AN: Apologies for taking so long to publish this chapter. I hope you enjoy it. I also wanted to let you know that this story will be coming to an end. It will have 2 more chapters and an epilogue. That said I wanted to check if there is any interest in a sequel. I have thoughts on some broad strokes for one.

CHAPTER 28

Emily groaned in frustration as she sat at the desk in her home office while the kids napped. She had been home over a week now awaiting her court date. She had already completed most of the items on her 'to do' list as well as several things that weren't on her list.

It wasn't that she was at home. She loved spending time with her kids. It had only been a few months since she had gone back to work after her maternity leave but even in that short time, she could see both of them changing. She was never going to regret spending time with them while she had the break from work. It was that she was being forced to take the time when she hadn't done anything wrong.

She had gone into the BAU with Aaron Monday morning and was immediately pulled into a meeting with Strauss on what of her aspects of her job she was currently cleared by legal to do until her court hearing. She was disheartened when Strauss passed her the recommendations that basically stated that she was not cleared to perform any official FBI business not limited as they had discussed on the phone.

Strauss apologized for the confusion saying the when the FBI's chief legal counsel had been briefed, he had made this recommendation to the director who had concurred.

She had only briefly gone to her office as with her time off in December most of her job responsibilities were already being covered by other agents before going over to the bullpen to update Aaron. She left the bullpen that day even more dejected when Derek didn't even greet her as the rest of the team did.

As she was walking out to her car, Dave drove up to her and offered to take her to breakfast. Emily was fairly sure someone had called him given when he had arrived but was nevertheless glad to see him. She had agreed to breakfast and his offer to take her home afterwards so that she could leave the car for Aaron. Dave had tried to keep things upbeat sensing her mood.

She was enjoying getting to know Dave better. He still had a week left on his suspension and with her out of the office, they had been making time to grow their relationship.

Again, it was time away from work that she would never regret taking. No what was frustrating her was that right now she was legally unable to work until she went to court and got everything sorted out. The FBI had her on paid leave. And even if she wanted to, she couldn't go anywhere else because all her documentation was screwed up.

She also couldn't do a name change on her driver's license or social security card or passport. She didn't know where all this put the status of her marriage or Jack's adoption. The name of the mother on her daughter's birth certificate was of someone who legally didn't exist.

And as a proactive person having all this uncertainty around her and not being able to do anything about it was driving her nuts. And she didn't even have work right now to distract her.

Opening her desk drawer to pull out a notepad to make a list of everything she needed to update, she came across her copy of the file of her information from the documents that found the prosecutor's office files. Her attention diverted, she started paging through the documents, her anger increasing as she did.

As she came to her intake paperwork, she focused on the name Mildred Taylor wondering what had been going through her mind to sell her own grandchild. Why had she done it? Why had she gone to that length to prevent Dave from raising her?

Paging to the searches Garcia had done, Emily came up to Mildred Taylor's demographic information as well as the notation that she had died. She banged her hands on the desk as she realized that she would never have answers to those questions. Even if she had, she didn't think there would be a reason that would be acceptable for what was done to her.

Looking back down at the searches, Emily noticed that she had had an uncle, Nathan but he had also passed away. Looking past that, she saw that the man that Mildred had married shortly after she was given up for adoption had been a judge and when Garcia had done the search he was in hospice care.

Emily got up from the desk and started pacing. A judge!? He was a judge and had no problem with his fiancee selling her grandchild. Or was it his idea and with Emma's death had he wanted Emily out of the picture? And if he wasn't involved, why didn't he stop it? Nothing about what happened to her was legal.

As she was pacing a thought crossed her mind- she wanted to see this man. She wanted to ask him why. He was there and she deserved to know why. But was he still alive now? It had been weeks since Garcia did these searches and at that point he was in hospice. She needed to call Garcia and see if should could redo the search.

As she dialed Garcia's number, she stopped and hung up the phone. She knew once she called Penelope that there was a nonzero chance that she would be down to Aaron's office to talk to him about the updated search. Before she did anything else, Emily needed to think this through.

####

Hotch sighed as he walked through the bullpen to his office. Emily and Dave had left to take the early morning flight to New York in hopes that they would be able to talk with Boyd Keeler.

He had been surprised when he had arrived home a couple of nights earlier when Emily had shared with him that she wanted to make this trip. Telling him that she needed to talk to this man as he may be the only one who could answer her questions.

When Dave arrived a short time later, it hadn't taken long for him to catch on to what Emily was planning. And he hadn't reacted well after his interactions with this man when he arrived home from the Marines.

Hotch had stepped out to let them talk knowing from experience at this point that these two stubborn individuals would not hear a word he said anyway.

After getting both kids to bed, he slowly walked down the stairs, not sure what the sudden quiet indicated for the discussion. He had been momentarily taken aback when he walked into the room he see Emily crying and curled into Dave's side while he had his arm around her shoulders. Dave's glassy eyes were just another indication that it had been a deep and emotional conversation between the two.

On seeing Hotch at the entrance to the room, Dave had asked him to come in and sit down. Once Hotch was settled Dave explained after talking it through, they both were going to go to see Boyd Keeler. Seeing the looks on both of their faces, Hotch sighed before nodding as he realized he wasn't going to be able to talk them out of this trip.

The next couple of hours was spent planning though Emily had already done some preliminary planning that afternoon. After assurances were gained from Will that he could keep the kids until Emily returned if Hotch and JJ were called out on a case, they booked plane tickets as well as a rental car.

As he now sat at his desk, Hotch couldn't help but focus on how their trip was going. Ideally he would have liked to have gone with them but he couldn't leave the team right now. Strauss had started her assessment of the team and the new Assistant Director had been popping in and out the whole week.

Usually none of this would be a concern but right now the team was not functioning well. Dave was still suspended and was out of the office. Reid and JJ were pissed at Morgan and were having no problem expressing it. Garcia was upset with him as well but their unique friendship lessen the public expression on it. Alex was trying to play peacemaker which she had quickly discovered was a constant job.

And then there was Hotch. A large part of him wanted to tear into Morgan but as Unit Chief he couldn't do that in the office. He had needed to remind himself of that not only on Sunday evening before they returned to work but also on the drive in each morning.

A reminder he had nearly forgotten when he saw how upset Emily was when he didn't talk to her Monday morning in the bullpen on top of what she said was the outcome of her meeting with Strauss. He did find himself calming down later when he overheard Derek asking Alex why wasn't Emily in her office a couple of hours later. That relief was short-lived however because even after finding out what happened, Derek still hadn't contacted Emily.

Looking at his watch, Hotch noticed that he should be received a message from Emily soon that they had reached the medical center were Boyd Keeler was staying. As he waited, he gave silent prayers hoping Emily and Dave would be able to keep their promises to him about not getting themselves arrested knowing how angry each of them was with this man.

He was pulled out of his thoughts with the buzz of his phone alerting him of a text message from Emily telling him they arrived.

####

Dave and Emily were waiting in the lobby of the medical center. When they had arrived, they had let the receptionist know who they were there to see. A call to his nurse had confirmed that he was up for visitors so they had signed in and received their visitor badges just waiting for a call that they could walk down to his room.

When that call came just a few minutes later, they were both nervously pacing in the reception area.

When they walked into Boyd Keeler's room, Dave was stunned at the drastic change in the appearance of the man in front of him. He seemed much smaller and frail while his skin had a sallow appearance. As he walked further into the room, Dave could feel his anger begin to evaporate.

Mr. Keeler looked up at them as they walked into the room through glasses that were on the end is his nose. He closely observed them as they moved closer. They were only a few steps into the room when a look of recognition crossed his face and he said, "David" with surprise evident in his voice. Looking back and forth between the two of them confused before he continued, "and how is Emma with you? Mildred said she died years ago."

Dave nodded before replying, "Mr Keeler. You are correct. David Rossi. This isn't Emma. This is our daughter." He gestured towards Emily.

Mr Keeler anxiously looked back and forth between them before saying surprised, "Sophia? You found Sophia? She looks just like Emma."

Dave nodded before replying, "Yes, she does. We found each other a few weeks ago. This is Emily …"

"...Prentiss. Yes, I know." Keeler interrupted.

At that piece of information, Dave could feel his anger rising again. He had known this whole time. He shook his head before angrily responding, "How do you know that? Were you involved in you wife selling my child? Is that why you got the restraining order against me when I came looking for her?"

Keeler nodded before quietly saying, "David I will answer your questions. I owe you that much."

Emily reached over and put her hand on Dave's shoulder before saying, "thank you. Before you answer any questions you need to know we are both FBI agents however we are not here in our capacity as agents. Are you still willing to talk to us?"

Keeler looked at her and nodded before he said,"yes, my dear."

Emily took a deep breath and asked the questions that had most been troubling her, "why did she give me away? As a judge, you had to know what she was doing was illegal - why didn't you stop her?"

Keeler sat back in his chair and closed his eyes briefly. When he reopened them, he looked right at them as he said, "let me start at the beginning. Mildred had been trying to talk Emma into giving the baby up for adoption for most of her pregnancy…"

"...but why?" Dave interrupted. He hadn't had any major problems with Emma's family though he had known Mildred was unsure of how close he and Emma were.

Keeler nodded before saying, "Mildred became pregnant with Emma at around the same age as Emma became pregnant with you." as he gestured towards Emily before continuing, "by the time she was 20, she was married with a child. By her 22nd birthday, she was a widow with two young children after her first husband was killed in a military training accident. In those days it was very hard to be a single mother. She didn't have family and had to work two jobs while also raising Emma and Nathan. She didn't want Emma to follow the same path."

Dave's stomach dropped as he spoke. He had known that Mildred was a single mother but never considered what that had meant for her. Looking back, he could see how the two experiences were similar. Even so, it didn't excuse what happened. Looking over at Keeler, he asked, "So you approve of what she did?"

Keeler shook his head as he said, "No, I didn't say that. I was out of state that fall. Later what I was told was Emma died and the baby had been given up for adoption. I didn't know that it wasn't Emma that gave you up until later." He paused as he looked at Emily before continuing, "Mildred was overcome with grief when Emma died so I hadn't asked too many questions. At least not at that point."

Dave sighed and ran his hands over his face. He remembered how close Emma had been with her mother. He looked up at Keeler before asking, "when did you discover what really happened?"

Keeler looked at Dave and held his glance before shaking his head then said, "when you came home, David. After you came that first day, Mildred contacted the adoption attorney. Within a couple of hours, a couple of lawyers showed up at our house. Told both of us not to talk to you. They threatened both of us. Mildred with arrest. I did not sign that restraining order against you, David. Judge McRae did." He paused before continuing, "they threatened to hurt you David. They didn't say anything when they were there but they were scared. You represented a great threat to their operation."

Emily who had been quietly listening to their interaction then asked, "but you were a judge, how could you not say anything once you knew?"

Keeler sighed before responding to her, "after they left, Mildred and I discussed how she put you up for adoption and we looked through all the paperwork. The paperwork they had her fill out was in complicated legalese. They had explained the money as typical for adoptions. She had gotten the name of this lawyer from her long time trusted doctor and didn't even consider that they would be misleading her." He paused remembered how he had approached that doctor afterwards and called him out on the referral as well as insisting that Mildred and Nathan never saw him again.

Then he continued, "she had been consumed with grief when Emma died and they took advantage of that as well as her limited education. She wasn't a lawyer, she barely finished high school. I wish she would have waited for me to come home and look at the papers. I never would have agreed for her to sign to those terms."

He paused again before looking over at Emily, knowing what he said next was going to be especially difficult for her, "we were going to report what happened until Sebastian Prentiss showed up on our doorstep two days later with his lawyers. He made it very clear that the adoption was final and neither we nor you David would get the baby back. That she belonged to him now. That she was out of the country and there was no way that he would allow us to get her back. He continued if we insisted on pursuing it, that he would ruin us. Sue us for damages to his reputation. Make sure I lost my new position as a judge and was disbarred.

We couldn't prove that the baby was Mildred's granddaughter or your daughter. DNA testing didn't exist at that point. And we would be admitting to wrongdoing with no chance that we would get you back. It was clear during that meeting that he had the resources to follow through with what he threatened. So we changed our minds and didn't say anything, even to you David when you came back the next day." Keeler broke eye contact and looked down as he stopped, not sure what to say next.

The room was quiet for several minutes before Emily asked, "would you be able to identify the lawyers that were with him?" Dave looked over at her confused before sharing a look with her as he realized why she was asking.

Keeler nodded and said softly, "of course, I will never forget that day."

Dave and Emily exchanged a look. His identification would go a long way into convicting the lawyers at the Prentiss family firm once they had been caught. However, they couldn't be the ones to take the statement and witness the identifications. Due to the circumstances and that this would likely be Keeler's only statement, they needed to make sure it was done in the the most legal way possible to increase the chance that a judge in the future case would allow it in the trial. Dave asked, "would you be willing to talk to some of our colleagues and make a statement on the record?"

Keeler looked at them confused before he asked, "can't you take my official statement? You said you were both FBI agents."

Emily shook her head and gave the vague explanation, "we can't. We are both on leave right now. But we can have someone here in the next couple of hours if you are up to it." She looked at her watch.

Keeler nodded and yawned before saying, "of course. I need to rest now but I will give a statement to your colleagues."

"Thank you. We leave you to rest while we go and make arrangements." Emily said before they walked out of the room. After Dave closed the door, she pulled out her phone to call Aaron hoping he could help them contact the people they needed to get this statement.

####

The two FBI agents and representative from the US Attorney's office had just walked out of Mr Keeler's room along with all the equipment they used to recording his official statement. With the progression of his illness, this was likely the only statement they would have about what he and his wife had experienced so they got not only a written statement but made a video recording of the interview.

While McRae and Howard could have more charges against them though that was unlikely since they were already in prison, this testimony was going to be used for the cases against the Prentiss family attorneys who Mr Keeler had positively identified out of a lineup posed to him by the other FBI agents.

Dave and Emily had just finished speaking to the lawyer from the US Attorney's office when they were approached by the man they were earlier introduced to as Boyd Keeler's attorney.

"Agent Rossi, Agent Hotchner, Judge Keeler wanted me to pass on his apologies. Though we both know that nothing he says at this point will change all of the time you have lost with each other."

"Thank you Mr Harris." Dave responded as they were picking up their coats and bags.

Mr Harris continued, "before you leave, when I just spoke to him, Mr Keeler asked me to check with you if you were interested in items that were Emma's that they saved when she died. Mr Keeler said his stepson had packed up all of her things and stored at least some of it and they didn't know until he died. Mr Keeler still has the boxes at his house though he doesn't know what is in them. If you would like it, we can arrange to have them shipped to you."

Dave and Emily looked at each other. When he saw the first smile on Emily's face in hours, Dave answered, "yes. We would like it, whatever is in the boxes."

Dave wrote his address on the back of one of his cards so Mr Harris knew where to ship the boxes. Without knowing how many they were talking about, they decided that the boxes would go to Dave's house as he had the room and a housekeeper who could accept the delivery.

After the lawyer walked away, Dave turned to Emily and said, "OK, Em. Let's head home." She nodded and they walked together out of the medical center.

####

Hotch was sitting at his desk waiting to hear how things went with the interview Boyd Keeler did with the US Attorney and FBI. When he had received Emily's phone call, he had called his contact who had helped them get the records and explained the situation to him. He had called back 20 minutes later with news that they had a lawyer from their office heading over to the medical center to witness Boyd Keeler's statement.

While he had been waiting for that phone call, Hotch had briefed Strauss on the situation. Agreeing with Dave and Emily's assessment that they couldn't take the statement, she contacted the head of the New York City FBI office and asked for agents to go and do the interview after explaining the circumstances.

They had all met up at the medical center and started the interview 2 hours earlier.

Just then his phone beeped with an incoming text from Dave that they were heading back to the airport. Hotch sent a confirmation reply after looking at his watch, noticing that they should have plenty of time to get to the airport for their flight home.

He sighed as he stood up before he started to pack up his briefcase. With Emily out of town and no urgent cases, he was going to head home early to spend time with the kids before dinner.

He didn't pack any files because after his text conversation with Dave he knew that Emily wasn't taking the news of Sebastian Prentiss threatening Mildred Taylor and Boyd Keeler well. After they got the kids to bed, he was hoping she would open up to him about how she was feeling.

He shook his head, not knowing how much more Emily could take. It seemed like since the night they heard of the Ambassador's death it had been one horrible revelation after another with the only positive being that she found out that Dave was her biological father. Even that was bittersweet considering the emotional angst of what Dave had experienced for all these years. Luckily after a few awkward days, they had both fully committed to establishing a real father/daughter relationship.

The weight of all the changes was starting to affect her. Of all the revelations, lawsuits, etc that had happened, in his opinion what she was having the hardest part with is the current uncertainty of her identity. He wished that they had been able to get a sooner court date but Neil Anders had done the best he could.

Even when they got there, Hotch wasn't sure what was going to happen. The FBI was opposed to the court tossing out her Prentiss identity due to the number of cases she had a role in under that identity. And a part of him didn't blame them but a bigger part needed for his wife to regain that certainty without a constant reminder of all the illegality that lead her to become a Prentiss.

As he was closing his briefcase, there was a knock on his door. After groaning, he said enter. When the door opened, he saw a pale and nervous Reid standing in the doorway.

Taking a couple of steps towards him, Hotch said, "Spencer what's wrong?"

Spencer looked around at what was in Hotch's office before he said, "they hurt her Hotch. I need to go." before turning back around and walking back toward the bullpen.

Hotch looked back at shocked, not sure what was going on and who the 'her' was. Walking out of his office a few steps behind Reid, Hotch ask, "Spencer, who is hurt?"

Spencer turned with tears in his eyes before he said, "my mother."

####

Hotch was sitting in the airport with Spencer, waiting at the gate where the flight that Dave and Emily would be arriving. After Spencer had mentioned the person who was hurt was his mother, the team gathered in the conference room.

Spencer explained what was said in the phone call from the Sanitarium where is she lived. According to the doctor, a man and a woman had come by to visit her earlier in the afternoon. When they approached Diana, she became agitated because she didn't recognize the couple.

Just as the nurse approached them to ask them to leave since they were upsetting Diana, she saw the woman inject Diana in the neck with something that caused her to fall to the floor. The visiting woman started shouting it was complements of William Reid.

The staff immediately rushed to Diana but in the melee, the woman was able to escape but they were able to restrain her male accomplice until the police arrived. Diana had been taken to a nearby hospital but wasn't doing well. The police were in the process of analyzing the syringe to find out what substance she was injected. The man was in police custody and hadn't said a word.

By the time they got to a stopping point when Hotch said he would go with Reid to Las Vegas, he had been unable to get Emily or Dave on the phone. So now they were waiting for the flight to arrive so they could talk to them briefly before Emily and Dave went home and Hotch and Reid got on a plane.

Hotch was broken out of his thoughts when the flight started to deplane. When Emily saw him, she looked surprised and nudged Dave. They both grew concerned as they moved closer and saw Spencer sitting a short distance away looking at the floor, lost in thought.

Dave reached him first and asked, "Aaron, what going on? What happened?"

Hotch sighed and explained to them about the call Spencer had received as well as the information Garcia had discovered before they had headed to the airport. After hearing what happened Emily walked away from them and went over and sat next to Spencer.

Hotch and Dave watch Emily and Spencer interacted. Dave turned to Hotch and asked, "so what's the plan?"

Hotch sighed before answering, "I'm going to head to Las Vegas with him. Diana isn't doing well and I don't want him to be alone."

Dave shook his head as he said, "Aaron, I'll go with him. You need to stay here. Emily is going to need you. She is taking what we learned today hard."

Hotch sighed, "We didn't get a chance to talk about what you learned. How bad?"

"Bad. Sebastian Prentiss went and threatened them along with two of his lawyers. I'll let her tell you the rest. I've talked to her with some success but she is going to need you. I can handle going with Spencer."

"OK. If you're sure. I'd prefer to not be away from the office with Strauss doing her evaluation anyway. Let's go tell him and then get the ticket changed."

####

Hotch and Emily both sat down on the couch in their family room. After they had stayed long enough to assure that Dave could buy a ticket to Las Vegas, they had made a quick stop at Will and JJ's to pick up their tired and cranky kids who had been immediately taken to bed when they arrived home.

Now that the kids were in bed, Hotch was hoping Emily would share with him what Boyd Keeler had told them. After sitting silently for several minutes, Emily stood up and walked over to the cabinet were they kept the liquor. After she pulled a glass out for herself, she turned to him, silently asking if he wanted some. He shook his head and she nodded and she turned back to the bottle of scotch. After pouring herself a glass, she drank the entire amount in one gulp, welcoming the burn in her throat.

Hotch watched warily as he observed her drink. With it been over a year since Emily drank, Hotch expected that it won't take much for her to become drunk, particularly if she drank anymore as she had the last glass. After she placed the glass back on the shelf, Emily's gaze did not move from the bottle.

Not sure what she was thinking, Hotch sat on the edge of his seat. He would much rather delay this needed conversation than have her drink herself into the bottom of a bottle.

He was relieved when she turned around and walked back to the couch without the glass. After sitting down, she turned to him and sighed before she said, "I want to be angry with her. I wanted to hate her but I can't."

Hotch looked at her as he asked, "Who? Mildred Taylor?" Dave had not mentioned anything about her in what he did tell Hotch about what they had learned.

Emily nodded before she said, "When I was born, she was 37. Can you even imagine becoming a grandparent at 37? She had been widowed when she was 22 and raised her two kids by herself while working two jobs.

I've worked two jobs before and it's exhausting. I can't even imagine how hard it was to do that and on top of it have to be mom and dad to two kids. It had to have been so hard for her.

Then when Emma became pregnant, she could see history repeating itself particularly with Dave being in the military. Of course she wanted something different for her daughter. Then she was grief stricken when Emma died and on the advice of a trusted doctor, gave me to those lawyers. A doctor who is just as guilty as the lawyers if not more so as far as I'm concerned." Emily huffed and stood up and started pacing.

"So you believe that they took advantage of her?"

Emily turned to face him and nodded, "I do. I certainly don't agree with what she did. She had a legal resource in her fiance but didn't utilize him at all. That confused me until we were on the plane home that she was so use to doing everything herself that she didn't think to ask for help. I get that because I tend to do the same thing though not as much anymore." She paused and started pacing again before continuing, "did Dave tell you what happened when he came home?"

Hotch nodded before he said, "he told me a bit but I want to hear the story from you."

Emily stopped pacing and looked back over at the bottle of scotch before shaking her head and started pacing again as she said, "when Dave came home, the adoption lawyers threatened them and they threatened to hurt Dave. The restraining order against Dave - Judge McRae signed it not Judge Keeler. They were so intent on protecting themselves at any cost. They even contacted my family and their lawyers.

The man who I thought was my dad threatened Mildren and Boyd Keeler after he sent me out of the country. Told them they could do whatever but he would sue them and he would make sure they didn't get me back." She stopped and looked down at her hands before saying quietly, "he talked of me like I was a piece of property or a possession, Aaron.

And what sucks most is that he was right. They couldn't prove I was her grandchild or Dave's daughter. They couldn't have gotten me back once he had me out of the country." She paused again and sat back down on the couch before saying slurring her words, "the whole thing is one big cluster."

Hotch sighed as this was worse than what he expected. He was just hoping that they had finished unraveling the last of the surprises. Hotch pull her back against him and kissed her forehead. Eventually he could feel her relax in his arms.

After sitting silently together on the couch for a while longer. Hotch leaned in and said quietly next to her ear, "let's head to bed, sweetheart. It's getting late and it's been a long day." Feeling Emily nod, he stood up and held out his hand for her. Noticing Emily was a little unsteady when she stood up, he wrapped an arm around her waist as they walked towards the stairs.

As they were climbing the stairs, Emily said, "Aaron."

"Yes, sweetheart."

"Is what happened to Diana my fault. Is it because we went to see him today." Emily said as she looked over at him.

Hotch shook head realizing that she should have expected the question before he said firmly, "no Emily. The firm he works for has been investigated for years. The FBI is just getting close which is why it happened today. Garcia didn't see any link to your visit today."

Emily nodded before she said solemnly, "OK. I just don't want to lose Spencer too." She sighed before continuing, "if she isn't OK, he is going to be devastated. Thank you for wanting to go with him. He shouldn't be alone."

Hotch again had to work hard to control his anger towards Morgan. He leaned over and kissed her forehead as he said, "he's not and neither are you. Dave will make sure he's OK and help him take care of anything that Diana needs. We'll check in with them tomorrow."

AN: I have already started chapter 29 and will publish as soon as it's finished. In that chapter Derek will be called out and will explain what has been up with him.