A/N: Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! So many of you said such nice and wonderful things to me in review and in PMs. Yep, a troll or two snuck in but mostly y'all gave me warm fuzzies and I just want to thank y'all so much. I am still going to take a brief sabbatical but it will probably not be as long knowing how much my crazy little follies mean to y'all.

Y'all so totally ROCK!
AR

"Do you need anything before we get started, Agent Prentiss?"

Emily smiles at Rebecca Brouse and shakes her head. "No, thank you. Sure you don't want a coffee or anything?"

"I'm good. Patty?" She looks at the woman recording the questions, who shakes her head. "Okay, then. Let's get started, shall we?"

Emily nods. "Yes, let's. I kind of want all this crap behind me."

"I don't blame you. Patty, start the recording." Once the woman signals all is good, Brouse turns back to Emily. "For the record this is an interview with Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss regarding the attack against State Department employee Thomas Colter and the kidnapping of the minor child Declan Colter. Do you have any statement you wish to make before I start with the questions, Agent Prentiss?"

Emily takes a deep breath, her mind still hating the cover-up that her friends have been drawn into. She slowly nods.

"Yes, there is."

At Quantico, Hotch is well into his session with another agent from IA. "So you're saying it was just a coincidence that Chloe Donaghy was an old acquaintance of Ian Doyle?"

Hotch shakes his head. "Not exactly. They were both involved in a shadowy world overseas. It is not at all strange to me that they were associates in some way. The only surprise to me is that she'd had no dealings with Lauren Reynolds."

"Why do you think that was?"

Hotch shrugs. "I can only speculate that the Reynolds goal was Doyle. At the time, Donaghy was no longer in that playing field so there was no need for Interpol to consider her a necessary contact."

"Understandable. Were you surprised when she contacted Emily Prentiss personally?"

"At first, yes we were. They we realized she was probably trying to make it seem like a connection to JTF-12 for some reason. That's why we sent doppelgangers to Baltimore. She was leading us there for a reason and that was to take out a rival while giving her time to leave the country."

"If that was the case, why draw Emily into it at all?"

"This is only conjecture as no one lived to confirm it but I would think it was to make sure if Agent Prentiss did know anything about them from before that she couldn't share that information. It could also be that Lauren Reynolds did something to them or to an ally that they were avenging. Perhaps they simply planned to sell her to someone with a grudge against Reynolds. Truth is, we'll never know now."

"Perhaps not. What was Donaghy's relationship to Doyle according to Interpol?"

"I cannot say. Those files have been deemed classified and I cannot say what they contain."

"Right. So, do you have anything to add to this interview, Chief Hotchner?"

"No, sir."

"Thank you for your time. And, on a side note, well done."

Hotch nods. "Thank you."

For 15 minutes Morgan had been questioned about everything leading up to the infiltration of the boatyard.

"Tell me, Agent Morgan, did it surprise you that Agent Prentiss would risk her life the way she did?"

He smiles proudly. "Not at all. She knew that when she didn't show up, the boy could be hurt. She went to try to cause distraction and buy us some time to catch up to her. A few more minutes and she may have entered with us instead of alone. Then maybe she wouldn't have been shot."

"Are you upset she entered alone?"

"No, sir. Just upset she had to. I wish I had driven faster. She did what she had to do to protect Declan Colter and was willing to sacrifice herself to that end. It's the oath we take and it's an oath Agent Prentiss has lived in ways I can't even imagine. I'm damn proud of her and all she did during the course of this case."

The man smiles. "I can see why. Is there anything you wish to add?"

"No, sir."

"Thank you. Please send in Agent Reid."

"Okay. But it's Dr. Reid," Morgan points out. "He gets testy if you call him 'agent'."

The interviewer chuckles. "Come to think of it, Rebecca warned me about that. Thanks, Agent Morgan."

"Do you feel Agent Prentiss unnecessarily endangered the lives of the child and your fellow agents by infiltrating alone?"

"No, sir. Just the opposite, actually," Reid replies.

"How so?"

"The men who had her had told Donaghy when to expect them. She knew she needed to get where she could observe the kidnappers and possibly cause distractions to allow us time to arrive. She went in alone and kept their attention on her long enough to get us there to rescue both her and the boy."

"You shot Chloe Donaghy, Dr. Reid."

"Yes, I did. It is never a positive thing to take a life and it is something I will have to learn to live with. But I realized she wasn't firing at me or the other agents. She was firing at the child, most likely to keep him from testifying against them. She wouldn't drop her gun. I had to fire to save him. And I would do it again."

"Three shots center mass. Good shots. Your record on the range doesn't quite support that grouping."

"I've been working on my shooting quite a bit this year. What I did notice is on the range I think too much. There, on the docks, I could only react and things happened naturally. I shot to save a life not to punch holes in a piece of paper."

The interviewer grins. "Well said, Dr. Reid. Can you think of anything that could have been done to allow anyone to have lived?"

Reid slowly shakes his head. "As things played out, no. Do I wish we could have gotten there sooner? Yes. Do I wish we could have figured out sooner who Donaghy was working with? Yes. Every case we wish there could be things done sooner, quicker, easier. In that way, this case was no different than any other."

"Understandable. Tell me, do you think it's strange Emily Prentiss had no contact with Chloe Donaghy back when she was on JTF-12?"

Reid shakes his head. "I am sure there are many international criminals she had no contact with so, no."

"Very well. Can you send in Agent Todd?"

"Of course."

"So, why exactly were you there for the takedown, Agent Todd?"

Jordan sits in her chair completely relaxed. "Agent Prentiss had to give herself up to the kidnappers. Agent Jareau is pregnant and could not go on the retrieval. I offered my assistance to aid this team."

"A team you were a part of once. Any bitterness about that?"

Jordan chuckles. "Far from. I was their liaison the first time Agent Jareau was pregnant. During that time I realized I was not cut out for the BAU. They have to dig into people's lives, face down things that…well, there's a reason not every agent can make it into that division. I have the utmost respect for that team and all they do. Admittedly, I didn't have what it takes for the BAU. But I knew they needed a hand and was proud to help them."

"Were you upset that Agent Prentiss refused to join, and perhaps lead, a task force tracking Donaghy and then ended up going after her anyway?"

"Not at all. I would be surprised if Agent Prentiss ever joins a task force again so that didn't make me at all upset. In fact, I was upset that she was even asked. When her friends' son was kidnapped and a virtual stranger called her out, I am not at all surprised she did everything she could to help save the boy."

"I see. Anything to add to your statement, Agent Todd?"

"No, sir."

"Your wife was in terrible danger and yet you stayed behind. Interesting call, Agent Jareau."

"I wanted nothing more than to put on a vest and go after her. But, as you pointed out earlier, I'm pregnant. If she had known I was going her mind would have been on me and our children, not on the mission at hand. That could have gotten her or the boy killed."

"And you could have followed after she left. She wouldn't have known until all was said and done."

"I can see you wear a wedding ring. Perhaps lies are okay in your marriage but not in ours. I looked her in the eyes and told her I'd be waiting here for her. I couldn't have done that if I intended to lie to her. And she's a profiler, sir, she'd have known if I tried."

He grins. "Which makes me glad I'm not married to a profiler." JJ gives him a grin, realizing he's not railroading her, just trying to be thorough. "One last question, Agent Jareau, there was a time you and Agent Prentiss were guardians for Declan Colter. How did you know his kidnapping was about his father and not about you?"

"At first we didn't know what it was about. The assumption was it was about Tom due to his work with embassies overseas. It never crossed out mind that it could be about us and it wasn't or we would have lost precious time looking at the wrong thing."

"Very true. Do you know how Tom Colter came to adopt Declan?"

JJ shrugs. "No. I guess I never really thought about it."

"You're a profiler. A young, single man adopts a young boy. What would you say about that?"

"As a profiler I'd look at the fact that Tom was an orphan and he had a chance to give a child a life he didn't have. I'd say it's damn admirable."

The man nods and makes a note. "Very true. Is there anything you want to add to this statement?"

"Just one thing. I hope it's not lost that at the end of the day, some very bad people were removed from the international arms market. Could things have been done differently? Of course. Could the outcome have been better? Yes, Agent Prentiss could have not been shot and one of the suspects could have lived to give us better information. But at the end a young boy's life was saved and there are 8 people out of the business of selling death and destruction. Let's not forget that."

"Based on that statement I'm sure we won't. Thank you, Agent Jareau."

"Why exactly did you discount Lachlan McDermott as being the one aiding Agent Prentiss?"

Rossi shrugs. "Baltimore was closer and Agent Prentiss had dealings with Scirroco when she was Lauren Reynolds. She never dealt with McDermott. Add in how much closer that location was it made more sense."

"And then at the last minute, you send someone in your place to that location. What made you change your mind?"

"By that point Donaghy had contacted Prentiss directly. She had to know we'd never let Emily go to Baltimore alone. It seemed more like she was drawing us away from Prentiss so that's how we played it. It wasn't until we were on the road south that we confirmed it had to be McDermott who was aiding Donaghy. It could have easily gone the other way and we'd have sent our agents into a shoot out."

"Not a comforting thought."

"Try being part of the team that makes that call. It sucked," Rossi concedes.

"What do you make of the death of the last two men in hospital? Of botulism?"

Rossi shakes his head. "I don't know what to think. You'd think it was a suicide situation except what a horrible way to kill yourself. I'm not sure we'll ever really know what happened to them. My only speculation is did Donaghy give them a supposed cyanide pill but it was something else, something more cruel? I just don't know."

And that is perhaps the most truthful statement made so far that morning. No one had yet figured out how those men had died of botulism. It had been such a violent strain that by the time the doctors confirmed it was botulism it was over for the two men. Only a government or very rich international terrorist would have the funds to produce such a strain. Neither of those options is very comforting to anyone.

"One last question, Agent Rossi, what could you all have done differently to reduce the bloodshed?"

Rossi thinks a minute and shakes his head. "I honestly just don't know."

"This is no offense to the agents but my searches are only as good as the information I am given to input. There was no way to show that Baltimore was a red herring without sending the second team. Trust me, sir, if I could have done anything to rescue that boy sooner and keep Agent Prentiss safe I would have done it."

He nods and makes a note. "Did you find any connections between Donaghy and Lauren Reynolds in the ghost files that were reopened?"

Garcia opens her mouth and shuts it again. She considers it a second. "Sir, with all due respect, I am not sure I have clearance to answer that question."

"It's a simple yes or no question, Ms. Garcia."

Garcia carefully considers this. And since the answer is actually no how bad would it be to say so. She takes a deep breath. "No, sir, I didn't."

"What information did you find connecting Donaghy to Ian Doyle?"

"Now that, sir, I know I can't answer."

"Ms. Garcia, you are to cooperate fully with this investigation."

"I understand, sir. But I also have orders not to disclose anything regarding the question you just asked."

He puts his pen down and stares at her. "You do realize I can suspend you if you are deceptive or are combative, right?"

"I do, sir."

"Then please answer the question, Ms. Garcia."

Garcia shakes her head. "No, sir, I won't. Not without confirmation from someone above you that it is okay to do so."

The man rubs his eyes. "Then you leave me no choice. Analyst Garcia, you are suspended until such time as you answer the question asked of you."

"So be it, sir," Garcia says, standing and laying her credentials and ID on the table.

She turns and walks out of the room. Hotch and Straus see her walking towards them. Hotch frowns when he sees her ID is missing.

"Garcia, what's going on?"

"He's suspending me because I won't reveal information from the ghost files."

Straus rolls her eyes. "Oh for Heaven's sakes. Wait here, Garcia."

The section chief marches down the hall and into the interview room. Hotch pats Garcia's shoulder.

"You okay?"

"Fine, sir. I know I'm right and if Straus doesn't make it right then someone else will. There is no need for the question he asked to be asked or answered. Not in regards to this investigation."

Hotch smiles at her. "Well done, Garcia. I promise, it will be made right and this will not end up in your records."

Garcia smiles. "Thanks, Hotch."

Just then Straus sticks her head out of the interview room. "Ms. Garcia, can you join us, please?"

"Yes, ma'am." She looks at Hotch. "Wish me luck."

"You won't need it. I'm sure."

Garcia walks back down into the room. The interviewer looks embarrassed. Straus gestures to the chair Garcia had been seated in.

"Please continue your interview, Ms. Garcia. Nothing more will be asked about any portion of this case deemed classified."

Garcia smiles. "Thank you, ma'am." After Straus leaves, Garcia looks across the table. "I promise, I didn't mean to get you in trouble."

He gives her a smile. "I know. Let's just finish, shall we?"

"Okay," Garcia agrees, eager to be done.

Emily stares at her arm a moment then brings her eyes back up to meet Rebecca Brouse's.

"There are not many teams, if any, that could have done what this team did in such a short amount of time. They got dragged into this because of me. My past with Interpol and my friendship with Tom Colter collided in the most horrible way. And from the moment I got the call from Tom they never questioned why they should respond they just responded. When the slim connection to my Interpol days became known, they stepped it up another notch. They were already going full out to rescue Declan and obtain justice for Tom. They then stepped it up more than humanly possible to make sure I was protected, too. I know these interviews are protocol because of the number of guns fired and the fact that the suspects died but in no way should any member of this team be condemned for anything they did. They acted in an exemplary manner that shows why they are the best the FBI has to offer.

That said, if by any chance someone is upset by the outcome of this case, or even the reason for this case, the punishment should fall on my shoulders and mine alone. I chose to go to Interpol. I had no idea it would still be haunting me this many years later. There is no reason it should haunt my team, too."

Brouse slowly smiles. "Well said, Agent Prentiss. I'll make sure I lead my report with that very statement."

"Thank you."

"So, let's get down to the nitty gritty, shall we?" Emily nods. "Okay, first of all…"

By the time Brouse leaves 45 minutes later Emily knows nothing should happen to her teammates if everyone sticks to the cover story. She slowly wanders the house, studying the various items in it. Pictures of her family. Pictures of the team. The autographed Dr. Who promo poster hanging in the activity room. The medals and their accompanying pictures she and JJ had earned sitting proudly on a shelf in the living room. The toys scattered all over the playroom. Sergio sleeping peacefully in the window seat, awaiting the return of his favorite little human. (But don't tell him you know that!) Alaska sprawled out on his back asleep, his head on Henry's bean bag, also waiting for his favorite human to come home.

"You did what you did to give Declan a chance for a life like this, Emily Prentiss," she whispers to herself. "And in doing so, got it for yourself, too. Along the way you found a group of people willing to put themselves out on a limb for you. Don't blow it by forgetting to appreciate everything you have in your life now."

With that thought in mind and a warmth in her heart, Emily goes to get her computer. Time to figure out what "pretty" things she's buying her family to show them how much she loves them for what they did, and are still doing, for her, Tom and Declan.