- Penelope Garcia: [the team reminisces about Strauss] Do you guys remember that one time that she called me, but I thought that it was somebody else?
- [indicates Morgan]
- Derek Morgan: Oh, no.
- Jennifer Jareau: That... that was funny.
- Penelope Garcia: Oh, maybe to you. I was mortified.
- Alex Blake: What did you say?
- Penelope Garcia: [laughing] I said "Talk dirty to me."
- Derek Morgan: Yes, she did.
- Alex Blake: [open-mouthed surprise] Are you kidding?
- David Rossi: [opening quote] "Affliction comes to us not to make us sad, but sober; not to make us sorry, but wise" - H.G. Wells
- Aaron Hotchner: [closing quote] Richard Bach wrote: "The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life."
- Aaron Hotchner: Dave, a figure 8?
- David Rossi: That's what it look like. I just sent you all a picture.
- Dr. Spencer Reid: Maybe it's an infinity symbol.
- Alex Blake: Well, if it's infinity, he could be boasting "I'll go on forever"?
- Derek Morgan: Or if it's an 8. Strauss was his 8th victim.
- Jennifer Jareau: And the unofficial 8th member of our team.
- Penelope Garcia: I am all over the DOJ names including support staff. I have Kevin pulling files and photos. System is down, so it's hard to track entire career paths, but there were two agents in New York in 2001. Scratch that, Lehman died in October, that leaves Curtis.
- Alex Blake: Wait a second. John Curtis?
- Penelope Garcia: You know him?
- Alex Blake: I haven't seen him in a long time. He was a nice guy. We were first office agents together, but I thought he left the Bureau after Amerithrax case.
- Aaron Hotchner: Could it be him? Does he fit the profile?
- Alex Blake: He was quiet and a loner, but brilliant. He specialized in a lot of fields, but his passion was biochemistry.
- John Curtis: We'll go out as heroes.
- David Rossi: I'm not so sure about that.
- [opens the door and shows the medal in the lock]
- David Rossi: Zugzwang.
- David Rossi: Last year, right here, we had a... very different celebration... of life... of love... and good people. This year, it's the, um... other side of that, because, well... that's what families do. It's been a hard year, but tonight... we celebrate a life well lived... well loved... To a good woman... an even better mother... To our friend... who I will miss very much.
- David Rossi: Her children want to meet me at Bethesda.
- Aaron Hotchner: How old are they now?
- David Rossi: Too young for this.
- Aaron Hotchner: You all right?
- David Rossi: She smells of booze, Aaron. You and I know it's because that bastard took away her dignity, but her children might not believe that. It's hard for them to trust anything to do with her drinking. She struggled with it all her life, and she was finally beating it.
- Aaron Hotchner: [phone rings, sees Erin Strauss on the display] Erin?
- John Curtis: Not quite. Does it ever get confusing that whole Erin - Aaron thing?
- Aaron Hotchner: It doesn't show who else saw this.
- Kevin Lynch: [starts typing on the laptop] Two other people read the report.
- Aaron Hotchner: Who?
- Kevin Lynch: You gonna need a tie.
- Aaron Hotchner: Where is she?
- John Curtis: Closer than you think, but she's not doing well. She looks a bit pale. Remember the last time you got a call like this? Remember? George Foyet, right? You were too late.
- Alex Blake: He said he used eight locks because there used to be eight of us.
- Aaron Hotchner: That's all he said?
- Alex Blake: About that, yes.
- Dr. Spencer Reid: There's only six keys. That mean two keys will be used twice. Each key is a letter, likely corresponds to a number on the locks. Seven, seventh letter of the alphabet's "g."
- Aaron Hotchner: What are the other letters?
- Dr. Spencer Reid: Z, u, w... Zugzwang.
- [pause]
- Dr. Spencer Reid: It's too easy.
- Erin Strauss: Wait!... Kids!... Wait for me!
- John Curtis: You really think your team is going to save you?
- Erin Strauss: I know they will.
- John Curtis: Did you get everything you wanted?
- Erin Strauss: What?
- John Curtis: In life. Did you?
- Erin Strauss: Does anyone?
- John Curtis: We should. Huh. That's the point. Drinking got in your way. Your husband couldn't help, though God knows he tried.
- Erin Strauss: You know my husband?
- John Curtis: And your poor children always played second fiddle to your ambition.
- Erin Strauss: I can't see.
- [hallucinating]
- Erin Strauss: Oh, thank God. David, he was here. You have to find him.
- David Rossi: I will. I promise.
- Erin Strauss: Thank you.
- David Rossi: All the love in the world won't save you.
- Erin Strauss: What?
- John Curtis: We're not finished yet.
- Penelope Garcia: He inherited a family compound in rural Virginia. Coordinates are on your phone.
- Alex Blake: What else do you have on Curtis?
- Penelope Garcia: Just like you thought. John Curtis was demoted in the FBI after the Amerithrax case. He was slated to take over the coveted New York field office, but then was shipped to the not coveted Kansas City one. He worked there for many years quietly before he was able to weasel his way back into the nation's capital. On paper, he is a rock star. He immediately transferred to the Department of Justice, the Intelligence Oversight section. He's a genius on multiple levels.
- Aaron Hotchner: What's his background?
- Penelope Garcia: Only child, parents died when he was 18. Never married. Total loner, just like Blake said.
- Aaron Hotchner: And all he's ever had to care about is his work.
- Derek Morgan: And when he lost that, he snapped.
- Alex Blake: You don't want to know.
- John Curtis: Reverse psychology. I'm not gonna beg for your analysis.
- Alex Blake: You don't have to beg. I already know how desperate you are for it.
- John Curtis: I didn't remember you being so skittish.
- Alex Blake: No, you've never seen me in chains before?
- John Curtis: I've seen you with your hands tied, so to speak. Erin Strauss and the Bureau discarded us. We were the forgotten ones
- Alex Blake: They forgot you. I did all right.
- John Curtis: But they'll remember me now. You know, I admired you back then, leading the charge on the day it all changed, the day Erin Strauss ruined us. I sat next to you, borrowed your pen to sign my transfer. They put me in Kansas. Me. You know what I've been wondering? Why did Strauss change her mind about you?
- Alex Blake: Kept my head down and I worked hard.
- John Curtis: We all did, but you got my chance.
- David Rossi: [Curtis finds no one in the room] Drop the gun.
- John Curtis: You'd really die for them?
- David Rossi: That's the oath we all took. To protect our country from people like you, no matter what.
- John Curtis: You never appreciated me, none of you. I gave you my life, and you rejected me.
- David Rossi: You can tell me your sob story while walking.
- Derek Morgan: He's got the placed lined with C-4. We've only got three minutes.
- Dr. Spencer Reid: This seems too easy. Zugzwang also means a dilemma in chess where the best move is not to move at all.
- [Blake stands up after Reid unlocks all locks]
- Dr. Spencer Reid: Wait, don't get up! It's a pressure sensor.
- [the door closes]