CHAPTER FIVE: WHITE HORSE !

13x06

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         DRINKING RESPONSIBLY WAS NEVER QUITE SOMETHING CASEY WILLOWS HAD EVER DONE. To this day, she still couldn't. But her good friend, Luke Alvez was the same way. Which could explain why Matt took them both back to Casey's place when it was time to go home.

         "You sure you two are gonna be alright?" Matt questioned as he entered the house with Luke on one hip and Casey on the other. "Oh, don't worry about it, Matty! We're all good!" Casey chuckled. "And you really don't mind Luke staying here tonight?" Matt asked and Casey shakes her head, "Not at all!"

            It wasn't Luke's fault he left his home keys back at Garcia's and lost them there. And it wasn't Matt's fault he had to go home right away because the boss lady (his wife, Kristy) said so. It was better to leave both Luke and Casey back at Casey's house since Casey didn't mind. She was too drunk to mind.

             Matt exchanged his goodbyes with both Luke and Casey as soon as he got them both on the couch. He locked the door right behind him as Casey and Luke settled themselves in. Casey immediately hopped off the couch and rushed upstairs, "I'm gonna get these clothes off and turn down the thermostat. It's like I'm living inside of a me-meteor... hahah!" Casey giggled. "It's so bright in here." Luke hiccuped.

             Casey had come downstairs in her pants and a sports bra and decided to grab some blankets for Luke too since he'd be sleeping on the couch. When she came back downstairs, she'd seen Luke passed out on the couch with his shirt off. He probably got hot, too. Casey placed one of the blankets over Luke's body and before she could turn to her room, she tripped and fell right on the hardwood floor.

              Deciding the floor was her bed tonight, she grabbed onto the blanket off the couch and placed it over her body. And after that, Casey and Luke passed out in the living room.

            Around 7am, there was a loud knock on the door. Casey stirred awake once she heard it and as she sat up, realized the fattest headache she might've just had. She wasn't sure if it came from sleeping on the ground or if it came from drinking so much last night. Either way, she had a hangover.

              She grabbed her head in pain and looked up to see Luke still sleeping on the couch. His boots and pants still on and shirt still off. The pounding on the door as well as Casey's head became more frequent as she grabbed the table for support to stand up. "Alright already!" Casey tells as she scrunches her nose to her eyebrows and squeezes her face together after the sun shone down in her face.

               Casey headed towards the door and opened it, surprisingly to reveal her ex right at the door. Realizing who it was, she widened her eyes and covered her body with her arms. "Spen-Spencer!" She kept the door a crack, not letting him just yet. "What are you... what are you doing here?"

          "I came to pick Chris up. It's my week... with... him." As Spencer slowed down his sentences, he noticed how squirrelly Casey got and furrowed his brows in confusion. "Why aren't you letting me in?" He asks, knowing this part of their arrangements usually.

          "Because... because... Chris isn't here." Technically, it wasn't a lie. Chris spent the night over at a friend's house that he made from school. "He's sleeping over at his friend's house. I thought you were picking him up tomorrow."

          "Well, I decided to surprise... him." Spencer looks ahead with raised eyebrows and sees Luke crossing over into the kitchen with his shirt off and yawning. Once Casey saw Spencer's face, she knew he was automatically assuming something else. I mean, here Casey was in her sports bra, Luke shirtless at her place, blankets scattered on the floor. Casey already knew what he was assuming. "Oh—"

          Casey shakes her head, reading his mind. "Spence, this is not what it—" Spencer interrupts with a sad and jealous? look on his face. "No, it's okay. I'll just... yeah." With that, Spencer decides to leave and Casey tries to call him. "Spencer. Spence—" But it was no use. He walked away thinking that Casey and Luke spent the night together. Casey hated that he saw that but it really wasn't what it looked like. They would've both been too drunk to do anything anyways if they'd both thought about it.

           "Got anymore milk?" Luke asked, holding up the carton of almost empty milk and Casey sighed as she looked back at Spencer walking away down the street.

           Thank God they had to go into work today, she had to explain what happened. She didn't want that friendship between Luke and Spencer to be awkward for a reason that wasn't even a reason in the first place.

Casey had entered the office around eight, barely speaking a word to anyone and staying at her desk and watching the bullpen doors carefully to catch Spencer walking in. And soon enough, she had. A tired Spencer Reid walked into the office, avoiding to talk to anyone coming his way and when he noticed Casey eagerly watching the door and heading towards him, he was trying his best to avoid her like the plague.

        "Spence!" Casey called as she followed him. "Spencer! Don't walk away from me, I have to talk to you!" She followed him all the way to his desk. He removed his satchel from around his neck and didn't even look Casey in the eye. "It's fine, Casey." He told.

        "No, it's not fine. I want you to know, I didn't sleep with Luke." Casey stated, a little bit louder than she meant to let out because as soon as the words came out, JJ and Garcia were watching the two conversate.

       "Whoa!" JJ's eyes widened and Garcia's jaw dropped. "What?" She questioned.

        Casey turned her attention to the women and groaned out loud, realizing she outed herself to part of her team. But quite frankly, she cared about Spencer's feelings and assuring to him she wasn't moving so fast like that. She had no idea why she even needed to assure his mind like this. But it would feel better than a guilty conscience.

        "Look, you can sleep with whoever you want to sleep with. I don't care anymore." Spencer told. "I just want to ease your mind and tell you that I'm not sleeping with him!" Casey stated. Spencer holds his arms out in confusion. "Why do you need to ease my mind? I don't care. You didn't sleep with him, good to know. But I don't care, okay? You practically told me not to." With that, Spencer walked away and Casey sighed, she supposed she deserved that.

          Casey went to go turn back to her desk but she was stopped by JJ and Garcia standing in front of her. "What... happened?" JJ questioned. "Deets, now." Garcia stated.

          Casey groaned, "No deets." She was not in the mood for this but when she made her way back to her desk, Garcia and JJ followed behind, practically wanting to pry into it more. And Casey couldn't even blame them, she'd do the same thing.

            Taking an aggravated sip from her coffee, she sighed and looked at JJ and Garcia. "Reid came by my apartment to pick Christopher up and Luke came back to my place after last night and he slept on the couch and I fell asleep in the living room, too and Reid saw him and—"

         "And now he thinks you and Luke slept together." JJ finished. "But, we didn't. I swear." Casey assured to the two. "I wouldn't do that. Not to Reid." Garcia shook her head, "That... stupid newb. Of course he'd ruin this even more by a long shot." She stated.

          Casey noticed by the corner of her eye that Luke had walked into the office and practically avoided Casey's desk altogether and awkwardly almost bumped Spencer and the two avoided each other, as well.

          Casey threw her arms up in the air. "Great, now it'll forever be awkward!"

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          For the next month, things were more awkward than ever before. Luckily, Spencer was still working during his reinstatement so Casey barely had to see him as much except for when he'd take Chris for his week. But Luke on the other hand, they'd started working their way up and making small talk and becoming friends again. They both obviously understood why Spencer would be upset and assume what he assumed but it didn't stop Luke and Casey from being friends. They both knew the truth and stood by their truths.

           Now, Spencer was back just in time for their next case. And Casey would try and make small talk with him but things were just so damn awkward.

           Emily pulled everyone into the round table room for their next case. "Virginia State police have asked for our help. It seems three young women have gone missing under similar circumstances in the last five years." Casey's eyebrows raise in surprise. "Five years?" She questions.

        "And why are we just hearing about this now?" Matt follows. "Well, our field office in Richmond was called in to consult, but they haven't been about to crack it, and last night, a fourth woman went missing." Emily explained.

          Garcia then continued from then on. "Yeah, that would be Allie Leighton, 29 years old. She disappeared on her way home from work. Her car was found in a nearby parking garage by the restaurant where she's the head chef."

        "What time was this?" Matt asks and Luke answers as he looks at the file in front of him. "Just after midnight." Rossi nods, "Robbery doesn't seem to be a motive. Her bag was still there with her wallet and phone inside."

        "The same could be said for the disappearance of Dr. Roberta Childs, an obstetrician, in 2012." Garcia stated. "Yeah, she was last seen leaving work after the night shift. Her car and personal belongings were found inside the hospital parking garage." JJ told. "Two different garages, but it could be the unsub's preferred hunting grounds." Rossi commented.

         "Yeah, but it looks like the victim taken after Dr. Childs was abducted during a home invasion." Tara pointed out and Garcia continued, "Yes. Diane Pearl, 26. Schoolteacher." Matt nods, "In 2013, a side door was jimmied, setting off her home alarm at 11:52 p.m. Nothing was taken." Rossi comments, "Nothing but Diane."

       "In 2015, a dentist, Elise Waterston. She disappeared from her office after working late one night." Luke read on and JJ continued on, "She ordered a rideshare, the driver waited, but she was a no-show."

        "So, four young women go missing, late at night, in the same geographical area." Emily stated their case. "There's been no ATM, no cell phone, no credit card activity." Spencer told. "And no ransom demands." Matt added. "These weren't kidnappings."

        Casey looks down at the file. "The bodies have never been found. The unsub could be holding them." Emily adds, "Or he's good at permanent concealment."

         Since it was local, the team would be working the case from home and they were beginning their debrief. "None of the missing women look alike. This unsub is not hunting a specific type. He's even crossed racial lines." Matt started.

        "Okay, let's look at what they do have in common. They are all young, single, educated professionals." Emily told as she sat down. "A doctor, a teacher, a dentist, and a chef. It sounds like the start of a bad joke." Rossi commented. "Why all successful women? Don't killers usually start with high risk victims?" Casey questioned.

        "Well, the unsub could hold a grudge against accomplished women, especially if he feels inferior." JJ told. "You know, the unemployment rate in virginia is only 3.7%. But if he's out of work, he might resent them for being better educated or making more money." Spencer stated.

        "And you also need to throw rejection into the mix," Tara suggested. "This guy could be a jilted lover or feel frustrated by the type of woman he thinks he can't get."

         "Garcia, any luck finding a connection - between these women?" Emily asks the woman next to Casey. "Nothing on social media." Garcia shakes her head disappointingly.

        "Were any of them dating or in a relationship?" Rossi asks. "Not that I can see. They haven't posted, you know, any typical romantic pics with a boyfriend or girlfriend." Garcia told.

          "Assuming the women are still alive, the unsub would need a place to hold them." Luke figured. "A home, warehouse, abandoned building." Spencer nods as he leans back in his seat, "He could be keeping them in multiple locations, in which case he most likely has a large truck or van."

          JJ continues on, "He appears to be a night owl. All of the abductions took place around midnight." Matt nods at the possibility. "Could do shift work. Maybe that's the time he gets off from his job."

         "Matt, Dave, go check out the latest crime scene. Tara, Luke, talk to Allie's co-workers at the restaurant. Captain Skinner from the state police is on his way in. We will work the case from here." Emily explained.

          Skinner spoke with JJ, Casey and Emily about the case and about a woman named Joanna Miller, looking for her sister who vanished five years ago. When Joanna came in, JJ and Casey both spoke with her. After that, Casey had decided to go and find Spencer to help him with his geographic profile and Casey saw him working in the main office so she approached him.

         "So..." Casey started, getting his attention from the board and map placed in front of him. "Are you finally gonna talk to me?" She wonders aloud.

          Spencer looks back at the map, not bringing himself to look at or talk to Casey. "What's there to talk about?" He asked and Casey shrugged. "Honestly," She seated herself next to Spencer to talk. "About anything." Spencer sighs and Casey continued, "I miss being normal."

        "We had normal up until—" Spencer stops himself before finishing his sentence and Casey knows he was gonna say: 'We had normal up until I went to prison'.

        Casey sighs, "I mean, before we started dating. We were normal." She remembers the good times shared with Spencer until they'd started dating. Don't get her wrong, she loved when they were together but she'd value their friendship since day one. And she guessed that some part of her wanted things to be normal again even if they were together anymore.

         Spencer pauses what he's doing and turns to Casey with furrowed brows. "Why?" He asks and Casey furrows her own brows at this question. "Why what?" She asks. "Why do you keep assuring to me that you and Luke didn't sleep together?" Spencer questions.

Casey shakes her head as she looks down. "I just... don't want you to assume I moved on so quickly. I could never do that to you and... I don't know. I would tell you if I was moving on." She admits.

"Why?"

"Because I still care about you and it's called being the bigger person. You should try it some time. Instead of just ignoring me." Casey told and Spencer throws his arms up in air in annoyance. "Well, what do you want me to say, Casey?"

"Because the minute I saw Luke with his shirt off in your house, I wanted to kill him. Because he's my friend and you're still my wife... until we get the papers." Spencer says the last part of his sentence quietly. It was true, what he said. He actually couldn't believe Luke would do that to him and of course felt some sort of sense of relief when Casey told him that they didn't sleep together.

Casey looks down as Spencer faces back towards the board. "I'm sorry you thought we—" Casey apologizes but is interrupted by Spencer. "Let's just go back to the case." Casey nods and takes a deep breath and decides to help him with the geographical in silence.

Within a day, Dr. Roberta Childs was found in a nearby park with her wrists slashed, self inflicted. There was video footage of a man taking another doctor, Paige Burrell. Rossi pointed out that the man had nabbed Paige at 11:57:30 on the dot. They had concluded their unsub kept all of the victims alive. The question was why. When Joanna came by again after the latest victim was taken and JJ and Casey both chatted with her before she left and Spencer had come by to tell them he figured out why the unsub was doing this.

        "We said the timing of the unsub's abductions may be important to him." Spencer started in front of the rest of the team. "Why is that?" Skinner questioned. "Victim number one... Dr. Roberta Childs. She signed out of the hospital at 11:50 p.m. Now, victim number two, Diane Pearl, her home alarm system was tripped at 11:52 p.m. Victim 3, Elise Waterston, she was a no-show for an 11:55 p.m. pickup from her dental office. Cell phone records show that Allie Leighton, the fourth victim, ended her phone call at 11:57 p.m., and lastly, Paige Burrell, the digital clock where she was abducted read 11:57 and 30 seconds." Spencer explained the timeline.

      "Okay, so based on your timeline, our unsub's counting up to 12:00." Tara stated and Spencer shook his head, "No, he's counting down."

      "Counting down to what?" Skinner asks. "I think the unsub's abducting women based on the doomsday clock." Spencer answered. "And what's that?" Skinner questions. "The symbolic clock that warns the world how close we are to total destruction." Casey answers.

       "Midnight on the clock represents a hypothetical global catastrophe, like a nuclear war. The number of minutes to midnight stand for how soon that could happen." Matt explained. "Since 1947, when a group of atomic scientists created the clock, the minute hand's been reset many times." JJ added.

       "For the last five years, it's been consistently ticking down. It was last set at 2 1/2 minutes to midnight." Spencer told. "And the closest it ever was 2 minutes in 1953 when the US and Russia tested the first H-bomb." Emily added. "We could be looking at a doomsday cult." JJ suggests.

         "So he's like one of these survivalists who lives in the woods and wears tinfoil hats." Skinner wonders. "No, tinfoil hats have more to do with aliens." Casey stated, earning a look from everyone around her. "But that's not the point."

        "Actually, the idea of preparing for the end is moving from the fringes of society into mainstream culture." Luke stated, following from what Skinner was saying. "Yeah, they call themselves Preppers. They're trying to retain a certain standard of living for themselves and others while riding out the apocalypse, be it... nuclear or civil unrest." Matt explained.

        "The wealthy are jumping on board," Rossi said. "They're hoarding crypto-currency and buying custom survival shelters." Matt nods, "And the super rich are taking it to another level. They're... buying private islands, land in New Zealand, their private jets are always gassed up ready to whisk them away at a moment's notice."

        Emily follows, "So, the victims are part of the unsub's prep to repopulate a new civilization in the post-apocalyptic world."
        "And the clock starting to tick steadily down five years ago was the trigger." Tara said. "And with it being so close to midnight and us breathing down his neck, he may decide that it's time to cut all ties with the outside world." Matt told.

        "We need to find him before that happens."

         After that conversation, Casey had gone to get herself some coffee downstairs in the office. She had been pouring herself some as Luke approached her, getting more coffee himself. "Hey." Luke started. "Hey." Casey nodded at him and hands him the coffee pot.

           Luke turns around to see Spencer facing the board and then nudged his head to Spencer as Casey turns to him. "He still not talking to you?" Luke asks and Casey shrugs, "Depends on if you can call 'talking' a brief sentence." She stated. "He knows we didn't...?" Luke can't even bring himself to finish the sentence and Casey nods, "He knows, he just... hates me right now." She admits.

           "I'm sure he doesn't hate you." Luke assures. "No, he does. And I don't blame him." Casey turns around towards the table as she begins to pour her creamer in her coffee.

         When this goes on, JJ approaches Spencer with all the timeline dates he sent up and when he looks over JJ's shoulder, he sees Casey and Luke together, talking and acting normal. Casey has laughed as if he cracked a joke and it's then that he sees Luke and Casey's hands close together and Luke is reassuringly putting a hand on Casey's hand to tell her everything's gonna be alright in the end and he was cracking a joke to make her feel better.

           The feeling of jealousy twinges in Spencer Reid. He hasn't felt this way since Casey was dating Sawyer. And that was years ago. And for a minute, he's brought back to when he and Casey were together and how used to that feeling he got when it came to protecting her. All he wanted to do was march right over to Luke and say: "Hey! Get your hands off my wife!"

          But what he didn't realize was that he actually did do that. Just now.

          It's then that Spencer realizes he's said the sentence out loud when JJ's eyes widen in shock and Casey's jaw drops in disbelief and shock as well as Luke's face as he practically jumps away from Casey. Spencer takes a pause at himself and grounds himself back to reality. He remembers he and Casey are getting a divorce. Why the hell did he just say that?

         Casey stands in front of Spencer, not even knowing what to say until she says it. "Spencer? Can I talk to you? Alone?" She questions through gritted teeth and pulls Spencer aside and marches into one of the abandoned offices in the entire place.

          When they enter the office, Spencer has his head in his hands and shakes his head. Casey locks the door and turns to her ex with her hands on her hips. "What the hell was that?" She questioned.

         "I'm— I'm sorry. I don't know what that was." Spencer admits, truthfully. "You don't know what that was? What kind of excuse is that?" Casey questioned, not believing Spencer for a damn minute.

          Spencer looks at Casey. "I... I don't know why I said that, okay? I just... for a minute, I was brought back to some normalcy that we had. And I saw him... with you and... I freaked." It was weird and uncommon for that to happen to Spencer. To forget where he was in that moment in time. That had happened one other time in prison when he was doing laundry there and for a minute, he felt like he was back at home, doing the laundry with Casey as Chris ran around the house with his toy airplane. That moment went away quick the minute the stored drugs were sent right over and he tampered with them.

        "I just... I don't know... I-I-I can't let you go." Spencer shakes his head in his own hands and then looks at Casey as he sits down on the edge of the desk. "No matter how hard I try, I just can't. And I wanna go through with this divorce... for you but... I don't know if I'll be able to do when it comes down to it."

          It's then that Casey realizes Spencer's never going to get over her. No matter how many times he tells himself and no matter how many times Casey's said she doesn't want to be with him. She knows she needs to say something. Something that could cleanse him from her. And she realizes she never told him the one other thing she needed to tell him when he got out. She sighs and looks down before clearing her throat. Casey needs for Spencer to let her go. It's the only way she can move on herself.

          "Spencer," Casey starts as she stands in front of the man she used to love. "I haven't been completely honest with you." She looks down and sees that she's got Spencer's undivided attention. "When you were in prison, I started inviting Luke over a lot. I started telling him things I would tell you, I started leaning on him for support. For a while, it felt like I had no one and Luke just... understood me... better than anyone."

           Casey now knows it's now or never that she has to say it. "Spencer, I was cheating on you." She admits and sees his already faltered face falter even more in sorrow. "Not physically, but emotionally. Luke, he-he never thought of me that way. He didn't. And he never did anything, I swear. He didn't know about any of this. This was all me." She says to prevent Spencer from killing Luke. "I didn't even know I was doing it until JJ called me out on it. But I never told you when I should've. And I'm sorry." She takes a deep breath and sees Spencer with tears in his eyes and then she wiped the ones threatening to spill and she turns to the door. "So... I hope your decision for signing the papers is easier to make now."

           With that, Casey walked out and about a minute later, she heard a hell and some clatter around the room. It was like she heard the chair being thrown against the door out of anger. She'd just crushed Spencer's soul, along with a part of her own soul in the mix.

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Garcia had found their unsub to be a man named Lawrence Coleman. And unfortunately, Emily hadn't been aware of their situation and decided to pair up Spencer and Casey but they knew the job was more important than some stupid so they only engaged in small talk regarding the case.

Casey and Spencer had been at Coleman's residence and it looked untouched. "It looks like Coleman hasn't lived here in a long time." Spencer points out. Casey's cell begins to ring and she answers.

"Hey, Em, Coleman's not here." Casey starts and Spencer stands next to her as they both talk to Emily. "We've all hit dead ends." Emily told. "We know he has a willing partner driving the van. She's one of the early victims who bought into his paranoia. She may be the key." Rossi tells.

"Garcia, check for women who communicated with Coleman online." Emily orders the woman behind the screen. "Look for anyone who shared his fervor about the end of days."

"Fervor, female, doomsday. Got it. Oh. Looks like there's a lid for every pot, even the crackpots. Coleman had beaucoup Prepper ladies who were willing to share more than their canned meat with him." Garcia stated and Casey makes a face. "I guess that's one way of putting it."

"Was one as obsessed as Coleman?" Rossi asks. "That would be Irene Jacobs. She lives in Culpeper, Virginia. She works as a substance abuse counselor at New Dawn Outreach Center. And... booyah, she drives a black van." Garcia answers.

"Joanna Miller mentioned her sister was seeing a Counselor." JJ told. "Garcia, was Chrissy Miller one of her patients?" Casey asks as her and Spencer walk down the steps of the porch.

Garcia nods, "Yeah." JJ adds, "Which was how Coleman found out she was pregnant. What about Kylie Pritchard and some of the other missing teens?"

"Jinkies," Garcia comments. "It's like Irene was spoon-feeding Coleman his victims."

"They trusted her and she betrayed them. We need addresses." Emily orders and Spencer and Casey make their way towards the SUV. "Sending. Oh. Irene owns acres of land just outside of Culpeper. Reid and Willows are the closest."

Casey nods to Spencer. "All right, we'll meet you over there." Garcia continues, "Sending coordinates."

Arriving to the land, both Casey and Spencer put their sunglasses on as they approach the dirt and they've seen nothing so far. Nothing but grass and dirt and rocks and trees.

"There's nothing here." Casey points out.
"There's gotta be." Spencer tells.
"Where, Spencer? We drove around the entire property. There's nothing." Casey stated. "There's nothing here except the ground we're standing on."

Spencer stops in his tracks and looks at Casey. "The ground we're standing on." He's figured something out and Casey furrows her brows. "I'm not following." She tells. "In the 1990s, the government closed and abandoned military installations across America, including Virginia. Some of them included underground strategic command centers."

Casey then realizes what Spencer is now saying. "A bunker built to withstand a nuclear blast. What if this land Irene Jacobs owns is over one of them?"

"The main entrance would most likely be booby-trapped. So we need to try to find the escape hatch." Spencer told. "And we're standing over it." Casey nods, looking down at the ground.

Casey looks over at the coordinates Garcia sent of the land and asks her to send something that could indicate a booby trap. After walking far, Casey looks down at her phone. "Okay, so the blueprints Garcia sent show the escape hatch is here." She looks and sees nothing. "Where?"

"It would have to be well-hidden to blend into the environment so intruders couldn't find it." Spencer stated and Casey looks ahead towards a rock blended in with the surface of the ground. "Hey, look at that. That has to be it." Casey tells.

Spencer rushes over to it and takes his sunglasses off and squats in front of it. Casey stands over it, putting her sunglasses at the top of her head. "There should be a release mechanism somewhere." Spencer tells, looking over it and suddenly finding a lever that he turned over through some dead grass.

He engaged the hatch as the rock moved over by control and Casey and Spencer had their guns pointed to the entrance. The two exchange a look and Spencer points towards the entrance as a way to tell her that they would need to go down. Spencer is the first to go down the entrance and Casey follows as the entrance closes by itself.

As Casey goes down the ladder carefully and makes it on ground, she turns over to see Spencer holding his gun and ready for whatever. Casey takes her gun out of her holster and follows behind him. Spencer points over his shoulder and points towards the camera and Casey nods as the two back each other up and turn a corner. Casey opens the door to a brightly-lit room with windows and the two point their guns to the windows as they make their way through but the come to a halt the minute they both realize they're closed in with no way out.

Casey hits the window in irritation, knowing this is the last place she'd want to be in right now. And she knows Spencer doesn't like this situation either. She sees that there's a keypad next to the door. There's a code they need to put down in order to get out.

Casey decides to try and call Emily for help but there's no signal. "No signal. I can't get through to anyone." Casey tells as Spencer is trying to figure a way out. "The doors are airtight and the glass is bomb-blast resistant. Our bullets would just bounce off." Spencer explains and Casey runs a hand through her hair.

"Okay, uh, Garcia told everyone we were heading down here, so..." Casey then pauses. "Wait , did you just say airtight? Does that mean we're gonna run out of air?"

Spencer shakes his head, "No, high carbon dioxide levels are gonna kill us before low oxygen levels do."

Casey sighs, "Great, carbon dioxide is gonna take both of us out and I have to die with the fact that I'm going to die with my ex-husband." Spencer turns to Casey. "Trust me, I don't like this anymore than you do. Especially after what you told me earlier."

Casey groans, "Okay, forget that I brought that up because forgive me if I don't wanna die with us arguing. Now, what about the keypad? Could we figure out a code?" Casey decides to change the subject for the sake of arguing.

"On a zero to nine keypad, assuming a 4-digit code, there are 10,000 possible combinations. If you figure 5 seconds to input each combination, that'll that 13.89 hours and that not even accounting the finger fatigue." Spencer explains.
Casey sighs, "Right. So, even if we did try, after too many failed attempts, we would probably be locked in here anyway."

The two then look ahead and see their two victims, Allie Leighton and Paige Burrell, holding Irene Jacobs as a hostage. "Hey! Hey! FBI!" Casey shouts, getting their attention as they approach the doors.

"Allie Leighton. Paige Burrell." Casey stated and Paige nods, "Yes." Allie looks at Irene. "We were kidnapped by her and some man." Casey nods, "Yeah, we know."

"We want to help you, but you have to get us out of here. What is the code?" Spencer asks and Paige turns to Irene. "What is it?" Casey nods towards the older woman. "Irene?" Irene shakes her head. "Can't help you."

Turning towards the windows, Spencer yells: "Coleman!" Casey's attention turns to Lawrence, who standing right there in front of the window. "Coleman, you need to let everyone go."

"You're gonna make me from in there?" Coleman questions as the women behind him walk in the room. Casey's eyes widen as she notices the woman from Joanna's pictures. "Chrissy? Chrissy Mller?" She asks.

"How do you know who I am?" Chrissy questions. "Your sister, Joanna. She's been looking for you. She hasn't stopped looking for you." Casey told.

"Don't listen to any of their lies." Coleman told. "They're not lies." Spencer argues as Casey takes out her cell of the picture that Joanna had sent to both her and JJ. "Chrissy, look. Your sister... she gave me this photo of the two of you." Casey tells.

"That isn't real." Coleman tells and Casey turns to him. "Shut up." She threatens before turning back to Chrissy. "This is real. Joanna hasn't stopped looking for you."
"Joanna's alive?" Chrissy asks and Casey nods, "Yes. She told me about how you like to watch TV shows about zombies and how you like to play the guitar. About a boy named Parker. I have a sister, too and a sister doesn't forget any of that." Casey told.

"We're with the FBI, and we've been looking for all of you. All right, Lawrence and Irene abducted you..." Spencer is interrupted by Coleman throwing a tantrum and denying by the second. "No, no, no, no! Untrue!"

"It is true," Spencer continued. "They told you lies. They told you the world was ending, but I promise, the world is still there."

"No. It's all gone. My family's dead. There's no one left for me." Chrissy told. "No, Chrissy, they preyed on you. They preyed on all of you. They took all of you and brainwashed you into thinking the world ended but the world is still out there." Casey told the women behind the glass.

"Don't listen to her lies." Coleman stated. "Wait, is that your son?" Casey notices the young boy next to Chrissy. "What's his name?"

Chrissy holds her son close and answers, "Joe." Casey raises her eyebrows. "After Joanna? Did you name him after your sister? I know she'd really love to meet her nephew. Your families have not forgotten you. They miss you every day. Down here is not real life. There is a world out there. It may not be that great but it's a life. A life where you can go outside and smell the air. Down here you don't get that privilege." Casey stated.

"Mama, what is 'down here'?" Chrissy's son asks his mother.

Chrissy turns towards Coleman. "How could you do this to us?" She questions. "Do what you want with him!" Irene yells and Chrissy smacks Coleman with a flashlight she's holding and every woman in the room stands over the man.

"The code is 1-2-0-0." Irene tells and Spencer tries out the code and succeeds. Casey puts handcuffs around Irene's wrists and the two successfully get Irene and Coleman into custody and get everyone else to reunite with their families.

Casey smiles as she sees Joanna and Chrissy reunite with one another and Joanna meets her nephew. After seeing the happy sight, she turns to Spencer, who is occupied with the scene and she looks down and begins to walk back to the SUV.

The team had made it back to the office after the case and Garcia had approached Casey as the rest of the team was beginning to pack up for the night. "Ugh, I was so worried about you guys being in that bunker. It made me very claustrophobic."

Casey furrows her brows. "You claustrophobic? Imagine actually being in there, Pen." She chuckles as she grabs her bag. Garcia turns to JJ who approached the two women. "We need to look for an even bigger apartment for me. Even bigger." JJ nods, "Sure, we can look tomorrow."

"I gotta say, Coleman's bunker was pretty impressive." Matt comments. "Yeah, if the world was actually ending. Though, I don't think I'd spent my last days on Earth there." Casey says. "Yeah, I agree with that." Emily tells as the team begins to head to the elevator altogether. "Yeah? Where would you?" Matt asks.

"Never thought about it." Emily stated. "I don't want to think about it." Garcia said. "I would definitely be on a beach." Tara tells. "I think I'd prefer the mountains." Luke comments.

"I'd prefer the highway. In my red convertible with the top down and my son sleeping in the backseat as I blast Fleetwood Mac on the radio." Casey told. "You've thought about this." JJ raises her eyebrows at the woman and Casey shrugs, "A girl can dream."

"I'd be with my family." Matt smiles. "Same," JJ agrees. "Spence?"
"Paris with my mom and Christopher. They liked Paris." Casey furrows her brows. "Hey, who gets Chris in this scenario?" She wonders. "Leave that up for discussion when the world actually ends." Emily tells the two and they both shrug.

"You know something tells me Dave has this all planned out." Tara stated as the elevator opened for them. "Don't you know it," Rossi says as everyone enters the elevator. "When the end comes, you'll find me at home enjoying a meal of carbonara alla rossi, and if there's still time, I will adjourn to my patio to partake in a double jack and a vintage Don Carlos."

"Looks like I'm not the only one who has this all planned." Casey smirks. "That sounds great." Luke tells."You mind if we join you?" Emily asks and everyone smiles at the thought.

━━━━━━

          JJ had offered to give Spencer a ride home tonight after everyone had cleared out. Heading over to JJ's car, the woman spoke, "How long do you have Chris for?" She asks. "Until Sunday," Spencer tells, noting that it's Wednesday at the moment. "Why?"

          "Henry's wondering when he and Chris can have a play date. We should plan sometime this week." JJ says. Spencer nods, "That sounds like a great—"

         "Dr. Spencer Reid?" A man approaches Spencer and JJ and Spencer furrows his brows. "Uh, that's me." He asks. The man hands a Manila envelope to Spencer with his name on it. "You've been served."

         When the man walks away, Spencer opens up the envelope and recognizes what it is. "What are those?" JJ asks curiously. Spencer's breath hitches in his throat and he frowns. They couldn't have found a better time to do this? He wonders. "Divorce papers." Spencer answers once he sees the 'Cassandra D. Willows' on the paper next to his 'Spencer W. Reid'. "Looks like we're actually doing this." He says quietly.

          On the way home, Casey had been driving back to her place and glanced down at the envelope she hadn't even brought inside yet. The divorce papers she'd received herself the day she talked to a judge to serve Spencer his papers. She'd hoped they'd serve them to him outside of work and not during the day time.

          Knowing Spencer was going to be getting those papers served to him any day now, Casey knew she had to bring those inside to sign them. Doing it made it seem so real to her. But she knew, she brought this on herself. She wanted this divorce.

           The night passed on and Spencer had brought Chris home after dropping him off with Will before he left for work. JJ had offered since Spencer didn't have family helping him out like Casey had. He brought a very sleepy Chris through the door and into his bedroom as he took his shoes off and tucked him into the bed.

           Spencer had walked into the living room and plopped himself down on the ground. He looked at the envelope he laid on the table in front of him and opened it fully. All of the rules about divorce and separation and what he had to do for custody and legality of all of it. But he knew Casey and himself already agreed with shared custody and co-parenting, so he didn't have to worry about Casey taking his son away from him.

            He then looked at the part he had to sign under his name. It was like the 'Spencer W. Reid'  was haunting him. He grabbed a pen from the table in front of him and clicked it a few times. Spencer felt like he was signing his life away.

         He turned over to the photo on the table in front of him that he placed down because he just couldn't look at it anymore. It was a photo of the day he and Casey got married. They were so happy. Until he screwed it all up. Part of him blamed himself for Casey emotionally cheating on him but somehow, that little thought made signing the papers even easier to him.

           Once Spencer had made his deal with the devil, he put the pen down and examined the paper in front of him. All he had to do was send a copy over to Casey so she could sign it off as well. He opened his laptop and sent the file over with his signature on it. He couldn't believe the decision he'd just made and he had closed his laptop and sat there for a few minutes, processing everything. But not once did he come to regret the decision he made with signing it.

             When Casey arrived home, she had received an email straight away on her laptop. Casey opened it and it revealed Spencer sharing a file with her. Casey had printed it out as she changed into her pajamas.

           Casey plopped herself down on the couch in the living room after she'd poured herself a glass of wine. Some random channel had been playing on TV for background noise to her as she looked down at the papers in front of her.

             It was quite strange to Casey just how quick he signed the paper. His signature had haunted her in ways she couldn't explain. It was weird, it shouldn't have felt this way. She took a sip of her wine and took a breath and continued staring at the paper for a while.

             Part of her regretted this decision for asking for a divorce in the first place. Another part of her thought about how she still loved him and thought of their wedding. It was too late for him to save the day and to ask for forgiveness for whatever he did. Casey would've thought that maybe he'd beg for her to come back like he did the first night she left. But she knew he wasn't gonna come on a white horse and beg for her forgiveness now.

             Casey grabbed her pen and clicked it a few times. As she did so, she looked down at her left hand and ring finger. She'd hadn't even noticed that she was still wearing the ring. Maybe that's why he thought there was still a chance.

             It troubled her, staring at the ring and the signature at the same time. Ultimately, Casey decided to sign her part of the paper and she took a deep breath while doing so. After that, she leaned back on the couch and looked at her ring on her hand. She took the ring from her ring finger and took a breath as she examined it. She thought of their wedding day and thought about the broken promises that were made.

            Casey had put the ring on the table and decided she would send it back through the envelope. She leaned back on the couch, now as a single woman.

            It was as if they'd never gotten married. Nearly five years of them being together and nearly three of them married were all gone, washed away in the metaphorical wind whisking away their hopes, dreams and wants. It was all over. Maybe things would be different.

            When Casey took her ring off, it felt like the hold on her felt lifted. All they would need to do was take this to a judge and he'd make it official. But nothing felt more official than signing their signatures on a single piece of paper. Casey knew this was for the better and she knew Spencer understood now. Now that she told him about the Luke thing, it softened the blow for her.

            Now, Spencer Reid and Casey Willows were divorced and that's the way it just had to be.

listening to 'white horse' by taylor swift and 'waiting room' by phoebe bridgers did not help😭

honestly felt like my witting sucked so much here except for the ending of this chapter tbh

anywaysssss
currently sobbing because of the ending hehehe🤭

y'all:

anywaysssss
thank you for reading this-
i love you all
sorry for the angst and sadness hehe🤭
-mya </333

p.s. i promise this story has a happy ending and they WILL get back together i promise, they're just going through it rn🙏