Hotch is not surprised when his team is all in by 9 a.m. The feeling of failure staining the case they had just completed weighed heavily on his mind and he's sure on theirs, too. He steps to the kitchenette to address Rossi, Morgan, Emily and Reid.

"You all are aware you're an hour early, right?"

Morgan shrugs. "Was awake. May as well get here and get to work."

"Besides, we hate the way the case ended, Hotch. I think we all spent the ride home and most of the night trying to figure out what we missed," Rossi points out.

Hotch slowly nods. "I understand. Trust me. I keep thinking I should have pushed Rickey harder when I saw she was hiding something. I don't know…maybe because she was in law enforcement or maybe because she looked so stunned to be the unsubs target…" his voice trails off.

Emily shakes her head. "We can all pick apart our actions or inactions. Won't matter. That bastard was a step ahead of us from day 1. We just need to pray we can figure out what other cities had similar sprees. If we do, we can maybe find the next and end his reign of terror."

The men around her nod. Finally Hotch sighs. "Debrief is still at 11. Try not to dwell on this one. Clear your heads. As crazy as it sounds concentrate on the new cases on your desk. Maybe it will help you come to grips with Lancaster."

"How sad is it that we look to murder and mayhem to forget murder and mayhem?" Reid states as everyone chuckles.

Emily just pats him on the shoulder as she is the first to head back to her desk. Rossi and Morgan head to Garcia's lair to help her develop a program to try to track past cases their unsub may have been responsible for. Reid watches them all go. He knows they had all done everything they could with what they have. But it doesn't mean they have to like it.

He drops down into his chair and sighs. Emily glances up at him.

"You okay, Reid?"

Reid shrugs. "Are any of us?"

Emily shrugs. "We have to be. We don't always get to win. But we sure as hell don't have to give up. I know in my heart we will get him eventually."

"I hope so. I…I keep thinking of Foyet. What if this guy…what if he really goes after JJ or you?"

"Then I know I can count on you and the others to be there for us," she says honestly.

Reid looks at her and slowly smiles. "Thanks. I think I needed to hear that."

Emily smiles and nods. "Any time. By the way…did you ever get to talk to Traina?"

Reid's smile broadens. "Yeah. On the phone even though I'd have rather had the conversation in person. We're going to keep trying to make it work. In fact, she's coming with me to Henry's party tomorrow."

"That's great! Don't think I haven't forgotten who caught the garter and bouquet at the wedding," she reminds him with a wink.

Reid laughs as he blushes. "Uh, might be too soon for those kind of thoughts but we'll see."

Both feeling a little better, they set to work going through the cases that had landed on their desks that morning.

Rossi and Morgan pace behind Garcia, telling her parameters to check, keywords to use, disagreeing with each other, telling her to change things, telling her to add things, telling her to change them again. Finally she throws her hands in the air.

"STOP! STOP! STOP!"

Both men come to a halt, stunned by the anger and frustration in her voice.

"You two are driving me CRAZY! How about you both go work out EXACTLY what you want me to do and THEN come tell me! This constant changing and swapping and adding and subtracting is FREAKIN' INSANE!"

Morgan and Rossi exchange a look. Morgan smiles and places his hands on Garcia's shoulders, squeezing gently.

"I'm sorry, Baby Girl. I think we're just too wound up. You're right, we need to come to you with specs not hash it out and drive you crazy. Sometimes I think we expect too much of you and tend to forget to tell you how much we appreciate all you do."

Garcia smiles. "You all tell me enough."

"No, we don't," Rossi agrees with Morgan. "You've saved our asses more times than we can count. And I think sometimes we just expect you to magically have what we need when we need it; sometimes even before we know we need it."

"Awww…you're making me blush. Keep it up!" She says with a grin.

Rossi laughs. "You know, kid, the first time I saw you I thought Aaron had lost his mind. Sometimes it's good to be wrong. You're one of those times."

He bends over and gives her a kiss on the cheek. Garcia just giggles like a schoolgirl.

"Wow! A kiss from THE David Rossi. I may be ruined for any other man," she jokes.

He winks at her and heads out. Morgan waits a second and then gives Garcia a big hug.

"I love you, Penelope. We'd be lost without you. Sorry for the headache this morning."

She leans her head against his. "You're forgiven, my God of Chocolate Thunder. I could never stay mad at you."

He gives her a kiss on the cheek. Someone clearing their throat near the door makes his stand up.

"If you two need some time alone I can come back," JJ teases.

Morgan winks at her. "What, you think you and Prentiss are the only ones allowed to get a little loving in the office?"

JJ chuckles. "Right. Like that ever happens. Too many cameras around," she looks at Garcia, "with too many snoopy people watching them."

Morgan laughs and heads out to work with Rossi on the search program. JJ steps into Garcia's office and sits down.

"Okay, so these folders are a blind. I really just wanted to catch up with you about Henry's party. Francesca said you pretty much dealt with everything, which made me happy. And then she said Emily had told you the sky's the limit, minus hot air balloons and theme's, which terrifies me. What do we have in store for the weekend?"

Garcia grins. "Well, after the circus finishes setting up—"

"GARCIA!" JJ says threateningly.

Garcia laughs. "God, you're too easy, Jayje. I ordered a half chocolate/half vanilla cake with a Spiderman theme. It will even have little Spidey toys on it for him to keep." JJ nods approvingly. "Figuring there will be around 20-25 people I ordered two sandwich trays, a tray of buffalo wings for my darling Derek, a veggie tray, a fruit tray and cheese tray. Emily will just have to pick it all up tomorrow and pay for it. Think she can afford it?" Garcia asks with a wink.

JJ chuckles. "She may have to roll some pennies but she may be able to find the money for it. Thank you so much, Pen. We really appreciate you helping out with this."

"No problem. How are you feeling today?"

JJ shrugs and answers the wrong question. "Nervous. I mean, I know the spotting could be anything but all the literature says it could mean the egg has taken and now we have to wait for the blood test and, geez, then we still have to wait for the ultrasound and—" She suddenly notices the look on Garcia's face. She blushes. "Oh, shit…that's not what you meant, is it?"

"Jennifer Andrea Jareau Prentiss…are you telling me that our Emily may be with child?"

JJ leans forward, her elbows on her knees, her face in her hands. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit."

Garcia reaches out and places a hand on her best friend's leg. "Hey, now…you know I won't say a word. This isn't office gossip. I get the whole not wanting to say anything too soon. But obviously you need to talk about it. I'm here for you, Jajye."

JJ sighs and sits back up. She smiles nervously. "Thanks, Pen. Yes, Emily had the implantation. Then…then this fucking case came up. She got knocked down, she was stressed because we thought that bastard was after me, and she was terrified she'd blown her chance with this IVF round. I tried to be strong but inside I was terrified, too." A smile ghosts across her face. "And then last night she noticed the spotting. It can mean so much or so little. God, Pen, I want this baby so bad I can feelit! And so can she! We're trying to stay calm and cool for each other but I just want to scream from the rooftops that she might be pregnant. I'm an idiot."

Garcia smiles. "You're not an idiot. You're a mother and a wife who wants to be a mother again. I am so happy for you two. Anything you need, and I mean anything even a late night Ben & Jerry's run, you call me. I'll be there for you both."

"I know. Thank you, Pen. And, Pen, when it does happen, I could be away when she goes into labor. You'll be there for her then, too, right?"

"I'll attend all your Lamaze classes so I can step in to be coach. But I warn you now, I am soooo not cutting the cord."

JJ laughs and nods her head. "Deal. Thanks, Pen."

"Anytime, Jayje. Now, back to my original question, how are all your bumps and bruises?"

"They're okay. Eye looks worse than it feels. And Emily rubbed me down with BioFreeze last night so that helped me get some rest. I'll be better if we ever get this guy on the radar again and slam his ass in a cell for the rest of his life."

"I hear ya. Hopefully Agents Hot and Hotter can figure out the right parameters for me to punch in and we'll find him."

JJ grins. "Uh, which one is Hot and which one is Hotter?"

Garcia gives a sly grin. "As if I'd dare to answer that one, my sweet."

JJ laughs and heads back to her office. Garcia always had a way of calming her nerves without even trying. But confiding in her friend, getting her sympathy and support settled JJ even more. Before heading into her office, she gazes into the bullpen. She sees Emily reading a case file, her right hand unconsciously rubbing low on her stomach. JJ smiles.

"I love you, baby," she whispers before heading into her organized chaos for a while before their debriefing.

At 11:05 Emily rushes into the conference room, closing the door behind her. "Sorry! A five minute call turned into a 45 minute call."

Hotch nods as she takes her seat. It is then she notices Straus sitting beside Hotch. "Okay, let's begin," Hotch says.

"Why were you unable to catch this man?" Straus blurts out, obviously surprising Hotch with the question.

The team looks around. JJ finally answers.

"We only had one chance. You could say I blew that by not holding on to him when we went down the stairs. His attempt to take me was the only mistake he made, ma'am."

Straus stares at her a moment. "That's one theory. The other is that the spokeswoman knew more than she told and before she could be pressed she was killed."

Emily sits forward. "That's not fair, ma'am. I was there when she was told she was the unsubs focus. She was scared and her emotions were shaky. Pressing her at that time would have caused her to shut down. She needed time to process the information she'd been given."

"So you say, Agent Prentiss."

"So says the facts, Chief Straus," Emily counters. In her mind she thinks, "Well, the pod person was obviously called home and returned the old bag we're used to."

For the next hour the team has to defend every action they took and every missed opportunity that had occurred. At the end, Straus stares at Emily.

"I have a few more questions for you, Agent Prentiss. The rest of you may go."

The team all looks to Hotch, who reluctantly nods. The team files out, leaving Emily alone with Straus. Once they are alone, Straus' demeanor changes.

"Word has it you underwent IVF last week."

"Uh, yes, ma'am."

"The unsub knocked you down and you were caused untold stress. Are you and the…the egg okay?" she asks gently.

"Um, yes. As far as we know. A week from Monday I have a blood test to see if the implantation worked. And then 2 weeks after that I can get an ultra sound to show if the fetus is in fact viable."

Straus smiles, a strange look on the woman's normally stone face. "I'm glad things are okay. I'll keep you in my thoughts over the next couple of weeks. And as I said before, if you need anything, let me know." She stands, ending the meeting. "Good luck, Agent Prentiss."

Emily also stands. "Thank you, ma'am. I appreciate it."

Straus heads out the back door of the room. Emily stands there alone a moment. Turns out the pod person was just hibernating and is now back. She leaves through the bullpen. She grins as her entire team is huddled around Morgan's desk. She walks past them to her own.

"Uh, Emily, what the heck happened?" JJ asks.

"Oh, she just wanted my recipe for chocolate chip cookies. She heard you love them."

JJ stares at her a minute than laughs. "You are such a shit sometimes, you know that, right?"

Emily just winks at her. The rest of the team disperses, figuring if Emily wasn't upset it must not have been too bad in there. Hotch stares at Emily a moment, then nods towards his office. She understands why and follows him.

He closes his door behind them and gestures to the couch. Emily sits down on the edge and stares into his eyes.

"I'm not her stooge, Hotch. She hasn't finally turned me. I think…I think she feels indebted to me because of the Wardlove thing. She knows he'd have killed her when she couldn't walk out with him. Now she's acting all…all nice to me. Offering me any assistance I need as JJ and I look to expand our family. She just wanted to make sure the things that happened on this case didn't affect something we sure as hell haven't told anyone but you about."

Hotch grins. "I think your secret is the widest known secret in the FBI."

Emily chuckles. "Yeah, I can believe that. I promise, if she suddenly turns into her old self and starts hassling me or JJ, I'll let you know."

He nods. "Good. I'm rooting for you two. This team deserves all the sunshine and happiness it can get."

"I second that emotion," Emily agrees.

She heads back to her desk. Reid and Morgan look at her.

"Okay, spill it, Emily. First Straus, then Hotch. What the hell is going on?" Morgan presses.

Emily sighs. She bites her lips a moment. "Are…are you sure you want to know? Because you can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you."

Morgan nods, standing and moving closer so she can whisper the big secret to him and Reid.

"The truth is…I'm having torrid affairs with both of them. Don't tell Jen!"

Morgan and Reid groan. Morgan shakes his head.

"You are so not right in the head, woman! Not right at all!"

Still laughing he heads back to his desk. Emily winks at Reid who just goes back to the file he'd been working on all morning. Emily loves these two guys and she is glad they are good enough friends that they will understand the superstition behind her not admitting to them what was happening inside her at this time.