CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE: SECRETS UNFOLDED !

⚠️ nothing too bad, graphic descriptions of a case! (i literally had to write this chapter during the day because of how paranoid i was getting)

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        "THE CITY OF POUGHKEEPSIE NEEDS US," Garcia announces to the team as they settle around in the conference room. "There's been a killer on the loose for about two weeks. He's going into their homes, taking them and doing awful things to them."

"What sort of awful things?" Emily wonders. "The sort of awful things that I put in your folder so I don't have to read them out loud." Garcia answers as everyone opens up their files.

"The first victim, Carey Knowles, was burned to death with the fire stove." Tara read out.
"And her tongue was cut out." Casey stated.
"Second victim, Sera Adler was found in her own fridge. She was dismembered." Luke continued.
"Tongue also cut out." Casey adds.
"And the third and final victim, Elise Kerwin was reported missing. Nothing found except for her boyfriend, who was brutally beaten to death." Matt said.
"And tongue also cut out." Casey nodded finally.

"The symbolism of the tongue might be because he's trying to silence his victims." Spencer stated. "If he's trying to silence his victims, why go through all of the trouble of beating them to death before then?" JJ wondered.

"And two weeks? Why are we just being informed about this?" Erik questioned.

"Let's just say the PD over there is a little stubborn when it comes to help. It took me three tries to get ahold of their head detective and he finally reached out today." Garcia informed.

"Stubborn officers, we've dealt with that before, we'll most likely deal with it again." Rossi said. "Also, another thing, they've already sort of named this killer — they're calling him The Poughkeepsie Predator. And the name was created by their head detective, Reginald York."

          "A detective naming the unsub, how wonderful of him." Matt tells, speaking sarcastically. "Well, I say that Poughkeepsie needs our help. Wheels up in 30." Casey stands up as well as the rest of the team and they get ready for their case.

          As Casey had been getting ready over at her desk and putting items in her go-bag. She noticed someone in the bullpen and overheard familiar voices. She looked downstairs and immediately seen who it was. "Grams?"

         Casey walked out of her office and she asked out loud, "Grams?" Downstairs, was her grandmother, Edith and her son, Chris. "Hello, darling!" Edith smiles. Hi, Momma!" Chris runs up to his mom and she picks him up once he gets to her.

"Hey, bud!" Casey smiles as she kisses him on the cheek. Everyone else in the office seemed to notice Casey with her son. "What are you guys doing here? More importantly, what are you doing here, Grams?" Casey comes up to give her grandmother a hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Well, your father called, he had business to attend to so he's having me watch over Chris. I hope that's alright. I also just wanted to surprise you." Edith explained and Casey nods, "Oh, of course, Grams."

"This is a surprise." JJ speaks as she appears beside Casey as well as the rest of her team and that's when Casey decides to exchange introductions. "Luke, Emily, Tara, Matt, Erik, this is my grandmother, Edith Howard. Grams, this is the rest of my team. You remember JJ, Penelope and Spencer."

Luke steps up to shake Edith's hand first. "It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am." He tells and Edith smirks at him, "Aren't you just... yummy?"

"Grams." Casey scolds, looking at her grandmother. "What? Your grandfather's been dead for years, doesn't mean I can't flirt with... exquisite taste." Edith looks back at Luke like she's ready to eat him. Casey makes a face and she shakes her head, "Ew."

Edith then directs her attention to Spencer. "And of course, how can I forget my favorite grandson-in-law?" She grabs at Spencer's hands. "It's nice to see you again, Edith." Spencer tells.

Edith turns back to her granddaughter. "Let me just tell you it's a damn shame you're not still with him. I mean, he was cute before but now he's—"
"Edith." Casey warns, this time, saying her first name to get her point across.

At the mention, Spencer looks down at the ground and so does Casey, uncomfortable. She can't bare for their son to see the looks on their faces so Casey hands Chris to his godmother, Penelope.

"Ah, well, it's a pleasure to meet you all. I've heard so much." Edith tells, looking around at everyone. "We've heard so much over here, too." Emily smiles.

Suddenly, Edith pumps her brakes and as David Rossi comes down the stairs, she pauses and stares and it seems as though Rossi stops too. "David Rossi." Edith said. Rossi nods at the woman. "Edith Howard."

"It's been a while." Edith tells.
"It sure has." Rossi agrees.

"Wait, you two—?" Casey furrows her brows. And she thinks about it for a second. Not once have Rossi and Edith met in her eyes. And not once has she mentioned them to either one of them. She furrows her brows but by the looks on their faces, she can tell what's going on.

"Oh, my god." Casey speaks and her eyes widen. The reality sets in that the reason Rossi and Edith knew each other was because they... had known each other from the past. Casey's face scrunches up. "Oh, my god!"

It isn't until three minutes later that Edith, Rossi and Casey are all in Casey's office. The elders had seated themselves into the seats in front of Casey's desk as Casey began to pace for the past five minutes, nearly contemplating every life choice she's made.

Rossi and Edith watch Casey for a moment until Rossi finally speaks up, "Casey—"

"Let's just recap!" Casey stops in her tracks as she faces the two. "You," she points at Rossi. "Slept with her." She points at Edith. "And you, slept with him. And neither of you told me."

"Looks like we didn't need to, you figured that all out on your own. No wonder you have this job, you're good." Edith tells.

"Well, to be fair, I didn't know your grandmother was Edith Howard."
"And I didn't know you worked with David Rossi. You never mentioned him."

"Not important!" Casey tells. "You two didn't tell me. You could've at least mentioned it! And I had to find out in front of everyone else, at the job that I work at, am the boss at—"

From below the deck, Spencer and the rest watched as Casey had drilled in deep into her grandmother and Rossi. They just watched, wondering if Casey was gonna stop anytime soon.

"Uh, how long has she been up there yelling at them?" JJ wonders. "About five minutes. For about three, all she did was pace." Spencer stated.

"Why is Mom yelling at Uncle Dave and Gramma Edith?" Christopher decides to ask and everyone looks at each other, wondering what to say.

Tara speaks up, "Well, let's just say Uncle Dave kept a secret from your mom and your mom's a little upset about it."
"Why?" Chris questions and Spencer cringes at himself for delivering that trait to Chris for asking so many questions.

Spencer almost doesn't know what to say and so JJ takes over, deciding to change the subject. "So, how have you been doing in school, Chris? Learn anything new yet?"

Christopher nods at JJ. "Uh, yeah. My favorite subjects are Reading and Math." He tells and Emily looks up at Spencer. "Sounds like you take after your old man." Spencer smiles to himself at this.

"Yeah. My least favorite subject is science. Did you know that we're all made up of water?" Christopher asks and Matt looks at Spencer. "I guess they're starting them young over there."

"Well, actually Mom's friend taught me that. He helps me with my homework when Mom can't." Christopher tells and everyone furrows their brows at the mention of 'Mom's friend'.

"'Mom's friend'?" Garcia decides to ask. "Who's Mom's friend?" Spencer follows.

"His name's Marco." Christopher tells and as soon as the name is said, everyone who knows about Marco's jaws drop. "Marco?" Emily asks. "What do you mean: "Marco"?" Spencer questions, furrowing his brows.

"Marco's Mom's friend. He's Uncle Dave's nephew. He stays the night sometimes." Christopher tells as if this is not new to them.

"Marco? As in the Marco? As in..." Garcia clasps hands over Christopher's ears. "Casey's steamy Italian lover from New York... Marco?"

Everyone looks up as Casey is still talking to Rossi and Edith. "You know, when I found out about Hotch and my mother, that was kind of a big deal, considering he was one of the main reasons she died but you know what? I got over it, because that's what people do, okay?"

"You two didn't talk for two months after you found out." Rossi reminds and Casey pauses before she speaks. "Not the point."

"Point is: you forgive and you forget. But this, Rossi? This is a big deal!" Casey tells. "It was over thirty years ago." Rossi reminds the woman and Casey looks at the two. "I know, but you and-and her? And... ugh." Casey feels like smashing her own head in with a hammer and cringes.

"Honey, it was a long time ago. Forgive me when I say get over it." Edith tells and then she turns to Rossi with a smile on her face. "How are you doing, David?"
"Well, thank you. And yourself?"
"Very well."

"Hey, I'm getting married." Rossi informs. A few weeks back, Rossi had decided that he was going to remarry Krystall. The two had been going out for a while and finally, Rossi wanted to put a ring on it. And so when he asked, she said yes. Their wedding would be coming up in a few months.

          Edith gasps, "Wow! Congratulations! This will make, what? Wife number five?" She jokes and Rossi chuckles, "Oh, you and her." He points to Casey, who has made that joke about a hundred times.

          Casey checks her watch and realizes they have a flight to catch. "Oh, forget this. I'll yell at you guys more later. We have a case." She motions to both her and Rossi. "I'll see you when I get back." She points to her grandmother as both Rossi and Edith stand.

         "It was, uh, nice seeing you again." Rossi tells, shaking the woman's hand. "You too, David." Edith smiles. That image floats in Casey's head and she cringes once more. "Ew."

          Both Rossi and Casey head out and go downstairs to the rest of the team. "Okay, ready to go, guys?" Casey asks, looking around the rest of her team.

          They all have distinct looks on their faces but Casey cannot tell what they've just found out. "What?" Casey asks. Spencer's face is the worst of them all. He looks beyond irritated, maybe not irritated, angry, hurt almost?

           Spencer begins to walk towards her. "What's wrong?" Casey asks but it looks as though, Spencer's not walking towards her but past her. "Ask Marco." He tells and Casey's jaw drops. That's what they have figured out.

          "Spencer..." Casey calls but Spencer has ignored her and continues to walk ahead and Casey curses at herself. Of course, Spencer knew there was another guy but... he just didn't know who the other guy was.

            Casey sighs, knowing she's gonna face needing to tell the dirty details later. But right now, all she can do is think about how hurt Spencer looked when he walked away.

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Spencer had been in the jet bathroom for at least a solid thirty minutes. Casey knew better than to check on him at the moment, even if she knew it was her fault. She stood at the coffee machine when JJ had come up to her.

"When were you going to tell us about Marco?" JJ wondered and Casey sighs, holding her mug up. "Eventually," she tells. "I didn't even know that Chris knew."

"Well, he's a smart kid. He's bound to find out sometime about the birds and the bees." JJ stated.

Casey sighs, "For the record, Marco and I are taking things slow. He stays the night because... I don't wanna be alone." JJ's eyes wander as she hums, "Hm." as she sips from her own coffee mug.

Casey directs her attention on JJ. "What was that 'hm' for?" She questions. JJ shrugs, "No reason, but... I also know someone else who stayed the night because you didn't wanna be alone." Casey furrows her brows, wondering if she should take it as a diss or a sign of consideration.

"And what do you mean by that?" Casey asks. "I mean... I'm on Team Spence," JJ tells. "Sure, Marco seems like a nice guy and I don't know him as well as the others did but... Spencer was there for you at a time where you really needed him. All I'm asking is that... you just consider his feelings regarding this."

The way JJ spoke about it made it seem like she was hiding something and as soon as Casey saw through it, she pointed it out. "Spencer told you, didn't he?" Casey asks, with a seriousness in her voice that makes JJ's sympathetic smile drop. "That is the only reason why you're having this conversation with me right now, isn't it?"

JJ looks down and realizes that her pokerface was definitely not strong enough against the Gideon descendant. She should've known better there. "Case—" Casey walks away, not wanting to continue the conversation further. Casey had grown a little annoyed that Spencer told JJ when they specifically agreed not to tell anyone about Casey considering a relationship with him again. She didn't really feel like arguing with JJ right now so she walked away.

Casey heads back to her seat and sees that Rossi is sitting in front of her and Erik is sitting next to him with an entertained look on his face. Casey knows where this is going and she squeezes her eyes in defeat.

"So, you can get on me for being with your grandmother and not telling you about it but you don't tell me about me and my nephew?" Rossi questions. "Care to explain the logic in that?"

"I was gonna tell you eventually," Casey stated. "When it became official. And you were gonna be the first person to know."

"Was I really?" Rossi asks.
"Was he really?" Erik added.

"Alright, you," Casey points at Rossi. "Yes. You," she points at Erik next. "Shut your trap."

Suddenly, Spencer walks out of the bathroom and Casey looks to see him coming out and decides to change the subject altogether. "Let's focus on the task at hand, please." Spencer rejoins the group but doesn't say anything.

"When we land, Tara, Erik, go to Elise's home, see what you can investigate with the latest crime scene. Luke, JJ, go down to Elise's parents' home, we need to know a little about her to see what the unsub was drawn to her for. The rest of us will go down to the PD." Casey looks at Spencer, who can't even look at her right now. And who was she to blame? She hopes to maybe pull him aside and to maybe talk to him. But right now, of course, they had the important matters of a case ahead.

Garcia had warned them in advance about the stubborn detective. But Casey, Emily, Rossi, Spencer and Matt had no idea just how stubborn until they walked in. They walked into the PD and had spotted the man and Casey called for, "Detective York?"

The man turns to Casey and grabs a stack. "I'm..." He hands the stack to Casey. "Late," the man starts. "I'm assuming your head honcho isn't here yet. I've heard about this Casey Willows and his sad, tragic life story but I'm not here to make friends, I'm here to solve a case."

Casey's eyebrows raise as the man speaks to her. First of all, this was not going well. Second of all, what gave him the impression that Casey Willows was a guy? Of course, with Spencer being as petty as he was being, gave a slight chuckle at what was happening.

"So when your unit chief does arrive, just point him towards my office to discuss the Poughkeepsie Predator. Knock on my door if you get confused." Before the man walks away, Casey drops the stack at a nearby table. "Sir." She asks, sternly.

The man turns back at Casey. "It's bold of you to assume that the unit chief isn't a woman." Detective York furrows his brows and puts his hands on his hips. "Excuse me?"

Casey walks towards him and holds a hand out to shake. "I'm SSA Casey Willows, unit chief of the FBI." Casey introduces herself and suddenly the man makes an uneasy face and Casey watched as his Adam's apple bobbed as he gulped. "And you just made quite the impression and fool of yourself so I'll give you a chance to fix it or I can report you to your superior."

The man straightens his tie and looks at the man. "My apologizes, ma'am."
"It's Agent." Casey corrects.

        Emily butts in before Casey can bite Detective York's head off. "And we're also here to just do our job." She says.

         Detective York sighs and he looks at Casey. "I'm sorry, again. It's just... this case..." The man looks around. "Our guy has escalated."

        "How so?" Rossi asks.

        With that, Detective York had brought the team to the computer room and had showed them a video tape. The video tape consisted of what they assumed to be the unsub posing as a hitchhiker to lure himself into a young couple's car.

          The unsub said that he was new in the area and wanted to catch footage of his experience in the city. The couple had thought nothing of it. The footage ended up taking a turn for the worst and it had showed the unsub brutally murdered the man in front of him until it cut off the woman's screaming.

           The footage started again and this time, it started with the woman's face zoomed up. He zoomed out and what Casey saw twisted her stomach. The head of the man that he killed was sewn inside of the woman.

            It was unlike anything they'd ever seen.

          "Oh, my God." Emily muttered and Casey couldn't even look at the footage any longer. "One word to describe it: inhuman." Rossi commented.

         "When was this sent in?" Casey asks, looking towards the wall to avoid looking at the footage any longer.
         "Just last night," Detective York said as he turned it off. "Right at our doorstep. No one saw a thing. It started with photos. But now it's videos. Tapes."
        "How many has he sent so far?" Matt asks. "Counting this one... thirty-six." York told.

         "David Parker Ray recorded his crimes as an audio tape he created for his victims. In the recording, he would calmly and meticulously describe the brutal torture they were about to endure in his "toy box" in the coming weeks." Spencer explained.

         "Our unsub is escalating," Casey sighs. "I hate to do this but send the recordings to Garcia, maybe she can find an MPEG source. Have their bodies been discovered yet?" Casey asks York. "They were sent to an autopsy lap. We found them buried in the woods. The Poughkeepsie Predator shows that after... you know." York tells, mentioning the footage.

           "Okay, uh, Emily, Matt, go down to the autopsy lab. Find out anything that's new. We gotta find this son of a bitch." Casey told. "Also, detective?" Casey stands as she faces the man. "Refrain from calling him the Poughkeepsie Predator. We're squashing that name."

           The detective furrows his brows. "Do you have a better name for this jackass or something?" He questions. "No, it's better not to name our unsub to the public. We want people to remember the victims, not the unsub." Rossi explained. The man said, "Name squashed. We'll settle for jackass, then." Casey nods, "That's more like it."

           When Matt and Emily left, Rossi, Casey and Spencer stayed behind, setting up the conference room. Spencer had currently been doing so, putting images up on the walls. Casey and Rossi were outside of the room getting coffee.

"So... when did you and Marco... start...?" Rossi asks out of curiosity and Casey shakes her head, "We're not. We're talking it slow." Rossi does a subtle snort as he shakes his head.

Casey furrows her brows. "What was that?" She wonders. Rossi turns back to her. "What was what?" Casey looks at the man. "That little snort."

"Okay, why is everyone acting weird towards me all of a sudden? First JJ... now you?" Casey questions. She knows Rossi will be upfront with her and tell her but instead, Rossi just takes a breath.

"You know, kid, I've come across some pretty dumb profilers who make smart decisions. Not once have I come across a smart profiler who makes dumb decisions. Until you." Rossi told and Casey furrows her brows in the utmost confusion and she considers that sentence a diss.

"What are you talking about?" Casey questions. "I'm talking about the guy in the conference room." Rossi motions towards Spencer in the conference room. "You led the poor kid on."

       "How did you—?" Casey pauses when she looks at Rossi and knows exactly how he knows. "He told you." Casey looks towards the conference room and smacks her cup of coffee down on the table as she marches into that conference room. "Spencer Reid."

          Casey closes the conference room door behind her as she starts talking. "Look, I get that you're mad but telling JJ about our conversation and telling Rossi that I led you on? Really? Are we five now?"

         "Might as well be." Spencer tells as he turns to face Casey. "Excuse me?" Casey crosses her arms. "You're tossing me around like a toy you like one minute and then the next, you go ahead and find yourself another one." Spencer tells.

         Casey sighs, "Spencer, that wasn't my intention, I'm sorry." She admits.
        "Well, you still did it." Spencer told. "Did you even wanna still be with me? Was it just to hurt me?"
        "No!" Casey denied.
        "Then, why did you choose him, Casey?"

         There's a long pause and Casey could tell that this really affected Spencer. More than she thought it did. And Casey knew that she wronged him. And she felt bad about it. "I'm sorry, Spencer." Casey told. "I didn't mean for it to happen, it just... happened. And we're not even together. You can't get mad at me for this."

        "I have every right to be mad at you right now." Spencer spat. "I'm tired of this back and forth thing. So, if you'll excuse me, I have a pretty important case to work." He dismissed, just like she used to do to him.

           Spencer walks out of the room and Casey follows. "Spencer—" She tries.
         "I don't wanna hear it. I'm done." Spencer told.

          The PD heard as well as Rossi as Spencer walked out of the building. Casey mutters, "I'm sorry." And it sounds like she's talking to herself more than she's talking to Spencer.

The rest of the team had come back and eventually Spencer did, too. Matt and Emily discovered that the most recent bodies tongues had not been cut out, meaning a different change in MO. Luke had come back with more news, JJ following after him.

"He sent in another tape." Luke announced. "Most of the footage was of Elise Kerwin. She's still alive, but a lot of the footage is graphic." JJ told. "Why send proof of life but no ransom demand?" Erik questions.

"Is it just to torture us?" Casey wonders aloud. "He could've sent this to the Kerwin's doorstep. Instead, he sends it to us." Emily speaks up, "He knows we're working this case." Rossi agrees, "And he wants us to know that he knows that."

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It had been two days with nothing. The team spent their times analyzing the tapes, wondering when their unsub was gonna strike next. They'd discovered he'd no longer been killing and was now putting his entire focus on Elise Kerwin. And that made them give the profile.

He was an obsessive stalker in his mid-30s, proper build, pretty well off, maybe owned a construction site due to the footage of him building up the torture chamber he was using to keep Elise Kerwin in. They advised the public to not approach him by any means and to just call the proper authorities.

After that, everyone went back to their hotel to get a good night's sleep. But no one was getting a good night's sleep. No, the team spent their time staying up, trying to track down this guy. And they couldn't sleep due to the images of the tapes surfacing in their heads and getting the best of their sleep.

And after tossing and turning in her bed, Casey's guilt was eating her alive. Of course, the stress of the case was bad enough but the stress of letting Spencer down felt worse. On a case like this, it felt worse. And she needed to take care of this once and for all.

So, Casey put her shoes on and marched towards Spencer's door, which was a few doors down from hers and she knocked and announced herself. And Spencer didn't answer it.

           "Spencer," Casey knocked once more. "Open the door. You know it's me. Can we talk?" The knocking continued. "Spencer." She stops. "Hey, unless you actually want sleep tonight, can you just let me in? Look, I know you're mad at me but—"

           Suddenly, the door opens, revealing Spencer, who hasn't even changed out of his outfit for the day and Casey wonders if he's even attempted with the bags under his eyes. "I'm more than mad at you," he started. "Okay, I'm pissed off at you."

            Spencer walked away from the door and Casey took that as her in into the room and closed the door behind her. It seemed like Spencer had prepared this speech he was about to unleash because the minute Casey walked through the door, he went off.

           "You walked away from us. Don't you forget that. You ran and went to some other guy! You led me on and chose him. Do you have any idea how that makes me feel?" Spencer questions.

           "I did not lead you on." Casey argued. Spencer nodded at her, dismissing her side of the argument. "Mhm. You did. You said you would think about it and the minute Marco came in the picture, you went for him."

            Frankly, Casey had had enough with this pity crap. "God, did you ever stop and think that maybe I needed to think about myself in the relationship? Maybe I didn't want you to push me away again like you did last time. Maybe I was tired of you continuously lying to me in our relationship. Maybe you made me feel like I wasn't good enough in our relationship. You ever stop to think about that?"

            "Now that's just unfortunate for you, isn't it?" Spencer questioned. "All about you. Like it's always been."
             "Yes! It's about me! Okay, 'cause it's never about me and I'm finally making it about me!" In Casey's eyes, she was confused why everyone hated the fact that she was doing something for herself. If it were Spencer and he moved on, everyone would praise him for doing so. It just didn't seem fair.

             But that wasn't the point. Spencer was constantly getting tossed around like a toy and he had gotten sick of the treatment. At the end of the day, he'd still wait for her, no matter how crazy, stubborn or stupid she was being. It seemed sad, but he knew by some miracle, they were meant to be together. He just hated how she was treating him right now. And he was hurt.

           "And you're saying it's always been about me?" Spencer questioned. "Since the beginning of our relationship, Spencer." Casey told. "Yes, it's always been about you. Even when we aren't together, it's still about you!"

          "Really?" Spencer faced towards her in the most utter confusion.
          "Yeah!" Casey nods. "Since prison, since your mother got Alzheimer's, since Gideon's death, since any trauma I've been endured. You always find some way to make it about yourself. Sorry if I actually chose to do something for myself and to be happy for myself."

            Spencer wants to say something clever, petty to her to hurt her like she hurt him. But instead all he blurts out in the heat of the moment is — "Don't choose him."

          Casey pauses in her tracks and looks at Spencer in disbelief, wondering if she heard what came out of his mouth correctly. "What?" She asks, her voice hoarse.

          "Don't choose him," Spencer decides to go through with what's he's going to say and steps closer to Casey. "He doesn't love you, not as much as I do. You know that's true." He cups her face with his hands, her skin soft like he was holding silk in his hands. "You know I love you. I have loved you ever since I met you, Casey." His hands move from her face to her hands and he holds her hands now.

          "So I'm saying it now and I'm saying what I should've said the minute you and him reunited, don't choose him." Spencer is practically begging here. "Choose me. Please." He looks at her with hearts in his eyes.

           But all Casey can think about in that moment is how he was with her the night he got back from prison. How dark his eyes were, how terrified she was of him. With the flashes of the past coming back to her, she backs away from him. "How can you even say that to me?" Casey questions with tears in her eyes. "After all you've put me through, how could you make me—?"

          "Casey," Spencer makes her face towards him, grabbing her shoulders. "Choose me and I will never ever put you through what I did ever again."

          There's a pause and there is nothing more that Casey wants to do. She wants to go running to him but she lets the past affect her judgement. She's so afraid of what will happen to them again if she lets him in. She thinks of all the times he's used her flaws against her, her dead mother, her father, her drinking. And she thinks of the times she's done the same things to him, his own familial issues and relationships, his drug addiction. She didn't want to treat him like that, her heart couldn't bare going through those issues once more and it ending the way it had before. And more importantly, she couldn't put Chris through that again. Her son deserved more than what life had to offer him.

          Casey looks at his with tears in her eyes. "I don't know if you're telling the truth." Spencer drops his hands at his sides and bites his bottom lip to keep from crying. "Spencer, the reason I left you was because I was scared of you. I was scared of what you were gonna do, I was scared of what you were gonna become." She reveals.

          "So I pushed myself away before you could do it again. I wanna believe you, I do. But I can never be too sure. And I'm sorry I led you on to believe that something could happen again. I'm sorry. I truly am." Casey tells him with the bottom of her heart. "I never— it wasn't my intention. But—"

          "But..." Spencer says breathlessly. Of course, he expected a "but" in that sentence alone. "It's this screwed up destiny we have." Casey tells. "All we ever do and did is hurt each other. Spencer—"

          Casey tries to grab his hand but Spencer backs away from her, sliding his hand out of hers and looks away from her. "You need to go." But Casey doesn't wanna leave him like this. But it was too late. Spencer finally looks back at her. "Please." He begs with his glossy eyes and Casey takes that as her sign to leave.

           So, Casey opens the door and leaves the room. Spencer stayed in that moment and for a moment, just felt like he was frozen in time. He was still in that apartment they lived in together, he was still in that time where he believed Casey truly loved him. And his mind went to the night he got back. He scared her. His own wife was scared of him. He remembered only snippets of that night and then he remembered that she looked at him like a monster. He all of a sudden saw the reason why they weren't together again. Because he was the reason for it.

            Spencer took a breath as he sat at the edge of the bed and rubbed his tired eyes. He was right where she left him. And Spencer wondered if he was ever gonna leave the torture of his mind anytime soon.

          
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Their unsub had sent something else to the PD. This time, it was a map and it was addressed to Detective York. Since the kills were all located in the initial areas, Garcia and Spencer both tracked down the unsub's address near the latest crime scene.

            Garcia had found a Steven Walsh who was currently 101 years old and most likely dead but someone was still cashing in his disability checks and that's when the team connected the dots and knew this was the work of their killer.

             They had sent a SWAT team in, along with the rest of the team and had found no unsub, nothing, all except for three boxes worth of tapes. There had been more tapes than what their unsub was sending in.

Nearby, Luke and Erik found a wooden crate that was screwed in and the team had drawn their attention to it, wondering what had been in it. "Can I get a screwdriver, by any chance?" Erik questions and he's handed on and with a little of Luke's help, they get the crate open but what they find inside shocks them.

Inside, had been Elise Kerwin, in a maid's outfit with a strange mask on and they all paused for a second to see if she was breathing and Elise lets out a small squeak of — "Help."

"We need a medic here. Now." Emily tells into her mic and Casey looks down at the woman in the crate. "Elise, we're gonna help you out of here, okay?"

They brought a gurney in and strapped Elise to it, getting that mask off of her head. She looked malnourished, her arm broken and bruises and blood stained her body. The woman was finally out of her hell.

When they brought her to the back of an ambulance truck, JJ opted to stay with her so she went with them. Casey had walked over to Matt and Spencer, who were checking the surrounding area but they weren't able to find their unsub.

"There was no sign of him anywhere." Matt told. "What do you mean?" Emily asks. "We're patrolling the area now but... it's not looking too good." Matt told.

Casey and Emily exchange a look. "He got away?" Casey questioned. "We're still looking around the areas. If we'd discovered this thirty-seven minutes ago, there's a chance he could've gotten away."

"Which means that was his endgame all along." Casey comments. "Have every officer get in pairs of two, we're gonna find this bastard. He's gotta be close."

━━━━━━

In the end, they unfortunately weren't able to find their unsub. And that stuck with Casey. Elise Kerwin was left with no closure of seeing their unsub behind bars. Casey realized they never caught the name of their unsub.

It wasn't until after that Garcia had compiled a whole list out and found a Edward Quincy, who used to be Steven Walsh's caretaker. And he killed Steven and took care of the house as his own.

Edward was an orphan, jumping from foster home to foster home due to "issues", which consisted of killing younger animals and breaking his foster sister's arm as well as sexually assaulting her as well as the girls in his school. He was expelled from the school district and never graduated but somehow ended up becoming very skilled in surgical care. He was a psychopath in the making. And it made everything more tense for Casey to know he was still out there.

The jet ride home was quiet and it left Casey alone with her thoughts, wondering how she could leave when the killer was still out there. She didn't really feel like her job was quite accomplished. She looked around at her sleeping team members and wondered if maybe she let them down. She already knew she left Spencer down for different reasons but she couldn't help but feel like a failure altogether. This was the first case she'd taken as unit chief where they didn't catch the bad guy. So, it was hitting her hard.

All of a sudden, Rossi approached her, breaking her thoughts away with two coffee mugs in his hands. "Coffee?" He asked, handing her a mug and she takes it into her hands, the warmth already making her feel a little bit better. "Thanks." She tells and Rossi nods at her as he sits in front of her.

          They sit in silence for a few moments until Casey begins to speak, spinning her finger around at the rim of her mug in thought. "You know how you said you've met dumb profilers who make smart decisions and the one smart profiler you met that makes dumb decisions is me?" Casey asks. "That's how I felt today when that bastard got away."

           Rossi looks at the girl apologetically. Of course, he met that as a joke and more so meant the dumb decisions being relationship decisions. It had nothing to do with her job. If anything, she was better at her job and being a mother than anything else.

         "I feel like I failed," Casey admitted. "Just like I failed Leah. If there's no point in catching the bad guy, then why the hell am I still doing this?"

          Rossi looks at the woman in front of him and sits up a bit. "You know, I once knew this kid. The one thing she wanted to be since she was eight years old was an FBI agent. She was smart enough to do it. And you know what happened?"

           Casey knew what he was referencing to and he was referencing to herself. "She became even more of a loser with a failed marriage, a dead sister and a brother that doesn't talk to her anymore?" Casey guessed and Rossi gave her a look and Casey shrugged, trying to see where the lie was.

          Rossi continued, "She chased after her dream. And she got it. A year into an internship. It was all the work she'd done, not the work she had been given. And it was followed by the love of her coworkers and her son. And soon became the unit chief of the FBI." Casey looks down as Rossi talks about her accomplishments.

         "Casey, there are gonna be tough acts to follow when you're unit chief. You know this. You've known this for years. Sure, you get knocked down but you have never been one to stay down." Rossi tells. "It's not about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward."

           Casey furrows her brows when she hears the last sentence come out of Rossi's mouth. "Did you just quote Rocky?" She wonders and Rossi shrugs, "I thought you wouldn't notice."

          This makes Casey let out a little chuckle and it puts a smile on Rossi's face. Casey looks at the man and sighs, "Also, I'm sorry I overreacted with the Edith thing. It's just weird that she's never mentioned it before. And that you've never mentioned it before." Casey finds it funny how quickly she is to forget the fact that Rossi was with her grandmother but didn't talk to Hotch for months when she found out about her mother. She figured that maybe as she got older, things like that just started seeming less traitor-y.

        "As long as we're square with that, I'm square about the Marco thing, too." Rossi tells and Casey shrugged and her eyes then thwart over to a sleeping Spencer on the couch. The scene alone almost makes her regret her decision with who she's picking. But she knows it's for the best. Or does she?

        Casey looks to Rossi and knows he'll be honest with her if she were to ask his opinion. "Dave, give it to me straight." Casey speaks and Rossi turns his attention to the woman. "Am I doing the right thing with Marco?"

         Rossi figures that if Casey has to question it, it means it's not. "You tell me, kiddo." He simply says and Casey sighs, not really taking it as an answer. But she still takes it nonetheless and tries to sleep this hell of a week off as much as she could.

━━━━━━

When the team arrived back, Casey had decided to tell the team to turn their paperwork in towards to give them the night of well deserved rest that they needed. As Casey went to head back to her office, Garcia stopped her.

"Hey, fair maiden?" Casey turns back to her. "You got a special surprise in the office waiting for you." Casey furrows her brows as she walks towards her office and as soon as she opens the door, she hears laughter.

           Her grandmother's laughter. And right next to her is Marco, just laughing and conversating. Suddenly, Edith's attention is drawn to the door. "Oh, hi, darling!" The two stand and Casey's brows furrow. "Hi. What are you doing here?" Casey asks as Marco approaches her to give her a hug.

          "Thought I'd surprise you at work. Plus, it's been a while since I've been in here and seen my uncle so... and I got to meet your grandmother, finally."

           Edith approaches the two next. "I see you have a knack for things that are Italian. Runs in the family." Casey cringes and looks at Marco. "Did she tell you about—?" Marco nods, "Yeah, not the conversation I wanted to hear."

          "He looks just like David when he was younger." Edith tells and Casey grits her teeth. "Okay, Grams, I really do not wanna hear that right now." She looks around the room. "Where's Chris?" She wonders.
           "He's with that colorful woman, Penelope, in her office. Oh, she's such a delight." Edith smiles.

          "Marcello!" Everyone turns to the door to see Rossi welcoming his nephew with open arms. "Mi nipote!" Marco welcomes him with his own arms and smiles, "Zio Dave!" Rossi kisses the man's cheeks and Marco points at Rossi. "You're getting gray, old man."

         "Don't flatter me, you're getting there yourself!" Rossi jokes.

        Suddenly, more of the office, including Chris in Penelope's arms is welcomed. Some were either meeting Marco for the first time or meeting him again. As almost everyone pretty much gathered in her office, Casey noticed someone was missing.

         That someone was currently at his desk, putting files in his brown leather satchel and getting ready to go home for the night. He currently stood outside of the office, debating on making himself known. Casey had decided to slither out of the room and decided to talk to him. It looked like he had something to say and Casey decided to hear him out.

         "Hey," Spencer started. He messes with the strap of his bag and looks down at the ground for a moment to gather a few words together and then he finally draws them out. "If you're happy... that's all that matters." He tells.

          There's then a slight pause. "I thought that maybe if I said that out loud, it would help set me down." He then admits and Casey sighs. "The truth is, Casey... I love you. And I still wanna be with you. And I know you don't... but I'm not gonna stop loving you, it just doesn't work that way for me like it does for you."

          "And I'm happy that you're happy. But you should be happy with me. And you know it. I don't give up easy." Spencer tells it like it is and with that, he goes downstairs and leaves and Casey watches as he does so and takes a breath as she watches him.

            Of course, something told her that he was right and that she was being stupid with her decisions. But another part of her just wanted to see where this could go with Marco. And it wasn't fair to Spencer for one part and it wasn't fair to Marco for another. But she didn't know how to go about this. And something just told her that if anything happened by its' own accord, that's how it was meant to be. And it wasn't up to her to change it.

hey lovelies!
soooo ik we all hate casey rn but
LEMME JUST SAY AGAIN
IF Y'ALL DIDNT HEAR ME THE FIRST TIME
IT WILL ALL BE WORTH IT IN THE END‼️
TRUST😭

casey when that detective thought she was a guy:

anyways yea i apologize if this chapter scared y'all with the graphic descriptions, i based this off of that one movie "the poughkeepsie tapes" i only recommend this movie if you want to feel sad and disturbed at once and only watch it in the daytime

also
we have about five chapters left in this act and i'm very excited😁
three of them are originals and i believe there are two that are episodes but yea

anywayssss
thank you for reading
i love you all
even if you hate me rn🤭
-mya </33