Friday afternoon Emily is staring at a board with all sorts of notes on it. Thursday had been (in her opinion) wasted on too many meetings and debriefings and media wrangling and other bullshit that didn't help them finish taking down this terrorist cell. Leroy Allen steps up beside her.

"So…anything magically change in the last five minutes?"

Emily grins. "Smartass."

He grins. "Yeah, didn't think so." He reaches out and brushes a hand over a note Brent had written. "Boss, can we really trust anything she wrote?"

Emily nods. "Sadly, yes. If all this had gone down as planned, if she hadn't been caught, she'd have bolted as soon as the first bomb exploded. Leaving behind these notes is just a poke in our collective eyes, Leroy. She would want us to put the pieces together after the fact to shame us but also to prove her superiority to us."

"But we caught her."

"Yeah, we did." Emily bites her lip a minute. "Leroy, help me find all of her notes. I want them separated out so we can look at them all together."

He nods. "Got it. Maybe putting all her little bits together will give us a different picture."

Emily nods. "Exactly. Her hubris that she was so much smarter than us could be the downfall of the rest of her cell."

They start to scour all the boards and walls for papers with Brent's handwriting. Soon they have all the notes spread out on the table. When Timothy Noth walks in after his lunch he looks down at them.

"What's this?"

"All of Brent's notes," Emily answers. "Profile on her says that somewhere in these notes is a clue to the houses we need to find and the people we should be looking for."

Noth slowly nods. "Because she would have felt herself superior to us."

"Right," Allen replies.

Noth steps to the table and starts to read the notes along with them.

Morgan sits at his desk staring at the wall. Something is bugging him about a case but it's not any of the ones on his desk. His is twirling his pen and trying to figure out what is bugging him about Emily's case. He finally stands and goes down to Garcia's office.

"Hey, Baby Girl."

"Hello, my god of chocolate thunder. Is this a business visit or are you about to make all my dreams come true?" she asks, batting her eyelashes adorably.

He laughs. "Business before pleasure, cupcake. Do you still have the background you ran on Brent?"

Garcia nods. "Yes. It's filed appropriately since we officially joined the investigation."

Morgan raises an eyebrow at the strangely Bureau-like response. Then the reason becomes clear.

"Are you still assisting Agent Prentiss, Agent Morgan?" Straus asks from behind him.

He turns. "Just had a thought I wanted to check on. I feel like…like we've walked away in the middle of the case. It's not a good feeling considering my partner is in the middle of it all."

Straus raises an eyebrow. "Your partner? Prentiss has impressed quite a few people. It's possible she won't be coming back. You do realize that, right?"

Morgan nods. "I know. But even if that happens, she'll still be my friend and I will still help her when and if she needs it. And right now I think we missed something in our profile. I want to review it, on my own time," he stresses to the taskmaster, "and make sure we don't attend a funeral for Emily Prentiss."

Straus studies him a moment. "Very well. If you find something, make sure she gives you credit."

"I don't care about the credit," he insists.

"I know. But I do. Regardless of what you might think of me, making sure my agents get the credit they deserve so they can access all opportunities available to them is part of my job. You have a bright future with the Bureau, Agent Morgan. Feathers in your cap such as helping stop a terrorist cell will help you draw your own path." She nods to Morgan and Garcia. "Carry on."

She turns and leaves. They wait until she is far enough down the hall before analyst and agent look at each other.

"Pod person," they whisper simultaneously. They chuckle then Morgan pats Garcia's shoulder.

"Shoot me that info?"

"On it's way now. Need an extra set of eyes on it?"

He shakes his head. "Not just yet. I know you've got a lot to do for the open cases we're actually working." He pauses. "How's JJ?"

Garcia sighs. "Sad. She took the today and yesterday to just kind of get past it."

"Damn. Well, Rocky's birthday party is tomorrow. Think she'll want to postpone it?"

"I already asked but she said no. I think she needs a reason to smile. She said Emily offered to work from home today but Jayje sent her in. She just wants time alone."

Morgan smiles. "Which of course means you'll be stopping at Chateau Prentiss on the way home."

Garcia nods. "Of course."

He kisses the top of her head. "Good. Tell her if she needs anything at anytime to call."

"I will."

Morgan heads back to his office. He opens the file and starts to scan it. First he reads the history Brent had put into the system to replace her real history. He then reads her original history.

"Stepfather…still no sign of a stepfather." He grabs a folder that has Emily's write up of her conversation with Brent just before the suicide. It has the picture taken from Brent's phone of her and an as yet unidentified man. "Gave up a stepfather and father pretty easily. And then this is the only personal pic on her work phone. Why? Why does this bug the crap out of me?" He grabs his phone. "Garcia, have you run the pic from Brent's camera through facial recognition?"

"Nope, that was handled by Emily's people."

"Run it. Something about the picture and Brent's history is really bugging me."

"Okay, I'll run it now. I'll let you know if it hits."

"Thanks, Baby Girl." As he hangs up he sees Hotch standing at the door. He sighs. "I know we're technically off the case but- -"

"What's bugging you?"

"Brent runs. Leaves the one pic on her phone. Why the hell not delete it before switching the phones? Why the hell even have it on there? She spills about her birth father and the Persian Gulf War before eating her gun. Next thing we do is, of course, run her background again. We focus on her."

Hotch stiffens seeing where he is going. "We focus on her as the mole and stop looking at anyone else."

Morgan nods. "Right. She was the sacrificial lamb. That means someone out there is still probably getting info on Emily's task force."

"Has to be someone above Brent."

"Wayans?"

Hotch shakes his head. "I don't think so. Here's what's bugging me: with all the extra security at the Capital, they still got those bombs in place. Proximity jammers disrupted the camera feed just long enough for someone to get to those closets and place them and get back out. Why wasn't a red flag raised when the feeds went black?"

Morgan nods. "And what better way to get into the Capital than with a Capital police badge. We're looking at the wrong damn people." He stands. "Can I take Reid?"

Hotch nods. "Go. Tell her she has the full support of the Bureau behind her if needed."

"I will."

"And tell her I'm having Garcia hack the Capital police employee files. We'll find the connect to Brent. Rossi and I will be helping her."

"Good"

Morgan hurries into the bullpen. "Reid, with me. Now."

Reid stands and shoves a few files into his satchel. He sees Morgan has his go bag and grabs his, too. He catches up to the older agent at the elevator.

"Where are we going?"

"Secret Service Headquarters."

Reid stiffens. "Emily called?"

"Nope. We're going to surprise her."

Reid nods. "Okay."

As they step on the elevator, Morgan studies the younger man. "You and Prentiss work things out?"

"Not officially. Why?"

Morgan smiles. "You called her Emily."

Reid gives a half-grin. "Just came to a few realizations yesterday while I was watching the crowd. She never let me push her away when I was dealing with Hankel and…stuff. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't return the favor?"

Morgan claps him on the back. "Good. She had a right to her anger at me and Hotch. I'm sorry you got dragged into it."

Reid nods. "I forgive you and not just because you work with me on hand-to-hand drills," he says with a grin.

Morgan laughs as they hurry out to grab a Bureau SUV and head to D.C. to help their friend.

Emily shakes her head, staring at the notes on the table. "Damn it, Prentiss, what are you missing? Well, other than the teammates that help you figure this crap out." She runs a hand through her hair. "I know haste makes mistakes but God damn it, my daughter's first birthday party is tomorrow! I'll be fucking damned if I miss it! I missed seeing her crawl the first time because of the job. What if tomorrow she decides to start walking instead of crawling to keep up with Henry? What if she blows out the candle all by herself? DAMN IT! I should be there to help her! And damn it, my wife is fucking destroyed about the nesters but trying to hide it. Why the hell am I here instead of there with her? WHY?"

"When you finish beating yourself up let us know."

Emily spins around to see Morgan and Reid standing in the room. "What…what are you doing here?"

"We have some information for you. Garcia will have more when she finishes what she's working on."

"I thought you guys were off the case," Emily says with a grin.

Reid smiles. "Like we'd leave you hanging in the wind." He steps towards her, staring into her eyes. "You've never let us down, why would we let you down."

Emily sees his statement is about more than just the case. She struggles to hold back her tears.

"Thank you."

Reid is studying the notes on the table. "What are these?"

"These are all Brent's notes. She was a narcissist on a mission. She'd have left something behind to tell us how stupid we were. I know it's there but I just can't see it." She squeezes his arm. "You don't know how many times I wished you were here to help me see what I'm missing. I…I've missed you, Reid."

He gives her his half-grin. "I've missed you, too." He pauses a moment and glances at Morgan, who understands and steps away. "Garcia told me about…the drinking. You were always there for me when I felt the pull to the Dilaudid. I'm here for you now. Anytime, day or night."

This time Emily can't stop the tears. She pulls him into a hug. "Thank you," she croaks out. After a second she steps back. "Okay, let me get with Morgan while you play with the puzzle on the table."

"Okay. Where are Allen and Noth?"

"Sent them to dinner. Guess I need to call them and tell them to bring back dinner for you two, also. My treat."

"Damn right it is," Morgan says with a grin.

Emily makes the call and then looks at Morgan. "So, my office?"

He nods. "Probably for the best."

They head down there and Morgan lays out the theory he and Hotch had come up with. Emily slowly nods.

"I felt the same way about the picture. It's just too convenient that it's there."

The two agents sit in silence a moment. Emily suddenly sits up.

"It's too easy."

"What is?"

"What if they expected us to suspect a Capital police mole? What if they wanted us to waste time digging into those backgrounds?"

Morgan slowly nods. "But it's not a police officer. Fuck, it could be anyone with access: staffer, intern, anyone."

Emily nods. "Right. These are older terrorists, either male or female as we saw. So I doubt an intern. And staffers are vetted very well." She grabs her phone and calls Garcia. "Garcia, strange question: have any Capital police officers died in the past month?"

"Uh, creepy but let's see." Garcia types in the search. "Oh, look at that. A 38-year old Capital police officer was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound two weeks ago."

"Single, no immediate family?" Emily guesses.

"Uh, yeah. How did you know?"

"Okay, next question may need some time to answer: was his security badge used this week?"

"Ooooo, I so see where you are going with this. I'll hit you back when I have an answer."

"Thanks, Garcia." Emily hangs up and looks at Morgan. "So, we would know how but still not who."

"Wrong: we find out when he used the badge and look for the cameras not affected by the jammer. He couldn't have carried all 4 of those bombs in at the same time."

"Right. And once we find out when his badge was used we can find out when the system was hacked to reactivate it. Find that hack and I bet Garcia can trace it back to the source computer."

Morgan nods. "And then we have them."

"Fucking A," Emily agrees. She glances at her watch. "Dinner will probably be here now. Go eat. I need to call Jen."

Morgan nods and stands. "Okay. Give her my love."

Emily smiles and nods. "You know I will." Morgan starts towards the door. "Derek…"

He turns. "Yeah?"

"About Winslow…I…we were…there's no need to yell it out when this is done. Our shit is in the past. I just…the only shit left are the nightmares I have to get through alone."

He steps closer to her. "Never alone, Emily. You never have to get through them alone."

She nods, once again choked up. "Right. I love you, Derek."

"Love you, too, Emily. Now call that wife of yours before she gets pissed about me taking her time with you," he says with a smile.

Emily chuckles. "Right. Thanks."

As soon as the door is closed, Emily picks up her personal phone and hits her wife's number. When JJ answers she sounds tired.

"Hi, Em."

"Damn, Jen…I should be there with you," Emily immediately says.

JJ can't help but smile at the devotion in her wife's voice. "You have a job to do, Emily."

"I'm your wife, Jen. That's the most important job." Emily pinches the bridge of her nose. "I'm sorry I'm not there. Sorry I took this task force job when you needed me."

"I'm not sorry you took that job, Emily. You saved hundreds of people yesterday. And the work you're doing will save more. And, let's face it you needed time away from me and the team."

Emily sighs. "Yeah, I guess I did." Emily smiles. "Morgan and Reid showed up with new information for me. And Garcia is running a couple of searches for me. They just…they came through for me, Jen, when I wasn't even expecting them to."

JJ smiles. "Of course they did: they're your family, Em. Families argue but the love never goes away as long as someone is willing to fight for it."

Emily nods. "You're right. But, enough about that, how are you, baby? Really."

"I'm…feeling guilty."

"Guilty? Why on Earth are you feeling guilty?"

JJ bites her lip a second before answering. "I…I was wondering…when things were so tense and you had moved out I…I wondered if it would be for the best if none of the nesters took."

"Oh, sweetheart…how could you not think that? But that had nothing to do with why it didn't work. So much goes into the process and- -"

"I wasn't even trying for Henry but that worked."

Emily swallows as she prepares herself for what she has to say. "Jen, I dare say you and Will probably had sex multiple times over the weekend Henry was conceived. You all rarely saw each other and I'm pretty sure you would make up for lost time. I'm sure with all those…chances it was a given that one of his swimmers would make it to the promised land."

JJ can't help but chuckle. "The promised land? Twisted, Mrs. Prentiss."

Emily smiles. "If it makes you smile it's not twisted, it's perfect."

"Charmer."

"I try to be. By the way, Reid and I talked. We're good. He even…offered to be an ear for me if I kept turning to the alcohol."

"That's great, baby." JJ thinks a second. "Have you…needed it?"

"Surprisingly no. Right now all my focus is this damn task force. Can't think about drinking right now."

"And…when it's done?"

"Then I'll have you and Henry and Rocky to focus on. I won't need it, Jen. I promise."

"I believe you. Em, about tomorrow…maybe we should postpone it until- -"

"No! Your family is coming, my parents are coming. The BAU will be there if they aren't on a case."

"But what about you? You shouldn't miss it, Em."

"I swear, Jen, I will do my damnedest not to miss it."

"I know, Em. I guess…you need to get back to work. Will you be home tonight?"

"I…I don't know. Depends on how these leads pan out. If not, I'll call you. I love you, Jennifer."

"I love you, too, Emily. Want to talk to the kids?"

Emily smiles. "Of course."

Emily stays on the phone with her family for another 10 minutes. By the time she gets off her mind is a little clearer. She is getting ready to head to the conference room when Reid bursts into her office.

"I GOT IT!"

Emily smiles. "You figured out her messages?"

"Yes. And it's not good. Not good at all. There's another attack coming."

Emily nods. "I know."

Reid frowns. "You…you know?"

"The President and Congress are doing exactly what the terrorists thought they would: holding a big press conference on the steps of the Capital tomorrow to show they will not be cowed by terrorism. It hit me while I was talking to Jen. They knew there would be a big rally of some sort no matter the outcome of yesterday's attack. Why not attack that rally, too, and show they are also not intimidated or stopped just because one action was foiled? That's why the amount of explosives and shrapnel used up until now have not matched the trash we found in Baltimore. Now we just need to figure out how to find them and stop them before that attack happens."

Reid smiles. "Two geeks really are better than one. I think I know how to find them."