"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on."
― Robert Frost
This couldn't be happening. Absolute dread settled in the pit of her stomach. The DOJ didn't have that much power "No," she shook her head in denial. "That's not right. That's...not possible." She chewed the inside of her cheek and waited for the fall out.
Penelope's voice came through the phone, breaking Erin out of her thoughts.
"I think Kevin missed something. I'm combing through the records as we speak, I'll call you back when I find something."
"Thank you, Garcia." Dave said, hanging up the phone.
"We gotta go rescue the kids," Dave said. "Penelope said they're ten minutes away."
Erin nodded, numb. What the hell was happening? She played politics her whole life, she was supposed to understand the interworking of The Bureau, but she didn't. She was drowning. She could feel it, deep in her soul, her career in the Bureau would never be the same. She stood up, slipped on a pair of flats and pulled on her coat. It was her last battle.
"Erin." Dave's hand on her shoulder caught her attention. "Right." She steeled her resolve, "I'm coming."
"Did you feed Mudgie?" Erin asked, poised and ready to set the alarm.
"No." He shook his head in the negative. "One of us will be back before he gets hungry."
"I don't think so...I'm not a profiler but, I know Andy wouldn't risk his career to help me prepare for this meeting. I have a feeling we're going to spend the next 48 hours in an interrogation room."
"In that case, we're stopping at a drive-thru on the way."
"I can get behind that," Erin said. Following him out the door.
Dave pulled into the gas station parking lot and turned to Erin. "Do we tell the kids here, or…." He let the sentence linger. There wasn't a good way to prepare them.
"I don't know…" She bit the inside of her cheek. She kept so many secrets from her children while she was drinking, it almost destroyed her family, but how do you tell your children that you're going to jail?
"I don't know what to say to them," she said.
"Tell them the truth." Dave said, 'we'll be home on Monday." She would be, come hell or high water. He would hire 10 lawyers if it kept her home, safe, with him and their family. Paige was probably panicking. Mark's idea of being a responsible parent, was leaving their eldest with a credit card while he went to play golf.
"Mom!" Paige jumped out of the car and ran towards her mother. Totally freaked out.
"Calm down, you're ten minutes from the house." Erin hugged her daughter, but rolled her eyes at her overreaction.
"Yeah," Paige countered, "And most crimes happen within close proximity to the victim's home." Paige pulled away, tilted her head and glared at her mother. "Isn't that something you should know?"
"And there are some things a 17 year old should not know." Erin said sternly, "Take a break from reading Dave's books." Erin came over to the car, shaking her head when she saw Paul, who was almost 6 feet tall, emerge from the backseat. She pulled her son into a hug, "Don't let your sister bully you. You're plenty tall enough to sit in the front seat."
"You're being weird, Mom." Paul dismissed her and brushed her hand off his shoulder.
It was a weird situation... "Listen," Erin said sternly. As Mackenzie joined the group. Erin put her hand on her youngest daughter's shoulder. "Dave and I have to work," It was a lie, but the truth was too much for the teenagers to handle. "We'll be home on Monday." Another lie. She tried to shake that thought, if anything, she was telling the truth in advance.
"Mom," Paige said sharply, "You NEVER go out of town. What's going on now?"
"I'm not going out of town." She assured them, "It's just a meeting." A very long meeting, she added mentally.
"Is Dave still going to take me to school?" Mackenzie asked, sweetly.
"Sweetheart, you might have to take the bus for one day." Erin said, forcing a smile. "Do your homework and set an alarm so you get up on time."
"Why do both of you have to be gone? Paige whined. She hated the responsibility of being left alone and in charge overnight. Most teenagers would probably be overjoyed at not having their parental figures around, but when it happened frequently, like when they stayed with their father, it got old fast. Their mom had never left them home alone, all night; She might work extremely late but she was always home or on the way home by the time Paige went to bed at 10:30pm.
"It'll be fine," Paul said. After all, he was 'the man of the house.' when Dave was gone. The young man nodded resolutely. "We can handle it."
"We're sure you can. If you don't want to stay alone, you can return to your father's house until David or I get back home, but since he is not answering his phone..." Strauss cut her sentence off. She never bad mouthed Mark to the kids, and she wouldn't start now. He might be a world class jerk sometimes, but he was still their father and they needed to respect him. "I am sure he will check on you when he sees that you called."
"Yeah, okay." Paul grumbled.
"I trust you to be responsible enough to take care of Mudgie and each other while David and I are gone."
Mackenzie beamed, "Can we rent a movie?" She asked, brimming with enthusiasm.
"From the library, Dave's going to call the bank when we get home." Erin offered, their accounts were frozen and Redbox didn't take cash.
"We'll stream something-" Paul said, "We have every streaming site there is."
"Works for me," Mackenzie said.
Dave came out of the store, with bags of snacks. He hurried over to join the conversation. "If you have any problems, Call Hotch." Dave paused. "He isn't to be in on this meeting and you won't be able to reach us." Paige handed over her cell phone and Dave added the team's contact information.
Erin nodded. Dave always thought of everything. Hotch was Dave's best friend and he knew that they would be able to count on him.
"Paige, go fill up your car." Dave handed her some cash. "This is grocery money. Don't burn the house down." He warned, only because it felt right.
"Thanks for coming to rescue us," Paige smiled sheepishly. Feeling stupid for not filling her tank sooner. Thank God someone in her house answered their phone.
Dave put his arm around her, "I'm glad you called." He glanced at his watch, "Mom and I are running late. We'll follow you back to the house." He handed Erin the bag of snacks. Then held the driver's side door open for Paige and ensconced Mackenzie in the backseat, while Paul stretched out in the passenger seat. Paige fired up the engine, pulled the car to the pump. Dave pulled in behind her and pumped her gas.
"I appreciate how you treat my girls," Erin said, as Dave climbed back in the car. "You know, they adore you."
"They deserve it," Dave shrugged in nonchalance, "When they're older, they'll know how they're supposed to be treated by a man. But I wouldn't say 'no' to one of those, 'Step-Dad of the Year,' coffee mugs come Christmas."
"I'm sure that can be arranged," Erin said as Dave navigated the car, following Paige through the neighborhood. Dave glanced in the rearview mirror, he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. "Siri, call Hotch." he demanded. Erin noticed the black SUV following closely behind them. She felt her pulse pick up, there was no mistaking it. They were here for her.
Hotch picked up on the first ring. "Yeah?"
"We're being followed. I need you to come to my house, the kids are here and it's about to get ugly."
"The DOJ?"
Dave's eyes shifted back to the car behind them. The black, unmarked car and he could see the shoulder straps, tell- tell of a kevlar vest."Yeah, I think so."
Hotch grabbed his keys, "I'm on my way."
"Thank you, Aaron." Erin bit out.
"Listen," Dave kept his eye on the road in front of him, but spoke to Erin.
She watched the vein in his neck throb under the skin. " Don't get out of the car until they tell you to. When you get out of the car, keep your hands as high as you can."
Her jaw clenched in defiance, "David, I know the protocol." if she didn't, she was about to get a crash course.
"By the book, but not in practice." He said, reminding her that she had very little experience in the field, and didn't know how to handle the situation. "Stay calm and Stan will meet you there."
He tilted his head to look at her. He could walk her through, 'how to be innocent 101' but it wouldn't do any good. Her natural behaviour would prove her innocence. "I love you and I believe you." He took her hand and lifted it to kiss the underside of her wrist.
"I love you too… a miracle is about to happen." She said, coyly.
"We could use a miracle, right about now. What's that?" He asked, adopting her easy tone.
"I'm going to be silent for the next 48 hours."
"Shame, I'll have to miss it." He said, with a wink.
"I don't think this glib attitude is helping anything."
"Glib is the only attitude I have."
Dave's hand's free system rang and Erin touched the screen to answer the call. "Someone's following us," Paul said tightly. He put the phone on speaker so his sisters could hear what was going on.
"I know," Dave said. "It's not a big deal, but you guys need to go to the house and don't let anyone in."
"Hotch is on his way," Erin said. "He'll show you his badge before you let him in."
"It's bad, isn't it, Mom?" Paige asked, tears clogging her voice.
"It looks worse than it is," Erin said, forcing a smile. "I love you."
Dave pulled his car onto the shoulder of the road and watched Paige's car until it was out of sight.
"We love you, too." Paige's voice broke, and so did Erin's heart. She watched the SUV behind them, coast to a stop. A beat passed and an officer sidled over to Erin's side of the car. He held up his credentials, Agent Mahoney with the FBI. The driver got out and walked up to Dave's side. David slowly rolled down the windows and addressed the Agents. "How can we help you, Gentlemen?"
"Step out of the car, please." The agent said in a droll tone. He held up his credentials, verifying his name and rank. Dave complied and pulled the handle on his door. He held his hands over his head and waited for orders. Agent Jones led him away from his car, toward the SUV. "Am I under arrest?" Dave asked, calm as a Hindu cow.
"Not at the moment," Jones replied. Dave pulled out his phone and listened, waiting to see what was happening with Erin.
"Erin Strauss," Agent Mahoney, pulled her door open. "Step out of the car." He ordered.
Dave watched as Erin got out of the car, her hands above her head. "Put your hands on the car." Mahoney commanded.
"Am I being arrested?" Erin asked, with her palms on the hood of Dave's Audi.
"You're wanted for questioning." The officer pulled out his handcuffs.
"On what grounds?" She asked, non-confrontational, but firm. "I'm a federal agent, my service weapon is in my purse.
"Keep your hands on the car, ma' me, we know who you are." The agent said.
Dave pulled out his phone and sent a text to Stan. Erin was going to need representation, soon rather than later.
Dave turned to the agent standing near him, "Are the handcuffs really necessary?" He asked, shooting a look towards Erin.
Agent Jones signaled to his partner, who put the handcuffs away.
"Come with me," Agent Mahoney escorted Erin to the backseat of the SUV.
Dave turned to Agent Jones, "Am I free to go?"
Agent Jones nodded, "you're free to go."
Dave did what any good man would do, he got in his car and followed the SUV.
"Siri, call Stan." He commanded, navigating the Audi down the highway.
He watched the SUV in front of him, waiting to see where they were headed.
"Stan," Dave bit out, as his attorney's voice sounded in the car. "Meet me at the DOJ Headquarters. They brought her in for questioning."
"Will do." Stan clipped, and ended the call.
Hotch's name flashed across the screen. "Damn," Dave said, in the empty space. "How much worse can it get?" Dave learned quickly that some questions shouldn't be asked out loud.
He hit the button on the steering wheel, accepting the call. "Yeah, Hotch?"
"The Ethic's committee wants to meet with the team." Hotch said, in his usual monotone. "I asked Jessica to bring Jack to your house and J.J.'s bringing Will and Henry."
"That's fine," The more kids in the house, the more distracted Erin's kids would be. Dave would have hired a petting zoo and the state fair to set up in his backyard, if it meant that his kids weren't sitting around thinking about their mom in handcuffs. Dave exhaled slowly, "I guess that means The Brass wants to see me too…"
"They do." Hotch affirmed. "Meet us at Quantico."
Even though he knew Hotch was right, he could do more for Erin in Quantico than in DC, it killed him that he couldn't be in the same state as her. It ate a hole in his gut. He pictured Erin in handcuffs, scared and alone, losing her temper trying to plead her case. She mellowed out, a little but not enough to ease his mind. Stan hadn't called to confirm he was with Erin, but communication wasn't Stan's specialty. 'Sometimes I don't know why I keep that guy on retainer,' Dave thought as he got off the interstate at the next exit, reentering on the opposite side and headed towards Quantico. If he wasn't the best, I'd have fired him ages ago, Rossi grumbled to the air. The Cazzo1 just didn't understand the value of picking up the phone when his client's call. As his car ate up the miles on the highway, Dave kept trying to reach the lawyer. Finally Stan picked up the freaking phone.
"Dave I know this is important, but I can't magically just appear at the DOJ office. I can only go as fast as my car, and traffic allows. I am already risking a ticket, at the speed I'm going now. You're just going to have to be patient and cool your jets until I get there, instead of blowing up my phone, back to back. If you don't let me concentrate on the road,-" Stan answered the phone without even a greeting.
"Hello to you Stanley. That is not why I am calling. I need to inform you that I've just been called in with the rest of the team to Quantico, to be questioned by the ethics committee. I need you to let Erin know, so she won't be worried, when she realizes I am not there."
"Hmm, that is interesting…" Stan's voice trailed off over the line. Dave could imagine him stroking his chin with the fingers of one hand, as he did when he was perplexed by something. "That might not be such a bad thing, Dave. Sounds like they are getting desperate, grasping for straws. I'm thinking the brass is going to conduct a fishing expedition, to see if they can find anything beyond the circumstantial evidence they already have. We both know they don't have anything concrete, or they would have charged her right away, instead of detaining her for questioning. Do you want me to send someone over from the office to sit in with you and your teammates?" The lawyer asked. They couldn't risk someone slipping up and destroying the case. Or worse, giving the DOJ more ammunition.
"Do you really think that is necessary, Stan?" Rossi questioned.
"Better safe than sorry. You and I both know how easy it is to twist something simple someone says and use it against them."
"You're right, but do you think it is wise that we are all represented by the same person? Wouldn't that look like we were hiding something?"
"In other circumstances, I would say yes but remember we're at fourth and goal, trying to run out the clock. We don't want to use any timeouts and give them a chance to come back and win the game. The longer it takes to question you guys, the greater the chances that they will not be able to get any useful information, even accidently that they can use to prosecute Erin."
Leave it to Stan to bring the conversation back to sports.
"Thanks Stan. I will call the team now and let them know that representation is on the way."
"You're welcome Dave. I know you're worried and you have every right to be but trust me, I'm going to do everything in my power to keep either of you from ever seeing the inside of a courtroom or jail cell. Oh and Dave, If I were you, I wouldn't speed on my way to the FBI building. You and your team want to make sure you obey all the traffic laws, even if it takes you longer to get there. 'Tick Tock', watch the clock, if you get my drift." With that said, the lawyer disconnected the call and contacted his partner about meeting Rossi at Quantico.
Dave blew out a breath, and took his foot off the gas and turned into a parking lot. He took his wallet out of his pocket and pulled out a folded picture. The twin's very first photograph was his motivation, his reason to get up in the morning. He and Erin were so close to perfection, he could almost taste it, but that dream felt a million miles away now. He had the Midas touch, with all of his connections, but right now none of that would help him. Everything was riding on the team and their interviews, to discredit anything that the Bureau could use against him. He flipped open the center console and withdrew a rosary. Weaving the fragile beads around his hand, he dropped his head down and sent a prayer to the man upstairs. If there was any time to ask for a miracle, now felt like the time. If not for him, then for Erin and their family.
He glanced up, checked the clock, tick tock. Tick tock. Every molecule in his body wanted to bust into the BAU building and take charge. Unfortunately, the best thing to do was, slow down.
"Amen," he said and put the rosary back in the center console. Put the car in drive and continued the drive towards Quantico. Slow and steady would win the race.