A/N: Being sick stinks, it's take forever to write. But here's your update. Not 100% sure how many chapters are left, it all depends on how long it takes me to get to my end game. Trust me, everything here has its purpose!
Thanks for reading!
I Don't own Criminal Minds. Tabby was an invention of necessity.
This was every one of Penelope's nightmares come true. Here she was with her family and Aaron is yet again the target of an unsub. And, once again, Aaron was going to have to deal with the possibility of losing his family to a lunatic simply because of his job. He must be going through hell right now.
In fact, she was sure everyone was going through hell at this exact moment. This job is hard on everyone, especially when a fellow agent is being targeted. But when that agent is your friend, your lover or just part of your family you don't deal well with it. And now, the targets consisted of half the people there.
You could hear a pin drop. So when one of the unsecured shutters banged with a startling thud everyone jumped, the three currently active agents pulling their side arms from the holsters they strapped on once they heard they had a case.
"Shit." Penelope fisted the fabric above her heart in a panic. Her blood was racing. And everyone else just seemed to be in a stunned expression until Aaron's eyes locked onto hers.
"We need to secure the house immediately." Hotch set right to work ordering everyone about. You can't try to decipher a profile when you don't feel properly protected. And he needed to see that panicked expression fade from his fiancé's eyes. "Does everyone have their side arm?"
Morgan, Reid and JJ each nodded, indicating their weapon in their hands. Rossi reached to the sideboard and extracted his and Emily's weapons and Hotch took an extra that Rossi stashed there as well. Tabby and Penelope each shared the same thought, wishing they had experience in this area but each felt the cool steel of a revolver thrust into their hands. "You might need this." Emily whispered to Penelope. She could see a protest about to begin but Emily had to shut it down to keep Hotch from overhearing. He didn't need to know that she felt the situation desperate enough to turn even Penelope into a good shot. "Listen to me. This isn't just about you anymore. You have a son, and you need to protect him if all else fails. Understand?"
An instinct in the generally pacifist Penelope coursed through her at the words. She hadn't really gotten it until then. Of course, the unsub targets the men and kills the wife and child after out of a perceived and twisted sense of mercy. She had been so focused on the 'Aaron and Reid' are targets that she barely allowed herself to even delve into the despair of her son being one as well. That was just too far for her to fall. Jack was her whole world.
She looked over to see Hotch and Morgan plotting a course of action with Rossi and Reid while JJ tried to calm the boys in the living room. Jack had come into the kitchen for a juice box and saw the startling expressions of the adults. Everyone knew he picked up on something being wrong.
After she noticed Rossi closing in on a panicked Tabby, she turned back to Emily with determination. "Teach me how to use this." She insisted. "I need you Em."
Emily set to instructing Pen in the fine art of gun wielding while Rossi placed a gun in one soft, pale-skinned hand and looked Tabby in the eye like he used to when they were dating. It's how he would calm her panic attacks, how to get her out of her ghostly tormented states that she was currently set in. He had mastered being her life line years ago and he had to be that now.
Her eyes snapped up to his, recognizing the pose he held. He was trying to calm and encourage her but what he seemed to forget was that the big success he used to have with this was that emotional connection they could no longer have. "Please, no. I can't. I'm a bureaucrat, not a cop." She was quite sure nothing about this situation or who she was with was what was in mind when she received her presidential appointment to the fifth highest position in the FBI.
He tisked at her. "I taught you how to shoot for a reason. Remember all those late nights?"
She remembered, she remembered all about those late nights far too clearly at the moment.
JJ returned from the boys just in time to hear the plan. "Ok, here's what we are going to do." Aaron spoke up, interrupting every other conversation but still not breaking the eye lock of Tabby and Rossi. He noticed, and decided it really didn't matter right now as he was barking orders left and right trying to hide how panicked he was that history seemed to be repeating itself. But this time he was not going to let an unsub win. Penelope would not be taken from him like Haley was. He couldn't let it happen and he couldn't let Reid experience anything near that as well. "You all have your assignments. Back in fifteen. Everyone understand?"
Everyone, other than Tabby and Penelope nodded. They were the weaker links here, neither with any weapons skills beyond what they learned from their contact with these agents. So as Morgan and JJ were directed to secure the perimeter, Rossi and Emily to do the same in another direction and Hotch and Reid to secure the interior of the cabin, Tabby and Penelope were instructed to stay put. Penelope had more tech stuff to try to do to narrow down a potential route or vehicles that Napoli used to get to the Agent's home and Tabby decided she would be taking care of the children.
"Aunt Tabby!" Henry yelped as he ran to latch onto her legs. "Can I give you a kiss?"
If she weren't so scared she would be overcome with the adorableness of Henry, and being called an aunt. She forced herself to remember how observant children are so she reigned her fear in and tucked her gun into the band of her jeans. "Of course sweetie. Right here." She directed him to her cheek as she bent to him.
He gave her a big and sloppy kiss on her cheek, grinning from ear to ear and tightening his grip around her neck. "Am I going to die soon?"
Her heart dropped. "What makes you think that silly?" She hoped her voice came across more lighthearted than she felt. Judging by Jack's facial cues as he watched her take a scared Henry to sit on the sofa she might be slipping a bit. She pat the seat next to her for Jack to join them. He cuddled to her side. "Now I want you to both listen to me ok?"
They nodded. "Now, you know I work for the FBI too right?" they nodded. "Well, Uncle Rossi taught me all about how to shoot. But you know what's more important? In my job I see how people work, how good they are at their jobs. And I can tell you that your parents and aunts and uncles are the best team I have ever seen, and I have seen them all. Ok? They will get the bad guy no problem."
Jack seemed to take her reassurance easily, his dad was a superhero in his world with five sidekicks that rocked. Henry on the other hand dug himself closer into her, his head buried in the crook of her neck. "You won't leave us too right?"
"Of course Tabby won't leave you handsome boys." Penelope had overheard all of this when she had got a hit and came to find her friend and try to talk to her son. "She and I aren't going anywhere, ok?"
Tabby was probably never thankful to have a friend like Penelope right now. She always wanted to be a mother but she wasn't the natural at it that Pen was. This woman just came to be of that importance in Jack's life about a week ago and she had adapted instantly. She made a mental note to take mothering classes from her. "Why don't you boys go play parcheezi in front of the fire to stay warm? I'll refill your hot chocolate."
Jack had to all but pull Henry away from Tabby but finally the boys were settled at their game and Tabby sat back next to Penelope on the sofa to engage in a soft conversation. "What did you find?"
Penelope has been so concerned with the fears of her son and nephew she almost forgot what knowledge now left her blood cold. "I—Where are they? Shouldn't they be back yet?" Her voice held a great deal of panic and she realized she was being held back at the wrist by Tabby.
"Calm down." Tabby admonished in barely a whisper. "The boys are going to freak out if you do." She have a harder tug and pulled Penelope onto the sofa. "The perimeter is huge, the house is huge. It's going to take a while to familiarize everyone with their routes and be able to look in every area of the yard, in every closet and cranny of this place."
That was reasonable, Penelope knew that. But she was still feeling like at any point the unsub was going to barge in and attack them and the boys.
The two women fell silent, slightly holding hands for comfort until Penelope couldn't take the silence anymore. "Assistant Director?" Her voice held a gentle accusation.
Tabby quirked her lips before thinking of something to say. "I am excellent at bureaucratic politics." She hoped that would suffice but of course, it wouldn't.
"Seriously? That's all you have to say?"
Tabby turned to fully look at her, still keeping an eye on Henry and Jack. "Look, I don't make orders on anything to do with cases. I could, but I don't. I'm the person that handles how departments are structured, how to deal with the directors of departments or what used to be called section chiefs—one six month sabbatical and your replacement renames positions that give men and women like Erin Strauss a massive ego boost, the fallout of which I have to deal with every day. Anyhow, I run programs on making our agents work at their best and I cross over into the rest of the justice department as well doing much the same. It's a big position but I don't lord it over anyone unless they really piss me off. So please, stop looking at me like I have three heads just like everyone else does." There, she said her peace.
"Tabby." Penelope's tone was apologizing, she felt like a scolded child but only by her conscience. She had been angry that Tabby hadn't told her all this. Hiding that you are such a higher up is really a big deal in her book yet she could see how uncomfortable it all made Tabby. Now it was starting to make sense. She was a woman who had to do a lot on her own to get where she is and she had a lot to preserve.
"No. Sorry I was snappy." Tabby retook Penelope's hand hoping she didn't just push away one of the few women who could stand her.
"Let's forget about this. Emotions are running high." She smiled at the mutual nod and then jumped in her seat hearing footsteps from behind. It was only Aaron and Reid. "Jesus Christ! Warn a girl!" she realized she had her gun in her hand and pointed at them and it took a minute to put it back into her borrowed holster.
By that time Emily and Dave came back in through the front door and JJ and Morgan from the kitchen, everyone giving the 'all clear' so Penelope, noticing the boys actively engaged in their game stood with Tabby to be closer to the team. "CSU's inform us that Napoli shot Agent Farenella's wife first, then him and then their son. Also, the tech that had worked that case was another woman who left the bureau when she had her son. He shot her an hour ago and then her husband and son. She was miraculously not fatally wounded and only because she turned at just the right moment. I took the liberty of plugging in Dave's printer to the emergency outlet and printing off a copy of the police report just filed."
Rossi's face paled, for several reasons. First, this just confirms that Napoli has somehow found access to personnel records at the very least which means he would be able to eventually track this team to his house given enough time. Second, this devolving is coming in the worst way. "Going after the women of these relationships first changes the profile. What possible motivation could he have?"
"Maybe he is trying to throw us off his trail by making it appear to be someone else?" It was as good a guess as Emily could come up with at the moment as she took in Penelope's startled expression.
"I don't think so. While Napoli has a highly ordered mind which would normally suggest a lack of interest in being caught, especially taking into account his escape, I believe he is trying to send us a message. He knows the other team had been profiling him." Reid began to read from his notes he took. "He heard the full profile delivered in court, he understands all of this."
JJ turned to her boyfriend, carefully distancing any personal attachment right now. "What exactly triggered the killings before?"
Hotch cut in. "He worked for the army as a civilian and was sent to Afghanistan to assist in the design of several fortified government buildings. There was an IED explosion which he was injured but presumed dead."
Emily got it now. "So, his wife didn't take it well?"
Reid shook his head. "No, she had postpartum depression and poisoned herself and breastfed their infant before it took effect. They both died and he discovered them when he got back a week later."
Emily nearly spit. "Jesus, that combined with the assumed PTSD would certainly cause this in an intelligent unsub. So what does this mean for the profile now?"
Rossi flipped through the police report quickly, realizing that question was asked to him before he looked up. "His motivations have changed. He is using the same tactics which he is familiar with but his reasoning is different. We had assumed that he was killing the wife and child out of mercy for both but it probably only applies to the orphend child as he was himself." He tapped the sheet which indicated as much. "Before but it was likely punishment for what his wife had done when he was assumed dead."
"So then," Reid's attention peaked. "His new goal is to attack the wife first and punish the husband?"
Rossi nodded, extremely unhappy with this change of events. "Time in the instiution has likely worn on his intelligence. He is angry, he's looking for revenge on the same types of men as before. Men who represent either intelligence or power. He wants them to feel what he felt."
Penelope and Tabby had been watching this with their still clasped hands and each was starting to coil into a spring of panic. It was amazing to both of them that this team could break down a profile like this, still keeping their detachment even when the threat was so imminent. It was impressing Tabby and convincing her onto one of her options she hadn't had much faith in before. But now? If they got out of this cabin alive and past the storm she would set into action.
-Criminal Minds-
"No one should be alone tonight. Tabby, I think you and Derek should share a room." Emily suggested innocently. Yes, ok. She wanted to see Tabby coupled up because she knew for a fact that while Dave never cheats he also doesn't play in anyone's back yard. Together, both characteristics would reassure her enough to actually accept the other brunette as a friend.
"I, uh." She was excited of course but trying to hide it. She knew very well what Emily was doing, or what she thought she was doing. Only Rossi had any idea that she and Derek really were together so Emily's suggestion certainly meant she wanted something to happen. She had tried to ignore Em's jealousy, it's not like she didn't understand it. There had been a real attraction there, a real almost-love. And it's not something totally turned off either but they both moved on. Still, being thrust into his room made her feel very off.
Derek chuckled and threw an arm around her playfully and flirtingly. "Oh come on now. The famed Tabby losing her tongue? Surely a short night with me isn't that bad?"
The comment came out before she even thought of it, his warmth was distracting. "I have a feeling it will be anything other than short or bad."
"Woooo." JJ, Penelope and Emily fanned themselves at the flirting. Pen continued. "Watch over her, make sure she actually sleeps. Apparently she is quite the insomniac." Tabby had explained to her during a tense dinner that she got where she was because of all the extra hours she finds in a day. Most nights she gets four hours of sleep or less and functions just fine on it. Her parents are the same way.
"Taking away all me fun Baby Girl. But Alright." He shrugged in surrender. "Goodnight everyone. I will take over my shift in five hours."
They had set up a three-shift rotation for everyone on standing guard which meant that there would be an overlap of at least four people at a time, always in couples. JJ and Reid were to take the upstairs watch on the first shift, Penelope and Aaron the main floor. Rossi and Emily would relieve JJ and Reid in two hours and Derek and Tabby in five hours would give leave to them. And so on, and so on.
Reid and JJ tucked Henry in his bed in the fort and he fell asleep quite easily, aided by the warm milk he was given to drink earlier. Jack however was wide awake and insisting on sitting between his parents to be safe.
"Mommy, why do people do bad things like this? Shouldn't everyone just be good." It didn't make any sense to him. Why kill anyone unless it was necessary. He understood why his dad did his job, he saved people. But why would anyone even need saving?
Penelope shot a look at Aaron. Jack always seems to have demanding questions like this just resting on his tongue. She pulled him under her arm to try to steady both of them. "Well, there are lots of reasons. But the important thing to remember is that there is more good in the world than bad. Even with what your father and I see all the time we both know that is true."
Sometimes Aaron really questioned that actually. With all of the criminals of all sorts he has seen, with every death and killer the toll of the number of 'bad guys' just keeps escalating. If it weren't for the team, more specifically the woman next to him he didn't think he would really believe there was much goodness at all left in the world. "You know, your mom is so much smarter than me in these things. I'm glad she's here for us."
Penelope felt the little tears prick her eyes. Sometimes she wondered what she did to deserve this man. He was everything she could have wanted, strong and caring. Kind and direct. "Looks like someone finally tuckered out." She pointed to Jack's sleep lidded eyes. "Come on little boss man. Time for bed."
Reluctantly, Jack joined Henry in the fort and his parents watched silently for several minutes from the open panel as he too drifted off to sleep. Penelope let out a contented sigh. "I owe Haley so much."
Aaron had to shake the little shock from his head. "What do you mean?"
Penelope turned back to him and let him cuddle her slightly but not fully, she still had to keep the front doors and hall in her line of sight. "I feel horrible saying it, I do. But sometimes I wonder how she looks at this. You. Me. Jack. I liked her a lot, you know."
Aaron offered a small smile. "She liked you too. And, I know she wanted me to move on. Of course we still loved each other at her death but more of loyalty in many ways I think. Until I found out that you actually felt this way for me I didn't think I would actually ever love anyone as a wife again. And then, you said yes."
She gulped and she wasn't sure why. "But, I mean." Where the hell was all this insecurity coming from all of a sudden. "I just worry—sometimes I think—"
Aaron hushed her with a kiss. Tabby had been helpful enough earlier to pull him aside and give him some advice. Any woman in Penelope's postion is going to keep questioning her importance to her widowed fiancé (divorce or not). There would be times when she would be reminded that she isn't Jack's biological mother, times she might feel inadequate or like she has to live up to some expectation that in her mind she is likely to never live up to. "Penelope. I love you for you. While I'm not going to say my marriage to Haley doesn't still affect me it doesn't play into how I feel about you. OK?"
"You mean if affects you like at times right now? With a former unsub hunting me down?" As soon as she said it she wished she didn't. She was just so vulnerable she couldn't think of tact or the fact that Aaron was probably try to not think of that.
His face fell. He didn't know if he was ever goingto be able to describe the pain of that memory or how the threat of something like that happening again was simply worse. "I—I can't lose you." His eyes were pleading for her to understand. "I won't lose you." He insisted. "If I have to leave the bureau, take a gig at Justice I will do it. I am sure Tabby could transfer me if we asked nicely enough." Suddenly he stood in his determination. "I can't keep putting you at risk like this!" His fingers threaded through his hair and he was coming undone. Every little bit of regret he has ever had about his choice of occupation was suddenly pouring out of him. He loved it, it was a calling and he was pretty sure the place he belonged. But Penelope belonged alive and in his bed for the rest of their lives, so did he. "I can't take these risks anymore."
Penelope jumped up, her movements frantic as she tried to get a hold of Aaron's hands and stop his maddening pace in front of her, spewing off plans that she was not happy with. He was muttering to himself, so absorbed in his fear she nearly slapped herself. Instead she lightly slapped him. "Stop. Just stop!"
He did and stared at her, one hand caressing his cheek where she slapped him. He wasn't sure how to react so he just laughed until he cried and collapsed back onto the large leather ottoman. "I—sorry." He whimpered out.
Penelope had never seen him like this. Even after Haley died and he cried in her arms more than once during that time, unbeknownst to anyone else. She sat back on the sofa in front of him and let his tears fall as she stroked his shoulders and through his hair. Slowly, very slowly, he emotions died down.
JJ and Reid could see this little episode from the balcony above the great room and only stayed to watch because with the two so preoccupied in whatever it was they were arguing and crying over, they weren't paying attention to the floor. So they vigilantly tried to look in all directions at once, other than the couple that was currently embracing.
"Shhsh." Penelope cooed. "You need this job. And I need you to have it. I can't trust any other person in the world to catch these unsubs. I need you to be my hero, no matter what the risk."
He finally looked up to her eyes, unbelieving that she could say something like this. "It's all I want you know. To protect you."
She nodded and pulled him back to sit beside her. A quick look at the clock made her realize that the shift for upstairs would be changing soon. Where did the hours fly? Oh right, her soon-to-be-husband's mental break down.
She pulled his arm around her shoulders and steeled herself for a conversation they should have had long ago. "You once told me that a big part of your failure with Haley was that you didn't know what to expect when you were so young and got married. And that's understandable. This job, it gets to you. But honey. I do understand it. I am part of it, in a way. I get the time restrictions. I get the field assignments. I get that you might get stabbed again, shot like I had been, murdered or maimed. I get it. I hate it but I accept it because it is part of you. And don't take this the wrong way because I don't ever mean anything against Haley. But I am in this no matter what happens. And I do mean that. You might disappear for months for one reason or another. You might have to run off to Afghanistan again to consult. You might need to be nursed the rest of your life for an injury. To me, I am committing to more than I just know and expect. I am committing to everything I don't forsee too." She turned to see him staring at her. "That my dear boss man, is marriage."
He's never been so out of control in his life. Unsubs, a murdered ex-wife, all sorts of horrors personal and professional have never gotten to him like Penelope. So, even through that proclamation something small still haunted him. "I, I believe you. But I have to ask…" he really shouldn't continue.
She waited for a long while patiently hoping he would pick that thought back up but he never did. "What is it?" She realized that it had been quite a while since she heard Rossi and Emily switch shifts with JJ and Reid. She's probably going to have to drag him to their room before they finish this if he didn't just spit it out.
'Of course she won't go easy on me and let me give this up. She's always been that way, crossing lines just enough to push buttons. It's what made me fall to begin with.' He looked her over. Every precious curve of her face, the pout of her lips, the determination in her eyes that said she would find a way to make him pay if he didn't just open up. "When we had that fight. You had said before that you weren't going anywhere, and then… you did."
Oh lord, her heart just broke and all because of her. She inflicted more pain on him than she realized during that. She took several long minutes to think on what to say. "I—I don't think I was ever seriously done with you. I was so mad and I guess I hoped… well Rossi and I talked about this a couple times this week. I was so mad but I wanted you to get sick of me being a bitch and leave so I wouldn't have to. I couldn't, it was impossible for me to leave since the second you kissed my forehead in the conference room before Dallas. I, just."
"Didn't think I would stick around? Because I betrayed your trust already." He surmised. And he understood.
She nodded and silently gulped back all her tears threatening to emerge. She couldn't push words past her lips and even if she could she really had nothing she could say.
He cupped her cheek and made her look at him. "When you kicked me out I went to drinking and then to Rossi and the whole time I knew it was because I thought I lost you. I lost the great love of my life. You are the only woman I will ever want again, and I didn't feel that way about Haley to be honest. Of course I knew I had wanted to be with her, but I didn't have this assurance that she was the one. Does that make sense?"
She nodded, unbelieving that they really were this close, this right for one another. "So, so you…"
"Will never go anywhere. And I will never betray your trust again." He kissed her hand, her favorite of his gestures to her and instantly he could see a good deal of those pent up emotions flush away. "I still think that reading that journal was the best mistake I ever made because I would have gone years until I got my head on right and got the courage to ask you out."
She giggled at his smile. He seemed, rueful. "I am glad we had this talk. Sometimes I feel like all of this has gotten away from me. But even if we went slower I don't think most couples are so willing to be open and honest. So long as we have clear lines of communication..."
He nodded in deep agreement. "We have moved at a lightening speed. But I am glad we both know where we stand."
"Me too." she took a look of the time and smiled a little mischievously. "Ya know, I think Derek will be coming to replace us soon. About half an hour."
He looked at the clock and nodded. "Then let's cuddle until I can take you to our room and show you just how committed I am."
She kissed the slightly pinked skin of his slapped cheek and settled against him until they truly did show one another the truth of their words.
-Criminal Minds-
The next morning the boys woke just at the end of Derek's shift, which allowed him just a few minutes to jump in the shower when everyone else came down for preparing breakfast. He pulled Tabby in there with him and made love to her under the warm spray of the shower until they both came in pure ecstasy. For some reason he felt this need to be with her more than usual. He needed to bond and so they did, over and over again until the smell of bacon finally beckoned them away from their bed in post coital bliss.
"You two sleep well last night?" Rossi smirked with mischief. Just because he is dead set on keeping their secret, even from Emily who over the last year has begun to stink at keeping other's secrets, he was certainly going to have fun with it.
"Yes. Thanks for asking." Tabby shortly replied and set to work baking some muffins. It wasn't really a day for her unless she baked something.
Derek took off for the kitchen to help with preparing the other foods for breakfast, namely he was the official orange juice squeezer. Once gone, Rossi looked back to Tabby by his side at the fire. "You have a diverse taste in men, don't you?"
She chuckled. "It's all about that spark isn't it?"
He nodded. "He's a good man. Good for you too. You can really build something with him."
She bit the inside of her cheek. This was the reason things never progressed farther for them. He had wanted more and so did she, admittedly. But he felt too old for her, she felt unprepared to give him a family and all he had wanted to try for again and so, nothing came of them. "I'm really glad that you found Emily. She's great for you."
"She is. She's the one for me. I know she will be the last of the Mrs. Rossis if she would just say yes."
She heard about this pending engagement. Derek was quite fond of gossip over pillow talk. "She will. And this is not just me the friend or me the ex or whatever. This is me the expert in human interactions, got it? She fumbles with that ring non-stop."
Rossi snorted. "Jack said the same thing."
"Well, he's a bright kid."
They kept up their work, Rossi finishing off the bacon and popping his mostly cooked potatoes to finish off in the grease while Tabby tested her muffins progress and looked over at his work. "You know, I think I am going to gain like twenty pounds with our cooking this weekend."
He chuckled. "But at least it is keeping your mind off of the fact that the snow is picking up."
They finished their work in silence and didn't get a chance to speak again over breakfast. Or over lunch. In fact, other than the hyper vigilance everyone continued on staying away from windows (It was noted that the Napoli's father had tried to train him into being a sniper like himself), keeping a close eye on the boys and intermittent perimeter searches, the rest of the morning and early afternoon went off without much trouble.
Then, it was time for another security sweep. Everyone had flak vests on and even Hotch and Reid decided to join the party out of doors and expand upon the area in which they could examine. They took the small road that led farther back on the property towards the oversized shed while Morgan and JJ went through the more immediate back yard and surroundings and Emily and Rossi up front. All were looking for any signs of disturbance, anything to indicate a presence other than their own in this blizzard weather just now slowing to few flurries here or there for the next few hours.
Penelope was playing with the boys while Tabby looked out the front picture window smiling at the sight of Rossi and Emily talking while each clasped their guns. It was an odd relationship in some respects. Emily would probably never be too openly flamboyant with public displays of affection which is a plus when they work together. But she could see the rapport; she could see how they could really make this be the last of Dave's marriages. She could see Henry running out the door—Oh god!
She didn't even think about it. She forgot the presence of snow, she forgot about the potential sniper… well not really. That was why she was running out there. But it was right at that moment that something clicked as she saw Emily trying to wave Henry back into the house and she heard Garcia screaming out the back windows listing off Morgan and Hotch specifically to get their butts out front and claim herself and Henry.
It clicked right in her head. Napoli didn't necessarily need a child to be part of this MO. He only needed a symbol of motherhood, a wife and a husband. And as he is intelligent he could probably assume that what was there with Rossi and Emily was just that. And her personnel record reflected her pregnancy though not the father. She knew, she read it herself.
All this went through her head in the first ten steps towards where Henry was running to, to Rossi and Emily side by side. She had one shot to stop this, only one way to potentially disarm a sniper hell bent on making the pregnant Emily his easiest next victim. These two should never have been left to roam together. Never more true than when she saw the bright red dot on the back of Emily's neck.
"Henry sweetie!" She called in a friendly, maternal tone and was so thankful for his little boy crush on her because he turned around and let her swing him into her arms playfully as she stepped closer to Dave and squished Henry between them in her initiated embrace. It was the only way to ensure Henry would survive this. She would get hit but she hoped Prentiss's reflexes were as good as they were reported to be because she might then be able to find the direction of the shot in time to save Dave as well. But to work she had to lock her and Dave's bodies together to shield Henry right then and there and so she took advantage of those few feelings still left between the two as she pulled his body towards hers.
Once she snagged him against her and felt Rossi's arms automatically lock around Henry as well she had time for one last recurring thought. 'Derek, please forgive me.'
Dave didn't understand it at first, neither did Morgan as he rounded the house, seeing Henry protected from the world between Dave and Tabby's bodies… kissing. He wasn't sure what was more confusing, the fact that they were lip locked, the fact that Dave seemed confused by it too, the fact that there was a red dot on the back Tabby's head or the shrill fire of a gun.