❝ every ending is also a beginning, we just don't know it at the time. ❞

         FOLLOWING THE EVENTS of the Colonial Liberty Bank explosion in D.C., the grey smoke clouded the air as olivia heard the familiar ringing sounds in her ear. it was the same ringing sound she heard when she woke up in that dark warehouse two months ago. everything sounded so muffled. she could hear derek morgan speaking to her and jj who was laid next to her, but couldn't quite exactly make out the words. fortunately, the ringing gradually faded and the noises surrounding her started to sound coherent. "jj, liv, are you okay?" derek's attention was split between the two women as jj recovered faster than olivia did.

         "where's will?" she asked, as she stood up and derek helped olivia. "where is will? did he get out of there?"

         the three agents shifted their gazes around them. a few officers were down and others helped. the fumes they were inhaling was definitely not safe for them, and if spencer were there he'd be immediately getting liv out of the area, but one question appeared in her head. she turned back around to jj and morgan and asked, "where's emily?"

         jj dashed towards the destroyed architecture of the bank as the toxic smoke engulfed them once again. "jj!" derek called out, him and liv following after her along with other SWAT members.

         pillars, parts of the ceiling, toppled furniture, fires and its ashes, and even a few bodies were scattered around the floor of the establishment. as the agents stepped in, they also had their weapons and flashlights out as precautions, looking around. jj called out for will as derek and liv called out for emily.

         spencer watched the explosion happen when it was broadcasted on the news channel. a feeling of panic surged through him. were the hostages safe? was his team safe? was olivia? spencer had no knowledge of anyone's safety. as his thoughts and questions soon consumed his brain, he left the BAU, traveling back to D.C. as kevin tagged along.

"emily!" olivia called, carefully stepping over the rubble with the occasional cough to get the smoke out of her lungs.

"over here!" she heard the familiar voice. olivia's eyes landed on the prentiss woman. "you all right?"

"yeah." she muttered. "they were hiding back here."

olivia glanced at the two elderly couple sat in front of them. their eyes closed and ashes covering their face and the woman's loose strands of her grey hair framed her face. morgan and jj trailed right behind liv. "can we move them?" he asked.

"yeah, with help. he's unconscious." emily told him.

the elderly woman mumbled, "just let me stay with him, please." her eyes moved, happening to make eye contact with olivia. she definitely felt terrible for her. and it only made her feel even worse when it was her the woman made eye contact with.

"i can't find will." jj piped up. "have you seen him?" she asked emily. she looked at her, "he might be down below." derek followed after jj as she immediately went looking for will again.

olivia stayed with emily, assuring the woman, "we're gonna get you out of here." to which she weakly replied, "he's my love of 66 years. my story."

olivia's mouth opened to say something, but the words died on her tongue. her and emily exchanged solemn expressions as they nodded at the woman to bring her some sense of comfort.

after staying a while with the woman, emily and olivia decided to go back inside the mobile command center to catch up with penelope and see if maybe she had gotten something. halfway through the walk, the tall, lanky, brunette man caught her attention when he wrapped his arms around her, embracing the griffins woman in a tight hug. she stood on her tippy-toes, her head buried in the crook of his neck. they stood like that for a good few seconds, not wanting to let go. "i'm glad you're okay." spencer whispered. she responded by hugging him tighter until the pair eventually departed, the two now hand in hand as they entered the command center where emily, hotch, rossi, and kevin had already been inside with garcia.

"jj and morgan said the unsubs were in an alley northwest of the perimeter." spencer told penelope. she checked the security footage, "yeah, this confirms it. okay, i can see two figures in the car. please tell me one of them is will."

         "see how she's turned." hotch noticed, pointing at the queen of diamonds. "it's like she's keeping an eye on someone in the back."

         "does this mean will's in the car?" penelope questioned.

         "there's somebody back there." hotch told.

         "what's the license plate?" reid asked. garcia enhanced the photo, noticing a strange detail. "that's weird. they're government tags."

         "federal or district?"

         "federal."

         spencer quirked his eyebrows, "well, they're either stolen or forged."

          "who the hell are these people?" garcia commented.

         BAU section chief, erin strauss, walked in, "they set up roadblocks in the district from 66 to dulles."

          "wait, so we're looking for a black SUV with its sirens on. that's gonna stand out." kevin remarked.

         just after, jj and morgan met up with them in the center. "will's with them. i found his wallet." she said. "it benefits them to keep will alive." hotch stated.

         "they must have a safe house set up." morgan assured.

         olivia spoke, "whoever their outside man is, that's where they're heading now."

          "but where?" jj asked. "what's their endgame?"

          rossi chimed in, "there's no logical reason. they want to create panic."

         "she's struck all over the world, which says she might not be american, but her ideology certainly speaks to washington. whatever point she and her partner are making, it's that D.C.'s the setting." spencer explained.

         "the brothers were from philadelphia. the other partner might be homegrown as well." emily suggested.

         strauss spoke up, "homeland's sending over a list of possibilities."

          "they're not on anybody's list." hotch remarked. "then how do we find them?" strauss asked him.

         "we find the common denominators between all 14 robberies and we go from there."

         "so she's our only answer." strauss narrowed her eyes at hotch. "for now." he added.

         "i'll call easter at interpol again." emily announced. "now that there's been an explosion, he might have some ideas." she walked away, leaving the rest at the command center.

         while emily was making her call to clyde easter, morgan received a call from the lab, "semtex and C-4 like we thought. red, blue, and yellow wires in each, old cell phone used as a detonator."

"how old is the phone?" emily asked, walking back in.

"10 years."

"that's specific and rare." she commented.

         "ridiculously." morgan replied.

          "well, has anyone seen it before?"

         morgan explained, "it was last seen in a number of bombings in Chad."

           "for a signature that specific," emily started, "they must've been there to learn it."

          hotch asked emily, "did easter have any insight?" she answered, "a woman they called lady x stole a sedan from scotland yard 8 years ago. the investigation concluded she was a trained assassin. she disappeared."

         "so lady x and queen of diamonds is the same person?" rossi asked.

"sounds like it." emily told.

"garcia, look at assassination attempts around the civil unrest in Chad." hotch ordered.

"if she was a hired gun, she was likely taking orders from someone." spencer suggested.

"maybe she's still working for the same guy now and he's still pulling the strings." olivia guessed. "or maybe she's found her equal." hotch added.

emily replied, "their obsession with killing and domination has culminated in what we've seen today."

"getting off in the disaster they've created." spencer noted. "classic symphorphiliacs."

"then this isn't over." morgan shook his head.

          "far from it." rossi commented.

         "no." hotch agreed. "now that they've gotten away with this, where are they gonna strike next?"

         jj and rossi reported to an abandoned ambulance where the queen of diamonds had killed an EMT. while so, hotch checked in with garcia and kevin until he called the rest of the team to watch what they have figured out. "the explosion was a distraction so they could escape. watch." hotch told them.

"all right, here's where chris started shooting hostages." kevin said, the agents watching the footage from the bank before the explosion. "the fella next to him didn't even flinch, doesn't even break a sweat. we know he's ex-military, but still."

"his name is matthew downs. that's what he told rossi and he wasn't lying. history shows dishonorable discharge from USMC in '04." penelope researched.

"okay, do me a favor." olivia began. "keep going to where will walks in." her eyes fixated on the screen as well as everyone else. "okay, now watch him. and then. . . look at her. her partner was in there the whole time, just not in the way we thought. they shot this whole thing like a home movie."

"he could've been killed." spencer spoke.

"no, she wouldn't let that happen." morgan voiced. "it's all part of their plan." hotch continued.

"they've created scenarios that are practically impossible to survive. when they make it, it's the ultimate high." spencer observed.

strauss came in again, her eyes looking at the team, "nobody can find matthew downs. ERT said that he helped them, then he disappeared."

olivia, hotch, morgan, emily, and spencer were on the phone with jj and rossi, catching them up with their new information. "of course will thought matthew was a hostage." liv said. "why wouldn't he? there's a good chance will tried to help him out. he told him when to go for the doors, or offered to be a hostage to save the others."

"i'm sure he did." rossi chimed in.

"well, there's a flip side to this." morgan thought. "this guy could have gotten into will's head. is there anything you want to tell your family in case you don't make it?"

"you think will told them about jj and henry?" rossi questioned.

"unknowingly." hotch spoke.

"what's wrong?" the group heard rossi ask jj. "will's license is gone, they know where we live." she responded.

derek, emily, spencer, and olivia looked through the remains of the Colonial Liberty Bank, cautiously wandering around, looking for something that can help them figure out how the queen of diamonds and matthew know each other and why they're working together. spencer asked aloud, "so why didn't they take all the money?"

         "they were a man down and they had to get out in a hurry." morgan replied.

         "but for her, today was less about the money and more about the spectacle." emily uttered.

         "everything they've said and done was for a reason." olivia stated. "but what doesn't make sense is she switched the negotiation demand. chris wanted to go to Switzerland, she changed it to Chad." emily added on, "they also requested a private plane, but no mention of a pilot."

         "guys, if you think about it, even the dates mean something." spencer spoke with his hands, accentuating his words. "in 2004, while she was wreaking havoc abroad, he was dishonorably discharged. then in 2008, they likely met in Chad. and now this in 2012."

         "okay, so is it a coincidence those are all election years and they attacked D.C.?" morgan questioned. "maybe this is a political statement."

          "no, it's more personal than that." olivia pipped up, her mind still connecting the dots of this case. being in the bank again reminded her of the old woman her and emily came across. "it's their story."

         "what?" morgan asked. "all of the details are a part of their story." she clarified.

         the four met up again with hotch and strauss. olivia explained her thoughts to the two of them at the command center. "their timeline suggests they were both destructive before they met."

"so, we're talking about ex-military turning on their country." strauss deduced.

"it's rare, but soldiers become disenfranchised no matter what the nationality, and if he met someone like-minded at that time, there'd be no stopping them." olivia explained.

"so, you're thinking they met during the civil unrest in Chad in '08." hotch remarked.

"yeah, and one or both of them are pilots." spencer continued.

"so if garcia concentrates on that region, specifically weapons running in and out of Libya, there's a good chance we'll find their paths crossed." emily said.

"okay, multiple entries into Libya for a private pilot named matthew downs in '08, but i don't have her name." penelope informed.

"well, because she had aliases. it's the only way to stay a ghost." emily responded.

"here's the thing -- they are a couple." olivia clarified. "regardless of what we believe of them, they will celebrate themselves and their connection. is there anything that happened on this date in Chad?"

penelope typed on the computer, researching the answer to her question, "oh, you are good, olivia griffins. but this news is not. yes, there were multiple explosions on this date in '08."

"where were the most casualties?" hotch asked.

"at a church." penelope answered, before correcting herself. "no, no, a train." pictures of a wrecked church and a damaged and disfigured train appeared on her screen.

morgan questioned, "semtex and C-4?" penelope nodded her head in response. "are the trains still arriving at union station?" hotch asked.

"yes, but only the authorities are allowed in." strauss answered.

"that's why they needed will." emily mentioned.

hotch, morgan, and olivia moved to union station in hopes of finding the queen of diamonds, matthew downs, and will. the station was already swarmed with local police officers, closing off the area. when they stepped foot inside the building, civilians were being led out as the three agents took glimpses around. hotch pointed to olivia's direction, wordlessly ordering her to look there while him and morgan checked the other direction.

olivia passed by the individuals making their way out, noticing the closed for renovation sign in front of a large staircase. she took her chances going up, her hand placed on her holstered weapon until she held it up, looking around her new surroundings. lo and behold, her eyes found the back of will. his hands and his upper body chained to the pole of a stanchion. "i found will." she spoke into her earpiece.

"is he mobile?" hotch asked.

olivia stepped in front of will, kneeling down to his level and examining his current state. his mouth had a strip of duct tape on it which she removed, he wore a vest with a bomb strapped on, he was chained up. "negative. he's got. . . 6 transmitters on him and this whole place is gonna blow." a tone of worry in her voice.

"all right, where are you? i'm on my way." hotch told her.

"no, you gotta get everyone out. is the bomb squad here yet?" she asked.

"they're 3 minutes away."

"copy." olivia sighed.

will spoke to her, frightened at the high stakes he was put in, "olivia, you gotta get henry. they're at the house."

"i'm sure jj's already there, don't worry." she told him, her mind a little more preoccupied about what the hell she was going to do with the bomb planted on will.

"just get everybody out of here." he told.

"i'm not gonna leave you. just give me a minute." she responded.

         he looked down on the timed bomb strapped to his chest, "just about all you got."

         "okay, everything they did and said was about them." olivia thought aloud. will commented, "narcissists."

          "romantics." she added. "they met in 2008." she stated, pushing the numbers on the keypad with each beep. the screen on the bomb beeped with yellow words warning her that she has two tries left.

         "oh, what are you doing?" will sighed, "seriously, olivia, go." she shook her head, her eyebrows furrowed in thought.

         "okay, hold on. Chad." she said, entering the numbers 2-4-2-3. the irritating beeping sound occurred again with words, but this time in red telling her she has only one try left with 59 seconds. "damn it."

         "okay, these are valentines for her, so a four letter word." she told, now listing words with four letters relating to valentines. "love, life, soul. . ."

         "izzy." will stated. "her name is izzy."

          olivia entered the code in, successfully disarming the explosive with 45 seconds to spare. she let out a relieved and astonished sigh. however, that all quickly came to an end when the window to a compartment flew open, revealing a second bomb, with this time 30 seconds on the clock. "holy fuck, you've gotta be kidding me!" she murmured, in a fast pace considering the very scarce amount of time she has.

         hotch spoke to her through the mics on their bulletproof FBI vests, "griffins, what's your status?" with no response, he then asked, "griffins, do you copy?"

         olivia needed all her focus on will and the bomb. she knows hotch was just trying to check in on her safety, but in the current predicament she's in, he was distracting her. she removed her earpiece as a million different ideas and solutions ran through her head.

         "the storyline's in details. those wires mean something." olivia said.

         "like what?" will questioned.

         "the colors of the flag of Chad; red, yellow, and blue. only one is different from the U.S. flag -- yellow." she contemplated out loud.

         with the cutting tool she found, she cut the yellow wire, the timer stopping on the last second. will and olivia let out a breath they didn't realize they were holding as olivia took herself out of her crouching position and sat on the floor. panting, will asked, "how did you do that?"

         "i didn't overthink it." she replied. the two chuckled a bit at the astounding miracle olivia was able to pull off. in all honesty, in the back of her mind, she absolutely thought they were about to die. fortunately, they didn't, but she completely thought they were.

         derek and hotch soon found olivia and will with firemen trailing behind them. they intuitively asked if the two were okay, them nodding their heads as they left the building soon after, going back to the location of the bank where penelope, spencer, and emily waited for the arrival of morgan, olivia, and hotch.

"you defused what?" spencer slightly exclaimed, his eyes widened when they explained to them what had happened. she placed a hand on his arm, hinting his words were a little too loud, "it was just two explosives, it's fine, everyone's fine."

after a few minutes, emily had excused herself to call clyde easter back now that will is safe, rossi and jj arrested the queen of diamonds, and hotch shot matthew downs. she just wanted to thank him for his helpfulness on this case. as she left, the group watched, thinking to themselves. "what's going on with her?" morgan asked, noticing the slight change with her behavior.

         spencer and olivia exchanged a glance before looking back at morgan, "we think easter offered her a job back at interpol when we were in the BAU earlier today." olivia explained. penelope's facial expression fell, "is she gonna take it?"

         that was the question that consumed their thoughts ever since. the past year, emily hasn't been acting quite the same as she was last year and it was something the team noticed. just recently, emily was permitted the possession of an amazing estate in dupont circle, and despite being the one who offered, she didn't take it. she was struggling looking for a place to stay, and maybe it was for a reason. her conversation with derek and olivia earlier that day, made sense to them. emily wasn't ready to stay.

         will went to the hospital for a few check ups as jj and henry met him there, where rossi tagged along. at the hospital, they had notified him about prentiss' behavior -- as it was something he had noticed as well. an idea popped into his head.

the rest of the team had returned to the BAU. per usual, hotch stayed in his office as emily, derek, olivia, and spencer hung around the bullpen. emily sat upon her desk, derek standing by his. olivia sat on an open space on spencer's desk as he was seated in his chair, the two conversing with each other. penelope walked down the steps from the conference room, her heels pressing on the floor causing spencer's attention.

         "the convention's still happening tomorrow if you want to go." he informed her.

         "um, that whole city on the brink of destruction thing kind of took the wind out of my sails, you know?" she responded, placing a hand on his shoulder.

         "that'll do it every time." emily commented.

         "you guys didn't actually go to the convention?" olivia asked the two, knowing that they were planning to the previous week.

         penelope shook her head, "we kinda ran into kevin there." she timidly spoke, not ever wanting to relive that moment.

         derek looked behind him, seeing emily "hey, we didn't finish the inspection." he reminded her. she sighed a bit, looking down, "no need."

         "what happened?" spencer asked.

         "um, there is a horizontal crack in the foundation." she replied. "it just weakens the entire base that house is sitting on."

         penelope nodded her head, "yeah, that does not sound good."

         strauss entered the bullpen, reporting to the agents, "our unsub is izzy rogers." she handed the file to derek. "she'll be charged with multiple counts domestically, and our international counterparts will have their turn with her. she will never see the light of day. i just thought you'd like to know that."

         the team smiled, proud of the difference they made that day. erin strauss had excused herself and derek to speak as the other four agents continued talking to one another. penelope had the urge to tell someone what she saw at the convention with spencer, so she stopped resisting and told them. ". . . and then, i see that he brought another girl!"

         "really?" liv questioned with a baffled tone, garcia nodding her head. "kevin, really?" spencer tapped her knee, implying the tone of her voice might come off as mean or insulting. she shrugged, wordlessly telling him she didn't mean to, and it was her honest reaction. he shook his head, trying to not grin at her.

         their attention shifted towards hotch who came out of his office with his phone between his hand and his ear. "dave wants to know if everyone is free tomorrow night?"

         "well, it depends on if he's buying, then i'm definitely in." morgan voiced.

         "yeah, me, too." emily raised her hand.

         with penelope, spencer, and olivia's attention on hotch, the three gave him each a thumbs up. "yeah, we're in." hotch responded to his phone.

≻───── ⋆✩⋆ ─────≺

"emily, look, i know you don't want to talk about it, but it's exactly why we need to talk about it." derek told emily. the team attended rossi's event that he was hosting at his home. he advised the team to wear something formal, which is exactly what they did. emily's gaze shifted between derek and olivia who were both speaking to her. "and we know this has nothing to do with cracks in the foundation." liv continued.

         "no." she admitted. "but it's a sign."

         derek sighed, "oh, please don't get all free spirit on us." emily's mouth was agape, "i almost died yesterday, again. for like the thousandth time in my life." she retorted at the man.

         "i know."

         "that's about as grounded as you can get." emily added.

         "you want to leave, don't you?" olivia questioned. the older dark haired woman looked at her, hesitant to speak, "i didn't say that."

         "it's the only reason you would be this quiet, emily." derek stated.

         "can we please talk about this later?" she responded, forcing a smile.

         "no, how long have you been thinking about this?" he asked her.

          "honestly," she began, "since i got back."

         morgan's eyes widened a bit in shock, "really?" he muttered.

         emily glanced between her two friends before her, "it's not you guys." she shook her head. "i love you guys. i just can't grab on to my old life and pretend that nothing happened."

         "is this about easter?" the taller, buff man questioned.

          "no, but he did ask me to run the london office."

         "and you're gonna do it." derek stated.

         "he just asked yesterday."

         "but you're thinking about it." olivia noted.

         she shook her head, "i don't know yet. i- i thought buying a house and putting down roots was gonna fix this feeling, it was gonna give me what i wanted. but it hasn't. it's bigger than that." it was quiet for liv and derek as they just gazed at her. emily tilted her head, "you both think i should stay." they glanced at one another before looking back at her, "i think we miss you already." derek told her.

          emily softly smiled as penelope came up to the three of them, standing between liv and derek, "what?" she said.

         "uh, i'll tell you later." emily assures the blonde.

         "i do not like the sound of i'll tell you later." penelope spoke as the three slightly chuckled.

"it's a night all about us and i don't want to. . ." emily shook her head.

         penelope sighed, "all right, if you are telling me that there is something bad happening right now to balance out the goodness that is tonight, i will have none of it, because i don't believe in that. although, it's totally one of the truths of life, isn't it? the bitter and the sweet mixed up together in a cosmic soup that we've all signed up for."

         midway through her rant derek and olivia placed a hand on her back and shoulder. "breathe. breathe." he instructed as penelope kept going, "i think kevin's here tonight. it would make sense that he would come tonight— " her thoughts were interrupted by the sight of kevin. "he's here. he's here and he's with her, so i'm gonna go somewhere that is not here."

         olivia helped penelope out, "okay, maybe we should sit down, yeah?"

        "hello, penelope, olivia." hotch's significant other, beth greeted, with hotch behind her.

         "hello, hello, hi." the blonde greeted back as olivia waved to her. "hello." hotch greeted as well, slightly confused about penelope's stiff behavior.

after hotch and emily spoke with one another, they went outside to the backyard where they were met with the rest of the team in front of them. emily quirked her eyebrows, "what are you all. . .?"

"we all know about interpol, and we wanted you to have a proper goodbye." rossi explained.

emily's expression softened at the kind gesture. the rest of night included the team spending as much time as they can with each other. they made a few toasts about emily. and even the children that were there hung out with each other. hotch had brought jack with him, jj brought henry, and olivia brought the twins over. the three were over the moon that the children got along with each other and it was happy sight for them.

most of all, their night included lots of dancing. everyone danced with each other, swaying to the music that played. they all took turns slow dancing with one another and enjoying the dulcet sounds of the songs. the women of the BAU group danced, arm in arm with each other. while everyone took turns dancing with everyone, beaming smiles and glances were exchanged throughout the yard.

olivia and spencer were now currently dancing with each other, his hand holding hers as his other one was placed on her waist and hers on his back. she couldn't help but be reminded of the elder woman from the bank and how she wanted to stay with her partner. her love, her story, her light. olivia may not know what the future has ready for her, but what she does know is that she wants spencer reid in it, no matter what.

"hey, spence." olivia muttered.

"hmm?" he hummed in response.

"thank you, for everything you've done for me." she expressed her gratitude.

she could see the small smile forming upon his lips, "you're absolutely welcome."

as for spencer, he never knew he could find someone to make him as happy as maeve did. but here he was, dancing with someone he loves and who he'd do anything and everything for. he couldn't believe that he was head over heels for the stylish agent who was also probably the first person to correct him over a fact about her name. the same agent who he swore he wasn't going to let himself get attached to. it seemed sort of fitting that he was dancing with her in the same place he decided that getting attached may not be such a bad thing. david rossi's backyard was an odd place, sure, but it doesn't matter to him. for he unconditionally and wholeheartedly adores olivia griffins.

then, olivia blurted out the one thing she thought she couldn't imagine ever saying to someone romantically. "i love you."

spencer did that expression where he looked down as a smile graced his lips and a small chuckle escaped. he looked back up at her and confessed, "and i love you."

ANGIE'S NOTES ☺︎︎
heyyy so this is a very long chapter lol😁
and i just wanted to ask if i did spencer and
olivia justice with that ending😭 which by
the way olivia has issues with saying the words "i love you" bc i have trouble saying those words so if i have to struggle saying it, she has to, too🙄🙄

also, just in case some people forgot, in this story jj and will are already married!! the party rossi throws at the end of this fic is emily's going away party instead of the wedding!

also, i'm sorry that olivia took some of emily's lines from this episode😭😭😭 i just didn't know what else to do🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️ ANYWAYS ILY ALL AND ENJOY READING THE EPILOGUE BAES