Emily had been in bed, her back turned, by the time JJ got upstairs. Monday morning she barely said 2 words to her fiancé before saying she was going to drive herself in case the shrink didn't clear her for duty. JJ knew that was a cop-out because JJ could have gotten a ride from someone had Emily left early.

As she enters the BAU floor, Emily turns and walks down to JJ's old office. She stares at the door a moment then tries the handle. She is surprised when it opens. The carpet had been torn out and had not yet been replaced. The walls that once held JJ's awards and certificates are empty. Bleach streaks adorn three walls. She steps further in and closes the door behind her.

The desk chair and couch have both been removed. She assumes JJ wanted the chair. The couch…well, Delpy's body had bounced off the couch before hitting the floor. It was most likely in a dumpster somewhere. She stares at the desk, her mind seeing the stacks of files, the computer monitor, and the picture frame.

She leans against the wall across from the desk. Why the fuck does it matter that JJ read her goodbye note? Her make shift will? Everything she had gone through in this room had convinced her she needed to drop her walls against these people she called her family. She had been convinced that the so-called "perfect" proposal wasn't the fancy one, it was the one from the heart. And it had been.

"So why did I panic when JJ told me she read that fucking letter?" Emily asks aloud, as if the room could answer her.

After dropping Henry at the day care center, JJ hurries up to the BAU. She expects to find Emily at her desk but is surprised to see it empty. She lets out the breath she had been holding as she pulls out her phone. She sends Emily a quick text.

I have the ring on my necklace. Thought it would be better to tell everyone together. I love you.

With a sigh she heads into her new office and drops down into her chair. She slowly studies the room. It looks identical to the one she left. So why doesn't it feel the same? She shoves her purse in her cabinet and grabs the stack of files ready for distribution. As she walks into the hallway she sees Garcia and smiles at her.

"Morning, Pen."

"Hi, JJ. You have a good weekend?"

"Yeah. Mostly. I mean, up to a point," JJ answers hesitatingly.

"What's wrong?" Garcia inquires.

"I can't…not now. Maybe lunch today?"

Garcia sees JJ is in turmoil but respects her desire for time to think. "Well, you know where I'll be if you need me."

JJ just nods and goes to distribute the cases. She considers whether to put any on Emily's desk a moment then lays several down. From the hallway, Garcia watches, wondering what is going on between the two lovers.

Garcia heads to her own office. She flips on the light and turns.

"OH MY GOD!"

Emily had been sitting in the dark and had not said a word as Garcia had entered. She had given up trying to get answers from JJ's office and had decided to wait in the analyst's office until she had to leave for her appointment.

"What the fuck are you doing sitting here like some crazy killer waiting to slaughter me?"

"Sorry, Pen, I just…JJ told me you read my letter. Please, just don't say anything to anyone, okay?"

"Sure. Okay." Garcia stares at her a second and sees the bags under Emily's eyes. "Princess, what's wrong with you?"

"I have to go see a shrink," Emily replies as she stands.

"Em, this is the Oracle of Quantico. Don't lie to me."

"I'm not. I'm just not…I'll tell you later."

Before Garcia can respond Emily heads out. The tech analyst sees Emily go into the nearby stairwell instead of having to pass JJ's office to use the elevator.

When she gets down to the floor where the staff doctors have their offices, she pulls out the card with the appointment info. She sees Shelly, the receptionist by the coffee pot.

"Hi, Shelly. I have an appointment with Dr. Huff—uh, Huff—geez, I know a butt load of languages and have no clue how to say his name."

Shelly chuckles. "It's pronounced Huff-Stod but he said to call him Huff. He's here for a couple months from California."

"Great. So, is he in yet?"

"Sure is. Room 012."

"Thanks, Shelly."

Emily heads down the hall until she gets to the right office. She knocks and hears a man call for her to come in. Taking a deep breath, she heads inside. A tall man with a thin but sweet face smiles at her.

"Hi, I'm Craig Huffstodt."

"Emily Prentiss," she says, shaking her hand.

He gestures to the couch. "Have a seat."

Emily nods and sits down, studying the man as he sits across from her. He grins at her. "Stop profiling me, Agent Prentiss."

Emily grins at him and nods her head. "Sorry. Habit."

"So, I hear you got into a bit of trouble here last week."

Emily laughs. "You make it sound like I got caught stealing from the supply closet. A distraught father used his badge to get to our floors and held me hostage so we'd find his kid. That's all."

"Really? That's all?"

Emily nods and shrugs. "Yeah. Mostly."

"Okay. So, what the part that's not in the 'mostly' that you told me?"

Emily rolls her eyes. "Look, have you seen the whole report or do you really not know what happened?"

Craig chuckles. "I saw the report. Just wanted to hear your version."

"Figures," Emily mutters. She takes a deep breath and looks Craig in the eyes. "He shot himself in front of me. I missed the signals and didn't stop him. Other than the initial start of the situation, when I didn't know quite what was happening, I had never been more scared. He cocked the gun and I thought he was going to kill me even though we found his kid. I didn't try to save him. And now all the good things I learned in that fucking office are gone because JJ read the note and so did Garcia and so now she may not want to marry me because—"

"Whoa! Time out!" Craig sits forward giving the universal Time-Out signal. "You seem to have several things going on here and I am going to need some clarification on things. Let's start with the first point. What signals did you miss?"

Emily leans her head back, looking at the ceiling. "I'm a profiler. We know in situations like I was in there is a good chance the end is suicide by cop or by self. He never told his daughter he'd see her later. He asked me to help his daughter heal. And then he told me to tell her he loved her. Then he put the gun in his mouth and…you know."

"Yeah, I know," Craig says sympathetically. "Do I need to point out the intense stress you had been under for 2 days? I think your fellow profilers would remind you that you're not superwoman."

Emily smiles a little, remembering JJ. "One said that exact thing."

"Smart profiler. Going to listen to either of us anytime soon?"

Emily takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "I really don't know."

"Fair enough," he responds while jotting something down on the pad in his lap. "Now, point 2, what good things did you learn in that room?"

At this, Emily gets up and starts to pace. "All my life I have been taught to hide my emotions away. My mother's favorite saying was, 'Emily, put that in a little compartment and lock the door.' So I am the queen of compartmentalization. You can ask anyone on the team, they'll tell you the same. But in that room, as the time was winding down, I knew I had just one chance to let everyone know exactly what I felt. So, I wrote it down." From her pocket she pulls the folded up note.

"May I?" Craig asks, his hand outstretched.

Emily stares at the note for a minute. Craig thinks she is going to refuse him but he is surprised when she hands it over. She walks over to stare at a picture on the wall as he opens the note and reads it. When he finishes, he looks up at her.

"That's really beautiful."

Emily shrugs. "I told myself if I did make it out alive, I'd live the words in that note. I'd let people know how I really felt about them. I even asked JJ to marry me." She smiles at the memory. "And she said yes."

"Congratulations."

"Thanks." Emily turns back around to face him, leaning back against the wall. "And then last night she told me she read the note. For some reason, it sent me into a panic. I shut down completely. I was suddenly embarrassed. Jennifer knows more about me than anyone. And I want her to know even more so why did I flip out last night? Shit, I treated her so badly. Even this morning still. I just couldn't apologize to her. Why am I such an asshole to the people that mean the most to me?"

"Are you really asking me?"

"Yes!"

"I think for a little while you were able to open the compartments you wanted for the woman you love. But the minute she became privy to compartments you wanted to keep shut you were threatened."

Emily drops down on the couch, thinking about what he has said. "Yeah…I think you're right."

"You strike me as someone who hates to be considered weak and my guess is your mother instilled in you that emotions are weakness." Emily just nods. "Do you believe that?"

"I…I don't think so. I used to. But I think I've gotten better as I've gotten to know my team, my family. I've let them in a little and so far it hasn't come back to bite me in the ass. And they've never looked down on me for having emotions. Well, the few times I've actually shown emotions that is."

"Sounds like they're good people."

Emily smiles openly. "They are the best."

"And this one…Jennifer?"

Emily is silent for a moment, then she looks Craig in the eyes. "She is the single best thing in my life." Then her face falls. "As long as I haven't screwed that up."

"Is she the type to cut and run after one mistake?"

"No!" Emily says forcefully, offended by the question. "How can you even ask that?"

"Well, isn't that what you're scared of?"

Emily stares at him for a few seconds then slowly shakes her head. "I really hate shrinks."

Craig smiles. "Yes, we are so wonderful it can be overbearing to some."

Emily can't help but laugh. "So, in conclusion, I need to open up to Jen and apologize profusely for being a jerk. And…and just maybe…I need to let my team…my family, see that note."

"Not just the note. They need to see the person that wrote that note."

"Yeah, I guess they do."

The two sit in silence for a few minutes. Finally Emily glances down at her watch. "So, uh, am I cleared for duty or am I a time bomb waiting to go off?"

"I'd say both, actually," Craig says with a grin. Emily smiles and nods in agreement. "Look, Agent Prentiss, emotions and compartmentalizing can both be good. It just depends on keeping them in balance." He taps the goodbye note with his finger. "They can help keep that balance for you."

"Yeah. Yeah, they can. Thanks, Doc. I mean it."

"Please, call me Huff."

"Okay. Thanks, Huff. You're a good man."

"No problem. Stay safe, Agent Prentiss."

"I will."

Emily leaves his office. For the first time she recognizes that she has been really open at one of these appointments and is leaving feeling good. Maybe there is something to these journeys of self discovery after all. Maybe. Big maybe.

Still mulling that over, Emily gets in the elevator and heads back to the BAU.