A/N: I don't own any of the Criminal Minds characters and I am not making any money from writing this.

Please forgive any minor spelling or grammar mistakes, English is not my native language.

This story takes place about a year after Kate left the show. I imagine she is still happily married to Chris, having Meg who is recovering from her abduction in season ten finale and now a baby girl too. It is basically case!fic, written similar to the episode form, focusing on solving the case but also exploring Kate's bond with her former team mates and her... questionable methods that were hinted on 10x1 "X". I wasn't a big fan of Kate but I though her backstory could have been explored more. It can be assumed that the parole hearing actually described in thus chapter is just a part of it, not the whole, since I assume those last much longer. It should be assumed that the scene in Hotchner's office takes place a day after the parole hearing.

It was pretty early, seven am. Megan was eating her bowl of cereal slowly, still sleepy. Chris was sitting at the table opposite to her, slowly drinking his coffee and reading the newspaper. The baby was still sound asleep in the nursery.

Unlike any other time, Kate was already up, getting ready to leave. She put her other ear ring on upon walking into the dinining room, eyes searching for her purse. "So, the baby sitter will be here soon?", she questioned.

Chris cheeked his watch. "Yes, in ten minutes." He smiled. "Relax, honey."

"If only I could", she mumbled, walking over to the couch in the near by living room and picking up her purse. She walked back in the dining room, stopping to kiss Chris on the lips. He gently held her hand and looked her in the eyes."You will get him", he said assuringly. "Like before."

She gave him a warm smile. "Thank you." They kissed one more time briefly before Kate walked over to Meg and kissed her on the cheek. "Be good, OK?" Meg blushed and nodded her head before Kate headed toward the door.

#

Kate couldn't help but squirm while sitting on that chair, in that small room with bright yellow walls and white ceiling. She glanced at the people sitting near by: Jack Morrison, a tall and slim middle aged Caucasian man with short dark hair and dark eyes, a prosecutor, and, a lead investigator in the case, a tall, slightly overweight African American man in his fifties. They both offered her a slight smile. She smiled back, but found it hard to remain calm. She noticed Paul's attorney, looking at her, but tried not to pay attention to her. She already knew about the parole board members: Brad Smith, Nicole Jenkins, Gary Heffernan, Tracy Eggers and Shermain Jones. All stern, well dressed, observing everyone carefully and critically.

Finally, Paul Walsh arrived. Two COs escorted him inside. He grinned at everyone in the room, especially Kate, who tried to ignore him while feeling her heart thunder against her chest. Even after ten years in prison, he was still pretty attractive, tall and a bit muscular, with nice dark hair and piercing blue eyes. He was wearing a baggy orange prison jumpsuit and his wrists, as well as his ankles, were handcuffed. His attorney, a red haired woman in her late twenties, followed by.

He, Paul Walsh, was seated next to his attorney, facing the parole board members and most of the other people present too.

"You've earned a college degree while incarcerated and later finished law school", Nicole read.

"That's right", Paul answered calmly.

Nicole looked him in the eyes. "Why?"

Paul shrugged. "It gave my life a purpose. And it gave me an opportunity to help both myself and the other people in here."

Brad closed the file. "You also saved a COs life in 2010, during a riot", he said. "Several prisoners had cornered him, armed with improvised clubs and knives, and you stood in front of him and managed to distract them long enough for the back up to arrive."

"That's right", Paul answered calmly, nodding his head.

Brad frowned. "Why did you do that? Why did you risk your life in order to save his?"

Paul shrugged. "I guess it just seemed worth it. A right thing to do."

Michelle glared at him. "You thought that he was better than you? More worthy of living?"

"In a way", Paul agreed. "And I felt that the right thing to do, for me, would be to help a person in trouble, no matter who that person was", he said sweetly. Kate rolled her eyes.

"You also performed a CPR on your cellmate, after he had a heart attack, thus saving his life", Sarah mentioned. "That was in 2007. Were your motivations the same then?"

"Pretty much", Paul said, nodding his head.

Nicole fondled her hands together. "You have been attending counseling since 2005, following your latest rape conviction and your release from the solitary."

"That is true", Paul confirmed.

"What made you decide to get help?", Shermain questioned. "Take responsibility for your actions?"

Paul sighed, looking up at the ceiling. He had been thinking for a while before turning his attention back to the parole board members. "To be honest, at first, the main reason why I started going there was because I had hopes that that would get me an early release", he admitted. "But, over time... everything started making sense, I'd say. All the pieces started falling together. I've realized... how stupid and selfish I was. How cruel, how immoral. How much hurt had I caused and how much I needed help."

Michele quickly cheeked her notes. "You've been taking, for five years now."

"Yes. And it is really helping me."

"I am not sure. I think that my... view of life... had just began improving. Once I had seen what was going on, I just felt... like... a gut reaction to help him. Seeing him like that made me feel uncomfortable, wrong. So I helped him."

"In 2013, you've provided the police with the information that you had learned from another prison, that helped the detectives solve the 1980 murder", Shermain pointed out. "Doing such a thing while still in prison is quite risky. Not to mention, you asked for nothing in return and refused to be transferred to a different wing or placed in a protective custody despite the risks."

"A lot of people in there depended on me", Paul said softly. "And I felt that the family deserved to know. They deserved the justice. As well as the victims." He sighed, looking down at the floor for a moment. "When I... disclosed the information about some people, I just wanted to get a light sentence. But the second time was different."

Parole board members all nodded silently, some muttered something. They pushed the files aside and turned their attention to Kate. She straightened herself up and took a deep breath.

"Mrs. Callahan", Nicole started politely. "You are an FBI agent, one of the people considered to be most important in capturing mr. Walsh. What is your opinion on the matter?"

Kate took a deep breath, going through all of the information, doubts and possibilities in her mind once again before speaking up.

"In my opinion, mr. Walsh shouldn't be released now or in a near future, from what I can tell", Kate said, loooking Nicole in the eyes and trying to sound confident. "His crimes and subsequent behavior show a high intelligence and a high manipulation skills. Not to mention, his crimes, even the ones that didn't result in murders, are one of the worst I've ever seen, and I've been an FBI agent for ten years now."

"With all due respect, I would like to add that those other people, I assume, also haven't shown the level of dedication that my client has", Paul's attorney chimmed in. She smiled slightly. "And if we would go by the logic that every sign of an improvement or rehabilitation is likely just a ruse, we may as well give up on on the whole parole system! Or the rehabilitation!"

"Not in every case, but in the case with such facts present and this kind of criminal profile, yes!", Kate exclaimed. She turned to face the members of the parole board again. "As I have stated before and as it is evident in my profile and the notes that I have submitted, many case elements point to mr. Walsh being a dangerous sexual psychopath. He would barely leave no evidence behind and he succesfully talked at least three of his victims to remain silent about the abuse he had inflicted upon them,."

"It's alright, mrs. Callahan. We are going to take that into consideration too."

"I would also like to submit this", Joan said, standing up and walking over to the table, a file in her hand. "As of 2015, my client has scored eight out of forty points on "Psychopath cheklist". That is usually a sign of one having no pathology or psychological disorder at all, at least not a serious one."

"But it should also be noted that those tests are not an exact science and that it is not impossible to trick them, manipulate the results", Kate pointed out. "And not being a diagnosed psychopath doesn't equal not being a safety risk."

#

Kate would mostly spend time in cafeteria or chatting with the lead detective on the case, trying to avoid anyone else who was involved in the process. Her heart was thundering against her chest, shivers rushing up and down her back. The look in Paul Walsh's face was haunting her.

They were all invited back to the hall after an hour. Brad Smith took a deep breath and took a look at Paul Walsh, then at Kate Callahan, before speaking up.

"This has proven itself to be a very difficult decision to make", he admitted. 0We are aware that we have an obligation to keep the public safe as well as that rehabilitation, in many prisons, is still seriously neglected and/or underappreciated. We also know that both possible decisions carry possible consequences in the way. But, based on the evidence presented anc interviews conducted, we have made the decision."

Paul exchanged a glance with his attorney. Kate took a deep breath.

"Mr. Paul Walsh, your parole has been granted", Brad Smith stated.

#

Aaron looked up from his papers upon hearing a knock at his office door, that had been ajar. He smiled upon seeing Kate standing there, dressed in a black sweater and jeans, a smile on her face and a slight redness in her cheeks. He walked over and exchanged a brief hug as she giggled.

"Nice to see you", he exclaimed. "How are you and your family doing?"

"Great!", she said. "Meg has been talking to a therapist, she is a lot better now. And I have a lot more free time on my new job, so... it's great." She sighed, looking around. "Not that I don't miss this... and the team."

Aaron nodded his head, a little more serious expression on his face. "But, judging by your phone call, you didn't just come over to refresh the memories, did you?"

Kate's face fell. "Unfortunately, no."

Within ten minutes, they were sitting at his desk, opposite to each other, having already gone through the basic details about the case. Aaron sighed, fimbling with the photograph in his hand, a case file laying opened on the desk in front of him.

The photograph, taken sometime prior to the murder, showed sixteen year old Melany Smith smiling brightly as she was standing in the school gym, dressed in her cheerleading uniform. She was tall and slim, with long brown hair and big brown eyes. The other photograph, on the desk, showed a woman named Greta was about 5'9 tall, slim, with very nice cheekbones and skin surprisingly smooth for her age, her eyes piercingly green and light, her hair white and cut to the shoulder length with slight bangs.

"My first case", Kate recalled. "Before I specialized in undercover operations. I was called in to investigate the case here, in Quantico. Suburb. The girl on the photograph... Melany Smith... had been murdered on June 20th 2004. The killer broke in through the back window late at night. Melany's parents were working late. The killer overpowers her, bind her wrists and taped her mouth shut with a duct tape, ripped her clothes off, beat her, raped her and strangled her to death. He broke the smoke alarm and burned the clothing and cloths in the kitchen sink. No evidence remained. The crime scene was so clean. Some detectives found a pair of rubber gloves and booties in a near by creek, wrapped in a plastic bag. The gloves matched to the glove print found on the scene. But water washed away any possible evidence." She sighed, pointing at Greta's photographs. "Two months prior, this woman, sixty year old Greta Stanson, was beaten and raped by an intruder who had broken into her home early in the morninh. Some thought that the cases were connected." She leaned back in her chair. "For months, the investigation had been going nowhere. Another local woman went missing. They finally reached out to FBI for help. Criminal profiling. It was still a small investigation in a small area, so... only I was involved."

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Aaron put Melany's photograph down on the desk. "I worked with them on the case and was able to conclude that one of the minor suspects in the case matched the profile. Seventeen year old Paul Walsh. Just graduated, was about to go to college. Greta was his neighbor and Melany had been going to the same school with him. He had reportedly been abused as a child and had a juvenile record, still available at the time since he wasn't eighteen yet: vandalism conviction at the age of twelve, another one at the age of fourteen, both times he received a probation." She shifted in her chair. "Once I obtained... certain things on tape, everything ran smoothly. That is one of the reasons why I eventually specialized in undercover operations."

"You reached out to him", Aaron noted. "Managed to get him to say certain incriminating details, while you were wearing a wire."

Kate nodded her head. "That was enough for them to arrest him under the suspicion of murder and obtain a search warrant. In his room and the car, forensics found the evidence linking him to the crime. The jury eventually found him guilty of breaking and entering, assault in the first degree, rape in the first degree and murder in the first degree. Judge sentenced him to thirty years in prison: ten for rape in the furst degree and twenty for murder in the first degree. During the trial, four more people came forward with the allegations of a sexual abuse against him."

Aaron frowned. "And now he is out on parole?"

Kate groaned. "Well, they had a pretty iron tight case regarding Melany's rape and murder. But with the other crimes, not so much. The only forensic evidence they had was a piece of underwear found in his possession and his DNA on a bathroom strap, which wasn't necessarily a proof of rape."

Aaron took one more look over the file. "Not to mention, one victim had had several previous theft convictions and another one had, at one point, been suspended from school for falsely accusing another student of stealing her things", he read. "The prosecutors were still working on building a case against those other crimes at the time they were charging him with Melany's murder, due to not being as much evidence linking him to those offences and being hard to find the necessary witnesses due to the amount of time that had passed. They only finished after the trial for the rape and murder of Melany had been over, meaning that the trial for the other crimes would have to be separate and the jury wouldn't be allowed to hear about his murder conviction. And that case was still shaky. So they offered a plea bargain."

Kate rolled her eyes before she started to recite what she had heard so many times before. "Twenty nine years for that other crimes, to run concurrently with his thirty year prison term."

"He raped his cellmate, a year into his sentence", Aaron read.

Kate sighed. "Yes. But he made a deal. He provided the information about two corrupt COs who had been smuggling drugs in the prison, and one that led to 1990 rape being solved. So he only received seven years probation and two years solitary confinement. He never shared a cell again, though. Probably the only guy who received probation while already serving a thirty year prison sentence."

Aaron pulled out another photograph from the file. This one featured a Hispanic woman in her mid thirties, with long curly black hair and big brown eyes. "And this is the woman who went missing in the area a month after Melany's murder", he concluded before taking a brief look at the police report. "Thirty five year old Melissa Morales. She worked as a cashier in a local grocery store. Shortly before closing time, a masked man walked into the store and forced her, at knife point, to give him the money and security camera tapes, and then to go into his car. He drove away. That was the last time anyone has seen her alive. There was a young intern in the store at the time. She was left unharmed."

Kate crossed her legs, shifting in her seat. "Two weeks after the abduction, Malissa's naked body was found in a forest seventeen miles away, covered with some leaves and branches. She had been beaten, raped, sodomized, and strangled to death with some sort of a ligature. Most of the evidence was badly degrated by that point."

"That could have been Paul", Aaron agreed.

Kate groaned. "We suspected him of that too. But there were problems. Amy described the man in the store as about 6'1, overweight, and driving a green Ford. That didn't match to Paul at all. The medical examiner was able to conclude that Melissa had been murdered on the same night she was abducted, but couldn't determine when exactly or how long was she being held captive. But soon after the news about the body being found spread, a local resident, an eldery man who would often go on a late night walks in that area, came forward. He said that he had seen a young man, whom he couldn't describe well, dumping something in that area, that he assumed was some waste, at about eleven pm. Melissa was abducted at about seven pm, at the time Paul had no alibi, but there were multiple photographs and eyewitnesses confirming that he seventy seven miles away at the time, from nine pm to twelve pm, at his aunt's birthday party."

Aaron looked up, having just read pretty much what Kate had told him. "So, you want us to take another look at this. Find an explanation for discrepencies. So the prosecution can make the case without the defense getting in the way with such information. Maybe we can even find a new evidence."

"That could put him away for life", Kate said hopefully.

Aaron nodded his head, but he wasn't entirely convinced. "Well, according to the release papers, his parole conditions are quite strict. Parole device, not allowed to be out pass eleven pm, not allowed to socialize with minors while unsupervised, many unannounced drug and alcohol tests and polygraph exams, has to registar as a sex offender and attend counselings. I doubt that he would be able to do much harm to anyone else, now."

"You know that such guys almost always find a way", Kate insisted. "He is highly intelligent and manipulative. And that won't stay that way forever. He will get re evaluated every three years. And Melissa's murder is already a cold case. Every day, the chances of it getting solved are being reduced. Her family deserves to know. They deserve justice."

Aaron nodded his head and looked Kate in the eyes. "We will do our best", he assured her.

~OPENING ROLES AND CREDITS~