"The natural state of motherhood is unselfishness. When you become a mother, you are no longer the center of your own universe. You relinquish that position to your children."- Jessica Lange

Korra's POV

I sighed as I heard my baby wail through the monitor on the night stand. This was the second time tonight and my husband had already gotten up, meaning it was turn. I gently unclasped myself from him and stood, stretching my arms above me before heading to the nursery. It seemed so unreal that the months had passed so quickly and that I was finally able to hold my daughter. I went inside the room and towards the crib to find it empty. The floor creaked and I looked up to see someone standing next to the window but I couldn't see their face. There was a bundle in their arms and I hear my daughter fuss once more. Had my dad gotten up to get her? They had been sleeping over the last couple of days... The figure stepped into the light and I felt my blood run cold.

"She looks just like you, sweetheart," Unalaq commented with a smirk.

I sat up in bed gasping for air, arms wrapping around me as something was placed against my face. I struggled against their hold, feeling myself panic when no air came. The mask was held against my face and I finally recognized the soothing voice, my body sagging against his chest as I took deep breaths through the nebulizer mask. His hand swiped hair away from my sweaty face, kissing my temple repeatedly as he soothed me.

I sighed after a moment, my breathing finally evening out and suddenly I felt so tired. Strong arms pulled me against a warm chest and I allowed it, my eyes drooping from exhaustion. A moment passed before I removed the mask, looking up to meet a concerned amber gaze.

"Shh," Mako soothed, trying to put the mask back on but I shook my head. I didn't need it anymore. He sighed but didn't push it, kissing the top of my head. "Same nightmare?"

I nodded against his chest. "He was holding her this time," I whispered.

"He's gone, Korra. He isn't going to hurt you or our baby."

I let out a choked sound. "I'm so scared, Mako."

His hold tightened slightly and I felt a hand go to my torso, soothingly rubbing my small bump. I nuzzled my head against his shoulder, feeling my eyes close as I tried to sleep again. The nightmare had been occurring almost nonstop since I found out I was pregnant. Mako had done everything he could to make this fact easier for me to accept but I was just so scared. I didn't know what I would do with a baby. I felt him lie down and I tried opening my eyes but he assured me everything was okay, that I should sleep and I did.

The next morning I woke up to the nebulizer mask against my face and I figured I must have had another asthma episode during the night. Slowly I removed it and sat up, finding the bed empty. The bathroom door opened and I looked up to see Mako fixing his tie. He smiled at me and I did the same as he walked over to me.

"How are you feeling?"

"Tired," I admitted.

"Do you want to spend the day with your parents? You can take a day off-"

"No, I'm fine," I answered. "I need to keep my mind off things."

"Korra-"

"I don't want to talk about it." I sighed. "Please. I just...I can't."

He nodded. "Okay, I'll make breakfast."

"I'm not really hungry."

"You need to eat," he insisted and I reluctantly nodded my permission.

I stood up from the bed going over to the long mirror. Slowly I raised my shirt, turning on side to see small bump. I was three months along and it wasn't getting any easier for me and the dreams weren't helping. Mako was attentive and I loved it but no matter what he did I couldn't process the fact that I would be a mom soon. What kind of a mother would I be? Would I know what to do when my baby cried? I sighed shaking my head as I began to change.

Would this feeling of uncertainty ever go away?

Mako's POV

This had to be one of the bloodiest scenes I had ever seen. There were four bodies: four men and one woman. Iroh pulled up the surveillance tapes and watched as our suspect, Darin Call, attacked the victims. The pharmacist was still shaken up but manage to tell us what happened. He had waited in line like everyone else an asked for his medication. She looked him up in the system but he had no refills left and Call became agitated. The pharmacist became frightened when he started to scream and called over a male employee...it all went down hill after that. I asked to see his medical files but when the suspect and security guard struggled over the gun a shot had gone right through the hard drive making it impossible. However, she mentioned that he had been on an anti-psychotic before.

I watched as Korra went outside, through the door the man had used which led to an alley. I took a deep breath at that, letting her do her own investigation. She was exhausted but wouldn't show it and I worried. For weeks now she had been waking up from nightmares with an asthma attack. It was almost as if she had digressed to when we started sleeping together at the news of being pregnant. Part of me felt guilty, knowing that having a baby was something I wanted despite her not having a real interest in it. Now she was pregnant and trying to adjust to it.

"What's wrong with the shrimp?" Iroh asked.

I sighed and managed a small smile. "She's mad she can't have coffee anymore."

My best friend laughed and shook his head. I heard a scream and I immediately bolted out the door to see Korra on the floor, a figure above her kicking her back. I pulled my gun out and fired two shots, hitting him square on the back. A police officer came over as I knelt next to my wife that was curled up in a fetal position, arms wrapped around her torso. I lifted her up, noticing the bleeding on the side of the head and figured he must have caught her off guard.

She sobbed into my chest, trying to say something between breaths but I couldn't understand. Iroh brought the car over and I got inside, soothing my wife as much as I could until we arrived to the hospital. A pair of doctors placed her on a stretcher and asked me to let go when they took her away. I placed my hands in the back of my head, trying to calm myself down. Was she going to be okay? What about the baby?

"There was a robbery down the street," Iroh informed me when he got back. "He must have thought Korra was a cop."

"I hope that son of a bitch is dead," was all I could answer.

And I thought things couldn't get worse.

Asami's POV

I watched Korra's chest rise and fall evenly; the oxygen mask on her face helping her breathe. Earlier she had been attacked by a thief that mistook her for a cop. Hotch had told me that she'd been asking for space lately so when she stepped out to investigate the crime scene he didn't think much of it. As soon as he heard her scream he bolted out the door and fired his gun at the man, who died at the scene. Iroh had called me after they arrived at the hospital and I immediately drove over. The doctor assured us both the baby and Korra were fine and the most damage was some bruising on her back.

I had been less than pleased with Mako upon my arrival.

"You're supposed to look out for her!"

"I am! The area was crawling with cops and Feds, how was I supposed to know some idiot would come strolling through!"

I sighed, absently shaking my head. I knew that it wasn't his fault but...he was married to Korra, he had to look out for her, it was his job now. I stood up from my chair beside her bed, gently running my hand through her short hair, leaning down to kiss her hairline before leaving the room to get some coffee.

Neither Lin or Mako had been happy about me staying at the hospital but I argued it was the most reasonable solution. Her parents had gone on a trip but were on their way back. The team needed Hotch and they had Iroh if any tech expertise was needed. I'd only be stepping out until her parents got back anyway.

When I came back, however, I was surprised to find Korra wasn't the only one in the room anymore. My hold on the paper cup tightened and I clenched my jaw. There, standing next to Korra was none other than my father. His grin widened when my gaze fell to the knife in his hand. Spirits help him if he laid a finger on her.

"So I heard Unalaq's little spitfire was in the hospital," he began causally, his attention on the brunette as he looked up at me again. She wasn't Unalaq's anything. She wasn't anybody's. "Wherever she is, you are sure to be two steps behind. It tends to be a pattern for people like you."

"What do you want?" I managed to ask through my clenched teeth.

My father chuckled. "I read her chart," he continued. "It says she has episodic asthma attacks so I wonder if I..."

His fingers pinched the oxygen tube and I immediately pulled out my gun. The man tskd, the other hand with the knife going to my best friend's throat. I heard her wheeze and gasp for air as the oxygen was blocked from reaching her and I finally put the weapon away in surrender. He loosened his grip and I watched Korra take in deep gulps of breath and I immediately went over, trying to soothe her.

"It's amazing what so much love can do to a person." I looked up into his spectacle covered gaze, narrowing my eyes at him. "It makes a person so much weaker than they should be, pushes them to do things that they never would do. How deeply you," he tilted his head, the knife still not wavering from its spot against her neck. "Care for her is what makes you weak, Asami."

My eyes were blazing and I drew out my gun once more. He didn't even bat an eye, instead he drew his knife away from Korra and walked around the bed toward me until the muzzle of the gun was pressing against his chest, over his heart.

"Give me a reason why I shouldn't kill you right now."

My father chuckled at that, as if my threat was a joke of sorts. "You and I both know the only reason you'd need is in this room, laying right there in that bed," he replied nodding his head in Korra's direction.

I said nothing as he grabbed his coat at the foot on the bed and turned to leave. "We should do this again some time."

My eyes closed and I knew I had fallen for his game once again. I put the gun away one last time, my hand going to wrap around Korra's. He was right, Korra was my weakness, one of my bigger ones. When we were younger I had promised to protect her but by doing that I had made her a target for my father. One thing was certain. If he ever laid a finger on her...It would be the last thing he did.

Senna's POV

I kissed my daughter's temple, tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear as she ate. Yesterday we'd received a call from Mako telling us that she had been hurt during an investigation. Tonraq and I were immediately on the next plane to Republic City, leaving behind whatever business he had in the South Pole. Asami greeted us at the hospital, updating us on our daughter's condition and the baby's. There was bruising on her back and she'd be sore for a couple of days but they would both be fine.

Earlier today she'd been discharged and her husband had brought her over. I could tell this irritated our little girl. She didn't want to be on bed rest or 'babysat.' I on the other hand was happy to have her home.

"Food was great, Mom," she commented when she finished.

"I'm glad you liked it."

When I'd first heard she was pregnant I'd felt more exited and happy than I could describe. Tonraq and I were going to be grandparents and in a few months we'd be meeting our grandchild. However, I only had to take one look at my daughter to know that there was something wrong.

Mako had told me about her having a hard time wrapping her mind around the idea of becoming a mother and I could see the reason. I had been a bit younger than her when my illness had started to surface, making taking care of her difficult.

Korra managed a smile, looking down before hesitantly placing a hand against her barely visible bump. I placed my own hand on top of hers and she looked up at me, hints of fear in her eyes. I could only imagine how scared she had been when she'd been attacked.

"The baby's fine," I tried to assure her. "Mako talked to the doctors, you're both doing great."

"I was so scared," she admitted quietly. "All this time I couldn't stop thinking about how I was supposed to care about them and then I was knocked on the ground and all I was doing was praying to the Spirits that they were okay."

"That's why you curled yourself into a ball," I realized. "You were making sure he wouldn't touch the baby." My hand squeezed hers. "That already says so much about you as a mother."

She bit her lip. "It's hard for me to get used to all of this. I can't drink coffee, I can't work out as much-"

"You can't be in the field anymore," I added for her. My daughter let out an irritated sigh and I chuckled, kissing her cheek. "Your body needs rest and you need to relax. This can't happen again."

A sigh. "I know."

"You know what helped when I was pregnant with you?" She shook her head. "I started to refer to you as my 'baby girl,'" I revealed. "Even before I knew you were a girl, I just...I wanted to wrap my mind around the fact that I was going to have you."

"So...I can nickname my baby?"

I nodded my head. "I think it'll make things easier."

I watched as my daughter's brow furrowed before slowly a smile appeared and she rubbed her bump. "Echo," Korra said out loud."

"Echo?"

She nodded, smile still intact. "That's what I heard the first time I had the ultrasound, an Echo. So they'll be my little Echo."

I chuckled, bringing her close to me. This was a start. I knew she wasn't happy about missing out on her job but she realized that the baby's safety came first. It would take time but I could already see her falling in love with her little bump and soon she'd recognize that every sacrifice was worth it. Like I had for my baby girl.

Mako's POV

I sighed as I looked around our second crime scene. It was truly amazing how Darin had been able to escape authorities. When he had left the pharmacy he had been covered in blood and walking around with a knife. How could anyone not see him?

I'd asked Asami to look up any information she could on our suspect but she had dropped off the radar when Korra was hospitalized. It wasn't until my wife's parents arrived that she started to be productive once again and by then it had been too late. Iroh had tried looking him up but sometimes it was just sad that he didn't have the Sato tech's skills.

She had found out Darin was seeing a psychiatrist based on the information the pharmacist gave us but when we arrived he along with who seemed to be a patient was dead, the psychiatrists clothes removed and Darin's clothes on the floor. Rossi and I tried looking up his file but came up empty handed. Great, just what we needed. I ordered Saikhan to get roadblocks going and to make sure officers were more careful along the city's borders in case he tried to leave.

"What do you have for me, Asami?" I asked.

"Well I went ahead and tried to find everything on Darin Call but the thing is there is no beginning."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Darin Call didn't exist from 1969 to 1975. There is no birth certificate, no social security, no identity, nothing until he was six years old."

"Was he abandoned?" I asked.

A sigh. "My three least favorite words string together: I don't know."

I hummed in response. Now things were starting to make a little more sense. "My guess is neither does he. Thank you, Asami."

"What's going on?" Rossi asked.

"Darin Call doesn't have a past," I explained. "That's probably why he went off the psychotics. He was trying to remember."

The elder member nodded his head. "I'm guessing were going to the office to find out more?" I nodded an got in the car, waiting for him to get on before heading back to headquarters.

When I arrived I let out a sigh but smiled when I noticed my wife. Earlier in the day I had left her at my in-laws home but I should've known it would only be a matter of time before she came back. I have her a quick kiss before kneeling down and kissing her torso, causing her to squirm slightly when my hand brushed by a ticklish spot. Asami came in with Lin and I sat down, holding my wife's hand as our attention went to the tech.

"May 1st, 1975, Darin Call is found roaming in the middle of nowhere and was picked up and was in state care for the first few months," she began.

"Did he tell the cops what happened?" Korra asked.

The raven haired woman shook her head. "No. He didn't talk until over a year after and once he did all he knew was his life as Darin Call."

"So he's been suppressing his memories and now he wants to know who he is," Rossi commented.

"I think that when he started to see the therapist, those were his intentions," Korra replied. "Now that he's off the anti-psychotics he must be getting flashbacks and it is messing up with his grip on reality."

"Well he took his file, he's got some answers."

"And a head start," Iroh commented coming inside with his laptop.

I nodded. "Well we need to catch up."

If we didn't, the body count could go up.

Lin's POV

I couldn't help but feel relief when I spotted the kid in the conference room. Just two weeks ago she and Hotch had announced that they would be expecting a baby and although I could see her nervousness I could also tell she was happy. So when Iroh called me to inform me that she had been attacked I'd hoped that she and the baby would be okay. Now just a day after the attack she was back in the office. Her husband had asked that I talk to her about staying at headquarters more often and I assured him I would. I did not need another agent losing a baby due to this job.

After some preliminary information was given to us by the techs we began to investigate where the hell our suspect was headed next. Saikhan had insisted on being present during the briefing and I had reluctantly agreed. His officers had responded to the pharmacy incident and the B.A.U. always let the responding officers be in the case. Of course, this didn't mean that I couldn't see the look of disapproval from several agents, mainly Korra and Asami.

"Records from Child Services has him as extremely physically abused," Iroh informed us. "No signs of sexual assault."

"That's a miracle," the Sato tech muttered.

"Either way the trauma was debilitating," Korra answered.

"Now, was he running from an abusive home or an abduction?" Rossi asked.

"Wouldn't there be a paper trail of if it were a kidnapping?"

I sighed. Sometimes I had to wonder how he'd become the Chief of Police. "Asami, look for unsolved missing children's case from the 1970's."

"There was a case, in Hollow Creek, near the border of the city, kids were dead though," the officer revealed as the tech typed away. "Found them in pieces."

"When was this?"

"1975. Nobody talks about it because we never found the guy."

"Yet you were all on me about the murdered little girls."

"Agent Morgan," I scolded earning a grumble from her. Though she had a point.

"Do you think it's possible he walked away from that?" Hotch questioned.

Korra nodded her head. "It's possible."

"Asami, Iroh, get to work," I ordered before turning to Saikhan. "Can you get me that file?"

"I'll do what I can."

I sighed. Why the hell did this case seem so familiar to me?

Zuko's POV

I took a deep breath as I looked the case over. Based on the information we had gathered, there was a possibility that Darin could have escaped the Hollow Creek Killer but we weren't too sure. There were only four suspects in the Hollow Creek case and they were all dead. The murdered kids were taken from 1973-1976. All on the way home from school and from what my grandson and his wife had gathered, all from different school districts.

He had waited for them to be alone. That took patience which meant he probably must have had time off in the afternoons, lived or worked near the schools. There were just too many possibilities.

"Do you think Call is going to go back?" Saikhan asked.

As of now it all seemed to be pointing in that direction. "I think there's a good chance," I answered.

He nodded in response just as a report came in. Call had gone to a foster home near the Dragon Flatts district. I watched as the youngest Agent's brow furrowed and she looked through the piles of paper before pointing out that had been his foster home. So he was retracing his steps. To make things worse he had taken a ten year old with him. The caretaker had been injured during their talk and she had noticed that although he seemed off, he had started to act out even more when he looked at himself through the mirror, saying 'he was there.' Then there was also the fact he called the boy who was taken, 'Tommy'.

That brought up a whole new set of questions until Saikhan said he remembered why the case was so familiar. In 1975, a boy named Tommy was reported missing and found a few days after his disappearance. The boy managed to tell them a few things but it was not enough to go after the assailant. It seemed that for once, the Chief of police was actually going to be useful. Lin had the techs working on finding the boy.

"I found Tommy," Asami informed us after an hour or so. "He goes by James Thomas Anderson now.

"Is he a local?" I asked.

She nodded. "Downtown district, address and bio will be provided in just a second."

"Thank you, Asami," Hotch answered before looking at me. "Rossi, why don't you go talk to Tommy."

"Can I go too?" Asami asked. "I haven't been out in the field for a while."

He nodded his permission and soon we were at Tommy's home. The man had not aged well. His appearance was messy and when we walked inside we found bins full of beer bottles. Clearly whatever happened while he was missing had a tremendous impact on his life, at least enough to make him an alcoholic. We filled him in on what was going on and I could see the swirl of emotions in his eyes. We were digging up the demons he was trying to forget.

"What does Darrin Call have to do with me?" he asked after a moment.

"We think he survived the Hollow Creek murders," I answered.

The man scoffed and shook his head. "Nobody survived that."

"You did." Tommy didn't answer. "There was another boy. He was six."

He absently shook his head. "No, that's not true."

It was Asami who scoffed this time. "We don't have time for this."

"I'm telling you, I was alone."

"Just like now?"

I could tell this was about to become an unpleasant conversation for the man. "Excuse me?"

"Have you ever been married?" she questioned. "Any relationships? Any family?"

He shook his head. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Or are you afraid you'll abandon them, too?" Asami pressed. "Or was it because of your alcoholism?"

"I would never leave a kid."

"He's been taking medications to deal with the trauma that suppressed his memories," she continued. "That kind of amnesia is a psychological defense."

"He's gonna wish he never remembered."

"We know what you told the police," I added a little more gently, because Asami was being anything but gentle. "We need to know about the boy."

A sigh. "He never talked," Tommy replied quietly.

He told us what happened. How the boy had tried to help him escape only to be caught by the man that kidnapped him. He had tied him up and dumped him in the back of a red truck. After a while they stopped and the man handed Tommy a shovel, told him to start digging, but when the man was distracted he hit him over the head with the shovel. He asked the boy to run with him and they did. Tommy jumped over the fence but it had been too tall for the other boy. The man reached him and for the first time the kid had spoken, telling him to keep running.

"He told you to go."

"He was a kid," Tommy replied.

"So were you," I answered looking over at the tech, noticing the clenched fists against her crossed arms.

"Call wasn't in the back with you," she noted after a moment, some hidden steel to her tone.

He shook his head. "No, he was in the cab."

"He gave you water. Got the keys. Why wasn't he locked up?"

I hummed thoughtfully. "Maybe Call wasn't a victim."

She nodded her head before her eyes widened in realization. "Call's reflection." I tilted my head to the side. "Spirits... His father was the Hollow Creek Killer."

I let out a deep breath. Of course. "His own kid. No wonder he was never claimed." I paused and took out my phone. "Hotch, I think we might know where Call is going."

Asami's POV

After realizing that the Hollow Creek Killer was Darin's dad and he was the one he was going after, Iroh and had went to work. Darin didn't have a past until he was six years old but there had to be something. Korra mentioned that perhaps the mother had died in childbirth since she would have reported him missing. Hotch added that the father would need a secondary location with privacy to do what he did to the boys. Taking all of the information into consideration and adding the red truck Tommy described we came up with a single match. Bill Jarvis. His wife, Doris Jarvis, had died in childbirth and he owned a machine shop right outside the city. There was the secondary location.

"Do you have an address?" Hotch asked.

I felt disgust welling up inside me and made it apparent when I ground out, "In front of an Elementary School."

"Gear up."

"Hotch-"

"You're going to stay here, Korra," he said cutting her off. My best friend let out a frustrated sigh and he kissed her temple as he stood and I followed suit. "Where are you going?"

"You're an agent short, you need me," I answered. There was no way I was going to miss this.

Soon we arrived, finding the stolen vehicle Darin had used when he grabbed the boy at his former foster home. S.W.A.T arrived and I watched as officers got into place, surrounding the house. The irony here was that all these precautions were for Darin, a man who had been traumatized beyond repair by his father, the real villain in all of this. Yet, if a shot was going to be taken it would be for Darin and I couldn't let that happen.

My feet moved and I could hear Hotch and Rossi yelling for me to come back but I didn't. I went inside and Darin pointed the gun at me, asking me to get out.

"My name is Asami," I said raising my hands in a sign of piece.

"This is between us and him."

"I know."

"Then you'll leave us alone."

"I know what he did to those boys," I began. "I know about Hollow Creek and the cage. And Tommy."

That got his attention. He blinked, trying to rub off the sweat with his sleeve as he continued to hold both the boy and the gun.

"You know about Tommy?" I nodded and he looked down at the boy. "We're gonna get him for everything he's done, Tommy."

"Let him go," I tried gently. "Tommy doesn't need to see this." The boy was shaking, trembling, not sure why he had been dragged here and scared to death.

"He should die," Darin said as he aimed the gun at his father.

I nodded in agreement. "He should. But if you kill him, you'll have nothing, and I thought you wanted some answers." Darin nodded his head. "Go ahead then, ask him."

He looked over at the bastard sitting calmly and quietly in his chair. "Why did you do that to those kids?!"

His father smirked, shaking his head. "What kids?"

"No!" Darin shouted. "The ones that we buried. Why!"

"You're confused."

I scoffed. This pervert had some nerve. "Why didn't you move?"

Bill turned his head toward me. "This is my home."

My jaw clenched. "Are you sure it's not the view?" I asked and moved over to the window, calling Darin over so he could see the playground across the street. "He sits on the porch every day and watches the kids. That's why he hasn't moved." The very thought made my stomach twist.

Darin let go of the boy and I opened the door, allowing him to leave. Our suspect went over to his father once more, gun aimed at his chest and I watched, making no move to stop him, waiting.

"We-we drove around in that truck."

"You made your own son sit in the front so the other boys would be safe?" I asked, not bothering to hide the venom in my voice.

"You-you kept them in cages! And I-I burned their clothes!" Darin continued. This poor kid.

"And when you finished you buried them and made him help." Bill didn't answer and I grabbed him by the collar, making him stand. "Get up and pretend you're a man," I growled. "You like little boys, don't you? But they can't be too small because that would be wrong."

He didn't answer, just smirked and that only served to infuriate me. I knew that smirk too well. That smirk had been around long before this guy had come up on our radar, and that smirk only made my decision all the more final.

"What was it about them? Did they make you feel strong? Make you feel like a man?"

"Shut up."

My lips twitched. "Is that a yes?" He didn't need to say anything, I already knew. "Darin, we're surrounded," I told him, glancing at the real victim here. "The police are going to storm in here any minute now. They will not shoot you if you are unarmed."

He shook his head. "He has to pay!"

A beat.

"Then make him pay."

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

And Bill Jarvis fell to the ground. Everything else was a blur. I went over to Darin, gently removing the gun from his grasp before asking him to kneel and put his hands on the back of his head just as S.W.A.T and the police stormed in. I turned away, making my way out the door when Hotch grabbed my arm.

"What the hell happened?" he hissed.

"I couldn't stop him," I answered simply, pulling my arm away and leaving the scene.

And I wouldn't have anyways.

Korra's POV

I let out a sigh as I looked at the crib in the middle of the nursery. Ever since Mako had found out I was expecting he had bought all sorts of furniture, stuffed animals, and even a couple of decorations. He had painted the walls a baby blue and I'd admit that I loved it. The crib was made out wood, painted white and empty save for the tiny mattress and a bear plush Jack had put in earlier. He was just as excited as his father and wanted his baby brother or sister to have his favorite toy. Earlier he had even pressed his ear against my torso to see if he could hear anything but I knew Echo was still too small.

The door opened and I turned around to find Naga, tail wagging as she trotted over to me. I smiled and bent down to pet her, earning a sound of approval. I chuckled, continuing to scratch the spot behind her ears before she came forward and poked my stomach with her nose, head titling to the side. I felt my smile widen as I set a hand against my bump causing her tail to wave furiously. She came forward and gave the top of my hand a couple of licks. Looked like she was happy about Echo as well.

"Hey," I heard Mako call. I looked up as he walked in the room, arms wrapping around my torso and kissing my temple. "You weren't at the office."

"I couldn't just sit there and wait," I answered leaning against him. "So I walked around before picking up Jack."

"I'm sorry. But I can't have you in the field." I sighed and he gave me a kiss. "Where'd you go?"

I bit my lip pulling away to get the bag on the changing table. When the team had left I couldn't stay at headquarter so I decided to go. I walked around until I saw something that caught my eye. When I had been younger I dreamed about playing basketball but because I couldn't get the physical I wasn't able to play. But now, there was a possibility my baby could play and well...

"I went into a baby store and got Echo a jersey," I answered showing him the item.

"Echo?" he asked as he studied the tiny, light blue piece of clothing.

"Mom said that giving the baby a nickname would help me get used to the idea of being a mom." I looked up at him. "I think it has, at least a little."

My husband grinned and gave me a chaste kiss, his hand going to rub my bump. I watched as he knelt down, putting his hand on my sides before leaning in and giving the middle of my torso a gentle kiss. I smiled and ran my hand through his hair, seeing the love and adoration in his eyes.

"We can't wait to meet you, Echo," he whispered. "Your mommy already got you a jersey and I know you're going to love it."

My smile widened. "I love you."

Mako grinned and wrapped his arms around me tightly and I did the same, nuzzling my face against his chest as I looked down at the crib a small smile tugging at my lips. One thing was for certain, my little Echo was going to be loved. I knew it.

"The hunting of monsters is not for the faint of heart. Nor is it for those who feel bound by such trivial doctrines as law or national borders."- Tess Gerritsen