By the time they made it to Quantico, Jack was fast asleep in the backseat, with his head in Haley's lap, and Amalya had undid her braid. The black SUVs pulled up to their designated spots, just as the trademark bell of the elevator echoed through the underground parking lot, signaling its arrival. All eight doors of both SUVs opened, and the agents, plus Haley with a sleeping Jack exited. Hotch quickly took Jack from Haley, and the toddler fussed a bit, but soon settled into the warm embrace of his father. The air had a chill to it, and Haley realized she forgot both her jacket and Jack's in the trunk of the car at the house. She opened her mouth to voice her thoughts, when she saw Amalya putting her own jacket over Jack's sleeping frame. They all heard the chime of the elevator but didn't think much of it. But the sound of fast-clicking heels caught their attention, and when they looked in the direction the sound was coming from, they saw Garcia practically jogging in her heels, her face still red, her eyes puffy from the tears, with a man following behind her at a fast pace, but not necessarily a jogging one.

Emily, JJ and even Haley couldn't help but notice how handsome the man was. He was tall – as tall as Hotch – with broad shoulders, a head full of black hair, and hazel-green eyes. His hair wasn't as black as Hotch's, and it had a few specs of grey scattered around. The salt and pepper look contrasted beautifully with his eyes, especially since they shone through thick, long eyelashes. The mischievous sparkle in his eyes matched the confident – slightly smug – smile on his lips, his hands stuffed in his pant pockets, the top two buttons of his dress shirt was open under his suit jacket. They had no doubt that this was the Selim Amalya spoke to earlier. And they all wondered about the nature of their relationship.

"Oh, I love you so much," Garcia's voice pulled the three women out of their thoughts. Derek smiled brightly at her. "I love you too, baby girl."

"Not you!" she quickly shot him down, as she plowed into an unsuspecting Amalya. The latter stumbled back, and Haley was quick to help her keep her balance. Derek looked slightly affronted, while Emily, JJ, Rossi and Reid all hid their smirks. Hotch was too busy profiling Selim.

"I'm usually not very good with change," Garcia mumbled against Amalya shoulder. "More so than other people. I hate it, absolutely hate it. But this time, I love it. I love it so much, because it was you, and you saved them. And now our boss man didn't suffer an unspeakable loss, and little Jack didn't grow up without his mom. So, I love it, and I love you," she rambled.

Derek moved to pry her off Amalya, but Selim stopped him. "We're Egyptians, we're huggers. She's fine!" he dismissed him, and Derek noticed that Amalya wasn't trying to escape, but rather shaking with laughter in Garcia's arms. "Oh boy, you're something else, aren't you?" she quipped, and Garcia pulled back without really releasing her. "Is that a bad thing?" she questioned, suddenly worried she pushed some boundary, but Amalya shook her head. "No, not at all. I absolutely love it. And I love you too!" she said, and with that, Garcia crashed into her again, eliciting a throaty laughter from Amalya.

She finally let go after a few seconds and gave Haley a brief hug. "I'm very glad you're okay," she said softly, but sincerely. "Thank you, Penelope," Haley spoke softly, her voice still shaking slightly.

Amalya had moved on to hug Selim, and they were both rambling on in an intangible language. The BAU team looked over at Reid, who shook his head at them. "I think they're switching between Turkish and Farsi, with a few Arabic words in the midst, but I think its mostly slang, so I don't really understand a word," he replied regretfully, and Emily huffed.

"Agent Hotchner, Selim Dogan, Interpol, Turkish office. I'm glad your family is safe," Selim addressed Hotch, extending a hand, which Hotch shook, his eyes still trying to study the man, but it was proving difficult.

"Thank you," Hotch replied, as he shook his hand. Selim looked over his shoulder at Haley and smiled warmly. "Mrs. Hotchner, glad to see you." She smiled gently at him and nodded. "Thank you."

"So, what is it that you want to tell me away from the office?" Amalya deadpanned, and he flashed her a dashing smile that Emily, Penelope and JJ were sure would make any woman go weak in the knees. "Selim, you won't convince me that you're down here as part of the welcome committee, so might as well spit it out!" she demanded, and he chuckled. "Always the impatient one!" he teased, and she arched an eyebrow at him. He held up both hands in surrender. "Tamam, tamam. Anne!"⃰⃰ he clicked his tongue cheekily at the end, and she glared at him even more.

"U.S. Marshall Hoyt has been in Strauss's office since he learned of Foyet's death in a meeting with her, the Director and the AG, and he's raging mad." Garcia filled them in.

"He's raging mad?" Emily screeched incredulously. "This is his mess!"

"Yeah, he's not seeing it that way," Selim told her, and she gaped at him. Hotch was having a hard time keeping his cool, but the presence of his son in his arms was grounding him a bit. He noticed Selim was keeping a close eye on Amalya, who was surprisingly quiet.

"How exactly is he seeing it?" Rossi asked snidely, but Selim knew the snide wasn't really directed at him.

"I was there for part of it; but mainly that it was all some scheme to assassinate Foyet by the BAU, and of course, Amalya," he explained, and at that, Amalya immediately headed for the elevator, but he stopped her. "Lya!" he warned, and she shot him a look that should've froze the blood in his veins. "Don't worry, I won't kill him. There are far worse ways I can make sure he pays for his fuck-up!" she hissed.

"Well, Strauss did say she wanted you in her office as soon as you arrive," Garcia offered. She had taken an instant dislike to Hoyt since he set foot in the BAU after Kesserman's demise, and her anger was approaching dangerous levels when she heard how he ignored Amalya's profile. And now, he was claiming it was all some sort of scheme on their part to cover his ass. Not on her watch. She saw how angry Amalya was, and judging by how Selim was trying to calm her down, she knew she would hand Hoyt his ass on a silver platter – AG and Director be damned – and come out of it winning. And that's exactly what they needed.

Amalya smiled devilishly at Selim, as she once more headed for the elevators, and Selim took off after her, both arguing. Hotch turned to Rossi. "Dave, can you take Jack. I need to go after her," he said, but Garcia stopped him.

"No sir, Strauss said only Amalya," she clarified, and he looked over at the elevator just as the doors chimed closed on her and Selim, still arguing.

A few minutes later, they were all sitting around the table like they do every week to discuss a case. But this time they weren't discussing anything. Each member of the team was lost in his or her own head. Hotch was still holding a sleeping Jack close to his chest; Rossi and Morgan stood behind Garcia watching as the crime scene photos streamed through, both still trying to wrap their heads around the events of the day, as well as the impossible angle Amalya had; JJ had left the room to talk to Will and Henry, needing to hear their voices after the day they had; Reid was on the phone with his mom; and Emily was talking to Haley.

They all looked towards the door by the screen when they heard footsteps, and saw Selim walking in, with Amalya's purse in his hands. Morgan's eyebrows rose high on his forehead. "Not even you were allowed in!" he was surprised. Selim nodded. "Yeah, she shot him. So, they need her side, without any input from anyone," he started, and they all nodded. "And besides, I wasn't going for her sake. I was going for theirs!" he informed them, and Rossi chuckled. "Yeah, I have a feeling they don't know who they're dealing with!"

"Not in the slightest!"

10 minutes ago…..

Selim and Amalya walked out of the elevator still arguing in a bizarre mix of three different languages, that made other agents give them weird looks, but neither seemed to care. Amalya, in particular, was too pissed off to care. The asshole messed it up so bad she barely had time to save Haley, and he was claiming it was all an assassination plot by them? What? Did he think she was going to take it lying down? He obviously has no idea who he's dealing with, and she's about to let him know.

They were outside Strauss's office, when a junior agent stopped them both. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Dogan, but they only want Agent Dawoud."

Selim nodded, and took Amalya's purse off her shoulders without a word. Just as he heard Hoyt's voice filter through the closed door. "Your profilers made no mention that he would go after my marshal for answers. Kesserman was a good man, with a family, who I know must explain his death to. And they can't even watch the man responsible for it face justice," he roared, and Selim gulped. He looked at Amalya's hardened expression, and knew that whatever last ounce of care she had about being decorous, or diplomatic just went out the window. He sighed as she entered the office, and it wasn't long before her muffled growls reached his ears. Though he couldn't quite make out the exact words. He asked for directions back to the bullpen, and another junior agent offered to show him the way.

Inside Strauss's office...

Hoyt was getting in Strauss's face about the apparent mess the team made. He was not happy about Kesserman's death, but as she tried to – repeatedly – explain, neither was anyone in the FBI. But he seemed so adamant about how it was all some scheme by the team to take revenge on Foyet for what he did to Hotch and his family. Erin Strauss was no fool, she would not have made it this far in the bureau if she was, but she wasn't a profiler. She knew something wasn't right; her team was not like that – especially Hotch – but she couldn't figure out why Hoyt was so hell bound on putting the blame squarely on their shoulders. He knew as well as anyone that humans were unpredictable, and as good as the team was, they weren't psychics.

"You sound like they let him go, or that he managed to get away from them. He's gone!" she shot back at his last comment, and he rounded on her, turning his back to the door. "This isn't justice, this is revenge! Is that the business the BAU is in now; vigilante justice!" he hissed.

"You've got some nerve." A low growl came from the door, and he whipped around to find the source and found Amalya standing in the open door. Strauss had only met her twice before this time, and was finding it hard to put the sweet-faced, petite woman in front of her with the very impressive file Hotch had provided her with almost two years prior to convince her to hire her. But now…..with the murderous look on her face….it wasn't so hard anymore. For if looks could kill, Benjamin Hoyt would have been six feet under.

"Excuse me!" Hoyt said in astonishment. He didn't think Strauss would pull her into the meeting, he thought she would simply speak to her once she was done with them.

"I knew you were a narcissistic ASS when we spoke, but to ignore a very clear profile, and then place the blame somewhere else puts your narcissism at a whole new level!" Amalya hissed.

"Agent Dawoud." Strauss interjected, but the Director subtly shook his head at her, and signaled with his hand to let her be. Not that the warning tone in Strauss's voice did anything to deter the furious agent.

"How da…" Hoyt started to say, but Amalya stepped more into the room, and immediately interrupted him. "Oh no. You've said enough!"

Strauss was surprised by the slight smile on the Director's face as he watched the interaction, as well as the instinctive step back Hoyt took when Amalya stepped towards him. She demanded respect when she entered a room, and right now, she also struck fear into those who dared wronged her. And Strauss had a feeling she never wanted to be on the receiving end of her justifiable wrath.

"I told you what his endgame was; that he was too compulsive to deviate. To put as much distance between Agent Hotchner and his family as humanely possible. I even offered international relocation, and that I would take care of everything. But you assured me that you had it under control; that this is what you do for a living; that I had to trust the other player in the game. And I find myself scrambling to catch him before he puts a bullet into Haley with Jack upstairs; because your idea of distance is New Jersey! And you have the audacity to claim that it was vendetta, when it was simply your fuck-up!" her voice was getting angrier with each word, that when the last word left her mouth, it didn't faze her in the least.

Strauss did a mental facepalm, but to her surprise, the Director was trying not to laugh.

"Marshal Hoyt, what is she talking about?" the Attorney General demanded.

"I have no idea," Hoyt answered defiantly, and Amalya snorted. "Really? You have no idea about the two conversations when I explained that Foyet was going to try and hurt Agent Hotchner's family in a scenario where he would almost be able to save them, but fail? You have no idea about those calls when I told you that the further they are the better, that I can relocate them to a different country for their safety?" she listed incredulously.

"Marshal Hoyt!" the Attorney General's authoritative tone came from behind Hoyt.

"Before you think of a way to deny it all, those calls were recorded! And I know that a misogynist like you can't stand the idea that a woman would not only be right, but also prove you wrong, but that can't be why you royally messed this up, and is now denying everything!" she challenged. She had an inkling as to why he didn't take her advice to heart, and why he was so hell bound on denying those calls now. And she had every intention of getting it out of him.

"Marshal Hoyt!" the Attorney General repeated his call.

The entire office was standing still, watching Hoyt and Amalya stand toe to toe. They both held eye contact, and it was quite obvious Amalya was not the type to back down, and that she had every intention of taking Hoyt down. Strauss knew that under all that hard exterior, that Haley and Jack's situation hit her harder than she let on, despite not knowing them. She still remembered their first conversation.

"Strauss," Strauss answered the phone, already knowing who was on the other end, since it was the only international phone call she was waiting for.

"Please tell me that little boy isn't dead! That pictures of his mangled body won't be in those files!" came the voice of the woman she hoped to hire.

"No, and I'm hoping you can help me make sure it doesn't happen," she answered.

"I'm on the next flight out!"

"Section Chief Strauss, if you would please tell Garcia to contact one Ali Magdy at the Cairo Interpol office, and ask him for copies of those two recordings. It will take a few seconds." Amalya told Strauss, and Hoyt narrowed his eyes at her. "You're bluffing!" he shot back smugly, and she arched an eyebrow. "Am I? Are you really that arrogant?! Do you ho..." Hoyt's hate-filled voice made her stop. "It's not arrogance when it's well earned. I wasn't about to let your kind tell me how to do my job!" he snapped angrily, his voice dripping with venom.

"Excuse me!" came Strauss's shocked voice, just as a humorless laugh escaped Amalya's lips. "You know, I could hear the venom in your voice as we spoke, but I didn't think you were such a pig that you would endanger the lives of two innocents – one of which is a child – to prove me wrong. But I stand corrected! And that doesn't happen often."

Strauss found it impressive that her voice could portray such disgust, anger and yet be so calm. If Strauss had been the one to be insulted, she probably would have slapped him! But then again, Amalya has looked like she wanted to kill him since she set foot in the office, and despite the holstered gun attached to her hip, Hoyt was still breathing.

"Marshal Hoyt, your credentials and gun please," the Attorney General's voice was final, and Hoyt's head whipped around so fast he almost got motion sickness.

"Sir!" Amalya had to give him credit, he honestly didn't see anything wrong with his behavior, that it shocked him he was being stripped of his badge! That's a special kind of stupid.

"You just admitted to ignoring a viable piece of information from a source, based on their race. Which not only put the lives of innocents in danger, but got a fellow marshal killed. Therefore, you're suspended without pay pending a full investigation to determine if your misconduct rose to the level of a crime or not," the Attorney General explained, his hand stretched towards Hoyt. Amalya released a breath she didn't know she was holding and closed her eye in relief. Benjamin Hoyt had no business overseeing so many lives, and now, he wasn't. She didn't care if it sounded like it was petty revenge on her part, but she now had a clear conscious about the man.

She watched as Hoyt reached into his jacket to retrieve the things asked of him, and her hand subtly moved towards her gun….as a precaution.

The team was still sitting around the table, when the Director and Attorney General walked in. The team immediately sprung to their feet, especially Hotch, who quickly passed a now wide-awake Jack to Haley.

"Agent Hotchner," the Attorney General extended a hand, and shook Hotch's hand firmly. "I'm glad your family is safe."

"Thank you, sir." Hotch said gratefully.

"And I assure you that a full investigation will be launched into Marshal Hoyt's actions. Bigotry is not something I tolerate," he stated, and Hotch frowned. He turned towards Selim and shook his hand. "Mr. Dogan, I thank you for all your help."

"Bigotry!" Rossi wondered, and Selim chuckled as he shook his head. "Amalya Yusuf Dawoud! I hate it when she's right!"

"She's Muslim?" Emily asked, and Selim shook his head. "Coptic Christian. Yusuf is simply Arabic for Joseph and is used by both religions in Egypt," he explained.

"Not that it would matter if she was!" the Attorney General assured him, and Selim nodded. "Mrs. Hotchner, I'm glad you and your son are alright." He smiled at Haley, and Jack.

"Thank you, sir," Haley said softly.

The Director stepped out of the room and signaled for an agent, who came running. "Please walk the Attorney General to his car." He instructed, and with one final handshake, the Attorney General left.

"Bigotry!" Morgan repeated, still not quite sure how they knew that was why he ignored her advice. Morgan personally chalked it off to misogyny.

"Straight from the horse's mouth!" the Director declared, almost proudly, and Selim burst out laughing. The Director chuckled. "She's quite something. I mean her file was impressive, but it's totally entertaining to watch rip someone apart!"

"You have no idea." Selim said.

"She got him to admit it!" Haley said in disbelief.

"She bagged Vladishiv Sokolov, you think Hoyt was a problem for her?" the Director shot back, and Morgan's jaw fell open. "Sokolov!"

The Director turned towards Hotch. "Erin told me you've been nagging her for over a year to find room in the budget for an agent, and she was at the top of the list. Which makes me suspect she was the one you wanted all along. Am I right?" he asked and Hotch nodded. "I thought so. I've wanted her on the team for a while, and when Erin spoke to me about letting an outsider help with Foyet, I told her I would talk to the budget committee only for Amalya." He told them, and Hotch was a bit surprised.

"If you don't mind me asking, sir. Why didn't you contact her before?" Reid asked, and the Director smiled.

"Who said I didn't? I spoke to her after Agent Greenway left the team, but she declined. And after that, the timing never seemed to be right." He elaborated.

"She declined two years ago but agreed now. What changed?" Emily inquired.

"One of the most notorious serial killers in modern history wasn't after a four-year-old then," Selim answered her. "Speaking of which, where exactly is she?" he asked.

"Briefing Strauss. I will read the reports later." The Director replied. "And Agent Hotchner, I wouldn't lose her if I were you."

"I have no intention to," Hotch said.

"Amaya!" Jack's excited voice rang in the small room, as he bolted out of the chair towards the brunette in question, who was walking with Strauss. Hotch made a move to stop him but didn't get a chance. He saw him hesitate a bit when he noticed Strauss, but Amalya was quick to pick him up and balance him on her hip.

"Say hi," she instructed gently.

"Hi." He obliged bashfully.

"Hello, Jack," Strauss said softly.

"Why do you look grumpy?" Amalya asked. "Your iPod won't work!" he declared, and she feigned offence. "It won't? Blasphemy!" she said in an exaggerated tone, as she entered the room, and noticed the Director. Her demeanor immediately became more professional, as she set Jack on his feet. "Director."

"Agent Dawoud, nice to finally have you on board," he said as she shook her hand, and she smiled curtly at him. He turned towards the entire team. "There will be mandatory time off for all of you before you take on your next case after your done briefing Section Chief Strauss. And Agent Hotchner, of course you will have a bit more leeway with it under the circumstances." He listed off, and they all nodded. "And Agent Dawoud, welcome to the BAU." He finished, and she smiled. "Erin, I will meet with you tomorrow morning," he said, and Strauss nodded. "Enjoy your time off, everyone." And with that, he left the room.

"Amaya," Jack called, and that snapped her out of her own head. "Right, my iPod. What's wrong with it?" she asked, and Haley handed it to her. "The battery died."

"I wanna finish that puppet show," Jack pouted, and Hotch was about to intervene, when Amalya crouched down to be at his level, her eyebrows furrowed "What puppet show? I don't have any puppet show videos on my iPod."

Jack huffed, and Amalya smiled. "They had funny voiced, and pointy hats, and moved like this…." and with that he wiggled his body, making them all laugh. "Ooooooooh, sweetie those are marionettes," she corrected. "Let's see if they're on YouTube," she added, as she pulled her phone out of her pocket.

"Marionettes?" Selim wondered, and she sang a line in the 'funny' voice Jack was talking about and Selim gawked at her. "How on earth do you have that in digital?" he asked incredulously, and she beamed. "Amer digitized the VHS and sent it to me," she told him before she looked over at Jack. "Sorry, sweetie. I can't seem to find it." She told him regretfully, but he was studying the screen intently. "Those letters are funny," he said, and she laughed.

"Yeah, I know. How about you listen to Selim's iPod?" she suggested. She knew they still needed to talk about a few things and didn't want his little ears to hear. "Do you have it?" Jack asked Selim, who shook his head regretfully. "I'm afraid not, kiddo. But I do have other things, wanna have at it?" he wondered, and Jack nodded eagerly. Once he was set up, and they made sure he can't hear a word. They both turned to Strauss.

"Well, I'm sure the Director has told you all that the U. S. Marshal's office is launching a full investigation into Marshal Hoyt's actions in this case, and probably a few others. Agent Dawoud, OP will probably still want to talk to you about the events of today. But I am sure that they will reach the same conclusion I did, so you have nothing to worry about. As for the rest of you; I would like you all to go home, get some rest. And I will contact each of you about when to come in for briefing. I am sure you are all aware that this case is very sensitive, so I will need to hear first hand what happened from each of you. But for now, go home." She said, before she took her leave.

"Don't have to tell me twice," Morgan declared, and they all chuckled.

"Come on, Lya!" Selim beckoned Amalya, just as Haley pulled the earphones out of Jack's ears.

"Wait, I wanna finish it," he said, and Amalya crouched down once more. "How about I bring your Dad a copy, so you can watch it anytime?" she suggested, and he beamed at her. "Promise?" he asked delightfully, and she nodded. "I promise."

He looked thoughtful for a moment. "How do you say it in that funny language?" he wondered, and she couldn't help the throaty laugh, before she said it, making him giggle. "You double promised." He warned her, and she put her hand on her heart. When he looked satisfied enough, she ruffled his hair as she stood up once more.

"Come on, let's get some food into you," Selim told her, and she made a growling sound. "Yes, please."

"Dawoud," Morgan called her, as she grabbed her stuff. "Welcome to the team," he said, extending a hand. She smiled gratefully at him and shook his hand. "Thank you, and Amalya is fine." She stated, as she shook her hand.

Haley walked over to her. "Thank you!" she said simply, and Amalya smiled softly at her, squeezing her hand reassuringly. She nodded at the rest of the team, before she left with Selim.

Hotch had been silent through it all, trying to come to terms with the many thoughts roaming through his head. He watched her walking next to Selim; seemingly lighter than the first time he saw her; than the night they spent pouring over the files at his place; than even an hour ago. He heard her laugh at something Selim said, and it sounded care-free. Almost like the weight that was on her shoulders had been lifted. And it amazed him that a woman who didn't know him, nor his family, had cared so much that such a change of character would be noticed now that she felt she finished her mission.

He had wanted her onboard for a while and was quite aware of her reputation. But he was starting to realize that there was more to her than her file. And he also had an inkling as to why she turned down the Director's offer before, and he was almost glad she did. For he suspected anyone could've pulled off what she just did.

Alright. Here's a looooong chapter for you all to set the stage for a few things.

The line with * at the end is Turkish, and it translates to. "Ok, ok. Mom."

Reviews are greatly appreciated, so let me know what you all think.