"What is it, Erin?"

She let out another deep sigh as she shook her head. "I've been working on this Replicator case while the rest of your team works on fresh cases, since the Director doesn't think that it's a priority for them to be pulled in two directions. There is something that is seriously unsettling me about this, David, and I don't really know how to deal with it."

He patted the spot next to him on the sofa, and she nodded as she rose to her feet and padded over to his side, taking a seat and curling up close to him. As she rested her head on his chest, Dave dropped his hand onto her waist, his thumb absently rubbing back and forth along her stomach as he thought about what to say. "What about it do you find so unsettling?" he finally asked.

"There's something familiar about these taunts, and that's truly what this unsub is doing, he's taunting us and that bothers me down to my core. He knows our schedules, enough to be just a few steps behind us, which means that they most likely have direct access to us somehow. So, who out there hates us enough to be doing something like this?"

"We've made a lot of enemies throughout the years, Erin."

"I suppose. You, you don't think that Jason could be behind this, do you? I know that I wasn't the nicest to him when he walked away from the FBI. I could have brought him back as a consultant, like Max, but you know that we got along as well as oil and water."

"He did have a chip on his shoulder against you, yes, but I don't think he has it in himself to take another life. It truly bothered him every time that he had to discharge his weapon in the field. So perhaps look in a different direction?"

"All right." She sighed once more before cuddling in closer to him. Dave winced as her elbow caught his incision site, and she whimpered a little. "I am so sorry, David! Are you all right? Do you need a pain pill?"

"I'll be fine, darling, you didn't mean to do it. Here, let's adjust ourselves." Erin nodded as she sat up, allowing him to recline a little before he pulled her down on top of his torso. "So, besides Jason, who do you think might be behind all this?"

"This will sound crazy, but do you remember the whole Amerithrax debacle?"

"I remember that that was when Alex and you had your major fallout, because you were forced into a corner." She nodded a little. "There's no way that it could be Alex, Erin. She's with us too much to be a possible unsub."

"Oh my god, no, never her. Especially not since we've buried the hatchet between us! No, I was thinking about the other person who was a part of our little team back then. You were working with Aaron and Jason. I was with Alex and John Curtis."

That name felt familiar for a reason, and he slowly nodded, thinking about who the man had been. It was hard to think of him, since they hadn't interacted much. "I can't place him, Erin."

"He was kind of forgettable. But on the day where I fired them, I had an unsettling incident. I didn't tell anyone at the time, as I was still carrying my service weapon on my person at all times, and felt like I could protect myself."

His hand curled protectively around her hip, even though he knew whatever she was about to say had happened many years in the past. "What did he do to you?"

"He threatened me. He said that I would never be able to look over my shoulder and not think about him being there, watching me, waiting for me to make a mistake. I didn't take him seriously, I told him that if he ever thought about threatening me again, I would make certain that he had a restraining order so strong out against him that he couldn't come within ten miles of me or my family. That seemed to mollify him at the time, and I gradually forgot about that threat. Until now."

"And now you have so much more to worry about, given Helena's fragile health status." She nodded as she curled her hand into the fabric of his shirt. "Well, you could ask Penelope to do some digging for you. I know that she would be more than welcome to do that, especially for you. I really think that she's come to view you like another mother for her. Since she thinks of me like a father."

Erin made a soft sound of agreement as she let her head come to rest on his chest. "I suppose that I could, I just don't want to burden her with more work. And I don't exactly feel comfortable asking Mister Lynch to do that sort of digging for me, since I don't know his work quite so well."

"Promise me that you won't go at this alone, Erin."

He could practically hear her frown as her body stiffened against his, and he ran his fingers up and down her hip in an effort to mollify her. Shaking her head a little, Erin propped herself up on her hand, pushing down into the sofa cushion so that she could glare down at him. "David James Rossi, you had better not be insinuating that I cannot look out for myself! If I deem it necessary to hunt down where John might be now, that is exactly what I will do!"

He knew that a part of this irrational reaction stemmed from the fact that she was so stressed out from Helena's ordeal, but he still felt a bit disconcerted by the fact that she was so eager to put herself in harm's way. "Erin, I know that you are more than capable of taking care of yourself! I just don't want you doing anything rash right now." She went to speak once more, but he gently pressed his fingers against her lips to still her words. "I love you, and I love that fierceness that burns in you. But our granddaughter needs her grandparents in her life, and if you go off alone, I'm afraid of what this unsub might do to you. He's proven himself willing to torture and kill innocent people in some unholy quest for revenge, or malice, or whatever motive he might have. And I don't think I could forgive myself if anything happened to you because no one stopped you from taking that rash action."

Tears spilled down Erin's face, though her eyes still blazed with a righteous fury. Ignoring the low stab of pain from his surgical site, Dave wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her down flush against his body before leaning up and kissing her deeply. "I hate that you're right, David. I just, I don't know…"

"You want to be independent. That's not a bad thing, but since I still have four more weeks of mandatory home recovery, why don't we work on it together? That way, we can bounce ideas off each other, and Kitten can help us run searches, and we will apprehend this unsub, whoever it is. But I want to do it together."

Erin nodded before kissing him once more. "All right, I'll listen to you for the time being," she whispered before letting her head come to rest against his shoulder, allowing him to rub her back softly as they both drifted off to sleep.