[4.13]

"this may have been a mistake"

"Ren, what are you thinking so hard about?"

Florence blinked a few times before looking at Rossi and Prentiss, who were watching her. She had been sitting on top of Morgan's desk and staring off at nothing, though she occasionally nodded her head. It was odd, so Prentiss couldn't help but ask.

"Oh, I was just thinking about Barbie and the Twelve Dancing Princesses," she replied, brushing some pink hair out of her face.

"Why are you thinking about a children's movie?" Prentiss asked with a smile.

Florence narrowed her eyes. "As opposed to what? Homicide?"

Rossi chuckled and shook his head. "She has a point, Emily."

As Florence started an in-depth analysis of her favorite Barbie movie, Todd quickly brushed past them and into Hotch's office. They were sure that meant there was a new case, and their suspicions were confirmed moments later when Hotch and Todd entered the bullpen.

"Dave," Hotch called to get his attention.

"What's going on?"

"We got a missing ten-year-old girl, home invasion. Parents were killed in their sleep."

"Where's our clock?"

"Eight hours and counting," Hotch replied.

"I'll find Morgan and Reid and tell them we're on the move," Prentiss said, running off.

Florence hopped off of Morgan's desk. "Garcia and I will start looking into the family."

"Good. Wheels-up in thirty."

|||

The kidnapping case was certainly odd. After searching the house and also speaking to the father of Cate, the girl who was taken, there wasn't much to go on. But things took a turn when Cate turned up, alive and on the side of the hallway. While Prentiss interviewed her, Hotch called Florence and Garcia with a task.

"Garcia."

"Oh, captain, my captain," she greeted.

"I need a list of crimes involving partners within a ninety-mile radius of Harvest in the last two years."

"All crimes?" Florence asked, frowning. That was gonna be a long list if so.

"Anything," Hotch specified. "Violent crimes, break-ins, whatever's in the system. I need to be able to show Cate some mugshots."

"You got it. One scumbag yearbook coming up," Garcia said before hanging up. Then she turned to Florence. "You take this year and I'll take the last."

Once they compiled the list and sent mugshots to Hotch, they went back and focused on crimes similar to the current case. Unfortunately, there were no matching crimes. At least Cate had been returned, which means they only had to focus on finding the kidnappers. Soon, they got a call from Morgan.

"Hey, Baby Girl, we need to talk."

"PG or NC-17?" she asked, smirking. Florence poked a finger in her throat and faked a gag, which made Garcia laugh.

"You're on speakerphone," Morgan said as if that would stop her behavior.

"I charge extra for groups."

"We need you to run through crimes similar to the hale murders in the last two years," Rossi said.

"Already did that, Ro-Ro," Florence said, leaning back in her chair. "Got nothing."

"Go back even further, Ren," Reid said. "Cross-reference against any small towns that have had reports of petty theft associated with waves of Romany populations entering the area."

"Romany?" Garcia asked.

"Gypsies," Rossi specified.

"As in "Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves"?" Garcia asked, grinning.

"Exactly," Morgan said.

"Oh, bless you all for turning my life into a Cher song. You'll have it nearly immediately," she told them.

"You're the best," Derek said before hanging up.

"You know, I don't think I've ever listened to a Cher song," Florence admitted.

Garcia paused her typing and looked at Florence with her mouth open. "She's a living legend, Ren. How the hell have you never heard one of her songs?"

"I don't know," she said, shrugging. "None come to mind."

"Once this case is over, I'm tying you to a chair and making you listen to her entire discography," Garcia stated before getting back to work. She mumbled under her breath about how unbelievable it all was before eventually letting it go.

Working together, they managed to find a ton of similar cases matching the current one. Each time Garcia found a new city, Florence would put it up on their map. There were a hundred years' worth of cases, and if they went back farther, Florence was sure they'd find more. Garcia called Morgan, who then got the rest of the team, who were presenting the profile, on the line.

"Garcia, you still there?" Morgan asked once he was back with everyone.

"Present," she chimed.

"Explain what you got."

"Ok, we went ahead and went further back looking for similar cases and we made the search national," she explained.

"All these are hits?" Rossi asked. He was looking over the case files that Garcia had faxed over.

"Yeah. There's thirty of them. They go as far back as 1909," she said. "Rapid City, South Dakota, Taos, New Mexico, Gary, Indiana. My map is lit up like a Christmas tree."

"All these girls were abducted and had their parents killed?" Hotch asked.

"The time between the kills was long enough and the regions of the country so spread out that it never showed up as serial," Reid stated.

"What the hell is this?" Rossi asked, confused by all the new details in the case.

"I don't know, but it looks like it's been going on for generations," Morgan said.

|||

The next morning, it was discovered that another little girl had been taken. Her name was Lynn Robillard and her parents had been killed just like Cate's. By following the trail of missing girls, Garcia was able to guess that the latest one, Kathy Gray, must have helped kidnap Lynn.

"A working theory from 1971 was that a transient killed the family and abducted Kathy Gray. Then all the leads went cold."

"How do you watch your family get murdered and then make a life with the people who did it?" Todd asked over the line.

"It's Stockholm syndrome," Rossi said. "You adapt or die."

"Like the One Direction song," Florence mumbled under her breath so no one would hear.

"And now she's training her son to be a murderer," Prentiss added.

"At a certain point, once traditions are handed down generation after generation, there is no right or wrong," Hotch said. "You simply accept the way the world works."

"The Romany are a closed society. The unsub simply twisted and distorted traditions to become entirely insular," Reid said.

"Abducting the children keeps the bloodline pure, and killing the parents ensures that people eventually stop looking for them," Morgan said.

There was a knock on the door and the Sheriff came into the room. "We got a report of an RV on fire about twenty miles from here."

"Dave, you, Reid, and Morgan go check it out," Hotch ordered. "Garcia, I need you to digitally alter Kathy Gray's photograph to simulate what she would look like today."

"Consider it simulated."

Florence stood over Garcia's shoulder to watch as the computer created the new face. Once it was finished, they got it back to the team where her photo would be posted all over. Oddly enough, the next day, Kathy was caught shoplifting in a mall. It was likely staged so that the husband and their son could get away with Lynn.

Eventually, they managed to get Kathy to talk. They had shown her pictures of her dead parents to get some emotion out of her. Once she revealed the location where they were keeping Lynn, the team managed to save her. Despite that, it wasn't a truly happy ending. Apparently, there were more of them out there who practiced the same tradition of kidnapping child brides.

"Okay," Garcia said, spinning in her chair to face Florence once they got word that the team was heading home. "Time for Cher."

|||

That Friday at six, Prentiss, who was the only one in the bullpen at the time, saw Florence rushing to the elevator to leave for the day. Thinking it was a bit odd, Prentiss got up and called her over. Florence looked a bit nervous as she made her way over to her with her hands clutched in front of her.

"Yes, Emily?" she asked.

"Why are you rushing out of here?" she asked.

"Oh, I just finished all my paperwork and thought I'd leave early," she replied, trying to sound casual. "Is that all, or?"

Prentiss smirked and crossed her arms. "Interesting. When you finish your paperwork, you usually come around and bother one of us. You always wait until we get to go home and walk down with someone."

"Well, maybe I just wanted an early start to the weekend."

"Mhmm," she hummed, looking Florence up and down. "So who's the guy?"

Florence rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Th — there's not a guy. Why can't I just want to go home early?"

"You're really gonna make me do this?" Prentiss asked, grinning. "You're gonna make me profile you?"

Florence stood her ground and raised an eyebrow. "There's nothing to profile."

"Well, for starters, you've brushed your hair instead of wearing it in a messy ponytail," Prentiss pointed out.

Florence tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and narrowed her eyes. "Just because I washed my hair today doesn't mean there's a guy."

"Is that lipstick?"

"Tinted chapstick," she mumbled, looking at her feet.

Prentiss smirked and crossed her arms. "Would you like me to go on? Because there are other tells. I've barely scratched the surface."

Florence sighed heavily. "No."

"So, tell me about him."

"You know, it could be a girl. I'm bisexual."

Prentiss chuckled. "All right, tell me about them."

She paused for a moment before giving in. "It's that bass player from the band at the pizza place. It's not a date or anything. Reggie just invited me to their gig in the park tonight. They're playing some art festival."

"Ooh, a musician," Prentiss said, grinning and putting an arm around her. "Little Florence is growing up."

"I'm sure he invited a bunch of girls to come. That's how bands build a fanbase," she said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Are you wearing the t-shirt he gave you under that?" Prentiss nodded to the red hoodie that Florence had been wearing all day. She nodded before unzipping the hoodie and taking it off. "Wow. You tye-dyed it and turned it into a crop top. You really like him."

"I do not like him. I barely know him," she said defensively. "He's just... really cute and kinda goofy."

"Would you say yes if he asked you on a date?"

"Perhaps," Florence mumbled. "But like I said — I'm just going to see the show. We aren't like hanging out after or anything."

"Okay, but what if he does ask you to hang out after?" Prentiss asked. "Maybe he'll want to walk around the art fest with you. Wait, what are you going to do if he tries to hold your hand?"

"Okay, now you're making fun of me," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Only a little bit."

"Are you done? I'm running a little behind already."

"Fine, I'll let you go. Have fun," she said, grinning. "But I expect to hear all about this date on Monday."

"Not a date," Florence insisted while walking backwards towards the elevator. "And please keep it to yourself. Morgan would be absolutely unbearable if he found out I have a crush on someone."

"Oh, I'm not that cruel."

As soon as Florence was in the elevator and the doors closed, Prentiss smirked to herself. She suddenly had a concert she needed to be at.

|||

"She's not coming, bro."

"Luke, stop. She could still show up."

"I think she just wasn't that into you."

"Maybe she's just late."

"You probably said the "size beautiful" pickup-line wrong."

The members of Sunset Curve were getting ready to go on stage at the art festival. Every few seconds, Reggie couldn't help but peek out at the medium-sized crowd and look for Florence. Each time when he didn't see her pink hair, his mood dropped. Their lead singer, Julie, and their drummer, Alex, did their best to cheer him up, but Luke kept picking on him.

"This is what you get for only inviting one girl to our gig," Luke said, shaking his head. "If we each only told one person about our gigs, there'd only be four people and Julie's dad in our audience."

"Sorry," Reggie said, sighing. "But she was so pretty and she likes Scrappy-Doo. I've never met another person who loves his character."

"That's because both of you have bad taste," Julie couldn't help but mumble while laughing. "Reg, maybe she's busy. If she shows, then she shows."

Reggie checked the crowd once more, and she still wasn't there. He turned back to his friends and pouted. Alex clapped him on the back. "Dude, cheer up. We'll keep an eye out during the set, but if she doesn't come, at least there are other hot girls in the crowd."

"You're gay," Reggie said, scoffing.

Alex put his hand to his chest in mock hurt. "I can still appreciate their beauty."

Luke wrapped an arm around Reggie's shoulder. "Dude, if she didn't think you were cute then it's her loss. You're adorable and you shred on bass, so perk up and get ready to rock."

"You think I'm adorable?" Reggie asked, grinning.

Luke playfully rolled his eyes. "The adorablest—"

"I don't think that's a real word," Julie interrupted.

"Well, I write all our songs and I say it's a real word," Luke shot back, smirking. "Alright, let's get out there."

The audience cheered when they ran out on stage. Alex hit his drumsticks to count them down, and Luke began the starting notes. They opened with their song Now or Never, which was upbeat and got the crowd into it. When the second chorus hit, Julie spotted someone with pink hair skateboarding towards their stage. She excitedly hopped across the stage over to Reggie. While they shared her microphone, she tried to subtly nod in Florence's direction.

When Reggie saw Florence, he grinned and got noticeably happier. Once she got off the skateboard, Florence began to snake her way through the crowd until she was close to the front. He saw her singing the lyrics, which told him she had listened to their demo enough times to learn all the words. Reggie wanted to wave at her, but given that he was holding his guitar, he settled on winking at her.

Sunset Curve played the rest of their songs and a few covers of other people's songs before they finished their set.

"Thank you," Luke said as the crowd cheered for them. "We are Sunset Curve."

"Tell your friends," Reggie added, grinning.

Once they were gone, an attendant got on stage and announced a fifteen-minute break between them and the next band scheduled to play. Florence didn't really have any interest in whoever was coming on next, so she made her way out of the crowd. She awkwardly hung around a couple of yards out from the stage, wondering if she should try and find Reggie to talk to him or let it go and go walk around the artists' booths on her own. The latter option would probably save her from any potential embarrassment.

Just when she was about to hop on her board and skate towards the booths, her name was called.

"Hey, Ren!" Reggie yelled while running over to her. He had a big smile on his face when he looked at her, and he was still flushed and sweaty from his performance. "Hey, you um, made it. Awesome."

"Yeah, you guys were great," she said. "I got here kinda late, not that you noticed—"

"I did, uh, notice," he muttered shyly. "I was kind of watching the crowd to see if you were here."

Both of their cheeks went red as he admitted to looking for her. "Oh," Florence said, trying to hide her smile. "Sorry I was late. Got held up at work."

"Well, I'm glad you got off in time," he said. Then he glanced over his shoulder and looked behind the stage. "Do you wanna meet my friends?"

Florence nodded and he led her to the rest of Sunset Curve. They were finishing putting up their equipment.

"Ren, this is Luke, Alex, and Julie," he introduced. Each of them waved when their name was called. "Guys, this is Ren from the pizza place."

"Ah, the birthday girl that Reggie hasn't shut up about," Luke said, grinning.

"Dude," Reggie hissed while blushing.

"I totally love what you did with the shirt," Julie said, trying to change the subject for Reggie's sake. "Like, I immediately want to go home and do it to one of mine."

"Thanks," she said, smiling. "I always have stuff for tye-dye on hand. Also, you have a killer voice, Julie."

"She is amazing, isn't she," Luke said, slinging an arm around her. "I'm so glad we let her join the band two months ago."

"Let her?" Alex asked, scoffing. "Dude, you practically begged on your hands and knees for her to join when you heard her voice."

Luke scoffed and tried to play it cool, while his friends laughed. "So uh, Ren, after we load our instruments, we were gonna walk around and look at the art. Wanna come with? I'm sure Reggie would love the attention."

Florence glanced at Reggie, who was still blushing and looking at the ground. "You don't have to if you don't want to," he mumbled. Then he glanced at her shyly. "I certainly wouldn't complain if you did."

Florence smiled and nodded. "Um, yeah. I'd love to come with you guys."

"Cool," Reggie said, grinning. "Cool, cool, cool. Awesome."

|||

"Wait, why are we hiding in the car outside of this art festival? I'd much rather go walk around," Garcia said. "And ya know, look at the art."

"Because," Prentiss said, finally spotting the target. "That is why."

After Florence had left work, Prentiss immediately hunted down Garcia, who had been talking to Reid in her office. She grabbed the two of them with little explanation and dragged them all the way to the park. She had also handed each of them a pair of binoculars that were typically used for stakeouts. It took her a minute to find her in the crowd, but eventually, Prentiss spotted the pink hair. Garcia and Reid followed her line of sight and saw her too.

"Is that Ren?" Reid asked, focusing in on her.

"With a boy?" Garcia squealed excitedly. "Are they on a date? He's holding her skateboard for her! That's so cute."

"She said it wasn't a date," Prentiss said, smirking. "Technically, I think they're with the three other people walking in front of them."

"Should we be spying on them?" Reid asked though he didn't stop watching.

"We aren't spying. We're just... making sure he isn't dangerous," Prentiss said. The justification was partly true. While on one hand, yes, she was just nosy. But on the other hand, they had just finished a kidnapping case and she was a little on edge about Florence going out at night and meeting with a stranger. "Also, I promised her that I wouldn't tell anyone about this, so keep it to yourselves. Garcia, no telling Morgan."

Garcia's jaw dropped. "How in the world do you expect me to keep this from him? I tell him everything."

"This may have been a mistake," Prentiss admitted. "Oh well. Garcia, you brought your laptop, right? Look into this kid. The band's name is Sunset Curve and his name is Reggie. That's all I've got."

Garcia whipped out her laptop and got to work while Reid and Prentiss went back to watching.

"Both of their body languages suggest that they are nervous," Reid pointed out, adjusting his binoculars. "They glance at each other, make eye contact, and then look away. He is carrying her skateboard in order to be chivalrous. He'd likely offer to carry her backpack too if he weren't wearing his own."

"I found him!" Garcia said excitedly. "Reginald Shada is nineteen years old. He graduated from Potomac High School and is taking online college courses in Music Production. He's been in the band for three years, but it's only just now started booking solid gigs in the last few months after they got a new lead singer. All his social media is set to public so he's not hiding anything. Good grades, no record, nothing suspicious."

Reid looked away from Florence and at Garcia when she began laughing. "What?"

"There's a YouTube video from last year of him sitting in a baby swing at a playground. He got stuck and his friends had to call the fire department to cut him out of it," she said, still laughing. "Now, that is what the phrase "boys will be boys" should be used for."

"Getting stuck in a baby swing sounds like something Florence would do," Prentiss said, chuckling. "Hmm, I think he's taking something out of his backpack."

Garcia and Reid quickly picked up their binoculars to watch. Florence and Reggie had stopped and sat at a bench while his friends walked on without them. There was nothing suspicious about it, but they couldn't help but be on edge from their job. Deep down, they knew the boy wasn't going to pull out a weapon, but they had to be careful.

"Wait a minute," Garcia mumbled, narrowing her eyes to try and see clearer. "Is that what I think it is?"

"That's the Scrappy-Doo she wasted all of Morgan's money on trying to win," Reid stated. "Hmm, he must have gotten it after we left."

"That's so cute," Garcia said, melting. "I would give anything to hear what they were saying."

When Reggie presented it to Florence, her face lit up. She took the stuffed animal and hugged it tightly while smiling up at Reggie. She started talking adamantly, and he listed with a grin, occasionally laughing at the things she said.

"And she said he probably didn't like her," Prentiss said, smirking. "Oh, I am getting all the details on Monday."

"So, do we stay and keep watching them or leave and respect their privacy?" Reid asked.

"We're staying," Prentiss said, firmly. "But it's not because we don't respect her privacy. We're just making sure she gets home safe, even though he seems harmless."

"We should've brought snacks then," Garcia said. "Hey, Emily, wanna see the swing video?"

"Oh, absolutely."