CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED-SIX: YELLOW LIGHT !

13x01

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ARRIVING BACK AT THEIR APARTMENT DIDN'T QUITE FEEL LIKE HOME JUST YET. Casey would soon tell him about the home she bought from Leah and knew she'd show it to him in a few days here. Spencer settled his mother into her bed in her room. After doing that, Spencer had settled himself on the couch in the apartment, resting against it.

Casey brought Christopher up to bed and tucked him in, he stayed soundly asleep. It seemed like it was getting easier to get him into bed. Once she had come back to the living room, Spencer remained in his same spot, jacket off this time, leaving him in his button-up and tie with rolled up sleeves, in his own thoughts, afraid of his own mind and what he could do to Casey's with these new formed thoughts.

Casey watched Spencer and could see that he was going through something internally. She walked in, in hopes maybe to get his mind off of whatever he was thinking. "Christopher fell asleep pretty quickly tonight. I mean, after the night he's been through, it's deserved."

"Yeah." Spencer responded, not taking his eyes away from what he was staring at. Casey looked over to him. "What's up?" She asked.
Spencer simply shrugged as he stood, almost following Casey into the kitchen. "Just tired." He replied and Casey looked back at him.

Casey hadn't had a chance to embrace him and to really accept the fact that he was standing in front of her. She could touch him, she could feel him. And that was all that mattered. Casey made her way around the counter and to the man and cupped her hands over his cheeks. "I missed you... so much." She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him. "I missed you, too." Spencer muttered, his head snuggling onto her neck as he wrapped his arms around her body.

They stayed there for a moment and held each other in a warm embrace. Casey smiled to herself as she held him. The two pulled away and Casey had kissed him softly on the lips.

There was a moment before Spencer had kissed Casey again, this time, cupping her face and held her as close as he could get her and Casey had gone along with it. She kissed him back, yearning for more than just his lips. Casey had jumped onto him, wrapping her legs around his waist as Spencer carried her and led them both to their bedroom.

Normally, they'd had moments like these. But this was different. Normally, Casey took charge... instead, it was Spencer. And she knew that he needed an outlet. And even if it was through sex... she knew he needed to take charge of something and what better to do it than that? Casey understood and frankly, it was like the odds were in her favor. All of those nights without him were so lonely.

Spencer had pinned Casey's hands over her head on the bed and held onto her hands tightly as he began to kiss her neck and hit her sweet spot. His other hand traveled downwards and her cupped her clothed sex and smirked as she moaned. He began to kiss her a bit roughly and even had taken the chance of biting her neck. "You like that, baby?" He whispered, turning Casey on even more.

Spencer looked her in the eye and began to kiss her and suddenly one of his hands trailed over to her neck and he lightly squeezed it before stopping himself.

The two paused.

The man had then been reminded of the night's events before all of this and it terrified him. To hurt Casey the way he hurt Cat? It turned him off. And then he realized. This wasn't him. The Spencer Casey knew wouldn't be this way. The Spencer he knew wouldn't be this way.

"I'm s- I'm sorry." Spencer sat up and rubbed his eyes and held his face in his hands. "I'm so... sorry. This-this-this isn't me." Casey sat up next and looked at Spencer, rubbing his back comfortingly. "It's okay. It's okay." She assured.

        Spencer then jumped up at her touch and stood up from his seat on the bed. "Can you stop treating me like that? Like I'm a child?"

        Casey sighed as she watched Spencer pace. She knew how hard it was for his right now. To be getting used to everything straight out of prison. "Look, I know it's rough right now... but we can get through this. We can get through this together." She assured, trying to grab his hand but Spencer immediately pulled away.

        "How are we getting through it together, Casey?" Spencer questioned. "You weren't in there. You didn't hear the awful things they said, you didn't see the awful things they did. How could you possibly understand what I was going through in there?"

          Casey looks at him and stands up from her seat on the bed. "You're right. I don't know." She tells. "But what I do know... is that you went through something traumatic. And now you hate yourself because of it because you don't know what else to do. You don't know how to manage, you don't know what to do with yourself. But what you went through, Spencer, what you saw, what you've done... it doesn't make you a bad person."

         Casey approached him, trying to comfort him as he faced away from her. Spencer then turned back around to face his wife, practically cowering over her. "What if I am? I'm a changed person since the last time you saw me, clearly." Spencer then opened the door and walked out of the room and Casey had tried to follow him out.

        "You're not a changed person—" Casey tried but Spencer whipped around to face his wife. "I'm not?!" He questioned. "When I had Cat's throat in my hands, there was a moment where I... I loved it." He admitted. "I loved finally getting back at her. Her life was in my hands. And that felt great. Getting back at those prisoners. That's felt... amazing. You're gonna tell me that I'm not a bad person?" He interrogated Casey and it made her feel small from the way he was speaking.

        "You're not a bad person, Spencer. Stop saying that! You are a very good, kind, gentle person who bad things have happened to. And sure, you lost your mind for a minute but you are still the person I love." Casey reminded Spencer. "And you saying that, if you're trying to push me away, that's not gonna work because I love you. And I swore that when we got together, when I told you that I loved you, when we had our son, when we got married, when this happened... I knew I would still love you, no matter what."

         "Then, there must be something wrong with you." Spencer spoke lowly, in a way that almost scared Casey. Casey had stood between the wall in the hallway and Spencer himself. "Because I'm a vicious person. I'm vindictive." The way he spoke, he sounded crazy.

         "Stop it." Casey felt herself the wall behind her.

         "I mean it, I'm vile. I've almost killed people and I've gotten off on the idea of it. You still wanna consider me your husband after that?" Spencer pressured. He was trying to push her away.

         "Stop." Casey shook her head. "Look me in the eyes and tell me you didn't think that I killed Nadie Ramos. Tell me you didn't think even for a second that I did." Spencer told and Casey looked up at him and shook her head, "Spencer, you're scaring me—"

          Casey tried to push Spencer away but he grabbed her wrist. "I could just grab you like this and your life is in my hands. You really think I didn't do it?"

          And with that, Casey had had enough of Spencer's irrational and fearful nature. "Stop it. Stop it. Will you just stop?!" She shouted and pushed Spencer away from her finally.

        "Mom?" Both Spencer and Casey turn their heads towards their son, standing in her doorway. "Sorry, kiddo." Spencer said, facing away from his son and looking like he was coming back from his crazy senses. "Honey, go back to bed, I'll tuck you in in a minute." Casey told.

        "I want Dad to tuck me in." Chris stated and before Spencer could do that, Casey spoke up. "Your dad's tired, right now, honey. I will." With murder on his mind right now, Casey didn't want Spencer anywhere near their son.

        Chris sighed, knowing not to argue with his mother. "Okay." With that, Chris closed the door and waited for his mother.

         Spencer tried to grab his wife's hand as he had a sorrowful expression across his face. "I'm sorry—" Casey immediately yanked her hand away from Spencer. "Don't touch me."

          The man had hesitantly walked back into their bedroom, leaving the door open. Casey remained frozen in her spot for several seconds. She didn't know what'd happen if she moved. She'd never seen Spencer act that way before. It scared her. It scared her to the point that she couldn't move a single muscle in her body.

           No, Casey swore that she'd never let a man make her feel that way again. To make her feel afraid. She was disappointed Spencer was the man to make her feel that way again. She never would've expected it.

           Taking a deep breath, she turned her heels to their bedroom door and faced towards her husband. He was currently sitting up on the bed and he heard as Casey stood in the room and lifted his head out of his hands.

          "You may think that you are evil, but I know damn well that your son doesn't think that way of you. And no matter how hard you try to push me away, no matter what you say about yourself — you are not a bad person. And if you can't think that way for me... think that way for him." Casey points to the door across the hall, her only ever reason for living anymore. "Because he deserves that. After all he's been through with you, he deserves that."

           With that, Casey walked down the hall and went to go tuck her son back in bed. In her mind, she knew she had to do something about this. She'd given Spencer enough chances and now she feared even sleeping in the same bed as him because of what occurred in the hall. It was so out of character for Spencer to act like that. And to grab her like that? She still felt his fingerprints on her, the grip. And that's when she decided that maybe she needed to get away from him.

         So, when Casey finished tucking in Chris, she packed a bag for him just in case she needed to take him and get him out immediately and marched back in her and Spencer's room to pack a bag for herself. She didn't say a word to Spencer.

        She placed a bag on the bed and began to stuff her clothes inside of it. Spencer was confused as he watched his wife pack her stuff in a back. "What are you doing?" He questioned, standing up. "What's it look like?" Casey asked sarcastically.

        "It looks like you're packing your bags." Spencer stated. Casey scoffed, "Great eye, genius."

        "Please, Casey, can we just—" Spencer went to go grab his wife's hand but Casey yanked her hand back and backed away from Spencer. "Don't. Do not touch me." She spoke in a stern tone and Spencer backed away from his wife. "I'm sorry." He said.

         "Sorry?" Casey scoffs as she continues to pack her bag. "Is that just something you say now? Sorry?" As she stuffed her clothes in her bag, it became more and more aggressive by the minute. "'Oh, I make everything about me, sorry!' 'Oh, I got thrown in jail because I was keeping a secret from my wife, sorry!' 'Oh, I'm in prison because I got myself locked up in here, sorry!'"

        Spencer watched as Casey tried to keep herself contained. "Look, I know you're frustrated—" He said. "Frustrated doesn't even begin to explain how I feel, Spencer. It doesn't." Casey snapped.

        Seeing that they couldn't talk this out, Spencer decided to excuse himself for the night. "I'm gonna go... um... sleep in the guest room tonight. I think it's better if I do." He said. As Spencer grabbed his pillow, he heads over to the guest room.

       "And you hear you are walking away, like you always freaking do!" Casey throws one of her shoes at the door in anger as he closes the door behind him in the guest room.

        This wasn't what either of them were expecting for Spencer's first night back from prison. It was supposed to be full of love, romantic. But that ended rather quickly. The events of tonight had really gotten to the both of them. And it was evident they were affecting Spencer.

         Casey knew this was just another bump in the road. They'd hit them every now and again with their marriage. She knew that it was a rough night and it was Spencer's first night back. It would take some getting used to with everything.

         Casey stared at her packed bag and then back at the door, contemplating which one she was gonna choose in the end. On one hand, she could take her bag, take Chris and head over to Leah's right now. On the other hand, she could try and make this up with Spencer, try and work their whole thing out. Be mature about it and try to make the best of his first night back. She ultimately chose the latter, walking over to the door, leaning in to see if she could hear Spencer and sure enough, she heard his sobs from the other side of the door.

           Casey sighed and opened the door and the hall light saw inside of the room and towards the bed, Spencer's back facing the door. Casey looked over as she watched his back bouncing up and down in sobs. Casey's heart broke and she decided to go and grab one of the throw blankets in their room along with her pillow and headed towards the room.

             The woman was grateful she didn't need to tell Spencer to scooch over and placed her pillow next to his and got into the bed, placing the blanket over him and herself and laid next to him.

            Casey hesitated before going to wrap her arm around his body and holding him closely to her. His hand hit hers and Casey grabbed his hand to hold him close. Spencer grabbed her hand right back and let her hold him. "I love you. I'm sorry." Casey said, kissing the back of his head. "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry. I don't know... I don't know what's wrong with m-me." Spencer sobbed.

              Casey held him tightly and closed her eyes. With her other hand, she drew shapes on his back and leaned her head towards his back, hearing his heartbeat steady now that he was calming down. She pressed his lips against his back as if to tell him: 'I've got you.'

             They stayed in that position up until at least an hour or so later when Casey stirred awake, after hearing a ringing noise. She opened her eyes and had seen that her and Spencer had changed positions and he turned into the one spooning her and he was holding her close by her waist. Casey blinked a bit and Spencer soon stirred awake from his own slumber and Casey sat up, Spencer's hand remaining on her hip as she sat up.

              Casey realized the ringing was coming from her back pocket and grabbed her cell out. "What is it?" Spencer asked groggily. "I have no idea." Casey breathes and closes her eyes as she answers Garcia's call. "Hello?" She asks.

              Casey's eyes opened and she realized the fast words coming out of Garcia's mouth. Spencer overheard the fast talking and almost couldn't catch up as Casey sat up fully and spoke, "Okay, yeah, we'll be right there." She said, sounding worried now. Casey hung up her cell and Spencer furrowed his brows, sitting up. "What's wrong?" He asked.

            "The team," Casey told, tossing the throw blanket aside and getting out of the bed. "There's been an accident."

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The team had been involved in an accident, caused by Scratch himself and Emily had been taken, leaving the rest of the team to succumb to their injuries. If it weren't for Garcia and Matt, no one would've found them as early as they did. That's all Casey had gotten from Garcia on that call.

           But, Tara was going into shock, JJ had glass shards in her head, Rossi was injured and needed to go into surgery and unfortunately, Stephen had died fatally. Luke was the only one that wasn't injured.

Both Spencer and Casey were early to the hospital as they waited for their injured team members to arrive at the hospital. Casey paced in front of the reception desk and noticed Spencer rubbing his eye with the palm of his hand, looking as if he were in pain.

The doors opened and they turned towards the entrance. Casey had placed a hand on her husband's arm to get his attention towards the door and rushed over as soon as they noticed Luke running alongside Tara's gurney with a few doctors.

Behind them had been Rossi and Casey decided to follow beside his gurney as Spencer followed JJ's. Since Casey joined Rossi, he was refusing treatment from all of the doctors and Casey had tried to get him to take it but Rossi was against it. He strongly requested to talk to her, Luke and Spencer and then maybe he'd consider it. So, Casey sighed and walked into the room across from JJ's where Spencer was. She'd run into Luke on the way and told him to meet her in Rossi's room.

          Casey walked into the room and had seen JJ holding an ice pack to her head. She nodded to her. "You alright?" She asked. "Yeah, I'm okay." JJ nodded. Casey then looks over at Spencer. "Rossi's refusing treatment until he speaks to us and Luke." Casey informed and Spencer followed her out before taking an assuring nod to JJ.

        Finally, Spencer, Casey and Luke had all joined in Rossi's room. "What's going on?" Spencer asks. Rossi looks towards the three. "Shut up and listen. All right. First, you," He motions to Luke. "Go through my pants pockets and find my keys. Second, you," Rossi looks at Spencer. "You're back on the team."

       "Not sure I should be." Spencer spoke. "Yeah, he hasn't been reinstated yet, Rossi." Casey added. "Has the director approved of this?"

       Rossi shakes his head. "I'm making the calls now. I'll take the heat. You're back on the team." Luke holds the keys up after he's gotten them. "I got them." He told.

       "There's a little one there to a file cabinet in my office. You following me?" Rossi questions and Luke nods. "Yeah. Following you."

       "Inside, there's Chicago Bears season tickets. When you get them, you call Matt Simmons. I promised him those tickets." Casey furrows her brows at his directions. Why did he care about his tickets at a time like this? Luke and Spencer seemed just as confused.

       "They must have given him something in the ambulance to make him loopy." Luke told Spencer and Casey. "We sure he's not going into shock?" Casey questioned. "I'll get the doctor. We'll get him into surgery." Before Spencer could walk out and do that, Rossi stopped him.

       "Just shut up and listen." Rossi told. "Now, Emily is missing. Stephen is dead. As for you three ass clowns," Casey furrowed her brows at Rossi. "You'll do me the courtesy of following my orders."

       "Rossi, no offense but your orders aren't making any sense." Casey told. "Follow my orders, and then I'll go into surgery." Rossi considered and the three looked at one another and decided that that would be better than Rossi not considering surgery at all.

        As they walked out, Luke looks at the two he's paired with. "This has got nothing to do with season tickets." He told. "No, it does not." Casey adds.

       "Ass clown'?" Spencer muttered to himself in confusion and Casey looks over at her husband. "That's what you're focused on right now?"

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When Luke, Spencer and Casey had an awkward drive back to the BAU, they had walked in through the bullpen when Spencer spoke up. "I can't arrest him." He said. "What?" Luke asked, confusedly.

"Scratch," Spencer told. "The second I see his face, I am going to kill him." Casey looked down as she saw that vengeful look in his eye. She'd never seen that from him before. "I tried to tell Rossi not to put me back on the team. You heard me."

Luke noticed Casey's timidness and then nodded at Spencer. "Yeah. I did." Spencer rubs his eye with the palm of his hand again like he had numerous times already. "What's wrong with me?" Spencer questioned to himself.

"My guess is, it's been going on since prison, but you haven't had time to notice." Luke said. "Every time you get stressed, you go into tunnel vision. That's why you're rubbing your palm into your eye."

"What does that sound like, Reid?" Luke asked and Spencer spoke again, "Sounds like PTSD."
        "PTSS," Luke corrected. "That's what they're calling it now, post-traumatic stress syndrome, because it's not a disorder. It's an injury."

"Well, what do I do? I mean, we're in crisis mode. I don't have time to process my emotional state." As Spencer spoke, Casey turned her attention to Rossi's office, noticing people in the room. "That's exactly when you make time, right? You ask for help. There's no shame in that." Luke told Spencer.

"Rossi's office." Casey spoke, nudging her head up. "Someone's in there."

Casey is the first to walk upstairs as Spencer followed behind his wife and then Luke followed behind them. As soon as Casey opened the door, she was met with Garcia and Matt Simmons. Garcia placed a finger on her lips, indicating to stay silent. She'd given them a signal telling them to give her their phones. Casey furrows her brows as she, Luke and Spencer hand Garcia their cellular devices. As soon as Garcia had them, she put them in Rossi's cigar box and closed it and took a loud breath.

"Okay," She started. "Now that we are secure, I got that for Rossi last year. Not only is it a cigar case, but it's also a Faraday case. It blocks all radio and cell signals. I think Scratch might be listening in on us with our cell phones, even when they're off."

Luke looks at Spencer and Casey. "That explains why Rossi was so cagey in the hospital." Casey nods and Luke holds Rossi's keys up. "All right. Let's find these tickets."

Luke looks around and finds the cabinet Rossi told him about. He uses the key to unlock it and once he opens it, they notice the files, all marked with: 'SCRATCH'.

"What is this?" Luke asks. "Stephen was brought on board for one reason.That was to catch Scratch. That is his entire investigation into him. He kept all his records off site, updating Prentiss and Rossi through hard copies." Matt explained.

"If it's off the cloud, Scratch can't hack it." Spencer said. "Have you guys read any of them at all?" Casey asked, curiously. "No," Matt answered. "Prentiss ordered it compartmentalized, eyes-only clearance, but she also felt there should be at least one failsafe who wasn't part of the BAU who knew about it just in case of emergency. That's why Garcia called me."

"All right," Luke said. "Let's dig in. I mean, this may be our only chance at stopping this bastard." He reaches in for the files, handing off a stack to each member of the team in the room.

Casey decided to work with Matt and Garcia on their portion as Luke and Spencer worked by themselves at their desks. Later as they dug, Spencer had come upstairs to the conference room while Luke decided to go and meet Stephen's wife at the hospital. Spencer found something that looked a little off and he brought it to Matt, Casey and Garcia.

         Garcia and Casey both furrow their brows looking at the printed text thread. "Prentiss texted Hotch?" Garcia questioned. "According to Stephen's documentation, yes." Spencer nodded.

"It must have been a coordinated attempt to share intel," Matt said. "Would Hotch have exposed himself like this?"

"No, and neither would she." Spencer goes over to the boards to write down what Emily and Hotch texted one another. "I mean, she wouldn't rely on a hackable app, and she sure as hell wouldn't write, 'A.H.' in a text. That defeats the purpose of compartmentalizing the investigation." Spencer explained.

"It was a smoke screen." Garcia stated. "Stephen had a background in counterintelligence. He must have designed this." Matt told. "He faked the Hotch side of the conversation to lure Scratch back on our trail." Casey added.

"The size and scale of which indicate desperation, a desperation he hasn't shown after a year of hiding, so why now?" Spencer questioned.

"A.H. is a pretty big red flag. Maybe that's what brought him out." Matt suggested. "Well, they used Hotch's initials in other texts before." Garcia said.

"Then they found something else, something they knew would rattle him." Spencer faces the board again. "B-Cap. What's B-Cap?"

"Geography maybe," Matt said. "I mean, it's mentioned in relevance to DC." Garcia shrugs, "Maybe its a code name for a partner."

Spencer goes to rub his eye again. "I can't see it." He said. Casey puts a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, why don't you take a break? You haven't had time to—" Spencer shakes his head. "No. No time. Get out." He begins to usher his wife to the door. "What?" She questioned.

"Get out." Spencer repeated and he began to usher Garcia and Matt out as well. "I'm really sorry, but get out." Garcia grabs her laptop off the table. "Let me get this, and then I'm gonna go."

When Casey, Matt and Garcia are out the door, Spencer shuts it right behind them. Casey furrows her brows at what just happened. Did he just kick his own wife out of a room?

"What the hell?" Casey muttered to herself. "He's had a rough couple of months." Garcia tells and as she walks away, Matt looks at Casey. "Like I haven't either?" Casey mutters to herself. Matt puts a reassuring hand on Casey's shoulder as he goes to follow Garcia.

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Casey had given Spencer thirty minutes and she watched from her desk as he paced the room, going back and forth towards the boards. It was beginning to worry her, considering all that he's been through and their fight back at the apartment. She worried for his mental health and that she agreed with Spencer. He couldn't be back on the team, not in this state.

The woman had decided to go and check on him later on and she brought him a cup of coffee as a gateway in. It always worked, she figured why not? And plus, coffee just helped him think better and would calm himself down.

Casey knocked on the door and entered without Spencer saying anything. He turned to the door and furrowed his brows, an annoyed expression written on his face. "What do you want?" He asks, drawing his attention to the board.

Casey is taken aback by his annoyed attitude and raised her brows. "'Hi, Wife' 'How's it going?' That's normally how you greet your wife." Casey stated and Spencer sighed and continued his work as Casey placed a cup of coffee on the table.

"I got you some coffee. Figured you could use it." Casey said. Spencer didn't say anything following that. Casey crossed her arms and waited for her husband to just look at her, to just say something. She spoke, wanting him to just acknowledge she was there at least. "Are you okay?" She asks.

Spencer looks down even as he's facing the board. "Yeah," He tells. "I just wish you would stop asking me that."

Casey shakes her head. She was just worried about him and he was treating her as if she didn't exist. "Well, forgive me if I just wanna know about your well-being after—"

"After what?" Spencer spun around and faced his wife. "After everything that happened?" He shakes his head and throws his arms up. "I'm fine, okay? So just drop it." He turns back to the board again.

Casey is confused. She scoffs and shakes her head. "I don't understand why I'm being snapped at." She tells.

Spencer takes a deep breath and sits down over by the couch they have in the office. "Sit down." She taps the other side of her on the cushion, ushering him to take a break. Spencer looks at his wife and decides to, sitting next to his wife.

"I get it. Okay?" Casey tells. "I get that you just want Emily to be safe and home. I want that, too. But you need to have a clear head if you're gonna—"

"Gonna what? Gonna break down?" Spencer questions and Casey furrows her brows. "Why are you getting so defensive—?"

"Because!" Spencer shouts and stands up from the seat, looking down at Casey. "I'm trying to figure this out about Emily and all you can do is try to smother me with words of affirmation and telling me to slow down. Well, I can't slow down and I didn't need you in prison and I don't need you now."

Casey's jaw drops as soon as the words come out of his mouth. She realizes she's chased him to the point of no return. He's pushed her away and she's tired of it. She hates how he's treating her. She knows what he's gone through but somehow, he lets everyone else in except for her.

Casey's upsetting laugh turned into a scoff as she looked down. "You proved that." She muttered but it was loud enough for Spencer to hear because he turns his head to her with narrowed, confused eyes and questioned, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means..." Casey stood up to face her husband. "That all you ever think about is yourself. And that's exactly the reason that you got arrested. You weren't thinking clearly, only about yourself. At least I'm not the one that jeopardized his career and family." She jabbed.

"At least I'm not the one that abandons their loved ones. You ran the moment things got just a little rough for me, like you always do." Spencer argued back.

"It's called giving you your space." Casey furrowed her brows. "I— Weren't you the one that suggested I don't go visit you anymore?"
"You were supposed to fight that," Spencer stated. "You were supposed to come anyway."

"Hard to read mixed signals behind bars, Spencer." Casey told and Spencer rubbed his face in annoyance. "And I abandoned you? What a choice of words, really. It was painful seeing you in there and you think the reason I didn't see you was because I abandoned you?! How could you think that?!" She couldn't believe Spencer's words and was annoyed that he said she abandoned him when he was the one that didn't want her to visit anymore.

"Well, it runs your family, doesn't it?" Spencer spat and Casey shook her head as tears filled her eyes. She was left in silence. She thought they were done with this arguing. Throwing flaws after what happened when she mentioned Spencer and dilaudid. Casey pointed a finger at Spencer. "That is not fair."

"Is it?!" Spencer questions. "Casey, I needed you and you left me there. You just left me in there."

Casey scoffed. "I left you in there?!" She practically screamed. "You're the one who got yourself into that mess! Do not blame me for something you did. And I keep thinking, maybe — just maybe, if I went with my gut feeling, you wouldn't have been in that situation! You would've never gotten arrested, you would've never gotten hurt, you would've never relapsed! And you know what I realized? It wasn't even my fault. How could I have known when you didn't even tell me? I spent months worrying about you. That one day I was gonna wake up and I'd get the news that someone killed you in the middle of the night. What, did you-did you think I didn't have a right to know about Mexico, is that it—?"

Spencer interrupted her and shook his head. "No, I— I didn't think you needed to be in it."
"Yeah, well, I was!" Casey told. "And I had to find out from Emily that you got arrested. My heart stopped when I heard that news."

"I'm sorry, okay, is that what you want to hear?" Spencer questioned. "I've been saying that a lot lately."

"You do realize what this did to us, right?" Casey asks. "And what it could've done to us? We could've gotten hurt, Chris could've gotten hurt—"
"You don't think I know that?!" Spencer yelled. "Honestly, I think I've been putting too much effort into us that I can't even focus anymore! That's probably why I can't focus anymore."

"We've been married for two years now, I still don't even understand why you're wearing your ring if you don't want to stay with me!"

"Oh, don't change the subject—!"

"Do you even want to stay married to me anymore?"

"Maybe I don't!"

As soon as Casey said that, she hadn't even realized that she did until she did. She blinked and watched Spencer's mannerisms change. He was shocked to hear her say that out loud. And frankly, Casey didn't even register what she said until she said it.

Casey stared at her husband's expressions. He looked lost. And in ways, he looked like he knew that they were at the point of no return. And once she said those words, he knew there was no coming back from that. And so did Casey. Which is why, she confirmed her words and threw her hands in the air and sighed more calmly this time, "Maybe I don't."

Spencer stated and looks at his wife. "Is that how you really feel right now?" He knew she meant her words and part of him wished she didn't. "Do I even mean anything to you anymore?"

Casey hesitated. Of course, he meant everything to her. But at this point in time, she loved him but she wasn't sure if she loved him. And right now, she didn't want to tell him that.

Instead, tears filled her eyes and she held back a sob as she spoke. "I have to go."

As Casey scurried out of the office, she made her way down the steps of the bullpen and out of the building. Spencer watched as she walked out as well as Matt and Garcia but to Matt and Garcia's expectations and surprise, Spencer didn't go to follow her.

Instead, he went back in the conference room, slammed the door behind him and out his energy into finding Emily.

Casey had decided she was gonna go to the hospital to see how the rest of the team was doing. Since she didn't drive to the BAU, she had taken one of the SUVs in the parking garage.

With tears in her eyes, she made her way over to one of the SUVs and opened the door and went into the drivers' seat. Casey put her hands on the wheel and began to quietly sob. She would've expected Spencer to chase after her by now. But he didn't. He stayed.

Because at this moment in time... work mattered more than his marriage and whose to say Casey blamed him?

Looking up at the dashboard, she wiped her eyes and tried to keep it together. She decided to turn her attention to the stereo and turned it on, hoping music would distract her. Casey furrowed her brows and heard Hotch's voice on the radio. It confused it and it sounded like one of the press conferences and then she remembered that it was a press conference she was hearing.

             Trying to turn the radio off, she realized it wasn't working. The windshield wipers began to go a little haywire as well. "What the hell?" She muttered. And then from the air conditioning vents, had blown out a dust instead of air and Casey began to cough and tried to get out of the car but the doors wouldn't budge. She kept trying to get out and bang on the windows but none of it worked.

              Through one part of the smoke, she looked outside and saw that familiar rat-faced son of a bitch standing right outside the car. Casey began to bang on the windows and call for help. She had grabbed her phone as an attempt to call someone but before Casey could press on Spencer's contact, everything went black.

━━━━━━

       Casey knew all about Scratch's schemes, what he liked to play at, what he made people believe. It was to her shock that she awoke, she was in a building, she looked like she was in a tent. She was confused and remembered what happened.

         The car.

         Scratch.

         Casey struggled and realized her hands were tied up to a chair. Her legs were duct-taped to the chair's legs and she looked down at her hand and saw the bruises on her knuckles. She tried punching her way out of the car and got nowhere with it. Struggling against the binds once more, she muttered, "What the hell?"

         "Agent Casey Willows." Casey whipped her head upwards and had seen someone coming out from the shadows. She recognized that voice anywhere. "We finally meet." That rat-faced son of a bitch walked into view. "Officially, that is."

          Casey closed her eyes and shook her head. "Oh, God." She began to speak in a sarcastic tone. "Look, I have no idea where Hotch is so if you're gonna kill me, just get on with it already."

          Scratch approached Casey. "Eager, are we? To die?" He questioned. Casey knew to not show fear. "Been waiting for it for a while now. I've had enough close calls." She said.

         "Where is Hotch?" Scratch questions and Casey groans. "I don't know."

         "You had to have," Scratch pressured. "I mean, he was a father figure to you your entire life, right? Since the ripe age of eight? He went to piano recitals, signed off on your training, even played house with your dear mother—"

         "Don't talk about my mother." Casey warned and Scratch smirked, "And to this day, still a touchy subject."

         "You have all the more reason to reveal his location. You still resent him for never telling you the truth. And then moving on with Agent Vivian Hudson? That didn't get you even a little mad?"

           "Look, if you're trying to have a therapy session with me, at least make sure I'm paying you for it." Casey told. "And read my lips when I tell you— I have no idea where they are. Hotch, Jack, Vivian. It's called witness protection for a reason. And even if I knew, I'd never tell you."

            Scratch looks at the woman and chuckles evilly to himself. "You'll tell me. Eventually, you will."

          
━━━━━━

       It seemed like hours had passed and Casey struggled all she could. She knew that Emily had to be around here somewhere. And she knew she couldn't exactly call for her without getting Scratch's attention.

She began to rethink his profile in her head, figuring out how he worked and what he did. He traumatized Hotch, used scopolamine to drug his victims, made them hallucinate and made them see things that weren't... real.

Casey looked down. Could Scratch had made her hallucinate the fact that she was tied up? He could've. There was a chance. Casey wanted to see right through this facade. She blinked a couple of times and once she looked down at her hands, the binds vanished.

Clever, Scratch, Casey thought. But not clever enough.

She lifted her hands from the chair and looked down at her legs. The duct tape around her ankles vanished next and Casey stood up. She looked around and found the exit right in front of her.

         Before exiting through the tent she was in, she looked left and and right and saw no sign of Scratch anywhere. She looked back in the room and looked for anything she could use as a weapon. From the looks of it outside, it looked like they were in some abandoned warehouse.

She noticed the cabinets in the room and opened a few to find anything she could use. Around the third cabinet, she opened it and inside she found paper among paper with office supplies. Her attention grew over to the scissors and she grabbed them. They looked sharp enough to do some damage.

With them in hand, Casey began to look around and decided with a hunch to take a left. Casey knew she would not be finding a way out without Emily. The first mission was her. To find her.

After a left, she took a right and the hall had gotten darker. It smelt sterile and like bleach as she continued on. Hearing a yell coming from a man, she stopped and then heard running footsteps. Casey followed the footsteps as they got closer to her, Casey held the scissors up and shrieked as well as the person in front of her and held her scissors up threateningly but quickly noticed it was Emily.

"Emily! Emily! It's me! It's me, it's Casey!" Casey held her hands up in surrender. Even though, the two women were very skeptical about what was real and what wasn't. "How do I know it's you?" Emily questioned, keeping her distance.

"Remember when we got super drunk when you were visiting from London? We drank so much that you made out with that girl and I danced on table-tops all night and Spencer and Will had to pick us all up? Remember when I didn't talk to you when you came back after me thinking you were dead? Our Sin-To-Win weekends? Us making fun of Morgan constantly? Come on, Emily, it's me." Emily nods at the woman and Casey steadies the scissors in her hand. "Now, how do I know it's really you?"

Before Emily could respond, a gunshot was heard. "Come on, this way!" Emily pushed Casey in front of her as they both ran. They found some stairs and began to make their way up.

They both came face to face with a left entrance and a right entrance. "You go left, I take right." Emily encouraged and Casey nodded.

Casey took the left and it led her to another trail of stairs and she realized she had made her way to the roof of the warehouse.

Looking around the building, she looked down to try to see there was a way out of it. Before she could consider the fire escape, she felt arms wrap around her body and Casey screamed as she realized it was Scratch. She fought against him and took the scissors she was holding and stabbed him in the hand.

He yelled in pain as Casey threw him across the ground and she quickly tried to find a way that was safer for her to get down but Scratch had beaten her to it and missed her as he shot at her.

"Casey!" The woman looked over at Luke as he came rushing towards her, aiming his gun to the escape route that Scratch was taking. "Stay there. On the ground." Luke ordered and Casey nodded, knowing she had no weapon to defend herself with and she didn't want to get shot.

A few more shots were fired and Scratch's escape wasn't going as planned. Casey stood up as she heard Scratch struggle and she stood beside Luke as she watched Scratch hold onto the end of the building, struggling to stay holding onto it.

"Help me, please. Help me. Help me." Scratch begged. Both Luke and Casey just stared at the man and inevitably let go. Casey watched as he landed on the ground off the building with a hard thud and blood began to pool on the side of his head.

Casey felt nothing as she looked down from the building. Luke spoke into his mic. "Scratch is down. Repeat... Scratch is down." He tells.

Luke places a hand on Casey's shoulder. "You alright?" He asks. Casey keeps looking down at the body of Peter Lewis. "Yeah, I'm okay."

As they made their way back down, Luke explained to Casey that Matt went to go and see her down in the parking garage soon after she'd been abducted after hearing from the rest of the team at the hospital that Casey hadn't gone there like they assumed. They found her phone and traced scopolamine on the SUV.

They'd gone over to where Scratch's body was and Casey couldn't help but stare. It felt like this was another one of Scratch's games. That he wasn't truly dead and that she wasn't truly safe. But this was true. Scratch was dead and the proof was right in front of her.

Matt, Spencer and Emily came over and Spencer had assuringly grabbed Casey's hand but she hardly noticed it as she stared at Scratch's body. "He fell trying to escape." Luke stated.

"It's over," Casey muttered. "It's finally over." She said. Spencer looked at her and she removed her hand from Spencer's and began to walk away, Matt going with her. As she said that, Spencer realized she wasn't just talking about Scratch and his games — she was also referring it to their relationship.

It's over.

At this point in time at least.

━━━━━━

A day or so later, Stephen's funeral had come. Casey and Spencer had gone, hardly saying a word to one another and stood by one another. Usually, they were always clutched at the hip at these things but right now... they couldn't stand to be near each other. Choosing not to cause a scene for Stephen and his family's sake, they stood by one another nonetheless.

Casey's heart broke for Stephen and his family. She wished she'd gotten to know him a little bit better, knowing his family a bit better. But he'd joined the team right around the time Spencer was thrown in jail and with Casey barely going on cases, she'd hardly seen him. She wished that it didn't have to be this way. That he didn't have to die at the hands of Peter Lewis. Sure, they'd caught him and he was dead but Stephen's life was also sacrificed in the process.

Casey looked at Emily as she was given the chance to speak at the funeral. "We never get to say good-bye the way we want, and when we deal with a loss so sudden and cruel, our emotions can overwhelm us. Stephen Walker was a good agent, but he was a better man. He made the world a better place, and we can honor him by doing the work he never got to do."

When everyone began to walk away, Casey fiddled with her bandage on her bruised hand and looked at Spencer, wanting him to follow her. But he didn't. He lingered.

Casey decided not to push him. She simply put a hand on Spencer's shoulder and walked away. He didn't even bother to turn back to his wife to tell her bye. Casey followed behind Tara and Rossi and joined them for a ride back in the limo.

As soon they'd gotten Spencer and Luke in the limo, the team all received a message from Emily, telling them to meet her at the BAU and that she needed to talk to them. So, they'd turned the limo from Rossi's mansion back to the BAU.

Everyone had arrived at the conference room and Casey had been one of the last as Matt had been one of the first. Emily turned her attention on Matt. "I wanted to thank you for all of your help." She said to him.

"Well, it was good to be of help. Ever since the IRT went down, I've been sitting on my hands waiting for a new assignment." Matt explained. "We should sit down tomorrow. We can talk about that." Emily offered and Matt smiled, "I'd like that."

As the team stood around the conference table, Emily spoke. "So we all need to discuss what Peter Lewis' death means for this team."

"It means that Hotch can come back." Garcia stated.

"Yeah," Rossi looks over at Emily. "We spoke to him. He was relieved that he, Vivian and Jack were out of danger." They had something they weren't letting on, Casey saw it on their faces. "They're out of Witness Protection, but, um..."

"Just say it," Casey spoke calm and sadly, everyone turning to her. "He's not coming back, is he?"

Emily looks at the woman as well as the rest of the team. "He loves being a full-time dad. He never got to do that before, and... let's face it... in this job..."

"There's always gonna be another Scratch, and he's lost enough." Rossi finished as Tara added, "We all have." Casey nodded in agreement. It'd probably be best if Hotch doesn't come back. She knew Jack came before everything.

"And Vivian?" Garcia decided to ask. "She won't be coming back either." Rossi told. "Her and Hotch, well, they're attached to the hip at this point. And, uh, she knew the consequences and decided she'll be taking her job back as a detective somewhere in New York." Casey nodded. Vivian always talked about her detective job and how it was easier compared to the BAU. She understood why she would've gone back.

"So, the director has ordered us to take some time off from handling cases, but before we all leave, there's one last thing I need to say." Emily told. "Scratch got deeper into my head than I care to admit, and the only way I was able to stay sane was by repeating a mantra, two words.
You know what those two words were? 'Wheels up.'" She stated.

"I know, cheesy, but it saved my life when I wasn't sure I was gonna make it because it reminded me that you were out there fighting, so take your rest... you've earned it..." Casey looks over at Spencer as Emily continued.

"But when we get back, wheels up, Matt." Emily nudged her head towards the man. "Wheels up, Emily." Matt said, with a smile on his face.

"Wheels up, Tara." Emily looked over at Tara and she nodded, "Wheels up."

"Wheels up." said JJ.

"Wheels up." Garcia said.

"Wheels up." said Luke.

"Wheels up." Casey added.

"Damn right, wheels up." Rossi told.

The last one left to say it was Spencer. The man took a brief pause and looked around the room before he said, "Wheels up."

ik it was super duper cringey of me to add the last bit of this chapter even tho i don't know why people say it's like bad or whatever or why they find this scene cringey but oh well

ONE MORE CHAPTER AFTER THIS GUYS!!!
-mya </3333

p.s. you might wanna grab tissues for this one