A/N: Hello again, everyone!

A shout-out to AHowell1993, mnc7851, Kelly, and Fa07 for either reviewing Chapter 60, favoring, and/or following the story. The occasional scenes from episodes of Criminal Minds in this story belong to CBS and Criminal Minds writers. No copyright infringement is intended. I reupdated this chapter because I forgot to mention that one of the scenes was a deleted scene and can be seen on the DVDs.

A/N: This chapter takes place starts on February 23rd. At the beginning of Coda, when Prentiss was chatting with her former Interpol colleagues, her cell phone stated that the date was February 21st. After the team comes from Louisiana, it is February 22nd.

My apologies if I had made any mistakes, but please do enjoy the chapter!

Also, I would like to credit AHowell1993 for helping me with this chapter.


Previously on Criminal Minds…

"…Lauren Reynolds is dead…"

"Who's Lauren Reynolds?"

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I just have a bad feeling..."

Reid asked, "About what?"

"I don't even know. I can't put my finger on it. Huh."

"What happened?"

"Don't you have this feeling you're being watched?"

"Always"

"I could have sworn that I saw that black car or a couple of workmen focusing on our house all day."

"Are they gone?"

"Yeah. I swear, I…"

"I'll talk to Hotch about it in the morning."

"Hello, Ian."

"Hello, Lauren. Oh, wait. Lauren Reynolds died in a car accident, didn't she?"

"Come near my team, and I will end you."

"I don't have a quarrel with them."

"I was doing my job."

"You took the only thing that mattered to me. So, I'm going to take the only thing that matters to you. Your life."


"Good morning, honey bunny," Reid whispered in Élise's ear as she was slowly waking up.

"Mmm…" Élise moans as she began flicking her eyes and stretched her arms, yawning. "Ohh! What do we have here?" Élise looked down and noticed the spread of food on the tray.

Reid presents to Élise, "For my favorite birthday girl: an omelet with spinach, Swiss cheese and tomatoes, Greek yogurt with oatmeal, chia seeds, almonds, and mixed berries, two eight-oz glasses; one fortified orange juice, and one water."

"Awww," Élise gushed before kissing Reid's cheek. "You're so sweet to me."

"It's your birthday, my love." Reid kisses her lips before looking down at her belly. "And soon, we'll be welcoming our little girl into this world soon, even though she's technically in this world."

Élise giggled as she placed her hand on her belly, "I know." Taking a sip of her orange juice before she took a bite of her omelet. Swallowing after chewing thirty times, "You did a great job on this omelet, babe."

Reid smiled, "I learned from the best. And memorizing recipes. And watching Top Chef with you."

"Those Top Chef contestants better watch out for you." Élise complimented before taking another bite of her omelet. "This is really good."


"Hello there," Reid rushes to Élise's side, who was fixing up lunch in the kitchen. Opal was following Reid from behind him.

"Hello again." Élise acknowledged Reid before greeting, "Hi, Opie! How are you doing, little one?"

Opal responds by cuddling her head on Élise's legs and purrs.

"What are you doing, little missy?" Reid noticed the spread of fixings on the countertops.

"I have cravings, and I'm hungry." Élise clutches to her belly before pointing to her lunch, "Taco lettuce wraps to be exact."

Reid nodded his head and commented, "Well, they do look good." Reid agreed as helped himself to a lettuce wrap. "Mmm." Licking his lips, "And they even taste good."

"Indeed, they do. Thanks." Élise licks her thumb after eating a taco lettuce wrap and before washing her hands. After a minute and eight seconds, as Élise wipes her napkin, she noticed the look on Reid's face when his cell phone began to vibrate and looked at the text message he got from Garcia, "Case?"

"Yup. And it's local." Reid pours some decaf coffee into his mug. "I should be home tonight, but I'll let you know if anything." Sighing, "I know it's not the ideal way to spend your birthday…."

"Spencer, I'd rather spend one yoctosecond with you today than no seconds at all." Élise pats his cheek and kisses it. "Now go out there and save some lives, okay?"

Reid smiled and kissed her lips before petting Opal's fur. "Okay. Love you all."

"We love you, too." Élise smiles back; Opal barked in responses.

Reid promises, "And I'll talk to Hotch about last night, okay?"


Reid sighed as he entered the bullpen. Walking up to Hotch's office door, he knocked three times.

"Come in," Hotch said.

Reid walked in and closed the door behind him. Hotch picked up his head from his tablet and noticed Reid's spooked facial expressions. He asked him,

"Are you okay?"

Reid exhaled again before telling him, "No."

Curiously asking him, "What's exhaling?"

Shakingly sighs, Reid confesses, "Élise thinks someone's watching us."

Hotch raises his eyebrow, "What do you mean by that?"

"Before Rossi and I went to take Sammy back to his house, Élise called and thought she saw some black car that's been parked in our neighborhood since I left the house. She even noticed a couple of workmen focusing on our house all day yesterday."

Hotch cocks his head and tweaks his eyebrow, "Hmm." Setting his tablet down on his desk.

Reid noticed a sudden change in Hotch's body language, "What's wrong?"

"When I came home, Jessica told me that she noticed someone watching the two of them when they were out at the park. She couldn't get a good look at who was watching them," Hotch alerted his head, "She also said it was a black car."

Reid shakingly exhales. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm placing a protective detail on our families here in DC." Hotch immediately began texting on his cell phone.

Reid nods his head, "Thank you."

Someone knocked on Hotch's office door three times.

Garcia peaked his head. "Hello."

Reid meekly waves at her before telling Hotch, waving her tablet, "Sir. Big case. Here."

Hotch shook his head, signaling he has the case file on his tablet. After she closed the door,

"Thank you," Reid graciously said.

"Mm-hmm," Hotch replied with a poker face before walking with him to the roundtable.


Garcia pulls up pictures on the screen: houses to be exact on the screen as she began the briefing, "Two DC homes torched, two families, on the same night, last night."

"I'm surprised it still hasn't hit the news," Morgan said, looking at his folder before looking up,
"It's already mid-day."

"Yeah. All anyone's talking about is this storm that may or may not hit. I managed to find an online article about the fires written by this guy Jeff Hastings, but no one's running with it."

"How strange." Rossi dryly remarked. "They usually thrive on tragedy."

"Yeah, and it gets weirder," Garcia replied before more pictures pulled up on the screen; it was the victims.

"Ron and Lauren Cosenza and their 10-year-old son were found in the master bedroom of their home, each shot through the forehead. The gun belonged to the father." Hotch said.

"Murder-suicide?" Seaver guessed.

"Well, it looks like Metro PD's investigation is going that way, but it's still the first 48. They want our help." Morgan said after taking a sip of coffee.

Reid spoke up, "Kerry and Frank Fagan, like the Cosenzas, were found in their master bedroom from a suspected gas leak."

"It had to be massive to cause that," Rossi said, looking at the pictures on his tablet. "How does the news miss a house explosion?"

Seaver asked, "Any connection between the families?"

"Only one," Garcia answered. "A continent. Kerry Fagan was born in Germany; Ron Cosenza is from Italy."

"So, two of the five victims are from Europe. How does that help?" Morgan wondered.

"It doesn't. I'm just stating the facts, and the facts happen to be…" Garcia was interrupted when.

"Guys," Prentiss breathed as she rushed into the conference room, apologizing, "I'm sorry I'm late."

"You ok?" Hotch asked.

"Yeah, it's just one of those weeks, I guess." Prentiss explained, nervously chuckling before asking, "I'm sorry. What did I miss?" Arsonist?"

"One appears to be murder-suicide, the other a freak accident." Morgan caught Prentiss up.

Prentiss wonders, "So why are we looking at it?"

"House fires are rare." Rossi clarified. "Add to that a few miles apart, within the same hour, kind of tips the scales of coincidence."

Reid agreed, "Yeah if somebody did this, they're highly motivated and organized."

"And if he wants to strike again, he's got 72 hours before the storm shuts the city down." Hotch motions that the team should not waste any time and get straight to work. After walking back into his office, Reid catches up to him and closes the door behind him again.

"Hotch."

Hotch looked down at his cell phone and saw that he received a text back from Élise.

"I texted Élise, and she sees the agents watching the house right now; I even send her a picture of the agents she's assigned to."

Reid exhales, "That makes me feel a little better."

"She's going to be fine," Hotch assures Reid.

"I know." Nodding his head, Reid confesses, "When the baby's born, I want to take a month of paternity leave."

"Of course." Hotch agreed before asking again, "After this current case?"

"Mm-hmmm."

"I want to be there for my little girl," Reid vows.

Hotch let out a rare smile. "I'm proud of you. You know that?"

"I know."


Reid went back to the roundtable room and was there with Seaver and Garcia, whose heat was out in her office. Garcia declared either family had any kind of psychological weirdness or financial stress. Reid noticed the time the fires occurred, the habitual patterns of both families were in direct conflict with where the bodies were found, and yet both families had usual routines. Garcia wondered if the chances of these victims are random.


Reid noticed his phone on his desk vibrating. As he was looking through the phone records Garcia pulled up. Answering it,

"Hello?"

"Hi, bunny."

Reid immediately grinned. "Hi. How are you?"

"I'm good. I miss you."

Reid sighs, "I miss you, too. I told Hotch that after this case, I want to take a month of paternity leave."

"That's great, babe. I'm just chilling on the couch, watching more Top Chef reruns."

"Okay. I know this is not the ideal birthday for you…" Reid commented before Élise replied,

"Spencer, as I told you this morning, I'd rather spend one yoctosecond with you today than no seconds at all."

Reid smiled at the thought. "I love you."

"And I love you."

Reid chuckled before clearing his throat, "I better get going."

"Go save some lives, bunny." He and Élise hung up, and Reid headed back to work. He was concentrating until he heard a nearby thump, causing him to jump.

It was Prentiss when she set her bag down.

"I'm sorry." Prentiss apologized.

Reid motioned his head back, "I thought you were in there."

Prentiss concerningly asked, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm... I'm... I'm sure these victims overlap somehow. Garcia pulled their phone numbers, but so far, I can't find anything." Reid kept looking back at Prentiss and the records.

"You just jumped." Prentiss noticed.

Reid confesses. "I've been having these really intense headaches lately."

"Have you seen a doctor?"

Reid sniffs his nose, "Yeah, Élise, and I saw one after we came back on the Hollis Walker, Jr case." Clearing his throat, "He said my scans were perfectly normal, but I needed to stop stressing out, or I'll develop an aneurysm."

Prentiss' jaw dropped, "Oh. I'm...sorry. Does anyone know?"

"Hotch and now you," Reid replied. "But I've been feeling a bit better lately. I've been drinking more water and decaf coffee and tea. I've been eating more healthfully; I've been wearing my glasses occasionally. I've even been…trying to read a little less."

"I won't tell anyone," Prentiss vowed.

"I know." Reid shook his head and licked his lips before he continued. "They'd just worry. Not that you're not gonna worry, but they'll just make me feel like a baby. You know?" Reid chuckled at the last sentence.

"I do." Prentiss smiled at him.

Reid asked, "How are you?"

"I'm good." Prentiss quickly answered.

"You've been picking your fingernails again." Reid looked down at her fingers.

"Yeah."

Reid noted, "You only do that when you're stressed."

"It's just a bad habit." Prentiss excused.

Reid again went back to the records until he found something, causing him to get up and leaves; and left Prentiss by herself.


Reid returned to the roundtable room with most of the team. After running the victims' phone numbers, he discovered a common number between them.

Another person from Europe.

After Morgan grabbed Prentiss, most of the team exited the conference room, leaving Reid and Hotch by themselves. Hotch looked to Reid and suggested,

"Go home."

Reid picked up his head.

"Go home and be with your family." Hotch urged.

Reid slightly smiled. "Thank you."

"Oh!" Hotch stopped him. "And one more thing." Hotch walked out of the roundtable room and cocked his head, signaling for Reid to follow him. Heading back to Hotch's office and closing the door behind him, he pulls out a small gift bag from behind his desk. Reid took the gift bag and looked inside.

It was a fitted box.

Reid opens it, and it was a sculpted hand-painted figure, resembling a pregnant woman looking down at her belly.

"Wow." Was the only word that escaped Reid's lips.

Hotch smirked, "For Élise."

Reid grins. "It's beautiful."


"Oh, thank you, Élise," Reid said as Élise handed him a slice of red velvet cake before sitting next to him on the couch. Taking a bite, "Mmm. This is quite good."

"I baked it." Élise beamed. "It's health-conscious red velvet cake with sugar-free cream cheese filling and buttercream. I've been craving for something sweet."

Reid takes another bite, "It really is good. It's not too sweet, but it's still tasty."

"Thank you, my love," Élise observed Hotch's present. "Aww. It's so cute and pretty."

"Like you." Reid complimented.

Élise giggled as Opal jumped on the couch next to Reid and snuggled. "So, how was your day?"

"I'm hanging in there," Reid answers truthfully before admitting. "I told Prentiss about my headaches."

"You did?" Élise asked as she scratched Opal's fur.

"Yeah, but she didn't judge. She promised to keep it a secret between us."

Élise placed her hand on Reid's shoulder. "I'm proud of you."


Reid was on his way to view some surveillance footage when he reached into his pants pocket and pulls out his cell phone after hearing it vibrate. Answering after the first vibration,

"Hello?"

"Hey, honey."

Reid smirked from hearing Élise's voice. "How are you since I left?"

"Still chilling in bed," Élise answered. "Opal joined me and is now taking a nap."

Reid chuckled, "Hopefully, this case ends soon so that I can start my paternity leave."

"Yeah, but until then, go save some lives, okay? I love you."

"I love you, too," Reid said before he and Élise hung up. He had his hands in his pocket and continued walked when he ran into Prentiss, who had just come out of a room and noticed she was holding a sheet of paper in her hands. Asking her,

"Hey, what's that?"

"Uh, oh, this is the only lead I have so far," Prentiss replied. "What about you? Seaver said you were looking for photos of, uh, Doyle's Tuscan villa?"

"I couldn't find any stills from the day he was arrested, but there may be some surveillance footage from the sedans. They generally record everything." Reid replied.

"Yeah?"

Reid slightly turned his head and nodded yes to her as he continued to walk, not even noticing the ghosted expression on Prentiss' face.


Hours after Hotch assembled the representatives from several of the federal agencies in the hunt for Ian Doyle, everyone got down to work. The team went over the list Prentiss—who disappeared during the briefing-went over.

Morgan puts a green stickie note on the bulletin board, which had the main key players, including Doyle. "I got 4 names on the bottom of the list Prentiss gave us. Luke Renault, Lawrence Riley, Lila Rafferty, Lyle Rogers."

"All with the initials LR," Seaver noted.

"The CIA uses cryptograms like that to assign to non-official cover agents working the same case," Hotch explained.

"So do other foreign countries," Morgan explained further. "These last 4 names are covers... spies."

"Wait." Garcia took the spreadsheet from Morgan's hands and observed it. Shaking her head, "This isn't right." Garcia points out the empty spaces at the bottom of the paper. "Do you see this space? That shouldn't be here."

"Could it be a formatting error?" Reid asked.

"No, this is a spreadsheet template," Garcia said. "Formatting doesn't allow for this. There's a missing name on here."

Hotch said, "It's another spy whose cover is LR."

Suddenly Reid began having a flashback before mouthed to himself,

"Lauren Reynolds is dead. Lauren Reynolds is dead."

"Lauren Reynolds is dead," Reid muttered.

Hotch overheard Reid, "What?"

"Lauren Reynolds is dead." Reid exclaimed. "Prentiss said that on a phone call eight days ago. But her intonation wasn't surprise or grief. It was like a mantra like she was reminding herself. Lauren Reynolds, LR."

"If Prentiss is the last name on that list, she's on Doyle's list, too," Seaver replied as Hotch dialed Prentiss' phone.

Rossi figured, "That explains her behavior the past month. The secrets, the evasion."

"She's been biting her fingernails again, too." Reid pointed out.

"Guys." Hotch showed Prentiss' gun and badge to the team.

"She left her badge and gun? Why would she do that?" Morgan wondered.

"That doesn't make sense." Reid agreed. "Why run? We're her family. We can help."

Rossi answered, "Doyle's killing families. She's not married, not close to relatives. He was ready to wipe us out. She ran to protect us."

Reid felt chills when Rossi said that and realized that Doyle was the reason Prentiss went out on her own.

"She's a trained spy. She doesn't want to be found."

"She knows all of our tricks. We don't know any of hers." Morgan said with his arms crossed.

"All right, then how do we find her?" Garcia answered.

"Here's how. Ian Doyle is our unsub; Prentiss is our victim." Hotch said as he placed Prentiss' badge on the bard. "We profile their behavior, and we treat it like any other case. Because terrorism isn't an area we specialize in, I've reached out to an expert from the state department, someone who can also shed light on Prentiss' past."

"Who?"

Hotch motions his head, "Her."

Everyone turns their heads...

And saw JJ staying by the doors,

"Let's get to work." JJ declared.


After JJ gave the team the rundown on Prentiss' background with Ian Doyle, Hotch had Reid and Seaver head to the apartment where the double homicide took place with one of the victims being Prentiss' former Interpol colleague and tried to see what they could find. As they began to look around,

"Looks to me that two people were crashing here."

"Mm-hmm," Reid muttered.

Seaver continued, "And with all the locks on the door, they must have really taken their home protection seriously and secretively."

"Mm-hmm."

Seaver turned her head and saw Reid's concealed distressed body language and how she felt he wasn't really listening to her thoughts. She figured,

"Are you angry that Emily crossed the line with Ian Doyle?" Seaver asked.

Reid fiercely answered, "No!" Deeply inhaling and exhaling, "I'm angry because she didn't tell us what was going on nor came to us for help." Reid hissed through his teeth. "There's no shame in asking for help."

Seaver nods her head, sympathetic, "In a way, I can't say I don't blame her for going out on her own and not telling us, but at the same time…I also get it."

"Mmm-hmm," Reid sighed before coming across on a giant crate.

"What? What is it?"

Reid and Seaver opened up the crate, and their eyes widen at the sight of what they were staring at.

"We have to show this to Hotch," Reid replied.


Reid and Seaver watched Hotch, Garcia, Morgan, and Rossi exit Hotch's office after sweeping the safe house apartment. They opened the carte, and inside was a large supply of MP5Ks.

Reid said, "Our theory is that JTF came prepared, or someone really takes home protection seriously."

The four of them stared at the crate, knowing what kind of unsub Ian Doyle truly is to the team and what they are now truly facing. As Garcia headed back to her office,

"No doubt, JTF wanted to match up to Doyle," Seaver spoke up.

"Considering he is a weapons dealer," Morgan observed the MP5Ks himself. "And he has the goons to do his work for him."

"We already know his need for revenge and would not let anyone stand in his way, even if it meant killing a child," Hotch noted before Garcia came back running into the bullpen.

"Sir, Tsia got a hit on one of Clyde Easter's covers. He's on a plane to Boston as we speak."

"Have him detained as soon as he steps off," Hotch ordered. "We need to go. Garcia, you're coming with us."

"Ok, yes." Garcia hustled.

Reid stopped Hotch, "Hotch." Swallowing his gulp, "I need to call Élise."

"You go do that." Hotch nodded his head, urging that Reid to hurry and make his call.


"Hi, my hubby." Élise smoothly greeted Reid.

Reid replied, "Hi."

"Are you coming home? I need you." Élise whispers to him in a sultry tone.

Reid heavily sighed, "Unfortunately no. we have to head to Boston. Prentiss went AWOL. And as it turns out, she knew the unsub, and the unsub had his goons watching us. Even you."

Élise shakingly exhaled, "Oh, God. I knew something was up. And I felt it, but I never thought…"

"Believe me, I know."

Élise sighed again, "Finish this case."

"Oh, we will," Reid vowed. "Because I want to be there for our family."

"I know you do," Élise smirked. "And when you come back, I want to have a word or two with Prentiss."

Reid chuckled, "Oh. I love you."

"I love you."


Reid and Rossi were in an interrogation room with Jack Fahey. Rossi asked Jack, "Why were you calling Clyde Easter so much, Jack?"

"Anybody got a smoke?" Jack asked before looking to Reid, "How about you, beanpole?"

Reid looked down at his slim body before Rossi asked him, "What do you think?"

"Narcissism masking deep-seated insecurity." Reid helped profile Jack as he crossed his arms.

Rossi suggests, "So if we puncture his self-image, this hood rat will talk."

"Hey-hey-hey!" Jack took offense at what Rossi just called him, wagging his finger, "I ain't no hood rat. You take that back."

"Well, you look like one," Rossi replied as he walked up to Jack. "You smell like one. You smell that?"

Reid sniffs the air, slyly replying, "Hoodrat."

"I am not! Take it back!" Jack cried.

"Hey, Jack. Do you know what a hood rat is?"

Jack was silent; Rossi turns his attention back to Reid, "You see what I mean? He's just gonna have to learn the hard way."

"All right, all right, look, Clyde was gonna pay my medical bills, all right?" Jack explained before pointing to his damaged right ear. "This ear, it ain't growing back."

"What happened to it?" Reid asked.

"This bitch teammate of his shot it. Said it was a warning." Reid and Rossi looked at each other, alerted as they knew he was talking about Prentiss. "Thought she could take on this IRA Big shot named Doyle. So, I told these... aah!" Jack yelped his pain as Rossi grabbed his damaged ear. "What the hell, man?! Jeez!"

"Where's Prentiss?" Rossi asked as he got in Jack's face.

"Who? I don't know!" Jack quivered.

"Lauren Reynolds." Reid leaned across the face and got in Jack's face as well; Rossi let out of his ear. "Where is Lauren Reynolds?"

Suddenly a smirk appeared on Jack's face. "Oh. Friend of yours, is she?"

Rossi threatened, "You tell us where she is right now, or I swear, I'll send you to a prison where they'll teach you what a hood rat is."

"And by the time you do, she'll be in pieces. So, uh...my price just went up." Jack smugly grinned at the two of them. Reid and Rossi looked at each other, knowing he was right.


Clyde Easter joined the team and profiled Ian Doyle as a power-assertive psychopath-sociopath, highly controlling and very explosive when something doesn't go as planned and carries out his murders surgical-like precision and also with no collateral damage. Despite Doyle wanting revenge on Prentiss for betraying him, they wonder why Doyle became a family annihilator.

But more importantly, why killed that child in DC.

They figured the child must have been a surrogate for the one he had, even though there's never been a record of him being married or having children.

Prentiss must have known about it and never told anyone.


The team members waited anxiously for Prentiss's news—after the team managed to deduct where she was being held. Reid wanders back and forth around the room with a water cup in his hand.

Only for Morgan to find her stabbed in the abdomen with a thick plank of wood and Doyle gone.

Finally, the team was alerted when JJ entered the room…

And given her red-teary eyes.

"No." Garcia feared the worst with her eyes began to water.

JJ teary admits, "She never made it off the table."

The team's faces ranged from shocked to numb; Reid got up and was about to walk out when,

"Spence." JJ stopped him from leaving.

Trying not to look at her, Reid whispered, "I didn't get a chance to say good-bye."

"Come here." JJ pulls him into a hug, allowing his tears to flow freely.

Unbeknownst to the rest of the team, JJ briefly looked to Hotch and exchanged knowing looks.


Not even on the plane ride home back to DC did anyone talked.

Nothing but complete silence filled the air.

Morgan and Garcia sat next to each other; Morgan consoled a devastated Garcia. Rossi patted Seaver's lap as he offered her a cup of tea. Hotch sat away from everyone and looked at his cell phone. Reid went into the jet's bathroom and cried his eyes out.


"Baby…" At first sight of seeing her husband walk through the front door, Élise toddled to Reid as fast but as gentle as she could. Her sigh trembled and could see his tear-stained face. "Sweetheart."

Reid tries to talk, only for his mouth to repeatedly open and close, and just began crying again. Wrapping her arms around him, comforting, "Oh, baby. It's okay. I got you."


Élise sighed as she looked at herself in the floor-length mirror in the master bedroom. She wore her favorite turtleneck black maternity dress and her new Chanel black & white flats. She was still combing her hair when she felt something.

"Oh." Releasing a moan, Élise clutched to her belly just as Reid walked out of the bathroom. Rushing over to her side,

"Hey-hey-hey." Reid wraps his arms from behind her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm cool, honey," Élise assures Reid before kissing his cheek. "I'm cool." Turning around to adjust his favorite purple scarf. She needed to ask,

"Are you okay?"

Reid heaved a sigh, "Emily is dead. I just…"

"I know." Élise was empathetic. "I know. It's never easy losing someone you care about. You're not responsible for what happened; Doyle is. He can't hide forever."

"Mm-hmm." Reid nodded his head.

Patting his cheeks, "It's time to say goodbye to a friend."

Reid quietly agreed. "Yeah."


Reid, Élise, and the rest of the team, along with Will, Strauss, Anderson, Kevin Lynch, Gina Sharp, Ambassador Prentiss, and colleagues came together for Emily's funeral. Morgan cleared his throat before he began his eulogy.

"Emily Prentiss was a great person. At first, I didn't really know her well. Not until before we left on a case, she blurted out Kilgore Trout. I found out we have a similar taste in books, one of which was Kurt Vonnegut. Slaughterhouse-Five, Mother Night. "You are who you pretend to be. So be careful who you pretend to be." In the years I've worked with her and put my life in her hands. And the one time that I didn't, I wasn't there. I'll always remember her as a cool, witty, calm, and level-headed person with a lot of passion for what she does."

Morgan stepped back and let Reid say a word,

"I knew Emily Prentiss for 1557 days. That's four years, three months, and four days if you include the end date, but, uh..." Reid cleared his throat, "She was a selfless woman who…put herself at risk for me during a case where we were held hostage by a religious cult. She reassured me that it was not my fault and asked me not to feel guilty because she would do it again if she could. For that, I'll miss her. May she rest in peace."

The preacher spoke up, "2 Corinthians, Chapter 1 Verses 3 and 4: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comforts, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. May the good Lord bless you and watch over you. In Jesus' name. Amen."

The devastated team and Élise began placing red roses on her casket. Élise continued to hold Reid's hand and gave him a comforting look, even though she kept wincing and breathing in and out.


Everyone headed inside for the post-funeral reception. Mostly everyone; JJ departed immediately after the burial. The team was all sitting at one table together; they all saw Hotch give Ambassador Prentiss his condolences as she stared at a nearby picture of Emily.

"Ambassador Prentiss. I'm incredibly sorry for your loss."

Ambassador Prentiss breathed as she folded her fingers together, "It's bad enough I lost my husband. But at least he's on the other side with my daughter, Em." Admitting to Hotch, sniffing, "I know she and I didn't have the greatest mother-daughter relationship, but…at the end of the day, she's still my daughter, and she'll be greatly missed." Meekly smiling, "Thank you." She walked away and was comforted by more guests. As Hotch made his way to the group table,

"I miss Em," Garcia said as she looked at the brochure. Her eyes began to pour as she stared at the words.

Emily Prentiss

October 12, 1970, to February 25, 2011.[1]

She sniffed as she delicately dabs her eyes.

Rossi comforted her, "Me too, kid."

"Me three." Seaver quietly replied.

Élise exhaled as she stroked tender circles on her belly. "You guys will get Doyle and make him pay for Prentiss." She let out a soft grunt.

Morgan pounds his fists, "Believe me, I will."

"Mm-hmm." Élise released another grunt; her face winced, causing Reid to look at her, worry.

"Are you okay, honey?"

Garcia asked, "And what's up with the wincing?"

"I'm fine," Élise assured them.

"Are you sure?" Seaver questioned. "Even I noticed it earlier when we arrived."

Reid's eyes widen, and his jaw slightly dropped, "Earlier? How often?" He took Élise's hands.

Élise was trying to think, "About…within the last hour, and some change…every…five-ten minutes."

Reid's mouth opened, chuckled, "Oh, God. That means…"

Élise reminded Reid, "I'm not due for…"

"You're in labor," Reid announced loudly, almost startling some of the guests. "You're in labor."

"I'll get the car." Hotch got up from his seat.

Reid agreed, almost starting to panic, "Yeah-yeah. Go do that."

"Oh, God…oh…" Élise was helped out of her seat by Garcia and Seaver.

"Just breathe and walk," Seaver tells Élise, who began her breathing exercises. "Walk and breathe."

A thought ran through Élise's mind, "I got to call my parents…" Another contraction caused Élise to groan again.

"I'll do that, and then I'll call my mom and…" Reid began panicking. "And…it's time…contraction…hospital…I'M A FATHER!" Reid would have collapsed on the floor had Rossi and Morgan didn't catch him and began half-dragging, half-carrying him. Rossi soothed Reid's back,

"Relax, pretty boy," Morgan mildly joked.

"We got you." Rossi supported him.

Reid respired, "Thank you both. I don't know what I do without you guys."

"I can think of a lot." Rossi humorously teased.


[1] At the end of the episode on the show, it actually said Emily Prentiss: October 12, 1970, to March 7, 2011. I decided to make Prentiss' "death" to February 25. So the funeral takes place on February 26th.

A/N: Get ready for the next chapter! The moment you've all been waiting for because it's time for the arrival of little baby girl Bastien-Reid!