CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: THE EYE OF THE HURRICANE !

━━━━━━

2 0 0 8

          CASEY FLATTENED HER PENCIL SKIRT AS SHE STOOD IN FRONT OF THE DOOR. She rang the doorbell to the Brambilla home, awaiting for someone to answer.

Was it a good idea for Hotch and Rossi to set her up on a undercover case while she was an intern? Absolutely not. Was she the only one that could make it believable? Definitely yes.

         Casey looks around and takes a deep breath. If anything were to go wrong, Rossi and Hotch were just around the corner. "Hello?" The door opens and reveals a tall man in a suit, holding a cigar and she knows this is Richard Brambilla — the mobster the team was looking into.

         Casey spins towards the door and she stands straight. "Oh, uh, hi. My name is Casey Durham. I'm from the nanny agency?" Casey holds her hand out. "Ah, right. Yes." The man shakes her hand and motions her inside. "Come on in, come on in." When Casey enters, the man looks outside and lingers for any suspicious characters. When he finds nothing, he draws himself back in the house.

         He leads Casey through the house and towards the dining room — which reeked of cigar smoke. "How are you doing today, Miss Durham?" Richard asks. "I'm doing well and yourself, sir?" Casey asked.

        "Well, thank you." Richard motions towards the chair sitting in front of his. "Have a seat." He tells. He holds a pitcher of water and Casey shakes her head. "So... tell me a little about yourself. You're a little young. I read your file." Richard told.

        Casey chuckles. "Twenty-three, sir." She fibbed. In actuality, she just turned twenty-one. "But... trust me, I've had plenty of experience in babysitting. I'm sure nannying is just the same."

        "How long can I expect you to be here?" Richard asks curiously. "Up until I get my graduate degree," Casey lies. "Nursing. I should be finishing it up in about a year."

           She turns her head towards a photo on the table of a young boy. He looks just like his father. "Is this your little boy?" Casey asks, picking the frame off the table.

        "Antonio," the man nods. "He's the one you'll be looking after. I also have another son and a daughter. They'll be... around but of course, they're more invested in their own lives than anyone else's." Casey nodded, teenagers were like that.

        Suddenly, with a snap of his fingers, Richard ordered two men standing on either side of him as he leans back in his seat. Casey furrowed her brows as she watch the man stand behind him like bodyguards in suits.

        Richard grabs a notepad and clicks his pen. Casey now feels a little more intimidated by this. "Miss Durham, you're aware of business, right?" He asks. "Sure." Casey nods. He plops down a file on the table.

        "What is this?" Casey asks, grabbing the file off the table. "A contract. It's just precaution. Just in case." Casey examines it. "You can go over it before you sign it, of course. It's just stating that if you're fired or you quit, you're not to share what's happened or what you've witnessed here to anyone." Richard explains.

          Casey nods, "Right." She expected this, she was trained for this. A pen is handed to Casey and she proofreads it quickly and then signs on the dotted line a fake signature.

         Richard nods, taking the contract. "Perfect," he tells. "So, how much pay are you looking at here?"
       "Whatever you're willing to give me." Casey nods.
       Richard chuckles, "I like you already, Miss Durham." He grabs that pen again and it looks like he's signing a check. "We'll start you on a salary of $1,000 a month. That sound good?" He asks and Casey smiles, "Sounds amazing."

         Casey stands as well as Richard and she shakes his hand again. "Thank you, sir. You won't regret this."

        "Antonio!" Richard calls and suddenly, the boy from the picture comes in from a different room. He runs up to his dad and looks up at the new woman in front of him. "Casey, this is Antonio. Antonio, this is your new nanny, Casey." Richard introduces.

         "Hello." Antonio says in that tiny voice, happily. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Antonio." Casey kneels to his level and smiles at him, face to face. "Do you like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?" He asks.

        "Do I?" Casey laughs and with that, Antonio grabs Casey's hand with his tiny one and leads her out of the room.

PRESENT DAY

When Spencer walked into the office, set his things down and grabbed his coffee, putting in six sugars, he didn't expect Casey to approach him as he walked back to his desk. "Spence!" She called. "Hey." Spencer greeted. "Can I talk to you for a sec?" She asks and they both walk out of the bullpen.

Casey looks right at him holding his coffee mug with two hands and looks up at the man. "I just wanted to say..." She pauses. "Thank you for... basically saving my life and..." She bites her tongue and sighs, "You were right." She admits.

Spencer furrows his brows. "What?" He asks.
"You were right about Chandler," Casey clarifies. "And I wouldn't listen to you. And I accused you of being jealous. But you were right. And I'm sorry. So, I hereby give you permission to tell me 'I told you so'. So... go right ahead."

Spencer thinks and then decides, "I'm not gonna say it." Casey furrows her brows. "You're not?" Spencer shrugs, "I mean, I was right... but I'm not gonna throw it in your face."

"You should. I kinda deserve it. I'm sorry for not believing you, again." Casey told.
"It's okay. I get it." Spencer said.

         Before the two could even walk back in, there's yelling coming from the entrance. "Help! Help! Somebody, help! Casey!" Casey spins around and sees that Wes is standing there, he has an expression, mixed with panic and confusion.

         Both Casey and Spencer approach him. "Wes? What's going on?" Casey questioned.

        "Leah!" Wes tells. "She's missing. I assumed she was with you, I called her, no answer and when I got home this morning, the apartment was wrecked and there was no sign of Leah."

         Casey pauses and everything has gone mute. Leah? Missing? What? She was just talking to her yesterday. How could she be missing? "Do you want me to get someone to the apartment?" Spencer asks but Casey isn't listening. The blood and tuning has gone to her ears. Spencer notices she's frozen in space. "Casey." He speaks.

          That gets Casey's attention and she goes into full-crisis mode as well as unit chief mode. "I'm gonna send JJ and Tara to examine your guys' apartment. I'll have the rest of the team gather and explain the situation. Spencer, get my dad, Isaac and Chris here. I'd feel better knowing they're all here." With that, Casey does her orders and heads back into her office and she can't help but pace.

           Of course, she didn't even know if Leah was in danger.  But based on Wes's panicking and the pit in her stomach growing, she couldn't help but wonder if maybe something was wrong.

          And something was definitely... wrong.

         Unbeknownst to Casey, Leah was taken. And she was being held hostage by the people she once betrayed and had betrayed her just the same.

         As Casey had been taking action, Emily had called Garcia into the conference room to help with the search through anything she could find. Unfortunately, there was nothing suspicious on Leah's accounts or cards.

        Casey and Emily enter the conference room. "You find anything?" Casey asks and Garcia shakes her head, "Nothing yet." She tells sadly. "What about her cell?" Casey asked. "It was traced back at her apartment." Garcia tells.

         "Garcia, please, you gotta give me something here." Casey practically begs and she shakes her head. "I should've called her. I should've checked in."

          Emily places a hand on Casey's shoulder. "Hey, don't blame yourself. You couldn't have known about this." She assures. "But if I did, we'd find her sooner than later. God, if something happens to her." Casey shakes her head, not wanting to even think about it.

         "Nothing's gonna happen to her." Emily told. "We don't know that, though." Casey stated.

          Tara and JJ walk in the room, coming back from the apartment. "Nothing?" Casey asks, trying not to deal with the worst. "One thing," JJ hands over a envelope to Casey. "This."

          Casey looks over the Manila envelope. She was getting these way too much lately. "It was addressed to you." Tara told but before Casey could even open it, there was a knock. "Casey, your family's here." Matt informed and Casey stopped by her office to put the envelope down and to go and see her family.

          They had been in the main lobby, her father, James, Isaac and Christopher were standing with Spencer.

         Of course, Chris was in his dad's arms but the minute Chris saw his mom, he hopped out of Spencer's arms. "Mom!" He greeted. He clearly had no idea what was going on. "Hey, buddy!" Casey hugged her son tightly, not wanting to let him out of her sight for a second.

        "I want you to go with Auntie Emily and Uncle Matt for right now, okay?" She asks and he nods, "Okay." Christopher takes Emily's hand and walks with him to keep him occupied for the moment.

         Casey looks towards her father and brother. "Thank God you guys are okay." Casey hugs her father and then follows with Isaac. "Spencer explained to us what happened with Leah. Where is she?" James questioned.

        "I don't know, Dad. That's what I'm trying to figure out." Casey told. She sighs, knowing she needs to ask the questions, so she sits them down and Spencer and herself sit with Isaac and James.

        "Has she said anything to you guys about... I don't know, about maybe somebody watching her? Or... any suspicious packages or email or texts? Phone calls?" Casey wonders and James shakes his head, "No, none of that."

         Isaac speaks up, "She made comments." Everyone turns to him. "About feeling like somebody was watching her. For the past few weeks, she's been having Wes or I walk her to her car."

        "Did you guys hear from her last night?" Spencer asks. "She closed up the club, I said goodnight, things seemed normal." Isaac stated.

        "That's probably when they got her." Casey mutters to herself. "Who? Who got her?" James questioned and Casey sighs, "Dad, I have no idea yet. And you're sure that's all you guys have heard from her?" Isaac and James both nod.

         "For the time being, I want you guys to stay here. I'd feel better knowing you guys are here." Casey told and the two nod once more.

         When Casey stands, Isaac grabs her wrist and she looks down at him as he speaks. "Find her." He tells her with pleading eyes. She knew that she didn't want to let Isaac down. She couldn't. The man already lost his mother, he couldn't lose his sister either.

          "I'll try, Isaac." Casey settles for. "I will move mountains if that means I can find her." With that, Isaac nods and lets go of Casey and she takes a deep breath as she walks away. In the back of her mind, she hopes that she can keep her promise to Isaac.

After that, Casey headed back to her office and looked at the envelope in front of her, deciding to open in, she had found another pin in there. The angel with horns. Seeing the pin reminded her of the day she'd met him. The man that just changed everything for her.

2 0 0 8

         Casey knew she made a mistake when she'd agreed to play hide and seek with Antonio. Two days in and she already lost the kid. Usually, when she babysat, she was good with the kids. They never needed to hide from her. So what was the big idea?

        "Antonio?" Casey questioned as she looked around the dining. "Kiddo? Buddy?" She kneels down on the ground to check under the couch. "Where are you, you little rascal?" She questions.

"Uh, hi?" Casey's head immediately hits the coffee table as she lifts and grabs her head in pain. "Ow!" Standing up, she sees a tall man standing near the front door she presumed he'd walked through.

He had dark hair, blue eyes, actually looked a lot like Richard. He was actually kind of attractive. "You must be Casey Durham, new nanny?" The man asks.

"Uh, yeah. Hi." Casey greets. Truth be told, she had no idea who this man was but she had to assume he was most likely a frequent visitor.

The man looks around. "He's hiding again?" He assumes and Casey knows he's talking about Antonio. The man nodded and then announces, "Antonio, if you come out, I'll give you $20."

Suddenly, the boy appears beside the man and Casey's jaw drops at just how quick he came from his hiding spot. "Cough it up." Antonio tells and the man laughs, grabbing a $20 from his wallet and handing it to the boy and ruffling his hair afterwards. "Here, buddy. Go to your room, I'll see to ya." Antonio nods, "Okay!"

          Suddenly Casey is embarrassed. How did this man accomplish something for two seconds that Casey had been trying to do for the past hour. It was evident he was around a lot. "He never comes out unless you offer him $20. Or a new toy." The man tells.

           He begins to scrounge through the mail on the table and Casey furrows her brows and suddenly realizes she hasn't asked for him name or anything. "Sorry, uh, who are you?" Casey asks, trying not to sound rude.

          "Oh! Sorry, I'm Damion. Damion Brambilla." He holds his hand out for Casey to shake. "Rich is my dad."

          Casey nods and takes his hand to shake. "Right, yeah, he mentioned he had two more kids, I just... thought you'd be younger." Casey admitted. The man laughs, "Sorry to burst your bubble. 25 and counting." He tells.

          "Assuming you don't live here." Casey told. "No, I visit a lot though. Especially for dinners. That's all the chef's doing." Damion told. "Have you been shown around at all?"  He asks, motioning to the house they're standing in.

           "You know, I'm kind of just going along with the punches. Whatever I find, I find." Casey told. "I can show you around, if you want." Damion offers and Casey shakes her head. "I shouldn't. I have to watch—"

          "Antonio will be fine, trust me. And besides, I'd rather fill you in on the 'How Not to Piss Off Richard Brambilla' handbook." Damion joked and Casey thought about it for a second.

          On one hand, she actually thought this guy was kind of cute. On the other hand, she was on an undercover case. The man didn't even have her real name or age. But... the more she could find out about Richard Brambilla, the more she could give back to the BAU.

          So, with that thought in mind, Casey shrugged, "Sure. Okay."

          Damion showed all the hidden rooms upstairs and nearly almost meddled in on one of Richard's meetings. Luckily, Richard wasn't paying attention to them but Casey paid mind to that.

           Damion brought Casey out to the garden his mother just had to have and of course, Richard Brambilla nearly all the time listened to his wife.

         "So why does your dad need a nanny?" Casey asked. It just didn't make sense. Damion was old enough to look after his brother and she assumed that maybe his sister was, as well. But maybe Damion had a life of his own and couldn't look at his brother, that was also a possibility.

           Damion sucks his teeth as he shakes his head. "He thinks I'm a bad influence on Antonio. Even though he's not much of a picnic either."  He pauses. "I'm assuming you know."

          Casey furrows her brows. "Know?"
          "We just witnessed him in action back there," Damion told. "He's one of the biggest mobsters in the city. I'm betting he had you sign a contract, too?" He wondered and Casey nods.

          "Yeah, he spent time making embezzlements on money than spending time with his own kids." Damion stated and Casey could tell that was genuine enough. "I had thirty-four nannies growing up." He admitted, which nearly made Casey's eyes explode out of her head. "Thirty-four?" She questioned.

         Damion nodded and chuckled at Casey's reaction to that. "I terrorized each and every one of them. Some never even lasted a day. Eventually, my dad gave up once I turned fourteen. Then he married Barbara."

         "Your mother?" Casey asks, remembering a Barbara Brambilla being the woman that married Richard. Damion nods, "There's a story there, too. Dad married Barbara to get back at his brother. You see that house over there?" He points towards the house across the street.

         "It belongs to the Romanos. Whatever you do, don't mention them around Dad." Damion told. "Does he hate them?" Casey asks.
         "More than hates them," Damion responds. "He spits on the ground they walk on. Roger Romano is his step-brother. They've hated each other since my grandfather married Roger's mother. One time, Dad stuck chewing gum in Grandpa's hair and blamed it on Roger."

         Casey sighs, "Sibling rivalry at its' finest." Of course, she wouldn't have know that. She didn't have siblings but if she did, it would've made everything in her life more fuller. Like she had something to live for. Sometimes, it was a little lonely since she didn't really have anyone.

       "Yeah, tell me about it. But nothing was worse than when Roger and Rich met my mom." Damion told and Casey furrows her brows. "Why was it worse?"

       Damion takes a pause and then looks at Casey. "That's another story for another time."

       Walking towards the sliding back door, Damion lets Casey enter first and as Damion locks the door up, Richard comes out of nowhere. "Well, Damion." He greets. "I see you've met the new nanny. You chasing this one away too?" He jokes, patting his son on the shoulder.

       "Funny, Dad." Damion stated. "I was just showing Casey around."

        Richard nods and then looks upstairs. "Demi, dinner!" He calls and in walks a girl, spitting image of both Damion and Richard. "I'm right here, Dad." The woman walks into the room.

         Richard then looks at Demi and Casey. "Demi, this is Antonio's nanny, Casey. Casey, Demi, my second born." He introduces.
        "Also my twin." Damion adds.
        Demi shakes Casey's hand. "Nice to meet you." Casey nods at the woman, "Nice to meet you, too."

        All of a sudden, Casey hears the clacking of heels on the ground in the kitchen coming closer. "You know, I'm not getting any younger, waiting for all of you." Casey can only assume this woman is Barbara Brambilla, based on the way Damion and Demi look so much like their mother and their father.

       "Of course, my dear." Richard tells as everyone walks into the dining room to eat. Richard, of course, takes the head of the table as Barbara takes the other half. On the side, Demi and Antonio take those seats and on the other side, Damion and Casey take the others.
         Damion pulls Casey's seat out for her to sit in. "Oh, thank you." Casey smiles and Damion nods at her.

       As he settles in his seat and dinner is being served and wine is being poured, Casey notices the pin on Richard's jacket. It looks like an angel with wings and horns on the angel's head. She thought it looked interesting.

        Richard notices Casey staring towards his jacket. "Something the matter?" He questions and Casey nearly flinches and points to his jacket. "Uh, I was just noticing your pin. I don't think I've seen anything like that before." Casey admits.

        Damion speaks, "Family tradition. Dad has a whole collection of them..." Richard narrows his eyes at his son. "Or so I've heard."

         As they eat dinner, filled with different conversations all around, Casey just can't stop staring at the pin.

PRESENT DAY

        Casey can't stop staring at this damn pin. She already had a hunch but this just confirmed it. Angel Romano and Damion Brambilla were responsible for the abduction of her sister and they wanted her to know. "Oh, my God." She mutters out, not even hearing herself through her beating heart.

         Suddenly, both Rossi and Erik walk in, going to deliver news to Casey about who might've been responsible for this. "They took her." Casey stands up, holding the pin. "The Angel and the Demon. They took her."

          "So, what does this mean?" Erik questions. "It means we have to tell them. It's time. And I can't keep lying." Casey tells, looking right at Rossi. "And you're sure about this?" He asks.

          Casey doesn't give him an answer, but it's written all over her face. She takes a minute to make some calls and to set up the projector on old files before she goes to tell the team. She would need reinforcements for this. And it was time to come clean to the team about a case she'd taken undercover nearly ten years ago.

           She looks down at the BAU team, trying to find her sister and right now, she has to put a pause on this to explain to them about this so they could understand it a little bit better so that they could find whatever they needed to find to save Leah.

            After being in the conference room with Erik and Rossi and setting up, it's time to call the rest of the team up. "Guys, up here, I need to talk to you." Casey admits as she walks back in the roundtable room and they're shortly joined by everyone else on the team.

           "What's up?" Emily starts and Casey and Rossi exchange a look and Rossi nods at her to start.

          "Okay, as many of you know, I started as an intern here. Soon after, I became an agent-in-training. But before I could become a real agent, I went on an undercover case." Casey told.

         "The one in Colorado that we took, right?" Spencer asks, knowing that that had been the only undercover case she'd taken until this very moment.

          "Actually, no." Casey admits with a sigh. "This one occurred afterwards." Picking up the remote, she scans through the projector and Erik hands out files to everyone. "Wait, what?" Garcia asks.

          "I was put on strict assignment for about five months, meaning no one could know. I stayed for about three months. Rossi and Hotch were in charge of that case." Casey started.
           "Since Casey was younger than any of us, we thought she'd fit the bill. Plus, her director recommended her for the job." Rossi explained.

          "I remained undercover as a nanny for those months. In that time, I discovered many problems exhibited in the Italian Mafia, along with the Romano-Brambilla feud."

         "Roger Romano and Richard Brambilla," Rossi started. "Stop-brokers and step-brothers. Two Italian Mafia bosses. The entire city knew about their neighboring feud."

        "Within their problems of each other, their mobs both consisted of drugs, human trafficking, assault, murder, and the kids surrounded in it. I was in too deep." Casey explained.

         "We even considered pulling her out based on how much she'd witnessed." Rossi stated and Casey nodded and looked at Rossi. "But I refused." She added.

          Luke spoke up, "What does this have to do with what happened to Leah?" She asks.

          Casey holds her hands up, "I'm getting there. It's important you guys know the background. Romano and Brambilla not only had the same taste of lifestyle, they also had the same taste in women. Barbara Brambilla, also formally known as Barbara Romano. Four years before getting married to Brambilla, she was with Romano, as you could probably gather. There was this neighboring rumor that she was still having an affair with Romano even after getting together with Brambilla. That much proved my point when I met this young boy. Antonio Brambilla." Casey shows the photo of the young boy.

         "Little Antonio," Rossi comments. "Not so little anymore."
         "When Barbara and Roger were having an affair, they had a little boy. Antonio. I helped him escape from a terrible life he could've led and had on his shoulders. Often times, I would witness the boy being abused or neglected and I couldn't do anything. So, I did what I could and I got that boy into Wit-Sec. But, the family wasn't too thrilled. I nearly had twenty people arrested. Both families included. The only two that got away were Angel Romano and Damion Brambilla — otherwise known as the Angel and the Demon — half-brothers."

          "And as of recently, I've been getting these in the mail, sent to here." Casey pulls out the two Manila envelopes and pulls out the pins that were in them.

          The team begins to examine them and Spencer speaks up, "The wings sent on the letter were in example of the angel while the horns coming out of the angel's head were in example of the demon." He tells.

         "So, they're working together." JJ told. "But why not go after you? Why after Leah?" Matt questions.

        "I asked myself that same question." Casey told. "But it's too clear," Rossi spoke. "You took away the future leader of the Italian Mafia, to add onto that a family member. They now see you as a leader and want you to feel the pain they felt all those years ago."

         Casey nods, "I've been expecting their return. Which is why Erik came in to help."
         "I wasn't here because I got transferred, I mean, that was part of it, but it wasn't the main reason." Erik said. "I needed reinforcements." Casey told.

         "I know this is a lot of information at once but we don't have a lot of time. Leah doesn't have a lot of time. Knowing them, knowing what they might do to her... I can't handle it." She said, her voice nearly breaking.

          Everyone sees the hurt on her face and they take a moment to scan through the files. "What do we do?" Garcia asks and Casey decides, "Easy. We treat this as another case."

        "Leah's our victim..." Tara starts. "And Angel and Damion are our unsubs." Emily nodded.

        "Earlier today, I called in reinforcements." Casey looks down at her watch. "They should be getting here right about now."

         Rossi looks at Casey. "You called them?" He asks and Casey nods, "I need extra eyes. And they were the perfect ones. They wanted to be a part of it."

        "Who?" Spencer asks and Casey checks outside.
        "Them." Casey heads out towards the higher ground and everyone follows and they see the familiar faces of the team once before.

          A dark-haired man who never smiled much before but now looked like he did it all the time, holding a dirty-blonde, blue-eyed woman's hand and she stood alongside a bald, muscular African American man.

         Aaron Hotchner, Vivian Hotchner-Hudson and Derek Morgan were back.

         Everyone stared in awe and nearly had tears in their eyes as they had seen their familiar faces.

        "Let's get to work." Hotch spoke.

━━━━━━

          After a heartfelt reunion between everyone and a promise to Casey that they would stop at nothing until they found Leah, Casey brought everyone back up to the conference room to explain to them everything that's gone on, including the Multiplier's appearances.

          It was strange at first to hear that Casey had been the one calling the shots now but the three visitors didn't expect anything less from the young woman.

          "So, do we believe the Multiplier is connected the Angel and the Demon?" Morgan questioned. "We have reason to believe so, yes." Casey nodded. "And you know that they took Leah." Hotch continued and Casey nods again, "After my undercover case, it would be obvious. I... developed a bond with that family, practically. And the pins? Come on."

          "What kind of bond?" Vivian wondered and Casey didn't want to answer this in front of Spencer. "We were.... close, I guess?"

           There's a long pause from everyone in the room now. Spencer closed the file and looks at Casey. "There's more to the story, isn't there?" Spencer caught Casey off-guard with how stern he sounded and Spencer read her like a book.

            He shook his head, dropping the file on the table and walked out of the room like a child. "Spence." Casey called, putting her file on the table now as she followed him out. "Spence."

           "Man, things don't change." Morgan comments. "Tell me about it." Hotch nodded in agreement.

          "Spencer, wait!" Casey rushed towards him and he abruptly turns to face her, hand in his pockets. "You slept with one of them for a profile?"

         "It happened years ago. You can't be mad at something that meant nothing. You and I weren't even together then." Casey told.
         "No, but we were friends back then. And you told me everything back then and I thought you still told me everything but I guess that was a lie." Spencer told and then he pauses, "Wait, is that why you were gone for weeks after that? You told me you had training, so that was a lie too."

         "Spencer, I had to. I had no choice." Casey told as Spencer shakes his head and walks off in irritation. "I'll talk to him." Morgan volunteers and Casey throws her arms in annoyance, she couldn't afford for them to have drama and to not be looking for her sister.

So, Morgan followed Spencer out towards the elevators and met up with him at the entrance. When he arrived, Spencer was sitting on the steps outside with his head in his hands. "Kid." Morgan spoke, getting Spencer's attention.

         Morgan sat beside Spencer outside of the building. "I thought she told me everything, Morgan." Spencer said. "Even since we were friends. I thought she was honest with me. And to know she had this whole different thing going on while we knew each other. I can't believe she didn't tell me."

        "Kid, come on, you can't be mad at her for that." Morgan told. "She had no choice."
        "Why?" Spencer questioned. "You got mad at Prentiss for the same thing. And as I recall, she didn't have much of a choice either."

         Morgan sighs, "That was different."
        "Was it, Morgan?" Morgan remembered how mad he was at Emily when the team found out about Ian Doyle. And how betrayed he felt by Emily and how he felt like he didn't truly know her after the fact.

          And as he thought about it, Morgan realized that the situation wasn't all that different. And of course, Spencer had the right to be upset but it happened ten years ago and Casey didn't have a choice, just like Emily didn't.

          Morgan took a deep breath before continuing. "Okay, I get what you're saying there. But if it makes you feel any better, I didn't know about this with Casey either. I didn't even know she had another undercover case until she explained it to me over the phone."

          "I understand you're frustrated right now, but... Leah's missing. And all of us care about her, but if you're just gonna sit here bitching and moaning about something that happened ten years ago, we're never gonna find Leah that way, are we?"

          Spencer took a breath as he calmed himself down. Morgan had a point. Leah was like a sister to Spencer and he was no good to her if he was moping about something that happened ten years ago. And of course, he loved Casey — no matter what she would say about him. He'd save Leah for her.

"No." Spencer breathed.
"So, then, man up. Because this petty argument right now isn't fair to Leah." Morgan told.

Spencer paused as he looks at Morgan with a furrow in his brow. "Since when did you become the expert at pep talks?" He asked. Morgan shrugs at the realization, "I don't know, maybe it's something that happens when you become a dad." He chuckles.

Even if it was for a limited time they got to spend together, Spencer was happy to rekindle with his best friend despite the circumstances. And was grateful he had something to get his head out of his ass.

Casey was back in her office as she stated at the pin in front of her and sat at the couch, wondering where the hell they could've taken Leah. And why they did it.

2 0 0 8

It had been almost two months since she'd stayed over at the Brambillas. Over time, she'd send back info on her burner phone to Rossi and Hotch with whatever she found out. But so far, there was nothing new.

Casey was sitting outside, reading her book as Antonio played with his basketball near the driveway. "Antonio, stay where I can see you, please!" Casey reminded the boy and he nodded, "Okay!"

Casey must've been distracted by her bookmark falling out of her lap to notice that Antonio wasn't in the same area she'd last seen him in. "Antonio?" She called. She got up from her seat, making it towards the driveway when she had seen a man kneeling in front of Antonio with his ball in his hand.

Casey furrowed her brows as she approached them and sighed in relief when she'd seen Antonio standing in front of the the man. "He belong to you?" The man asked, his piercing blue eyes staring into hers.

"Uh, yeah. Come here, Antonio." Antonio stands by Casey's side as she grabs his hand in protection. "New nanny?" The man asks and Casey nods, "Yeah."

"Well, let me introduce myself. Angel." He holds his hand out. "Angelo Romano, but you can call me Angel, sweet thing." The man tells and Casey cringes, "Good to know. Nice to meet you. Come on." Casey grabs Antonio's arm and has him walk in front of her. Angel begins to follow Casey.

"Casey, right?" Angel asks. "Yeah, I saw you with Damion the other day. You guys were looking at the house. Why don't I invite you in?" He questions and Casey shakes her head. "I'm good... I, um, have nanny duties to take care of, so..."

         Angel grabs her by her arm. "It'll only be for a second." Casey shakes her head again. "I really shouldn't."
        "But—"
        "She said she has duties to take care of, Angel." Damion suddenly comes out of nowhere, inserting himself in between Angel and Casey.

         Angel suddenly exchanges his look from Casey to a death glare at Damion. "Sorry, Damion. I don't believe you were in this conversation." He says with vile filling his voice. "Well, I am now, so beat it." Damion threatened.

         "The lady can decide for herself what she wants." Angel tells and without even looking at her, Damion asks, "Casey, can you go inside?" Casey then nods, you didn't even have to tell her twice. "Sure."

          With that, she headed back inside. The interaction between Angel and Damion didn't last very long. In fact, not five minutes later, Damion walked back into the house and he seemed to be scouting out for Casey.

          When he found her in the living room sitting on the couch while Antonio played with his toys, he spoke to her. "He say anything to you?" He questioned.
          "No."  Casey answered.
          "He do anything to you?" Damion asked.
          "No—"

         "Stay away from him, Casey. Angel's bad news. He'll do and say anything just to get in your pants and find out what you know, alright?" The way Damion made the statement sound meant for it to be a warning.

           Not wanting to bring Damion to anger and not ask why, Casey nodded: "Okay." With that, Damion left the room.

           Hours had passed since the interaction and when she had come back from getting groceries, she was shocked to find Barbara holding tissue paper to Antonio's knee. "Oh, my gosh. What happened?" Casey questioned, dropping the groceries.

            "It's nothing, honey. Richard... he... he just... he pushed him. He didn't even know Antonio was standing there. It wasn't his fault." Barbara told, as if it sounded normal but based on the nasty cut on Antonio's knee, Casey could tell it was anything but.

             In the other room, she heard Richard and Damion's screaming at each other. "It's not like I control when we see him, Dad!" Damion yelled. "Did he say anything to Antonio?" Richard questioned and that's when Casey walked in the room.

          "No, not that I know of, Dad. He only talked to Casey." Damion stated. "Why is this such a big deal?" Demi questioned from the couch. "You know why it's a big deal, Demi. That family's bad news." Richard told.

         "Casey, Angelo didn't talk to Antonio at all, did he?" Barbara asked from behind Casey, making her presence known. Casey immediately shook her head, "Not that I know of, no."

         "Dad, I have no idea why you're freaking out about this." Damion continued his father's and his fight. "I don't feel good about this, son." Richard shook his head.

        "When have you ever felt good about anything, Dad? You spend your entire time being afraid of the truth that you always tell lies!" Damion yelled.
         "You take that back." Richard spat.
         "Or what? Maybe it's time for Antonio to finally know the truth. That you're not his real daddy. Maybe then he can go back to his own dad and maybe this time, he'll have a dad that'll actually pay attention to him."

           Casey was lucky Antonio wasn't in the room to hear the argument or to witness Richard throwing his son up against the wall and pinning his arm against his neck.

           Demi immediately stood up. "Dad—!"

          "Rich, just let him go." Barbara begged and rushed over to the man and his son. "Let him go, Rich." She pleaded. Richard stared into Damion's eyes as he felt to apply more pressure on his neck but with his wife's begging, he pulled away and Damion coughed out as he put a hand to his chest and stabilized his breathing.

            Everyone stood frozen in the room for a moment and then Damion had rushed off.

             Casey had contemplated before going to follow Damion out to where he was going. Casey had discovered he was going out to the garden. When she found him, Damion had been kicking over potted plants and the chair outside angrily.

            When he finished, he sat in the ground with his head in his hands and that's when Casey decided to make her presence known. "Damion." She called.

           Damion looked up with a apologetic look on his face. He clearly didn't know she was standing right there and witnessing his episode. "I'm sorry," he apologizes. Casey forgives him by plopping herself on the ground next to him.

           Damion rubs his eyes as he looks at the ground and he continues. "I'm sorry, he just... he gets like that sometimes. He's a freaking... jerk!"

           "My entire life... I've always tried to prove myself to my dad. That I was never gonna be like him, that no matter what, he'd never break me. And I wouldn't let him. But over time, it... it gets to be too much, you know? Sometimes, I just... wish he wasn't my dad." Damion admitted and Casey understood that. She went through her own crap with her dad. And Casey had really seen Damion for who he truly was. A guy that was neglected by his family, abandoned.

           Casey sighs, "Trust me, I wish my dad wasn't my dad either. It's tough trying to prove you're better, but know this, Damion, you are better than your dad. You can always get out of here, take Antonio with you, start fresh." She told.

            Damion shook his head, he knew his dad would go ballistic and send his dogs after Damion. Maybe even kill him for Antonio. "I can't," he tells. "Until he dies, I'm stuck with him."

           "Why?" Casey asks.
           "My mother would never let me take Antonio first of all and second of all, I have to be there for Antonio. I have to stick around long enough to teach him to never be like Dad. And third of all, my dad would probably kill me."

            Casey nods in understanding and Damion sighs as he sees Casey rests her hand on his arm. He stares at her for a moment but shakes the thought out of his head. "How did you deal with your dad?" He asks, curiously.

           "Didn't really have to. He's in prison." Casey shrugs and Damion looks at her. It's the most truthful thing to come out of Casey's mouth. And she knows it is. "He writes letters, but I don't write back. I kinda wish he stopped. But I start fresh for myself. Because I don't need my dad to function. I'm free." She tells.

         "Looks like you and I both have daddy issues." Casey lets out a chuckle and a small, genuine smile appears on Damion's face. They sit there for a minute.

PRESENT DAY

         There's a knock on Casey's office door that drags her from her thoughts. She doesn't need to see who it is because she already knows who it is by Vivian Hudson's silhouette.

         Casey takes a deep breath before admitting out loud, "I let Damion Brambilla and Angel Romano get away." She tells. There's a pause. "When I was undercover, I became close with Damion. He saw the world just like I did. So, I let him get away because I was in love. He held a gun to my head and I let him get away because that didn't even matter. It just... mattered that he got out of a bad situation." Casey admitted.

          "He held you at gunpoint." Vivian stated.
          "But if he didn't?" Casey questions to herself. "Either way, I would've let him go. After what happened to me in high school, I didn't think I would ever have love like that. Then, Damion came in the picture and he showed that that was possible. I believed that."

          "And now he's trying to kill you." Vivian stated as she walks into the room, sitting next to Casey on her couch in her office. "Some love story."

           Casey didn't mean to fall in love with a potential victim the way she did. It was just that... during this entire undercover case, Damion actually made her feel like she wasn't undercover. That she had just met someone that was just as lost as her about life.

"I'm glad you called us for help. It's been a while, but... I'm happy you did. So is Hotch, so is Morgan." Vivian tells. "And I'm glad you guys are here, too. I need all the help I can get. I just want to find Leah." Vivian rubs Casey's back as she pulls her into a hug.

When Casey opens her eyes, she sees Rossi has walked into the room with his hands in his pocket. "How is he?" Casey asks about Spencer as she pulls away from Vivian's arms and Vivian notices Rossi in the room.

"He'll be alright," Rossi tells. "He just needs a minute." Casey nods in understanding. Vivian looks between Rossi and Casey and pats Casey's hands as she stands. "I'll leave you two alone. I've got Wes to see, anyways."

             With that, Vivian leaves the room to go and see her son and leaves Casey with her thoughts and leaves Rossi for her mini-intervention he's about to go over with Casey.

           "You know, out of all the profilers that I've worked with over the years, you've grown the most." Casey looks up at Rossi as he speaks to her. "It's been a privilege to watch. From child to intern to profiler to unit chief. Only you could accomplish something like that."

            David Rossi had known Casey Willows since she was a baby. Nobody twice her age could ever accomplish what she has accomplished in the near eleven years she'd been working here. He's seen her from the start. Rossi had the privilege to watch Casey grow over the years from the young, lost child to the adult woman, who sometimes was lost. Casey gave him a sympathetic, appreciative smile before looking back down.

           "What do I do, Dave?" Casey questions. "They have my sister. They're trying to get back at me. What the hell am I supposed to do?"

Rossi takes a breath and begins to rehash everything that's happened. "They targeted Leah for a reason. A reason we already know. But we've figured out the why, we need to figure out the where. Where would they take Leah?"

Casey tries to think back as Rossi tries to help her remember.

2 0 0 8

It'd been a few days after what happened with Damion and Richard. Damion hadn't been around the last few days which left Casey in wonderment to where he could've gone. Tonight, Casey put Antonio to bed and gone to bed herself shortly afterwards.

But around 2am, there had been knocking on the window that woke Casey up and she yawned, rubbed her eyes and realized the knocking. She furrowed her brows considering she was on the second floor. She hesitantly approached the window but made out the silhouette of the familiar man.

Casey opened her blinds to reveal Damion and opened the window. "Damion?" She asks. "Hey." He greeted. "What are you doing here?" Casey asks.

"I wanna show you something." Damion told. "Think you can climb down the ladder?" He questions.

Casey nodded and switched her pajamas for clothes and climbed down the ladder with the help of Damion. He'd driven them to a far destination and they were in the car for about an hour and he didn't even tell Casey where they were going.

Finally, they'd arrived to an old, ratty, abandoned mansion that Damion didn't mind bringing Casey into, like he'd done it a million times.

As he had Casey walk through in front of him, Casey commented, "You know, if you're taking me some place to kill me, just know that I carry mace with me." She told.

Damion chuckled, even though Casey was serious about it. "Trust me." He told.

Casey looked around the abandoned mansion, spray-painted walls and rickety old wood around the place. Walls broken into, windows shattered. "What is this place?" Casey questioned.

"It was my grandfather's," Damion told. "When he died, Dad kinda wanted nothing to do with him. So... he kinda left this stranded." He said as he took a place at the stairs.

"So you just come here?" Casey asks curiously. "Just to think," Damion admits, shrugging. "And to get away from it all." He pauses as he messes with the thread on his sleeve.

"Do you ever wish that you wouldn't have had to be the legacy of something you didn't want to be a part of? Or like, do you wish you could change your past?" Damion wonders and Casey nods as she slightly scoffs/chuckles to herself. "All the time," Casey admitted. "Sometimes I wish I could change things to fit the story better."

         Casey sits next to Damion on the stairs and asks about something she heard Damion tell Richard earlier. "Is Rich not really Antonio's kid?" She asks.

         Damion takes a deep breath before speaking. "My mom married Roger before, they were together for a year and then she cheated on him with my dad. Angel and Rizzo are Demi's and I's half siblings." He explains.

        "Couple years back, my mom cheated with Roger and then came Antonio. Dad likes to pretend Antonio's his kid to forget about his brother. Everyone knew the truth, we just never wanted to admit it. I guess we all just figured it'd all be better if no one told the truth. It's how it's been my entire life."

         "I mean, the guy... he sells drugs and hires hitmen to do his dirty work. That might actually be the first time I'm saying it out loud. I mean, the man is hiding jewels in his damn pocket because of his brother."

         Casey can't help by feel Damion's pain. The man had been going through neglecting from his father for years. He hated the family business. He didn't want to be a part of it. I guess that's what attracted Casey about him. He wanted his own life, his own things. And she thought, maybe, just maybe, she could tell him the truth about who she was. Who she truly was.

        "Damion—" Casey started.
        "I guess I just... don't wanna face the truth that he—" Casey stops him by putting two of her hands on his face and facing him towards her.

Hesitating for a second, Casey leaned forward and smashed her lips against his and surprisingly, he kissed the girl back. So, they stayed there on that staircase, enjoying the taste of each other and wishing the night could never end.

PRESENT DAY

"That mansion he took me to." Casey told Rossi, opening her eyes finally. Rossi shook his head, "He'd take Leah to a place you wouldn't know. The mansion would be too easy."

Casey shook her head, lost again. She remembered that Damion would stay over at hotels to not want to deal with his father and his wrath. "He used to stay at hotels a lot. He was known there." Casey shrugged.

"But if he didn't want to raise suspicion." Rossi stated and Casey had figured, "Maybe he'd try a motel, instead."

2 0 0 8

That very next morning, Casey had woken up with Damion by her side. After their mini-make-out session in the abandoned mansion, they had done the deed in the car and then went round two when they'd gotten back to the Brambilla residence.

The two were currently in Casey's room. Damion had wrapped his arm around Casey and kissed her shoulder and it was the first time Casey had woken up with a smile on her face.

"Morning." Damion sighed happily and Casey could feel his smile on her shoulder. "Good morning to you." Casey said and turned to face Damion, tracing his jawline with her index finger.

"So... last night..." Casey said. "You don't regret it, do you?" Sure, Casey had known this guy for almost three months now, but she really felt a connection to him. And there was so much pent-up tension between the two, it'd take fool not to see it.

Damion raises a brow. "Oh, the three rounds we went last night?" He asks as Casey playfully smacks his bare chest. "Not at all." He admits.

"Good," Casey tells, holding his face with one of her hands. "Because I don't either." She smiles and pulls him in for a kiss.

Finally, the two pull back from one another to take a breath and Damion sits up. "My dad... he, um, will probably kill me if he finds me in here." He admits.

"I'll take that bullet for ya." Casey tells, grabbing Damion's shirt from out of his hands before he can put it on himself and Casey puts his shirt on. "Jesus, you're really something else." Damion tells and suddenly, Casey feel bad for lying about who she is to him.

Casey has put on this persona and she worries that she's not what he desires. "What's wrong?" Damion asks when he notices the frown on her face.

Casey has to draw his away from that sadness in that face and remembers their conversation from last night before things escalated. "It's nothing important but... before... you know... you said something about jewels last night." She tells.

There's a slight furrow in Damion's brow. "And it was just really random. Something about your dad and your uncle. And your dad hiding jewels in his pocket."

Damion takes a breath and looks around. He stands up from his place on the bed and closes the window that's open. He takes his space on the bed. "This is top secret, okay?" Casey nods. "Like this crap could get me killed if I tell anyone about it."

"Do you remember the pin you pointed out on my dad's suit?" Damion started. "Well, my dad inherited the pins from my grandfather when he died. He calls them jewels because it's easier to hide. And Roger thought he deserved them, so, he's been hiding them for years in various places. He doesn't want Roger laying a finger on those pins, they cost about a fortune because they're made of real gold. Roger knows he hides them." Damion explains.

The gears begin to turn in Casey's brain as Damion explains away. And then the suspicion raises. She had thought about the Romanos frequently since her interaction with Angel. Of course, the Brambillas were suspicious enough but it made sense. Why Richard wanted nothing to do with them. Why she'd never see Roger Romano. Casey thought it over. They had been watching the Brambillas tracks for a while but it was nothing nearly as suspicious as the Romanos. They were watching the wrong family this whole time.

"He's gonna kill him." Casey realizes, saying it out loud. "What?" Damion questions.

"The pins," Casey stated. She begins to stand and paces the room. "Roger's gonna kill your dad for the pins and take over his company and then you guys will be next. He'll do anything to get rid of you."

"What are you talking about?" Damion asks.
"The people we should've been watching were the Romanos. Not you." Casey mutters to herself and it's starting to make Damion worried. "Casey, what are you talking about?" He repeats.

Casey now knows that she has to come out with the truth. She couldn't keep lying to him, especially since she knew he was in the clear. "I have to tell you the truth." She pulls him to his feet so she can look at him, though the height difference intimidated her just a bit. "I can't lie to you. Not anymore."

Casey takes a deep breath and reveals, "My name isn't really Casey Durham," she starts. "It's Casey Willows. I'm an intern with the FBI, I'm supposed to be undercover."

Damion is taken aback by the reveal and steps back a bit, his furrowed brows making Casey looks down in shame. "What?"

"I know," Casey looks back at him. "I didn't wanna lie to you, I couldn't. I didn't want to. And this..." She motions to herself and Damion. "Obviously wasn't planned. You have to believe that."

Casey tries to hold him but Damion steps back. "I just..." He pulls away. "I need a minute. Can you give me that?"

Casey knew that it was gonna go a little something like this, she didn't blame Damion at all. "Of course." With that, Damion goes into the bathroom to debrief with himself about what just occurred.

Casey knows that she wasn't supposed to do that but like family taught her growing up — you don't lie to the ones you love.

PRESENT DAY

"A motel?" Emily questions as everyone gathers together in the conference room as Rossi and Casey reveal what they may have discovered. "He'd want something safe, something no one would question." Casey nodded.

"Baby girl, can you look into motels Damion Brambilla would've gone to?" Morgan asks, leaning towards Garcia on her laptop. "Already searching for that, my love." Garcia clacks on her computer. "And boom, there's the Walten Resort downtown that he checked into."

"That seems too easy." Casey admitted. "Garcia, I want you checking out other motels. Try finding something under Angel Romano's name. Morgan, Hotch, Spencer, JJ, Luke, let's go check out the Walten Resort."

2 0 0 8

Casey had gotten dressed for the day as Damion was still lingering in the bathroom. She had texted Rossi on her burner phone that she needed to see him and Hotch asap in about an hour.

           She started pacing again and finally, after about thirty minutes, Damion walked out of the bathroom. He takes a deep breath and Casey nods at him, "I know. You can freak out if you need to."

          "Kinda just spent the last twenty minutes freaking out in there." Damion admits but he approaches Casey. Casey lets him make all of the moves. She knows he needs to get used to it and she gives him that time to do so.

           He grabs Casey's hand and decides to ask, "Were you here to... take down my dad?"
          "At first," Casey admits. "But everything just makes sense now. The Romanos, the jewels, all of it. It's Roger's plan to take you all down. We've been looking in the wrong direction."

         "Who's we?" Damion asks.
         "My team," Casey tells. "They're the good guys, we're the good guys. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before. But we don't have much time if Roger is coming around. It's supposed to all happen today. That's what the letter said. It all happens on 10/06/08." She's talking about the letter that led to her needing to take this case.

         "October 6th?" Damion asks.
         "Yeah," Casey tells and then notices the look on Damion's face. "What?"
         "It's Antonio's birthday today." Damion told.

        "That's his endgame," Casey concludes. "Getting Antonio back. Because Antonio is his son." Damion thinks for a second. "But if we take Antonio out of the equation..." He trails off and Casey gets what he's trying to say.

        "We can get you and him out of here," Casey told. "Send you into witness protection, get you two to safety. You and Antonio, you can be together."

         "And you?" Damion asks. Casey knew that part was going to be coming. Oh, of course. The first time she may experience love and it's unrequited. "I can't be a part of it."

         "Then I won't hide." Damion tells, cupping Casey's face and looking down at her. "You have to, Damion." Casey tells. "It's your only shot at getting out of here with Antonio. You shouldn't have to think about me, you should think about him. Because he deserves better than both of us."

           Hesitantly, Damion nods at Casey and he hopes she knows what she's doing. And also hopes he knows what he's doing, as well.

PRESENT DAY

          The team had arrived at Walten Resort and the room they were tracked in and discovered it was one of the nicer rooms they were in.

          Holding their guns up, with SWAT beside them, Casey and Morgan exchanged a look and kicked the double-door down together and when they arrived, they were nowhere to be found.

          JJ and Spencer look in the bathroom. "Clear."
          Clear of Damion. Clear of Angel. Clear of Leah.

         "Nothing." Casey said sadly. Hotch looks around the room and the messiness of it. "Looks like they've been here." He points out.

          Suddenly, Casey's cell began to ring and she answers it, expecting it to be: "Garcia."

There's a sudden pause and suddenly, a man's voice pops up. "Guess again."

Casey exchanged a look with Morgan, who immediately pulls out his phone for Garcia to trace the call.

"Angel." Casey stated and an evil chuckle is heard from the other side of the phone. "Surprise, surprise. Long time no see, Willows. How's the face?"

Casey tenses up her jaw and she shakes her head. This man was not going to affect her, not today. "Where's my sister?" She questions.

Suddenly, there's a long pause and a shaky voice comes on the receiver next. "C-Casey?" Casey changes her voice for Leah. "Leah, we're gonna get you out of there. I promise. Just hold on for a little longer." She takes a deep breath, trying not to show her panic to Leah.

"Poor girl," Angel said. "She's endured quite a lot, now has she?"

          Casey shakes her head as she clenched her other fist in anger. "When we find you and we will, if she is not in one piece, I will take you apart myself." Casey threatened.

Angel chuckles again, "We'll see about that. Careful. You don't want her bleeding all over the red carpet, now do you?" Casey hears Leah's screams for help on the other line. "Bye now."

He hangs up and Casey closes her eyes and thinks for a moment as Morgan is on the call with Garcia. "Red carpet?" Luke asked. "I know where they are," Casey told. "The Red Carpet Inn, that's not far and it's in DC."

"Angel Romano checked in to that motel last night." Garcia stated. "How far's the drive?" JJ asked. "At least twenty minutes." Luke answered. "Thirty-one minutes and fifteen seconds from here." Spencer clarified.

With that, Casey rushed to one of the vehicles and was getting ready to hop in when someone called her name. "Casey." Casey turns around as Hotch approaches her.

Everyone had rushed out of the motel room. "Casey." Hotch turns to the team. "Here," he grabs the key from his pocket and tossed it to Morgan. "You guys go ahead. I'll stay with her."

With that, the team got into the vehicle and began to drive off. "Casey." Hotch stands in front of the drivers side door. "Hotch, get out of my way." Casey told.

"I'm not stopping you. But I'm coming with. You don't have a clear head, you need someone that does." Hotch told. He remembered being in this situation and he didn't have a clear job and nearly risked his job as unit chief. He didn't want that happening with Casey. "I'll drive." He offers.

Casey looks at him carefully and kind of realizes she doesn't have a choice now that the rest of them had left. "As long as you step on it." Casey told. Hotch nodded, "Yes, ma'am."

2 0 0 8

The plan was simple. While Damion packed a bag for Antonio, Casey would get him dressed and ready for his birthday. That got interrupted when there was a knock on the door. And all of a sudden, Roger Romano and his family had arrived. Apparently, Barbara invited them to the party.

Roger had a son and a daughter, Angel and Rizzo — and was married to someone that she was sure was younger than his children. Casey had let the team know to come in when she spoke a certain word into her mic she set up about an hour ago.

The door to Richard's office had been opened and Casey noticed that Roger was trying to look for the pins very subtly as he spoke to Richard professionally. It was a surprise that Richard's little henchmen weren't around in this very moment.

"You got the one thing I want, Richard. You know what I'm looking for." Roger told his brother. "I'm aware of what you're looking for, Roger. But I can guarantee you're not gonna find it that fast in here." Richard told.

Roger looks at his brother carefully and looks like he's reaching into his pocket. "I think you're aware that they also belong to me. Family heirloom, remember?"

Richard is aware of his actions as well as that. "Come on, Rog. We don't speak to each other for years on end and that's how we're gonna greet each other? You know, if maybe you ask nicely, maybe I'll tell you where they are and maybe even show you."

Casey watched as Richard reasons with him and Roger takes his hand away from his pocket. Casey hopes this will end good.

"You're right," Roger tells. "Where are they, Rich?"
"Right under your nose, little brother." Richard told and as Roger furrows his brows, Richard pulls out a gun and shoots Richard directly in the head.

Blood splatter hits the walls and even Casey herself, standing next to him. Roger falls to his knees and face first into the red carpet in the room.

Casey didn't expect this outcome. "You know... you should be careful of what you tell people, Agent Willows." Casey spun to Richard in shock of the truth of her identity. "How did you—?"

Suddenly, Damion walks into the room. "I'm sorry, Casey." He told. Casey shakes her head, "I—"

"My son told me about your plan while he was hiding out in the bathroom after your big secret. How you were originally here watching us. And then you explained your theory about the Romanos and then... that made it easy to admit the truth. You should've stuck with your gut, Casey." Richard told.

"What, like you should've stuck with yours? Killing your own brother? Making your profits and embezzlements?" Casey questions and Richard laughs and looks over at Damion, "You know how to pick 'em, son. You see, the reason I do the things I do is for wealth."

"You want someone dead, I send a henchmen to do the dirty work for me. You want money from your boss? I make sure you get your money without getting my hands dirty. I do this because it gets the job done. And I don't know if you know this, but I'm the biggest mobster in the damn city. People would love to see me locked up or dead. Too bad they'll never get to see it."

Casey stared at Damion as Richard talks and she knows Damion loves his father, no matter how much he hurt him and she understood that. She just wished he didn't betrayed her like this.

Richard gives the gun to Damion. "Take your shot, son. We don't do traitors." Damion hesitantly looks at Casey as his father hands him the gun and Casey watched as he takes the gun.

"Casey, I—"
"No, you picked your side."

Casey walks slowly to Damion and points the gun to her chest. "Do it." She tells.

Damion reads it in her eyes. He knows she's testing him. And Casey knows he's not gonna do this. He just can't. Not if he truly did love her.

"Dad, you know how you said people would love to see you dead or locked up?"
"Yes?"
"Maybe you'd be better off dead."

With that, Damion shoots his dad in the chest, taking him aback as blood begins to seep through his suit. Damion drops the gun on the ground. Richard gets angry and begins to go after Damion and that's when Casey grabs the gun and shoots him in the back and inevitably kills Richard. He toppled on the ground next to his brother.

Casey looks at Damion. "Are you okay?" Damion asks and Casey steps back. Of course, she honestly didn't know if she can trust him after he held a gun to her. And it was like he was going to follow through his father's orders if she hadn't stepped up.

           "I'm sorry."
           "You were gonna shoot me."
           "I—"

           Suddenly, Casey hears yelling heard and she knows that it's her people, coming in to end this once and for all. She knows they're arresting the henchmen and the Romanos and Brambillas. Damion would be one of them.

            Casey looks at Damion. "Go." She told. "Through the window. Run as fast as you can."
            "What about—?"
            "Antonio would be better off. You know he would." Casey told. Damion frowns, "You can't just—!"

              Casey pushes him towards the window. "Go! You don't have time. Go." With that, Damion takes one last glance at the woman that ruined his life and gets out through the window, never to be seen again after that.

             As Damion gets out of the there and makes his way to the back of the street, a car pulls up. It's a white Chevy Impala. And in the driver's seat is Angel Romano. (He had left after hearing the first gunshot). "Damion! Get in!"

            Damion takes one last look at his house and debates hopping in the car until he finally does and both Angel and Damion take off. And they don't turn their backs.

             Back at the house, Casey had met with Rossi and Hotch. "Everyone's accounted for except for Angel Romano, Damion Brambilla and Antonio." Casey looks towards them and has a distinct look on her face. One full of heartbreak and numbness.

             Casey looks around and looks towards the cabinets under the kitchen seat. She kneels in front of it and she speaks, "Antonio, if you come out, I'll buy you a toy for your birthday."

            Suddenly, the kitchen cabinets open and Antonio gives a bright, unknowing smile to the woman. The boy had just lost his father, his mother and family members all in one day and on his birthday of all days.

              Casey wraps her arms around him and holds him there for a moment. And one thing she wants more than anything is to just go home.

PRESENT DAY

             Leah Ryleigh didn't know how the hell she got to this spot. She was at home and then all of a sudden, these two guys break in, beat her to a pulp and threaten her. She didn't know how long she was taken for but it felt like years. She had to have known that Casey was looking for her.

             And the one thing she couldn't wrap around her head was that Chandler ordered them to take her. All because she was suspicious of him. Casey sure did know how to pick them. Now, Chandler wasn't even there and Damion and Angel were there.

               Damion had left for a short minute and she was left with Angel, that liked performing more of the torture than Damion did.

              But what they didn't realize is that Leah had remembered what Casey told her if she was ever in this situation. Use the corner or something sharp to cut through ropes, in this case, it was ropes. Hit the unsub across the head, hard. And then if there was a phone, grab it, lock yourself in a room and call Casey.

              So, she did just that. Leah had cut through her ropes subtly. Stood up from the bed carefully as his back faced her as he was trying to call Chandler, grabbed the bottle of vodka on her bedside and smashed it against his head and grabbed his cell, hanging up on Chandler once she saw the contact and rushed in the bathroom, locking it and leaning against it so she can prevent the man from coming in.

             Leah quickly dialed Casey's number and waited for an answer as Angel yelled: "You little bitch! Let me in!"

            Suddenly, Casey's cell rang and her and Hotch exchange a look as she begins to answer. Unbeknownst to her, everyone else had been listening in on the convo due to Garcia having access to the new cell calling Casey.

           "Hello?" Casey asks hesitantly and all of a sudden, Casey hears Leah's breathing and yelling from Angel. "Leah?" Casey asks, her voice slightly breaking.

          "Casey..." Leah starts and she sounds weak. "Leah, I'm so sorry." Casey tells, her voice fully breaking now. "I managed to lock myself in the bathroom. He's gonna come in here." Leah tells.

          "We will be there soon. Just try and remain calm, okay?" Casey tells, trying to calm Leah and even herself down. "I'm sorry you have to go through this. I know you were hesitant about this and I...I should've been more careful, I'm sorry."

          "It's okay," There's something in Leah's voice and it's something that Casey can't quite place. "Just... Just... tell Isaac I love him."

          And something told Leah... and something told Casey (even if she refused to accept it)... that Leah wasn't gonna get out of this alive.

         "No, no, you're gonna tell him that yourself." Casey told. "You're not dying today."

         "Casey."
         "You're not—"
         "Casey."

          Casey shook her head, "No, no, no! I am not putting myself through this again. I can't."

          Leah starts to speak. "You don't have much of a choice here, Case. It's gonna happen. I know it is. And you do, too." Casey can't believe what she's hearing.

          "I need to know that you will tell Isaac that he... he needs to be more open. And he needs to stay strong. For the both of us. And Dad." Leah's voice breaks as she speaks and Casey has tears streaming down her face. "And... Christopher... tell Christopher that it's okay to be a kid even when you grow up. To never not be afraid of anything. And that even though his parents aren't together to never stop believing in love. And that I will always love him."

        "And... tell Wes... that we are still going to have that wedding in Hawaii. And to go with the white tablecloths. It's more flattering. I love him. And I hope he knows that I never believed I could have that type of love until I met him." Leah tells.

       "And I want you to know that it's not... it's not your fault. You didn't do this." Leah told Casey finally.
        "Leah..." Casey speaks, her voice hoarse.
        "I want you forgive yourself after this. I need you to."

        "And you were the... best damn sister I ever had the chance to meet." Leah sobs. "And I don't say it enough... but I love you, okay? Please tell me you got all of that and promise me you'll tell them that."

          Casey can't even answer Leah. She doesn't want to. But truthfully, her and Hotch still have about twenty minutes to drive there. "Casey!" Leah snaps Casey out of her thoughts and she nods, "I promise."

         "I have to go."

         Leah stands up from her seat on the ground and faces towards the door. If she's gonna die, she gonna stare him down as he does so. You know how they say that you see your life flashing back before you die? Leah was experiencing that now. From the day she was born, the day she met Casey, the times her and Casey had, the times her and Isaac had. A part of her heart hurt because of this. But if this was how it had to be... it would have to be this way. She knew her mother was looking down at her and she could already see her welcoming her with open arms.

         "Leah." Casey tried but there was no sound. "Leah! Leah!"

          A gunshot was heard on the other side of the line. And Casey looks at Hotch and he steps on the gas.

━━━━━━

           When Morgan, JJ, Luke and Spencer arrived at the motel, Angel was coming out of it. He was covered in blood from head to toe and ready to pick a fight with the BAU. He tried to come at them with a machete but everyone had shot at him — JJ getting the head shot — and he landed on the ground — bullet riddled. Luke went to check a pulse and found nothing. Angel Romano was dead.

            Morgan, JJ and Spencer entered the motel room and looked around. No sign of Damion. JJ had gone to check the bathroom to see if it was clear and was unfortunately met with a gruesome sight. Her eyes filled with tears as she barely got the name — "Spence." out.

            Spencer had looked at where JJ was looking in the bathroom and his mouth dropped in sadness as he saw what she had seen.

            Leah, throat slashed, gunshot wounds everywhere on her body and she was stuffed in the bathtub. There was blood everywhere. He didn't even bother to close her eyes. "Leah." Spencer breathed out.

            Suddenly, Spencer heard officers pull up and then heard that Casey and Hotch had gotten there. Spencer knew that Casey couldn't see this. This would've destroyed her. And it was going to.

             Everything felt in slow motion to Casey. When she hopped out of the car, she didn't believe that Leah was dead until she saw a body. Before she could even enter the motel room, Spencer tried to stop her and hold her back from even entering. Morgan even had to help Spencer out to hold her back but Casey wasn't having it.

              Casey, with all of her strength, pushed Morgan and Spencer out of the way and rushed in the motel room and when she had entered the room, she already smelt the body. She turned and had seen Leah's body in the bathtub, her dead eyes staring at her.

               Casey clasps a hand over her mouth in shock. The woman drops to her knees and she yells out in pain. Spencer comes up from behind her as she screams. She can't even hear anything. Everything has gone mute.

               Leah Ryleigh was dead.
       And a little piece of Casey had died right along with her. But all she could do was cry in Spencer's arms as she realizes that her sister was dead.

           And that she was dead all because of her.

           Damion was right about the eye of the hurricane only containing silence. Because right now, Casey felt mute. And that silence wasn't even quiet enough to help her right now.

me rn:

this took hella long to write because i wanted it to be perfect- and hopefully it is🙏

rip leah :( literally sobbing
i'm also sorry for your tears😭

anywayssss
thank you for reading this one
i love you all
and y'all get ready
these next few chapters are also boutta be super crazy
-mya </3333

p.s. any theories for what's gonna occur after this?