CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN: ERIK !

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NORMALLY, CASEY WILLOWS DIDN'T HAVE ISSUES WITH HER SIX YEAR-OLD, CHRISTOPHER REID. Until today. Christopher stomped up the stairs in his green monster slippers and pouted, "No!"

          His mother, Casey followed closely behind him, marching towards him in a stern tone, "Chris."

         "No!" Chris slammed his door and Casey immediately opened the door and said more sternly, "Christopher."

         Chris sat in his bed, crossing his arms and was just plain angry. "I wanna stay with Dad!" Casey sighs, "Your dad is working tonight. He can't. I told you, when we are both working, you need a sitter."

          Chris had been very adamant on seeing his dad today. But unfortunately, like Casey, they both had work and Chris needed a sitter. Casey's father was unavailable so that only left one person to watch Chris. Marco, who for some reason, he was giving a hard time to. recently.

         "You used to let me go with him all the time! And now suddenly, Marco's here and I can't?" Chris questioned. "Now, that is not fair and just plain rude." Casey told.

        "I want my Dad! My real dad! Marco isn't my dad! Stop acting like he is!" Chris argued and Casey couldn't believe the words coming out of Chris's mouth. He would've never talked back like this and it was strange that he was doing this now.

        Casey dropped her jaw once the sentence came out of his mouth and then clamped it shut as she stared hard at her son. "You're staying here and that's final." Casey grabs the doorknob. "We're having a discussion when I get home."

         Before she closes it and Chris lays down in his bed, facing away from the door, Casey chimes in with a small, "I love you."

          There's a small pause before Chris says with gloom lingering in his voice — "I love you, too."

         Casey closes the door and sighs, wondering where the hell he was getting that attitude from. Of course, his pettiness came from both his father and mother, so this was bound to happen sometime soon. It made her feel a little bit better that he still said 'I love you' to her as she was leaving.

As Casey made her way downstairs, she then noticed someone standing downstairs and it was Marco. It looked like he'd heard the argument because he had a look on his face. Casey sighed and looked at Marco as finished walking down the stairs.

       "How much did you hear?" Casey asked. "Not much," Marco answered. "Just the fact that I'm not his dad." Casey sighs again as she walks towards Marco. "I'm sorry."
        "No, it's okay, I get it. You know, when my mom started dating after my dad, I wasn't so crazy about the idea either. I know how he's feeling." Marco admitted.

        Casey looks at Marco as she shakes her head. "That's different, though. Your dad passed, his is just a phone call away. But still, you shouldn't have to hear that. He just... he's still getting used to you. This is my first real relationship since me and Spencer split up." Marco nods in understanding as Casey grabs her things from the table and looks at Marco.

        "Are you sure you're gonna be fine here? I can still drop him off at JJ and Will's." Casey offers and Marco nods, "Oh, yeah. I'll be fine. He'll be fine, too. Trust me." He assures and Casey knows Chris is in good hands, she just don't want any bad blood between Chris and Marco.

         "If he gives you any trouble, call me and I will handle it, I promise." Casey walks towards Marco as she pecks him on the lips. "I love you." Marco smiles at the woman, "Love you too." With that, Casey leaves for work.

           Today was just a paperwork day so things were all good and copacetic. Casey worried that things weren't going so great with Marco and Chris, so she'd been checking almost every hour with them. Chris still hadn't come out of his room, except to get a snack and to use the restroom. Marco would try to engage with him but the six year-old would just glare and go back to his room.

           It was around six when Casey called again. She'd just finished conversing with Marco but he kept assuring that things were fine and that this was something he could take care of. Casey knew that after today, she definitely needed to have a talk with her son.

           After she finished the call, there was a knock on her door. "Casey?" Casey responds with, "Ugh." as she face-plants her desk. "Good afternoon to you, too." Erik starts and Casey sits up as she looked at the man in her office. "Sorry. Issues at home. What's up?" She wonders.

          "I was wondering if I could take the rest of the night off. Mandy and I are swapping with Emma tonight so I just wanna spend time with her." Erik tells and Casey knows what that's like. The co-parenting thing was something that Erik and Casey could both bond about and she knew how important it was to spend as much time with your kids as you possibly could.

          Casey immediately nods, "Yeah, no, I understand, do whatever you need to." Erik smiles, "Awesome. I owe you one." Before Erik leaves, Casey stops him as she calls his name.

        "Hey, Erik?" The man faces towards the woman at her desk. "When you and Mandy got divorced, did Emma ever... act out?" Casey wondered.

         Erik shrugs, "Not much, why?" Casey sighs, knowing she would just have to face this problem without help or advice and she shakes her head at him, "No reason."

          The clock hit 6:30 and Erik Turner was out of there. He told Mandy to meet him in the parking garage where they've met to swap Emma only a handful of times. He grabbed his keys, knowing his car would be there and that Mandy and Emma would most likely be waiting now.

          Erik hummed a tune to himself as the elevator landed in the parking garage but the tune died down once Erik noticed a stain on the ground of the parking garage. He looked down and knelt to get a closer look at it.

           Fresh blood.

          Erik looked down and furrowed his brows. Fresh blood? Erik slightly begins to panic and looks around. "Mandy? Emma?" He stands and walks towards their car and continues to call for them but stops. "Mands—?" He then finds the car windows smashed and Emma's stuffed bunny she carried everywhere on the ground of the parking garage as well as Mandy's purse full of important things.

            It was then that Erik felt in his gut that something went wrong. Horribly wrong.

           He'd come rushing back to the BAU and through the bullpen as he shouts: "Casey! Luke! Somebody!" Erik yells and noting since the BAU team had been the only ones in the office, everyone on the team had come rushing towards him.

           Casey, Rossi and Emily all exited their offices and looked below at a panicked Erik. "Erik?" Emily asks. "What's going on?" Casey asks next.

          "Someone has them," Erik holds up Emma's stuffed bunny. "Mandy and Emma. Someone has them. There was... there was blood and—" Casey then nods at Luke and JJ to go and check it out and they do so.

           And when they find what Erik had found, they immediately knew that they had something on their hands.

          Casey immediately had Garcia pull up CCTV footage and had officers stationed for everyone's loved ones. If this was a threat against Erik, this was a threat against everyone.

         They watched the CCTV footage and watched as Mandy and Emma were waiting in the parking lot when they were ambushed by two masked men. They'd hit Mandy across the head, explaining the blood on the ground and she was putting up a fight to the best of her ability. Poor Emma was scared that she tried to hide under the car but they ended up finding her and getting her anyways.

Casey put a comforting hand on Erik's shoulder as they all continued to watch the footage. Garcia decided that the team had had enough of watching it over and over so she paused it. "They were taken right there... right in the parking garage. She was meeting me." Erik tells.

"Why was she meeting you?" Matt wonders. "Parent swap for Emma." Erik answered. "Why would they have taken them?"

"Considering the job you do, the job you helped Casey do, I'm assuming not too many people were happy about it?" Rossi wonders.
"We've had people like this before but when me and Mandy divorced, I always made sure she always had some type of security when I was gone." Erik told.

The footage played and Casey notices something one of the masked man dropped on the ground. "What's that that he dropped?" JJ holds up a plastic bag and there's a blade in the bag. "Already cleaned it for prints, nothing." She tells and Casey looked at the blade. "The initials on the butt of the knife are marked T.M.." Luke adds.

"'T.M.'?" Casey furrows her brows as she examines the blade.
"The 'T' could stand for 'Turner' or the 'M' could stand for Mandy, maybe 'Marshal' because Erik was a US Marshal for years." Tara suggests.

"That's not it," Casey says positively after she then recognizes the blade and gasps. "Oh, my God."

           Casey back to that night all over again. Chandler was behind her, angry as ever. He'd grabbed her and attempted to throw a punch her way but failed and she spun him around and threw him into the glass table, shattering it.

             Casey placed her foot on Chandler's chest and held him there but Chandler grabbed his blade he left off the floor and stuck it in Casey's leg, making her yell out in pain. She quickly pulled it out.

             She could recognize that handle anywhere.
          T.M..
            T.M..
          "The Multiplier." Casey mutters.

          Everyone almost immediately turns Casey's way as they hear her mutter those words. "What?"

          Casey grabs the blade and holds it as she looked at the 'T.M.' engraved underneath. "That night when I was confronting Chandler Arwen? He stabbed me in the leg... with this blade." Casey stated. "He escaped." She figures out.

          "Wait a minute, I thought he— but..." Garcia speaks but can't seem to find the words. Everyone takes a moment for it to kick in.

          "Okay, uh, Em, Spence, Tara, recount Mandy and Emma's footsteps with—" Casey suddenly furrows her brows when she realizes the spot next to her feels empty and all of a sudden, Casey sees Erik walking down the stairs and making his way out of the bullpen.

          "Crap. Erik!" Casey yells as she, Emily, Spencer and JJ chase after him. Luckily, Casey reaches him in time and blocked the elevator with her body in front of Erik. "Oh, no you don't." She tells.

           "Casey, get out of my way." Erik told. "Absolutely not." Casey tells. 
           "Casey—"
           "I know what it's like to go out there with a full head. You are not going to find them by yourself." Casey told. Erik shakes his head, "Well, I can't just sit here and not do anything."

            "Erik, you don't have a choice," Casey told as Erik looked at her confusedly. "We are gonna do everything we can to get Mandy and Emma home safely. But you have to sit this one out."

            "You're kidding me, right?" Erik scoffed. "Erik, you're also a target. I can't have you going out there without a clear head. I know how frustrating this is. But our best bet is if you stay here."

          Erik shakes his head in utter disbelief. "You can't expect me to just sit this one out. You didn't sit it out when Leah—"
         "And if you finish that sentence, you're suspended entirely." Casey's tone was stern. She meant it.

          Erik looks at the woman and shakes his head as his eyes well up with tears, the guilt of even starting that sentence was on his face. "I'm sorry. Okay, I didn't mean that but I can't sit this out. You know I can't."

          Casey sighs and she knows that this is best. Erik has to stay put. And he cannot insert himself in his case entirely. "Erik. My hands are tied. You're off the case." She then looked down Garcia's lair and knows she can't get him off the case entirely and that he needs something to keep him sane and safe.

          So, Casey starts again. "But if you go in Garcia's lair to help with the search, I don't have to know about that." Casey gives Erik a stern look as the man nods at her and thus, they begin their search and all they need to do is track down that son of a bitch, Chandler Arwen and to get Mandy and Emma home.

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          It'd been over a day now as they started their search. No one slept and weren't going to until they could find something, anything. Emily had been on the phone and had come back to the entire team as she had news.

          "So I did a check in with a few friends at Interpol. Turns out, Chandler Arwen has been on the run for two weeks now." Emily informs and Casey raises her brows in shock. "Two weeks?" She questions. "And they never told us."

          "Maybe they figured since it was no longer in our jurisdiction, they had a handle on it." Spencer stated as he crossed his arms.

         "Well, they didn't." Erik spat. Obviously, this was all very high-strung for him and he was really going through it. "Okay, Mandy and Emma are out there, in the hands of this bastard and if he lays a hand on them—"

         Casey places a hand on his shoulder. "Erik, we will not let that happen. Okay? I promise." She tells. "Well, don't make promises you can't keep." Erik shrugs Casey's hand off of his shoulder and walks out of the room. He needed a breather and obviously he wasn't in a very clear state of mind.

         "Do you think he'll do something?" Tara wonders to Casey, since she knew him best. Casey inhaled and shook her head. "No, no, I don't even think this is about them. Maybe not even Erik."

          Spencer chimes in, "Do you think it's about you?" Casey shrugs, "I don't know. But all I know is that we have to get Mandy and Emma home safe."

          Garcia then walks in with her laptop on hand. "So, I did a sweep on all state prisons and it turns out Jamie Reinhardt? The guy we mistook for being the Multiplier? He got out jail on account of crowding."

         "Do you think he was the one that helped Chandler Arwen escape?" Matt asks. "There's a possibility." JJ shrugs. "When did he get out of jail?" Spencer asks. "Uh, about a month ago." Garcia informs. "Could've been planning for Chandler's escape." Rossi suggests.

         Casey then jots down something on a piece of paper and hands it to Matt. "Okay, Matt, Luke, I need you guys to look into this storage room. It's addressed to Chandler Arwen. We have a warrant to search it."

        "He had a storage room?" Tara asks. Casey nods, "He kept it secret, but yeah. I'm thinking maybe we can find at least something in there to help."

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         It turned out that Casey was right about looking in the storage room. When they'd gotten there, Matt and Luke had found photos among photos of Erik, Mandy and Emma. It seemed like they were stalked them for months. Photos of Mandy in her car, photos of Erik walking to his car or some to the BAU, even some on a few cases. Casey then realized just how serious this was and she knew entirely that she couldn't send Erik away at home at all. He was a potential target and she couldn't even fathom the thought of losing him.

         Casey had gone to talk to Erik and the last place she found him at was her office. He was sitting on the couch, tapping his foot anxiously on the ground. Casey made her presence known in the room and it seemed like Erik saw her from his peripheral vision.

        "When Mandy first told me she wanted a divorce, I... I told her 'okay'. And I gave it to her. I didn't even try. I told her that I'd still be there for her and Emma, even if it was the last thing I'd do. And even if she no longer loved me. I just wanted to give her that because I couldn't even give her the last year of our marriage because of me being too dedicated to my work. It just wasn't meant to be." Erik explained.

          Back then, Mandy and Erik were like parental figures to Casey. They helped her throughout high school and became people she could fully count on. She was one of the first people they told they were getting married, she was invited to their wedding, was there for the birth of Emma. The minute she heard they were getting a divorce, Casey felt like the world was turning upside down. They'd gotten a divorce about a year before Spencer went to prison. And she'd known their marriage was sometimes rocky, but they got through it. But they'd finally hit a curve and suddenly, it was like they were no longer meant to be.

         "Erik," Casey next to Erik on the couch. "We found photos of both Mandy and Emma in the storage unit. And some of you, too. For a while, it looks like Jamie Reinhardt had been following you, watching you and Mandy and your guys' everyday lives. Since this has gotten serious as serious goes, I'd feel better if you'd stay here while we investigate whatever we find."

         "No, I should be out there, looking for them, Casey." Erik told. "I know you do. But at the expense of your life being on the line... I can't lose another person. Not this year, not today. I won't do it. I refuse." Casey couldn't afford another loss. Not after the year she's had. "So, please. Stay." Her eyes well up with tears as she tells him.

          Suddenly, there's a knock on Casey's door and she looks over to see Emily walk in. "I think we got him." She announces and Casey blinks back her tears as both Erik and Casey follow her to the conference room.

"So, we figured by tracking down CCTV footage of the Multiplier, we can have access to his license plate, maybe find out within the areas of where he's been hiding." Emily explained to Erik and Casey.

"Behold, this footage at 2:49am, the license plate : DTV7345 right in front of the park Emma was playing at. And then again, at 5:53pm last night." Garcia shows the footage of the vehicular hauling Mandy and Emma off. "In the BAU parking garage?" Casey asks.

"And another piece of footage? He's been going around town nonstop. In places where only Mandy, Emma and Erik frequent." Spencer explained. "I can't believe that son of a bitch has been watching me and my family." Erik commented.

"But why Erik? When Chandler was still out, his main focus was Casey. Why would he be after Erik?" JJ questions.

There's a pause from Erik and he looks down as JJ mentions this. Everyone draws their attention to him. "Erik, if there is something you would like to share with the class, now would be the time to do it." Casey told, facing towards the man.

        Erik sighs as he looks around the team. "It's nothing bad," he assures. "When I got transferred, my priorities were to find the Angel and the Demon. And since the Multiplier AKA Chandler was working with them, I think he suspected that maybe I would find out his identity. I mean, back then, Chandler kept nagging me and asking questions involving the Angel and the Demon. I should've known back then that he was the one behind all this."

        "So because you were targeting him in a way..." Tara starts and Erik finishes, "He found a way to target my family."

        "Okay, was there any place that you suspected was The Multiplier's hideout? Somewhere he would tense up if you just so happened to mention it?" Luke asks.

         Erik tries to think back but he can't think straight. "I don't know... we stopped investigating once we figured it out who it was..."

         Casey furrows her brows as she then remembers what she found in a file after Chandler was thrown in prison. "What's up?" Emily asks the woman.

        "There's a chance he may own some land." Casey answers and everyone looks at one another, wondering if any of them know what she's talking about. "We've checked under Chandler Arwen, there was nothing." Matt stated.

         Casey shakes her head, "It wouldn't be under Chandler Arwen, it would be under Chandler Gardner. Under his dad's last name before he changed it."
        "And you know this how?" Luke wonders genuinely.
        "I looked into Chandler's file once he was thrown in prison. He and Damion met when they served in the army together, that's how they knew each other and it turns out, when his dad was thrown in prison, he practically left everything to Chandler." Casey explained.

         As Casey talked, Garcia went clacking away on her laptop. "Would one of those lands be towards Lake Hampshirite?" Casey looks over Garcia's shoulder and nods, "Uh, I read that name of a file. I think his dad had a cabin there." Casey nods.

        "Do you think he'd take Mandy and Emma there?" Spencer asks. "If he does, I'm not taking any chances. Garcia—" Casey starts and Garcia speaks, "I'm already on it. Addresses sent to you." Rossi decides to stay behind as everyone else goes.

         As everyone heads downstairs, Casey notices Erik following them and stops in her tracks. "Whoa, you are not going anywhere." Casey told. "Casey—" Erik tries. "Erik, we've been over this. You can't come with."

         "Casey, I need to go down there. I can't have my daughter thinking her dad didn't do everything in his power to save her and her mom. I need to be there. I need them to have someone to go to when they get saved. Please." Erik is practically begging now.

          Casey looks back at her team and they leave the option to her, but she needs to make a decision now. The woman looks at the man in front of her and points towards his chest. "You are with me. The entire time. No running off or doing anything stupid." Casey told. Erik nods, "Understood."

           With that, Erik follows behind and they decide to get down there as fast as they can. And to save Erik's loved ones.

           
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          When they arrived there, the sun had gone down and everyone was in their vests, ready for whatever was coming. SWAT was just right behind them. Casey split Luke, Emily, JJ and Tara up towards the lake. Spencer, Casey, Matt and Erik take the cabin.

           They begin to search the cabin up and down when Matt suddenly hears crying coming from the upstairs closet. A floor board creaks underneath his foot in the closet and Matt lifts it up and finds little Emma, her bright blue eyes glossy and bright. Matt carefully ushers the girl to safety as he announces to the team on his mic that he had Emma.

           In a second flat, Erik is upstairs and the girl jumps out of Matt's arms to her father's. "Daddy!" As soon as she wraps her little arms around her dad, Erik feels a sweep of relief hit him as he holds his daughter tightly. "Emma."

          Almost immediately, Erik pulls away, cupping his daughter's face. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" He asks and Emma cries, "The bad guys took Mommy away."

        "Where's Mom at?" Erik asks.

        "You might wanna check the bottom of the lake." Everyone turns towards the door and they point their guns towards the masked figure but everyone has an idea of who it is based on the accent alone.

         The man removes his mask and he reveals himself as Chandler. His nose looks like it's still revealing from Casey's kick to his face and Spencer's face plant towards the interrogation room table. He's blonde, still fairly built. And he moves away from the door.

        "Matt, get Emma out of here now." Casey orders and the man nods as he places his gun in his holster and carefully watches Chandler as he ushers Emma out of the room. "Come on, sweetie."

        When she's gone, Chandler smirks at the amount of guns surrounding him. "Casey." He spoke. "Nice to see you again. How've you been?"

        "Shut your mouth." Casey scoffs. "Ooh, feisty." Chandler smirks.

         He then notices Spencer's glare towards him and then raises his brows. "Reid." Spencer nudged his head towards Chandler. "How's the nose?"
        "Healing nicely since you and your girlfriend broke it. Tell me, have you guys shagged yet since I've been gone?" Casey scoffs at Chandler as he speaks crudely.

        Erik changes the subject as he keeps his gun steady at Chandler. "Why, Chandler? Why go after my family?" Chandler looks at the man in utter disbelief. "It's for the same reason you went after us. Justice." Some justice. "And plus, I figured we can do a trade."

         Everyone pauses until Spencer speaks up. "What kind of trade?"

        "Casey... for Mandy."

        Casey can't even believe her ears as she hears the words coming out of Chandler's mouth. "You mean...?" Erik asks.

        "Yup. Casey comes with me, runs away and poof! Comes back Mandy."

         Casey shakes her head at the man. How could he think such a thing? After all he's put her through? "You're insane." She tells him. Chandler shakes his head, "I'm just in love." What a psycho.

         It's then that Erik speaks up. "No," Casey looks at the man worryingly as he puts his gun in his holster and starts to cautiously move towards him. "Mandy for me. I'm worth more, man. Take me. I know more about you than anyone else does. If you want a target, it's me."

        "Erik... don't." Casey tries.

         "Don't make a bargain with me. I've made up my mind. Casey for Mandy." It's then that Erik quickly moves and gets Chandler in a bear tackle and begins to punch at his face and pushes his gun away from him. He starts hitting him and hitting him and hitting him hard, hard, hard.

           It takes Spencer and Casey to pull Erik off of him. SWAT arrives up in time and that when Casey steps on Chandler's shoulder and speaks, "Over my dead body." She spits on him.

         Officers come in and arrest Chandler now. "Emily, what's your guys' location?" Casey wonders. When she doesn't get an answer right away, she worries and then decides to rush towards the lake and the dock with Spencer and Erik.

        When they arrive, they find Emily, Luke, JJ and Tara trying to negotiate with Jamie Reinhardt with their guns held up to him, holding a knife to Mandy's neck at the end of the dock. Casey pulls Erik before he can do something stupid. 

       "Erik." Mandy speaks, getting everyone's attention. Erik looks at the woman and carefully looks at her. "Mandy, it's gonna be okay." Erik turns to Jamie. "Come on, man. It's me you want. Come and get me."

        Having the man distracted, Luke takes the shot and Jamie falls back into the lake and Emily is close enough to catch Mandy before she falls right back in the lake right along with him. "I got you." Emily assures to the woman.

       Luke and JJ go to retrieve Jamie Reinhardt and find that he's dead after Luke shot him between the eyes. 

       Erik rushes towards Mandy on the dock and holds her. Closer than close. Probably closer than they've ever hugged during their their marriage. "Mandy. Mandy, I am so sorry." He tells as Mandy sobs into his chest.

        Everything moves in slow motion as Erik wraps his FBI jacket around Mandy and she reunites with their daughter and Erik has the most important people in his life back. Chandler is thrown in the back of a police vehicle and Casey stared hard at him, as if she's saying with her eyes: I win, again.

       Erik gives Mandy and Emma time to get checked up by the doctors. Luckily, nothing too bad happened to them, just a few external wounds than internal. Erik watched them from afar when Casey walked towards Erik. "How is she?" She wondered.

       "Shaken up, they say they're gonna be okay, though." Erik tells. "And you?" Casey wonders and Erik takes a deep breath. "Thank you... for keeping an eye on me." He tells. "If you weren't there, I would've done something stupid. And that would've gotten them killed. And I don't know if I could—" Erik gets a bit choked up even mentioning that.

        "What matters now is that you have them. And that they're safe. And damn it, that's a lot better than losing them." Casey told and Erik nods at the woman, holding her hand and squeezing it before staring back at Mandy. "I'm gonna check on them now."

         Casey watches as Erik rejoins his family and she smiles as she sees them from afar, someone is staring at her, wondering if maybe he was ever gonna get their family back. Spencer told Casey he was done and he meant it but it never stopped him from thinking about what could've been. He accepted it, he accepted all of it. It was time to move on.

          But he just couldn't... he just didn't know it yet.

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Casey ordered Erik to take some time off to help out Mandy and Emma for the time being. She figured that maybe the two wouldn't wanna be alone after what happened. And she was right.

At the end of the night, everyone turned their paperwork and Casey was finishing up a bit of her report. Her blinds were open and she wasn't even focusing downstairs. But someone was focusing upstairs ... three guesses on who it was?

Spencer was packing his bag up for the night and he looked up at Casey. He was then distracted by JJ as she approaches him and speaks, "Hey, you ready to head out?" Tonight, Spencer would be having dinner with JJ and her family. It'd been a while since he'd seen Henry and Michael. "Uh, yeah." He nods.

JJ notices how unfocused he is and sighs, "What's up?" She wondered. Spencer looks at the woman and he shakes his head. "Nothing, just..." He looks towards his bag as he mumbled quietly: "I guess part of me wishes I was heading out with her."

Of course that's what this was about. JJ was no fool. She'd heard just about everything that happened with them from Spencer and frankly, she was tired of them both being idiots. She just wanted to knock their heads together.

"I told myself that I was done trying to get her but... there's some part of me that just... wishes I could still be with her. But... I know I have to accept that... it is what it is." Spencer says sadly.

JJ pats Spencer's shoulder comfortingly and then looks upstairs. She was getting tired of this pining and just wanted Casey to wake up from her Marco daze. She had had enough of this. "You know what, why don't you meet me at my car? I gotta finish something up real quick and l'll meet you there." JJ gave Spencer her keys and he nods, "Okay."

He grabs his bag and puts it over his shoulder as he grabs JJ's car keys and heads towards the bullpen entrance and once JJ sees the coast is clear, she puts her bag down on her desk and marches upstairs to disturb a working Casey.

JJ enters the room without a knock and faces towards the woman and Casey looks at JJ, confused on what's going on. "Before I say anything, know that I love you and you're my best friend but I can't just sit around and watch this anymore."

"JJ—?"

"Casey, you are one the smartest people I have ever met but yet you are so dumb, you can't see that you're with the wrong guy!" JJ tells and Casey furrows her brows, wondering where the hell this was coming from.

"You have a guy, someone you share a child with, who would walk through the gates of hell for you. He has done just about everything I can think of for you. Like when you were kidnapped by Adam Brody, he went by himself to go and save you, as stupid as it was. And even when Bay Brody had you, he was willing to sacrifice himself for you. Not to mention the fact that he busted Chandler's nose to get you back from Damion, knowing he was risking his badge. Spence looks at you like you are the sun to his moon, do you see the meaning in that? Maybe you do, but you chose to ignore it and you continued to lead him on."

Casey stands up from her seat and shakes her head. "I didn't lead him on. Why does everyone keep thinking that?"

"The hell you didn't, Casey. You guys kissed, you told him you weren't ready for a relationship and then all of a sudden, here comes Marco. Honestly, Casey, I love you but you're giving me a headache with this whole thing. Do you think it's easy for any of us to watch you two go through these periods of liking each other to hating each other to sometimes just being plain indifferent?"

"Ever since Spence got out of prison, it's like you go through this hot and cold phase where some days you love him and other days you hate him and now with you and him acting indifferent again." JJ tells.

Casey bites her lip as she looks at the woman, glaring at her almost. "JJ, I appreciate your input but I do not need this right now."

"No, I think you do need it right now," JJ argues. "We all had to watch you leave him and break his heart."
"It was more complicated than that—"
"Maybe so, Casey, but at the end of the day, you left him, he didn't leave you. I get that that wasn't an easy period for you or for him. But now he's better and even more in love with you than anything else."

"Now, don't get me wrong. I like Marco. But you don't love him, not in the way you love Spence and everybody can see it but we don't say anything out of respect for you and Spencer's privacy but now I'm over it." And JJ was over it. "After everything you two have been through with Chris's cancer, Spence going to prison, Leah. Any normal couple would've gotten back together already and he's willing to, or at least, he was but you won't let him in. Usually, I'm on your side Casey, but this time I'm on Spence's."

"Well, good for you." Casey stated as she packed her things. "You don't get to come in here and tell me how to live my life and how to deal with my relationships. You wanted to make your point? Congratulations, JJ. You did." With that, Casey grabs her things and heads out of her office.

Well, that went well.

━━━━━━

Casey had a lot of time to reflect on the car ride home. Was what JJ saying true? The stubborn part of her told herself that no, JJ was just butting in. But another part of her, told her she was right. She just didn't know what to believe.

But she had other matters to worry about. Like how Marco and Christopher were. Since Mandy and Emma went missing, she hadn't had many opportunities to check in with them. So she just wondered what occurred when she was gone.

"I'm home!" Casey decides to announce as she walks through the door and shuts her security system off. "No one killed each other, right?" She asks that part quietly, but still means it. "Marco? Chris? Guys?"

Casey walks towards the living room and finds a giant tent in the middle of the room and the room is surrounded by pillows. In the tent, Casey can make out two mops of hair and her heart warms.

Suddenly, one of the mops of hair moves and Marco lifts his head up and rubs his eyes. "Oh, hey, baby." Marco greets and Casey smiles at his sleepy state, "Hi." Marco carefully gets out of the tent without waking Chris up and looks at the woman in front of him.

"What's this?" She wonders.

While Casey was dealing with the case, Marco finally got Chris to open up to him and it seemed like they had a good time and Marco reminded Chris that he would never ever want to replace his dad in any way. "Uh, Chris has never gone camping so I brought the camp to him." Marco started, gesturing towards the tent.

"Yeah, that's kind of my fault," Casey shudders. "Working cases just does something to you." She sighs as she heads towards the kitchen and that's when Marco follows her.

Casey grabs a shot glass and pours only a dabble of vodka in it and she takes the strong shot to heart. "Hey, you alright?" Marco wonders. "Yeah. I just..." Casey sighs as both Marco and herself sit down. "I got into it with JJ before I left."

Marco tucks a strand of hair behind Casey's ear and asks, "You wanna talk about it?"
Casey shakes her head, knowing it would just cause a whole thing. "No, it's okay."

Casey rests her forehead on Marco's as he mumbled out, "I love you." Casey smiles as she says it back. "I love you, too." She wraps her arms around him in a hug and is now starting to wonder something.

Is she telling him the truth? Does she really love him back? After all of this and what happened with JJ, she needed to really rethink everything.

━━━━━━

Erik Turner had gotten Mandy and Emma settled into his apartment for however long they needed to stay there for. He truly didn't mind. "You can stay here as long as you want." He told as he fixed up his bed for Mandy and Emma to sleep on tonight.

Mandy was holding a sleeping Emma in her arms, refusing to put her down, not even for a second. "I'm sorry," Mandy tells. "I don't wanna be a burden. And I can sleep on the couch, it's fine."

Erik immediately shakes his head, "No, you're taking my bed. It's okay. I really don't mind. As long as you and Emma are safe, that's all I care about." When Mandy looks in his eyes, she can tell he's telling the truth.

The man looks at Mandy and then at Emma. "She's safe. You can put her down. No one is going to get her here. I promise. I'd die before I'd let that happen." Erik told.

With that, Mandy puts Emma in the bed and tucks her in the bed, making sure her stuffed bunny is right there next to her. Erik maybe wonders if maybe Mandy would like to be left alone so he heads towards the door. "Goodnight." He tells.

"Erik?" Mandy stands up almost immediately, stopping Erik from leaving. The man stands there and Mandy looks down and then back Erik. "Can you stay... for the night?" She wonders and Erik smiles at her a bit and nods, "Of course."

Erik decides to take the floor for the night and as Mandy and Emma get settled in, he hears a faint, "Thank you." from Mandy. And Erik has a hunch it isn't for just the bed, it's also for the hospitality and for saving her and the thing that mattered most to them.

i'm so sorry this took so long ugh
i got scheduled for work four days in a row hehe
but it's okay cuz during all four days i worked with the work crush🤭

anywaysssss
we have one more chapter in s14!!
AND ITS THE BIG ONE‼️
IF YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW.

jj @ casey:

girly popped off

also
i wanted to give a glimpse of erik and stuff, i feel like i don't talk about him as much as i did with vivian tbh
i think i did pretty good🤷‍♀️

anywayssss
thank you for reading
i love you all
-mya </333