CHAPTER FOUR: PARDON MY PAST !

13x05

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"WE GOT A CALL FROM BRIDGEWATER, FLORIDA PD." Garcia informed the team as they sat around the BAU table in the conference room. "The body of Rebecca Strong was found last night in a rest stop women's room with and without things."

          Once Casey noticed the inverted pentagram, she realized just exactly who they were dealing with. And a chill ran down her spine.

          "Whoa." Luke comments. "Yeah, and then it gets worse." Garcia shows the photos of the missing fingers as well as the best aspect. "Oh, don't tell me..." Casey sighs.

        "All the telltale signs are here." JJ pointed out, remembering the case she delivered to the team years ago. "Pentagram, legs and fingers gone." Rossi added, looking through the file. "There's even one neat aspect." Emily points out to right of the screen. "Her earrings and jewelry are laid out equidistant on the floor." Casey sighed, "Sure as hell looks like him."

         "Looks like who?" Matt questioned.
         "Floyd Feylinn Ferrell." JJ answered as his mugshot comes up and Casey sighs, realizing she is now going to deal with the same case she dealt with ten years ago during her internship at the BAU. It seemed just like yesterday they just went on this case. "A psychotic cannibal who'd been killing under the radar for years." Spencer added.

         "He killed ten prostitutes then moved up to low-risk victims." Emily told Tara, Matt and Luke since they weren't there when they'd gone over the case. "He kept slipping through the cracks and avoiding justice so people referred to him as lucky." JJ stated. "The worst of it was he owned a barbecue joint, and he fed one of the victims to the search party." Rossi added on and Casey cringed at the memory of finding out how, considering she was the one who figured it all out before he even said it.

"God is in all of us."
"So is Tracey Lambert." Floyd smirked devilishly.

"That is a very..." Tara is interrupted when Garcia closes the tablet in front of her abruptly. Everyone turns to the woman and Casey sees that she has a lost expression on her face. It's then that Casey remembers why Garcia has that expression on her face. James Colby Baylor ring a bell?

"I... I have a computer..." Garcia walks out of the room with no warning and Casey looks down. Everyone that was there that night exchanged a look and realizes what's happening.

Tara has a confused expression on her face. "Was it something I said?" She asks. "No, that's not you." Emily takes a seat in between Spencer and Casey. "Um..." Emily takes a pause. "We were working Ferell's case when she was shot."

"Garcia was shot?" Luke furrows his brows in confusion, wondering who would wanna shoot the sweetest woman in the goddamn world. Sure, he and Garcia always continuously bumped heads but he truly did care about her.

"Ten years ago," JJ stated. "Happened right in front of her apartment building." Matt looks towards the group in wonderment. "Was it a random act of violence?" He asks.

"No, he lured her into dating him before she IDed him. Turns out, he was a dirty cop named Colby Baylor and she was getting close to exposing him." JJ explained as Casey looks down.

That date would've never happened had she not encouraged Garcia to go on that date when she had second thoughts. Sure, it was ten years ago and even though Garcia assured her and told Casey it wasn't her fault, there was a small voice in her head that kept telling her it was.

"So, he shot her." Luke said as he looked down. "Where is he now?"
"He's dead." JJ answered. Casey looks over at JJ, remembering that she was the one who killed him. Hell, she was right next to her when she did. It was the first time JJ killed someone and she knew she would've done it again for Garcia. Luke nods, "Good."

"Let's just give her a few minutes," Emily straightened in her seat and tilted her head towards Tara. "Tara, what were you saying?"

Tara looks towards the group. "Projected cannibalism," She started. "The act of inducing others to consume human flesh unknowingly. You do not see that very often." Casey nods in agreement. "Trust us when we say we didn't see either." Thank God I never ate that damn chili.

"Well, projection seems to be a thing for Ferell. He fed the fingers of ten previous victims to a later one." Emily told. "His way of telling us he was ten victims deep before we even knew he existed." Rossi added.

"You think he's back?" Luke asked. "Not unless he really lives up to his nickname. He's been locked up in the Hazelwood psychiatric hospital for the past ten years." Emily explained.

Matt interjects, "Well, then it's a copycat wanting to ride the wave of horror left in Ferrell's wake."

"Statistically, copycat killers tend to be vulnerable narcissists. Though overtly boastful, they harbor deep-seated feelings of inadequacy. Emulating notorious crimes makes them feel powerful." Spencer explained.

Casey continues, "Ferrell was found to be mentally incapable of assisting in his own defense, so, he skated through without a trial. He was never sent to prison or jail."

"If this unsub is anything like Ferrell, he's got a taste for it. And copycats typically don't stop after one victim." Emily stands up from her seat. "Wheels up in 20." Before everyone exits, they hear Emily decide to pull JJ aside and when they get to the jet, they see that JJ isn't there.

Emily told JJ to stay behind with Garcia since they were worried about her. Casey understood, she was worried about Garcia, too. She knew what PTSD felt like. When she called them on the jet to debrief about the victims, Garcia seemed normal, to say the least. It didn't stop the team from being worried about her, though.

"The rest stop victim, Rebecca Strong, was a sex trade worker." Garcia started as they looked over the old files versus the new ones. "High risk." Casey stated and Emily added, "Like the early victims Ferell preyed on back in 2007."

"After that, he graduated to low-risk victims like Sheryl Timmons, who's also the only known survivor." Rossi explained. "Garcia, track down Sheryl." Emily tells and the woman on the monitors nods. "On it."

"What was Rebecca like as a person?" Luke asked as the team looked through their files. Tara is the first to answer. "She's described as strong-willed, determined. Working to support her two kids."
"When was Rebecca last seen?" Matt asks Garcia on the screen. "Well, her boyfriend, and by boyfriend, I mean pimp, Jason Carlsbad, reported her missing when she didn't show up and... donate to his college fund." Casey makes a face as Garcia talks about it. "I'm sending you deets right now."

"Normally, I would want to look at him. Pimps hurt women they exploit to gain control, but an MO this complex doesn't add up." Rossi explains. Luke nods in agreement. "Yeah, the cannibalism angle wouldn't make sense either."

"Eroticizing the consumption of human flesh is a pretty specific fetish. Are we sure that he's copying that from Ferell?" Spencer furrows his brows in questioning.

Emily nods to her team. "We need to nail that down. Dave, Tara, Casey, go to the ME.'s office." Casey nods at both Rossi and Tara. "Matt and Spencer, head to Hazelwood State. Notorious criminals have fans who might want to copy their work." Matt and Spencer nod to each other as Spencer shoots a finger gun over in Matt's direction.

"Luke, you and I will head to the PD and set up a base of operations with Detective Russ." Emily decides as she splits up the groups.

When they arrive at the ME's office, it's exactly how Casey remembers. She was sent to the ME's office with Hotch, Spencer and Emily ten years ago. It was then that she realized just how old she was and how long ago it was. She even recognized the coroner that worked there just years ago.

       "I was deputy coroner in 2007," Dr. Fulton stated. "Didn't think I'd ever see this again. Legs and fingers removed antemortem. Inverted pentagram postmortem." He explained.

"Cause of death exsanguination?" Rossi asks as the doctor nodded, "Mm-hmm. Due to bisection of the carotid when her throat was slashed. Just like before."

"Looks like blunt force trauma to the head as well." Tara added as she read the report. "Again, just like the historic cases," Fulton looks up. "Whoever is doing this has Ferell down to a 'T'."

Rossi sighs and shakes his head. "That doesn't make sense. Ferrell's been locked up for years." Casey nods in agreement, "Yeah, why would someone be copying him now? After all this time?"

"Can't tell you, but this copycat seems to be an exact copy." Fulton stated, causing the agents and doctor to look at one another in wonderment. "How so?" Tara asks.

Fulton turns around and holds one of the X-Ray scans up to the board. "I X-Rayed the stomach contents before I removed them. Five fingers in the stomach, fed to the victim just prior to her death, none of them hers."

Casey furrows her brows as she looks at the scan. Her and Rossi exchange a look and Tara notices. "What?" Casey looks at her colleagues. "Only Ferell knew that signature aspect." She told. Rossi nods as he gets his cell out to call Emily. "We never released it to the public."

Casey turns back to the X-rays. "This just got sinister." She comments.

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Rossi, Tara and Casey arrive at the PD to tell Emily and Luke what they've uncovered. "All of the fingers found in Rebecca's stomach are from the same person, but they aren't hers. So we have one other unknown victim." Rossi told.

"Well, JJ and Garcia are searching for other missing women who fit his victimology." Tara assures and Luke nods, "You know, the fact that the killer forced Rebecca to swallow the fingers of a prior victim means that he must have had inside knowledge of the old cases."

Casey shakes her head. "Yeah, but how? Ferrell hasn't had any contact with the outside world as we know it." And as if God was laughing in Casey's face, Spencer and Matt walk into the room with news of their own.
"Ferrell's been out on weekend home visits, so it is possible he's killing again." Spencer told and Casey looks over at Rossi. "Well, if this isn't the definition of 'spoke too soon'." Casey commented.

Emily shakes her head. "I can't believe they'd be that reckless. How did this happen?" Rossi then speaks, "Well, it happened with Hinkley and Vince Li, the cannibal who killed and beheaded a guy on a bus."

"And what's worse, 'cause this is a mental health issue not a criminal case, they had no duty to tell us or the public." Matt stated.

Detective Russ walks into the room and looks at Emily. "Sorry to interrupt, but Ferell's lawyer, Billie Williams, is here. You're gonna want to hear what she has to say."

When Emily came back from talking to her, she explained to the rest of the team that Ferrell's lawyer had claimed that Ferrell was innocent and believed he was set up by they original killer ten years ago. It was the dumbest crap Casey had ever heard.

"Well, we've got our work cut out for us now. We need to attack this on two fronts. One, find out if Ferell is killing, two, look into his lawyer's 'he was set up' theory." Emily told.

"Are we really buying that Ferrell had an accomplice and the team missed it before?" Matt questioned. "No matter how confident we are in our past work, we need to look at all possibilities." Rossi told and Casey shook her head, facing the board.

"Casey, something wrong?" Emily asks and Casey sighs as she looks at Ferrell's mugshot. "He did this." She told. "I know he did it. The first time he walked through those doors, I was terrified of him. I look at this picture and I'm still terrified. I was right the first time on this and I'm not wrong. I can't be." Casey was determined to get Ferrell right where they had them. He did this. She knows he did it. They weren't lying before.

"Let the profile decide." Rossi tells Casey and Emily nods along. "And let's find out if some phantom manipulative killer exists."

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Later on in the night, Emily had Spencer, Casey, Matt and Luke staked out in front of Ferrell's sister's home since Ferrell was on a home visit. Matt and Spencer were in one vehicle while Luke and Casey were in the other.

"I'm sorry, but I gotta ask, did you guys eat the tainted chili?" Matt wondered out loud to both Spencer and Casey since he and Spencer were on the phone with Casey and Luke. "I have issues with group food." Spencer answered.

"Did you eat the chili, Casey?" Luke asks as Casey rests her arm on the window and looks Luke's way with furrowed brows and she sighs. "What do you think, Luke?" She asked.

"That's not a direct answer." Matt spoke.
"Uh, neither was Reid's." Casey told.
"Did you eat the chili?" Luke pressed.
"No!" Casey said defensively.
"Why so defensive?" Matt teased.
"Literally ask Reid. He remembers." Casey stated.
"She really didn't eat the chili." Spencer told, siding with Casey. "Thank you." Casey tells.

Luke and Matt chuckle to themselves and they looked back towards Ferrell's sister's place. "That must be Lori, Ferell's sister." Spencer points out.

"Apparently he's had a lot of home visits in the past few months, so it's unlikely she's in any danger." Matt added. "She has a 9-year-old son, though. It's a risk having Ferrell around someone so vulnerable." Spencer follows.

Casey feels eyes on her and she yells once she sees Ferrell staring at the car. "Ah! Oh." She sighs and takes a breather. "Sorry. We have Ferell in the window. Scared the ever living shit out of me, but he's here."

"So he hasn't slipped out." Luke asked. "All right, maybe he's lucky, but he's no magician. His ankle bracelet monitor puts him within 30 feet of the base station." Matt explains. "He also sees us. He knows if he goes anywhere, we're following right behind him." Casey stated.

Eventually, Matt and Spencer hung up, leaving Casey and Luke to their senses. Casey looks through the binoculars she brought along to their vehicle and tries to get a better look throughout the house. Nothing so far.

"Do you remember much about the case?" Luke wonders out loud and Casey sighs, trying to remember as she puts her binoculars down. "Well, it was my second case on the team. I was a twenty year-old intern, didn't know what the hell I was doing half the time." She leans back in her seat. "It's just... weird to me that it's been ten years. Ten years since everything that happened."

"Do you remember when Garcia got shot?" Luke asked and Casey nods as she looks at the dash. "Like it was yesterday. You never forget that call." She looks ahead and then back at the house.

Luke tilts his head forward and looks at Casey. "Hey," He spoke and Casey looks at him. "You're holding back more than you're letting on."

Casey sighs. She had talked about this often since what happened to Garcia. She couldn't remember how scared she was after getting that call from JJ and the voices in her head telling her that it was her fault. And it was nobody's fault but hers. And it was the definite icing on the cake when Morgan straight up said it was. Of course, it was forgiven and forgotten but some part of her brain liked to tell her it was. It was weird how she didn't think about this until now.

"That date that Penelope went on years ago? She was having second thoughts and I encouraged her to go on that date. And even when everyone kept telling me that it wasn't my fault, even Penelope, there was still that little voice in my head that told me it was." Casey said about to Luke. "Back in my intern days, I was... pretty naive. I, uh, didn't think of the consequences as much. It wasn't until I got shot that I got a dose of my own karma."

"You got shot?" Luke questioned as concern filled his voice and Casey nodded, "'Bout seven months after Garcia did. After that, I definitely got a wake-up call." She looks down. "I was just an intern, you know? Nothing bad happens to interns. Until it does."

The day Casey was shot, everything turned around. That was when Casey stopped being so careless about things. And she knew she had to take her own responsibilities and exceed her expectations. Everyone expected it of her. And she wasn't gonna let anyone down. And to this day, she still felt like she was trying to prove herself. To who? She didn't know.

Luke puts a comforting hand on Casey's shoulder, assuring to her without words that he was there for her. When Reid went to prison, they became close and now that he was out, it was like Casey distanced herself away from him. He had no idea that it was because of the argument JJ and Casey had about him. Casey didn't mean to distance herself but she knew that what she was doing was wrong and now, she could only see Luke as a brother and that was it. He was a brother.

          The four had stayed there the entire night until the next morning when they decided to come to Lori's door. She'd lifted the curtain to see who it was and internally groaned once she saw the FBI at her doorstep.

          Lori opens the door and her young son is standing right behind her. "Can I help you?" She questions. "Yes, we're with the FBI." Spencer stated.

         "Mommy..." The boy tells and Lori looks at her son. "Go play, honey." He walks away and she leaves the door behind her a crack and stands towards the agents. "You're scaring my son. Staring at our house all day and night. What am I supposed to tell him?"

        "We're just doing our jobs, ma'am," Casey assures. "We don't mean no harm." Luke speaks up from beside Casey. "We'd like to talk to you and your brother."

        Lori looks down. "We are the only family Floyd's got. I went to that damn institution for 10 years to visit. Can't you guys just wait till he goes back there?" She questions.

          The door opens fully, revealing Ferrell himself and a chill is sent down Casey's spine. "It's no problem, Lori. I'll speak with them." Ferrell tells. "You have to wait. I'm on my way to church." He says it so normally, it frightens Casey to her core. Suddenly, she's that scared intern who could hardly look him in the eye.

         "You're on a monitored home visit," Matt stated. "You can't leave." Lori speaks, "His doctor says he has to stay within 1,000 yards of the monitoring station. The church is just around the corner. He always goes to Bible study when he comes home."

          Ferrell nods and then makes eye contact with Spencer. "Hey, I remember you." He tells Spencer. "Where's your friend, Agent Morgan?" Spencer gulps as he maintains eye contact with Ferrell. And soon enough, Ferrell darts his eyes over to his ex.

        "And I remember you, too." Ferrell stated, looking Casey's way. Casey finds her herself staring right at Ferrell to her own surprise. Ferrell stared right back and notices something. "Your hair was darker."

         To his own surprise, Spencer finds himself blurting out in a low tone: "Don't talk to her." He suddenly didn't care about what happened to himself when he faced Ferrell.

         Through the dawn of freaking time, married or not, Spencer Reid would always be protective of and always have Casey's back.

        "Reid," Casey started. "It's fine." She assures. She felt safe looking right at Ferrell as she spoke, knowing he'd have to get through Luke, Spencer and Matt if Ferrell were to ever lay a hand on her.

         Noticing the tension, Luke diverts the subject. "You don't mind if we look around while you're gone? I mean, you got nothin' to hide, right?" Ferrell shakes his head, "Have at it. I can't be late. Jesus Christ awaits."

         Matt and Casey both exchange a curious look to one another as Ferrell walks past them. "I'll go with you." Matt offers. "Me, too." Casey nods, deciding to keep a distance as far as she could from Ferrell and having Matt stay in between them as they walked.

          Five minutes in being in the church, Ferrell went to the restroom before the Bible study and Casey immediately got a call on her cell phone from Spencer, telling her that he and Luke found a satanic shrine that Ferrell was hiding.

        "All right, thanks, Reid. No, I'll bring him in so we can confront him about the shrine."

         "You're the devil!" Casey heard as she turned around and saw Matt with Ferrell and a woman screamed in Ferrell's face. He seemed unbothered by what was going on. "You have no place in the house of God! Get out!"

       "I'm sure you heard that. I gotta go." Casey hung up and Matt stood in between the woman and Ferrell as she continued to scream at him. "Ma'am! Ma'am! Listen, you don't want to do this. He's lawfully on the premises." Matt told.

        Casey rushed over as she tries to get the woman away from Ferrell but all she can do is argue. "Lawfully? Lawfully? He's a monster." Beside Casey, Spencer had helped Casey with getting the woman away from Ferrell.

       "You all should be ashamed of yourselves! You know what he did? He killed my daughter 10 years ago!" She shouted as Spencer and Casey brought her outside and Luke and Matt retrieved Ferrell to take him into custody.

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         Another victim was found and Emily called in the next of kin to tell them and ask if maybe they'd had any connection since they were now profiling the partner. The victim's wife had admitted she'd had a brother that was cleaning up his act but that her wife felt unsettled about.

        They'd decided to call Garcia to see if she'd found anything since she'd received a special visitor and was feeling much better. "Woman of wonder. How may I assist thee?" By her words, she was sounding much better.

         Emily walked in the room on her cell with Garcia on the other line as Matt, Spencer and Casey sat in their conference room

       "I just sent you a name... Marcus Manning. I need everything." Emily ordered and Garcia piped in, "Hot on his trail. Okay, let's see. Marcus. He's in his 30s. He is a lifelong area resident. He's had a long history of therapy. Yikes! He scores very high on the NEO suggestibility scale."

        "That would make him easy to manipulate." Spencer stated. "Looks like he was bullied a lot in high school. He's got a sealed juvie record. That's gonna take some time." Garcia informed.

         Emily shakes her head, "We need addresses, home, work." She tells and JJ begins to speak on the other line. "The only address that comes up is a temporary one at an SRO." Casey shakes her head, "He wouldn't be keeping them in there."

       "Nevertheless, I'm sending you his DL and address." Garcia told. They'd gotten the photos and addresses they needed and Casey looked at her cell of the photo. She furrows her brows and recognizes the man on her screen.

       "Wait a second." Matt spoke. "You see it, too?" Casey asks. "Yeah, I've seen this guy before. He was at Ferell's Bible study." Matt shows the photo to Emily and Casey added, "He was sitting right next to him."

        Matt thinks back about what happened. "He seemed incensed when Lee-Ann tried attacking Ferell, but he didn't intercede." Casey shakes her head, remembering the incident herself. 

        "No," Emily said. "If he's the killer, he would wait for his best opportunity to strike." Spencer stands up straight. "He may have transferred his rage onto Lee-Ann. I'm gonna check in on her." Spencer walks out of the room.

       "Now that I'm thinking back, Marcus had a brown paper lunch bag on the floor between him and Ferrell. Amongst all the commotion, I lost the bag, but Casey and I were with Ferrell the entire time at the church, except for..." Matt thinks back and pauses and Casey finishes off for him. "When he was in the men's room." Casey thinks back herself. "I don't think that bag was there when he left." Matt adds with terror shown on his face. "Rebecca's fingers could have been inside."

        Spencer walks back in the room. "Lee-Ann's not answering her cell phone. Evidently her husband got drunk, fell asleep on the couch, woke up as soon as she went to work, but she never went in."

       "Marcus must have taken her." Matt concludes.

        Rossi and Luke were set over to Ferrell's old house since that was where Marcus took care of his crimes and admitted he killed the women ten years ago but it wasn't true. He slashed his own throat before Rossi and Luke could get the truth out of him and that confession was all that Ferrell needed for his freedom.

          Casey hated the way this case ended, as did the rest of the team. Tara snatched the photo of Floyd off the wall and shook her head. "We know, behaviorally, that Marcus was lying." She started.

         "Regardless, we have to turn over his dying declaration to Ferrell's defense counsel." Rossi told. "She'll use it to get him out." Luke spoke. "That's what Ferrell wanted all along." Matt followed and Spencer continued, "Manipulated the mental health system to get out again by coercing Marcus into taking credit for his crimes."

          Detective Russ spoke up, following the chain of the conversation. "And I'm left with a cannibal about to be released back into my community. How do I protect them?"

        "None of us wants to risk waiting for Ferrell to kill again, and we all believe he will, but there's simply nothing we can do legally at this time." Emily explains.

          Casey shakes her head, "There has to be something we can do to prevent him from being free. It's not right." Rossi nods in agreement. "I agree, I can't leave here doing nothing. I'll try to get the hospital board to understand Ferrell's hand in all this." Casey nods, "I'll go with."

         Russ nods to the two agents. "I appreciate that and everything you've done for us. Thank you."

          When Rossi and Casey went to the hospital board for the hearing, Ferrell and his lawyer were there. Casey had let Rossi take care of the talking portion since he was better with words. The hospital board wasn't going to change their minds, though.

        "We have no further questions, Agent Rossi. You may be excused." The doctor stated. "I would like to be heard. We believe that Manning's dying declaration was a false confession." Rossi was prepared for the argument.

       "Agent Rossi, this is an administrative hearing, not a criminal trial. You've answered our questions, now you are excused." Rossi turns over to Casey as he steps away from the stand and doesn't know what else to do. He sits right next to Casey.

       "Floyd Feylinn Ferell, will you please stand." The man and his lawyer both stand up. "As the chair of the board of Hazelwood State Hospital, I'll present you with your psychiatric and therapeutic assessments."
       "Thank you, ma'am."
       "We find your behavior and exemplary participation in the therapeutic process demonstrates excellent control of past deviant fantasies."
        "Yes, ma'am."
        "We further find your adherence to medication schedule and safety plan indicate you are no longer a risk to yourself or others."

          Casey looks over as Luke and Emily walk in the room with a file in their hands and Emily hands it to Rossi and Casey to look over. They'd discovered in Marcus' autopsy report that he had swallowed five of Rebecca's fingers, even though all of her fingers were missing. Ferrell had the last five fingers in his stomach. This was enough to arrest him.

          Rossi had taken this opportunity to object. "Ms. Chairwoman, I apologize for the interruption, but I have an issue that I need to discuss with the board."

          The board looks at one another and the woman sighs, "If it is absolutely necessary." She tells.

         "Well, my colleague has just handed me Marcus Manning's autopsy report. The ME discovered five of the last victim's fingers in his stomach." Rossi tells, standing in front of the board.

         The doctor furrows her brows. "What relevance does that have to the matter before this board?"

        "Well, the remaining fingers were never found. And so I have here a search warrant to serve Mr. Ferrell." Rossi holds a paper over to the doctor.

         Ferrell's lawyer speaks up. "I object to this obvious attempt to punish my client." Ferrell then speaks up for himself in his defense. "You can search my room, my sister's house, even my old place. You won't find anything." He has a certain smirk on his face as he speaks and Casey has had enough.

        "What Agent Rossi neglected to say was that the warrant isn't to search a location," Casey starts walking towards the board. "It's for an X-ray of Floyd Feylinn Ferrell's digestive tract."

         Rossi walks towards Ferrell with Casey behind him and Luke and Emily behind Ferrell. "You see, we're gonna find Rebecca's other five fingers in your stomach... Floyd."

          Ferrell has a terrifying look on his face and it's a look of revenge. He tries to swipe at Rossi but Emily and Luke hold him down as they arrest him. "No! I'll kill you! No!" He yells.

         "And since this board has just given you a clean bill of mental health, we can now try you for these recent murders as an accessory, as well as first-degree murder for... all the murders you committed ten years ago."

          Luke and Emily detain Ferrell and take it away into custody. Rossi and Casey stood as justice was served and Ferrell was taken away for good.

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         When they'd flown back on the jet, Casey discovered the guest that had made Garcia feel better had still been at the BAU, in his old office. JJ had specifically messaged Casey herself about the said guest.

           Casey had made her way to Derek Morgan's old office and had seen he was sitting on his old couch. "Well, if it isn't Derek Morgan." Casey smiled and Derek stood up, tall and mighty with a playful look on his face. "Uh-uh, I got a bone to pick with you, missy." He started.

          Casey is taken aback by him backing away and then points to her. "Why didn't you tell me you and the kid broke up?" He wonders aloud and Casey furrows her brows. She thought that she had told him and Savannah about it.

          "Oh," Casey tries to remember but then comes to conclusion that she never did tell him. "That never came up, did it?" She asks. "I didn't tell you?" Morgan shakes his head. "Nope," Casey sits down on the couch and Morgan sits next to her. "Care to explain?"

           Casey sighs, not even knowing where to begin. "I... just... we were fighting a lot. You knew, you saw. It wasn't healthy and I'd given him so many chances and everything we went through... it just shattered us. How'd you even find out anyway?"

         "You should know by now that Garcia still tells me things. Specifically things that have always involved you and Reid." Morgan told.

          "So, can I attempt to bring you two together by any chance?" Morgan asked and Casey shook her head, "Too late for that. I already asked for a divorce." Casey stated and Morgan tilted his head at Casey in disbelief. "Ace..."

         "What?" Casey chuckles. "I'm allowed to make my own decisions, Morgan. I'm a grown woman." She shakes her head. "You know, ten years ago, I would've never thought I'd be in this situation. Married, pregnant, divorce."
         "Actually, switch the first two words around. That's you to a 'T'." Casey smacks Morgan hard on the chest at his joke. "Hey, I'm just joking! Damn, when'd you learn to hit hard?" Casey laughs at Morgan.

           "You know, ten years ago, you were just an intern. Now, look at you. You hit double-digits on this team. You made it through all the good and the bad." Morgan told. "Well, so has Penelope." Casey stated and looks down in her lap. "I was a little harsh on you back then about that, wasn't I?" Morgan thinks and Casey shrugs, "It's whatever. It was a long time ago."

           Morgan shakes his head, "I'm sorry if I ever made it feel like her getting shot was your fault. Because it wasn't. You were just trying to be a good friend to her." Casey has tears brimming in her eyes. "You know, sometimes, I feel like I'm not. Sometimes, I feel like it's my fault. But I love Penelope. You know I do. But there's always gonna be that part of me that still blames myself for that night. I just thank God she's still alive."

            Morgan puts an arm around Casey. "I think you're doing a good thing with you and Reid getting a divorce." He tells, causing her to look his way with furrowed eyebrows. She never would've expected him to say that. "I may not like it but I respect it. You have to do what you have to do."

            Casey smiles, "Thanks, Morgan. It's good to know I have someone that understands." She tells. "Even if what you have to do is dye your hair for a change, Blondie." Morgan notes to Casey's changed hair. "Okay, this was my decision. And it looks good!"

             When Morgan finally left to go back home, the rest of the team said their hellos and goodbyes and finished up their paperwork for the night. They'd all been walking out for the night when they were met with JJ and Garcia.

          "Here they are. It's the whole... everyone, okay, whole family, whole family is here." Everyone stops in their tracks and Garcia stands in front of everyone. "Whole family, I would like to take this opportunity to formally apologize. I am so—"

         Emily shakes her head, "You don't have to apologize." She assures. "We all understand from experience." Garcia raises her brows. "Really?" Emily nods, "Yeah." Casey agrees, "And what's a little PTSD every now and again? We all get it." She tells.

        Garcia nods and sighs in relief. "All right. I'll shake that off. Uh, I am going to recommit to living life to the fullest. Right now, to that end, I'd like to invite everybody over to my house for a celebration of life, liberty, and the pursuit of responsible intoxication." She smiles and Casey nods, "I am so in."

       "To the home cave!"

hey lovelies!!!

hope you enjoyed this one with all of the callbacks- it was my favorite to write although my writing sometimes feels a bit rushed lol

you're most likely gonna hate me for the next one🤭 maybe not too bad but definitely a tear jerker (?) most likely

and ofc i had to add a morgan scene in here
AND PROTECTIVE!REID HELLO🥵
there will be plenty more where that came from and they may not be together no more but you don't mess with his baby mama fr😁

look at my cutie patootie🤭 i wanna eat him- I MEAN MEET HIM HEHEHEHHE
either way, tomato, to-mah-to🤷‍♀️

anywaysssssss
thank you for reading!
i love you all!
next chapter is 'the bunker' with my own bit of an original on here ig (?)
but yeaaaaaa
-mya </33333