The next morning Morgan and Emily set off towards Orangeburg, SC, about an hour southeast of Lexington. Two homes there had made Garcia's list of unusual deliveries of fertilizer. On the way they would stop at homes in Swansea and North and then head west to Windsor to a property near Aiken State Park. They are in for a long day and can only hope it will prove fruitful. Emily yawns and stretches as she reviews the information on the first stop. Morgan glances at her, grinning.

"If your wife was in town I'd ask if you had a late night," he teases.

Emily chuckles, praying he doesn't notice the blush. "Bed sucks. Would be more comfy sleeping on rocks."

"Ugh. Hate that."

Emily nods. "Hazard of the job, right?" Morgan just shrugs. "Okay, first stop is in Swansea. Widow named Margery Fiat. 83 years old. Four kids, 9 grandkids and, wow, 3 great-grandkids."

"Lots of family. Maybe one of them is using her land to grow a garden."

Emily shrugs. "Could be. She's outside city limits and has 10 acres. Maybe all the kids are going green. According to Garcia's information there was enough fertilizer sent to spread over all 10 acres with some left over."

"Damn."

"Yep. And it still wasn't enough to raise a huge red flag. Kinda scary."

"Definitely."

Thirty minutes later they are knocking on the door of a quaint little house. Morgan is looking around the yard.

"I don't see any evidence of a huge garden needing all that fertilizer."

"Me neither," Emily agrees.

The agents hold up their badges as a spry octogenarian opens the door. She smiles at them. "I promise, officers, I was not cheating at Bingo last night."

Emily laughs. "Well then our work here is done." The three chuckle. "Actually I'm Agent Emily Prentiss and this Agent Derek Morgan with the FBI. We wanted to ask you about a large shipment of fertilizer you received recently."

The woman's eyes widen. "Oh, how exciting! Why are you worried about my little gardens?"

"Well, the amount you ordered and the fact that you never ordered that much before just threw up a little red flag," Emily says casually. "Just part of our diligence post 9/11."

"Oh, well, let me show you what it was used for."

She takes the agents on a 20 minute tour of her flower gardens. They are pretty little plots right up near the house and Emily is sure they will be gorgeous when they are in full bloom. However there is no way all the fertilizer was needed for these small patches. Morgan looks at the lady.

"If I may ask, why did you order so much this year?"

"Oh, it wasn't much. Just a few bags."

Morgan is stunned. "Uh, there was more than a few bags delivered."

She frowns. "No, no I'm sure Marvin just order 5 bags."

"Who is Marvin?" Emily asks.

"Marvin Anonimo. He is a nice young man that helps me with my gardening. He told me how the fertilizer would give me the best flower blooms ever."

Emily's eyebrow had lifted at the name. Morgan notices but says nothing. Emily smiles.

"Do you have a way we could contact him?"

"Of course. I have his phone number. Come inside. Would you agents like some lemonade?"

Morgan shakes his head. "No thank you, ma'am."

Five minutes later the agents are leaving with red solo cups of lemonade and fresh sugar cookies. They also have the phone number for Marvin Anonimo for Garcia to track.

"Got to be a burn phone. He has what he needs from her so he may dump the phone," Emily says.

"Maybe. Or if he doesn't believe we're on to him he may keep in contact to use her again in the future." He glances at Emily. "What's with the name? I saw you react to it."

Emily grins. "Anonimo is Italian for anonymous."

Morgan starts to chuckle. "Give him credit for originality."

Emily chuckles. "Maybe." She hits Garcia's number. "Hey, PG, got some info for you to play with." She gives her the information on the overly helpful gardener. She listens a second. "Burn phone. What a surprise. Well, see if you can work magic for us. We'll be in touch soon." Emily hangs up. "So, south to North?"

Morgan smiles and nods. "Yep. Only in South Carolina would the town of North be in the center of the state."

Emily chuckles, agreeing with him 100%.

Rossi extends his hand to a man who looks as though his world will never be right again. Seeing the man has not yet gotten beyond the shock of losing his wife Rossi knows they won't get much out of this interview unless they are very lucky. The Italian agent gestures to the man's own living room.

"How about we sit down and we ask you a few questions?" he suggests.

Gerard Devereaux just nods and allows Rossi to lead him by the elbow into the room. Reid sits in the arm chair as the other two men take the couch. Rossi takes the lead.

"Mr. Devereaux, first let me say we are so sorry for your loss."

The man nods, his eyes blank. "My wife and daughter. Both of them. How…who…" he just shakes his head. "I don't understand."

Rossi sighs. "Sadly deaths like this are beyond understanding. All I can promise you is we will do everything we can to work with the local police and find this unsub as soon as we can."

Devereaux looks up in confusion. "Unsub?"

Reid sits forward, his elbows on his knees. "It means 'unknown subject' and it's what we call the perpetrator until we know who he is." The devastated man just nods, still not really registering what they are saying. "Mr. Devereaux, do you know if your wife was having any trouble with other business owners or…or maybe disgruntled customers?"

The man shrugs. "I don't know. Nothing that made me think…or her think…fuck, if she had been worried Kimberly wouldn't have been there. And before you say anything, I know Kimberly wasn't her daughter by birth but she was raised as if she was. She'd have insisted our daughter stay home if she thought there was danger."

Reid nods. "I believe that. But she may not have realized the depth of someone's anger. Anyone at all that she complained about?"

He thinks a moment but shakes his head. "No. I don't know. Maybe. Kimberly would know if…" his voice trails off as it hits him his daughter might have known but she had been killed, too. His eyes well up with tears. "Oh my God!"

He collapses back on the couch as he is wracked with sobs. Reid and Rossi exchange a look. It is just too soon. Rossi pulls the man into a hug.

"Can we call anyone for you? Have them come stay with you?"

"My…my…parents?"

Rossi slips the man's phone off his belt and hands it to Reid. The genius steps into another room to reach out to the man's parents. A few minutes later he walks back in.

"They are already on their way. Should be here in half an hour or so. Your wife's parents are with them," he tells the man who can only nod as Rossi continues to hold him through his grief.

The agents remain at the home until the parents arrive. They leave their cards with them but pray they can arrest a suspect soon to give this man some semblance of peace since he lost his wife and only child to madness.

The second house Morgan and Emily check on also contained an older woman who was receiving help from a Marvin Anonym, the last name being German for anonymous Emily explains. The descriptions of both men had been similar but with enough differences that tell them he is smart enough to not only spread out his buys but to also disguise his face.

At the third home they are glad to see the owner is a younger man, maybe in his 50's. They believe he will be a more reliable witness.

And then he opens his mouth.

"I KNEW IT!" Simon Rhodes exclaims with glee when he sees their badges. "I told him you all would come when you figured out that the alignment was coming and the golden thread was being stretched tight and that could only mean the visitors will be here soon to make sure we are ready for them."

Emily and Morgan exchange a look.

"Uh, what?" Emily finally asks.

The man ignores her and just walks back into his house. Morgan and Emily shrug then follow him.

"The transcendental bridge to Jupiter is wavering because the robotic overseers are getting weak. They need our iron to feed their engines so they can maintain their infrastructure. I told him!" he says excitedly. "I told him I was sitting on the secret stash and he didn't believe me at first but then he did and spread out the protective dirt with the nuclear particles to disguise it but I told him it was too late because the vibrations from the false earthquakes were really them testing the ground and soon they would send their emissaries disguised as government lackey's to drain my brain of knowledge so they can steal my stash and prepare for the invasion."

Morgan and Emily are beyond stunned. The man's house is a cluttered nightmare. His walls contain drawings, diagrams, phrases written in various mediums. But it is all crazy ramblings about robots from Jupiter attacking the earth.

"Oh. My. God." Emily whispers.

"Yeah," Morgan agrees quietly. He clears his throat. "Uh, Mr. Rhodes? Can we ask you about some fertilizer you received recently?"

Rhodes stares at him in confusion. "Fertilizer? The overseers don't need fertilizer?" he replies almost coherently.

Emily tries a different tactic. "What about the protective dirt you received?"

Rhodes frowns and starts to wag a finger at her. "Oh, no! No! I won't tell you the secret to defeating it. When the cosmic balance slips and Neptune crashes into Venus I won't be held responsible by the dictator living in Saturn's rings. Your mind games won't affect me! I cut out the transponder that gives you access to my thoughts and no way in hell are you putting it back in!"

He turns and lifts up his shoulder length hair to show a nasty, infected wound at the base of his skull.

"Oh, shit," Emily mutters. She looks at Morgan. The man needs medical help but they know to suggest it could send him onto a tear. Morgan nods that he's ready to protect Emily if needed. She turns back to Rhodes. "Uh, you did good, Mr. Rhodes. We're with…the dictator in the rings. He saw that you were able to break the connection with the government trying to stop him. He's proud of you, Mr. Rhodes, and asked that we accompany you to a hospital for treatment." She pats her sidearm. "He gave us special weapons that will stun anyone who tries to put another transponder into you."

Rhodes studies her and Morgan carefully. "How…how do I know you're not lying?"

Emily glances around at the walls then steps close to him and whispers. "Because the cosmic watchdogs cannot lie, Mr. Rhodes. We stand at our temples and defend them with teeth of iron and lasers in our eyes."

Morgan looks confused as Rhodes gets excited. He practically jumps for joy before engulfing Emily in a bear hug. She rolls her eyes as she returns it, much to Morgan's amusement.

"You're you! You really are you!"

Emily nods. "We are. But you must be quiet about our true identities. When we get to the hospital we will pretend to be with the FBI. The doctors and nurses will be programmed to believe that. If any have been taken over by the Interplanetary Alliance we'll be able to tell by the glow in their eyes." She pats her gun again. "And we'll be able to stun them until we can return them to the hidden moon of Mars for interrogation."

Rhodes nods excitedly. "Yes! Good! Okay! Let me get ready."

Emily nods. "Of course, Mr. Rhodes."

As the man starts to mumble to himself and put a whole lot of random items into his pockets, Morgan looks at his partner.

"What the fuck?"

Emily grins. "Look at the walls."

Morgan turns his attention to the walls and still just sees a bunch of gibberish. He slowly shakes his head. "Why do I feel like Reid would completely understand what the hell you are seeing up there?"

Emily just chuckles as Morgan starts to snap photos of the ramblings to share with the team, especially Reid, that evening. Forty-five minutes later they are leaving the local hospital, where Rhodes has been detained for psychiatric evaluation. Sadly his mental state means he is not going to be a reliable witness for them.

JJ walks into Garcia's office with a print out in her hands. "Garcia, Morgan just called. Rhodes was a space case of the utmost degree." She grins. "And my wife scares her partner since she was able to connect with the man."

Garcia laughs. "Wow, I can't wait to hear that story!"

"No kidding," JJ agrees. "Anyway, Rhodes doesn't have a phone listed under his name. Is there a way to see if he has 1 or 2 burn phones pinging towers in his area during the time the fertilizer was ordered?"

Garcia starts to type. "Okay, since we have so far seen 2 burn phones for the first two suspects we can guess the unsub did not use either of those phones with Rhodes but just in case we…well…forget my assumptions. The phone used with little old lady #2 was used with Rhodes."

"Probably because he knew Rhodes was too mentally gone to give up the number," JJ concludes.

"Good point. And the phone used to place the order is a burn phone and yes it shows a lot of chats with the other phone."

"So description or not, name or not, we know the unsub is behind this batch of fertilizer." JJ sighs. "But let's hope we find more to connect the unsub to this guy since an eyewitness account is out the window."

"Got it. Let's see what we can string together to help make sure this guy stays in the web," Garcia says as she and JJ start to delve deep into the life of Simon Rhodes.

The fourth stop for Morgan and Emily had once again proved to be an elderly person. This time a man who was so happy to have Marvin Anoniem (Dutch this time) help him with his yard work. And again he had needed far less fertilizer than had been delivered to him.

The fifth stop is the most remote stop so far on their list. Well secluded from his neighbors, the homestead of Eddie Stanford is perfect for their unsub to not only receive fertilizer but to also assemble the bombs. Morgan glances at Emily.

"Think this could be the unsub?"

Emily is reading the background Garcia had dug up. She shakes her head. "Not yet. According to this he is mentally handicapped. Not so bad he has to be in a hospital but he does have a social worker who checks on him once a month. His church also makes sure he has food and other necessities during the year."

"So not the unsub but perhaps easily manipulated by the unsub," Morgan concludes. Emily nods. "This place is so tree shrouded all sorts of things could go on here and no one would know."

"Maybe including testing bombs," Emily finishes his thought.

Both agents unconsciously move their hands to their hips, making sure their guns are right where they should be as Morgan turns off the road onto a rutted, dirt driveway. As they exit the trees into a clearing they see a house, an old but still useable shed…and two craters with singed grass around their edges.

"Trial explosions," Emily notes.

"Yep," Morgan agrees as he snaps a couple of photos and sends them to Garcia and the rest of the team.

The two agents cautiously approach the front door. Morgan nods as Emily continuously scans the tree lines in case Stanford or the unsub try to ambush them. After Morgan knocks a second time they hear plodding footsteps approaching the door. Morgan takes a deep breath and holds up his credentials as it is opened by a man who is easily 6'6" and built like a linebacker.

"Mr. Stanford? I'm Derek- -."

A hand the size of a Virginia ham slams into Morgan's face. He stumbles backwards into Emily, who barely avoids falling from the force of the hit. Stanford makes an inhuman sound and slams the door.

Morgan gets back to his feet and kicks open the door. He and Emily race into the house, their guns drawn. They hear a screen door slam against the doorjamb at the back of the house and race in that direction. They carefully enter the kitchen but see it is empty. Through the window Emily sees Stanford racing into the woods.

"Fuck! He's in the woods, Morgan!"

The two agents race out the back and across the backyard. At the tree line they are forced to slow down. The cover is so thick it almost looks like nighttime with spotty tendrils of light snaking down through the foliage.

"MR. STANFORD! WE AREN'T HERE TO HURT YOU OR TAKE YOU AWAY!" Morgan yells. "WE JUST HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU!"

The agents exchange a look. Silence is the only answer Morgan gets. Something had startled birds into no longer chirping. They hear the muffled sounds of someone running and, taking a deep breath, they start off into the woods. After about 20 yards the thick underbrush clears a little and they are able to speed up, Morgan in the lead. Suddenly he sees Stanford just head.

"STANFORD! WAIT!" Morgan yells.

The large man ducks around a large rock. Morgan and Emily pick up the pace, sure they are closing in on him. Emily takes a step and suddenly feels herself plunging towards the ground.

"FUCK!" she screams.

Morgan skids to a stop and looks back. Emily is wincing as pain starts to register. Her right ankle, the one broken badly in Alaska, is caught in a bear trap. She bites her lip but waves Morgan away.

"Keep. Going. Be. Fine." She grunts out. Morgan stares at her a second but she waves him on again. "GO!"

Morgan turns and continues after Stanford. Emily takes a second to evaluate her situation. Thankfully she had worn her tactical boots that day so the thick leather had helped protect the inside of her ankle. The metal teeth of the trap had still cut into the leather and into her skin. But the outside teeth had been stopped by her clutch piece which is probably the only reason her ankle isn't broken again.

"Fuck that shit still hurts," she mutters

She sits up, takes her gun and tries to use the muzzle to pry the trap open but she doesn't have the leverage needed. She drops back onto the ground.

"Shit. Shit. Double shit. Fuck, to quote my gorgeous wife," she mumbles.

She tries once more but it is obvious she's not going anywhere until Morgan gets back to her. She looks around the woods.

"Hopefully he'll find this spot again," Emily says to herself.

She holsters her gun and starts to try to manipulate the trap with her hands. Just as she decides that is as pointless as using her gun as a lever she hears a twig snap. She looks up as Eddie Stanford steps into the clearing.

And he is holding a very large stick.