While the family flew home from Egypt, the team was getting ready to enter the underground apartment Samuel had created to keep the woman and children locked in. After a long discussion with Emily, Hotch and JJ the team was confident that even if Samuel had somehow trained this woman they'd have everything secured by the time the family arrived home.

They also knew Samuel didn't have anyone else working with him, so it was safe for the family to come home. The children would love to stay on vacation a bit longer however, it was time enjoy summer activities at home. The adults also enjoyed themselves, they just knew things the children didn't and because of that, spending some time at home was important.

"I love you so much," JJ said, snuggling up next to her wife. She had just checked on all the kids to make sure they were still sleeping soundly and grabbed an extra blanket on her way back, smiling when she saw her dad knocked the heck out with his baseball cap over his face like he's done since she was a little girl.

"I love you too, Jennifer," Emily said, cupping her face and kissing her passionately. When Emily pulled back she saw something in JJ's eyes and tilted the blondes chin towards her, "Talk to me."

JJ fought past Emily's strong hand and hid her face against her wife's shoulder, shaking her head back and forth. "It's too crazy," she mumbled.

Oh gosh, Emily thought to herself even though she was feeling the same way. Emily just squeezed her wife's hand in response to let her know they were on the same page and she could feel JJ smile against her shoulder.

We're truly insane.

When footsteps could be heard her anxiety picked up immediately and put her on high alert. Samuel never came on even days, she had memorized his schedule so the second she heard him coming she ran to the kids after grabbing one of the kitchen knives. She knew she'd never use it, but she brought it with her every time because she had to protect the children, they were innocent little babies with their entire lives to live. They had only experienced what he allowed and that was barely anything, it made her feel sick to think about. She had witnessed so much since being taken because of him but she couldn't bring herself to hurt him and escape with the kids, at least not yet.

"He's coming, we need to be super quiet okay?" she whispered to the children, wrapping an arm around both of them. They snuggled into her immediately because they were just as fearful of the scary man; he yelled and threw things, he was not nice and even at their young age they knew he was someone to steer clear of.

They nodded and the three of them huddled in the corner of the room the way they always did when Samuel came in however, this time something was much different. After the team cut the chains and broke the locks, they opened the door as to not scare anyone but because they were unsure of any potential threat they all had their guns drawn.

Having six guns pointed at you can cause anyone to act out of character especially if you aren't expecting them and have been held captive for years with two small children. Unfortunately for the team, nobody was fast enough to put their guns away and let the woman know they were there to help and she jumped to her feet putting the kids behind her while holding a knife out towards the team who was standing around her.

"Woah, woah, woah," Rossi said, holstering his weapon and showing the woman his hands. "We're here to help you, not hurt you. My name is Dave, what's your name?"

The woman watched as Tara, Matt and Reid also holstered their weapons—Luke and Morgan still had a shot if things went sideways however, they were standing further back and thankfully, the woman was blocking the kids view of what was truly going on. She was clearly terrified and wanted to protect the children; they also didn't think she wanted to hurt anyone especially with how much her hands were shaking and the tears streaming down her cheeks. It was as if she didn't believe help had finally come and that thought made the team feel very sad for her, they couldn't imagine what she had been through with Samuel.

"Her name River, wike the water," the little boy answered, standing up and causing the men to hide their guns and the woman to put the knife to her side. The little girl also stood up when her brother did and snuggled on the other side of the woman causing her to toss the knife on the carpet so she could cuddle the children and the team breathed a sigh of relief.

"River, that's a pretty name," Rossi commented, kneeling in front of where they were now sitting on the floor. "What's your name?"

"Hudson!" he exclaimed with a proud smile snuggling his stuffed lion. The little girl had a death grip on her stuffed lamb and River who she refused to let go of, she did feel a bit more comfortable looking at all the strange people surrounding her while in River's arms though. "And this Emerson, I wike to call her Emmie."

"Those are great names," Rossi smiled.

"You're really here to help us?" River asked once she saw how sincere the man was with Hudson.

"We are," he said, reaching out and placing a comforting hand on her arm.

"Is that a lion, buddy?" Morgan asked the little boy to help get him comfortable with the thought of leaving with himself and the team although, it seemed as if he was the outgoing one of the two kids, at least for now.

"Yeah! River getted me him," Hudson answered, running over to the man and showing Morgan the stuffed lion.

About fifteen minutes later River carried Emerson out, Morgan carried Hudson out and the three were finally free. Off to the hospital off course to get checked out and then a long few days ahead for River so the team could hear what she had been through—it was also clear she didn't want to leave the children so they'd need to figure out something to do regarding that as well. They were certain with the connections they had at the hospital the three could have a shared room for the next few days and the team would figure out what to do next when they were released.

"Thank you for taking me to so many cool places," Oliver said with a yawn when Emily and JJ tucked him into bed that night.

They had gotten home at a reasonable hour, said goodbye to the Hotchner family and their grandparents and ordered takeout because Emily did not feel like cooking after a twelve hour flight. They'd start their routine tomorrow, Emily and JJ weren't going to worry about one meal as even on vacation their children still ate a well balanced diet.

The littles were already in dreamland for the night because schedules didn't change, the kids knew that—even if Oliver, Amelia and Clarke got to stay up a bit later because it was summer they still knew when mommies said it was bedtime that meant it was time to snuggle up for a story. Tonight however, Oliver didn't want a story he wanted to talk about their vacation which they had done until he could barely keep his eyes open.

Emily and JJ melted when Oliver said what he did and snuggled him closer placing kisses on either side of his head. "You're so welcome baby boy," Emily whispered.

"I love you," he said as his eyes fluttered.

"We love you too," JJ said with a smile tucking his panda stuffed animal under his arm.

The mothers watched him sleep for a few minutes while JJ ran her fingers through his shaggy hair causing Emily to make a mental note that he needed a haircut, all the kids did. She knew Oliver loved his hair longer but it was getting to a length where it spent more time getting in his eyes and the girls needed a trim before their back to school cuts as well. Gosh their hair grows quickly, she thought to herself.

"Em, he's asleep," JJ commented, now successfully out of Oliver's bed. Sometimes when they got out of the kids bed too early they woke back up and pulled their moms back down which was why Emily and JJ learned to wait a bit longer but the blonde couldn't figure out why her wife wasn't attempting to move.

"Right," Emily said, snapping out of her thoughts. "These kids need haircuts," she whispered. "Oliver is going to develop neck issues from whipping his hair out of his eyes if we don't get it cut soon."

JJ laughed because it was true. "We'll make an appointment tomorrow. Come on, let's go see what the girls are up to," she said, reaching out for Emily's hand. The brunette tucked the covers up around Oliver then took JJ's hand making sure to turn on the airplane nightlight before shutting the door.

"What do you think, color or black and white?" The mothers heard Clarke ask Amelia.

"Umm, I don't really know. It's really pretty both ways, Clarke. I think Uncle Derek will just be happy you're giving it to him," Amelia answered honestly. "And you're probably gonna have to tell him what it is, so maybe that can help you decide," she added with a giggle.

"Hmm, I didn't think about that part," Clarke said, looking back at her laptop.

Emily and JJ chose that moment to walk into the game room where the girls were sitting on the couch together snuggled up under a blanket with Clarke's laptop. They were going through all the pictures she had taken of their trip to see which ones she was going to give as gifts which was much harder than she thought it would be.

When Clarke was taking the pictures in the moment she was confident certain photos would go to certain people however, looking at all of them now she realized how many could go to different family members. Of course she could give them multiple but she respected the fact that her siblings only got everyone one gift and she didn't want to give them more and cause anyone to get upset, like the littles.

Clarke knew she could give them to her family at other times though so it would all work out; also, her grandmothers and aunt Hayley had already approached her while on vacation and asked if they could put together a scrapbook from their trip together which made her very excited. Spectacular Saturdays would be the perfect opportunity for Clarke to have that time with her grandparents and her pictures and she'd find time with her aunt because she was always over their house.

"What picture were you thinking sweets?" JJ asked, making their presence known.

She and Emily sat down on either side of the girls, and they looked at which one Clarke had chosen. She was beyond talented, if she didn't do something with photography the mothers would be shocked. "I really like it in both color and black and white, I can't decide," Clarke repeated to her mom's.

"Ooo, what if you gave him a big one for his home then a small one for his desk but did one of each," Amelia piped up, suddenly thinking of the idea. "Then you don't have to decide and if he wants the opposite, you can switch them but he probably won't cause' you're the professional and he doesn't know anything about photography like you," she giggled.

"I know whatever you decide on he'll love," JJ said with a smile, kissing the top of Clarke's head.

"You have to say that cause' you're my mom," Clarke said with an eye roll, leaning into JJ.

"No I don't," JJ argued. "I could tell you he'd prefer an endless supply of cheetos!"

"He's not you, momma," Amelia said, knowing how much their mom loves all things cheetos.

JJ gasped and reached over Clarke to tickle her. "Amelia Mae, how could you turn on me silly girl?" JJ teased. "I gave you an extra cookie after dinner and everything," JJ added causing Emily to roll her eyes. When the kids ended up getting cavities or became sugar addicts Emily was going to blame her wife for sneaking them all extra sugar.

"I'm just kidding, momma," she said, squirming around to try and escape the tickles from JJ and Clarke who was helping her mom.

JJ stopped tickling her and Amelia relaxed into Emily's arms breathing heavily playing with the bracelets her mom was wearing the same way the littles did while calming down; she had also done it since that very first day when Emily cuddled her when she took a nap. It essentially meant she felt safe and was getting or was already sleepy.

"When can everyone come over, mommy?" Amelia asked with a yawn.

Emily, JJ, Hayley and Hotch had spoken about this on the jet home knowing the kids would be anxious to see their aunts and uncles as their family was everything to them. There was no use denying what they all wanted so they figured because tomorrow was Saturday the team could come over and they'd have a cookout knowing everyone would happily bring food. It would also give them plenty of time to talk about the case while the children were distracted.

"After a sleepy girl gets a goodnight sleep in her bed," Emily answered, tucking a stray piece of hair behind Amelia's ear.

"So they can come tomorrow?" she questioned, yawning once again.

"Yes baby," Emily said with a laugh.

"Yay. I can't wait to see what Auntie Penny thinks of the mask me and Clarke made her," Amelia said, snuggling closer into Emily.

"She's going to love it so much. Now say goodnight to momma and your sister baby, it's time for bed," Emily smiled, lifting the little girl up then tilting her head down so the two of them could kiss her.

"Night Lia. I hope you get superpowers again. Love you," Clarke whispered to her sister and the mothers assumed it was an inside conversation; they would be correct. Amelia had dreamt she had superpowers while on the jet and told Clarke about it hoping she'd be able to have the same dream again.

"Goodnight sweet girl. I love you so much, have the best dreams," JJ said, kissing her temple and running her fingers through her hair gently. And with that, Emily made the trip up two flights of stairs and wondered how much longer she'd be able to carry all her babies up both flights.

"Love you," Amelia mumbled as her eyes fluttered.

"And then there was one," JJ commented.

"Mom, you say that like pretty much every single night," Clarke said with a laugh.

"I know, I really need some new material. Oh wait, go back," she said, pointing to the laptop. Clarke had been lazily scrolling through the photos while they spoke and JJ saw one she had to see again. "Oh my gosh, Clarke. Grandma is going to absolutely lose her mind when she sees this one, it's gorgeous honey."

The photo on the screen captured the most beautiful picture of Allen at the Grand Canal in Venice; he was standing alone admiring the water buses and waterfront promenades as the sunlight hit perfectly making for a stunning shot. Clarke had such an eye for candid photos and was able to capture the family during their best moments, and some incredibly funny ones as well.

"I like that one a lot," Clarke agreed. "Right after I took it grandma rushed over and told grandpa to put on more sunscreen, she almost ruined my shot."

"It's a good thing you got it," JJ smiled. "But also, good she reminded him, he always forgets."

"Yeah well, you guys burn," Clarke laughed. That was one of the biggest differences between her and her siblings and mothers. They all wore sunscreen and everyone was very, very on top of the children wearing it however, it was clear the brunettes took after Emily with their darker skin and tanned whereas the blondes would burn if they didn't have sunscreen on.

"Grandpa learned that the hard way, didn't he?"

Clarke made a face when she nodded. Allen forgot sunscreen the first day and because Sandy was so focused on helping Emily and JJ with the kids, she didn't think to remind her husband and he got a bit burnt.

"I still can't believe I took these pictures," Clarke said after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

JJ snuggled her closer and kissed the side of her head. No words were necessary, she understood what Clarke was feeling because she had said it multiple times over the last 16 days. Clarke was still blown away she spent the last days of school playing hooky at Disney World nevermind left the freakin' country.

And sometimes she felt like her life now was too good to be true, like it would all be taken away from her; she knew they went to court and a judge signed legal documents meaning her dad couldn't get her back but she's just a kid and her mind takes her lots of places. Some days she finds herself talking to her mom about it and that's all she needs to feel better, sometimes she just gets distracted by her siblings because once again, she's a kid. She had spent so long feeling unwanted and unloved…

"We'll forever want and love you, Clarke," JJ said, knowing that's what her daughter needed to hear in that moment.

"I love you too, mom."

The following day you would have thought there were eleven kids instead of nine because of Penelope and Morgan, they were just as excited as the seven Prentiss and two Hotchner children. Even the twins were squealing while jumping up and down although they didn't exactly know why like their siblings did; Brooks and Brynley went along with anything and because their name buddies were so happy to see them, they too were happy.

It didn't take long for the kids to break off into little groups with the adults of their choosing and begin telling them all about London, Paris, Venice, Rome and Egypt. These were some well freakin' cultured children according to Morgan—the team had just found out yesterday where their family had been and were a combination of jealous and impressed.

"I missed you so much, bubs," Morgan said, tossing Brooks in the air. "Jeez, how much pasta did you eat?"

"Lots. He ate it fistfuls at a time," Clarke answered with a laugh thinking back to how many times her moms or grandparents told Brooks to use one hand at a time because they knew he wouldn't use a fork.

"Dude," Morgan teased, poking Brooks belly causing him to burst out laughing at his uncle.

"I want to hear all about your magnificent trip my little fairies," Garcia said, snuggling Brynley closer with Lily, Oakley, and Harper sitting next to her.

Reid was chatting with the boys about Egypt because it was the freshest in their memory and their uncle knew everything according to them—Matt and Luke were also there because the mothers had invited them seeing as they worked the case and it was a family gathering which they always came to as the boys considered them uncles. Oliver and Jack loved having their uncles attention to tell them about their trip and also share some of what they got and the gifts they brought back for them too.

Amelia was talking to Tara while Clarke spoke with Morgan which was great for the girls because as big kids they were able to have true discussions about what they did on vacation while the littles pin ponged off one another as Garcia followed along, something she was best at.

That left Rossi to tell Emily, Hotch and JJ what was going on with the case and because everyone was so distracted, nobody realized they were gone. Hayley stayed with the kids just in case however, she had a hard time believing anyone would notice they were missing because their aunts and uncles captured their attention.

"We have a slight problem though," Rossi said once he explained how the case ended.

For the most part, they had a rough idea of how things were going as of a few days ago due to extending their trip. First there was the family relation bomb dropped on them before they headed to Rome, but they still didn't really know much about the case. Then when Rossi said not to come home, the three of them got a quick rundown of what was going on.

"Well, what is it, Dave?" Hotch questioned.

"We got them to the hospital and went back to speak with River this morning but she said she'd only speak with one person…"

Emily felt his eyes on her followed by two other sets and looked up at him feeling shocked. "I'm retired," was the only thing she could think to say.

Anytime JJ heard her wife say those words it caused her to laugh a bit because she was so young. What other 34-year-old was retired, it just wasn't a thing you heard every day and she retired years ago. "Em!" JJ exclaimed.

"Jen!" Emily said back to her. It was true, she was retired. She had no authority to go talk to this woman just because she requested to speak with her. Realistically anything was possible especially with this case and Emily knew she'd go talk with her if that's what was best but had the team even spoken about it yet, she didn't know.

"Emily, she won't speak with us. We have no idea what she knows, what she's seen or how long Samuel has had her. We're lucky she let the doctor evaluate her and the kids," Rossi said. The doctor found them all to be malnourished but otherwise healthy and luckily there was no sign of abuse of any kind which was very good seeing as it seemed the kids had been kept there their entire lives.

"I'll do it," she nodded.

Emily and Rossi left under the disguise of going to the grocery store and getting dinner for everyone which everyone believed; right now Emily was very grateful to her wife and Hayley who would secretly be doing the grocery shopping from one of the iPads and ordering it for pickup so the kids wouldn't know the difference. Melissa had bought enough for Emily to make breakfast for the kids this morning however, the mother had told her not to worry about doing a full shop because she'd handle it.

"Do you know where you're sending Samuel yet?" Emily asked.

"No clue, why?"

"I just have a feeling."

"Care to elaborate?" Rossi questioned.

"I can't. I have no idea what it is, it's just there," Emily said with a dry laugh. Rossi understood, the team got them all the time and he had the same one, as did Morgan but they couldn't explain it either. He already had the man put on a 24-hour watch in a solitary cell and suspended phone privileges because of the feelings they've had and was going to keep it that way until hearing from River. "Ready?"

"Let's do it," Emily said as they walked into the hospital.

The duo made their way up to the third floor and to the pediatric wing where they were also letting River stay because she refused to leave the children. Due to the fact this was a federal case, the hospital made an exception and put a third bed in the double room where the kids were and continued to care for all three of them.

When the glass doors slid open the children quickly ran across the room and jumped into the woman's bed and snuggled into her arms cuddling their stuffies the way Emily's kids do. The little boy was blonde with piercing blue eyes and the little girl was brunette with the same piercing blue eyes—she looked exactly like Lily if Emily was being honest and the boy had similar features to Oliver and the twins.

"Hi guys, do you remember me? I'm your buddy Dave," Rossi said in a super soft voice to the kids. "And this is my friend Emily, she's here to talk to you and River."

"Hi buddy, look at that lion. He looks super special," Emily said to the little boy. "And who do you have there sweet girl, is that a lamb?"

"Yeah, it's a wamb," the boy said. "I had my wion since umm, I was just weally wittle," he continued, and Emily smiled because he was clearly chatty and r's were also difficult for him like Lily.

Emily knew they wouldn't know until verifying the information with River however, basing things off her own children it was evident from their size, vocabulary and mannerisms what age they were.

"No way," Emily said, and he nodded. "Does your lion have a name?"

"Pe'nut butter," he answered with a giggle.

"Oh my goodness, that's so silly. And what about you, what's your name sweet boy?"

"Hudson and her name Emerson, but I called her Emmie," he said. "And that bubbles," Hudson continued, pointing to Emerson's lamb.

Emily gently ran her fingers through his blonde hair and smiled when he leaned into the touch, "Those are beautiful names. Hey, have you and Emerson ever have ice cream before?"

Hudson and Emerson gasped when Emily mentioned it and the little boy was quick to tell her about the few times they had it. "I wike the white kind," Emerson said, crawling closer towards Emily and out of River's arms.

"Oh yeah? I bet they have the white kind here; do you think so?" Emily asked, noting the white kind was most likely vanilla.

The kids nodded and Emily then asked if they'd like to go see with Rossi which would allow her time to speak with River alone. The woman hadn't said two words since she and Rossi had arrived and Emily didn't know if it was because Samuel had almost programmed her the same way he had Stratton or she was still so scared. It was fair to say anyone in her position would be terrified while wanting to protect the children at the same time.

"Can we?" Hudson asked River which seemed to snap the woman out of her trance.

River looked up at Rossi then at Emily who nodded in response and she smiled at the kids, "Be so careful okay? Say please and thank you, manners are most important. And don't eat too fast because ice cream is cold and just like dinner, if you don't take small bites your mouth will get an ouchy."

It was evident from what River was saying the kids most likely experienced both a brain freeze and burning their mouths from dinner before. Emily also appreciated the fact River clearly taught them the importance of saying please and thank you along with being safe although, she wasn't sure how often they actually left where Samuel was keeping them.

"We pwomise," Hudson said and Emily helped the kids safely get off the bed.

Emerson looked back once more before she left the room but Hudson took her hand and once he did, she felt much better about leaving because her brother was with her. River on the other hand finally let her tears fall the second they left. Her body wracked with tears and Emily was quick to sit on the hospital bed with her and hold the girl as she sobbed.

"Shh, shh, shh, I've got you. Let it out, honey. It's okay, it's okay, you're safe," Emily soothed.

Almost twenty minutes later River pulled herself back from Emily's arms and felt really embarrassed but Emily was quick to soothe her once again and tell her there was nothing to worry about. After what she had been through it was absolutely understandable she broke down, hell it was expected.

"I umm, I don't really even know where to start," River stated.

"How about the beginning," Emily said with a small smile to try and make her feel comfortable, then became serious again. "What happened the day you were taken? Do you know when it was, it's okay if you don't."

"Yeah, actually I do," River recalled, surprising Emily. "I had just registered for my classes and I was heading over to my parents for some dumb—" she paused when the tears started again and River quickly and angrily wiped them away. Emily recognized those tears, they were tears she had shed regarding her own mother in the past before they had rekindled their relationship.

"I'm sorry, I don't even know why I'm crying again. My parents umm, they weren't really parents at all. They cared about a lot of things, but I wasn't one of them. I didn't wish death upon them though," she cried and Emily pieced together who River's parents were.

One of the couples the Greenburg brothers murdered was another influential couple and while they didn't necessarily run in the exact circles the Ambassador did, Elizabeth would most likely recognize the name if Emily mentioned it. That didn't mean she knew them, in fact even if they attended the same functions it would be fair to say neither Elizabeth nor Gerlad wouldn't be able to pick them out but they'd be considered in the circle due to who they knew.

The four bodies that had been found did cause a very large distraction though because two had been dead for years while the others had just been murdered. Samuel definitely had a flare for the dramatics, that much was clear.

"I'm so sorry, River," Emily said, comforting her.

"It's okay, it was five years ago," River said providing Emily with her answer.