CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO: GIDEON !

10x13

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      UTTER SILENCE. It was all there was when Spencer drove Casey down to the cabin. The cabin they were all too familiar with. The cabin Casey grew up in. The cabin that belonged to Casey's uncle, Jason Gideon.

       Once Spencer's Volvo pulled up in front of the cabin, Casey's heart dropped down to her chest. And she didn't know it, but Spencer's did, too. Neither of them wanted to get out of the car. Neither of them wanted to discover what they were gonna find in there.

        Casey stared down at her hands in her lap as Spencer closed his eyes tightly. The Willows didn't even bother to look up as Spencer looked her way. "We have to go in." Spencer said in a whisper almost. Casey shook her head as he placed a hand on her thigh. His fingertips grazing her knuckles in her lap. "I don't wanna go in." She sniffled, trying to keep it together. She had to keep it together for him. And he knew he had to be the same for her. They both lost someone that was important to both of them.

Hesitating, Spencer opened the car door and got out of the car and went over to her side to open her car door for her. Spencer held his hand out for her to grab. Casey looked at him and took a shaky breath, knowing she was going to have to go in that cabin eventually. She grabbed onto his hand and she got out of the car.

Flashbacks came flooding back of the time she and Spencer had come to see if Gideon was here, only to find two letters addressed to them from Gideon. It was the last they heard of him.

Spencer and Casey had walked in to the cabin, the door being open with the rest of the team already inside. Casey entered first, Spencer behind her and holding her hand tightly. The first thing Casey noticed were the faces of pity of her team members, not only to her but to Spencer as well, all wondering how they were handling this.

The second thing Casey noticed was the smell. It was the same smell that lingered all of the times she came to visit the cabin. Plywood and trees, not to forget soap. The mixture caused Casey's stomach to swirl in anxiousness. She didn't know why, she just was.

And the third and final thing she noticed was how tight Spencer gripped onto her hand when they both saw the body of her uncle, Jason Gideon, on the ground. Casey had been solely focused on the body that she hadn't noticed Morgan and Garcia walked in right afterward.

Garcia had immediately come over to Casey's aid, holding onto her by her side, rubbing her arm soothingly. Casey looked up at Hotch, who was standing near the body. She only saw the sheet. She didn't want to believe it. So, her voice shook as she asked in barely audible whisper: "Are you sure?"

Hotch had no emotion as he spoke and slightly nodded. "It's Gideon."

Casey felt Spencer's grip on her hand slip away as he made his way outside. He had tried to be strong for Casey, but seeing Gideon, his mentor and father-figure on the floor in the cabin like that, it made him sick. Casey understood why he did that. He hated change and this was a big change. Gideon was now dead.

Morning came in a hurry and authorities came to collect Gideon's body to take it to the ME. Casey's mind was blank. She could only think of the memories she shared with her uncle. She couldn't think about anything else as her, Rossi and Hotch had been examining the hunting area where this unsub had shot Gideon. She couldn't even think about that. She thought with the way he was living, he would die peacefully, in his own home, in his own bed, sleeping, not murdered.

Spencer and Morgan had gone to ME to see what happened to Gideon and to conclude how he was killed.

"Graves Apple Farm is a mile from here. They're his closest neighbors. Called in the gun at 3:15. Evidence of size 10 boot. Wide tread, likely rubber sole." One of the authority members explained. "Between those and a high-powered rifle, it could be anyone from around here." Rossi pointed out.

"He didn't leave any casings. Sorry. There's not much evidence out here." The woman apologized. "Then we'll just have to look at what he did." Hotch looked towards the window where glass was shattered. "He could have easily shot him from here. It wasn't close enough. He wanted to kill him in his own house."

"Wounds him first because he's a coward and doesn't have the guts to go inside until he's got the upper hand." As Rossi explained, Hotch noticed the look on Casey's face. The way a small child gets when a pet dies. It was the look she had. And the look he spent almost her entire life knowing. The one thing he couldn't figure out was how she was breaking down from this like Spencer had been. He knew she compartmentalized better than others but when it was personal, she'd let it get to her. He knew that much. "He'd only feel confident if he knew he'd weakened him."

"He sounds like a hunter." The woman spoke. "He wanted Gideon to know who he was." Hotch figured out. "He watched, waited, and hunted him. This is personal." Rossi stated.

A car had approached the scene, causing the four to look over at the vehicle, which was now parked. "Who's that?" Rossi asked and suddenly, a man got out of the car. A man that Casey had recognized from her childhood.

"My cousin, Stephen." Casey responded with, heading over to the first to give her condolences and her hellos. "Oh, my God. He's not a kid anymore." Rossi commented as Hotch followed behind.

Casey walked towards her cousin with open arms. There had been a slight ten year difference between the two and they had rarely talked growing up, due to the fact that Stephen thought his father had preferred his job over having a son. So, they were estranged. Casey felt bad, feeling as if she stripped his father away from him but Stephen knew that Casey had done nothing wrong. When Casey was in high school, she often kept contact with her cousin, asking advice and wondering why he never spoke to his father. And eventually they grew apart once Casey started working at the BAU, only talking to him a few times since she had gotten the job.

"Stephen." Casey spoke as she gave him a big hug. He hugged her back and she nearly pulled away and looked at him. "I'm so sorry." She said and Hotch had approached the two, greeting Stephen and leading the man into the questions he was going to ask. Hotch told Casey to take a break and to go check in with Kate, JJ, Vivian and Garcia to see how they were doing on their end with finding this unsub.

Casey entered the room and they had all immediately noticed but before anyone could say anything, Casey spoke: "Nobody treat me with kid gloves, okay? I'm fine." She said, her voice shaky and she looked towards the ceiling to avoid crying. "Well, as fine as I can be. But I'm fine. Okay?" Everyone nodded to the woman and Casey looked towards Garcia. "You find anything?"

"He was on the rod a lot," Garcia spoke. "Gideon fueled up every 350 miles, he probably stopped at some diners along the way, 'cause, you know, the man could like live off of milkshakes." Casey smiles, but it's small, but it's enough for Garcia. "Definitely he took his sweet time going down the coast, but booked it back from Jacksonville, and instead of coming here home to his cabin, he stayed one night in Roanoke."

"Roanoke?" Casey furrowed her brows. "Why? It's only an hour away." Kate told. Vivian turned towards Casey, whose eyebrows were furrowed. "What are you thinking, Willows?" Vivian asked.

"My dad," Casey spoke. "He's at the Roanoke River Correctional Institution. That's the only way it could be connected. At least I think so. He used to go and visit my dad and update him about my life when I wouldn't. But he stopped once he quit. What would bring him back?" Casey questioned.

JJ had straightened up and noticed someone else walking through the door. "Spence?" Casey turned towards her fiancé, who was holding a notebook in his hands. One Casey recognized.

"'I just don't understand any of it anymore. I guess I'm just looking for it again, for the belief I had back in college, the belief I had when I first met Sarah and it all seemed so right.'" Casey remembered that sentence. That was a sentence in Spencer's letter.

"That's beautiful." Kate commented. "Who's Sarah?" Vivian asked.

"Gideon's first love," Casey spoke. "She was practically a mother to me." Casey knew Sarah and she was close to the woman. She was more like an aunt than a mother really and the only person that could make Gideon happy. When he lost her, that's when he left. Casey remembered the day he lost her. She was the one that ended up finding Sarah's body, mutilated in their apartment by Frank Breitkopf.

"You're remembering the letter Gideon left you." JJ told. "I'm thinking maybe he rushed back and stayed in Roanoke because he was finally happy. What if he found someone like Sarah again?" With that, Spencer walked away and Casey's heart broke.

Casey kept it together, for him. She stayed strong for him. She knew this was something that would pull Spencer down. She could handle it, due to all of the people she lost in her life and how it felt, but with Spencer, Gideon was his only father-figure he had in the beginning. Of course, for him it would hurt. "Do you think he's gonna be okay?" Garcia asked the million-dollar question. Casey took a deep breath. "I want him to be." She admitted.

Vivian looked towards Garcia and had an idea. "Roanoke's an hour drive, right?" She asked and Garcia nodded. Vivian turned to Casey next. "Do you think Gideon would talk to your dad about anything he could've found regarding to this?" Casey thought for a moment. "I don't know."

Vivian looked towards the technical analyst. "Garcia, can you look into any recent prison visitor logs?" Garcia did her magic on her keyboard and searched. "Let me see what I can find here— ah! Jason Gideon went to visit a James Willows last week at the correctional institution." Casey furrowed her brows. "He did?" She asked and Garcia nodded.

"He may know something, Casey and I will go to Roanoke to go and visit her dad." With that, Vivian and Casey had taken one of the SUVs but not before letting Hotch know where they were headed.

They were about fifteen minutes on the road in silence. Casey had been fiddling with something in her lap as Vivian drove on the highway. Vivian had looked over a few times to the woman but Casey hardly looked up. She figured that maybe just maybe she could get Casey to talk. They all noticed how she kept quiet and how she didn't say anything once she saw Gideon's body. Frankly, and maybe it was mother's intuition, but Vivian was worried about her. Before they had left, Hotch told Vivian to keep an eye on Casey. Apparently, when she would lose somebody, it was personal to her and she'd take it out on everything and everyone. But she hadn't seen that side of her now.

Vivian decided to strike up conversation with her. Maybe she'd be able to start talking about it. "You know, it's normal to feel everything all at once when you lose someone like that. No one will blame you if you can't handle it once in a while."

"I can handle it," Casey spoke. "I've handled things better in my life. Don't think I can't." Vivian kept her eyes peeled on the road in front of her, ready in case Casey just wanted to talk.

In her hands, Casey had held a letter from many years ago. Her letter that Gideon left her when he left. She always kept it in her wallet. She always kept it with her. There was a sentence that was scorched into her brain in the letter. She always thought about it whenever she was on a case. With a job like this one, Casey, you always have to look at the bigger picture. What lies ahead. It's gonna be confusing at times, but you've always been a clever kid. And with a job like this, you have to be clever.

"I just always knew he was out there, you know. Living his... apple-pie life. I just... I thought he'd be able to see how much I grew, you know? He always said I was clever. He even made a nickname for me: Clever Casey." She nearly laughed at the thought and Vivian was happy to see a smile coming out of her.

"You know, you're a lot like him," Vivian told. "Whether you think so, or not, you are." Casey shook her head at Vivian. No one ever really compared Casey to her uncle. There were even times she was convinced she was adopted because they shared no resemblance or thoughts. "You're just saying that." She said.

"No, I'm not," Vivian stated. "I hardly knew Gideon but I knew this much: he always used to think with his heart and not his head. Just like you. Always willing to protect the innocent, no matter the cost. Just like you." Casey looked at Vivian as she spoke. "I didn't even notice it myself until Hotch said something one day. You may think you aren't like him, but you are. In some ways, at least."

Casey looked down at the letter in her hand and nodded, "Yeah... he was a little unhinged sometimes." She softly chuckled at the sentence.

"A little?!" Vivian asked. "You should've seen him when we had a case all those years ago. We had an unsub, some teenager and... we were investigating his room when all of a sudden, Gideon gets onto the bed and starts jumping on it like a little kid." Casey furrowed her brows and chuckled at the thought of her uncle jumping on a bed. "Turns out, there was a method to his madness. He was jumping on the bed because the unsub's weapons were stuffed into the other side of his mattress and instead of retrieving them, he decided to jump on the bed. I thought the guy was insane." Vivian smiled as she told the story.

Casey laughed, the first time she had since she found out about all of this with Gideon. Vivian looked at the girl and Casey looked back, a face telling the girl that she could talk to her whenever she needed to.

         With that, they had continued the long drive and they had finally made it to the institution.

        Vivian offered to come with Casey to talk to her father but Casey assured her that she'd be fine. It had been a while since she last saw her father. He looked the same, just slightly older and he could say the same for her but the truth was, she was growing up day by day. She had been getting older. Casey made the reunion short-lived because she had wanted to get straight into the questions. But first, she had to break the news to him.

        "Jason's dead?" James questioned. "Wha—? How?" Casey shrugged, "That's what we're trying to figure out. And that's why I'm here, actually." Casey sat forward and faced towards her dad. "I looked at the visitor logs and he came by to visit you a week ago, is that true?"

          "Yes, but... you think I have something to do with it?" Casey didn't answer that. The truth was she had no idea if her father was involved. So she proceeded with caution. "I just... need to know if he said anything to you. It's just precaution. Anything about a case or a person or a signature will do, in all honesty."

           James shook his head and thought as he looked at the table. "I don't know... I—" He then had a face, a face only Casey recognized when he figured something out. "What?" She asked, her eyes lighting up. "He did mention something. Something about a signature, like you said. Something with birds. Like... dead birds in a hand, or something." James explained.

            "Why did he tell you about that?" Casey asked. "Casey, he frequented here a lot when he needed someone to talk to. Especially cases regarding that. I would vent to him, he'd vent to me. Last week, he came by, asking about if I had heard something about someone getting arrested here with that signature. I told him I'd look into it, but truth is: I've got no idea about that."

              Casey realized she finally had something to bring back to her team. "Alright, thanks. And Dad... why didn't you tell me that about Uncle Jason before? That he'd come by?" She asked and James thought to himself. "I didn't think it was worth mentioning. And he told me that I shouldn't say anything." James stated. "No more secrets," Casey spoke. "Okay?" James nodded at his daughter, he didn't want to lose her again and he didn't want to screw it up again.

         With that, Casey stood up and looked at her dad. They just looked at one another. They weren't allowed physical contact but the stares were enough for Casey. She'd remember the times she'd come down to Roanoke to see him, he looked like he had aged another five years up until she stopped visiting him at twelve.

       All James could see was her mother and how much she looked like her. It made him feel guilty. Guilty about her mother, guilty about how she was raised, but mostly guilty from the secret he was keeping from her. He just wasn't sure if she was ready to hear it.

         Casey had said her goodbyes to her father and told Vivian what she had found. On their way out, Casey and Vivian decided to call Hotch with what they found out. And frankly, so did Rossi and Reid. Garcia had out everyone on a group call.

         "Hotch, I think this is it, but I need to fill everyone else in. The last thing Gideon did was to shoot a bird painting. I think he was trying to tell us that his killer is the same one from a case we worked on in 1978." Rossi explained.

        "So it was someone he locked up." Kate figured. "No, those murder went unsolved." Rossi added. "We're here to debunk that theory anyways," Vivian started. "We went to go see Casey's dad to see if he knew anything about that but no evidence or logs point to our unsub being locked up."

       "So if this wasn't about revenge on Gideon and if he didn't lock the guy up, then what was this?" Morgan asks. "Maybe he went after Gideon because he was back on the case again." Rossi told.

       "The unsub was strangling 20-something brunettes. Garcia, were there any female bodies found in Roanoke County in the past few days?" Spencer questions, Casey slightly happy that he was talking.

       "Let me check the crystal web ball. Uh... yes. An unidentified woman in her 50s was found in a shallow grave just outside of Salem." Garcia explained.

      "Was she strangled?" Rossi asks. "That's the mystery," said Garcia. "There was no foul play."

      "Was there a dead bird in her hand?" Spencer asked, causing both Vivian and Casey's heads to snap up. "What? Eew. None of that fowl play either." Garcia stated.

      "My dad mentioned that Gideon had said something about dead birds in hands. That's all he got from him, though." Casey told.

       "What's the significance of the bird?" Hotch asks. "Those little brown birds were the unsub's obsession." Rossi told.

       "So how did Gideon get back on the case?" Kate asks. "He saw the story in a national paper and it obviously piqued his interest. What are the chances that the same woods and the same ritual make headlines again?" JJ explained. "But the signature was missing." Kate added.

       "That's why he drove to Roanoke," Rossi answered. "He needed to make sure it wasn't just a coincidence."
       "Well, clearly it wasn't." Morgan told. "No, he had to make sure it wasn't. Once he was on a case, he never let it go." Casey stated.

       "And this woman would have been in her 20s back then." Garcia told. "Age-wise, that's his type."
       "Gideon must have thought the same thing." Vivian stated. "If she was a victim, then she was held captive for 37 years. Who knows what he did to her in all that time?" Kate told and Casey shook her head at the thought. "Thirty-seven years. How did she survive?" Casey questioned aloud.

      "What if he stopped killing because he found the victim he really wanted and held on to her?" Spencer questioned. "Her recent death could have sent the unsub into a tailspin," Morgan told. "He's probably gonna want to find someone new."

      "And if it's anything like what he did before, he may hunt and kill until he finds the right one." JJ told. "We'll meet you in Roanoke, guys." Hotch told and everyone had hung up.

       Casey and Vivian texted Spencer and Rossi to see where they wanted to meet since they were closer and the rest of the team had showed up. JJ and Garcia had stayed behind at Gideon's cabin.

       Soon enough, they'd figured it out. And another woman was taken. Everyone met up at a restaurant and Rossi had looked over this book of birds in the table. "This is it. Nelson's sparrow. It's what the unsub left in their hands because its behavior matched that of the insecure victims." Rossi explained.

       "Yeah, female Nelson's sparrows tend to be skittish and avoid confrontation, choosing instead to dive and hide when faced with predators. That's why the unsub put that bird in their hands. To remind himself that the women are like the Nelson's sparrow." Casey explained.

       "So the unsub really knew his birds and where to find them." Morgan added. "Is there some kind of bird lovers club in the area?" Kate questioned.

      "Garcia, are there any nature centers or bird-watching chapters in the area?" Hotch decides to ask Garcia, who is on the phone. "There's an old-timey bird-watching group called the Flappers, median age of like 89. They started in the sixties. Most of the members have gone extinct."

      "And chances are the unsub and his victims weren't a part of that group, so where else would he meet them?" Kate asks. "Tara was his ideal." Hotch stated, pulling out a photo of the woman he had taken on his phone. "What makes her so special?" Kate asks.

       "Tara's mother said she was broken." Rossi told. "And he knew that because he spent more time watching her than the others." Hotch added. "So he was able to study her, not just glance as she passed by the window." Vivian told.

        "She was a few years out of high school when she disappeared. Maybe he knew her from there." Morgan suggested. "She wasn't very social." Spencer said. "Well, neither was he." Casey added. "They were both in their 20s when she was taken. If they weren't friends in high school, maybe they worked together?"

       "Tara's mom said right out of school she bagged groceries." Spencer told Garcia. "I've got Tara working at Joe's on Main summer of '76 through '77." Garcia answered with.

         "Are there any employees at Joe's supermarket who started in the seventies and are still there?" Hotch questioned. "Well, that's nearly 40 years ago in a galaxy far, far away that wasn't using my magic binary boxes, but, yeah, the place is still family owned and operated. Give me a hot minute." Garcia explained.

         A minute had passed and Garcia chirped up again, pun intended. "Okay. Three of the people still working there are women. That leaves two males." Garcia pauses. "There's a name I've heard before. Mallick."

       "Who?" Hotch asked.

       "Gertie Mallick was one of the founding members of the bird group. Died in 1974. Her next of kin was her nephew Donnie Mallick, who inherited her farm and... buys enough birdseed to let me know I should send you his address."

        With that, the team had gotten ready to go, FBI vests velcroed on and agents piled in SUVs, ready to get this unsub as Garcia explained what she found to them. "Babies having babies. Zettie Mallick gave birth to Donald Allen Mallick in 1956, three months shy of her 14th birthday. Father unknown. When she was 18, she was sent to live in a mental health facility for schizophrenia, and 4-year-old Donnie was sent to live with his only living kin, 72-year-old wheelchair bound Aunt Gertrude."

       "I have no school records on him past 1971, and if I do the math from Aunt Gertie's death certificate, he's been on his own since he was 17."

       "The years of isolation in that house were his stressor. That explains why he was obsessed with birds." Morgan told. "And when she died, he replaced her with Tara." Kate followed.

       Soon enough, they arrived at the destination. Hotch ordered that he, Vivian and Kate go in with Morgan as Rossi, Spencer and Casey stayed outside to search the premises. 

       Casey looked around towards the house with her gun pointed up and she had seen someone trying to run off. She knew that the person running off was their unsub. "Mallick!" Casey yelled and suddenly, the man stopped in place, a gun in his hand. "Put the weapon down!"

        Mallick placed his weapon down on a barrel and faced towards Casey. He chuckled once he had seen the woman standing before him. "I know who you are," He smirked. "Your pictures were all over the place."

        Casey glared down at the man. "You can lock me up. I still win. I got my girls. And I killed Jason Gideon." Casey gritted her teeth as her gun remained pointed up. "You're right." She said. "You'd be a big deal in prison for killing a federal agent. A legend if you killed two."

       With that, Casey put her gun down on a barrel near her and held her hands up. The unsub wondered what game she was playing at. "You know..." He spoke. "I think he called your name before he went. But I guess you weren't listening." He smirked.

        He quickly went for his gun but Casey was faster and she had shot him right in the chest. Three times. Everyone was quick to hear the gunshot. Hotch, Rossi, Morgan and Spencer were the first ones at the scene.

         They could only assume what happened once they saw Casey with her gun up and Mallick dead on the ground. Everyone turned towards the woman, who looked as if she didn't have a regret in the world what she did.

         Casey didn't say a word, she just headed straight to the SUV right after. She had gotten even. That was enough. On the way back to Gideon's cabin, Casey stayed silent the whole ride back. Hotch had been driving and he noticed that she didn't cry, didn't say a word. She was just silent.

         They had made their way to the cabin, ready to close up shop but lingering one last time. Stephen had been there and Casey had something to give to him. She had approached the man and handed him his father's ring, along with his mother's. She'd given him a small smile and a hug. "It's cruel how I got to spend so much time with him and you so little." She spoke. "It's fine. I'm just glad someone got to know him." Stephen spoke. "You know, if you ever need to talk to anybody... I'm always there. I may be busy and I have a kid now, but... I'm always there." She assured, patting him on the back and heading back into the cabin.

          The smell here was more clear now. Plywood, trees, soap and ice cream. She always joked with her uncle when she was younger, saying she always smelt ice cream. She looked at the keys in her hand. Stephen had decided to give her the cabin. She would put more use to it than he would. She stuffed them in her pocket and found herself in a room.

         His room.

         Casey's eyes adjusted to the desk and the files on it. It was like he never stopped. She turned over to the mounted shelves that carried many many snow globes. It was their famous snow globe collection. She had grabbed one of them off the shelf and had seen the one she grabbed.

          ROCHESTER.

         She shook it lightly, like she used to when she was a kid. Casey turned around and noticed someone walk in. It was her boss, Hotch, just watching her. She didn't mind though.

         Casey looked back down at the globe. "Every month, he would take me out to the big city and we'd go to this store and we'd pick out a snow globe together. It was like a tradition thing, y'know?"

         "We did it all the time up until I went to college. I stopped because... well, I had priorities in being an FBI agent and... soon a mother. But he kept going."

          Casey looked up and smiled at a memory. "I remember this one time when I was in fourth grade... I accidentally broke one of the globes. It was a... Manhattan one, I think. And I remember he got so mad, I thought he was gonna have a stroke. But the thing was, he thought you broke it. Because you were visiting that day. And he thought you did it. And I'm pretty sure he yelled at you for it. And you just let him." Casey looks down at the globe as tears fill in her eyes. Her breathing became shaky and once she heard her own voice, she broke down crying. "He never really knew it was me."

         Casey sat down on the bed and began to sob. Hotch had come into the room fully and sat down next to her and just held her. "I just miss him so much." She said, wiping her tears from her eyes.

         "Me, too," Hotch spoke. "I was wondering when you were gonna let go."

        "I was just trying to stay strong, you know?" Casey lifted her head up from Hotch's chest. "He never would've let me. I keep hearing his voice, just telling me that if I let go, then I'm putting everything in jeopardy. I just put all of my energy into finding Mallick."

       "Well, Mallick's gone," Hotch reminded. "It's okay to let go. And even if Gideon would think that, sometimes he didn't know what the hell he was thinking." Casey chuckled a bit.

       Casey sniffles as she looks at the globe in her hands. "You know what he sent to Christopher a couple of weeks after he was born? A bird feather. It belonged to a finch. He had hopes that maybe Chris would be interested when he got older, I assume. But who's kidding? Kids aren't interested in feathers. But I was.  I knew every bird, every feather that belonged to a bird, how many they had. I was a... bird girl." She said.

      "Spencer and I... we, uh, we framed and hung it up on his wall. So that he could... know who he was. I knew that one day I'd see him again... just not in this way. It's not fair." She sniffles again.

       "I know it's not fair." Hotch told, rubbing her back soothingly. He looked around the room. "What are you gonna do with this place now?" He wondered, since this place was practically hers now.

       "I think I'm gonna keep it the way it is," Casey said, wiping her nose again. "Turn it into a winter vacation cabin. Maybe we can spend time here when we need to get away." That comforted Casey, but it also made her think that this was also the place her uncle died in. She didn't know if she'd come back. This place was usually filled with some bad memories of her childhood.

        There had been a knock on the doorframe and it was Spencer. He didn't say a word but they knew it was time to go. Hotch had made his way out first and Spencer waited as Casey had taken the snow globe with her.

         Spencer held a hand out to his fiancée and she grabbed onto it, looking at him with her eyes and asking if he was okay. He simply smiled at her a bit and the two made their way to the entrance of the porch.

        They had joined their team and Casey gave the cabin one last look before leaving in one of the SUVs with her team.

━━━━━━

  
        It had been a few weeks since everything happened with Gideon. They had a proper funeral for him — friends and family only. Casey thought that maybe he'd want to be buried next to Sarah, so she made it happen.

       After the events, everything went back to normal up until Casey's father had called Casey and told her to come down to the prison so he could talk with her about something important. He said it with such urgency that Casey felt obligated to go.

         So, she decided to take the drive down there to go and see him. She had waited for at least ten minutes before he had shown up.

         And for another ten minutes, they sat in silence and James held his hands together, trying to figure out what to say to her. Casey had enough of the silence. "Okay, Dad, if you just got me down here so we can sit in silence, that's cool or whatever, but you're just kinda wasting my time."

          "I'm sorry, I just... I'm trying to figure out how to... tell you this." Casey furrowed her brows at her father. He was hiding something from her. "Is there something you're not telling me?" She asked, curiously and he looked up and that was his tell. Casey figured it out. "Casey..." He started.

         Casey sat forward. "Dad," She stared him down. "If I find out that you had something to do with Uncle Jason dying—" Bold of her to assume the worst. James immediately shook his head. "No, no, no. I don't." Casey furrowed her brows. "Then, why did you want me back here?" She questioned as she raised her voice.

        There's a pause and James figures out what he's trying to start with. "Casey... I've been keeping something from you your whole life and I think it's about time you knew."

       Casey was confused. What did he mean by that? "What secret?" She asked.

        There's another long pause and Casey has had enough with the pauses. "Okay, you know what, you're just wasting my time." Casey stands up. "Casey." The woman is getting ready to leave.

      But James stops his daughter by saying: "Jean Ryleigh." Casey furrows her brows and looks back at him in confusion. She'd heard the name before. She just didn't know where.
"After your mom died, I fell off the rails for a while. You knew that I was never home, you saw how bad it got. But you never truly knew, I mean, you were only six."

      Casey had no idea where this was going but she listened and she was willing to listen. "This one night, I went to a bar and I met a woman. Her name was Jean Ryleigh and she..." Casey could swear she had seen her father smile like he never had before. "She was a sight for sore eyes." He slightly chuckled. "I didn't think I could ever fall in love like that again."

      "Jean Ryleigh," Casey repeated to herself. "Why does that name sound familiar?" She asks.

       "You've met her before," James told. "And her kids. They're younger than you. You only met 'em once. You were real little. That was before things got really bad."

        Casey closed her eyes and shook her head. She didn't remember any of this, if she were being honest. And she had no idea why James had decided to mention this woman. "Dad, why are you telling me this?" She asked.

       "You need to know." James told. "No, why do I need to know now after everything? Everything we've been through. Why now?" Casey questioned.

       "I didn't think you were ready. And you said no more secrets. So this is me telling the truth." James licked his lips before continuing. "Casey, her kids..."

        Casey looked at her father carefully. "What?"

hey, lovelies!!!
sooooo we finally got to this chapter- how we feeling?

also
predictions for what casey's father is telling casey? i don't think it's that hard to miss because i'm just too ✨predictable✨ sometimes but i'd like to hear your theories!

ik i didn't incorporate a lot of spasey in here but i will be adding more in later chapters how they address their trauma with one another

rip gideon fr💔
fly high bird man🕊️

this took so long and for what
i love you all tho
thank you for reading!
-mya </333