The moment you've all been waiting for… one of them… kind of… You'll see.

Chapter 16: Team Efforts

Emily was the last to hear of her freedom from pending prosecution. Mostly, that was because she wasn't free and wasn't completely off the hook until the London law enforcement found the men who actually killed Vince and attacked James. In the meantime, she was still very much a prisoner in her own home, so to speak. The cabin was nice and being with Nate made it more home-like, but it wasn't her home. Nor was it Nate's.

She and Nate had a routine, and they got out of the house a little. By out of the house, of course, it was only the yard, but it counted. It was enough because it had to be. Nate was still depressed. And, despite doing her best to raise his spirits, Emily knew that the only thing that would help settle Nate would be to see James. Honestly, that was what Emily wanted too. She wanted to be there with James and urge him through recovery. She needed to see him to know how bad it really was. She needed to know if there was room for hope or not, and she needed to know how to present the situation to Nate further: whether she needed to prepare him as much as she could for another death or share the hope with him.

So, she was antsy, but when she learned that a witness came forward, she was beyond thrilled. It was a step in the right direction. It gave her more motivation to solve the puzzle she started to unravel back in London. All she needed was her computer… or her team.

"They're not your team," she reminded herself. "But they are family."

The family part was more important. Teams, they could come and go, but family was a forever thing, and she knew that this group of people would support her and help her however they could. While she worried about the potential risks of telling them all where she was, Emily also knew that she needed them. She had been alone with the situation enough and now it was time to reach out. Well, almost time. She wanted to wait for Clyde to return. That was her safest way to reach out. There was a backdoor program on her computer. Once Penelope began hacking her system, she'd know and communicate with them through the shell program she installed.

That was the best and safest option that gave her the best of both worlds. It would allow her to talk with the people she so desperately wanted to connect with while keeping Nate and herself safe. It couldn't be traced or intercepted. Now she had to wait. In the meantime, she had Nate to occupy her mind.

"Hey Nate. Ready for lunch?"

He shook his head.

"What's wrong?"

"I want my dad, Emily. Why can't we go see him?"

Emily's shoulders sagged as she sat beside him, best she could, on the floor.

"My friend is in London right now," she told him as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "He promised he'd check in on your father. I know that's not the same, but I'll get an update on how he's doing, and I will tell you what I learn." She sighed. "I miss him too."

"I'm gonna see him soon, right?"

"As soon as I can get you to him, you'll see him."

He took that as an affirmative answer, and Emily was happy that she got away with that one, but she knew it wouldn't be the end. He'd ask again soon, and she wanted to be able to finally say something different.

"I'm bored. Can we at least go somewhere?"

"And do what?"

"And play," he said.

Trying to reason, she said, "Nate, we can play here."

"But I don't want to," he yelled.

"You're going through something tough, so I'm not going to get upset about your attitude, but that doesn't mean you can act out. Stay here, relax and calm down. When you're ready, come find me."

With that, she pushed herself off the ground and carefully hobbled away.

She had been trying her best, but she knew it wasn't enough. Again, the one thing he needed was reassurance, but not from her. She gave him all she could, but he needed his dad. She had to find a way to bring Nate and James together. Until then, she had to distract him somehow.

As Nate took a little time to mope and contemplate running away to London to be with his dad, Emily was downstairs working on a little project for him. Emily gathered everything she needed from around the house and threw it onto the den's floor. She looked at all she collected, and, with a sigh, got to work.

She had been at it for about an hour before she heard Nate try to sneak up on her.

"What are you doing in there?" he asked, standing at the edge of a linen tent under which Emily was maneuvering about.

"Building," she responded, not stopping her movements.

"Why?"

He received no response, so he stepped under the sheet opening and came in.

"No entering unless you help build," Emily told him, holding her hand up telling him to stop. "Build or watch from out there."

"What is it?"

"It's the makings of a fort, Nate."

"Are you making it to play in?"

"Come sit with me here," Emily responded, lowering her body onto a pillow seat she made deep in the middle of the budding fort.

When he sat down, after examining the surroundings, he asked her again what she was building.

"It's a fort," she repeated.

"But for what?"

"I'm going to tell you a story, Nate. Ok?"

"Ok," he agreed.

"When I was a kid, just about your age, actually, my dad got very sick."

"He did?"

"Yeah."

"What was wrong with him?"

"He had cancer," she told him. "Pancreatic cancer."

"What's that?"

"It's a disease, a very bad one that attacks inside the body."

"Oh…"

"My dad became very, very sick and spent a lot of time in the hospital or in bed. Sometimes, he was there for weeks at a time."

"The doctors couldn't make him better?"

"They tried. They gave him medicine, but that made him sick too." She took a deep breath. "And it was so hard to see him like that. I tried everything to make him feel better."

"Like what?"

"I drew him pictures, tried to hug him and kiss him until he was better… I wanted to spend as much time with him as I could thinking I could make everything alright again."

"Did you?"

"I don't know. Yes… and no."

"I don't get it. How could you help and not help?"

"I helped my dad and myself feel better, but I didn't actually help the cancer."

"I still don't get it."

"There were some days when my dad's medicine made him so sick that he could barely get out of bed or do anything. I didn't understand that, so I wanted to be with him and play with him. I knew he wanted to play with me too, but he didn't feel very well, so I tried to do something special."

"What did you do?"

"Well, I built a fort just like this one. He was sleeping in the guest room on the bottom floor of the house because stairs were too much for him while he was getting chemo – the medicine – and so I took all the extra blankets and sheets and pillows from around the house and brought them into the room while he was resting."

"But why?"

"My room was all the way upstairs in the far end of the house. My dad could never get there to tuck me in and he couldn't come out into the tree house in the backyard anymore either, so I wanted to have a fort inside that was just for the two of us."

"Not your mommy too?"

"No. My mom wasn't a fort person, but they made me feel safe. Both my parents travelled a lot and sometimes I didn't get to go with them, so my dad built me the tree fort in the back yard, and that was where he'd always find me when he came home. I wanted him to feel safe and happy, just like I did in my fort, so I wanted to give him a fort like mine."

"Did he like it?"

Emily smiled at the memory. "He loved it." Emily could still remember her father's reaction. It was one of her memories she hoped would never leave her.

She remembered tripping on the sheet train as she held a pile so big she couldn't see in front of her. Emily snuck into her father's room while staff was away and got right to work. The ceilings were high, and she was small, but young Emily was determined to do it and make it amazing. She remembered standing on top of chairs and the desk, throwing sheets over floor lamps and making a tower of pillows in the middle. Emily built it as high as she could as sturdily as she could, and as fun looking as it could be.

After that, she sat in there waiting for her dad to wake up. In her child mind, it took forever, but she remained there eager and excited. When he did wake, he was surprised by the monstrosity in his room. It took him a minute, but he saw Emily's head sticking out, what he thought to be, the door and immediately smiled. Emily was so excited that she ran to his bed, jumping in beside him, and telling him all about the construction project. It looked a mess, but he was proud to see what his little girl built for him.

Even as a child, Emily had an uncanny ability to read the emotions of the adults in her life. She could see on her father's face how much he liked it. The way he ran his weak hand through her hair comforted her in ways she couldn't understand then, but what she did know was how much her dad loved her. They spent hours playing there. She helped her dad walk into the tent fort and sit on the throne she made for him, and they played for the rest of the day. He was the king, and she was the servant ready and willing to do anything for him.

What Emily remembered most, however, was the feeling of safety and comfort that she got from being in there with him. Her mother insisted they take it down, but her father made sure it stayed up. That became her safe place after he died. That was where she ran to when she wanted to feel her feelings alone, when she wanted to make sure her mother wouldn't bother her, or the nanny couldn't find her.

So now, building this one for Nate, she hoped to give him those same feelings. She wanted to get him involved and offer him a safe place to be that might allow him to feel connected to her and his father at the same time.

"Being in the fort always made me feel happy and connected with my dad when I missed him. I know you're missing your dads and I can't bring you together right now, but I thought we could use the fort as a safe place for you to say goodbye to Vince and feel close to James."

"I really want to see him."

"I know. I do too. It still doesn't mean much, but I am working on it, Nate."

He silently nodded and peered around the fort. "Can we make it more than one room?"

Emily, feeling Nate relax and get into the project, smiled and said, "Anything you want, we can try. No guarantees that anything we build stands the test of actual use, though."

"Cool."

Destructing it sounded just as fun as building it, Nate thought.

Nate became happily involved in the project, working with Emily to customize his fort. He was having fun and Emily was prideful that her plan for distraction seemed to be working for them both. They ignored the problems and worries that surrounded them and, instead, focused on making the most awesome fort they could. By the time they were finished, both were exhausted.

Lying down in one of the rooms on a pillow couch, Nate looked out of the window into the star filled, dark sky. "This is pretty cool, Emily."

"Yeah? I'm glad you think so. I loved doing this as a kid."

"Can we keep it up?"

"We can. For as long as we're here."

"Awesome."

He kept staring at the stars, Emily noticed, and she moved closer to share his view.

"Did your dad ever tell you about stars and constellations?" Emily asked him.

"Nuh uh."

"Really?"

He shook his head.

"Then I guess that leaves it to me."

Emily pulled him in with the science behind a star before getting into the more mythical sounding stories about constellations, even pointing one out that they could see in the sky right then and there. He asked questions and Emily was all too eager to answer them. It felt, for a while, that Nate was understanding that it was ok to feel sad and miss both of his fathers, but that he couldn't let that pain control him. That was something Emily wanted him to get, and, thankfully, Nate asked a question that helped her circle back to her own experiences on that point.

"How do you know so much about stars, Emily?"

"My dad," she told him. "In my tree fort, he put a telescope and we would look at the stars and planets whenever we could. He told me all the same stories that I'm telling you."

"He sounds like a good daddy," Nath thoughtfully said.

"He was the best, and I miss him every day."

Nate related to that. It hadn't been long since he had seen his dads, but he missed them both so much.

"Am I going to miss my dads forever?"

"I don't know, Nate. What I do know is that your dads love you so much. Vince, he may be gone, but a piece of him will always be with you, just like my dad will always be with me."

"How?"

"Well, for me, when I miss him a lot, I always look at the stars. That was something we did together and will always remind me of him. When I do it, like I am right now with you, it makes me happy because I feel like he's here with us."

"I don't want my dad to be dead. I don't want to miss him. I want him with me forever."

Emily laid closer to him, putting her arm around his shoulders and holding him. She said nothing, just let him express his feelings. Vince was dead, and he would have to grieve that loss as well as the conflicting feelings of hope and loss with James. It wasn't something that just disappeared.

"Will you tell me more about your dad and the stars?"

"Of course," she promised and began another constellation story.

Nate started to feel what Emily was talking about. Even though his dads didn't often tell him about stars or sky gaze with him, he remembered lying in their backyard once and looking at the clouds with his fathers. They stayed there for hours looking up, just like he was then with Emily, and picked out shapes in the clouds. So, being there, learning from and listening to Emily did make him feel closer to his dads. And the fort made him feel protected from the sadness. It was nice for them.

They were starting to fall asleep in there when Emily received a message on her burner phone. Clyde was back in DC and heading to the BAU.

We're going to get this mess cleared up, he wrote to her.

She believed him, and his arrival meant it was time for her to make the next move. With Nate fast asleep, she slipped her arm out from under him and moved to find one of the other burner phones. She needed to set up to be ready. Garcia, she was sure, wouldn't waste any time once her computer was in her very capable hands.

The team had been waiting all day for Clyde to come back. Since they got his message about the witness and then the call that he got the witness to talk, all of them had been trying to focus on the next step: finding Emily and bringing her to them. Of course, there were many less productive hours in between when each of them was on the edge of their seats waiting for news.

Something else they were very aware of was that they knew, wherever Emily was, if she didn't want to be found, they wouldn't find her. So, they were looking for minute, little breadcrumbs that she might have dropped along the way. From the moment they were able to shift all their focus to locating Emily, Spencer had felt uncomfortable. Even though he was just doing what Emily asked by keeping her whereabouts to himself, he wasn't sure it was the right thing. Keeping it from everyone else wasn't good.

He was being distant and keeping out of conversations as best he could without raising suspicions. It seemed to work for a while. He sat at his desk, flipping through random files, while his eyes were drawn to the burner phone in his bag. It was like he was willing it to ring. It didn't… Maybe that was what was bothering him most. Since he saw her a few days prior, there had only been one more exchange between them, and all it was only a brief text swap. It wasn't comforting. It wasn't enough.

But there they were, ready to search down every corner of the earth to find her, and he knew where she was. Sure, he was worried; just like the rest of them, but he at least had the comfort of seeing for himself that she was ok… relatively. They had no idea, though. The only facts they had were that Emily and Nate were hurt in an intentional car crash and then some crazy guy attacked Emily. The perps were bold and reckless. That didn't bode well for Emily and added to the worry.

Spencer found it hard to listen to his friends theorize. Hotch spent a lot of the day in his office with Dave. The two were talking with Clyde and then London law enforcement trying to completely clear up everything and potentially get them involved with the search for the true assailants. That left the rest of the team to come up with ideas about where Emily could have headed and where they should look.

They were able to come up with many plausible theories, but there was something that they were all trying not to think about.

"All this is good and great," JJ started, "But we also have to consider that she's traveling with a child."

"And that she's hurt," Penelope glumly added.

Derek responded, "We don't know how bad either."

"We know she was able to walk out of the hospital on her own. That's good, right?" Penelope hoped.

"Sure, it's good. But with adrenaline and the fight or flight urges running through her, she could have just been in overdrive. You know, running on instincts and not feeling the pain."

The conversation continued like that, a back and forth pondering the extent of Emily's injuries, Nate's potential injuries, and where it could lead them.

"Well," Penelope said, "We know that there was that pilot connected to Ambassador Prentiss that took off, presumably for Paris. I looked at airspace around the area."

"And did you find anything?" JJ hopefully asked.

"Given the approximate departure time and factoring in other things, I found five different spots that planes matching the one we know the pilot used landed within our timeframe."

"How do you know that? I thought there wasn't a flight plan."

"There wasn't, but if he wasn't filing a flight plan or sent out a bogus one, then he wasn't going to use public or mainstream places."

"Ok… Knowing she's injured, we can probably factor out some of the further spots, can't we?"

"What do you think, Reid?" Penelope asked. "How far can she have gotten?"

In the background, Spencer was fiddling with the star puzzle Emily gave him a long time ago. He knew exactly where the plane took her and exactly where she was, and that weighed heavily on him. Lost in his own worries and thoughts, he tuned out most of what they were saying and didn't even hear them calling his name.

"Spence? Hey! Spencer," JJ called.

"What?" He snapped back into reality.

"Where are our Reid facts? Do you think it's possible for her to make it that far?"

"I don't know… Maybe."

"Really? That's it?" Derek hissed. The pretty boy was the brains of their operation and, it seemed, when they needed him, he was jumping ship. "No mathematical computations or pertinent statistics? Nothing of substance?" He continued to push.

Allowing Derek's baiting to get to him, without fully thinking about what he was saying, Spencer responded, "With a torn ACL, she's in pain and semi-mobile. She'd be able to walk, but would experience discomfort, especially if she didn't have crutches. Nate wouldn't be a problem. His arm was broken, but otherwise he is fine. She'd have no problem getting to any plane because she's Emily and she'd come here… So that she could eventually come to us. None of that should be a question."

"Hold up," Derek said, everyone's eyes narrowed on Spencer.

"How do you know she has an ACL injury?" JJ inquired.

Penelope met his squirrelly gaze and asked, "Or about Nathaniel's arm? And you're calling him Nate now?"

"I… ugh…" He stumbled for the right words, torn between keeping the secret and lying to his friends or just coming clean.

Fortunately for him, Clyde had been hanging back and watching it play out, waiting for the right moment to step in. He picked the perfect time, in Spencer's mind.

"I think I can answer some of your questions, and I've a little present for you Penelope," Clyde said, moving closer with the computer bag held out. "Special delivery straight from London."

"We're not done with this, Reid," Derek hissed, everyone sharing the sentiment.

There was no question in Spencer's voice as he "theorized." He knew Emily was close by. They all assumed she would end up back in the states, but they didn't think it would be Reid that confirmed it for them. They were thinking more a surveillance picture from outside a nearby landing strip or Elizabeth giving in and helping solve the issue. But Spencer Reid… Nope.

That couldn't be their main concern yet. Clyde brought them something that required their immediate attention.

"Her computer?" Penelope asked.

"Indeed. It's highly encrypted and she said you'd know how to break it." He told her exactly what Emily told him.

Penelope was so excited by the challenge and the prospect of finally making a break, that she didn't even pick up on the obvious, but that didn't mean everyone else missed it too.

"How do you know that?"

Clyde smiled and moved his gaze up, first to Derek who asked the question and then over to Spencer. "I just know things," he answered. It was in a way that let Spencer know exactly how he knew. "A little birdie left me a trail to follow."

Spy games… They didn't have it in them to ask for more. They learned long ago that Emily and Clyde had a unique relationship, and it was best not to try to dissect it. It was obvious that, somehow, Emily left him clues. Figuring out the how wasn't as important as following the trail.

With everyone distracted, Clyde moseyed over to Spencer. "Emily says hello, by the way," Clyde whispered into the genius' ear.

"You followed me?"

"You didn't realize I was?" It came out chiding. "You have to be more careful."

"I thought I was being careful."

"Not enough."

Their hushed conversation was broken up when Hotch and Rossi returned. They immediately jumped into conversation with Clyde. Derek and JJ took the chance to confront Reid. Penelope said it would take time to get into the computer, so now was the time to find out what else the boy knew. As much as they wanted to hear what Clyde had to say, they thought they could get just as much from the genius.

"So, Spence…" JJ began the interrogation. "How do you know about Emily?"

"I… I don't know what you mean."

"No, no, you don't get to do that, Pretty Boy."

"What do you know Spence?"

"And how do you know it?"

He tried to hold his own, but JJ and Derek were his friends. The conflicted thoughts weren't helping the situation.

"I… she… I…"

"Spit it out," Derek said a little too loudly, garnering everyone's attention.

Hotch, seeing the commotion, stopped what he was doing and went over to the three. "Hey. What's going on here?"

"You should be asking the boy genius here. He knows something that he's not telling."

"Like what?"

"Like where Emily is and how badly she was hurt in the crash."

He didn't know where to start, so Hotch asked, "How badly was she hurt?"

"She's fully mobile," Clyde cut in, feeling for the younger man. He could take the heat, but maybe Reid couldn't. "Hurt her knee, but she's healing quite nicely. So is the child."

"You've met with her," Dave surmised. "When?"

"Right before leaving. That's how I knew about the computer and how to access it."

"You know where she is. Tell us," Derek demanded, switching focus from Reid to Clyde.

"That's not how this works. I know things and I share them in time. In Emily's time."

A conflict ensued. Angry, Derek grabbed Clyde by the collar and demanded that he tell them where she was. It was a matter of her safety, he claimed, and they deserved to know. Clyde defended himself and didn't even flinch at Derek's actions. He simply said that Emily would reach out when she was ready, not before. He also noted that a mole could easily have eyes around them too.

"That's not good enough. You and Reid know something. We should be in on it too."

"He's right," Hotch interjected. "How else can we help her?"

While the physical aspect of the confrontation was over just as soon as it began, the back and forth with raised voices continued. That didn't last long either. It seemed like everyone was talking all at once, asking questions and hurling accusations. Meanwhile, Penelope was on the outside trying to be more productive about things.

"Guys… Hello? Guys!"

"What?" Derek hissed at her, everyone finally quieting enough to hear her.

"Someone's trying to contact me through the computer. I think it's Emily."

"Emily?"

"Well, it is her computer. That would make the most sense."

"How do you know she's trying to make contact?"

"Um… Because I'm Penelope Garcia," she said, matter-of-factly. "Look, I'm not going to get into the details behind it, but let's just say that Emily has upped her spy game. She has a shell program installed. The only reason I spotted it is because I was looking for anything and everything in her computer. There's a message from her."

"What does it say?" JJ asked.

"Well, come see for yourself."

Everyone began crowding around the computer and Penelope began clicking at the keys. A mechanical voice relayed Emily's written message.

"I knew you'd find it, PG," the robot translated.

"Of course I did," Penelope said aloud and then typed it back to Emily. Emily set up the initial message as a preset response. Once Garcia found it, Emily's message would be sent and alert both them.

"Ask her where she is since no one here will tell us," Dave added.

Hotch added, "Ask her if she's ok. How's she doing?"

"I'm going to do it all, guys. Give her a second to respond."

Emily did respond, the mechanical voice saying, "I'm sorry you are all involved in this now. Is everyone around?"

"Yes."

There was a short delay in response before Emily said, "Answer the phone. No tracing."

Garcia was about to type, what phone, but a ringing sounded from Reid's bag.

"Where is that?" Hotch asked and began searching.

Guiltily, Spencer stumbled toward his desk, knocking over his bag in the process. When he did, everything scattered onto the floor, including the phone.

"Someone answer it!" JJ yelled.

Spencer ran to quickly pick up the phone. "Emily, you're on speaker. We're all here," he managed to squeak out, ignoring everyone's glare.

"Hi," she said coolly. "How's everyone doing?"

"Us? How are we doing? How are you doing?" Penelope asked.

"I'm… I'm ok. I've been better. I know you've all learned about what's going on and what happened in Paris. I promise, I'm just a little banged up. Hurt, but nothing that won't heal. Nate has a broken arm, but he's more worried about his dad." Emily was trying to be as forthcoming as possible, anticipating a lot of their questions.

Penelope sighed and typed, "Dominic, aka Vincent, has died. James is still labeled in critical condition."

"I know," Emily responded. Unfortunately, that was the same update Clyde gave her earlier. James was doing better in the sense that he was more stable, but the doctors were still worried. His vitals still weren't where they should be, and he hadn't responded to tests the way they hoped. "Let's focus on the matter at hand." Her words were laced with emotion as she fought not to think about the loss.

Penelope and the team continued to talk with Emily. They informed Emily that Garcia was able to start the decryption process and worked her way through the files she was able to access. Emily told her what they would be looking at and looking for.

"I don't want to stay on the line too long. I have no idea what Bardolino's men are capable of, but I do know what my guys at Interpol are, so I can't risk anything. I mapped out some of my cases that I think are connected. I've told Clyde, so he can fill you in and help get the Interpol files. I think that will weed out the mole."

"Any clues?" Dave asked.

"Maybe, but I'm too close to it. I want to see what conclusions you draw first."

They were ok with that logic and went on to discuss the far-reaching potential of this case.

"If I'm right, this goes much deeper than I initially thought. I've felt something off about my last few cases. Look into those too, especially any connected to the last one."

JJ was quick to ask, "What was the last case?"

"Better yet, what happened?" Hotch questioned.

"We lost an agent… Just look into it. I… I have to go."

"Wait!" Garcia yelled. Emily was silent on the other end. "Emily?" Garcia tried.

"Yeah?"

"It's really good to hear your voice."

"Yours too, PG."

Emily didn't give anyone else a chance to talk, simply hanging up.

Though there was clear anger toward Reid and Clyde for their omissions, everyone put that aside so that they could work together. It was like they were falling down the rabbit hole once they were able to go through Emily's files.

"This is crazy."

"Can they all really be connected?"

"Who are our best mole suspects? Emily already ruled out our first guesses…"

Those were just some of the many questions left at the end of the day. Once night fell, they were all exhausted and only just begun going through everything. There was so much to do. But, finally having some peace of mind after hearing from Emily, they were ok with letting the computers do their thing while they called it a night. Emily was safe for now and they would work to take down the Bardolinos together.

Not all of their questions were answered. In fact, not one thing about Nate was even touched, but that would wait. It would have to. They had a job to do and needed rest to do it.