CHAPTER THIRTEEN: A TRAUMA LEFT UNSPOKEN !

13x18

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CASEY WALKED DOWN THE STAIRS THIS MORNING, GETTING READY TO HEAD INTO WORK TODAY. She spotted her father and son in the kitchen and Casey smiles once she sees her son, "Good morning, my little lovebug. You ready for school?"

Chris nods, finishing his breakfast. "Mhm!" Casey smiles, "Okay, go get your bag upstairs. Don't forget your homework!" Chris rushes upstairs to get his things, leaving Casey alone with her dad.

"So, school day ends at 3:00 on the dot. He has a play date around 4:00, bring him back home around 6:00, make sure he takes his pills at 6:15, in bed by 8:30. Hopefully, I'll be home by then." Casey explains to James. "It's not like you weren't a kid with a schedule either." James jokes and Casey chuckles, "Yeah, well, that's my kid. A busy bee."

"Thank you again, for watching him, Dad. Isaac came down with a cold and Leah's trying to handle that lease on that building to start up her club, I didn't want to put any more stress on them." Casey explains. "No, no worries. I love spending time with my grandson. Haven't been able to do that in a while." James stated. "I mean, not since—"

James stops himself. The last time he'd seen Chris had been when Casey first got arrested. When Spencer needed to go to his classes, he had James watch over him when Isaac and Leah couldn't. Casey turns away and looks down at the ground when she realizes what he's talking about.

"Casey, I just want you to know that if you ever need to talk about that, I know a few things—"
"Dad," Casey interrupts him with a false smile on her face. "It's fine. I'm fine. It's been... a month. And I haven't needed to talk with anybody yet. Okay?" James nods, knowing just how stubborn his daughter can be. He had his own experiences with his own hell referred to as prison.

Casey looks down at her watch. "I'm gonna head on out. You'll be fine taking him to school?" Casey asks and James nods, "We'll be right behind you." Exchanging her goodbyes with her father and son, Casey headed into her car.

Once she was inside, she looked in the rear view mirror and took a breath. It was the month anniversary of when Casey went to jail. A lot happened with two weeks being in there. That's all she would tell people when they asked. And a lot did happen in there. She had a scar on her left collarbone to prove it. She remembered the experience all too well.

Monday, FEBRUARY 5th, 2018
Central Virginia Regional Jail

         As much as Casey Willows joked about it in her lifetime, she never would've expected this. It felt unsettling as she staggered out with chains attached to her ankles and wrists. She dressed in orange scrubs, was given extras and put into the system via thumbprint.

God, she would have Barnes on a pyre if she could. She wasn't gonna get away with this. She wasn't. Casey was sent into her cell block and was told she'd have a bunkmate in her room.

When Casey walked in, she noticed a woman on the bed above hers and nodded to her before placing her stuff down on the bed below. The woman looked intimidating to say the least. She had long dark hair that looked like she could be related to someone from the Jersey Shore, plucked eyebrows, full lips and a thick New Jersey accent when she peeked down at the girl below. "First time?" She wondered and Casey was nearly taken aback when the woman started talking to her.

"Uh, yeah, yeah, first time." Casey answered. The woman jumps off her bunk and holds her hand out. "I'm Carmen." She introduces. Casey holds her hand out. "Casey." She greets.

"What are you in here for?" Carmen asks. Casey honestly doesn't know how to answer the question. She knows she can't admit that she's an agent with the FBI, at least, she was anyways. She can't exactly come up with a lie on the spot, so she settled for somewhat of the truth. "Um... I'm not supposed to be in here."

"Yeah, no shit," Carmen tells, sitting on Casey's bed. "I'm not supposed to be in here either." Casey furrows her brows. "Why are you in here? If you don't mind me asking." This woman seemed harmless enough.

"Armed robbery," Carmen sighs. "My son of a bitch boyfriend left in the getaway car without me and I got busted for it."
Casey scoffs, "What a jackass." May as well play the part.
"I know, right?" Carmen asks. "But the bastard didn't get very far anyways. He's getting 25 to life."

"And you?" Casey wonders and Carmen takes a breath. "They're thinking 5 to 10. Women don't really get sentences because we're 'less dangerous', as the media likes to call us. I don't really believe in that crap, though."
Casey nods, "Yeah, I don't either." She agreed with that.

"How does a white girl like you end up in a place like this?" Carmen questions, noting just how timid Casey was. "Bit of a long story," Casey stated. "Let's just say I was framed. I meant what I said, I'm not supposed to be in here."

Carmen nods and furrows her brows together until she raises them. "You know what?" She stands up. "You're my new best friend in here. And don't worry, I'm not like the other skanky bitches that think they run this place just because they murdered somebody. I'm cool. And I can already tell we're gonna be good friends."

Casey wondered just how lucky she could be. First day and she's already making friends with her bunkmate. But of course, Spencer's experience in prison ran through her mind quite a few times and she knew not to trust anyone fully. But prison had to be different from jail? Right?

PRESENT DAY

When Casey arrived at the office, she was confused to see that all of her things were gone from her desk but Garcia and Emily called her upstairs and that's when she walked up there and seen that all of her stuff was now on Emily's old desk, which was now hers.

Emily had been all set up in Morgan's old office and now for celebration, Garcia brought some takeout for the two to eat in Casey's office. The three women chatted away like nothing was the matter when there was suddenly a knock at the door. "It's open!" Casey announced. 

         In walked Rossi, who takes a sigh of relief. "Oh, good, you're in here." Casey nods, "With the way my office is decorated, I'm always gonna be here. I've got a pup tent and k-rations in the closet. What's up?" Casey wondered.

        "Eggroll?" Garcia offered to Rossi. "Uh, I'm good, thanks. Casey, do you think I can get the next few days off, use some of my annual leave?" Rossi asks and all women furrow their brows and are left in shock at the question.

        "What?" Rossi questions, wondering why the women are staring at him. "David Rossi, time off?" Garcia asks. "I think we've entered a parallel universe." Emily comments. "Rossi, this is not a cool joke to play on your new unit chief." Casey adds.
        "Hmm," Garcia picks up Casey's stapler and pretends to hit herself with it. "Ouch. Nope. This is actually happening."
        "Was there an earthquake? Did someone die? Did you get struck by lightning?" Casey wonders.

        "Okay, you can stop the theatrics." Rossi tells as the three women chuckle. "I got a call this evening from Krystall."

        "Krystall with the "K" and two Ls?" Emily asks and Casey's eyes widen. "Whoa, wait. What's happening? Did I miss something?" Garcia is lost. "Uh, she was Rossi's fourth of fifth ex-wife?" Rossi gives Casey a look as she jokes. "She was a blackjack dealer in Las Vegas." Emily nods.

         "And our love blossomed as so many of the great ones do, over a deck of cards and lots of casino comped booze." Rossi tells. "Now, what happened? That sounds like a love for the ages." Emily comments. "Once we sobered up, we had the marriage annulled." Rossi stated.

        "Why did I not know about this?" Garcia asks. "You know the rules. All gossip funnels through me."

        "But, wait, it gets better." Casey stands up. "They got married in one of those drive-through wedding chapels, right?" Rossi nods, "Yeah. Two blocks off the strip. Our sacred vows were officiated by an Elvis impersonator, who might have been drunker than we were."

        "Have you seen this woman since?" Garcia questions and Rossi shakes his head, "Birthday and Christmas cards, but face to face, no. She moved to L.A., got remarried, had a kid, got divorced. Now her daughter's gonna get married here in D.C. next week."

         Both Casey and Emily's cells beep and they check them. "We hope to get together for coffee, but if that's a new case coming in..." Rossi tells and Casey nods, "Yes, there is, but we can handle it without you. You keep that coffee date. That's an order. Just promise me one thing." Rossi turns to Casey. "No spur-of-the-moment trips to Atlantic City. Not while we're on a case."

         Rossi crosses his heart and Garcia chuckles and Casey smirks to herself, "I'm loving this boss thing."

        "All right, let's gather the troops." Emily tells. Garcia stands up from her seat and the three women head into the conference room and announce they have a case.

         When everyone gets in the conference room, Garcia presents the case. "Muriel Gourse, 47, of Chicago, Illinois, was found dead last night, stabbed once in the back." Casey continues, "The night before, 24-year-old Amanda Corliss was discovered in her apartment. She had also been stabbed in the back. Same red rose in the mouth."

        "No sign of robbery or break-ins. Despite there being a lot of neighbors, nobody heard a peep." Garcia stated. "You know, roses are traditionally a symbol of passion and love. The unsub could be connected to these victims romantically." Spencer followed.

        "Or maybe he wanted to be and this is what happened when things didn't work out." Luke suggested. "Neither victim showed evidence of sexual assault, and there is a dramatic difference in age between the two victims." Tara points out.

       "Muriel Gourse's body was discovered by her husband. There was also a carton of cigarettes burning in their oven." Emily told. "That's an unusual signature. Anything like that with Amanda?" Spencer asked. Garcia shakes her head. "It feels like a message, but what? And to whom?"

        "So we've got no forcible entry, minimal resistance, and no cries for help. I'd say there's a good chance these women knew the killer." JJ told.

        "And with two victims on consecutive nights, we can't wait till morning. Wheels up in 30." With that, Casey stands and gets her things ready for the jet ride.

         Everyone headed to the jet and Casey sat on the couch as everyone began to debrief with the case. "The first victim Amanda Corliss led a fairly high-risk lifestyle... party girl, lots of recreational drug use and casual sex." Matt explained.

        "Did she have a job, Garcia?" Luke asked. "Uh, do you consider strolling to the local ATM a job? If you do, she had a job. If not, she was a trust fund kid." Garcia told.

         "Hey, Garcia, was she romantically involved with anyone special?" Spencer asked. "Uh, she sort of bounced around from dude to dude." Garcia told.

         "On the other end of the spectrum, Muriel Gourse was a middle school teacher, lived quietly in the suburbs with her husband of 23 years." Emily explained. "It doesn't get more low risk than that." Luke said.

        "It says here that Amanda's drug use was primarily MDMA. But there's also some antidepressants in the mix. She had underlying mental health issues." Spencer explained.

       "Muriel's life wasn't all that idyllic either," JJ told. "Her and her husband were seeing a counselor. Their marriage was in trouble." Tara then follows, "Well, maybe that's the common thread, dissatisfaction with their love lives."

       "One stab wound to the back and no sign of a struggle." Spencer read from the file. "The unsub probably brings a gun to help control them."
       "Brings a gun but doesn't use it," JJ said. "This killer prefers a more personal touch."

      "We land in a couple of hours. Let's be ready to hit the ground running." Casey tells and stands from her seat to go and get more coffee. She doesn't realize that someone has followed her and snakes his way around to get coffee as well. Spencer gives Casey a small smile as he grabs his mug and puts in another coffee filter and waits until Casey has finished pouring the rest of the coffee into her own mug.

       "You know, I never realized just how much I would miss coffee after being away from it for just a few weeks." Casey told as she hands him the pot. "Yeah, I get what you mean there." Spencer stated.

         Casey looks at Spencer and then looks down at her coffee as she mixes the creamer into it. "You know, um, I know a few things about being someone you didn't deserve to be in."
         Casey scoffs and then looks at Spencer. "Is there a sign on my face or something? Because it's not only you that's bugging me about it. My dad is, too." She sighs.

         "I'm just offering. It's be good to talk to somebody after what you went through in jail." Spencer told.
         "Oh, like how you talked to somebody after what you went through in prison?" Casey jabbed. It wasn't fair of her her to say but frankly, she'd made a point. She didn't want to talk to anybody about what she was feeling, nor did she need to. She was fine.

          Spencer looked at Casey, a little dishearteningly but he knew what she was going through. And she didn't want to be painted as someone that couldn't do their job. He went through that, too. When Spencer didn't respond, Casey nodded: "Exactly."

           And with that, she headed back to her seat and Spencer sighed and began to make his coffee and couldn't wash this bitter taste from his mouth.

Monday, FEBRUARY 5th, 2018
Central Virginia Regional Jail, Lunchtime 13:10pm

       Nothing could wash this bitter taste from Casey's mouth, even these gross lunches couldn't. She bit her tongue, keeping close to Carmen as she talked about everyone like they weren't there.

       When Casey received her lunch and so did Carmen, they headed to one of the tables. One of them had three girls on one side of the bench as Casey and Carmen sat on the opposite side.

      "Angie, Lola, Gigi, this is Casey." Carmen introduces a red haired woman, a black haired woman with glasses and a blonde woman. "Casey, Angie, Lola and Gigi. Otherwise known as assault and battery, theft and fraud."

       "You just going around telling everyone our business now, Carmen?" The red-haired woman known as Angie questions to Carmen as she gnaws on a chicken bone.

        "I can't help it. But she's nice. And she's my roommate, might as well give her the ropes." Carmen told.

       "What you in for?" The black haired woman named Lola asks. Casey doesn't really know what to say, so she starts with: "Um—"

       "What's going on here, ladies?" Approaching them is a woman with strawberry blonde hair, with two women following on each side of her. She leans towards the table and locks her eyes on Casey. "Fresh meat, huh?"

        Carmen speaks up. "Why don't you go and fly a kite, Rizzo?" The woman glares towards Carmen. "What dod you say to me?" Carmen closes her mouth and then cowers down back in her seat. "Yeah, that's right."

        The woman looks towards Casey now. "You're in our territory now. Don't forget it, newbie." With that, the woman and her posse walk away and Casey looks her way as she makes over to her seat at another bench, scaring away some inmates who were seated at her spot.

       "Who's that?" Casey wondered. "Rizzo Plunkett," Carmen says her name in disgust. "Thinks she owns the joint. She's in here because of gambling embezzlement gone awry. That's what I've heard."

      "She changes up the story every time. No one actually knows why she got arrested." Angie told. Just last week, she was telling us she was charged with stealing candy from a baby." Gigi stated. "And a month before that, she told us she was charged with assault and proposition on a police officer." Lola added. "She thinks she's a legend. She's just a punk." Angie comments.

       "There was a rumor going around that the real reason was because she tried killing her kids. Boy and a girl." Casey shakes her head as Carmen whispers that and she turns back to Rizzo.

         Casey tilted her head towards her, wondering how on Earth she could've recognized this woman. And then it hit her. "I think I know who that is." She mumbled to herself.

PRESENT DAY

           When they'd landed, another victim was found and Casey sent Spencer and JJ to the new crime scene and told Matt to talk to Muriel's husband.

          Casey had been going over the case with the file in front of her as Spencer stood in the room. He didn't know what he could say to her to make her feel better and he wondered if he should say anything at all but before Spencer could muck up the courage to say anything, Matt walked in with news.

         "Talked to Steven Gourse. Confirmed both he and Muriel are nonsmokers but admitted his wife would sneak a cigarette every once in a while, usually late at night. She suffered from insomnia." Matt explained.

         "Was it possible she hid them in the oven?" Spencer asked. "She knew her husband was wise to her, and plus Steven said the brand wasn't even the kind she smoked." Matt told.

         "And here's another thing. None of Amanda's friends remember ever seeing her wearing the necklace that was found on her body. She liked high-end jewelry, and that necklace was cheap." Casey explained.

         "Maybe the unsub brought it with him, like he did the alcohol with Rita and the cigarettes with Muriel." Spencer suggested. "It could be his own unique form of sadism. Not only did he dispense physical pain, but at the moment of death, he inflicted a psychological wound as well. And those are hard to heal."

          Casey went back to writing down notes for the case and Matt and Spencer exchange a look before Matt exits the room.

Wednesday, FEBRUARY 7th, 2018
Central Virginia Regional Jail, Cell Block F

          Casey had finished up reading Spencer's letter he sent over. She'd had one visitor since she'd been locked up and that was Emily and she had given Spencer's letter to her. It was mostly debriefing about Chris and the things he was learning in school and how much Chris missed her.

          Spencer even sent over a photo of Chris to show Casey so she she'd at least have something there. Carmen had friends over at their room, one consisting of Gigi, another friend of hers, Jackie and and another one, Marla, who rarely ever talked.

        "Wait, so you're pregnant?" Casey asked Jackie as Gigi felt her growing bump. Jackie nods, "Yeah, I got arrested two months into finding out I was. I rather I be here than with my abusive baby daddy. He ain't getting custody over him. He's going with my momma." She explains.

        "Do you have kids, Casey?" Carmen asks. "Uh, yeah, a little boy. Christopher." Casey nods, feeling good that she's actually talking to other people about her life besides her own coworkers, of course, she had to stray away from some things of course. "There's, uh, actually a picture of him here." Casey hands over the photo of Christopher to Gigi and both her and Jackie look it over. "My ex sent it."

        "Oh, he's adorable!" Gigi compliments with a smile on her face. "How old is he?" Jackie asks as she hands the photo back to Casey. "Five," Casey tells and looks back down at the photo. "I'm just... counting down the days I get to see him again."

         Casey missed Chris like crazy. She wondered how he was, what he was doing right now, if he even knew where she was at the moment. He probably knew, he was a smart kid after all.

        "Well, lookie what we got here." Rizzo stands at the doorway and Casey puts her photo back under the letter subtly. Her posse in standing on each side of her again. "A pregnant whore," She looks at Jackie and then at Carmen. "An adrenaline junkie, a biker that never speaks," Marla. "Slut #42 in this joint," Gigi. "And a newbie." Finally, Casey. "Just the people I was looking for." Rizzo smirks as she walks into the room.

       "What do you want, Rizzo?" Carmen questions. Rizzo looks towards Casey and then back at Carmen. "I need you to move the sandwiches."
        Casey furrows her brows. "Sandwiches?"
       "The pot." Carmen whispers to Casey.

       "Why can't Jackie do it?" Gigi asks, like this was a recurring thing. "Well, in case you haven't noticed, Jackie's pregnant. And I'm no monster." Rizzo told.

       "Well, you tried killing your own kids so what difference does that make?" Casey spoke out loud and nearly regretted it when she did. Rizzo then turns her head slowly to Casey and her eye twitches. "You crossing me, newbie?" She approaches Casey.

       "Rizz, leave her alone." Carmen stands in between Casey and Rizzo. "No, I don't think I will." Rizzo pushes Carmen aside as Casey stands from her bunk. "You got something you wanna say?" Rizzo gets in Casey's face.

       "Actually, I have plenty of things I wanna say." Casey says through gritted teeth and Carmen inserts herself in between Casey and Rizzo. "Casey, just let it go." Carmen warns and Casey steps back, knowing Carmen may not want to remove the blood off the tile walls.

        Carmen then looks back at Rizzo. "We'll move your drugs for you, alright? We will. Just get out." Rizzo smirks, satisfied with that answer. She takes one last look at Casey and Casey rolls her eyes. "They're coming in Saturday. They better be moved by then."

         With that, Rizzo and her posse leave and Casey turns from the door to the awkward tension in the room. "We're not seriously doing this, are we?" Casey asks.

        "We have no choice, Casey." Carmen sighs. "We do have a choice. We have a choice not to move the drugs." Casey tells.

        "We get a beatdown from Rizzo and her pals if we don't do it," Carmen reveals. "They did that with a good of friend of ours. Her name was Olivia Roe. She took a stand, just like you and you know what Rizzo and her posse did, they beat her to death. They stomped on her stomach, she was pregnant. They ruled her death as accidental. Said she ran into a wall. What kind of wall does that kinda damage? Thank God she's letting Jackie off the hook here but what's to say she won't hurt us the same way if we don't do this?" Carmen explains away and Casey shakes her head. There was no way she was letting this Rizzo bitch punk her down.

          Casey could hear the team's voices in the back of her head. Keep a low profile, don't do anything reckless. But maybe that was the FBI side to her. They had to take a stand and even if she was the only one doing it, it didn't matter.

        "Then, I'll take the beating. I don't care. I'm not doing that." Casey told.

        "Casey, this is real life. You're gonna have to do stuff you don't wanna do. And besides, you're way too skinny for that. One twist and she'd break you like a twig." Carmen told.

          Casey sighed, she didn't want to spend the rest of her life moving drugs and being someone's bitch. Casey thought of Spencer and then looked at that photo of Christopher. He was the only thing that was helping her through all of this. She had to believe that much.

PRESENT DAY

        Another body was discovered and Matt and Luke reached the conclusion that their unsub was killing based on song titles. And they then delivered their profile. They figured out that their unsub was getting the music idea from a radio station and Luke was currently looking into that now.

       "Gotta be over 100 radio stations in Chicago." Luke points out as Emily, Spencer and Casey walk in the room. "106 if you count high-frequency outlets located within the city's listening range." Spencer told.

       "Well, Garcia's going over the victims' phone records, so if it was a call-in request-type thing, maybe a number repeats itself." Emily told. "The problem is that there isn't a station in the city that exclusively programs big band music." Casey tells.

       "Maybe an occasional vintage song is folded into the body of a different format." Spencer suggests. "Well, it's gonna be a long night. Let's get on it." Emily tells.

         This unsub was closing in on his endgame and they had to be prepared for it.

Thursday, FEBRUARY 8th, 2018
Central Virginia Regional Jail, Prison Yard 20:45am

        Casey sits down at the bleachers, holding Spencer's letter in her hand. He'd come to visit her this morning and she hadn't told him what was going on with this Rizzo bitch. She looked over his letter a thousand times and shook her head. "God, Spencer, what would you do?" She muttered to herself.

       Casey then scoffed to herself and realized exactly what he would've done. "You'd take the beating." She whispered to herself.

      "Hiya, newbie." Rizzo appears on her right side, making her way to Casey. "Or is it Casey?" She smirks as her posse come towards either side of her and Casey scoffs, "Look, if this is some gang initiation, I want no part of it."

       "You sure talk back for somebody who looks like that." Rizzo notes to Casey's skinniness, making Casey subtly and subconsciously cover up more with her jacket. She looks towards her sidekicks. "Get outta here." She orders and they do as they're told.

        Rizzo takes a seat next to Casey and offers her a cigarette and Casey shakes her head as Rizzo rolls her eyes and make eyes with the male guard set outside their post. With her cigarette in her mouth, Rizzo pulls out a deck of cards from the outside of her scrubs pocket.

       "Let's play some cards. You play, right?" Rizzo asks and Casey shrugs, "Most of the time."

       As Casey and Rizzo play cards, Casey wins nearly every single round and it seems like it's old times again. It's weird to Casey. "Let's make a deal, because I can do good with deals." Rizzo tells. "When my drugs come in, you're gonna move 'em. Unless you want me spilling out your secret that you're some secret agent." Rizzo says lowly and Casey glares at Rizzo, shaking her head.

       "Agent Casey Willows. And I don't just know you from TV." Rizzo smirks. "You handled the Brambillas and the Romanos, I mean that shit was on national television. And you have to remember who I am, I mean, come on."

        "Rizzo Plunkett, Roger Romano's daughter. How could I forget? But you are messing with thick territory here." Casey tells. "You see, my dad went to prison and so did my ex husband. And I picked up a few traits from them. You hurt me, you'll be thrown towards a cell and you may or may not come out for a long time after that." She spits.

        Rizzo chuckles as she swipes her tongue under her teeth and puts out her cigarette. "You threatening me?" She questions.

       "It's not a threat. It's a fact." Casey corrects. "You won't do anything to me. Because if you do, out comes the secret between you and Officer Taylor." Casey glances over the officer's way that Rizzo locked eyes with before.

       "How did you—?"
      "This agent... isn't on duty but knows a few things. See, you can try and blackmail me all you want. But I am not afraid of you." Casey told and whispers, "Because I eat women like you for breakfast."

        With that, she walked off and looked over her shoulder as Rizzo watched her walk away.

PRESENT DAY

Spencer and JJ had discovered a radio station that played the songs the unsub was killing the victims with. It was a radio station hosted by Craig Kaline that was ran during nighttime. In a booklet full of all of the songs, the songs the unsub was using were found and in the box of goodies the air runner had shown were things from the previous victims. And a rose was found in there. And Craig was renewing his vows with his wife today.

Casey, Emily and Luke had made their way to Craig's house with officers right behind them. "Craig Kaline, FBI!" Luke announced and Casey had slowly made her way to the bedroom with her gun in her hands and calls Luke and Emily over.

Craig was found dead in his bed surrounded by roses. They'd come to their conclusion that Craig's wife was their unsub. After calling the medical examiners and the coroners, Luke walked in the room with news as Emily and Casey paced.

"No sign of Janice Fox. We got an APB out." Luke told. "What the hell happened here? Craig finally ran up against a victim who fought back?"

Or Janice was the killer all along." Emily stated. "We profiled rejected lover. A woman scorned would certainly fall into that category." Casey tells. "She wanted Craig all to herself. She tried to eliminate the competition." Emily figures.

"JJ said that he was supposed to renew his wedding vows with his wife Cheryl today." Luke reminds. "That could have triggered Janice." Emily tells. "But he was tortured badly. That's awfully vicious for a female."

Luke chuckles, "Don't kid yourself. When native-American warriors couldn't get information out of a captured prisoner, they'd hand them over to their women."

Emily's eyes widen. "They did?"
"And they say women are less dangerous than men." Casey says to herself, reminding her of when she first met Carmen in jail.

Luke's cell rings and he walks out of the room. "I should put that tidbit on a plaque and hang it over my desk." Emily tells. "Not if I beat you to it." Casey jokes.

Thursday, FEBRUARY 8th, 2018
Central Virginia Regional Jail, Room 73 24:35pm

Casey was invited over to speak to a counselor in a support group for those in jail. Carmen recommended her since she'd often go to these things herself to ramble on an on about her boyfriend leaving her behind and Jackie was there, talking about a fresh start once she finished up her sentence, along with Angie who struggled with drugs and that being one of the reasons she was in here in the first place. She assaulted a guy for not giving her drugs.

After that, Casey had a better understanding for these people did what they did. She zoned out and didn't even register her name being called until she had looked towards the counselor and the eyes staring at her.

"Casey." The counselor smiles at her. "Your first day with us. Why don't you tell us about yourself? What maybe you're feeling right now? We like to start with icebreakers here."

Casey sits up and looks at the eyes around her. Carmen gives her a wink and assures her that it's gonna be fine. Casey tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and and clears her throat. "I, um, I don't know where to start." Casey chuckles a bit.

"I had a good job... until that was taken from me, I had a great husband... until we got divorced. I have a beautiful son... that's the only thing I've got going for me." Casey starts with. "I've only seen my ex once since I've been in here. And I guess I kind of deserve that. He was in prison and I only saw him once before he took me off his visitor's list. Something about... wanting to protect me. Which I thought was total bull at the time. But... I guess I kinda get it now, you know. And I don't have to rely on him coming to visit as often."

"My coworkers... try and cheer me up, basically visiting me everyday. My half-brother and sister, Isaac and Leah, do, a lot of the time. But the one face I really want to see is my son's." She holds up a photo of Chris she brought with her. She kept it in her pocket for safe keeping. "I miss his little face everyday." She sniffles.

"We all have the same stories, family we want to see again." The counselor tells. "You hold onto those."

"See, that's the difference between us, counselor." Casey spoke. "You get to walk out that door, have a normal life. For us, it's just another day." As Casey said that sentence, she couldn't help but think that maybe she did belong here with these people.

After the group session, Casey walked out of the room and locked eyes with Rizzo and her posse, they looked like they were whispering about something and smirking towards Casey. They were just trying to scare her. That's what she kept telling herself.

Thursday, FEBRUARY 8th, 2018
Central Virginia Regional Jail, Cell Block F 9:00pm

Casey carried on with the rest of her day, feeling eyes watching her at every turn. Eyes on her at lunch and dinner, eyes on her at the prison yard. Eyes on her everywhere it seemed. Those eyes belonged to Rizzo Plunkett and her posse.

When nighttime hit, Casey felt safer in her cell with her bunkmate. "You got a dark cloud above you, you know?" Carmen whispered as she laid in bed. Casey was sitting up, writing in the journal the counselor gave her. She furrowed her brows at Carmen. "What are you talking about?" She asked.

"Rizzo," Carmen stated. "She's talking about jumping you. When you least expect it, she said. You're never gonna see it coming. She did that to Jessica Veroni one time, broke her wrist, she went into solitary confinement after that. Just thought I'd give you a heads up."

"Hey, Carmen?" Casey asks and Rizzo peeks down. "Yeah?" Casey nods to the woman, "Thanks." Rizzo gives Casey a small smile. "I told that you're my friend. It's what we do."

Casey was glad that even if she was in this bad place, she was glad to at least have one friend that had her back. And that friend was Carmen.

PRESENT DAY

"Spence looked through the box at the radio station and he found love notes from all of the victims." JJ told Emily, Matt and Casey as they walked with one another. "That's how Cheryl was deciding who to kill." Emily stated. "She discovered the box."

"But Craig's assistant said that Amanda was the only one he was having an affair with." JJ told. "The others just requested songs now and then."

"That didn't matter," Matt said. "The other victims may have never even met Craig." Casey sighs, "But after Amanda, Cheryl saw them all as potential threats. A harmless fan note dropped in the mail got them killed." Casey sighed. "Luck of the draw." Emily comments.

The four begin to walk to the elevator. "Okay, so if Cheryl does have Janice, where did they go?" JJ wonders and Casey concludes, "They were supposed to renew their vows today. Maybe that's where they went." She pulls out her phone and requests: "Garcia..."

Friday, FEBRUARY 9th, 2018
Central Virginia Regional Jail, Gym 13:30pm

Casey kept a watchful eye on her own back as she got some lifts in. The laughter coming her way reminded her on high school and she sighed, wondering what to do. And finally, she knew what to do.

After her hour in the gym, she rushed back into her room to tell Carmen her plan and nearly ran into her at the door. "Hey, I was just about to come look for you—"
"I need you to stab me." Casey tells Carmen.

Carmen is in shock of Casey's words and stands there for a minute as she processes the words. Finally, she says: "What?"

"I. Need. You. To. Stab. Me." Casey enunciates clearly. Carmen shakes her head. "Stab you—? You sound crazy."

"I sound logical, okay? My ex husband did it and he got into solitary confinement after that." Casey told. "Casey, you're speaking nonsense. And if I do do it, I get in trouble." Casey sighed, then realizing her plan had a hole in it. She remembered Spencer had gotten stabbed.

"You're right. God, what did Spencer do..." Casey paced in the room and then remembered. He had that Shaw guy do it to make it look like he did it.

"What is it?" Carmen asked. "I know how I'm gonna make it work." Casey stated.

When the time came, Casey had something prepared under her sleeve. She was lucky she was on lunch preparation today and got to sneak out one of the plastic sporks. She had sharpened it down using her bed frame before heading out into the kitchen.

At lunch, Rizzo was speaking and playing cards with her posse and Casey decides to stand behind her and thinks of all the bullshit Rizzo spewed out. "What's all this chatter I've been hearing about you wanting to put your hands on me?" Casey wonders, speaking to Rizzo.

Rizzo scoffs, "Let me guess, Carmen told you?" She exchanged a look with the now timid Carmen at the other table. "Roommate buddy system, am I right?"

"Instead of this being a rumor, why don't you just tell me you wanna fight me instead of being a scared little bitch?" Casey wondered and that's when Rizzo threw her cards down and turns to Casey and stands up from her seat. "What did you just call me?"

"I called you a whiny, narcissistic, scared, selfish, attempted-child-killing, little bitch—" Smack! Casey feels a sting in her cheek as Rizzo slaps her. "Did that feel good?" Casey smirked.

That's when Rizzo gets in Casey's face. "You're gonna have to have eyes in the back of your head. Because you're never gonna see me coming."

Casey gets ahold of her makeshift weapon in her hands. "And you're never gonna see me coming either. Because I win this round, bitch." With that, Casey grabs Rizzo's hand, places the weapon in her hands and makes Rizzo stab Casey right into her collarbone.

Casey screams in pain, feeling the sharp end stab her through the collarbone. She feels the warm blood gushing out and Rizzo is pulled off of Casey. "Let me go! I didn't do that! Let me go!" Rizzo yells as she thrashes in the officer's arms and Casey gives Rizzo a vengeful look.

At that moment, Casey was moved into solitary confinement and she was allowed two hours out everyday. She spent most of her time with the support group and in the gym working out. And all she could do was just hope the team could get her out of there soon.

PRESENT DAY

After solving the case, the team was flown back to the BAU. Everyone had turned in their paperwork to Casey by the end of the night and all had gone home, Emily included.

Spencer was the last one in for the night. He looked up towards Casey's office and realized she was still there because her light was still on. Furrowing his brows, he decides to head into her office and hopes this interaction is better than the last one on the jet.

When he stands at the doorway, he sees Casey zoned out, shuffling in her chair, she looked like she'd already dressed in her PJs. The knock on the doorway startled her and she takes a breath of relief, realizing it's Spencer.

"Hey." Spencer greets, walking in the office. "Hey." Casey sits up a bit. "You okay?" Spencer asks, tilting his head towards her.

Casey nods, "Yeah, yeah, I'm-I'm okay." Spencer speaks again, "I hope you're not planning to stay here the entire night." Casey shakes her head, messing with her sleeves. "No, I just... I was just thinking."

"Thinking?" Spencer furrowed his brows.

Casey looks at Spencer and takes a deep breath. She can't even look at him. "About jail." She admits and Spencer takes a breath. "Every time I close my eyes, I'm afraid that if I open them, I'll be back in that cell." She sits forwards now. "I mean, I was only there for two weeks but I can't even imagine what you went through in prison... for months." Spencer looks down at his mention of being in prison.

"I don't even know if I'm able to handle this job," Casey sighs. "I'm scared.  I'm scared that that feeling's never gonna go away." Casey then realizes who she's talking to and shakes her head. "I'm sorry. I don't even know what I'm saying. I don't know why I'm comparing this to you being in prison. You went through more than I ever did."

"Casey—"
The woman shakes her head at Spencer and faces away from him. "No. Just... Just forget it."

"No, it's fine." Spencer sits in the seat in front of Casey's desk. "I was scared, too." He admits. "For a long time. But then I bounced back. And I know you can, too. Casey, you're one of the strongest people I know. You'll get through this. I know you will."

Despite that being a traumatic experience Casey went through and he knew he would've never would've let it happen if he could go back in time, Spencer was glad to have someone that knew what that experience was like firsthand. He was glad that he now had her. And Casey, despite Spencer's experience probably being worse than hers, she was glad that Spencer knew what she was talking about and that he understood it. She just never gave him a chance to talk to her because then it became too real about what her experience in jail was.

Yesterday, Casey had gotten the news that Barnes was being sent into a federal prison for Casey's false imprisonment. And some part of that experience was chipped away at her fragile soul, knowing that she could grow from this. If Spencer believed in her and so did their son, Casey knew she had to believe in herself, too.

"You think so?" Casey asked. "Have I ever doubted you?" Spencer asks and Casey thinks jokingly. "Hmm."

Spencer then stands from his seat. "Come on, I'll take you home." Casey furrows her brows as she grabs her bag and follows Spencer.

"You take the Metro home." Casey told, but handed him the keys anyways. "Yeah, but I'll drive your car." Spencer tells.

hey lovelies!!!
i'm sorry this was long and boring and ugh
not my best but it's wtv lol

was watching 'one tree hill' season 5 and nathan and haley lowkey remind me of casey and spencer hehehe🤭

anywaysssss
three more chapters until we are done with season 13!
and then the real plot begins😈

me to jail!casey:

(i can say the same for prison!reid🤭)

anywayssss
thank you for reading despite this being bad
i love you all
-mya </333

p.s. just posted a dad!spencer reid fic called "my tears ricochet" go give it love NEOW!!!