CHAPTER NINETY-NINE: NOT ALONE !

12x15

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DESPITE ALL OF THE HARD PUNCHES COMING HER WAY RECENTLY, CASEY WILLOWS WAS GOING BACK TO WORK. It wasn't ideal and she argued with Emily about it for the past week, but Casey needed a case to get her mind off of her everything.

She'd yet to tell anyone about her pregnancy. Not even Spencer knew yet. Casey thought that right now wouldn't be the best time to announce it. Maybe later down the road if she felt comfortable but as of right now, she was keeping it quiet.

The team hadn't even suspected, especially with all the crap she was currently going through. Here, they were, by Spencer's desk as they discussed what happened at the trial. "You think Reid should have taken the plea deal?" Luke asks and JJ immediately shakes her head. "Absolutely not."

"Now that it's off the table, he's looking at 25 years to life." Tara spoke. "So you think he should have?" JJ questioned but Tara shook his head. "No. I'm just saying, 25 years is a long time. And as we know, juries are fickle."

"I still can't believe the judge denied bail." Stephen said. "Did you guys see the look on his face when they led him out of that courtroom?" JJ asked. "Did you see Casey's? She looked devastated." Tara added. "And the fact that's she's coming back today." JJ followed.

Stephen checks his watch. "She should be here by now, right?" He asks. "She's probably taking time. But don't treat her like she's going through something painful. She hates that treatment." JJ told the three.

"What are we gonna do? About Reid?" Luke asked and Garcia had walked into the room when she heard this. "Oh, newbie, oh, newbie, I'm gonna tell you what we're gonna do. We're gonna send him letters every day, we're gonna put money in his commissary account, we are going to send him puzzles, magazines, books, whatever we can think of to make sure those gorgeous gears inside that boy wonder brain are lubed up and in perfect working order to keep us on track." Garcia planned.

"I took the liberty of making a chart." Garcia holds up a poster-board and she called it 'Reid Contact Schedule'. At the top of the visitor's list had been Casey's name. "Good idea, Penelope." Tara comments. Garcia nods, "Yes, I couldn't agree more. Also, if you've noticed, there is a visitation schedule."

"I get Casey being the first up top, but you? Why do you get to go see Reid first after her?" Luke questioned. Garcia glares his way. "Because I made the chart. And if anyone has any problem with that, tough noogies."

Casey walks through the bullpen and immediately sees the team near hers and her husband's desk. "Hey, guys?" She said confused on why they were there in the first place. "Hey, Casey." Tara greeted. "My fair maiden." Garcia is the first to greet Garcia in a hug and she notices the board, which Garcia turns over immediately to not upset her.

"How are you... doing?" Tara begins and Casey sighs, "It's been a hard adjustment... with everything. I'm, uh, staying with my sister for the time being. Cassie insisted that I should. With everything, with Spencer's mom and... you know all that stuff... she figured I could use some time away. So, Chris and I are staying with Leah and well, it's been easier on all of us." Casey explained.

"And if you need—" Luke starts but Casey interrupts, "Anything at all... I call you guys. I've heard a million times." She jokes with a small smile.

Walking down the steps from Emily's office, they walk towards the group. "Casey, welcome back." Rossi said. "It's good to be back." Casey smiles a bit.

What's all this?" Emily asks, seeing them all near Spencer's desk. "Uh, well, Miss Penelope here is keeping track of our correspondence and visits to Spence." JJ said and Casey figures that's what the board was for.

"Very colorful, Penelope." Rossi comments and Garcia smiles. "Thank you, sir." Casey smiles as she looks at the board to see her name at the top of the visitation list. From Garcia, she expected nothing less.

"Oh! And that reminds me, I'm sending the first batch of letters to Reid in jail today. I'm going to need you to pen your upbeat, articulate missives and give them to me no later than 3pm, sharp." Garcia's eyes the trail over to Casey's. "But, you, my lovely fair maiden, you can give me that letter whenever you need to. Or if you don't want to, that's fine, too!"

Casey opens her mouth to say something but Rossi speaks before her. "I'm afraid you'll need a new mailing address." He tells and everyone is confused. "What do you mean by that?" Casey asks. "What's going on?" Stephen follows.

"Early this morning, Reid was moved from the police precinct to the Millburn Correctional Facility." Casey's eyes widen. "He's in prison?" She questioned.

"How is that possible?" Garcia asks. "There hasn't been a trial."
"You can blame overcrowding at the DC jail." Rossi tells.

"I know this isn't great news, but his lawyer is doing everything she can, and she promised to give us updates." Emily says and turns over to an even more stressed Casey. She watches as the woman pinches the bridge of her nose and shake her head.

Emily nudged her head to Casey. "You know, you can still take a few more weeks off if you need to, Casey." She offers but Casey shakes her head. "I came to work to distract myself. There's not much I can do with Spencer being away but... I can do something here." Casey assured. Saying the word 'away' felt better than saying the word 'prison'. It didn't make it hurt any less, though.
"You sure?" Garcia asks and Casey nods, "Positive."

Garcia's cell phone goes off. "Right now, all we can do is put our faith in the justice system and follow Garcia's chart and work the case we just got." Emily told and Garcia nodded, "Oh, yeah, the case. Oh, boy, I'll go get the files."

With that, everyone followed behind Garcia and headed into the conference room. Casey couldn't help but look at the empty chair right next to her and got sad. She absentmindedly put a hand over her stomach but it was subtle enough for the rest of the team to think she did that just to keep from puking or to keep herself calm. They didn't know the truth and didn't pay attention to it.

"It is with a heavy heart, I am telling you, Philadelphia, aka, the city of brotherly love, is in sore need of some lately, because last night, two people had acid thrown in their faces in two separate attacks. They are Colton Davis and Neela Travers. Both are being treated at the burn center there." Garcia explained.

"Neela was attacked outside a gym and has severe burns on her face, neck, and chest." Rossi pointed out. "And thirty minutes later, Colton was ambushed as he left a bar, and in addition to being disfigured, he was partially blinded." JJ stated.

"This comes on the heels of two other acid attacks last week in Philadelphia." Tara pointed and Garcia nods, "That's right. Harley Macafee and Simon Wells."

"Harley was attacked right outside of her apartment and Simon while on a run. Both happened on the same night about 20 minutes apart." Luke told. "Simon is still hospitalized, but Harley died from inhaling the toxic fumes." Stephen said.

"This unsub has no gender or race preference. Any witnesses?" Casey asks. When she talked, she didn't sound like herself. Mostly sounded like she was a robot. And she heard it in her own voice. No emotion.

"No, but a surveillance camera captured the attack on Colton Davis." Emily stated and Garcia showed the video, causing Casey to look down and wince when she witnessed the attack on the footage

"The unsub didn't stick around to see the damage he'd done." JJ said. "Probably knew it would've attracted an audience if he was screaming." Casey stated.

"Hey, Garcia, would you mind backing up and freezing on the unsub?" Stephen asks and she nods, "Sure thing. As she backs it up, Stephen started again, "We're saying "he," but it's hard to tell if the unsub is male or female."

"That could be a woman or a man with a slight build." Luke agreed. "So are these coordinated blitz attacks by multiple unsubs or the act of a lone wolf?" Rossi questioned.

"Either way, we could be looking at a spree in the making. Wheels up in 20." Emily stands but she doesn't leave right away and she stops the team from leaving as well. "Guys, hold on."

Everyone pauses and Casey gulps, already knowing what Emily's about to bring up. "I know it's gonna be hard not to think about Reid in prison, but we'll get through this. And more importantly, Reid will, too."

As Emily walked out, Casey paused before taking a sharp breath. "Well..." She slams the file folder together. "That was exactly what I needed right now."

No matter how many times everyone assured Casey that Spencer was gonna be okay, it was never enough. It hurt to talk about, to bring up. Casey's heart always told her that they weren't telling the truth. That they were just saying all of that to make her feel better. For once, she just wanted someone to tell her the truth. But she knew she wasn't gonna get that, because the truth would break.

The team headed into the jet to discuss the case at hand and Casey had seated herself in the corner of the couch. The place everyone sat when they just wanted to be left alone.

"The victim from the surveillance video, Colton Davis, moved to Philadelphia last year to attend medical school at Temple. Neela Travers works in social media marketing." Emily explained. "Simon Wells works at an ad agency. And Harley Macafee, well, she worked as a trainee at a brokerage firm in Center City." Luke added.

"No obvious connection other than being 20-something and single." Rossi comments. "Well, the primary motivators behind acid attacks are rage, jealousy, and revenge." Tara told. "And sexual rejection is often a trigger." JJ added.

"In South Asia, particularly Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, acid attacks are used against women for refusing sexual advances and proposals of marriage." Stephen explained and Casey's reminded of Spencer. He would've known that. Although, it's a cruel fact to even know, he would've known that.

"The mentality being, 'if I can't have you, I'll make sure no one will.'" Rossi comments. "Neela is of South Asian descent. Maybe she rejected the unsub." JJ suggests. "Well, political and religious beliefs are inciting factors as well." Tara told. "Well, in some countries, young girls have had acid thrown in their faces as a punishment for attending school, or women for wearing clothing that was considered immodest." JJ explained.

Garcia then appears on the monitors. "Hello, my... sorry, it appears my internal salutation generator is broken due to this morning's gut punch. All I can come up with is hello."

"What do you have, Penelope?" Rossi asks. "The burn center says that highly-concentrated nitric acid was used in all four attacks." Garcia stated.

"Well, the unsub could have access to it through his job." Stephen figured. "I did some digging. It turns out nitric and other corrosive acids, of which there are, oh, so many nasty ones, are readily available just about anywhere." Garcia says.

"Well, there gotta be tons of DIY videos online." Luke figures. "Yep. 35,000, to be exact." Garcia stated.

Everyone notices Rossi staring over at Casey, who has her nose buried in the file, making the face she always made when she thought hard about something. And everyone figured it wasn't about the case. Because she wasn't talking to anyone or imputing anything about the case.

"Casey," Tara spoke and Casey looked up out of her zone. "You okay?" The woman looks a little dumbfounded but she looked around at the eyes at her. "Yeah, uh..." She looks at the file and then at Garcia. "This unsub could have made his own concoction. What, with the DIY videos and the acids involved. You could get them anywhere, surprisingly." Casey explained away, like she was listening the whole time and paying attention.

Choosing to not draw attention to her anymore, Emily spoke, "Garcia, compile a list of acid sales in the tri-state area... New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Also, anyone buying those ingredients to make their own."

"Ooh, it's gonna be a long list." Garcia comments as she hangs up.

"If the kid were here, he'd probably rattle off every acid known to man, their chemical properties, plus their sales down to the milliliter." Rossi stated.

"When we land, Tara, Casey and I will coordinate with the locals. The rest of you head to the burn center." Emily ordered and Casey sighed, looking out the window to the clouds. "Did you know, clouds produce precipitation, like rain, snow, hail and sleet? Clouds can hold millions of gallons of water. Clouds can travel at more than 100 miles per hour with the jet stream. There are ten common types of clouds you might see in the sky." She barely smiled at the memory as she remembered what Spencer told her nearly six years ago.

         God, she missed him so much.

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         It'd been a day or two when the unsub attacked a couple with acid. Casey barely said two words to anyone and when she did, she only pertained it to the case. She sat by herself in the conference room after giving the profile. She figured this was supposed to be healing for her. To get her mind off of everything that happened. But all she could do was think of him this entire case.

         All of the things he would say, the facts he would give, the coffee he'd get for himself and his wife. The way they'd squeeze each other's hands when leaving the other to check out a crime scene.

          It was like complete torture, to feel like this. She'd say she wouldn't wish this upon her worst enemy but that would be a lie. Right now, Scratch was her worst enemy. And she wanted him dead. And in a painful way. And she would volunteer herself to be the one to do it. Casey once made the mistake asking Spencer if he knew anything about medieval torture on a case and found out more than she ever wanted to know. But now, that information would remain in the back of her mind until she got her hands on Scratch.

           Casey fiddled with her ring on her finger and felt eyes on her as she did this. Expecting it to be Emily or Tara, she looked up and to her surprise, it was Stephen Walker.

           He'd come back after Emily had sent Luke, JJ and Rossi to look at the crime scene. "Hey," Stephen spoke, holding two cups of coffee and setting one down in front of Casey. "No offense, but you look like you need it."

           Stephen seated himself in front of Casey, putting his cup of coffee on the desk. "Forgive me for pointing it out, but you've hardly said a word during this case. You all good?" He wondered.

           Casey shrugs and then nods. "Yeah. Yeah. Just... mind full of thoughts." She admitted. Stephen looks down. "I know that news about Spencer was probably the last thing you needed before coming back to work."

            Casey raises her eyebrows sarcastically. "You think?" There's a long pause before Casey decided to speak again. She messes with the lid on the top of the cup. "When I was eight years old, my dad was arrested for manslaughter. He was sent to prison for sixty years. He recently got out on parole. I thought I was done with all of it. And I keep thinking of that look on my dad's face when I told him about Spencer. It was like he was... telling me to watch out for Spencer like I should've done for him. And all I keep thinking about is how Chris is taking all of it. I've been where my son has been. Wondering if I'm ever gonna see my dad again. Wondering if maybe I should send him a letter or a drawing. I just don't know what to do, do I keep things normal as they can be for Chris? Do I change things up?" 

            Stephen looks down before responding. This was the first real conversation he'd had with Casey and she'd already told him so much already. Things she kept bottled up. "Have you tried getting his mind off of it?" Casey shrugged, "I've tried." Stephen thinks, "Well, do things to keep his mind off it. Differ from the regular schedule you keep with him. Invite a few friends over and now again. Have your siblings do the same while you're gone. Because if there is anyone else suffering more than anyone else when it comes to Spencer, it's that boy."

              Casey nods, "I know. I just wish I could take his pain away. From all of it. If it were up to me and I had to choose, I'd take the cancer any day." She sighed and looked at Stephen with a small smile. "Thanks, Stephen." The man nods, "It's no problem. Everyone's here for you. You know that, right?" The woman nods, "Yeah, I know."

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      After figuring out that their unsub was a man named Alan Crawford and he was planning a major attack tonight at a singles' night at a local bar, Emily sent Rossi, Luke, Stephen, JJ and Casey over to the bar.

        They'd seen him sitting by himself at the bar and once they had an in, Casey took the spot next to the unsub. She'd talked it over with the team beforehand, stating that a female could possibly make the alpha male nervous in three presence of women since he'd felt that way in his letters. So, Casey could play this part. She knew she had the team to back her up in different areas.

       "Wow, this place is packed. I just wanted a drink tonight." Casey watched as the unsub stiffened while spoke. "Guess there's some singles thing goin' on. Most of these guys are just wasting their time, poor bastards." She chuckled. "We all know who's getting the hot women tonight, don't we? And let's hope those hot women can find a man who can actually find the G-spot." She joked.

       The unsub kept his head down as she chuckled. Casey then looked over at the bartender. "Hey, I'll take a martini." Casey turns her head to the unsub. "Hotshot, you by yourself?" She smiles as she plays her part. "And another one for my friend here."

        The man begins to reach into his pocket and Luke and Stephen begin to go in, but Casey stops his hand in his pocket. "No, hey, no, no. It's on me, I insist. Geez, men always assume women can't pay for anything. Yeesh." Casey antagonized.

       Casey sighed and looked around. "It's not really fair, is it? I mean, why do some people get to have love and sex and pleasure in life and others don't? No, people like you and me, we get the brunt end of the stick. Handed over hand-me-downs while the pleasurable people get gold on a silver platter."

       "They don't deserve it." Alan spoke and that was the first time he had. "It's gotta be the worst feeling in the world not to be able to love a woman and be loved back. Kinda pathetic. Not to be seen for who you really are." She looked the man up and down with narrowed eyes and glared. "Isn't that right, Alan?"

       Before the man could pull something out of his pocket, Stephen stepped in almost immediately, clutching the man's shoulder with one hand and another with the unsub's hand. Luke and Rossi were right behind him and JJ next to them. "Hey, I wouldn't do that if I were you." Stephen threatened.

       "I'm with the FBI." Stephen grabbed his hand as he retrieved the acid spray. "And right now, several guns are trained on you. You use that sprayer, and believe me, you will be dead before your drinks come."

       "They need to feel my pain." Alan told. "And they will if you come with me calmly. I'll make sure your manifesto gets out to the world." Stephen stated and he takes the spray away from him as Rossi puts him in handcuffs and takes him out of the bar.

         Luke looks over at Casey still sitting at the bar. "Hey, you alright?" He asked, putting a hand on her back. "I antagonized him." Casey stated. "Hey, we got him." Luke reminded Casey and she nods, following him out the bar.

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          After that, the team spent their jet ride back in silence and restfulness. When they landed and went back to the BAU, Casey had been the last one to finish with her paperwork. She went upstairs to hand her paper over to Emily. She knocked on the open door and greeted her. "Hey." She said. "Hey, come on in." Emily said.

          "Just turning in my paperwork." Casey put it down on the desk. She began to walk backwards towards the door. "Goodnight." Emily says it back to her and before she can make it out the door, Casey decides to turn back. "Em?" Emily stops what she's doing and looks at Casey. "What's up?"

          Casey goes up to her desk, hands in her pockets as she looks at the ground. "I think you were right about me needing to take a couple more weeks off. I thought I was ready but... everything I do... everything I see, I-I just see him. And right now.... I, uh, don't think I can be much help if I don't have a clear mind. I thought that maybe this would clear my mind, but... I guess I was wrong." Casey pours out to Emily and she nods.

          "You take all of the time you need off. I don't fully understand how difficult this must be for you but I know it's not easy. If you need anything, anything at all... do not hesitate to ask us. You know we'll be there in a heartbeat." Emily studies Casey's face, knowing how tired she must be from hearing that all of the time. "We all just want you to know that you're not alone. In this, you're not."

          Casey nodded at her words and smiles a bit. "Thank you."

          With that, Casey walked out of the office and headed back to her desk to retrieve her things. "Hey." Casey looked over and spotted Luke over at his desk. She must not have noticed him when doing her paperwork. "Hey." Casey said back. "You, uh, getting ready to leave?" Luke asks. Casey nods, looking at her bag. "Just about."

           "Give me a second," Luke stands from his seat and holds paper up. "I'll turn my paperwork in and I'll walk you to your car." He offers. "Oh, you don't have to do that." Casey shakes her head. "I want to. I insist. It would actually make me feel better if I did." Luke tells and wanting to ease Luke's mind, Casey sighs and gives in.

             Luke hurried to turn in his paperwork to Emily and then back downstairs and saw that Casey was still waiting. He packed his bag up and headed towards the elevators with Casey. "So, you're staying with your sister?" Luke strikes conversation as they wait and Casey nods, "Uh, yeah, figured it might be better to release myself from a little stress, you know."

           Luke turns to Casey and Casey's eyes immediately widen "Not-Not that Spencer's mother is stressful, I mean, at times, she is, but that's like... how a mother usually is, anyways. I mean, I've never had a mom or anything but I figure I can be a little too much for Chris sometimes and dads are a different story but... I think it's best if I just shut up right now." She rambled and Luke chuckled and the elevator dinged and the doors open.

           The man lets Casey go first and the woman obliges and Luke enters after, pressing a button. "You know, if you need a break at all with Chris and we aren't on a case, I'd be happy to babysit once in a while if you need it. Gives your siblings a break." Casey nods at Luke, taking it into conservation.

          "Thanks, Luke."
          "Any time."

this was honest to god a filler chapter but it's wtv
more is gonna happen the next chapter anyways🤷‍♀️

literally hate hate hate the prison arc but my husband still looks good every single time🤭
like:

he makes being in prison look soooo good it's honest to god a crime
i'd let him just- fjdjdhdhsjskskkfjd

ik ik i shouldn't be calling him hot while he's going through literal trauma
i feel so guilty that this is one of my favorite seasons and era of him but don't worry i still think this man looks good even in his s1 earthworm era

BUT NO MAN SHOULD BE LOOKING THIS GOOD IN PRISON

anywaysssss
thank you for reading
i love you all so much
it's gonna get worse from here hehehehe😈
-mya </3

p.s. sorry this was literally me thirsting over s12 reid
early season 12 and later s12 look so good on him i'm sorry lemme shut up