"𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲"
-𝗟𝗲𝘀 𝗠𝗶𝘀é𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀, 𝗽𝘂𝗯. 𝟭𝟴𝟲𝟮
𝗩𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗛𝘂𝗴𝗼

-----

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻 - 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻 𝗢𝗳 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝗿𝗸

Valentina checked her face in the car visor mirror to make sure her face wasn't red and blotchy from all the crying before walking into the hospital where she met up with JJ and Emily "I wish Carrie had somewhere to go" JJ muttered after a family she had in LA didn't go to plan.

"I know, can't this girl catch a break?" Emily sighed when blood curdling screams filled the hospital. The type of screams that would haunt you forever.

"Carrie" Valentina whispered in realisation, the three agents took off running down the hall and when they entered the room, they saw the poor girl tossing and turning in a very violent manor yet her eyes were still closed. She was having a nightmare.

"Carrie, sweetheart, you gotta wake up" Val cooed with her hands gently shaking the girls shoulders "It's just a nightmare, you're okay. Carrie! Carrie, can you hear me?"

"It was daddy" The girl cried once she finally came to, her arms immediately wrapping around Valentina's waist for some sort of comfort. She stilled for a second before holding the girl to her chest. One hand resting on the back of her head and the other rubbing up and down her back in a soothing manor.

"I know, I know but it's just a dream okay? You gotta keep reminding yourself of that. Don't let them take anything else from you"

Carrie nodded weakly, continuing to remind herself "Okay. I'm okay" Now that broke the three agents hearts.

"We brought you a change of clothes" Emily finally spoke offering the girl a friendly smile.

"I didn't know what to grab you, so I just got three of everything" JJ smiled at her and set the bag down next to the chair beside her bed.

"From the house?" JJ nodded at the girls question.

"You could be starting a flower shop in here" Val joked, trying to lighten the mood when she saw all the different types of flowers on the table.

Carrie laughed slightly and all three woman smiled at that "I know, they all started, um. . .coming in after the news broadcast" She replied but when Valentina looked closer she realised the flowers were the exact same from the ones in the Ortiz's residence.

Arriving back at the station Val was quick to bring up the pictures from the crime scene "It's the same flower arrangement that was in the Ortiz's living room"

"Could be a coincidence" Hotch told her but she shook her head. That wasn't it.

"Or the sender was in the house, associated it with her" Valentina suggested.

"No note?" He asked.

"Nope. Just a blank card from the floral shop"

Hotch nodded "Get Garcia to track the delivery, and Reid's got something for us when you're done. You want some coffee in the meantime?"

She nodded whispering a thanks before sitting down to call Garcia "Hey, Garcia it's Val"

"Why cats?" Garcia greeted her with.

Valentina frowned checking to make sure she had dialled the right number "I'm sorry what?"

The blonde continued to go on "Evil has no boundaries"

"You can say that again but for what it's worth, I think they go peacefully"

"Yeah, how do we catch these guys?" She started to type on her computer.

"Back-trace a flower delivery for me please"

"You got it sweets. Sending it to your phone in five"

She smiled "Thanks Garcia, you're the best" Hanging up the phone she went to the conference room they were using, thanking Hotch once again when he passed her the cup of coffee "Guys, I think we may have found our girls secret admirer"

"Garcia traced the flowers?" Derek asked, his arms folded as he leant on one of the tables.

"Yeah, course she did. They were paid for by phone with a credit card under the name Robert Serrano" She replied and that was there queue to get suited up and to that address but surprise surprise, their was no Robert but two people were sadly dead.

Valentina came walking out of the now crime scene with Derek by her side "Detective, the flowers weren't the only thing they bought on the stolen credit card. Thirty one dollars of gas at a station three blocks from here" He nodded and called out to Detective Paul to follow up at the station, see if he was caught on any cctv and the ID of the car.

Hotch came walking out of the house with a pissed expression on his face "Security chain's been broken. They couldn't lie the way in this time" He finished before walking over to the SUV.

"The media blew their MO" Detective Nellis sighed. Of course they did.

"They're speeding up. Feel us getting close" Derek muttered when his phone started to ring, he was quick to put it on speaker.

"Garcia you're on speaker, talk to me"

"So, Felons in the Denver area with foster backgrounds, stress on assaults and burglaries. I managed to get the phone book, the foster system's a bit of a breeding ground, go figure"

"Try crossing it. . ." Derek went to suggest but Garcia already cut him off.

"With offenders having workplace access to small animals and or pentobarbital?"

"How many names we talking?" Valentina was the one to ask this time as she stood with her hands holding the top of her vest.

"'Nine" Garcia replied "Matching all three criteria, sending them now"

"Appreciate it Garcia" Valentina said before she hung up "Well now we're close" She patted Derek on the shoulder before walking back to the SUV, her teammate following behind.

-----

Hotch, Derek and Valentina were now back at the station and looking over the pictures that Garcia had sent over with Carrie. Their only hope of finding these two guys.

"This one" She said almost instantly, her finger pointing to the mugshot of a guy.

"You positive that's him?" Valentina asked and Carrie nodded.

"Okay, that's a. . ." Derek shuffled through the stack of papers he had of each of the men "Ervin Robles. Last known is 39 Hill Street"

"That's downtown" Detective Nellis added in.

"Employed by the Denver City Pound. Let's go" Hotch said, walking out of the room as Valentina finished off the last of her coffee before looking down at Carrie.

"Your parents would be really proud of you" Val smiled at her while rubbing her back.

Carrie shook her head in disagreement "It's too late to be a good daughter now"

"No, that's not true"

"I was horrible to them. And now they're gone" Valentina was at a loss for words as Carrie stared at Ervin's picture "Why did they do it? I mean, there has to be a reason, right?"

"Carrie, you'll drive yourself crazy trying to figure out the reason" Maybe I should take my own advice, Valentina thought.

"I go crazy every-time I close my eyes" She admitted.

"It may have something to do with what happened to them when they were younger" She told her honestly, JJ's head perking up from the other table she was at.

"Like what? They were abused or something?"

Val nodded, her eyes holding nothing but concern for Carrie "There's a good chance"

It went quiet for a moment before the girl spoke again "Are there any happy families?"

"Yeah" Valentina almost whispered when the word came out "Yeah there are but every happy family has their own problems that no one has a clue about because they deal with it in a 'perfect' way so when I tell you your parents are proud of you, I mean it Carrie" She gave her a kind hearted smile and Carrie nodded even though she still didn't believe her.

"You know, I lost a really good friend of mine recently and he left me a letter and at the end he told me that if anything good happens it might just be him having a word with God, sorting it out for me and even though I'm still struggling with the terms of his death. I know he's up there, helping me when I need it and I want you to remember that your parents and your brother are watching over you too now"

-----

Hotch and Valentina went to the pound where Ervin worked with Spencer and Emily outside incase they needed backup.

"Thank you" Hotch said to an employee who had took them to where his boss was "Excuse me, sir. I'm Agent Hotchner with the FBI. This is Agent Ortiz" They both held out their badges in clear view for the man to read "We're looking for Ervin Robles"

"Ervin's off till the weekend" He told them, putting down the hose he was just using.

"Do you have any idea where we might find him?" Hotch asked.

"You might want to try his apartment"

"We've been there and it's abandoned so where do you send his cheques?" Valentina looked at him like she was bored almost.

"He picks them up. What's this about?" He asked in a cautious tone.

"We'd just like to talk him" Hotch reassured even though his stern look said different "Who can we talk to that actually knows him?"

"Well, nobody really" The man shrugged "He comes in, does his job and leaves. Real quiet. Efficient, though"

"Doing what?" Hotch asked.

"Well, actual title's Animal Care Technician, but really he's kind of the on-site Kevorkian" He explained what Hotch and Valentina were both afraid of.

Hotch let out a small sigh "We need you to call him" After finishing their conversation with his boss, they met back up Spencer and Emily "Supervisor left a message for Ervin to come in right away. Work emergency"

The four began walking back to the SUV "He also said a man stopped by yesterday, got into a heated argument with Ervin. The description sounded a lot like the one Carrie gave" Valentina added.

"The partner. Did they say what they were fighting about?" Spencer asked.

Valentina waved him off "No, he couldn't hear it"

"We need a name on this guy" Hotch mumbled loud enough the other three agents heard him.

"Until we find Ervin, there's only one person that can tell us that" Spencer then said, opening the back car door.

"The foster mom" Emily spoke up and Val nodded at her "Guess that's our next stop"

Arriving at the foster home to speak with Mrs. Manwaring and the woman was already pissing Valentina off "Oh my god, Ervin? Well, I mean, he had behaviour problems. They all do but nothing we couldn't handle"

"And he hasn't been acting alone, Mrs. Manwaring. He's got a partner" Hotch told her.

"So perhaps someone else you had grow up in your care" Val asked her when a young boy came walking into the kitchen. All eyes turning to him.

"Tyler, the adults are talking here" Valentina frowned at the attitude the woman had when speaking to him.

"I just want some milk. Can you open the fridge?" He asked, his eyes not even looking over at the two agents "Please?"

"You know the rules" She exclaimed and that's when Valentina saw the necklace with a key attached to it around her neck. She scoffed when the boy walked out of the room "They'll eat you out of the house and home if you let them"

"He is just a kid, ma'am" Valentina said before she could stop herself causing Hotch to gently nudge her in the arm. She was quick to stand up straight, her feet spread slightly apart with her hands behind her back was what the military called the Parade Rest. Muscle memory from all the times she had said something out of line in the Captain's office.

Mrs. Manwaring glared at her when Hotch cleared his throat "Is there anyone Ervin was especially close to? Someone he would've looked up to? Somebody who protected him?"

She took a moment before saying the name "Gary" She then brought them to another room to show them both a picture of him "We tried with him but he tested us"

"Have you kept in touch with him?" Hotch asked again.

"Oh god, no. Gary left the day he turned eighteen and never looked back. Ervin was a mess when he got here. Got separated from a younger sister"

"Where did she go?" Valentina asked, not missing the way the woman looked at her "Nobody told me. Siblings get separated all the time. But they find new ones here"

"Like Ervin found Gary" Hotch whispered.

"Do you know the name of his sister?" Val was hoping the theory she had in her head was right.

"Oh, let me think. He used to call her name out in the middle of night, wake the whole house up. Rose I think?"

"Was it Lucy by any chance?"

The woman nodded, pointing at Valentina "Yes, Lucy! That was it!"

"Carrie said he called her Lucy" She told Hotch when his phone started to ring.

"Ervin returned the call" He told her after he had hung up "He's on his way to work" They both thanked the woman before leaving even though Val really didn't want to, she was polite anyways.

-----

Derek had arrested Ervin and brought him in for questioning but he wouldn't speak. Everyone had tried to break him but he wouldn't budge "He's giving me nothing" Derek came out of the interrogation room "You want another crack at him?"

Hotch sighed "No, we can't keep going around like this"

"So, let him stew, wear him down" Detective Nellis said, another stupid idea Valentina had heard today.

"We don't have time. We need him to find Gary" Valentina looked up at Derek when he said that as she bit her lip "It's a long shot when I say this but we're not going to earn his trust in a couple of minutes. Kids who grew up like he did are incapable of forming attachments"

Derek nodded, intrigued "So what are you saying?"

"Well he won't talk to us but maybe he'll talk to family" The plan was, Valentina and Carrie were going to go in there so they could hopefully locate Gary. Hotch had already reassured the girl that Ervin was in handcuffs, leg irons and an FBI Agent in the room that carries a gun so she was completely safe.

Hotch and Carrie had began walking to the room and Valentina was about to follow them when JJ gently grabbed her arm "Can we just stop and think about this for a second?"

"She's fine-" Valentina started but was cut off by JJ "She's a kid Val, I mean what is she trying to prove here?"

"That she can be a good daughter" JJ nodded and that was her queue to go after Carrie who was waiting outside the room with Hotch. Escorted in by a police officer as Val thanked him before the two sat down opposite Ervin.

"Hey, you're here" Ervin said with a smile once he noticed Carrie's presence "Did you, erm, get the flowers I sent?" 

She sent him a fake smile "Yeah. Pretty"

"They were to say that I'm sorry" Ervin looked down when he said it.

"Flowers aren't enough, Ervin. We need Gary" Valentina told him.

"That won't make it up though"

"But it's a start" She tried to reason with him.

"No. They're gonna send you away now. Don't you see? That's what they do with all the strays. They send them away. That's why I make them go to sleep so they don't have to suffer" He said in calm voice because in his messed up mind he thought he was helping.

"Ervin listen to me" Valentina said as the man's eyes went back to her "More people are going to suffer if we don't find Gary"

"So when you killed my brother, you were doing him a favour?" Carrie suddenly asked after somehow finding the confidence to ask him.

"It's true!" He exclaimed.

"And what about me?" Her voice cracked when she spoke.

"Okay, hey. Let's address one thing at a time" Valentina didn't want it to get out of hand.

"Cause I just wanted to see you again. You looked so much like Lucy. I couldn't. I know it's selfish, but I. . ." He stuttered.

"Selfish? It's insane" Carrie practically shouted as Valentina gently grabbed her arm.

"Carrie, let's take a break-" But Carrie shrugged off her hand "No. What happened to you that was so bad?"

Ervin went quiet for a few seconds "She used to make it go dark. I mean, that's what we used to call it. She would put me in the bath to pray, and then she'd hold my head down. . .under water. Sometimes I could stay awake for, like, a minute" His eyes started to well up with tears "Sometimes a little more. Then it would all go dark"

Carrie shared a look with Val who nodded and gave her a smile before the girl reached out to hood Ervin's hand "They can't hurt you anymore, Ervin"

"I wanted to stop but Gary. . .he went through it way, way worse when we were kids" He shook his head when he locked eyes with Carrie "And he never got the chance to fight back"

"So, he fought those over families" Val asked and Ervin nodded.

"Only because I wouldn't go back" He let out and that's when Valentina realised. This was it, this was his endgame "Back? As in Gary's going back to your foster home?"

Soon as Ervin nodded, he was took out the room by two police officers and that's when Carrie finally broke. Falling right into Valentina's arms as the girl clung to her like she was her lifeline, her sobs getting louder by the second "You did so good Carrie, I'm so proud of you" She whispered into her ear, her hand going up and down her back in an attempt to ground her and tell her she's safe.

-----

The team put on their FBI bulletproof vests before going to where they needed to be. Hotch, Spencer and Emily went to the foster woman's house, JJ stayed with Carrie and Derek and Valentina go to pick up the kids from school.

As the two agents sit in the car, Derek behind the wheel and Val in the passenger seat, she could feel his eyes on her "What? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Come on Val, you know why" He tells her and she sighed "Just answer me this, are you okay?"

"You want the truth?" He nodded as he took a left "Well the truth is Derek, I don't know. I really don't know and it scares me because I'm tired of being okay with things I'm not okay with, you know?"

Derek's hand moved from the steering wheel to her thigh as he squeezed it gently "Well I hope you know that I'm here for whenever you want to talk or just a shoulder to cry on. You hear me?"

Valentina looked up at him with teary eyes "Maybe I'll take you up on that offer sometime" She whispered, her hand resting on top of his making Morgan smile.

"And I'll be here waiting, mama" He told her honestly as they pulled up to the school. Valentina nodded at him and the two quickly got out the car when they saw the chaos happening in front of their eyes.

"I'm going in to get the kids" She told Morgan and went running into the school only to find out they had already been picked up not more than twenty minutes before her and Morgan had arrived. Her next port of call was Hotch who had told her they had located him at a donut shop not too far from the school "Okay, Hotch. We're on our way" She told him as her and Morgan were already putting on their seatbelts.

When the two agents arrived, SWAT had been called and snipers were in position and ready to fire at any given moment. Hotch had just finished a conversation with Gary and now all they could do was wait when the door opened and the boy from the foster home came walking out, his backpack hanging from one shoulder.

Valentina holstered her gun and ran towards the boy "Tyler! Come on, come with me" She covers his body with hers incase shots were fired until she handed him over to Emily. And when she knew the boy was in safe hands she took her gun back out when Gary came walking out, cocky as ever like he had done nothing wrong.

"Gary! Put your hands up where I can see them" Morgan yelled and Gary put his hands up in the air  "Don't move"

"Get down on your knees. Interlace your fingers behind your head" One of the SWAT officers said as they handcuffed him before taking him away yet his eyes didn't leave the six agents faces. The small grin he had on his face, it was odd but Val just couldn't place her finger on it as she took off her bulletproof vest and threw it on the backseat of the car when she heard Derek talking to someone on the phone and he didn't sound to happy.

"Yeah, I understand that. I'm just-I'm asking if there's some type of alternative for them. Nothing? Yes, I got it. Don't ask me to like it" He hung up, shoving his flip phone into his back pocket.

"Hey, what's up? That didn't sound like a nice phone call" She asked a very angry Derek.

"Social services won't intervene until they do a full investigation" He explains and Valentina couldn't help but roll her eyes at the news.

"Meaning we have to take them to that shit hole of a home?" Val asked, still not believing it as Derek nodded and patted her shoulder to calm her down. She smiled at him and placed her hand on top of his for a second before getting into the passenger seat of the SUV.

The whole ride back to the foster home was majority silent only a few words were spoken here and there but nothing major. Valentina got our first and opened the car door for the kids as Morgan stops Tyler in his tracks while Val helped Sara put on her backpack. Her big smile could melt anyone's heart.

"You're gonna be all right Sara, I promise you. Now come on, let's get you inside" She held the Sara's hand tightly as they walked over to where Tyler and Morgan were speaking. Morgan smiled at the girl and high-fived the girl who happily gave him one back.

"Bye sweetheart" He caressed her hair gently as she smiled at the two agents before walking over to the house where Mrs. Manwaring stood, bringing the girl into a hug.

Valentina then turned her head back to Tyler and gave him a small nod "Bye kid" She ruffled his hair and he too followed Sara in.

"This sucks" She said once the kids were inside and Derek nodded in agreement as the two got back into car and went to put on their seatbelts when Morgan's phone started ringing.

"Yeah, Hotch. We just dropped them off. We're leaving now. Backpacks? No, why? Why would we search the backpacks?" He asked in confusion when two gunshots came from inside the house. The two made quick work of unbuckling the seatbelts and running inside the house, their guns at the ready and Valentina couldn't believe the sight in front of her.

{𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗽}

"Tyler! Drop that gun!" Morgan yelled and he shook his head as Valentina's eyes trailed to the Mrs. Manwaring who was curled up on the floor protecting herself.

"Are you hurt?" She asked in a sharp tone.

"No" She replied.

"Tyler. Come on, kid. Take it easy" Derek told him. Tyler turned his head to the wall as the two agents followed his gaze to see pictures of happy kids now with bullet holes in them, the shards of glass scattered all over the floor.

"They're lies" He stated, looking directly at Morgan.

"I know and you could have come in here and you could have made her pay. But you didn't because you're good" Morgan told him when Valentina came to stand next to him, her gun sliding back into her holster to show him she was no threat.

"Tyler look at me when I say this, you are nothing like Gary, okay? I've seen too many of these cases and when I tell you we don't want to hurt you I mean it kid. So let's make a deal, you give me that gun and I swear on my life that we will walk you out of here and you will never have to come back. None of you will" She watched as the tears welled up in the young boy's eyes.

"That sound pretty good?" Tyler nodded and Val stepped forward with her hand out for him to give her the gun "Give me the gun" She whispered and once she felt the cold metal in her hand she quickly handed it to Derek before pulling the boy into a bone crushing hug. His face was buried in her shoulder with tears wetting her shirt but she couldn't care less because he was now safe and that was all that mattered.

"We got you Tyler, I got you" She muttered, rubbing her hand up and down Tyler's back "Just breathe for me" She looked up at Derek who gave her a small smile before motioning for Mrs. Manwaring to get up so he could place the handcuffs around her wrists.

"Thank you" Tyler hugged Derek once he had escorted the woman out of the house and into the back of a cop car. Derek smiled and hugged him tightly with his hand holding the back of his head close to him "Anytime kid, anytime"

-----

Finally arriving at the jet after getting the news that Carrie had family coming to pick her up and take her to California and the kids from the foster home including Tyler and Sara were being put back in the system and that broke Valentina's heart but that was the job and she knew there was nothing she could do to stop it.

"Tell me they restocked the bar" Derek said to JJ who was walking behind him "I called ahead" While Derek went to get a drink Valentina sat down in the window seat when her phone started to ring. She frowned when she saw Sarah's ID on the screen automatically thinking something was wrong.

"Valentina I'm so sorry to be calling so late. I know you're probably very tired from work but I was just putting Gabby to bed and she really wanted to say goodnight to you. But if you can't I totally understand-"

Leaning her head back on the seat she smiled "No, no, Sarah it's fine. You can put her on the phone" She heard some rustling on the other end until she heard a small, tired voice that sounded a lot like her comrade "Hey, darling. Aren't you meant to be asleep?" She said in a playful manor and couldn't be more happier when she heard the girl giggle.

Ten minutes had passed when Morgan came and sat down on the seat next to her, his headphones around his neck as he placed two cups of hot chocolate down on the table.

Valentina was just finishing up her phone call with Gabriella and after the hard day her and team had, she defiantly needed this "I love you too Gabby, sweet dreams" The phone was then passed back to Sarah "Of course, anytime Sarah. Yeah, I will, okay I'll see you soon" Saying their goodbyes she put her phone down on the table with a sigh.

"That Noah's mum?" Derek spoke up after handing her the warm drink which she thanked him after taking a sip.

"Yeah, Gabby wouldn't go to sleep without saying goodnight to me" Valentina smiled "Good kid"

He nodded "She sounds like it" It went quiet for a moment when Derek asked "Hey, what did you mean back at the foster home when you said to Tyler that you've seen too many of these cases?"

"Children in the military is no surprise to any of us but it doesn't mean it doesn't hurt any less when he have to shoot them. They've been deprived of a childhood just like Tyler and the rest of them kids in that house and I didn't want it to end the way I usually see it do" Valentina whispered, her hand already wiping at her eyes before the tears could fall.

Noticing she didn't want to talk about it anymore he placed his headphones over his ears before getting comfy in his seat. His hand coming around to wrap around Val's shoulder, she slowly but surely shifted into him and rested her head on his chest her drink clutched tightly in her left hand "I hope you're proud of yourself today mama cause I know I am" He muttered, kissing the top of her head before closing his eyes and leaning his head back on the seat as the jet took off from the runway.

Valentina knew she wasn't going to sleep for a while but wrapped up in the agent's arms was enough to at least put her mind to rest for the flight back to Quantico and she thanked God everyday for putting an amazing person like Derek Morgan in her path.