CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: THE MULTIPLIER !

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CASEY WILLOWS DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO REACT WHEN SHE WAS CALLED FOR A PARENT-TEACHER MEETING AT CHRIS' SCHOOL. But she had gone because his teacher sounded concerned at the school. So, she had dropped Chris off at her sister's place and met with Chris's teacher in her classroom.

As soon as she knocked, his teacher looked up. "Miss Willows." Miss Trevors greeted. Casey smiles politely. "Ma'am. You wanted to see me?"

Miss Trevors nodded. "Yes, have a seat." She nudged to the seat in front of her desk. "I was wondering what this was about? You sounded concerned over the phone." Casey stated.

Before Miss Trevors could continue, there was another knock on the door that gained their attention and that's when Casey saw her ex-husband standing at the door. "Dr. Reid." Miss Trevors greeted. Spencer waved at the woman. "Hello."

"Spencer." Casey said. "Hey." Spencer greets Casey and the woman furrows her brows. "Okay, what did our son do that requires both of us being here?" Casey questions curiously.

"I had to call both of you in. Have a seat, Dr. Reid." Spencer takes the seat right in front of Miss Trevors' desk, next to Casey. "Yes, you'd be correct, Miss Willows, I was concerned over the phone. Because I am concerned with Christopher." Casey furrows her brows. "You see, you know, bullies are common in the school, I'm guessing you believe—"

"Oh, we know what this is about." Casey realizes and Spencer nods in agreement. "You do?" Miss Trevors asks. "Yes, well, everyone gets bullied. I was picked on in high school. And even before that." Spencer stated.

Casey nodded, "So was I. So, please tell me you have the kids names that were picking on him and we'll have a discussion with their parents—"

Miss Trevors immediately shakes her head. "Miss Willows, I think you misunderstood." The couple stare at the teacher in confusion. "Christopher isn't the one getting picked on. He's the one doing it."

They then realize why they've been called in here. Christopher was a bully. Their sweet, kind and caring son was bullying his classmates.

"Christopher?" Casey questioned. Miss Trevors nods. "Our Christopher?" She motions to herself and Spencer. "He's a bully?"

"Well, I guess he's got more of his mother in him than we realized." Spencer comments and Casey furrows her brows towards Spencer and glares at him. "Um, ouch." She stated.

"Miss Willows, Dr. Reid, I've watched many children over the years. This is the classic sign with children of divorced parents — especially ones that are away half the time due to their jobs. Bullying starts and next thing you know, his grades will start to slip, behaviors start to excess." Miss Trevors explains.

"Miss Trevors, I understand your concern. I do. But Christopher... he's a good kid. He's smart, he's kind, he's respectful to other people, we raised him to be that way." Casey told. "There's no way he'd be picking on his classmates. He wouldn't even hurt a fly." Spencer added on.

Miss Trevors knows that the couple will naturally defend their son. "I know, Miss Willows, Dr. Reid. I assure you, we're trying all that we can with him. But I think he has anger built up inside of him since then."

"How long has this been going on?" Spencer asks, curiously.
"Couple of weeks now." Miss Trevors answers.
"And you waited to tell us?" Casey asks.

"Well, he didn't show signs of this until recently. He pushes his classmates, he's been drawing pictures like these." She holds a few pieces of paper in front of Spencer and Casey. Spencer takes the drawn photos and looks at them.

There's one picture drawn of Christopher, Spencer and Casey on each side of them with two houses on each of their side. The house on Casey's side is marked 'Mom's House' and the house on Spencer's side is marked 'Dad's Place'.
There's another one that Chris drew of himself with a sad face and blue tears streaming down his face. The final one gets Spencer's attention of Chris holding his mom's hand and being led away from his dad, everyone has sad looks on their faces. He knows he can't show Casey that one.

"I'm sorry to say: but I think it has something to do with your separation." Miss Trevors told and Spencer and Casey nod sadly, knowing that was the case. "Thank you for your concern. Sorry, we weren't able to take care of this sooner." Casey told as she stands. "We'll have a talk with him." Spencer nods.

After saying their goodbyes to Miss Trevors, Spencer and Casey begin walking down the hall to debrief the meeting. They thought that Chris was doing well in school and not giving anyone trouble. Turns out it wasn't the case. "Have you noticed anything off with his behavior recently?" Casey wondered.

        "No," Spencer shakes his head. "But Miss Trevors was right. Children, depending on their age and other factors, will not always have the emotional maturity to understand why a separation is happening, and their frustration and stress may manifest in behavioral changes. Behavioral issues in children of divorce can range from mild acting out to destructive behavior." He explains.

         Casey sighs, "But he was doing so good so far. He understood."

        "Well, there hasn't been any changes recently. I wonder what's making him act out." Spencer furrows his brows in thought.

         And then Casey thought about it. Could there be a possibility that Chris knew about Chandler and herself? How could he have? Chandler wasn't around when Chris was home. Maybe he knew he inhibition that he had gotten from his parents. But that was a change in itself. Casey sighs and shakes her head. "Yeah, me too." She grabs the photo on the houses. "I can't believe he's drawing photos like this."

        "Classic sign in kids whose parents have divorced," Spencer stated. "I think you should talk to him."
         Casey scoffs, "Oh, yeah, like that's gonna blow over well. He wouldn't listen to me."

        "Yeah, he would. You're his mother." Spencer reminded her and Casey shook her head, "And you're his favorite person in the world."

          "Besides, I think you could understand him more. I mean, your parents were practically divorced. You'd understand." Casey told. "Yeah, but he doesn't know how to hide his anger. That's like you." Spencer stated. Casey scoffs, "Gee, thanks."

         "I'm just saying. Besides, I'm the one always giving him the pep talks. Change of scenery would help." Spencer told. He knew that Casey wasn't as affected by the "favorite parent" comment she made herself, considering they both knew Chris loved them just the same. But since Spencer got out of prison, of course, Chris clung onto Spencer like glue and who was Casey to deny or take that away from Chris? And she knew that she had to be the one to talk to Chris to see what's up with him.

           Chris may have been a little like his father in ways, but he was more like his mother as he was growing up more now. Casey sighs, "I guess you're right. I'll talk to him."

          Spencer had had Chris for the night so the two planned for Casey to speak to him when it was her week with him, which was in a couple of days anyways.

Casey and Spencer had work the very next day, so of course, they headed in to work along with everyone else on the BAU.

Casey was currently grabbing coffee and putting the creamer into it when she felt someone lean towards her and whisper, "I spy with my little eye a hot American woman with a rather nice arse." That damn Chandler Arwen, she'd say with a smirk.

"Yeah, JJ does have a great ass." Casey jokes. He was standing with her, looking like he was also getting coffee so as not to raise suspicion. "You okay? You look like you've got a lot in your mind." Chandler asks.

Casey nods, "Yeah, yeah, it's just... it's Christopher." Chandler and Casey began to walk towards Casey's office through the bullpen. "Turns out, he's been acting out in class. Spencer and I are kinda worried about him." Casey told Chandler.

"Cheer up," Chandler spoke. "Christopher's a kid. He's gonna act out every now and again. Just talk to him. Maybe he needs it." Casey sighs, "Yeah, well, Spencer's better at the whole pep talk thing with him than I am so... I don't know. I have to talk to him though."

Chandler looks towards Spencer's desk and sees that Spencer is staring him down but when he's caught, he goes back to acting like he's working.

Chandler begins to whisper at Casey again. "Does he know about us yet?" He asks.
"Christopher?" Casey furrows her brows.
"Spencer." Chandler clarifies.

Casey looks over at Spencer, who's apparently looking like he's working now. "I... I haven't told him. I haven't need to and frankly, I don't want to. It's not easy to say you're sleeping with your coworker to your ex-husband. And besides, why would he need to know?" She asks.

"'Cause he stares at you constantly like your head's gonna explode," Chandler admits. "And he stares at me like he wants my head to explode."

Casey nods, "Yeah, that's Spencer for ya. He's just... protective. He'll come around." Truth be told, she honestly didn't know if Spencer would ever come around. She wondered if maybe he'd be bitter or petty. And honestly, she wouldn't blame him if he did.

          Suddenly, her cell phone rang and she checked it. "I have to take this." She told Chandler as she headed towards her office to take the phone call.

The call lasted for like fifteen minutes because of the new case that handed in was one that included more details than usual. And this one was a big one. "Great, I'll present this to my team and I can meet you at the site in about a half an hour." There's a pause and Casey nods, "Thank you. See you then."

With that, Casey hangs up the phone and there's a sudden knock on her door and she looks to see Anderson with an Manila envelope in his hand. "Willows, mail for you." He hands it to Casey and she nods at him, "Thanks, Anderson."

            Casey furrows her brows, she usually had gotten mail a lot but this would be the first she was sent something in a Manila envelope. When she opened it, all there had been in it was a simple pin. It was a golden angel with horns and angel wings. Casey furrowed her brows. No, she thought. There is no way this means what I think it means. "Hmm." She mumbled. She examines the pin and searches inside the Manila envelope for anything else.

Inside was a note and she flipped it open and it had a been one simple sentence. "In the eye of the hurricane, there is silence." What the hell is that supposed to mean? Casey wondered.

There is a sudden knock on her door and Casey jumps as she sees Emily enter. "Sorry," Emily tells. She notices a distinct look on Casey's face. "You okay?"

Casey tries to hide her worried face. "Yeah. Yeah." She stands from her seat as she places the pin and note back in the envelope. She nods, "I'm good. I didn't mean to jump like that." She steadies herself. "I was just about to tell everyone to gather because we have a case. And it's big one."

With that, Casey calls Garcia to get the screen ready for the task at hand. Everyone stood around the roundtable as Casey and Emily walk in after Casey had debriefed Emily on the case. "Pen, present." Casey started as she walked in the room.

          "Okay," Garcia grabs the remote to the screen. "So... recently in Maryland, Marcus Taylor, aged 37, along with Desiree Edmonds, 25 from Virginia and Will and Gertrude Geoffreys, 56 and 58, from DC have all been found in strange ways. Marcus Taylor was in a car accident, Desiree Edmonds was committed suicide and Will and Gertrude Geoffreys both were found overdosed." Chandler stiffens.

           "These sound like regular deaths." Chandler told. "Careful there, hot British hunk. The reason these deaths are strange is because these weren't the actual causes of their deaths." Garcia stated.

           "The DC office has reason to believe that these deaths were made to look like accidents." Emily reveals. "Have they done equivocal checks on the bodies?" Matt asks. "Yeah and they all found marks on the bodies. All of which are tattooed on the bodies. A simple three lines on each of the bodies." Emily nods.

          "It's not just the deaths I'm looking at, though," Casey started and everyone stared at her in confusion. "The reason the DC field office called me was because they have reason to believe that a certain serial killer is the cause of their deaths. He named himself The Multiplier. Apparently, he's been known to make his deaths look like accidents."

            Now, Chandler is completely silent.

         "He named himself?" Matt asks. Luke shakes his head, "A serial killer who names himself." JJ nods, "It's not something we haven't seen before, but it's definitely something we'll see again."

        "He's glamorizing his kills. He wants them advertised and put out there for the world to see." Spencer spoke. "But why go through all the trouble of making their deaths look like accidents?" Tara asks.

        "He chose kills that made it look like they would be," Spencer walks towards the screen near Casey, examining the crime scene photos shown onscreen. "An overdose can easily look like an accident, so can a car accident and a suicide. He chose these because they would be less conspicuous for us to look into." He explains.

        "And why The Multiplier?" Luke wonders. "We've only got four deaths to look at."
       "We have to assume that maybe there's more he doesn't want us to find or maybe this is the start of a spree for him." Rossi stated.

         With that, Casey separates the team. "Rossi, JJ, go to the ME's office, see what you can find on the bodies. Anything new, anything done postmortem. Tara, Luke, go to the Geoffreys' crime scene since they're the latest kill. The rest of us will stay here, Spencer, Matt, conduct a geographical profile. Garcia, do as much digging as you can into the victims, see if their deaths are something that they would do. And Emily, Chandler and I will talk to the families." Casey orders.
         "On it, boss." Garcia nods and everyone heads on out.

         The only person to stay in the conference room is Chandler, staring at the screen. Before Casey leaves herself, she tilts her head at Chandler. "You okay?" She asks and Chandler snaps out of his dark mind to turn on his charming persona. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." He assures. Casey gives him a small smile and she walks out.

           Chandler sighs, staring at the screen. He thought he was careful. But some people always love the thrill of the kill. Unfortunately, he was one of them.

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2 0 0 7

            It was after a day of combat. Chandler tried to remember what he was doing this for. For a while, he's tried to remember. And after being out in Iraq for a few weeks, he was already ready to go back home. His kill count had to be high right now. It wasn't by choice, he had to. That's what he had to remind himself. It was for the country. Of course, a country he wasn't even born into. They had to make exceptions for him to be here.

            Bonfire nights were big nights when you on active duty. As for Chandler, he wasn't one to have fun. No one here even bothered to talk to him. He assumed that maybe it was because of him not being American but he could care less. He was happy to be going back home in a few days.

           "Hey." A voice spoke. A man sat next to him, handing him a drink. "You did good out there today, man." He stated and Chandler nodded at him, "Thanks."

          "Brambilla," The man held his hand out for Chandler to shake. "But you can just call me Damion." Chandler holds his hand out to shake his. "Arwen. You can call me Chandler."

         "You have a rough day out there?" His new friend, Damion, asked. "Every day's always a rough day." Chandler told, staring at the ground. "Hey, I get what you mean." Damion said.

         "You ever wish you could be somebody different? Make the right decisions, even if they're for the wrong reasons?" Chandler wondered aloud, not even realizing he asked the question out loud.
  
          Little did Chandler know, Damion did know a few things about that. "All the time, man. That's why I'm here." He said. "So I can just forget those right decisions and wrong reasons. I'm assuming that's why you're here."

         "I'm here for my mum. She believed I could do something when dear old Dad didn't." Chandler told and Damion nods, "Dads can be assholes." Chandler sighs, "Glad we agree."

           Chandler's dad wasn't much of an asshole as he panned him out to be but he just... wasn't there emotionally. He invested all of his time into his work in the laboratory. Chandler guessed that maybe he could thank him for his degree in Science and Chemistry. Definitely not for his last name — Chandler changed his last name to his mother's maiden name, Arwen when he turned 18. Chandler Gardner wasn't cutting it anymore.

          Damion bumped his shoulder. "Come on, you're not sitting alone in this shit-hole. Come mingle." Chandler takes a breath before joining his new friend. He met his friend's half-brother, Angel, another guy named Torres and a few other guys he already knew, Clint, Thomas and Reinhardt.

            Little did he know, this was gonna be the start of a dark beginning.

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           At the ME's office, JJ and Rossi discovered the tattoos were done postmortem, Tara and Luke concluded that the Geoffreys had injected each other but wondered how the unsub had gotten them to do it since there was no indication of them fighting back, Spencer and Matt had concluded the kills were leading down the cities of Virginia, starting with Maryland and ending towards DC and Emily, Chandler and Casey all talked to their families, the Geoffreys were recovering addicts, Desiree had a history of depression and Marcus Taylor had a comeback story for the ages.

Throughout the case, everyone had different opinions on this unsub. They had their own theories. So, Casey regathered everyone — minus Garcia, who was doing research.

"It's come to my attention that everyone has a different approach to this case. So, right here, right now, I'd like for everyone to give their best theories. All options are open on the table." Casey stated.

"I think these deaths are just accidents," Luke told. "We found nothing that shows Desiree Edmonds was forced to commit suicide and the Geoffreys didn't have any other fingerprints on them besides their own. But if I'm the only one on this boat, I apologize."

"See, I would agree but what explains the ligature marks around Marcus Taylor's neck?" Rossi questioned. "I'm thinking somewhere along the lines the Multiplier slipped."

"Guys like that don't just slip," Everyone turns to Chandler as he speaks, surprisingly to himself. He has to clear his name but act like he's solving this case all at once. To the team, it would look like I'm just adding input. "They stick to their MO. The suicide and the overdose, sure, but this seems entirely different."

"He has a completely different victimology and he uses it on older individuals. Why not use these ruses on younger individuals since they'd be easy to manipulate?" Tara wonders.

"Perhaps these people have done something wrong to him and he believes that he's punishing them and makes their deaths look like accidents so that he has no link to them." Matt told.

JJ speaks up, "Well, the autopsy showed on Marcus Taylor's report, the unsub would've let go of the rope around his neck three times before killing him. And then in Desiree's report, she was cut three different times on her arms and with the Geoffreys', there was an insane amount of track marks on their arms. All of which were recent."

"He multiplies his kills by multiplying the amount of damage he can endure on the victims. And each are in threes." Spencer stated.

Emily shakes her head, "I'm still confused on the name. Why call himself the Multiplier when we've found no other bodies since?"

"I'm betting there's more than what we've found. I'm gonna have Garcia look into that, too." As Casey goes to walk out of the conference room to check in with Garcia, Garcia comes rushing through the door with her laptop in hand.

"No need. I can look into that right now. Okay." Garcia settles herself in her seat. "So, I found that Marcus Taylor had been a successful business man but he had a few secrets. One of them being that he was in prison for abuse against his wife and child and when he got out, he had a comeback story for the ages."

"What about Desiree?" JJ asks.

Garcia digs through Desiree's file she found. "Desiree Edmonds was sent to a mental hospital after a deep depression episode after she murdered a classmate of hers with vehicular manslaughter but she also had a comeback story, graduated at the top of her class. She was gonna be a therapist."

"Easy for us to think that Desiree's suicide would've fooled us into thinking she would've done it." Luke spoke.

"And the Geoffreys?" Rossi asked.

"Will and Gertrude had both been twenty-two years sober. They met at their AA meetings." Garcia stated. "And they overdose after twenty-two years of sobriety?" JJ wondered.

"All citizens with redemption stories. And the minute they're received those redemption stories—" Spencer starts as Casey finishes, "They're immediately taken away. Garcia, can you look up articles all within the past ten years within our geographical profile? Keyword - The Multiplier."

"On it like a rocket. And..." It's only a few seconds when Garcia's jaw drops. "Blast off. There have been murders after murders since 2013. All over the place. All were deemed accidents or simply pushed aside by the local authorities. Car accidents, suicides."

"And newspaper articles flew in and people started suspecting it was The Multiplier." Emily told.
"Or a wannabe Zodiac Killer." Matt comments.

"I don't know about you guys but I'm ready to give the profile." Casey told.

After delivering their profile of looking for a man in his mid-20s to early-30s, narcissistic and paranoid social misfit and loner with daddy issues, who was mainly driven by the need and craving for attention and power. The profile was verbatim to the Zodiac Killer's. Though, this unsub disliked the credibility yet wanted to put his name out there. He had hesitation yet went through with the kill anyways, which made the team wonder if maybe he had borderline personality disorder.

As they were giving the profile, Casey couldn't help but notice how silent Chandler has been the entirety of this case. Casey currently watched as he was seated at his desk, in his own mind, anxiously tapping his feet.

Chandler began to have a flashback to when his mother was sick and when he got back from his tour.

2 0 0 7

Chandler often found his dad in the basement, conducting his own science experiments and ever since his mother had gotten sick, his father seemed to be down here more often. "Dad?" Chandler asked, walking down the steps of the basement.

"Hey, son." His father couldn't look at him, he was busy shaping up another experiment. Of course, he would. The coward.

"Why are you doing down here?" Chandler peeked over his father shoulder. He always scrambled notes with chicken scratch and noticed the one paper in front of him. 'A Remedy for Cancer'.

Chandler took notice of the many vials, labeled differently and noticed his mother's medicine down here with his father and not close to his mother like they should've been. That's when Chandler had discovered that his father was trying to make his mother better.

"Dad, don't tell me you're on this tangent for getting Mum better." Chandler told.
Chandler's dad went silent. "The doctors won't help." He said finally.
"Dad, she's stage 4–" Chandler argued.
"This will help her get better." His father argued back.

Chandler shook his head at him. He couldn't believe this experiment he was pulling. He could kill his mother before she went. "Dad, you need to give it up." Chandler told. "Throw this stuff away."

2 0 0 8

Her cancer went away.
But it came back in early 2009.
His father buried himself in work, per usual.

Then a particular day in 2009, changed things. He'd gone out for one hour to get groceries. One hour. Nothing could happen in one hour.

He yelled throughout the house to announce that he was home but got no response. He went to his mother's room and found her passed out on the bed. And then nothing something else. She wasn't breathing. "Mum?Mum?" He knew he had to check.

Chandler lifted the sleeve off of his mother's arm and had seen a needle was in her arms. He turned his head, hearing weeping in the corner where the closet was.

He opened the closet and found his father, rocking back and forth and crying. "Dad, what did you do?" The man sobbed harder. "That wasn't supposed to happen!"

"You killed her!"

"Hey."

Casey had snapped him out his thoughts. "You okay?" She asked, concerned. How long had he been thinking like this for? The one thing his mind pointed to was stressors. Stressors. Events or environments that individuals might consider demanding, challenging, and/or threatening individual safety, as Google defined. Big stressors include money troubles, job issues, relationship conflicts, and major life changes, such as the loss of a loved one. He never considered that that was his stressor before. That was soon after his mother died. And soon after he killed his own father.

Chandler blinked and looked into his hands. "Yeah, yeah. I just... um..." He takes a breath. "You ever get that feeling a case is gonna go wrong?"

Casey doesn't know how to answer him. But frankly, she felt the same. But she wouldn't admit that. "Keep digging." She told and Chandler sighed. "And hey..." Casey stands and kisses Chandler on top of the head. He broke out in a small smile to make Casey feel better. "You looked like you needed that." Casey muttered. "You have no idea." Chandler nodded. Before Casey could walk away, Garcia pops into the bullpen.

"Guys, my office! Now!" She tells and Casey and Chandler begin to follow her into her lair. "I was doing that digging that you told me to look into with Multiplier. I may have a photo of him." Chandler's heart drops to his stomach. "I had to dig and dig to find it but I did it. I did it."

Now, they're in her office and Casey asks, "Where's it from?" Garcia answers as she settled in her seat and Chandler and Casey stood on each side of her, both staring intently into the screen. "This CCTV footage was from 2015. That's when articles started popping up about this guy." Garcia told.

A photo appears but it's grainy and you can't see much. A hood is over the dark figure but Chandler can tell it's him by his build. He's hoping Casey and Garcia don't see it. He's worried that they're about to. "Garcia, zoom in." Casey tells. "I have to alter it for a second, but only for a second so the photo can come in clearer."

A second by second goes by and picture is getting clearer by the second. When it's about to reach a clear capacity, Chandler eyes the coffee cup on Garcia's desk and while the two stare intently at the screen, Chandler pushes one finger towards the coffee as the lid clatters off and it's splashed onto Garcia's keyboard, causing the system to crash and nearly explode in front of her.

Garcia is in utter shock. Her system has never done that before. Then, she remembered the coffee on her desk. The one time she ignored her own rule about coffee around her computers. That's the last time she'd be doing that. "Oh, man!" Casey groaned. "What... the... hell?" Garcia groaned. "That is the last time I ever leave coffee on my desk! That is the last time I ever drink coffee!"

"Did you save it into your hard drive?" Casey questioned and Garcia shook her head, sadly. "No! It was a whole hard drive I couldn't get into, it took me hours to get into it! And now, I need a whole new system!"

"How does that even happen?" Casey questions. Chandler sighs, "It was my fault. I didn't see the coffee. I assumed it was empty. I'm so sorry, Penelope." Chandler tells and Garcia sighs, "It's fine, it's my fault for even leaving it there." Chandler can't help but take a deep breath. That was a close one.

2 0 1 2

When his dad got out from prison for "good behavior", Chandler knew he could never forgive his father for what he did. He knew what he had to do when he found out he got out and had a perfect comeback story.

He remembered how he felt when he saw his crimson blood in the palm of his hands, how his throat felt when he choked him out. The fear of death in his eyes until it looked like they exploded out of his skull. And the way Chandler knew how to make it look like an accident.

When the police came, Chandler had thrown himself against the wall, stabbed himself in the arm, hit himself in the face until he left bruises, made it look like his father had beaten him up. And that was the case.

To the police, that was the case. Desmond Gardner had nearly killed his son and died when his son fought back. He'd rehearsed his story multiple times and inevitably got it right. The police no longer questioned him and Chandler knew it was because of how convincing he sounded. And he sounded too good.

It was then that Chandler developed his taste for the kill. And knew that even when the source of his anger was no dead, there was no turning back from this moment on.

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Even though Garcia's system had to be replaced, she was still grateful for her laptop, that survived the coffee spill of 2019. She was currently into the conference room and gathered everyone when she found something new. Casey figured the photo would be useless considering you probably can't see the unsub's face.

"So, I found something," Garcia turns to Casey, Spencer, Rossi and Emily. "Do you guys remember that case we had in 2009 with that guy that was killing actresses and he cut a woman's... lips off?"
"I do remember that case, yes." Casey nods, wishing she didn't have to remember it. It was one of the most disgusting and disturbing cases she was on.

"Ew." JJ comments.
"Say what now?" Luke asks.
"Lips?" Chandler asks.
"Someone's lips? Like actual—?" Tara asks.
"I have officially heard it all." Matt nods.

"Yeah, not a case I really like to remember." Emily nodded.

"Not the point. Point is... do you remember how the unsub inserted himself into the case?" Garcia asks. "By posing as a witness." Casey nods.

Garcia turns to her computer. "Yeah, well, turns out, our witness, Jamie Reinhardt has a lot a dirt on him in the different variety. He used to be a good kid, he was in the army, had a good family. Then after he served in Iraq, everything turned around in a very bad way. He was released from jail a few years for negligence against his son. This slimy piece of crud also hit his wife and threw acid in her face when she asked for child support."

         "Jamie Reinhardt. Wait. Wasn't he the witness at the Geoffreys' crime scene?" Luke asked. "He was the one who found the bodies behind the alley." Tara nodded.

        "What about Desiree's?" JJ asks.
        "Uh, guys, a year ago, he became the landlord to Desiree's apartment complex. Said she owed rent and didn't show. And before he was sent to jail, he was an amateur tattoo artist." Garcia stated.

         "I think we've got our guy." Emily tells, looking towards Casey, who nods. "Garcia, sent the addresses." "Already on it."

2 0 1 2

        2012 was the year a lot of messed-up shit happened. It was the year Chandler's his father got out of prison and the year Damion got into that accident. Damion and the rest of the group, Angel, Clint, Thomas and Reinhardt all took a tour together in Alaska where things just went wrong.

Damion had been too close to an explosion and he was thrown through a glass window. The glass stuck into his spine. They'd gotten back early to have him checked out but physical therapy, he could make a full recovery.

The thing was, Damion was going through a depressive state where he didn't want anyone bothering him, talking to him or even looking at him. The guy didn't shower, he grew out his hair and he was in a wheelchair for the time being.

"Damion, you can't sit here and mope forever." Angel told his brother and Damion didn't respond, he just sat there looking at the TV. He shrugs in response.

"Can you say anything?" Chandler questions. "That explosion didn't take my ability to talk, Arwen. It did take my ability to walk." Damion stated.
"Not only that, it took your ability to hide your assholery." Chandler comments. Damion scoffs, taking a swig from the beer bottle he was holding. "Cut me some slack, man."

"I have cut you slack. Everyone has. Angel, Clint. For the past month, everyone has cut you slack! It's not like you'll be paralyzed forever! You need to pick your ass up and get back out there. Stop moping about like a baby." Chandler finally had enough. And he was the only one that could say this to Damion and have it be the truth.

"Chandler, man, that's harsh." Thomas told him. "He deserves a little harsh right now after the way he's been treating us." Chandler told.

"I have nothing! Don't you get it? I have nothing! No family, no friends, no job! I have been in hiding my entire life, now I'm paralyzed, so what the hell else can God give me, huh? I'm done!" With that, Damion wheeled away.

Chandler shook his head and grabbed his jacket. "Call me when you want to grow up, Damion." He told. "Chandler, dude, where are you going?" Clint asked. "Out." Chandler answered. "But what about Damion?" Reinhardt asked. "What about him?" Chandler questioned. "He made his decision."

Over time, the boys became a band of brothers of some sorts. They'd live together, they'd fight together, they'd kill for each other.

And after that, their bond grew a whole lot bigger to the point where if one of them were accused of murder, another would go down swinging.

━━━━━━

Casey had separated Luke, herself, Matt and Chandler to one vehicle while Emily, Tara, Rossi and Spencer went in the other. JJ had stayed behind with Garcia.

As Casey drove, Garcia had called and she immediately answered. "Garcia? What's up?" She asks. "I just got an APB on Reinhardt's vehicle! He's zooming down towards the Pritchard Bridge. Police cars are hot on his trail."

"We're closer!" Casey tells since Emily, Rossi, Tara and Spencer are on the other line. "We'll meet you there!" Emily tells, knowing they should get some backup.

This wouldn't be the first time Casey Willows would be in a car chase, she was pro at it by now. The chasing didn't last very long though, because Jamie Reinhardt stopped right at the Pritchard Bridge and the idiot tried to make a run for it.

"Jamie Reinhardt! FBI!" Luke yelled, getting out of the vehicle before Casey even had the chance to put it in park. Reinhardt's back faced towards them and he stood still as everyone else pointed their guns at him. "Put the weapon down!" Casey yelled.

Reinhardt turned towards the FBI and locked eyes with Chandler. The two didn't say a word but looks said so much. He threw his weapon down and got on his knees as Casey and Matt arrested him.

Reinhardt began to chuckle. "What are you laughing about?" Matt questioned. "I'm laughing cuz you got the wrong guy." Reinhardt laughed. The four agents exchange a look. What did he mean they had the wrong guy?

"Who's the right guy then, smartass?" Luke questioned. "We're all The Multiplier. Right. Under. Your. Nose." Reinhardt cackled like a maniac as Matt and Luke proceeded to take him into custody.

When Casey had gotten back, she couldn't help but feel like she failed. Failed at her job, failed the team, failed at life. She sat at her desk after finishing her paperwork and couldn't even bother to look up when Rossi walked in.

"Sometimes you do everything exactly right and the ship just sinks." Rossi started, gaining Casey's attention. She shrugs, "He's still out there. I just can't help but think that we could've done more, you know?"

"We'll get him. I know it. And don't for one minute think that it's because you're not a good leader." Rossi told. "Because you would be wrong. You're a great leader. One of the best we've had."

Him saying that made Casey feel better at her job. "I know." She shrugged.

"Then what's on your mind?" Rossi asked. "A few things," Casey said. "The first being what Jamie Reinhardt said when we arrested him. He said the unsub was
'right under our nose'." Casey couldn't help but think. What the hell did he mean by that?

"He taunted us." Rossi stated. "Which means, we have to be expecting a hit. And be ready for anything."

Casey pauses, "Do you ever get that feeling like something bad's gonna happen?" The question throws Rossi off guard. "What do you mean?" Casey looks towards her desk and grabs the Manila envelope to show to Rossi. "Look at what's in here."

Rossi reaches in and finds the pin and sees the angel and the horns. He also examines the note given to Casey. He suddenly looks up at Casey with shock written on his face. "Can't be." He shook his head.

Casey nodded, "They're back, Rossi," she said. "The Angel and The Demon."

Rossi pauses, "Should we tell the team?" He asks. Casey shakes her head, "No, not yet. We can't tell them. We swore we wouldn't. But just in case... I'm calling in reinforcements. I have a friend who specializes in this sort of thing." Casey tells.

"You think they're really back?" Rossi asks.
"If they are, they're screwed. And not only them. Me, too." Casey sighed.

Casey knew that if it got worse, she'd go to the team but for now, only she and Rossi could know. That undercover case was top-secret. No one ever knew about it. For multiple reasons. And Casey wasn't about to start digging up the past now.

As that went down, Chandler sat in his car in the parking garage, thinking to himself. Reinhardt was always a ride or die character. He knew what he got himself into when they all took that pact. But Chandler couldn't help but question his decisions. Was Casey beginning to change him? Or was he still that narcissistic, power and blood hungry unsub she profiled a few hours ago?

He looked at his rear view mirror and thought back to the day they made that pact.

2 0 1 3

It was New Year's Day. The start of a new year was among them and Damion started it by calling in a gathering for his friends. He had something he wanted to talk to them about. It would be the first time they'd all be together since Chandler left that day.

When Chandler had been the last to walk in the room, he took notice of Damion's face clean-shaven, hair cut and he was now out of that chair. "Well, you clean up nicely." He commented and Damion nodded, "Thanks."

"So, what was that skeevy phone call about?" Thomas questioned.

Damion sighed as he looked at Angel near the window. "Have I ever told the real reason why Angel and I went into the army?" He asked.

"No, I don't believe." Chandler stated.

"See, our dads were two of the biggest Mafia bosses in the country. Richard Brambilla and Roger Romano. Then the FBI started snooping around and along came her." Angel started and Damion's jaw clenched.

"Her who?" Reinhardt asked.

There was a photo of a woman walking down the street with a coffee in her hand. She looked professional, dressed in a blouse and brown slacks. There were a few photos of her like this. She had dark hair, medium length. Chandler could tell she had blue eyes. She was mesmerizing, almost. Nearly breathtaking.

"Who is she?" Clint asked.

"She's the bitch who ruined our lives." Damion revealed.

Chandler remembered that they took a pact that they would "teach her a lesson" with how dirty she did Damion and Angel. Chandler was the man for the job, knowing he could get her off her guard while they plotted. Chandler kept pushing the plan back but knowing that his cover was nearly blown and knowing this team, he had to act sooner or later.

So, Chandler called Damion. "We hatch our plan. Next week. The gala. Don't show your face. Send in Clint and Thomas. Jamison's out of the picture now." Chandler told. "I'd rather you and Angel sit this out... she's seen your faces. We strike on the 15th. And then we'll have what we need."

Little did Chandler know, Spencer Reid was watching him. He couldn't help but feel suspicious of Chandler. He's felt this way ever since they had to deal with The Multiplier. And something in his gut told him something wasn't right. And he knew he had to tell Casey sooner or later.

━━━━━━

When Casey had gotten home, she knew the conversation with Chris had to happen sooner or later. She sent her dad home and headed upstairs, not surprised at the fact that her five year-old was still up but he was laying in bed and reading one of his own storybooks.

Casey knocked on the door. "Hey, kiddo." She greeted. "Hey, Mom." Chris greeted back. "You okay?" Casey asked as she went to sit on the bed beside him. Chris shrugged and Casey took a deep breath.

"So, your dad and I went to go talk to your teacher the other day. She told us about the kids you've been pushing around." Casey explained and Chris gulped, wondering why his mother wasn't chasing him down the hall yet. "Care to explain what's going on?" She asked.

Chris sighed, "They deserved it." Casey shook her head, "I'm gonna need more than that, kiddo."

Chris sits up a little bit. "There's this girl that I go to school with. Her name's Sarah. And Sarah doesn't have a lot and she's always sad all the time. And the other kids, they make fun of her. They're mean so I'm just mean back." That was when Casey realized her son was more like her than she realized. The boy may have carried after his father but damn, did he act like his mother.

"Kiddo, you know that's not how it works." Casey stated. "When someone's mean to somebody, it doesn't mean you have to be mean to them back. It makes you just as bad as them. It's sweet that you're sticking up for your friend, though." She ran a hand through his hair and then realized something else. "But what about the pictures you've been drawing?"

Chris groaned, "She showed those to you?" He asked and Casey nodded, "Yes, she did."

Chris sighs and he sits up and gets out of his bed to grab his backpack. He grabs the picture of himself, his mom and dad and their houses. "For this one, we had to draw our families and our houses. So I did that." He grabs the one where he's crying. "For this one, we had to draw our emotions we were feeling that day and I was really sad because I went to the doctor's that day to get my flu shot and it hurt."

"And this one?" Casey asks, pointing to the one where Chris is walking away from his dad with his mother. Chris takes a breath. "I drew this one when I realized you and Dad weren't getting back together."

Casey looks at her son. "I'm sorry things have to be this way, kiddo." She apologizes. She wishes things could be different but she was really trying. She couldn't help but feel like she was failing with him, most of all. Chris nods, "I know."

"You're a good kid, you know that?" Casey ruffles his hair once more and Chris chuckles, "You and Dad only tell me a million times."

Casey tucks Chris into bed as she gets him settled in next to his stuffed giraffe. "Next time, you're having issues, I want you to tell me, okay?" Chris nods at his mom, "Okay, I promise."

Casey kisses Chris's forehead as she moves his hair away from it to kiss in. "Get some sleep, buddy." She smiles and heads towards his door. "Goodnight, Mom." Chris tells. "Goodnight, bud." Casey leaves his door a crack and heads downstairs.

Casey knew that if she had to take of this thing with the Angel and the Demon, she had to call in her reinforcements. Someone who could help out at the BAU for the time being. And she knew the exact right person to call.

In Chicago, a man had been working in his office, filling out paperwork. That was until his boss came to interrupt him. "Yo, Turner!" Erik Turner looked up from his desk and towards the man upstairs. "You got a call. Said it's an emergency."

Erik furrows his brows and looks at the telephone on his desk and picks it up anyways. "Erik Turner." He smiles once he recognizes the voice. "Casey Willows! Never thought I'd hear your voice again. What's up?"

"I may need your help with something. And I think I'm gonna need you for it." Casey told.

"Is something wrong?" Erik asks.

"Let's hope not."

this took way longer than needed ugh
but anywayssss
not that y'all asked but we got chandler's backstory,, you're welcome🙄

alsoooo
we're gonna get into more of this lil arc into these next few chapters hehehee
theories?????

the team:

anywayssss
thank you for reading!
i love you all
i'm sorry if this sucks or doesn't make sense el oh el
-mya </33

p.s. sorry for the lack of update, i'm always either at work or at home bc writing original chapters can be draining lowkey i still love writing them buttttt yeaaaaa