CHAPTER NINE: UNDER INVESTIGATION !

13x14

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          THINGS HAD BEEN WEIRD SINCE JJ WAS CALLED IN TO TALK TO ASSISTANT DIRECTOR LINDA BARNES. Casey had figured that it was just precautionary for Barnes to talk to everyone on the team. Maybe she was getting promoted? Anyway, the team had more to think about with this case they were just brought in with.

The minute Casey settled herself in bed, they got called in again. And they were on a case just a few hours ago. "Thank you all for getting back here so quickly. I got a call from Chief Wheeler at the New Orleans Police Department. They've requested our help. Garcia, go ahead." Emily started.

Casey looked next to her and noticed a tense JJ, who just came from her meeting with Barnes. She didn't explain what had happened nor did she have time to. Casey could only guess from JJ's face that it wasn't good.

"The big easy has its own big bad operating in its midst. Earlier today, police uncovered a mass grave inside a vandalized crypt." Garcia explains.

"Tremé Cemetery. Ten bodies in total were discovered by the groundskeeper this afternoon." Emily stated. "Yeah. The bodies were buried and burned inside the secluded tomb that had been pried open. They are believed to have been placed there in the last few weeks. The tomb was off-limits due to some maintenance being done." Garcia informed.

"Looks like local PD is still working on IDing the victims." Rossi told. "Has a cause of death been determined?" Tara asked. "No. But the coroner did reveal this one super icky detail... all of the bodies had been drained of their blood." Garcia stated.

"Exsanguination? Before burning the bodies?" Casey questions. "Let's make sure to check on that first thing." Emily nods towards JJ. "Tremé Cemetery's an active site. It's famous. It's the oldest cemetery in the city." JJ spoke.

"Home to Marie Laveau," Spencer spoke. "The voodoo queen of New Orleans, known for her powers of clairvoyance, healing, and intimidation. Legend has it she once helped free a man accused of murder by praying for 72 hours straight with three hot peppers in her mouth." He explained.

"She was a real person?" Casey questioned and everyone looked her way. "I just thought she was a character in American Horror Story." She joked, nervously chuckling.

"Voodoo queen. I mean, is that what this is? Some kind of ritualistic killing?" Luke questioned. "I see these Xs here. They're used to denote the grave of a powerful voodoo practitioner." Matt tells, looking over the file.

"Markings like this aren't uncommon in these parts. These look like they've been here for a while." JJ stated. "Could be the reason our unsub chose this particular crypt to do his bidding." Rossi added.

"New Orleans PD wants us there ASAP." Emily stands up. "There is one more thing." Everyone turns to her. "I won't be coming along." Casey furrows her brows. "JJ will be acting as unit chief in my absence. I have a meeting with Assistant Director Barnes tomorrow morning. It's short notice, but as far as I understand, it's just a standard administrative review, so I'm sure everything will be fine." Emily assures.

"Go get 'em, boss. We'll be kicking ass in New Orleans." Casey stated as she stood up. "Actually, Casey, you'll be staying, too." Emily tells and Casey furrows her brows as well as the rest of the team. "From my understanding, Barnes will be wanting to meet with you, too."

"Me? Why me?" Casey asked. "That I don't know yet, but I'm sure it's nothing. If anything, you're merely a witness to review." Emily explains and Casey exchanges a look with JJ, who still has an uneasy look on her face. "Uh, okay." Casey puts her file down at the table. "See you later, guys." She tells unsurely.

As she walks out behind Emily, Casey turns to Garcia, who mouths: "What did you do?" Casey mouths back: "I don't know!"

With that, the rest of the team heads onto the jet, wondering why the hell Barnes would want to see Emily and Casey. They spent their first thirty minutes on the jet, discussing the topic.

"First Barnes pulls you in for a late-night meeting, then Prentiss and Willows. And it feels like something's going on." Luke expresses to the rest of the team and they can't help but agree. "Yeah, and why all the urgency? I mean, it couldn't have waited till we all got back?" Tara questioned.

"Something must have triggered an internal review." Rossi stated and it took Spencer a second to figure it out and he spoke, "It's me." Everyone turns to him. "It's been almost a year since my arrest in Mexico. Plus, at the time, Casey and I were still married, that's why she has to be there."

"It's just an annual review, standard operating procedure." JJ assures and Spencer can only hope she's right. He can't believe his going to Mexico and being arrested may be affecting Emily's job as well as Casey's job but even when something in his gut tells him something's wrong, he wants to hold onto that hope that JJ's right.

"Matt, you worked with Barnes on your last assignment. How much trouble are we in?" Luke questions and Matt sighs, "I mean, I hate to say it, but this is the exact same thing she did with the IRT. Before disbanding the unit. She started with the head of the team, then she worked her way down. She tried to pit us against each other." He explained.

"My thing is: I get why she has to talk to Emily, but Casey? There's more to it than that." Luke stated. "Well, Casey's a fighter. She'll go down swinging if she has to. For her and for Emily." Tara told.

"Barnes' reputation precedes her. She's climbed the ranks well." Rossi told. "Well, clearly she's good at her job." Tara said. "We're better." Spencer tells and Tara nods in agreement.

"And we haven't done anything wrong," JJ told. "We can't worry about this right now because we have a case. People need our help." Everyone nods in understanding. "So, let's get started with victimology."

The team knew they had to push this down for now because it wasn't a main priority but they hoped that Emily was right and that this was just standard procedure. They had to believe in that.

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Casey had never met Assistant Director Linda Barnes before. She'd heard of her through the horror stories from Matt Simmons about how she took the IRT down. Casey knew the type of person she was dealing with. Strauss was the same way before she grew on her. She just hoped this meeting with Barnes would go alright.

        Emily had currently been in Barnes' office, speaking to her and that had lasted for about an hour. Casey had been waiting outside for nearly thirty minutes, waiting for her turn. Casey paced outside in the hallway, heart beating out of her chest. She hated meetings, she hated this type of stuff all the time.

         Finally, Emily had exited out of the office, Linda opened the door for her as she left. Emily didn't say a word to Casey and didn't even look her way. That was not a good sign. Barnes plastered on a smug smile as she stood in front of Casey.

         "Agent Willows, Assitant Director Linda Barnes." Barnes holds her hand out for Casey to shake. "I don't believe we've met formally." Casey shakes her hand back. "No, I don't think we have." Casey smiles politely, trying to be off to a good start.

         "Come in," Barnes moves to let Casey in her office. "Please have a seat." She offers. Barnes settles herself into her own seat as Casey sits in front of her, straightening her posture as Barnes starts.

          Casey notices a tape recorder on the table. "I should inform you now, I will be recording this conversation as assessment." Barnes told and Casey nodded, "Whatever you have to do." Casey thought she'd might as well try and play nice with Barnes despite all the crap she's heard about her. She'd hope to see her true colors shortly.

         Barnes then spoke aloud, "Today is February 1st, 2018. This is Assistant Director Linda Barnes, sitting with Supervisory Special Agent Casey Willows. Now, Agent Willows, do you know why you're here today?"

       "To tell you the truth, I do not." Casey nodded and Barnes could tell that that was genuine. She couldn't tell with Agent Prentiss last time. 

        Barnes sits up as she looks from a file in front of her. "As I'm sure you're aware, it is the one-year anniversary of Agent Reid's arrest in Mexico following a high-speed chase with the local authorities." She stated.

        Casey nods, "Kinda hard to forget when it was your husband it happened to." She told.

       "Ex-husband, now, though, correct?" Barnes asked. "I mean, according to the paperwork you and Agent Reid recently turned in. You two never filled out a forum regarding your relationship?" She wondered with furrowed brows.

        Casey had figured they never really needed one with Rossi who had created the rules of fraternizing within the BAU. "Agent Hotchner when he was unit chief never presented one to us." She admitted. "But... I wasn't aware we— but... we managed. Work came before anything." She assured.

       With that, Barnes continued. "Your team traveled down to conduct your own investigation into the incident and, per your case report, transfer him to a federal facility in the US. I went through Agent Prentiss' findings and subsequent months-long investigation. The thing is, once I started to dig, I couldn't stop. What I found, Agent Willows, was that with Agent Prentiss at the helm, team loyalty is more important than Bureau policy."

        Casey furrows her brows in confusion. "And what are you implying here?" She questions.

      "I spoke with an Officer Cabrera in Matamoros, Mexico. Do you remember him?" Barnes narrows her eyes to Casey and she nods, fiddling with her hand in her lap. "I do."

      "He says Agent Prentiss deleted a voice memo in which Agent Reid allegedly confessed to the murder of Nadie Ramos. And according to the police in Matamoros, they overheard you and Agent Prentiss talking after the fact." Was that why Barnes called her in? To question her about her ex-husband's arrest? And the recording she told Emily to delete?

      "I think you have something to do with her deleting it and that's not just tampering with evidence. That's obstruction of justice, charges that could end your career." Barnes told and Casey gulped, knowing there was no shot but to try and keep her calm here.

      "I-I have no idea what you're talking about—" Casey tried but Barnes wasn't stupid enough to buy that. She's been in the Bureau ten years and she still can't put on a damn poker face? "Oh, you know exactly what I'm talking about, Agent Willows. In fact, the lying, the tampering with federal evidence, the acting out with no reprimand from your unit chief, it's become a habit now. But I guess your personal relationships within the bureau affected that." Barnes explained and Casey furrowed her brows, wondering what she meant by that.

        Casey looks down at the folder Barnes is holding and realizes that it's a file containing personal information about her. Her personal file. All of the cases she's worked, family members, reports, articles, lecture notes, every personal information regarding anything about her was in that file. And Barnes had a hold of it — and that was not a good sign.

       "You wouldn't have gotten far without your uncle, Jason Gideon, who was one of the founders of the BAU." Barnes told and Casey was taken aback by the comment.

      "With all due respect, Agent Barnes, my achievements I have made are my accomplishments and my accomplishments only." Casey told. "My relation to Jason Gideon had nothing to do with that unless there's a crime against nepotism here."

       "And you killed his murderer, correct? Donnie Mallick?" Barnes held out a photo of the unsub that murdered her uncle in cold blood. "And what's your point here?" Casey questioned.

       "My point here is that not only have you jeopardized your part on this team, you've taken the stakes on your own and don't look at the consequences because you're never been apprehended for them like many other agents are. Exhibit A is just very recently with the case in Arizona." Barnes told. Of course, that also had something to do with it. Maybe everything Casey had done in the last ten years of being a part of the BAU was the reason she was here in the first place.

       "I'm not gonna sit here and justify my actions or my job," Casey stated. "I'm aware of how bad it looks, I'm aware that I can't fix it. I'm aware that if I did something different, I wouldn't be in this position right now. So, you can fire me, you can take my badge away, lock me up and throw away the key but I'm not gonna run scared." Casey wasn't gonna let Barnes win. She would stand her own ground. Hotch would want that, Morgan would want that. Gideon would want that. And Barnes wasn't taking her down today.

       "Well, then," Barnes spoke, admiring the determination Casey had and was also frankly, threatened by. "Since you got that out of the way then I guess we'll discuss the other reasons why you're here." Casey sat up straight again. "Your part on this team has been less than extravagant. On many case files, you seem to have a pattern in handling suspects in your own way."

        "I handle them in my own way to protect citizens," Casey defends. "Especially if the suspect is out of control. And it has only happened a handful of times."

         Barnes raises her brows, amused. "Handful? Over the past ten years, you've handled suspects in ways that have defied your unit chief's orders. I could go down the list if you'd like." She holds up a few case files jotted with Casey's notes and name on them.

         Barnes starts as she flips open one. "We can start with your very first case with the BAU team, you were started as a consult and convinced Aaron Hotchner at the time that you could handle two suspects you had personal friendships with back in high school." Barnes closes the file.
         "Yes, but—" Casey tries but Barnes moves on.

         Barnes opens up another file. "Then, later on down the road, your team was assigned on a case regarding a serial murderer and rapist while you were busy making friends with a girl who was known for lying and stated that she was kidnapped - all while knowing you and your team had a case to figure out."
        Casey scoffs, "We caught our unsub because of—"

        Barnes moves on. "Or when you walked into a hostage situation without a vest on back in 2010. That surely had nothing to do with the the death of Agent Prentiss?"
       "That was years ago—"

         Barnes closes the file and then looks straight at Casey as she spoke. "Or the fact that a couple of months ago when you were interrogating an unsub, by yourself and when you yourself weren't sure it was the unsub, you shot at the security cameras before the suspect was found dead moments later."

         Casey was tired of these games and motioned towards the files. "What does any of this have to do with anything?"

        "You have defied direct orders from your unit chief. Prentiss and Hotchner." Casey sat back in her seat and crossed her arms, not caring about Barnes may do to her anymore. "And it wouldn't be the first time you hadn't, now would it?"

          Casey glared at Barnes. "I have half the mind to throw you in jail for your professional misconduct." Barnes threatened. "Professional misconduct? For what?" Casey questions.

         "Your abuse of power, falsifying documentation numerous times, using that badge of yours as personal gain. There are many reasons why you should've been fired and thrown in jail." Barnes explained her reasoning. "Surprised they didn't do that when they threw your husband in there."

         "Excuse me?" Casey questioned. Now, that comment was the last straw. "Say what you want about me and my career but do not bring my ex-husband into this. The charge against him was false. It was proven in documentation and by a judge. Agent Prentiss saw to that. He didn't kill anyone and I'm sorry but I'm not gonna sit here while you talk about him like that."

          Casey immediately stood up from her seat and headed towards the door. "You know, most women would agree about their ex-husbands." Barnes told. "Well, I'm not most women." Casey stated. 

         Barnes stood up from her seat. "Agent Willows—"
        "I think we're done for the day." Casey said as she closed the door behind her and silently applauding herself for not wringing that horrid woman's neck out.

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         "I swear, if I go to jail, it won't be because of my "professional misconduct", it'll be for killing that bitch." Casey told Emily as she paced in her office. "She's not gonna throw you in jail." Emily assures.

           Casey and Emily both discussed their talks with Barnes shut in Emily's office. She was threatening Emily's leadership while Casey's partnership and teamwork was also at stake.

           Casey plops down in Emily's office chair in front of her desk and shakes her head, "Can she really fire us? I mean, after all we've done here? It would just end like that?" She questioned. "She could try but you and I are not going down without a fight." Emily stated. "Especially you. You've got more to offer."

           The younger woman in the room shakes her head. "If anyone should go down for that recording, it should be me." Casey admits and Emily's eyes widen. "Casey—" Casey shakes her head. "The team has survived without me before. They can do it again."

           Emily hated the nonsense coming out of her mouth and grabs her hand. "We're not letting it happen. I'm not letting it happen. I chose to make that decision. I didn't do it because you told me to."

"But I gave you the idea, Emily." Casey stated. "I'll still try and fight but... I don't know how much fight I have left." She admits. Before she can even continue, Emily's cell begins to ring. She checks the caller ID. "It's Rossi."

           Emily answers, "Hey, Rossi. You got me and Casey. You're on speaker." Rossi starts, "Hey. Just, uh, checking in to see how you're both doing."

          Emily sighs: "It's tough to remain calm when someone's trying to get under your skin."

        "This isn't an annual review?" Rossi asks. "More like an abrupt interrogation." Casey stated and Emily takes a breath. "Ostensibly, yes." Emily nods to Rossi's question. "She's going after every decision I've made in the last ten years I've been here. She's thinking my nepotism has something to do with me being here." Casey explains and Emily follows, "And Barnes has been through every command decision I've made since taking over as Unit Chief and thrown them back at me, including Stephen's death." Casey shakes her head at that.

       "She's trying to rattle you two." Rossi stated. "Yeah. She's after something. I just don't know what." Emily told. "You know we've got your guys' backs, right?" Rossi reminds as Casey nods, "We do."

        "So how can we help?" Rossi asks and Casey looks towards Emily. "Solve this case. Show Barnes we can color within the lines." Emily told. "Okay. Well, hang in there. When I get back, drinks are on me." Casey and Emily both smile at Rossi's words. She was happy to know she had the rest of the team on her side as well as Emily's. "Deal." Emily said.

        "And, Emily," Rossi said. "Don't let her push you around. You've earned that seat." He reminds and Casey nods, "It's true, you know." She agrees. "And the same thing goes for you too, kiddo. You've worked too hard to be here."

         With that, Emily hangs up and both Casey and Emily exchange a look. "You're talking to her tomorrow?" Casey asks as she sighs. "Yeah." Emily nods. "You?" Casey nods, "Unfortunately."

          "Go home and try to get some sleep. You're gonna need energy if you're gonna be fighting for your job." Emily told. "The same goes for you, Em." Casey nods as she stands up and heads out of the office.

         In her head, she told herself it was gonna be okay but the awful pit in her stomach was telling her something otherwise.

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           When Emily had come in today to talk to Barnes, she had tried to figure out Barnes was playing and was trying to figure her out herself. After Emily called her out, Barnes had told Emily to take a break before she "would say something she would regret".

           So, Emily took a step back before returning to the office thirty minutes later. "Now that you've had a chance to gather yourself..." Barnes began to record the tape. "I would like to get back to the task at hand, because I may be ambitious, but I've read your file, Agent Prentiss, and there's more of me in you than you'd like to admit."

         "But the BAU is not infallible and I'd like to talk about your team and their role in all of this." Emily sits back, "I'm the unit chief. The buck stops with me."

        "Sure," Barnes holds Rossi's file in front of her. "But Agent Rossi has just published another book. He's been spending a lot of time with his family. Perhaps he hasn't always been as focused as he could be." She stated.

       "And Agent Reid's been busy with his teaching assignment," Barnes holds up Reid's file next. "Academia is a more natural fit for an intellect like his. I think even he would agree with that."

         "And last but certainly not least, the woman of the hour, Agent Willows," she holds up Casey's file as well. "She has a son to raise, by herself too since her divorce from Agent Reid. She could be focusing on better things like her family and restructuring it to her own satisfaction. It's always all or nothing with her."

         Emily furrows her brows and she knows what this is now. "Wait. That's what this is, a... fishing expedition?"

        "My investigation has revealed a pattern of negligence within the BAU." Barnes excused and Emily shakes her head. "You want me to give you a fall guy? So the bureau can avoid some bad PR and you can get a win. You thought if you threatened my career that I'd play ball."

        "Rossi put himself in charge following your abduction. Reid spent months in a federal prison. Willows has proven time and time again that she never learns from her consequences. None are good at following the rules." Barnes tells.

       "They're indispensable." Emily defends.
       "They are loose cannons!" Barnes argues. "I am asking you to sacrifice a couple of pieces to save the whole board."

       Emily shakes her head. There was no way she was going to be choosing who leaves and there was no way she'd be giving up Rossi, Reid or Casey. Over her own dead body, she wouldn't let it happen. She wouldn't force them out of here. "I stand by my team and the actions we've taken." She tells.

        After that, Emily left and thirty minutes later, Casey had entered the office now. Barnes had been seated at her seat as she walked in and Casey decided she was going to be a mature and rational adult as she walked in. "First of all, I want to apologize for how I left yesterday. But that is all I'm apologizing for. I don't apologize for the rest of it."

          Barnes had this smug smile on her face as she motioned for Casey to sit down and the first thing she'd done was plop a file down in front of Casey, marked in big red bold letters 'CLASSIFIED'.

          Casey furrows her brows once she sees her name on it and picks it up. "What is this?" She asks.

          Barnes crossed her arms as she stands. "The paperwork that was supposed to get you here." She told. "Signed by Aaron Hotchner when he was unit chief. This was around eight years ago, I believe. When George Foyet attacked him and Agent Hotchner believed he needed more backup so he had you come on board officially. But you wanna know a cruel secret?" Casey furrowed her brows and turns up to Barnes.

         "It was never accepted or notarized." Barnes drops the ball and Casey sits still, not understanding what she means by this and why she seems all... smug about it. "What do you mean?" Casey asks.

        "I mean, that you were never an official agent to begin with." Barnes told as Casey opens the file, only to see her information with a stamp next to it in big red bold letters: 'DENIED'. "You've never been an agent." Barnes told.

        Casey's heart drops to her stomach and she feels like she's gonna pass out. Her head spins and she begins to shake her head, blinking back the disappointment coming from her eyes. "No." She mutters out.

        It felt like someone had just killed her. Like her heart had been ripped out of her stomach. She felt like throwing up. How could this have happened? Who was careless enough for this? What sick game was this? She was never truly an agent at all? Was this all just a big lie?

      "I've-I've given ten years to this place. How-How-?" Casey can't even form the correct words for this. It felt like the last ten years had been a total lie. And she would never get any of it back. All of these years, she was proud of her achievements and accomplishments, only to never truly have the job of her dreams. There was no way this was true. But this was her file she was holding. The one that held all of her information, her lecture notes that useless now and reports and case files that she now had no part of. Something inside of her died as she stared at the file.

       "I apologize, Miss Willows. I know that at the time Agent Hotchner was going through things of his own regarding his ex-wife and son in WITSEC. Maybe he just... forgot." Casey knew that Hotch wouldn't forget that. He wouldn't. He just wouldn't.

        And there was a part of her that wanted Barnes to lie but she was telling the truth and the proof was right in front of her. This showed that she had no choice but turn in her badge and gun... considering she didn't deserve them in the first place.

       
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          The minute Emily found out, she went berserk, trying to figure out how this could have happened. Barnes dug through the file regarding Casey's information only to find it was misplaced nearly ten years ago. No matter how much Emily pleaded and prodded at Barnes to see to it that it was a misunderstanding, Barnes didn't care. Casey already turned in her badge and gun. If she could even call it turning it in in the first place.

        Emily kept assuring to Casey that there had to have been some mistake but Casey didn't want to hear it. She knew that there wasn't anything anyone could say to make her feel better. She'd looked over everything and everything said 'DENIED' 'DENIED', 'DENIED'. She may as well had written that on her forehead, along with 'idiot'. Her heart banged weakly once she had seen the rest of the team come back from their case.

        Emily had told the team to meet in the conference room because she and Casey had something to tell the team. They'd already made it clear that it was bad news. "We have announcements to make." Emily told.

      "I have been suspended from active duty. I've turned in my badge and my gun." Emily reveals and everyone's faces drop. "So have I." Casey added. "Not like that mattered anyways. It wasn't real." She muttered the last part to herself but it was loud enough to hear.

       "What? I don't understand." Garcia questioned, confusedly. "For how long?" Spencer asked, looking right at Casey as he spoke. He kept trying to figure out what was running through her mind.

       "Indefinitely." Emily answered. "JJ will continue being acting unit chief, but as of today, Assistant Director Linda Barnes will be personally overseeing the unit."

        "Casey," Spencer spoke. "What did you mean by 'it wasn't real'?" He questioned and Casey and Emily exchange a look.

        Casey clears her throat, avoiding eye contact with her team, only looking at the center of the table. "Apparently when Hotch made me an official agent, the paperwork for it was never notarized. It was never looked over. And they denied it. Which means, all these years that I've been an "agent"... it's been a lie. I've never been one. Not officially."

          Her breath caught in her throat and she turns her heel towards the door. "Excuse me." Everyone watches as she walks out, in shock of what they'd just heard.

        "Are we under investigation?" Rossi questions and Emily doesn't hesitate to answer: "Yes, we are under investigation. And I tried, but with the suspension, I can't protect you. I'm sorry."

         It looked like this team was on their own and Casey felt even more alone, knowing the rest of her team had now known what happened.

         The last ten years. She'd thought she made a difference here only to find out it's been a lie this entire time. How could someone had let this happen? Did Hotch even know about this? Who let her turn in reports, case files, paperwork? It didn't make any sense. Was any of it even real? She didn't know how to feel but it felt like she was lost in a horizon of darkness.

          Now, ex-"agent" Casey Willows had no choice but to start anew. And she had no idea where to start.

absolutely none of this make sense BUT BEAR WITH ME BEAR WITH ME
AND PLEASE DONT HURT ME FOR THIS CHAPTER ITS GONNA HURT FOR A LITTLE BIT I SWEAR

but anyways
me to linda barnes:

now i love zack and cody's mom and jody from supernatural but BRO how is this the same woman and how did she make me HATE HER SO MUCH WHEN I LOVE KIM RHODES AHHHHHH

anywaysssss
big things are coming up in the next chapter and the next one after that hehehehehe

get ready it's boutta get wild
-mya😈