CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED-THREE: FAMILIARITY !

12x20

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IT HAD BEEN A WEEK OR SO SINCE WHAT HAPPENED TO CASEY. She decided not to come back for at least a few more weeks until she felt ready to face her team again. No one knew about the miscarriage, not even her siblings. The only person Casey and knew and trusted was JJ.

Casey had decided to sleep in today over at her sister's place. She was currently in her room, sleeping the day away, sprawled across the bed. By the time Casey got up, it was already one o'clock in the afternoon. Guess she really needed that sleep.

She stirred awake and checked her phone for any news on Spencer. Nothing so far. Only a few missed calls from Emily and text from her saying to call her when she could.

Anything with Spencer was the last thing she needed right now. Casey had gotten up from the bed and headed downstairs to the kitchen. There, she was greeted with her sister, pouring some coffee and her son at the kitchen table eating breakfast.

"Morning," Leah spoke. "Or should I say, afternoon?" Leah handed Casey the cup of coffee, since she knew it was always what she needed when she got up. "Thanks for letting me sleep in." Casey told. "You needed it, sis. It's no problem. I didn't mind taking care of Chris this morning. He was practically begging for bacon. That's cool, right?" Leah asked.

Casey looked up and nodded, "Yeah, totally fine. What's he having now?" She asked, looking towards his plate. "A sandwich. It's the best I could do for lunch." Leah told. Casey walked towards her son. "Hey, bud." She ruffles his hair and sits next to him.

Casey looks up at her sister as she takes another sip of her coffee. "You got work today?" Casey asks. "Yeah, closing shift. 4 to 10." Leah sighed. Casey nods and then looks towards the living room.

The woman furrows her brows as she notices boxes piled near the hallway. And then some boxes over in the kitchen and some right next to her. All marked with Leah's name on them. "Why are there boxes everywhere?" Casey questioned.

Leah sighed, knowing this conversation was gonna come soon. "I'm moving back to Roanoke." She tells. Casey raises her brows and can't believe she hadn't heard this before. "You're moving? Why?"

"Well, this house is getting pretty old and there are just too many memories here for me and for Isaac. Plus, can't afford it anymore. They're only give me part-time shifts at the diner now." Leah explains.

"Let me guess, that's my doing." Casey stated, knowing she always had Leah watching over Chris now, along with her brother. "I'm sorry." Leah shakes her head. "No, no, it's not your fault. Plus, I love spending time with Chris." Casey shakes her own head. "I still shouldn't be calling you out."

Leah takes a breath. "Well, you practically pay me more than that shitty diner does." She stated and then widened her eyes once she realized she swore in front of Christopher. "Sorry."

"Does Isaac know?" Casey asks and Leah nodded, "Yeah. He's staying down here. It's weird. We haven't been apart from each other like this. Us in two different cities. We've lived in the same cities our entire lives. It's gonna be weird not having him right there. It's a twin thing." Leah shook it off and Casey nodded in understanding. "And Wes?" She asks.

"We're trying to find a place together, actually. He figured he might as well move on, considering his mom isn't really around much at the moment." Leah told, mentioning Vivian.

It made Casey wonder how Vivian, Hotch and Jack were doing. Hopefully, safe.

"I've been planning the move for a while. I just didn't know how to tell you with all of the Spencer stuff going on. A realtor is actually coming by tomorrow to see what we can do with the place and how much it can go up for. An old house like this sure could cost a lot." Leah explained.

Casey watched as Leah talked. All of her mother's memories were in this house. And their dad's. Casey could've sworn she'd been here a few times growing up. So many memories were in this house and she knew Leah didn't want to let it go but she knew she had to. She just couldn't afford it anymore. And she knew she wouldn't accept any money from Casey herself.

             Casey looks down at her phone and remembers she needs to call Emily. "I have to call Emily for a few minutes. Cool if I use your patio?" Casey asks and Leah nods, "Yeah, sure."

            Casey ruffles her son's hair again before heading outside to the patio. From here, she had a great view of the of the fields and entryway into the woods. It made her feel content with the breeze blowing through. Casey presses a button on her phone and holds it up to her ear as she waits for the ring.

             After the second ring, Emily answers, "Casey." She says. "Hey, Em." Casey greets. "Sorry I didn't answer. I, uh, needed some sleep." She apologizes and Emily speaks, "Oh, it's alright. You deserve the rest. Anyway, I have some news." Emily tells and Casey straightens herself as she looks at Chris through the window, preparing herself for the worst.

            "I had Tara go in to give Reid a cognitive interview. And he found out something. There was a woman in that motel room with him." Emily explained and Casey's eyes widen. "A woman? What?" She furrows her brows. "Are you sure? A woman being associated with Scratch? I mean, that's highly unlikely. He's not the type of person to have a partner."

            "Yeah, well, it's what Reid remembered. Now that he does, it's a higher chance of him getting out of there. I thought you should know about it. We're going to get him out of there, Casey." Emily assured and Casey sighs, "It's good that he remembered that. And you're sure there's no way to get him into protective custody until then?" She questioned.

            "Fiona's really trying but there's a chance he won't get it. Anything she tells the board is simply a recommendation." Emily explains and Casey punches the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "We're trying to do everything we can. We just have to trust the process." Casey nods and takes a deep breath. "I know, I know."

            "You hang in there, alright?"
            "I will. Thanks, Emily."

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            Leah had gone off to work and hours had passed and Casey decided to spend her time with Chris. From taking him to his later appointment to then putting him in bed. Her and Chris had shared a bed in the guest room and Casey didn't mind if she had to sleep later.

             After setting him in the bed, Casey had decided to go downstairs to make a pot of coffee. Coffee at eight o'clock at night? That's why she was staying up and sleeping in. Casey looked around the living room, the leather brown couch, the big TV in the living room, toys scattered around. Casey smiled to herself as she passed by it.

              Casey entered the kitchen. Only a few dishes in the sink, the coffee mugs with the 'You Can Do It!' signs plastered all over them. It was funny to her, a sign on a mug was enough to make her feel better despite having a rotten time right now. The patio door was opened but the screen was closed and locked, welcoming a tight breeze swirling through the curtains. She ended up closing and locking the patio door, looking at the full moon tonight.

               She then headed upstairs, looking in the other rooms. One room was Leah's, messy and cluttered. She now know that messiness ran in the family. Another had been Isaac's, clean and neat, despite the bedding being messed up. Isaac slept here once in a while and Leah thought it'd be fitting for him to have a room. Another room had been filled with untocubed boxes, mementos that belonged to their mother as well as themselves, Casey could barely get the door open.

           Casey then entered another room, left untouched with two beds on either side of the room. One belonged to a girl and another a boy. This must've been Leah and Isaac's room from when they were younger. Casey examined the room. Children's shoes and clothes were laid everywhere. The red boots Leah wore all the time were right by the side of the girls' bed while Isaac's green boots were laid haphazardly on the bed. Dust flew through the room as Casey entered in.

Casey looks at the desktop of a photo she didn't even remember taking of her, Isaac and Leah when they were all younger. AUGUST 1995, said the top of the frame in different colored letter stickers. At the bottom of the frame, it had all three of their names across in tiny letters to fit. LEAH CASEY ISAAC. Casey smiled, knowing it may have been Jean's doing so they would know who she was.

            Casey exited the room, leaving it in the way that it was and heads on over back to her room she was currently residing in with her son and leans on the doorway as she watches little Chris sleep. He sounds congested as he snores a little bit. She leans her head on the doorway and sighs.

She had tried to do everything she could for her son despite all of the crap they've all been through these last few months. Even at times she felt like she was failing him, Casey had done all she could to make it work, despite her going through everything all at once. She loved Chris but she wished that she didn't drag him away from his own bed.

Casey had been thinking about the apartment. How she'd barely had any time to go back. And how painful memories seemed just by being there. Casey looked around the large house and compared it to the apartment. It felt more lively here, but any place her son was in felt lively. The apartment started to feel small now that her husband wasn't around. It was only surrounded by dread nowadays.

            Casey had seated herself on the couch in the living room, reading until she noticed the front door open and behind it, revealed her sister coming in. "Hey." Leah greeted. "Hey, you're home early." Casey asked, noting to the clock on the bedside table that read 9:56. "Yeah, it was a slow day. Didn't have that many customers so we closed up shop." Leah took her coat off and then placed her keys on the table. "You and Chris have a good day?" Leah asked and Casey nodded, "Yeah, it was good."

Casey followed Leah through the kitchen and then into the back room where the laundry washer and dryer were at. "So, that call with Emily? What was that about? Forgot to ask." Leah stated as she carried a basket into the laundry room.

"Oh, uh, Spencer did a cognitive interview and apparently the person he remembered in that motel room with him was a woman." Casey told. Leah stopped what she was doing and furrowed her brows. "A woman? I thought you said it was a man." Leah stated and Casey nodded, "Yeah, I'm just as confused."

Leah continued putting some clothes into the washer. "So..." Casey decides to change the subject. "The realtor is coming tomorrow?" She asks and Leah nods and sighs. "Yeah, yeah, she's coming tomorrow. She's supposed to be one of the better ones, helping us with the move. Let's hope there's someone willing to buy it."

           Casey takes a deep breath as she fiddles with her hands. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that." Leah turns over to Casey with furrowed brows. "Before everything happened with Spencer, I talked about how we needed a bigger place. Especially with Diana living with us now, Christopher getting bigger by the minute. That small apartment's getting way too small for us. So, I wanted to ask. If you'd let me, I'd be willing to buy the property from you."

Casey had thought about this for a while. A change would be better for Spencer after being in prison. And maybe he'd appreciate a bigger place for himself, his wife, his son and his mother. And besides, there were so many moments of pain in the last apartment, Casey couldn't bare to look about it anymore.

Leah raised her brows. "Really?" She asks. "The realtor. She wouldn't understand the history like I do. I mean, this is the place where we first met. It's the place you and Isaac grew up in. You took over it when your mom died. And I get to keep it in the family. I'd be willing to." Casey tells.

The Ryleigh girl smiles and she goes to hug her sister. "Thank you." Casey hugs her back and once they release from each other, Casey looks around at the place she practically owned. Casey smiles to herself. She knows this is gonna be a big change but she knows it's for the best.

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The next morning, Casey had decided to go back to the apartment to tell Diana and Cassie the news about the move. Casey had taken Chris with her to go and tell her. Casey knocked, figuring Cassie would answer since she was digging through her bag for her key.

"Cassie, it's Casey!" Casey announced. "Could you let me in? I have some news. Damn it, I forgot my key." Casey continued to scrounge through her bag.

"Hello?" An unfamiliar voice said to her. Casey flinched and noticed a woman standing next to her. "Oh, sorry." Casey chuckled nervously as she held a hand to her chest. "You startled me."

"Oh, no, I'm sorry." The woman said. "Excuse me." She grabbed a key and put it through the door hole to the apartment. Casey furrowed her brows. She'd never seen this woman before, how the hell did she have a key to her apartment?

Casey exchanges a confused look with Chris and walks into the apartment. "Uh, sorry, but... how do you have a key to this apartment?" Casey questions calmly, having her phone on speed dial to the police for a breaking and entering. Although, she had a key of her own and Casey had no idea how to explain this one.

The woman had a shocked expression as she chuckled, "Oh, I'm so sorry." She holds a hand out to Casey as Casey puts her son down but makes sure he stands right near her. "I'm Carol Atkinson, Cassie hired me when she went on vacation." Casey shakes her hand. "I could've sworn she said she was gonna tell you. You're Casey, right?"

Casey nods, "Yes, I'm Casey and this is Christopher." She motions to her son as the woman, Carol, waved at Chris. "Diana's my mother-in-law. I haven't gotten any message from Cassie about a vacation. Do you know when she will be back?" Casey asks. Carol shrugs, "She said soon."

Casey stared long at the woman. It was one of the those instances where she felt like she had met someone before but couldn't put her finger on where or how. Carol wondered why Casey stared and Casey shakes her head and laughs, "I'm sorry, I don't meet to stare, have we met before?" She questions.

Carol shakes her head, "No, I don't think we have." She tells. "Huh." Casey thinks. She could've sworn she met this woman before but she didn't know where. "You know, I'd be happy to relay any news you need to tell Cassie."

Casey shakes her head. "Oh, no, it's okay. I can just call her." Casey begins to fish out her phone out of her pocket. "You're sure we haven't met before? You look oddly familiar." Casey stated, since it was really beginning to bother her now.

"Nope," Carol stated. "I'm sure."

Casey decides to push it aside for now and goes to her contacts on her phone. "Okay. I should call Cassie and see when she'll be back. I'm gonna try her cell."

"She's probably busy on her vacation," Carol spoke.Her phone may not even work." Casey shrugs, "She's always at work."

Casey turns around away from the woman as she holds the phone up to her ear and waits for it to ring. But as she waits for it to ring, a phone begins to ring somewhere in the apartment.

Casey turns her head slightly over as she spots Cassie's cell phone on the coffee table in the living room. Before she can turn and ask why Cassie's phone was there, something hard hit her over the head and everything went black.

DUN DUN DUN-
four more chapters and we are done with this book ahhhhhhhhrhehwjakwldjfjwkqk-

this was super rushed but oh well

casey wondering why cassie's phone is ringing in her apartment:

anywayssssss
we're reaching the two big episodes/chapters of the book-😭
thank you for reading and i love you all
-mya </3