AU set in the future, sequel to 'And the lips we may tell'. Dave and Emily are married and their adopted daughter Kate (introduced in 'who's rescuing who') is away in her first year at college. Hotch and JJ are married and have a three year old daughter called Amy, features all of the team including Alex Blake as Emily has moved departments. A frightening unsub that the BAU caught wants revenge for his incarceration in federal prison and the person who caught him, one Special Agent Emily Prentiss.

Chapter 1 –

"Beep, beep, beep..."

Emily managed to swiftly move her hand and stopped the alarm clock before the volume increased too significantly. Gently Emily lifted her head and looked at Dave but luckily he was still sleeping soundly, a smile crossed her face as she climbed out of the bed, she had heard him come home in the early hours and as much as she wanted to stay in bed with him she had to go to work. The last year had passed in a quick blur, Kate had quickly settled in at college in New York and with her 9-5 hours in the linguistics department of the FBI Emily was a frequent visitor. Dave had still yet to retire and Emily knew that he wouldn't leave the BAU until they forced him too. Pouring herself a much needed cup of coffee Emily sat down and looked out of the kitchen window, she had gotten used to the peace and quiet and it gave her time to reflect on how much her life had changed. Dave and herself were extremely happy together and she had remained close to everyone else at the BAU, especially since she and Dave were the proud godparent's to JJ and Hotch's three year old daughter Amy, quickly Emily finished her coffee and checked the clock on the oven, a tired sigh left her mouth before Emily stood and stretched out her arms, it was time for her to get a shower before she headed into work.

Dave opened his eyes, his head felt heavy and he knew that no matter how much sleep he had it wasn't going to be enough, bringing up his head he rubbed his eyes before he felt the emptiness in the bed beside him, it was the first thing that he had gravitated to when he had arrived home in the early hours, after all the nights alone in the non-descript hotel room the sight of his wife sleeping soundly was reassuring and also helped him to relax and drift off after the trauma of the case. Sitting up Dave glanced over to the alarm clock and raised an eyebrow, it had just gone 11am, no wonder Emily wasn't there beside him, a large yawn left his mouth before he sat up, quickly noticing the note that had been left beside him, the familiar scrawl immediately brought a smile to his face as he picked the piece of paper up.

Hope that you slept well, I will catch up with after work this evening. Kate sends her love, she is free this afternoon if you want to call her (she would never admit it but she misses you!). There is some leftover pasta in the fridge if you get hungry. X

Dave laughed softly as he tucked the note into the flap of the book that laid beside his bed before he stood up and wandered downstairs, his stomach grumbled loudly as he left the bedroom but Dave wanted and needed a coffee first, his body needed to wake up and relax before he hit it with some proper food after six days of take out and hotel room service food. The case had been long and tough, the only highlights being the phone calls to Emily and Kate that reminded him that there were some good and wonderful people out in the world. The case hadn't ended well, the unsub had been determined to go out in a blaze of glory, something that none of them had anticipated, Blake had been trying to talk the female down and get her to release the child, catching a bullet in her shoulder but luckily Morgan had crept in behind and managed to fire off a shot. Dave sighed as he remembered the cries of the young boy, it had taken all of JJ's energy to calm him down so that the paramedics could treat him. Blake had discharged herself and travelled back with the team and Garcia had picked her up when they had landed, promising to make sure that Blake would relax and be well looked after. Dave sat down with his coffee in the kitchen, his eyes focused on the large photo beside the window, taken by Garcia it was of him, Emily and Kate on the day she had graduated from high school and he knew that she was the main reason why he continued doing his job, Emily had rescued Kate and Dave couldn't retire while there were still children like Kate out there needing help and rescuing. Dave put his empty coffee cup down and opened the fridge, quickly he spotted the container with what he guessed were the previous evening's leftovers, he had phoned Emily to let her know he was heading home and no doubt she had cooked extra, eagerly anticipating his return. Dave heated the food up before he carried the plate through to his study where he knew that he would have a pile of emails and correspondence to deal with.

Kate sat cross-legged on her bed, her laptop balanced on a book in front of her as she typed up what seemed like an endless stream on assignments. It had been strange at first moving away but it hadn't taken her long to settle in and at weekends she usually had someone coming up to visit, she and her mom had remained close but as she had got older Kate's relationship with Dave had also grown, so much that she knew that he was the father that she had always dreamt of and the two of them talked as often as possible. But thoughts about her family were far from Kate's mind as she busied herself with her English essay, so lost in her thoughts Kate didn't realise that her cell was ringing until it vibrated across the bed and hit her on the foot. Seeing the photo of her dad on the screen she instantly picked it up, answering it eagerly.

"Hello dad, mom said that you were heading home."

"Afternoon munchkin, yeah I got in sometime early this morning. I haven't seen your mom yet but she did leave me some food and a note!"

"Let me guess pasta and her grandfather's sauce?"

"Yeah, her comfort food!"

The two of them laughed but the truth was that the meal was delicious.

"So is everyone ok?"

Dave winced as Kate asked the question, it was the same on that she asked after he came back from a case, unfortunately Kate knew from firsthand knowledge how dangerous his job was and her first concern was that everyone managed to get home safely.

"Dad?"

The panic rose slightly in Kate's voice as Dave lingered in his reply for a moment too long.

"Alex got shot in the shoulder..."

"Oh no!"

"She's ok munchkin, really, I promise you."

The words came rapidly out of his mouth as he reassured his daughter.

"I'm sorry dad."

"It's ok Kate, honestly Alex is fine, well a bit sore but Garcia is looking after her."

"That's good, I missed you at the weekend dad."

"Well hopefully if I get the paperwork finished I can come up this weekend, you haven't got any plans have you?"

"Nothing that I wouldn't cancel for you dad."

Dave laughed as he listened to Kate's voice.

"Ok well I'll speak to Emily and we'll ring you later."

"Ok, I love you dad."

"I love you too munchkin."

Kate smiled as she put the phone back down on the bed and quickly focused her mind back on her laptop, completely oblivious as the red light shone through the window and focused on her chest.