tom, who nods. "Well, I can understand if that answer is no but I'd kind of like to have you back in my life. I've got a wife named Jennifer and a stepson named Henry. And I'm pregnant myself."

Declan's eyes widen. "You are? How'd your wife get you pregnant?"

Emily blushes. "Uh, well, that's probably a discussion you should have with your dad. So, um, would it be okay if I got to know you again?"

Declan smiles and nods. "Sure. Are you still with Interpol?"

"Nope. I'm with the FBI. I'm in a unit that goes around the country helping local cops profile bad guys so they can catch them."

"Oh. Cool."

Emily nods. "Yeah, it kind of is. So, maybe you and my family can have dinner or go to the zoo or something really soon. Would that be okay?"

Declan looks at Tom, who nods. Declan looks back at Emily. "Sure. When?"

"I…I don't know. My job can be kind of unpredictable but maybe we can do something next weekend. If a case comes up though I might have to change things."

Declan nods. "That's fine. I understand." He looks at her a second. "Can I maybe send you my lacrosse schedule? You could come watch me play."

Emily smiles. "That would be great, Declan. I'd really like that." She pulls out a card that has her email and phone numbers on it. "I wrote this out for you in case you wanted it."

Declan takes it. "Cool. Um, La—uh, Emily? Can you tell me the song you used to sing? I sort of remember it. It always made me feel safe."

Emily nods. "Sure. I can even email you a copy if you want. I recorded it for my stepson Henry for when I'm away. Truth is, until Henry, I had forgotten the song. I think…I think it reminded me too much of you so I blocked it out of my mind."

Tom lays his hands on Declan's shoulders. "Well, I hate to say this but I think we need to head home. Dec has homework to do."

Emily smiles. "No problem. I'm really glad to see you again, Declan." She brushes a hand through his hair. "You really are a handsome young man."

He blushes. "Thanks."

They walk to the parking lot together. Emily gives them both a hug goodbye. Just before she gets into her SUV Declan stops her.

"Emily?"

She turns to him. "Yes?"

"Did…did you kill my father?"

Emily shakes her head. "No, I didn't. But I was there when it happened."

"Oh. Is he the one that hurt your face?"

Emily slowly nods. "Yes, he is."

Declan stares at her a moment, then gets into his dad's car. Emily exchanges a look with Tom, not sure what to make of Declan's reaction to the answers to those questions.

As Tom drives away, Emily waves. She then gets in her car and sits there a moment before heading home. Was she nuts for even considering taking in Declan considering the tangled web of lies and hatred that defined her relationship with Ian? Maybe. But she would still do it if he gets along with Jen and Henry. She owed it to Tom and to Declan.

The entire drive home her mind is filled with memories of playing in a large house with a happy little blonde boy. Of course, that also means remembering her time with Ian. Though there were good times they were tempered always with the fear of being discovered.

She is not surprised when JJ meets her at the door of the house. She gives her a hug.

"How was it?"

Emily smiles. "He's smart. He knows what Ian Doyle was. He'd looked him up on the internet. And he knew I was the reason Ian was arrested. Before I left he…he asked if I killed Ian."

"What did you tell him?"

"The truth. I told him no. And when he asked if Ian was the one that hurt my face I told him yes."

"What did he say?"

Emily shrugs. "Nothing. Just got in Tom's car. But he took my information. And he said he'd like to meet you and Henry. I told him if the job allows maybe we can go to the zoo or something."

JJ smiles. "That would be great. Can I ask why you look so…haunted?"

Emily sighs. "Am I crazy for considering taking him in? As more comes out about me and Ian and…and you…"

"Emily, we need to talk to Tom. Declan needs to know everything. He deserves the chance to make an informed decision about his future. It's only fair."

Emily sighs. "You're right." She pulls JJ close. "Guess that's why I keep you around."

JJ smiles. "Hopefully not the only reason." She gives her wife a kiss. "Come on. It's dinner time."

That night it's obvious to JJ that Emily's mind is still troubling over whether or not taking Declan in is fair to the child. As they crawl into bed, JJ pulls her wife close.

"Emily, the fact that you are this worried about him tells me how much you love him. Just relax. We have time to work this out. Okay?"

Emily nods. "Thank you, Jen, for understanding why I am so torn about this. I just want to do right by him."

"I know, baby. I know."

Emily lays her head on JJ's shoulder. The blonde strokes her hand through her wife's hair soothingly until she finally falls asleep. She kisses her forehead.

"I love you, Emily," she whispers to her.

Emily struggles against the ropes tying her to the bed. She is naked and vulnerable. Her wrists are raw from her struggles.

"Come on, damn it! Break or something. Please! Please break!"

"Won't help, love."

Emily turns and looks towards the door. Ian stands there, a leer on his face that makes her shiver. He starts to walk to the bed, stripping off his clothes as he goes. Emily shakes her head.

"No, please, Ian. Please don't! Please! NO!"

Ian climbs on top of her. "You used to scream 'Yes', love. Let's see if we can get you to scream that again."

As he enters her…she wakes up screaming.

"NOOOOOOOO!"

"EMILY!" JJ screams, trying to get through to her wife.

Emily's eyes are wide, her face pale. She is shaking. JJ reaches out to touch her but Emily shies away.

"No…don't touch me…please don't touch me yet." Emily begs.

JJ nods raising her hands up. "Okay, honey. I'm right here as soon as you're ready."

Emily stares into the darkness, seeing nothing but the nightmare rape she was about to endure. JJ studies her, thinking she knows what might have been happening in her wife's mind.

"Emily, he didn't rape you. Your mind is just fucking with you…shit…no pun intended."

Emily's breathing slowly calms. She finally looks to JJ. "Um…I think…I need you now."

JJ just moves closer and pulls her into a hug. Emily starts to cry. "Shh, baby, it's okay. You're safe. He can never, ever hurt you or anyone else ever again."

JJ holds her wife, rocking her and whispering words of encouragement until she finally falls back asleep. JJ stares at the wall, wondering when if ever the ghost of Ian Doyle will leave her wife alone.