Chapter 18: Plans

Emily had an idea, one she hoped would put an end to hiding and running. She wanted Nate to have the best, most stable life he could, and, so far, his life hadn't been like that. His fathers moved him around in fear that staying in one place too long would lead Bardolino to them. She didn't want him to have to move again, and she'd do anything she could to make that happen… even use her friend as bait.

First, though, she had to get Hotch and Clyde on board. When she called Hotch, she left details sparse. All she said was that she needed help, specifically his help, and asked him to bring Clyde along with him. Hotch wanted more details, but he agreed the moment she said she needed help.

"I don't want to stay on the line long. Go to my mother's. It's the weekend. You can bring Jack."

"Will you be there?"

"Just go there. Tomorrow morning. Ten."

"Emily, we should talk."

"Hotch… Tomorrow."

"Fine," he huffed. "Tomorrow."

That was set. The previous evening, Emily called him and put things in motion. Part of it meant that she and Nate would be leaving the security of the cabin, but she was looking forward to it. She and Nate felt a little claustrophobic in there, never leaving the house or yard. She knew that if they didn't get a change of scenery, their stay would be unbearable. She and Nate didn't need to be in self-induced captivity.

Maybe she was being too paranoid. She found herself wondering that often, but then reality set in. James was hurt, Vince was dead, and they were attacked… Paranoia was allowed and, in actuality, was more self-preservation.

Despite her excitement to get out of the cabin, Emily wanted to be vigilant. The next morning, about two hours before the meeting, Emily prepared Nate. She fed him breakfast and then told him that he needed to get dressed.

"I laid clothes out for you. Don't take too long, ok? Brush your teeth, get dressed, and meet me in the den."

"Are we going somewhere?"

"Yes. We are. So, get moving."

"Sweet," he said and sauntered off.

Emily hoped Hotch did bring Jack. She thought it would be good for Nate to hang out with someone his own age. A playmate not his… friend-biological mother-person, was just what he needed. Not to mention that Jack had his own experiences with losing a parent, an experience Nate could relate with more than her own.

She'd have to see how it went. She hoped they could be friends, though, she tried not to think too much about her future with Nate. She did that once and fell into the rabbit hole. One day at a time…

Once they were both ready, Emily tried to disguise them just a little. She gave him a hat and put one on herself as well, though there wasn't much hiding either of their injuries. She wasn't going to throw a coat on him in the middle of summer, and not much covered her leg and allowed her to blend in.

What they had would have to do as they began their trip. Emily kept Nate glued to her side as best she could with crutches. She moved with a watchful eye, constantly looking out for anything suspicious. It took a few modes of transportation to get them to their destination.

Emily knew her mother's current schedule. Elizabeth often had a standing appointment every month at a local hotel and spa for manicures with Senator Jenkins' wife. That was where Emily was going. Travelling directly to Elizabeth's house left them open to be spotted if the house was being watched, but Emily had a plan. Making it to the hotel allowed them to meet Elizabeth's driver in the underground lot, hop into the back, and duck down until they were at Elizabeth's.

When Emily told this to Elizabeth, she didn't quite grasp the need for all the secrecy, but she said to do whatever she thought she needed to keep them safe. Emily got herself and Nate to the hotel, snuck them down into the parking lot, and searched for her mother's driver.

She found Maurice, a man who had been driving the family for a decade now, leaning against a support beam with a coffee and cigarette. Spotting him, Emily struggled with the crutches on the inclined pavement to make their way to the car.

"How much longer until the Ambassador is finished?" she asked Maurice after getting Nate in the car.

"Should be out any minute. Make yourself comfortable. I left a few drinks and snacks in there for you. Didn't know what the little one would want, so just picked some of my kids' old favorites."

"Thanks Maurice."

He winked and opened the door for her. Nate asked her more questions about what they were doing, and she answered as they waited, but it didn't take long for Elizabeth to get there.

"Hello Emily."

"Hi Mom."

"How are you Nate? How's the arm?"

"It's itchy, but Emily showed me how to make it better."

"That's great. She knows a thing or two about that."

They made small talk, but once they were ready to go, Emily and Nate leaned back into their seats so that, should anyone be spying, they wouldn't be seen.

"Is that necessary, Emily?"

"I don't know, Mother, but I'm not taking any chances."

"Fine," she said and left her daughter alone.

It wasn't until they pulled into the estate's garage that Emily felt comfortable enough to sit right, and it didn't come a moment too soon. That position was not comfortable and did nothing for the pain in her leg, but they were there. They were finally outside of the cabin and in the familiar comfort of her mother's home.

She never thought she'd be so happy to be there, but she was, and was even more excited when she heard Clyde and Hotch arrive.

"They're here, Emily," Elizabeth told her. "I had them pull into the garage. Same as us. If anyone is watching, they can only see the front of the house and the driveway. The rest is completely private, so you'll be free to roam about."

"Thanks Mom. Sorry about taking over your house."

"No apologies needed. I'm happy to have you all here." Elizabeth squeezed her daughter's shoulder. "Rest the leg. I'm going to see our guests into the parlor."

Emily nodded and had Nate help her over to the couch so she could leave her crutches behind. Comfortably seated, she told Nate, "Why don't you explore a little? Stay on this floor though. There's a music room and an old office that has some games and stuff in there just down the hall."

"But I don't want you to be alone," Nate told her.

"I won't be. My mother's returning and a few of my friends will be here."

"Ok," he sighed. "Will you come play with me?"

"Maybe a little later."

Nate ran off to play and Emily anxiously waited. Her heart accelerated when she heard footsteps coming from the garage entry. She stood, anticipating their approach, and faced the door. She smiled, happy to see another friendly face. It had been a while since she last saw Hotch. She didn't realize just how much she had missed him until then. And Jack was there. That made her smile bigger. She greeted Hotch and Clyde with a kind hello and quick hug but gave Jack a little more.

"Wow. Look at you Jack. You're all grown up. What are you? Thirty already?"

Jack laughed at the joke. "I'm only 12," he said.

"And already tall enough to play in the NBA. Wow. I swear, you're a whole foot taller since the last time I saw you."

"It's been a while," Hotch interjected as his son went to hug Emily.

"What happened to your leg?" the boy asked.

"I got hurt in an accident. Nothing to worry about. I'd love to spend a little time with you, Jack, but I think there's someone here you might have more fun with," Emily said.

Jack looked around. "Who?"

"My friend, Nate, is with me. He's just a little younger than you and I think he could use someone that's not my age to play with. What do you say?"

He looked to Hotch for approval, receiving a nod. "Ok. Where is he?"

Emily told Jack how to find Nate, and he went searching.

"Thanks for bringing him," Emily told Hotch. "Nate could use a friend his own age."

"It's no problem. Jack's getting tired of his cousins anyway. How are you?" Hotch asked, taking the time to fully inspect her. Spencer and Clyde both filled him in on her injury, but he was happy to finally see it. She seemed alright.

"I'm good. It's nice to be out and about a bit. A change of scenery, you know?"

Both men nodded. Thankfully, Elizabeth had already excused herself knowing they would want to talk privately, allowing them to jump into conversation quickly, but first they needed to get some of the general how are you questions out of the way. Emily assured them, once again, that she actually was fine and might have to punch someone if they asked again.

"We should get down to business."

"We should," Emily agreed with Hotch.

"The mole is Francine Lillard."

"What? But how? She doesn't have the tech skills to pull this off, and definitely not to track me."

"She had help."

"Who?"

"Kurt –"

"Wells?" Emily asked, cutting Clyde off. "But he wouldn't do that. I know him. He's a good guy."

"We're not sure he knew what he was doing."

"I wanted to return to the motherland and use my skills to find that out, but I was persuaded to wait."

"We don't need more of an international incident than we already have, Clyde." Hotch reminded him.

"Surely you don't think I'd be caught."

"Let's not do this again."

"I'm glad to know that you've developed a comfortable banter amongst yourself," Emily quipped. "But let's focus here. Kurt is a sweet guy. He gets uncomfortable when asked to skirt the line. Why would he help her? Francie, I get. She is, well, she's a bitch and I always had a feeling she was a little… dark, but not Kurt."

"Garcia is on top of this. She's looking into every angle."

"Once we know more, I will make the trip to London," Clyde promised her. "And I will make them pay for what they've done. We will put every one of the people involved in a dark cell or six feet under."

"Don't make promises, Clyde."

He made a very Clyde remark and then told her what else they knew.

"Has Garcia gotten any new information?"

"We can call her," Hotch suggested. "But you asked us here for a reason. You said you needed help. I need you to tell us with what."

Emily nodded. "Right. I have a plan."

"Oh, a Prentiss plan. Those always end well," Clyde teased.

Rolling her eyes, Emily ignored him and continued. "James is slowly improving. His new doctor is confident that he'll be stable enough to move by the end of the week."

"Wait. You want to move him?"

"Yes. Preparations are already being made. That's what I need your help with."

"Wait. Help me understand. Why are you moving him?" Hotch asked.

"Nate needs to see his only living father, and I need to see my friend… In case he doesn't make it. I can't exactly travel to him. My mother arranged the best medical care he could have here in Virginia. I even have a plane set to pick him up and deliver him."

"Then what do you need from us?" Hotch wondered.

"I need it to be covert… Like you did with me… After Doyle." Suddenly, a somber cloud hung over them with the reminder. "There are people who will be watching him to get to Nate. They want him. They want to take him to… To God knows what… To raise him to be like them, and that's the optimistic outlook." She shook her head. "I owe it to him to let him see his father in case something happens, but I want to do it safely. By now, they know who I am and they're obviously following me and Nate." As evidenced by France.

"So, you want to put him under an alias at Bethesda?"

"It doesn't have to be Bethesda, just somewhere safe where Nate and I can go to see him. And then… Then when we know more, we can move him somewhere to bait Bardolino."

"What?" Both men asked, surprised with where she was going with this.

"Think about it. Eventually, they're going to get tired of hunting and just attack, but if we draw them out, we have the upper hand. We can control things."

Both men were thinking the same thing. Emily needed that. She needed the control and she needed them to help her get it. Neither could look at her pleading face and just say no.

"Perhaps I can help. I can file an alternative flight plan, a legitimate one using the plane and pilot information that would show James being moved somewhere else. We can create a cover ID for him," Clyde said.

"And I can call in favors on this end, but Emily, I don't have the same pull as last time. What happened with Doyle, I'd do again to keep you safe, and it was worth it, but I burned a lot of bridges."

"I understand," Emily dejectedly said.

"I will get this done, Emily. I'll work with Clyde," more than I already am, "and get him somewhere safe nearby so that you can see him."

"Let's talk about your plan," Clyde said and asked how she thought the bait thing would work.

Emily explained a little more. They could adapt everything depending on what they learned and could use from the mole, but, basically, she was setting herself up as bait. They would assume that where she went, Nate would be, and that wasn't untrue. But she would put herself out in the open. Once they got word that James was moved, and, at that point, would be admitted under his real name, they would follow.

"And we'll be waiting."

"I don't like you being in the crossfire like that."

Clyde agreed. "You're not exactly fighting fit," he said, pointing to her leg.

"I'll be fine. I can handle myself."

"Yes. We have seen how well your lone wolf routine works out."

"Now's not the time to bring that up, Clyde."

"He did first," Clyde said, pointing at Hotch.

Rolling his eyes, Hotch moved them along.

"He's not wrong, Emily. We'll help you, but you need to fully trust us. We need to know that you're not keeping things from us and that you won't go off on your own again. We're all in this now, so we need to know you're going to stay with us."

"I'm with you."

"And now's the time to tell us anything else if you have to. Is there anything you want to tell us?"

She looked Hotch in the eyes and lied, "No. There's nothing." Nothing relevant.

They both scrutinized her but took it at face value.

"Then we should hammer out this plan and call Garcia."

Emily agreed and Hotch called up Garcia who happened to be in the office.

"I couldn't sleep, and I couldn't sit home doing nothing while we waited."

"Ok. I'm with Emily."

"You're with who now?! Emily? Why are you with her and I'm not?"

Hotch held the phone away from his ear as she yelled. Garcia was not happy that she wasn't included in the super-secret spy meeting.

"I'm hanging up," Garcia ended her tirade.

"Wait. No."

But it was too late. She hung up on him.

"Apparently," Hotch said, "She's upset with us."

She was, but she hung up only to call right back with video chat screaming, "Let me see her," as soon as the call was accepted.

"I think it's for you, Darling," Clyde said, Hotch passing her the phone.

"Emily Prentiss!" Garcia sternly stated. "What were you thinking contacting everyone but me?" She went on a tangent until Emily was finally able to get through to her.

"I'm sorry, Pen. You know I trust you with my life, but you were probably the one they were expecting me to go to because you're the most able to help."

"Fine," the blonde huffed. "You're just lucky I'm not there with you. I'd so beat you with… with… with freaking rainbows."

"I love you Penelope Garcia. You always make me smile."

"At least one of us can smile. I am mad at you."

"So mad you won't help me?"

"Absolutely not. I'd always help you."

"Good. Now, I'm going to move the camera so you can see all of us and we can talk."

Getting the ok, Emily passed Hotch the phone to set up as Clyde helped her back to the couch. When they were all crowded onto it, squeezing into frame, Hotch asked Garcia if she found anything new. She did.

"I dug, like dug deep, into Francine's background."

"What did you find?"

"Oh, a horde of plenty my friends. Francine Lillard doesn't actually exist… Well, not anymore."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that she was a French language professor who died ten years ago."

"Died? But… Why didn't we catch that? We do thorough background checks."

"Well, I say died, but there's no real record of it."

"Emily, Love, I'm going to need you to translate Miss Garcia for me. What is she saying?"

"What I'm saying, my British hombre, is that Francine Lillard went on an extended vacation and came back… different. She decided to leave her job for a position in the DGSE. She was being recruited for years."

"So, what makes you think she's dead?"

"Oh my lovelies, look at this." She turned the screen to her computer so they could see what she was looking at. There were two pictures, similar, but marginally different. The same skill was used by Emily to forge the IDs for herself and her friends. "A body, a Jane Doe, was found with fingertips cut off and face badly damaged. DNA match wasn't run because the body was stolen, and the morgue set on fire. All traces of her were gone."

"What leads you to believe it was her?"

"Well, here's where things get a little… out there, but follow along and hear me out, alright?"

"Don't we always?"

Penelope explained that there was a woman who went missing around that time, another French local who, she discovered, had ties to the Scarlatti family.

"A love child of sorts."

"But how are they connected?" Clyde asked.

"That second picture, the Lillard that exists now, I ran the face against the old picture of Lorna Puzzulo, the love child. It's a match."

They all let that sink in. The woman that they knew as Francine was a mole from the beginning. She didn't get approached one day and get threatened or enticed, but rather infiltrated by taking the life of someone she looked a lot alike.

Emily told them, "There's going to be no reasoning with her."

"No. She's committed to her cause, whatever it is," Clyde agreed.

"But we can still use her," Hotch said.

"And Kurt. I know we can get him to see reason. Maybe we find out what he knew and his deal, then we get him back on our side."

The group planned. Emily told them all that she knew about Kurt and Francine, as she knew her, and they talked about how they could fit into the overall trap they wanted to build.

"Looks like I'm getting on a plane to London again."

"And I have some calls to make," Hotch added.

"I can help," Penelope told them. "I'll call the team in too. Fill them in."

"Please do," Hotch replied. "Garcia, I'm hanging up now. Call the team in and I'll try to get there later today."

Penelope agreed and said her goodbyes, making Emily promise that she would be able to see her soon and that she would get to meet and spoil Nate. Emily was only able to say that she hoped so.

With the call over, both Clyde and Hotch turned to focus on Emily, Hotch saying, "Seems we have more to discuss."

"Plans to finalize," Emily agreed.

"I will get to London once we are sure on what to do," Clyde said. "For now, I will have some of our trustworthy people report to me about Lillard and Wells."

"Thanks Clyde and you too Hotch. Just… Thanks."

Hotch put his hands on each of Emily's arms, and said, "We're here for you."

"So, we have a lot to talk about. My mom has some details about the transport that you should know. First, would you like to meet Nate? I can hear the piano. He and Jack must be in the music room. We could get some food and just… be normal for a moment."

"I'd love to," Hotch said.

"We're going to be a regular Brady Bunch," Clyde joked, leaning into Emily's ear and asking, "That's a show, correct?"

"Yes, Clyde," she whispered back.

"Good."

Emily gave directions to the room, trailing slightly behind them with the crutches Clyde fetched for her. As they were walking, Clyde leaned in again, whispering so quietly Hotch couldn't hear, "I have that package you asked for. I will deliver it later."

Emily looked at him, searching to see if he found a way into it. "Thank you."

She wanted that box in her possession. She wanted to know it was safe from prying eyes and in her reach. She'd feel just the slightest bit better once she had it.