PROLOGUE: GOODBYE LETTER !

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       SINCE SHE COULD LEARN TO WALK, CASEY WILLOWS WAS A PACER. She paced when she was stressed, she paced when she was working and she even paced for good luck in a hospital in the waiting room.

       And she was currently pacing around in her uncle's office after she seemingly couldn't find him anywhere. He wasn't answering any calls or messages and it was really starting to worry her. It wasn't like Jason Gideon to not answer his phone. He was an FBI agent for Christ's sake.

        Casey exhaled. He had to have been somewhere. He wouldn't just up and leave. He wouldn't do that to her. So, why the hell was she pacing in his office, in her pajamas, wearing a UC Berkeley crewneck and leggings with her Uggs, worried out of her wits?

         She decided to wait for the team to get back from their current case they were working on so maybe she could talk to them about this.

         When the team got back, they filled out their paperwork, which wasn't that much since most of them filled it on the way home on the jet.

          Spencer Reid had gotten back from the case and to his desk he went. Once he placed his leather brown satchel on his desk, he noticed the shadow of someone in Gideon's office. Thinking it may have been Gideon, he rushed up to the office and swung open the door.

           "Gideon?" The swinging of the door had certainly gotten Casey's attention as she jumped and looked towards the door. "Oh, hi, Casey." Spencer greeted rather disappointedly and looked towards the swung-open door. "Sorry." He apologized.

          "You don't know where he is, either?" Casey questioned and sighed rather hopelessly. Reid would've been her number one gateway into finding her uncle — seeing as though he was the genius' mentor. 

           Spencer furrowed his brows a bit as he gulped. He would've questioned why she was here when she probably should've been studying over at college but it was evident she was up here for the same reasonings.

           "Yeah. Um, my uncle hasn't been answering any of my calls all day. He's not here and I'm worried. He wouldn't leave unexpectedly like this." Casey told.

          Reid nodded, "Yeah, we have no idea where he is either."

          Casey sighed, "I need a car so I can go to our cabin. I took a plane here. First place I came to was here and if he isn't here, he's most likely gonna be there. Might as well search the place. Maybe I can ask Hotch to borrow one of the SUVs."

           The Willows girl made her way past Reid aiming towards Hotch's office when Reid staggered over to Casey and stood in front of her, nearly almost falling over in the process. "Casey, wait, I'll go with you. I'll drive."

           Seeing as though Hotch went home for the night, going through his own issues, Reid decided to offer his services in helping Casey out. After all, he wanted to know where Gideon was, too.

         Casey furrowed her brows and looked the man up and down. "You have a car?" She wondered aloud. Spencer nodded, "Yeah."

           Hesitantly, Casey decided to agree. How else was she gonna get to the cabin? So, Spencer had decided to put his Volvo Amazon P130 to good use to drive himself and his mentor's niece to the cabin using the directions that Casey had given to him.

           Casey had called Gideon numerous times as Reid drove, trying to avoid the awkwardness in the car. Don't get Casey wrong, she liked Reid, but she's rarely had one-on-one conversations with him and besides of the fact that when she'd wanted to spend time with her uncle, he'd eat it all up. And of course, the man never intentionally meant to do harm but Casey sometimes wished he'd stay in his own lane once in a while.

            Not wanting there to be some tension in the car, Reid cleared his throat and steadied his hands on the wheel as he stared ahead at the road. "You seem pretty certain that he's gonna be at the cabin. Why is that?"

          Casey shrugged, "I don't know. I just... Gideon always goes there. If there's a place he likes more than home, it's that place. I just know." She admitted.

           Reid turns his head over to the girl in the passenger's seat and then quickly looked back on the road once she felt his eyes on her.

          "It's right here," Casey said. "Right over there. Stop." She told and Spencer had slowly pulled up to the front of the cabin.

        As soon Reid put the vehicle in park, Casey nearly jumped out of the car and headed towards the front door of the cabin. "Uncle Gideon? Hello?" She called as she knocked.

         Reid had gotten out of the car, leaving the headlights on because of how dark it was. He looked around and then walked towards Casey and the cabin.

       "Hey, Casey?" He questioned. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" He wondered aloud now.

        Casey turns her attention to the man behind her, barely seeing his face since he's blocking the headlights. "Oh, don't get all chicken on me now, Reid. Come on." She ushers him over and he looks around, over his shoulder, seeing no sign of his car anywhere.

        Casey looked down. "Now, where did he put the spare—?" She checks under the mat and shakes her head. "Not under the mat." She then looks up and around. "Where's our extra—?" She bites her lip in thought and finds the pot she remembered putting an extra key in. "Ah! Here we go."

        Casey picks the pot up and smashes it on the ground on the porch. Digging through the dirt, she finds the key and smirks, "Aha!"

        Reid raises his brows at the woman and Casey shrugs, looking at him. "Gideon insisted we keep an extra under the mat and I suggested an extra extra key we had in the pot. Thank God this came in handy."

         Casey unlocks the door and nudged her head towards the open door to Reid. "Come on." She tells. Right behind her, Casey squints as she tries to look around the area.

          "Why is it so damn dark in here?" Casey questions and as if on cue, Reid reached in his pocket and took out a small flashlight, letting them both gain at least a little light in the room.

         Both Casey and Spencer look around. Everything's been untouched. As if no one was here. "I'm gonna go check his room." Casey said, determined to find her uncle somewhere in here. "Gideon? Uncle Gideon!"

        Spencer finds the lamp over the door and looks ahead at what he finds on the table near the window. "Hey, Casey?" He calls.

         Walking over to the table, Reid finds Gideon's gun and badge laid out of the table. Casey walks back in the room and notices Reid sitting at the table and she then focuses on the items in front of him.

          Gideon's badge and gun.

          Slowly, Casey walks over to the table. "Why are his—?" Casey doesn't finish her sentence. She knew if she asked the question, she'd end up finding the answer. And by Reid's face, he'd found it right before she did.

          Right near the gun and badge, there were two envelopes. Reid looks at both of the them. One was addressed to 'Spencer' and one was addressed to 'Casey'.

         Reid looks at the girl and hold the letter addressed to 'Casey' up to her so she could see for herself what's he wrote. He recognized Gideon's handwriting.

          By the look on both of their faces, they knew he was gone. No one had to say a thing. Just a man and a woman who both lost their second father figure.

          Both Casey and Reid begin to open their envelopes together and Casey stands near the window as she begins to read hers.

     'Dear Casey,

     I knew you and Spencer would be the ones to come up to the cabin. You must be frightened – I apologize for that. I never meant to cause you any pain. I also never envisioned writing this letter. I'm sorry I had to leave you like this. Ever since Sarah, nothing just seems to make sense anymore. None of it. I don't know, maybe I've lost my touch.

       I think I should go back to the beginning. Back to who I was before I met Sarah, back to when I understood everything. Back to when you were just a kid.

        You never deserved the life you grew up in. A life where danger lingered at every turn. You were a child. You didn't need to be strong. You needed a Mom and a Dad. I just couldn't be that for you anymore.

        You're meant to do great things, Casey. And I can't hold you back from that anymore.

        I set up a meeting with Detective Francis and told him about a kid who had a dream. Who deserved an internship better than anyone. I know you wouldn't have wanted my help but it was the least I can do to help. 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.  And I know you can do that.

         This is it. You're on your own, kid. But then again... you're not really on your own. Remember that. Always.

        - Uncle Gideon'

(added in after completion)
an update???? to the very first book ever???? right when the last book is about to come out????? no you're not dreaming
i decided to add in an extra chapter consisting of gideon's letter to casey!!!! i figured i left a few things unsaid and decided to add this in for helping lmaoooo
anywayssssss
love you alll!!!
-mya </333