"Everyone's in the conference room, ma'am," Penelope said as Erin stepped out of the elevators early the next morning. She gave the woman a wan smile, feeling thoroughly exhausted still. It had been a long night, and while David had called to let her know that he and Aaron were spending the night at the office, and he had commandeered her sofa, since it was more comfortable than his was, or so he claimed, she had still worried about him. A part of her had wondered if he just wanted to be closer to her in spirit, since she had chosen to sleep on his side of the bed and had even spritzed some of his cologne on the pillow before going to bed. "Are you feeling all right?"

Erin shrugged, rubbing her baby bump absently as she fought back a yawn. "I didn't sleep well. I guess the worry is getting to me. And I should check in with Helen before I stop in to see how the investigation is going." Penelope nodded and they parted ways. It was a slow walk to her office that morning, and Erin felt like her head was full of wool as she entered the room, giving Helen a small smile as she drifted past her desk to head into her inner sanctum. After dropping her purse and bag onto the top of her desk, Erin shrugged out of her coat and hung it on the tree before heading back out again.

"Here, take my tea, and I'll make a smoothie while you're talking to Dave."

"You know me too well," she murmured as she accepted the mug from Helen's hands, breathing in the delicate scent of Lady Grey tea. "I shouldn't be too long, but I should see if there's been any progress overnight."

"Take as long as you need, Erin. This is the most important thing right now, because everyone is in danger now that that monster is on the loose."

Erin nodded absently as she took a sip of the tea before heading down the hall and into the bullpen. Looking up, she saw that everyone was already gathered in the conference room, and she lugubriously made her way up the stairs, holding onto the rail tightly. She had taken to doing that at home, too, feeling like she was going to topple over backwards, due to her shifting center of gravity. Finally, she reached the top, and then made her way over to the conference room, taking a deep breath before she headed inside. "Good morning, Chief Strauss," Doctor Reid said, as he was the first to notice her enter the room.

"Good morning, Doctor Reid. Do you think that I could get a quick recap of where we are in regards to the Foyet case?"

David nodded as he discreetly held out his arm. She smiled before making her way to his side, taking hold of his hand and holding on tightly as he began to speak. "We have Lynch and Garcia working on figuring out which drugs don't have a substitute, but given that Foyet is on an extremely long list of medications to deal with the complications that come when you stab yourself as many times as he did, it might take a while."

Erin shuddered a little at that thought, thinking about Aaron and how he must be suffering in silence, too. Their eyes met, and she tried to swallow down the lump that was growing in her throat in her effort not to cry in front of them all. "I had forgotten the personal injuries he gave to himself, since he's destroyed so many people."

"It is easy to overlook," Agent Prentiss replied, giving her a cool look, which she returned with a little jut of her chin. "But I think that we're making good progress, ma'am."

There was a hint of derision in the woman's voice, still, and Erin pasted a placid smile on her lips as she glanced up at David. "Well, if there's a break in things, please let me know, darling. I should really get a start on my day."

"Of course," he replied quietly, a quizzical look on his face before he nodded and quickly pecked her cheek. "If we haven't heard anything by lunch, I'll bring us sandwiches and we can catch up."

"Good, because I missed having you talk my ear off this morning on the way to work." After giving him a small nod, Erin turned on her heel and left the conference room, taking care not to trip on her way down the stairs. Sparing a small smile for Agent Anderson, Erin strode back to her office and handed Helen back her tea before accepting the smoothie. "Thank you for doing this for me again."

"It is my pleasure to help you out where I can. Has there been a break in the case?"

"Sort of, yes. Agent Jareau has managed to stumble upon the fact that there are some drugs which can only be sourced from a pharmacy, and Penelope and Mister Lynch are trying to whittle down the extensive list of medications that Foyet takes down to just the ones that have no substitute. I'm not entirely certain what bearing that will take on the investigation, but if it gives them hope and a direction, I am all for it." She sighed a little as she brought the cup to her lips, drinking a large gulp of the liquid.

"But you're still unsettled by something."

She nodded as she carefully took a seat on the corner of Helen's desk, resting her free hand on her baby bump. "I need to be honest with you, because I have been trying so desperately to keep it together for David and the children. I am more than a little afraid of what happens next. I'm afraid that something will happen to David or Aaron, and that I'll have another set of blood upon my heart. I don't want to think about a future that doesn't contain my love or the father of one of my children."

Helen nodded as she reached out and squeezed her knee delicately. "I can't even begin to imagine the stress that you must be under, Erin. Having to think about growing a baby, worrying that this case is going to crash down around the whole team, and trying to keep everything else here running well."

"It is a lot, and it is very difficult to walk the tightrope required of me. A part of me knows that I am going to take a wrong step at some point in the near future, and I just hope that when I do fall, there's a light landing in store for me."

"Stellina." She stiffened to hear David call her by her pet name, her hand tightening around her glass as she carefully turned to look into her partner's eyes. "You have to lean on me. I know that you want to be so independent, which is wonderful, but there are times when you need to share that burden with me."

Erin nodded as fat tears began to roll down her cheeks, and he came over to her side, wrapping his arms around her and pressing her head against his chest as he kissed the crown of her hair. "I just don't want to divide your attention, when it should be laser focused on Aaron and catching Foyet. There will be time enough for you to love on me when this case is closed, and we return to the more mundane unsubs that don't have a vendetta against one of our agents." Reaching up, she cupped his cheek and rubbed her thumb back and forth as she struggled to get control of her emotions again, knowing that tears would get them nowhere, and she needed to be strong for the team, even if they didn't particularly care for her.