Erin woke up exhausted, her sleep having been extremely troubled with thoughts of the awful letter that she had received the previous evening. It had been difficult to hide the dark circles beneath her eyes with makeup, though she had tried her best, and as a result, she'd gone with an outfit that would hopefully distract from her face. As she and David rode up to the sixth floor together, she tapped her foot absently, trying not to concentrate on the fact that she was still so keyed up over the fact that someone had tried to steal their peace in such a cruel manner.

The doors opened on their floor, and Erin was the first one out of the elevator, heading straight for the bullpen instead of going to her office. David quickly caught up with her, grabbing her hand before they entered the bullpen together. "Everything will be all right, Erin."

"How can you say that? You work on the worst cases in the country, you see the horror that people can inflict on others, and you're so blasé about this. Someone deliberately came up to our porch and left this thing there, in order to intimidate me, and I am going to find out who!"

A few people looked at her askance as she made her way over to Agent Anderson's desk, wishing that he didn't sit so close to Alex's desk, as she wasn't in the mood to deal with her that morning. Still, it didn't appear as if she had arrived yet, as Alex wasn't sitting there, and Erin let out a small sigh of relief before clearing her throat to get Agent Anderson's attention.

"Can I help you, Chief Strauss?" he asked, looking truly concerned. Self-consciously, Erin touched her hair, knowing that she hadn't done as good a job at concealing her exhaustion as she had thought, and gave the younger man a small nod. "Okay, what do you need?"

"Last night, while Aaron was taking Elise and Jack trick or treating, I received a rather disturbing letter and package. While I know that this is outside your normal scope of expertise, I also know that you are excellent at tracking down the smallest of details. You did it when you were looking for Foyet, I remember Agent Jareau speaking about how much you helped them during those black days, during the inquest. So I'm hoping that you can use those skills in order to help me figure out who would do such a cruel thing to me and David."

Hesitantly, she held out the box, hating that her hands trembled as she did so, knowing that it showed just how unnerved she was by the situation. "Of course, I'll do whatever I can to make certain that we get you the answers that you need. When would you like to know more?"

"As soon as possible. And if Director Shepperd asks you why you're diverting your attention from your current caseload, you can tell him that you're working on an important project for me, and then I'll explain in greater detail what's going on."

"That's a bit rich, Erin."

She turned to see Alex standing behind them, a contemptuous look on her face as she stared at them. "I'm sorry, Alex?"

"You're tying up a vital FBI resource to get information about a prank that some idiot teenagers pulled on Halloween. Let me guess, you didn't have your light on?"

"I fail to see why that would make a difference here, Alex. This goes far beyond a simple prank by kids. The letter I received is extremely threatening, and it was left unsigned, for the maximum effect. If you had received a similar letter or package, I would have Agent Anderson do the same for you. Because we need to stick together at a time like this."

There was a short pause before Alex looked away from her, and Erin shuddered a little as she realized that the woman had been keeping something from the team, as she looked embarrassed by the words Erin had spoken. "I have received a letter."

"I'm sorry?"

Alex looked up at her and Erin could see just how unsettled she was before that open look was shuttered by the flat look that she used around Erin lately. "I have also received an anonymous letter. I just chalked it up to dumb kids playing pranks, and put it aside. People are stupid, after all."

"I know that they are. But this is much more than just a letter, too. Agent Anderson, open the box, please."

He nodded as he slipped off the lid and then let out a sharp gasp. Alex frowned as she leaned forward to look in the box, and while her face quickly drained of colour, her expression was still mulish and uncaring. "That certainly is something. But do you think that it's truly worth tying up so many resources to find out who sent it?"

"Dammit, Lexie, yes! Our young daughter was home when that was delivered, since she didn't feel well enough to head out with her sister. Don't dismiss this as some wild snipe hunt that I'm sending Agent Anderson on. If anyone puts my family in danger, I will hunt them down. And if you had brought that letter to me the moment you received it, I would have done the same damn thing for you!"

Erin was proud of the fact that her voice didn't get louder and louder as she addressed her former friend, instead her vehemence came out in the alacrity of her words as her eyes narrowed dangerously on her former friend. "No, you wouldn't, you were the first one to cut my rope…"

"That was almost two decades ago, I've changed. Though it's quite obvious that you haven't moved on from then. I was the one who put you on the shortlist for that position. Remember that the next time you want to disparage me." Turning sharply on her heel, Erin sailed from the bullpen, her chin lifted high as she struggled to keep a cool look on her face, knowing that a good number of the agents had been watching their little display.

It wasn't until she reached her office that Erin realized she had been followed by her husband, and she gave him a shaky smile as Helen quickly rose to her feet, rushing over to their sides. "What happened?" she asked as she reached out to touch Erin's arm, and Erin rolled her eyes a little, trying to find the right words to tell Helen everything that had happened in the last twelve hours.

"Erin finally found her backbone when it comes to Alex pushing her around, and it was a glorious thing to watch. I know that it won't help their relationship, truly, but it needed to be said. Especially after the package that showed up on our doorstep last night."

"David, I just undid all of the halting progress that we had made, and now she'll never forgive me. I don't know what I was thinking!"

"You were thinking about protecting our family. You're allowed to do so. Even I think that you might be blowing this a bit out of proportion. I will trust your instincts on this, though, because I will never not support you."

Erin looked up into his face, giving him a warm smile before letting her head thump down against his chest as Helen nodded. "I'm certain that everything will be all right, with time, Erin. And we'll make certain that whatever this situation is, it won't touch the children." She smiled at Helen before allowing David to lead her into her inner office, still wondering where this all would lead.