"Tell me why we can't just go talk to this guy?" Morgan said, slamming his fist down on the table. "Or beat his ass," he mumbled.

"We're only going to get one shot at him before he calls in his team of lawyers, you know this," Rossi answered. "Tara, Matt, what did you learn?" he asked.

Rossi wasn't surprised at how well the men had fit in with the team as they worked with the bureau previously and were all around great guys—the team was also over at the Prentiss residence so often Matt and Luke knew them from the many, many conversations they've had over the years.

"Unfortunately, nothing new," Tara informed the team.

She and Matt had traveled to Colorado to visit Hayes in prison as he had been transferred to the super max with no chance of parole or escaping thanks to the team. They wanted to know if Hayes overheard any phone calls between Easton and Stratton or witnessed any face-to-face meetings with the man. The only thing Hayes fixated on while they were there though was the steroids he assumed Matt was on so he too could become ripped considering he'd be in prison for the next ever.

"We're missing something," Reid commented, more to himself as he continued to look at the notes Stratton had left for Hotch and Emily.

"What is it, kid?" Morgan asked him.

"Weapon…" Reid mumbled, piecing words together in his head in a way nobody else could. "Poison…secret…"

Those three words stood out to Reid the most out of everything written but when asked, Emily had no idea what Stratton could mean by it. Her mind instantly went to Doyle and the things she had to do while undercover because to everyone else, even herself sometimes, she appeared to be a weapon and/or poisonous, but he was dead now. Emily also thought about when she was 15, however, besides JJ and her parents nobody else knew she even had an abortion.

What nobody could connect was Stratton's fixation on Emily somehow morphing onto Hotch and his family as well. It would be one thing to focus on Emily and her family, another if it was Hotch and the team, or everyone with the kids included, but this was an odd combination that had Reid stumped.

"Did Emily tell you my secret…maybe we should show them what I know…" Reid continued, reading statements from the two different letters.

Rossi could tell Morgan was about to say something else to Reid and held his hand up causing the man to slump back down in his chair. The Prentiss and Hotchner families had been away for 6 days now and they were no closer to bringing Greenburg down or knowing who he was working with because they had no freakin' leads. It's like they were trying to find a ghost—a spoiled, rich, stupid, jackass, ghost. Morgan couldn't wait to get his hands on this guy and rough him the hell up.

Luke had been tailing him for five of those days. His fugitive and detail training made him the best guy for the job to stay out of sight while capturing what the team needed on film; he reported in twice a day with updates and just to say hi, according to Garcia, which always made him laugh a little bit. So far though, there wasn't much to say which was infuriating to say the least. This guy either lived a boring ass life, or he was keeping an extremely low profile until he was ready to make his move.

"Guys, I think we're looking at this all wrong," Reid finally said.

"Tell us what you're thinking, kid," Rossi encouraged.

"Look at these pictures again," he said, laying them out on the table the way his brain saw them so he could share his thought. "They aren't just drawn on or scratched out in certain areas, it's specific and he wants us to know there's a meaning to it. See, look at this one," Reid said, holding up a picture Greenburg had taken of Emily with Lily and Oakley on each hip.

"Emily has perspective lines drawn across her face the way an artist would when just starting out, Lily's has three squiggles, one on either side of her head and one below her chin, and Oakley's has a solid slash through her face. The same could be said for these other pictures as well, although Brooks, Brynley, Jack and Harper have the same squiggles while the rest of the children have the slashes. The adults do too, besides Hotch who also has the same lines Emily has," Reid pointed out.

"Garcia, did Greenburg ever take any art classes?" Rossi questioned.

They all heard a bunch of typing followed by, "Nope. Not a single class."

"This may be farfetched," Matt began, looking around at everyone.

As the newest person in the room, he didn't want to step on any toes or say anything too crazy—all he wanted to do was help solve this case. Believe it or not, he loved his job where he wasn't in danger all the time anymore; he met his now wife, and she was currently pregnant, which was so exciting for him. This wasn't some ploy to join the team permanently, Matt wanted to stay with the Prentiss family because it was the best hours, a fantastic family, and very safe.

"Say it anyways. Trust us, we've said way worse before," Tara assured him. And it was true, there were times they suggested things and looked at one another like they were crazy—then when it turned out to be right, well, like she said, not the first time.

"Garcia, is it possible for you to check if he was adopted?" Matt asked.

The Hotchner's evening had been perfect down to every last detail. It would be a night they would never ever forget and would cherish forever. Hayley was stunned by the gift Hotch had purchased for her, and vice versa—the following day, Jack was very happy to learn his dad got a gift too and to tell his mom how he helped pick out the necklace for her.

Jack thought a glass watch would be much cooler than a super fancy drink bottle thing until he saw it was a glass decanter borosilicate glass with engravings of the world on the outside, and the jet on the inside; Hayley also got four whiskey glasses to match, and they too had engraved jets on them. It could easily represent work, however, something the team doesn't know the way she does is how much her husband loves planes and always has.

The following night Emily and JJ enjoyed dinner at Madame Brasserie, inside the Eiffel Tower. JJ was speechless, she felt a familiar sense of déjà vu to the night they went to Emily's restaurant, Merle, because of how perfect everything was.

Four years together and JJ still felt like she was the only one in the room whenever Emily looked at her, even when all seven of their children were surrounding them. It didn't matter who needed what, when Emily's eyes connected with her own, JJ's heart fluttered, and everything paused while she let herself feel how special her wife treated her.

"Jen. Babe, did you hear any of that?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, totally," JJ nodded with a smile on her face. "I agree, we should stay longer."

"Nice try, honey. Birthdays, we have five of them coming up," Emily repeated, sipping her wine.

Lily and Amelia were their January babies, Oakley was in June, the twins and Oliver were in July, and Clarke was in August. Five summer birthdays, two winter vacation birthdays—it was always a bit chaotic but that's where they thrive.

"Oh my gosh, can you believe I gave birth almost two years ago?" JJ said in complete shock. She now understood the way Emily felt with Lily, and still feels to this day as she gets older and older.

"Just wait until they start preschool next year," Emily commented.

Emily felt just as heartbroken because they were her little buddies who stayed home with her during the day the way Lily and Oakley used to. She really enjoyed spending the extra time home with the kids because even though she loved working with the bureau, being home gave her back something she desperately needed in her life. And not just a relationship with her parents, it gave her back a part of herself she had closed off assuming she'd never need it. But she did, and her children put that light back inside her in the best possible way.

"All of our babies are getting so big," JJ said, trying so hard to hold her tears back even though there was no reason to as they were the only ones in the restaurant.

"They are," Emily agreed reaching over the table and cupping her wife's cheek gently. The table was small and intimate, just the way Emily wanted it making reaching her wife very easy. "What's going through your beautiful mind right now?"

"I just can't believe Brooks and Brynley are going to be two," JJ said.

"Try again," Emily urged, placing a reassuring kiss on JJ's hand. She knew her wife had something crazy going on up in that mind of hers and seeing as they were truly alone without the possibility of their children running in and needing something, it was the perfect time to talk about it.

"Did you take our names off the list?" JJ nearly whispered.

Emily took a minute to process what her wife was talking about but when she caught on, she shook her head no. For whatever reason, she too just couldn't do it. At least, not yet. She knew it seemed crazy, more like insane, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

"I didn't, babe."

"What do you think?" JJ asked.

"I think you're absolutely insane," Emily said, staring into her wife's perfect cerulean blue eyes. She took JJ's hand and led her close, pulling the blonde into her lap with a smile, "It's a good thing I'm in love with you, my perfectly insane, forever girl."

JJ blushed the way she has since the first time Emily called her that, then leaned down and kissed her wife. JJ knew their kiss was an answer, verbally, she didn't need one. They'd talk about it again another time, but for now, it was settled and she felt very happy.

"I'm in love with you too, Em."

"Matt, you think Greenburg was adopted?" Tara questioned. "Why slash through the kid's pictures who were adopted though?" she continued, picking up the photos of the Prentiss children who had slashes drawn through their faces.

"I thought he was just passed over?" Morgan asked, referring to the fact his brother Samuel is the senator now, not Stratton. Granted, unsubs have gone off the rails for a lot less before, so he wasn't all that surprised.

"Maybe it's both," Rossi added, then accepted the pictures from Tara. "We all know these four children came into the family under much different circumstances, Stratton however, does not. Anything regarding that could have easily set him off, he seems to wound incredibly tightly."

"I don't think he found out about his own adoption until recently, so that would have been his secondary trigger, his first was…" Reid said, searching for the document he was looking for in all the papers he had spread out everywhere. One thing he knew how to do best was make a mess wherever he went yet, somehow know exactly where things were in that mess. Once he found the smoking gun, he held it up for the team to see.

"Hotch and Em set this guy off?" Morgan questioned, looking at the picture Reid was holding up.

"But what do they have to do with adoption? What am I missing here, I thought Hotch's kids were both his," Luke said.

Luke knew he wasn't the brightest, he was pretty certain Jack and Harper were Hotch's kids, but he did know Emily and JJ adopted four of their children even though they looked exactly like their moms. Also, as the new guy on the team, he didn't want to appear dumb but seriously, what the heck was he missing here because something wasn't adding up to him and Luke was hoping he wasn't the only one feeling this way.

"They are," Tara said with a nod. "Reid, how do you figure that photo as the trigger here? JJ and Emily adopted children. Hotch isn't a part of their couple, I'm still confused as to how he fits into all of this in the first place."

Luke felt much better hearing Tara speak because he knew he wasn't alone. Actually, a lot of the team did—it wasn't uncommon for Reid to have ideas that didn't make sense at first to the team because he was just that much smarter, he'd get through to them eventually though. Matt saw a bit of what Reid was saying without meaning to, he was just trying to think about things in a different way and when he did, something clicked.

Garcia had found no record of adoption for Stratton Greenburg which made Matt change course again and he said, "Garcia, can you look for something else? Try home births followed by an unsolved murder of a young female."

"Why a murder…" Garcia started to say, then gasped. "Oh, oh gosh. Oh, I see where you're going with this. Okay, let's see what I can find here."

"You think things suddenly changed for the couple after the birth of Stratton?" Tara asked Matt.

"The Senator traveled more than half the year Stratton was born," Matt said, looking over the document they had printed regarding his work history. "He cut his hours back substantially a year before Samuel was born. It wouldn't have been impossible for him to conceive Stratton however, the timelines don't match up for him or his wife…"

"Matt's right," Garcia said. "I found records of a home birth for Stratton Greenburg, and two days later the body of Michele Thompson was found strangled to death. She had ligature marks on her wrists and ankles, wherever she had been kept had access to sunlight, but it wasn't very large. The ME noted before her death, she had given birth."

"Did the ME test the umbilical cord DNA for paternity?" Rossi asked.

"Michele's parents wanted him to; they wanted to raise the baby, but they were hit with lawsuit after lawsuit."

"Let me guess," Luke said with an eyeroll. "The Greenburg's."

"You got it, newbie."

"If they tried that hard to stop the Thompsons from accessing Stratton's DNA, he must not be Sanders and Shelly's child. Emily's gut wouldn't have let this slide even as a child which means she has no idea, how does this tie into she and Hotch now though?" Rossi said more to himself as his eyes were closed as he thought about things.

"It's not so much as 'not catching it' when she was a child, in fact, Emily did have a feeling which was why she stayed away from Stratton and Easton to begin with—she was just unaware as to why because she was a child," Reid stated, answering Rossi's rhetorical question. "Stratton didn't find out he was adopted until he was an adult, so why now makes perfect sense to his own timeline because—"

"Okay kid, okay, take a break," Morgan said, walking over to him. "Why don't you go get some more coffee."

"But it's 7:45pm—"

"Kid, just take a walk, do something to get out of this room for a few minutes."

When he left, the team all took a seat at the round table and either slumped back in their chairs or rested their heads in their hands. Figuring this out was so darn frustrating and because there was so much riding on solving the case, the pressure was through the roof. They had the director and Strauss on their asses, and much more importantly, their family was in danger, and they needed to protect them.

Reid's revelation had put a thought in all their minds, and they needed a break before Rossi figured out what he was going to do with this information.

"Oh gosh," Emily laughed.

It was day 8 of vacation and they were in Venice eating lunch before continuing on with their exploration of the city; it was actually incredibly fun because while normally the kids would get rather bored by a traditional tour, this one was a game filled with riddles and hidden clues as a way for kids to explore and have fun while the adults were able to truly appreciate the sites.

"Don't move, bug," she continued, making her way over to Lily who had attempted to twirl her spaghetti like a big girl. She was wearing an adorable white shirt with ruffles on the sleeves and Emily knew with one swing of the pasta that wouldn't fit into her daughter's mouth, the red sauce would ruin her shirt.

Clarke just happened to have her camera out, something she never did while they ate because it was rude, but she had permission, and snapped a picture of Lily because it was really funny and cute at the same time. They had all tried to teach her how to twirl her spaghetti for a long time now even before leaving for this trip, it wasn't as easy as it seemed though, especially for a little four-year-old.

"You got a big bite here, didn't you baby?" Emily asked, tucking a napkin between Lily's shirt and the spaghetti just as the little girl nodded and the spaghetti fell. "It's not about how much you can twirl, bug. We don't want you to choke, that wouldn't be good. Small bites are best for my small little girl, right?"

"Yeah," Lily nodded, now free and clear of the massive bite of pasta she had attempted to put in her mouth.

"Watch mommy, bug," Emily said, taking Lily's fork and showing her daughter what to do after putting the little girls' hand on the fork first. "See, you just need a little bit of pasta, then you pick up your spoon with this hand and twirl."

"No mommy, dis one too…im da way," Lily said, shooing the spoon away. Emily tried to show Lily what to do again using only the fork, which was possible, it just wasn't the proper way to twirl pasta.

"Only a little bit, bug. You don't need so much on your fork baby, you'll choke."

Lily tried again with Emily's help and on the third time, she had almost a perfect bite and everyone cheered for her. The kids all learned very quickly as Elizabeth was the queen of manners—Emily refused to let her mother scold her children the way she did with her, but when they went over to the elder Prentiss residence and the kids asked what things were, Emily let Elizabeth explain so the kids could learn.

The elder Prentiss couple took turns teaching certain things to the kids like twirling pasta, how to have proper tea parties, the importance of carrying a handkerchief and pulling out a chair—not always as they're kids, but one day of course, and much more.

"Me do it mommy! You see me?" Lily asked when she finished chewing.

"I did see you, baby. I'm so proud of you, bug, you twirled your pasta like a big girl," Emily smiled while feeling tears well in her eyes.

She briefly flashed back to a few nights ago when she and Jen were out to dinner and talking about their babies growing up—it was such a beautifully painful journey. Seeing your tiny human become their own person is the most precious thing in the world, but on the flip side, the older they get, the less they need you and that pain is unlike anything else in the world. Your heart constantly swells and breaks; Emily wanted her babies to stay little for just a bit longer.

After their interactive clue finding tour, they went to paint their very own venetian masks which had everyone very excited. The boys were excited to paint theirs like superheroes so they could continue to save the world when they played, Oakley wanted hers to be a princess, Lily wanted a butterfly, Harper wanted a kitty, Amelia and Clarke on the other hand though, were going to try and make theirs realistic.

"…no, you should help Harper dad. I'm good," Jack responded after Hotch asked if he needed help. Hotch knew he would be much more helpful with a superhero than a kitty cat, as did his wife who in return, laughed at him and mouthed you're screwed.

"Harper honey, I bet you want mommy to help you with your kitty cat, right? Daddy can't draw too well," he said, whispering the last part.

"Daddy an mommy," Harper smiled.

"Yeah, you heard the boss," Allen winked, looking up from Amelia's piece for a minute to wink at Hotch. "She wants mommy and daddy."

"Grandpa, you gotta hold it still please. I'm trying to do these lines," Amelia said.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. I'll be so still," he promised.

"Don't cause anymore trouble, Allen," Sandy reminded him, straightening out Oliver's smock.

"I was just reminding Aaron over here how fantastic he'd be at helping Harper," he smiled.

"Sure you were, dear," Sandy conceded.

The conversations continued flowing easily, mostly with the adults though as the kids were focused on their painting and had a hard time multitasking. Clarke and Amelia spoke with the adults, the boys spoke with one another, the littles really only spoke whoever was helping them.

When a phone rang and Emily asked her mother to search through the diaper bag and grab it as her hands were full, which turned into a bit of a back and forth, Clarke thankfully grabbed it for her mom. Elizabeth didn't feel right knowing it may not even be Emily's phone—she didn't care the reason though; she just needed it answered because the only people calling would be the team as everyone else knew they were on vacation.

"Bubbfwies ah weally wittle wike me, den dey det big an stwong tause' dey eat dare gweens wike me, dats what mommy teld me," Lily told Gerald as she continued to paint with his help.

"Wow, that's so smart. So let me get this straight, butterflies start out really little like you but then they eat all their greens to get big and strong?" Gerald asked.

"Yeah!" Lily nodded.

"Oh my goodness. Who knew."

"Mommy!" Lily answered, causing the adults to laugh seeing as Gerald wasn't actually asking.

"Hello?" Clarke answered.

"Well hello to you too, little miss," Rossi said through the line.

"You don't know who I am, do you?" Clarke laughed.

"You and your sister sound so similar, honey," Rossi admitted.

"At least you can narrow it down to the two of us," Clarke said, admittedly impressed.

"I've got a 50/50 shot. Let's see if I can profile it out of you in two questions. What's your favorite subject in school? And what's your favorite meal?"

"English and salmon," Clarke said with a laugh.

"Okay, I've got thi-oh darn, you girls have—come on Dave," he said to himself, realizing why the girl was laughing. Amelia's favorite class was also English, and all the kid's favorite meal was salmon. He messed up by asking those questions, anything else he would have had her, but not those two. "Alright, who are ya kid?"

"Clarke," she answered.

"I should have known, you sound more and more like your mother every time I talk with you," he said.

"Really?" Clarke asked, sounding hopeful.

Rossi heard the change in her voice and smiled as he said, "Yes honey, you do."

And it was true, she did. Emily and JJ had very specific mannerisms that the kids picked up on as well unintentionally, it was very cute to see who caught onto what especially because it showed how much biology, nature/nature played a part in to who the kids were or weren't at all.

"Thanks Uncle Rossi. Umm, do you want to talk to mom now?" Clarke asked, clearing her throat.

"That would be great, kiddo. But hey, one more thing. Are you having a good time on vacation?"

"Yeah, the most!" Clarke answered with a smile he could see without actually seeing.

"I'm so happy to hear that. Keep having so much fun."

"We will. Hold on, I'll go get mom for you," she said, then he heard much more background noise.

Clarke sat back down to continue painting after handing her mom the phone and then Emily walked outside to take the call where she wouldn't be heard by anyone—Clarke had gone into the little window gallery where her mom's could still see her, Emily however, went completely outside.

"I heard you didn't guess correctly," she said to Rossi.

"50/50 is pretty close," he laughed. The entire team loved to guess, he was the only one who ever knew when it was between the oldest two though.

"What's going on, Rossi?" she asked, wanting to know what they had and if the family would be extending their trip or not.

"I hate to even ask you this Emily, trust me—"

"Rossi, just ask."

"What do you know about your parents' marriage?"

"What about it?" Emily questioned. Although, this was not where she saw his line of questioning going especially with the warning he gave her. What the heck was going on back home that had them digging into her parents.

"You've told me a few times in the past few years you'd never seen them this happy before. Do you think either of them had affairs before you were born, when you were young, or when you were off at school?" Rossi asked.

"My father would never. It wouldn't matter how upset my mother made him or what she threatened him with, he'd never dishonor his vows. I can't be certain about my mother. I wouldn't be surprised, she used to be a ruthless woman. Why?"

Rossi wasn't sure what to do with that information because there was no doubt in Emily's mind regarding her father, but the test in his hand stated something entirely different. Rossi didn't want to be the one to break Emily's heart and was really hoping there was a good reason for the results that would forever change the Prentiss and Hotchner's lives.