The gang was heading to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Hotch had called them all in and gave them the info on what was taking place. Three victims were shot in the back of the head with what looked like a rifle. One man worked at an insurance company, one worked for the IRS, and another was a doctor.
They came up with the idea that maybe this was all personal revenge. The man probably thought that these people were personally out to get them. He might be poorer and with little education. The unsub could be white or black male probably in his twenties.
Garcia was looking for people that were connected to all three men whether they were clients or people the victims knew. Her exact words were, "You'll get the info when you reach Philadelphia."
So now the BAU reached the Philadelphia International Airport and heading to police department. "Agent Hotch, we have a room set up for you in the back."
"Thank you." Hotch said as they went and set up everything. Hotch took out his phone and called Garcia. "Garcia, we're here, what do you have for us."
"Well this seems easier than I thought." She said. "I only have three matches. Antonio Ricci, John Howard, and Paul Hill."
"Do you have addresses for them?"
"Yes." Garcia said. "I'll send you the info on each of them."
Morgan opened his laptop. "It looks like Antonio Ricci lives near Saint Joseph University and the other two live in the heart of Philadelphia. Ricci is of Italian decent, he's married to Rosalie, and has a daughter named Emilia. John and Paul are both in their twenties and are of African descent and are not married."
"Should we check out those two first?" Rossi asked. "They fit the unsub description. Twenties, male, poor."
"This Ricci is quite interesting though." Reid said. "Their daughter Rosalie is 19 and is going to have her doctorate in Psychology in the spring. That's quite a feat."
"That is interesting…" Emily said. "I'll go check her out."
"Good idea." Hotch said. "Reid you go with Prentiss. Morgan go with Rossi and check out John Howard. I'll look into Paul Hill." The team went in their different directions.
This unsub had to be very smart and talented with weapons. He had to be calculating. He had to have the time to follow the victims and know their daily habits, what they did every minute of every day. With the precision that the rifle was used at, it almost seemed like the unsub would have to have some sort of hunting experience at the least.
Morgan and Rossi hassled John Howard. They tried to get something, anything out of the man, but it was useless. It didn't help that he lived in one of the worst areas that wanted nothing to do with cops. Of course he didn't seem to fit the profile beyond age, sex, and his economic problems. Howard was very disorganized. He had no experience with anything more than a pistol. He worked two different jobs. They looked to his family. Howard had never once been hunting, and when they checked with work, the man hadn't missed one day of work the past two months. Hotch had similar difficulties with Paul Hill. Hill had more experience with weapons, but like Howard, he was working multiple jobs and with his current income, he didn't have the luxury of missing work.
"Let's hope Reid and Prentiss get something from Antonio Ricci." Hotch said trying to think of another way the killings might be linked.
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Prentiss and Reid walked up to a small, but cozy home. It was a two story with reddish brown bricks and a black roof and black window shutters. There was one car in the driveway and the lights were on inside. As they made their way up the cracked cement walkway, they began to hear yelling from inside the house.
"You ungrateful little bitch!" It was a man's voice which they assumed to be Antonio Ricci's. "Who told your whore ass to come back here! No one wants you in this house! Your mother even hates you! All you've done is brought misfortune to us! GET OUT!" There was the sound of breaking dishes that caused Emily to run to the door.
"Antonio Ricci? This is Agent Emily Prentiss of the FBI, could I please have a word with you?" Emily continued knocking on the door. "Mr. Ricci?"
The door flew open with great speed. Standing before them was an extremely large and tall man. He had to be at least 6'2" and 200 pounds easily. He had graying thick black hair. Olive colored Italian skin, a goatee, and dark brown eyes. He had a mixed smell of tobacco and vodka lingering all around him. The way his dark eyes were distant, it was obvious he was far from being sober.
"What do the dogs of the police want with me?" He said in his deep booming voice. The smell of alcohol was thick on his breath. "I've done nothing wrong!"
"We just have a few questions, sir." Reid said carefully as not to cause the man to explode like he was not five minutes ago.
"Get out of here!" He slammed the door shut. From outside, they could hear a woman's soft voice, but couldn't make out the words. "I will never help dogs like them Rosalie! Never so long as I live!"
It was quiet for a bit and just as Emily was about to knock again, though she didn't want to, the door opened to show the form of a girl. She looked to be about 19, she had dark brown hair and eyes and medium colored skin. She looked frightened for a second and when she saw Emily about to speak, she put her finger to her mouth. "Sh…" Was the only thing that came from her. She turned to the door and quietly shut it. "I apologize for my father." She said in a very low voice. "If it helps, I'll answer any questions you have."
Reid and Prentiss exchanged glances, but they both nodded toward the car. They surveyed the girl. She was wearing baggy jeans, sneakers, a white beater, with a black zip up jacket. Her long hair was tied in a low pony tail, but a few strands fell to the side of her face and kept the sun from her features so it was difficult to tell what she really looked like. On top of that, a gray hat hid her eyes.
They got into the car and Emily began to drive. "Are you Emilia?" Emily looked in the rearview mirror and saw the girl nod. "Do you care where you take you?"
"Any where is fine." Emilia said. "You could take me to the police station for all I cared."
"Are you sure?" Reid asked.
"Yes." Emilia said. "I need to be as far away as possible from that man." The ride was quiet the rest of the way to the station. Neither Reid nor Emily felt the need to pry into the girl's life yet. They heard what had transpired inside the house before they knocked on the door. Deep down, both wondered how terrible that whole situation could have escalated to.
They escorted her into the office and left her in one of the interrogation rooms. "Is there anything we can get you?" Emily asked while Reid did all the analyzing. Emilia shook her head no. "Well why you take off the hat and stay awhile?" She was trying to get the girl to relax.
"I'd rather not…" Emilia said. "I don't need any more trouble."
"What do you mean?" Emily asked. Emilia didn't answer. She just sighed and removed her baseball hat. "Oh my God…" Emily said looking at the girl's face. Even Spencer felt sympathy for the girl. Her left eye was black, there was a long cut on her forehead, possibly from the dish breaking sound they heard, and there was another bruise forming on her left cheek.
"I'd just like to get this over with." She smiled. "I want to get back home. I have a big exam in Psychology coming up this week. What did my father do anyway to get the attention of the FBI?" She chuckled slightly, though none of it reached her eyes.
Emily sat down along with Reid. "What is your father's current income?" Emilia looked down sadly. "Emilia?" Emily asked after a long pause.
Emilia chuckled slightly. Reid guessed it was a nervous habit. "Uh… well… At the moment his current income is $0."
"Your mother's?"
"$0."
"Emilia…" Emily said confused. "How is your family able to afford that house?"
"Well… The jerks at the insurance company and bank keep threatening us." Emilia's voice was getting angrier. "I know they are just gonna take the house one of these days, but somehow… I manage to pay most of the bills. I mean we don't have the luxuries we used to, but I don't live at home. I'm at SJU. I live there and everything is paid for so I have time to work for my parents."
"Why don't they work?"
"My father became an alcoholic, and my mother just tries to keep him alive. I know if I wasn't already legal age, I would have been taken from my parents."
"When did your father become an alcoholic?" Reid asked.
Emilia shrugged. "Some time ago. I think it started when I was 13. It was when I graduated high school." Emilia started to play with the ends of her sleeves as she began to retell her past. "He came to the conclusion that I was the problem to everything. I was the reason why their life was terrible. The yelling started first. The mindless fits of fury and throwing things. My mother was the first to get hurt. I'm pretty sure she was doing it for me, but finally she had enough and turned the other cheek when I would get hit." Then her voice got extremely dark. "I'm glad to rid of them."
"Emilia, can you tell me about these people." Reid took out the three pictures of the men that were shot. "Do you recognize them?" The pictures were of them alive.
"Yeah, they are the bastards that are dicks to us." Emilia said. Her lip curled up in disgust. "I fucking hate them." She threw the pictures away from herself. "I hope they fucking die." Her language was so course and evil sounding.
Reid raised an eyebrow at the response. He definitely wasn't expecting that response. "Well you got your wish. They're dead." He said and watched her response carefully. Her face at first was unbelieving, but Reid and Emily kept a cool façade.
Her eyes slowly enlarged. Her breathing hitched slightly. "Oh God… You aren't kidding." She looked at the men's pictures. "How did they die?"
"Rifle shot to the back of the head." Emily said. She too watched carefully.
"It's a shame." This was the response Reid was hoping. He wanted her to show remorse. "For everything they did to my family and others, they deserve worse, but oh well." She laughed slightly. Reid couldn't understand this girl one bit. One minute there is pure remorse and then complete hatred and fuming anger. She wasn't bipolar, but maybe so much has happened in her life at the moment that she isn't sure what to feel at the moment.
"Well if you know anything… Anyone who wanted to hurt them, any leads, or if you just need to talk, don't hesitate to call." Emily said. "Is there any way to reach you if we need you?"
Emilia shook her head. "No…" She looked sad. "I couldn't afford to pay the phone bills…"
Reid felt sorrow rip through his heart. This girl was doing everything she could for her family and they were still going downhill. The worst part for Reid was seeing the bruises on her young delicate face.
"We'll keep in touch." Reid said.
"Thank you Dr. Reid." Emilia smiled and he smiled in return. She stood and fixed her hat. Emily was about to ask the girl if she wanted a ride. "Don't worry, I'll walk."
"Are you sure?" Emily asked looking at the time. "It's late."
"The streets aren't as bad as you think." She said with a slight smirk. "I'm sorry I couldn't be of much help."
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Everyone gathered in the prepared room. "Well that girl was an interesting character." Morgan said leaning back in his chair and tossing his pen on the table. "I thought being a mini genius like Reid she'd be more reserved. This girl is insane compared to you, Reid."
"I think she has to be Morgan." Emily said in protest. "The girl's family has been ripping apart since she was 13 and her father has been blaming and beating her ever since." Everyone looked down while Emily spoke. They could only imagine what that could do to a girl that young. It's a miracle that she didn't kill herself.
"Unfortunately we can't rule her out yet." Hotch said. "Or her father."
"Why not?" Reid asked. They didn't really have anything to go on yet… but it seemed unlikely that a 19 year old would be capable of this. Her father maybe… but definitely not her. Reid didn't even think that she was capable of killing in general.
Rossi sighed. "Because of her reactions to the three men being dead, we had Garcia do a little digging for us." He slapped down a large file on the desk. "This is everything written on Emilia in high school from when she was 10 to 13 years old. You'd be surprised to see how much trouble the girl got into."
"It's no surprise to how smart this girl is." JJ said. "Her grades on every test were 100s, and SATs and ACTs were near perfect. This girl could be messing around with our heads for all we know."
Reid looked through the files. "She's been in 35 fights inside the school?" He couldn't believe the girl he just spoke to was that violent.
Rossi laughed. "That isn't counting the fights outside of school. She was arrested 7 times for armed violence." He sighed shaking his head. "This girl could be really dangerous."
Morgan groaned. "Well what are we supposed to do?" He was really frustrated with the way this was turning out. He couldn't see how the girl could be that dangerous either. "We can't arrest her. Do we put a tag on her?"
"I'll watch over her." Reid said. He was surprised as was everyone else by his suggestion. If the girl was dangerous, wouldn't it be better if Morgan watched over her? "I could get a refresh on my psychology? And besides I don't feel this girl to be a threat."
Emily and JJ held back laughter. Hotch sighed. "Alright Reid, you can watch over the girl, but I don't want you going near her house. It could cause a problem." Reid nodded and left.
"So what do we do in the meantime?" Emily asked.
"We should talk to her teachers and see if she had any friends." Morgan suggested. Rossi nodded, it was a good idea.
"But first we sleep." Hotch said and everyone made their way to the hotel they were staying at.
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Reid had called Garcia and was on the way to Emilia's dorm room. He walked up 3 flights of stairs. It was a little awkward passing the girls in their towels coming from the shower as he tried to find Emilia's room. He finally reached it. Room 345. He knocked softly. "Come in!" He heard from inside. Reid felt awkward just walking in so he knocked again. "I said come in!" She practically yelled as she ripped the door open and then froze in her spot. "Ah! I'm so sorry Dr. Reid!" She exclaimed. "Come in…" She barely whispered.
"I'm sorry." He said as he sat in a chair. "I didn't want to walk in on my own, Ms Ricci."
"It's fine…" Emilia mumbled. Her bruises were going down a lot already. She was only wearing basketball shorts and very revealing tank top. Reid could tell just how strong she could be. Her muscles were well defined, but they weren't big... just in shape. She could definitely take care of herself in a fight. She plopped down with a sigh at her desk which was littered with numerous open books. "So what do I owe this honor?" She asked without looking at him.
"Oh I'm just here to watch over you!" He said cheerfully. Emilia looked at him like he was crazy.
"You're… kidding me… right?"
"Nope." He said with a goofy/awkward smile. "I hope you don't mind. It's to make sure you're safe after what happened with your father today."
"Oh…" She said sadly. She stood and went to her closet. She pulled out a box. "You'll be here night and day?" He nodded. "Following me to class?" He nodded again. "Well you might as well be comfortable." She put the box down and Reid realized that it was an air mattress. Emilia must have seen his questioning gaze. "You don't want to sleep in the chair right?"
He smiled. "I'm just surprised you have that."
She shrugged her shoulders. Her back was to him as she began to set up the preparations. She had a lot of tattoos covering her back and some of her shoulders. "My best friend Leann will come by now and then."
"She goes to another college?" Reid asked forgetting her age.
Emilia laughed, but this time her laugh seemed pure. "Yeah in two years!" Reid looked confused. Emilia smiled at him. "She's a junior in high school still. She's been my best friend forever. She was the one who housed me when my father was on some of his tantrums or drinking binges." Emilia looked down. It was hard to read this girl. Her eyes were a mixture of respect, happiness, pain, and sorrow. In a few minutes the bed was set. Emilia even put sheets and blankets out for him. "There." She said slightly proud of herself. "If you need any more blankets or anything just let me know." She smiled happily.
Reid smiled. "Thank you Ms Ricci." He placed his coat on the made bed. He began to look around the room. It was quite small. She had a twin size bed, an end table, one bureau, a closet, a book shelf, and a desk, but then again I guess that's really all you need since her meals are paid for by the school. But what really got Reid was the lack of personal things like pictures or even letters.
"Neh, Dr. Reid?" She turned at her desk to look at him again. The small lamp of the desk cast a shadow over her face that made it difficult to read her emotions. He looked at her waiting for her to continue. "How old are you?" Reid was confused by the question. As if she could tell, she continued. "It's just that you are in the FBI, and you seem really smart. I was just wondering what kind of degrees you have and what not."
Reid frowned slightly. "Well… I'm 27." He said. "I have PhDs in Mathematics, Chemistry and Engineering. I have Bas in Psychology and Sociology. And currently I'm working on my BA in Philosophy." He said slightly proud, but at the same time nervous at her reaction.
She laughed and smiled. "Darn, you have me beat." She said in mock defeat. This girl was really interesting. "I want to do all kinds of things with my life, but my parents… They are difficult to say the least…" She sighed.
"My father left my mother and I when I was young. When I turned 18, I placed my mother in a mental institution for her schizophrenia…" Reid said surprised he was even saying anything.
For a while Emilia didn't say a word. "I'm sorry…" She said full of remorse. "As much as they don't seem to care, at least I see them now and then even though it isn't on the best of terms." Reid couldn't believe this girl was sympathizing with him. To him, her life was much worse than his own.
There was a long pause, but it wasn't silent. Emilia was busy writing things down and preparing for her exam. "You are a strange girl, Ms Ricci." Reid said not even thinking.
There was a pause in the writing and slight giggle. "Oh yeah? How is that?"
"I can't figure you out."
"I'm a complex person."
"But usually from watching someone, I can determine what action they will take next. With you, I can't even seem to guess your reactions right."
There was another giggle as her writing started again. "When you close in your emotions from everything and everyone, it gets difficult. Sometimes… I surprise myself sometimes."
"Did all those fights in school surprise you?" Reid asked.
The writing stopped and he heard the pen being placed on the table. He looked up and saw Emilia leaning back against her chair and looking up at the ceiling. "Those were different."
"How so?" Reid wanted so desperately to understand this girl. Her knowledge should rival that of his. And he was fairly certain that if it wasn't for her having to work to pay her parent's bills she would have similar degrees to him.
She sighed at the question. "Why should I tell you?" Her voice was rough again like when he and Emily were talking to her earlier that day. "It doesn't matter anymore…" She closed her books and fell on her bed. Her face looking in the opposite direction of Reid. "I need some sleep before tomorrow."
"Good idea." Reid said.
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The next day, Morgan, Rossi, and Prentiss went to Emilia's old high school. They had gotten a call from Reid earlier that morning also saying that Emilia's best friend, Leann, was a junior at the school. Hotch and JJ were looking up more possible suspects.
"Welcome!" An elderly woman said to the three FBI agents. "How can I help you three today? My name is Mrs. White."
"We have some questions about Emilia Ricci." Rossi said getting straight to business. Mrs. White's face darkened slightly.
"Did that girl come back to fight one of my students again?" Everyone looked at each other. "Last week she came back and gave one of the senior football players a couple bruised ribs." She sighed sadly. "I thought that once she graduated I was done cleaning up her mess."
Morgan looked aggravated. "Does she say why?"
"Never."
"Is there a possibility of it being from her father?" Prentiss asked.
"I wouldn't be surprised." Mrs. White said. "I tried to help the girl. I tried calling the cops, but Emilia would never go against her father. He hated the girl. She saved that man so much money that he wasted away for alcohol. He yelled and hit her and didn't even care who was there to see. Her mother… that woman just turned her head away."
"Mrs. White, would Emilia ever have the ability to kill anyone?" Rossi asked.
"Good heavens no! She may have a lot of anger in her, but she is very kind toward people." Mrs. White insisted. "You just have to get her to trust you in order for you to see her soft side."
"Speaking of being kind toward people, we heard that Emilia's best friend still attends this school." Emily said.
"Yes." Mrs. White said slightly unsure. "Her name is Leann Mills."
"We are going to have to speak to her." Morgan said, but Mrs. White didn't move.
"There's something you need to know about Leann. She isn't very social. Half the time we have to force her to speak to teachers. The only person that she really speaks to is Emilia."
"We still need to speak to her." White nodded. She left the room. About 10 minutes later she returned with a girl behind her. She wasn't much younger than Emilia. She had blue eyes and light brown hair. Her pretty eyes had dark rings under them and she almost seemed sickly. "Good morning Ms Mills, my name is Agent Morgan." The girl sat down in her chair and just stared. He gestured to Emily and David. "This is Agent Rossi and Prentiss. We are here to ask you a little bit about Emilia Ricci." After hearing Emilia's name, she seemed to become more alert.
"Leann," Emily said reaching for the girl's hands, but Leann pulled her hands to herself and placed them on her lap. It was obvious she wanted no contact. "Is Emilia a violent person?"
The girl said nothing, but shook her head no very violently. "Would she ever kill or hurt anyone that badly?" Rossi asked, but again the girl shook her head.
Morgan needed the girl to speak. "Now I think you are lying." Morgan said. Leann, who was looking at her hands, jerked her head up and stared right into his eyes. "According to Emilia's records, she was extremely violent. She was constantly picking fights and hurting people." Leann looked angry. Morgan decided put more into the accusations against Emilia. "Not even that, but she was in a gang! And here you are telling me that she isn't violent and that she doesn't have the thought to kill."
"NO!" Leann more or less screeched. She slammed her hands into the table and stood up. Her breathing was jagged and her eyes were on fire. "Emilia would never EVER kill anyone! Emilia is kind!"
Morgan was satisfied. "Okay." He said softly. "Then we need you to prove to us. Explain these things to us."
Leann sat down and fiddled with the hem of her shirt. "Emilia wouldn't hurt a fly. Emilia is always taking care of people. Emilia takes care of her parents and she takes care of me and protects me all the time. Emilia is all that I have."
"But what about these fights?" Prentiss asked.
"Emilia fought to protect me." Leann said looking down. The three waited for her to continue. "Everyone always picks on me. I would get bullied all the time. Emilia got bullied too, but she was tougher than I was. Emilia could take it because she was smarter and knew they were just immature. She would always tell me that too. Emilia would always say, "Don't let it get to you Leann, you'll just give them what they want" and I know it was true, but the bullying only escaladed. Emilia couldn't stand seeing me pushed around and fought back for me." There were tears falling down her face.
Emily nodded. "Then she comes back in order to protect you?"
"Yes…"
"Leann, what about the gang?" Rossi asked.
"Emilia isn't part of a gang." Leann said. She was trying to calm down. "The gangs are just terrified of her."
"What do you mean?" Morgan asked.
"Emilia is very strong." Leann said. "She has a black belt in karate, Tae Kwon Do, and other martial arts. Emilia is also a very good boxer. Emilia's father has a hunting rifle that she used to threaten the gangs around her house with." Leann laughed. "Emilia has never ever touched the thing! Emilia just didn't want those guys around her neighborhood and she scared them away!"
Morgan was slightly shocked. Emilia really was completely different from what he was expecting. The girl seemed like a Saint in Leann's eyes. There was something that worried Morgan though. This girl, Leann, praised Emilia way too much.
"Thank you for your help." Rossi said standing.
"Anything for Emilia." Leann said that caught Morgan's attention. "I would do anything for Emilia."
When they exited the school, they immediately headed back to the police station. Morgan was still bothered by Leann. "Did Leann seem odd to you?" He asked during the silent ride.
"Well she definitely has some kind of social disorder." Emily said and Rossi nodded.
"You didn't notice how much the girl was praising Emilia?" Morgan asked. "Almost every time she said 'Emilia' instead of 'she' when talking."
"Emilia is the only friend that Leann has and with that kind of disorder, she probably sees Emilia like a goddess." Rossi said.
"Exactly." Morgan said. "Before we left, Leanna said, "Anything for Emilia. I would do anything for Emilia."" Morgan paused. "How much of that is just praising and how much of that is more to complete devotion."
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"Hey Dr. Reid." Reid felt someone nudge him. He opened his eyes to see Emilia standing there in sweats and sports bra. He felt embarrassed and looked away.
"What time is it?" He asked confused.
Emilia smiled. "It's 5 a.m." What was this girl doing up so early? She was up late last night. But he looked at her face and she seemed extremely refreshed. "I go to the gym in the morning, and besides I don't sleep very much." She chuckled slightly.
"I see…" Reid said. "I'll go with you."
"That's why I woke you up!" She smiled. Emilia picked up a small duffle bag and her book bag and walked out the door with Reid behind her. She locked her door and made her way to the elevator. "I work out from 5:30 to 6:30. Then I eat from 7:00 to 7:45. My exam starts at 8 and goes until I finish it. Hopefully I'll be done quickly." She said with a smile.
They made it to an elevator. "There was an elevator here?" Reid asked unbelieving.
"Of course." Emilia said. "It's easy to pass it though. You'll see when we get down there." They got in the elevator and rode it until the first floor. Reid could see what she meant. The elevator was behind two doors and if you didn't know it was there, you would just assume to take the stairs. "The gym is a bit of a walk. I hope you don't mind."
"I don't mind at all." Reid said as they began their walk.
"Good." Emilia said. Reid was surprised at just how strong Emilia was. He watched her carefully as she lifted and boxed with a couple of the men there and she beat most of them with her speed. She seemed so happy, but it was weird that she wasn't like him one bit. She wasn't socially awkward, but she was very smart. "Dr. Reid?" He looked up to see Emilia dressed in dark blue jeans and a light blue v-neck shirt. He didn't realize that he was staring into space. "Are you ready for breakfast?"
"Ah… yes." He said standing and walking with her. "I'm surprised you are so strong Ms Ricci." He said.
Emilia raised an eye brow at him. "Really?" Reid nodded. "You have to be." She said. "If not you'll get eaten alive on the streets."
"I see…" Reid said. After some time, he found himself asking another question. "Why are you so capable of communicating with others?"
Emilia laughed. "What is this, 20 questions?" But she answered none the less. "I found that when you beat the best, they tend to give you respect and listen to you. I'm not much of a talker to people I don't trust, but when I fight I talk with my fists. People don't need to know how smart I am."
"But you outsmart them."
She giggled. Reid wasn't expecting that either. "Yes Dr. Reid. I do outsmart them, but they don't need to know that."
"You can call me Reid if you like." Reid said surprising himself.
"Only if you call my either Ricci or Emilia." Emilia said. "I hate being called Ms Ricci. It reminds me of my mother too much."
"So what's for breakfast Emilia?" Reid asked smiling slightly.
"Anything you like Reid." Emilia said trying not to laugh. With Reid around she felt normal.
After breakfast, Emilia headed to her exam. Reid waited outside the room in the hallway and observed all the different people walking around. About 45 minutes into the exam, the doors opened and Reid looked over to see Emilia exit the room and close the door quietly.
"Piece of cake." She said with a smile. "I have to go print something out at the library really fast." Reid nodded and followed her. When they reached the library she started digging through all of her things. "Where is it!" She whispered harshly since she was in the library and there were people trying to work quietly.
"What?"
"My jump drive…" She said with slight despair. "Oh… no…" She looked like she was going to cry. "I left it at my house!"
"Well let's go get it." Reid said. "I'll drive you. I just have to let the team know we are going there."
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"What are you getting at Morgan?" Hotch asked when Morgan explained his ideas to him.
"What if it isn't Emilia or her father?" Morgan said. "Emilia is always busy with school from what we hear from Reid and her father is almost constantly drunk or hung over. There's no way that he would ever be able to hold the rifle steady."
"Who else could it be?" JJ asked confused.
"Leann Mills." Morgan said.
"No way could that girl kill someone Morgan." Rossi said.
"But look at it this way!" Morgan almost pleaded. "All of the deaths were related to Emilia. These men were bugging her. They wouldn't leave her alone. They were making her upset."
"And?" Emily said not finding the connection. "Who wouldn't be upset?"
"Leann would do anything for Emilia." Morgan said. "Who are on the top of that list? Who make Emilia upset the most?"
"Her parents…" JJ began to see the pattern.
"And like you said Rossi, Leann sees Emilia like a goddess. Leann wants her goddess to be happy and free. In order to do that, she is going to take out all those obstacles for Emilia without Emilia knowing. Leann wants to do something for Emilia that Emilia can't do on her own." Morgan said. "We have to get to Emilia's parents house now."
"Emilia isn't the dangerous one, Leann is." Emily said wide eyed.
"Guys… we have a problem…" JJ said holding her phone to her ear. "Reid and Emilia are going to pick some things up from Emilia's house."
"We have to get there first." Hotch said. "Everyone hurry up and get out." They all rushed out of the building and headed toward Emilia's house. They were praying that they reached the house before the two did or Leann.
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"LAND!" Emilia yelled as she stepped out of the car. She laughed slightly.
"Oh come on, my driving isn't that bad!" Reid protested.
Emilia laughed harder. "Reid, next time I drive." Reid smiled at her.
"Fine." He said. "Let's see how well you do driving." They were walking up toward the house.
"Reid, I am a goddess when it comes to driving especially in the city." Emilia retorted.
"I grew up in Las Vegas."
"Then you should drive better." Emilia said. As they reached the door, two gunshots went off. Emilia froze stiff. Her parents were home! Reid pulled her away from the door.
"Stay here." He whispered quietly. He pulled his gun out. "I'm going to check it out." Emilia's eyes were huge. All she could think about were her parents! "It will be alright Emilia, I'll protect you." He said and she nodded stiffly.
Reid went through the door. It was slightly open. Emilia quickly stopped shaking. She whispered to herself. "Emilia, what are you doing? There could be more than one and I've shot a gun before… Reid might need help." She stood and went to the back of the house. That door was always open. She grabbed her father's rifle from behind the dryer. "This will have to do…" She began to walk quietly through the house.
Another gunshot was heard throughout the house. Emilia quickly ran toward it, but she stopped just short. Her breathing hitched as she looked at the bloody mess on the floor. Her parents… lay in their own blood with a single bullet wound to each of their forehead.
"You have also been bothering my Emilia." Emilia completely stopped breathing. She looked to her left to see Leanne holding a pistol and Reid gripping at his side. Reid! She could see the blood seeping through his shirt. He needed to get to a hospital. What if that shot hit something and he died? Emilia didn't want to panic, but it was getting hard.
"Emilia!" Leann said happily at the sight of her friend. "Look what I've done for you!"
"Leann… how could you do this?" Emilia mumbled. "This is my family! You killed them!"
"But it was all for you." Leann wore the creepiest smile. "I did it all for you."
"What?" Emilia couldn't believe her ears.
"I killed all those men for you." Leann said smiling peacefully. "Now I'll kill this one too."
Leann pointed the gun at Reid. He had no way to protect himself. The girl had shot his side from behind and she kicked his gun away from him. All he could do was stare at the pistol in Leann's hands.
"We will be together forever my Emilia." Leann said with a final smile.
"NO!" Emilia yelled and shot Leann three times in the chest. She ran over and kicked the gun away from her even though she was sure Leann couldn't do anything. Emilia dropped her father's rifle. She couldn't believe what she just did.
"Why Emilia?" Leann whispered.
"I'm sorry Leann." Emilia whispered as her friend's eyes closed. "I'm so sorry." Then she turned to Reid. "Reid!" He groaned as she moved him on his back to look at his wound. The sound of the police filled the air. "Oh thank god."
"Don't worry, I'll be fine." He said giving a weak smile. She couldn't smile. Everything she had was gone. She no longer had a family and her one friend turned out to be psychotic… She just let the tears continue to fall as she put pressure on Reid's wound.
Everyone came into the house and took care of everything. Morgan went with Reid to the hospital. "Is he going to be okay?" Emilia asked Emily as the tears continued to fall.
Emily hugged her and Emilia surprisingly hugged back. "Yes. The bullet missed his organs."
"I'm glad." Emilia said into Emily's shoulder.
"Why don't we get you out of here?" Emilia nodded and the two left the building.
"We were too late…" Rossi said looking at the mess. "Leann really did see Emilia as a goddess didn't she?"
"It looks like it." Hotch said. "That girl is going to torture herself for the rest of her life." Hotch spoke of Emilia.
"How so?" Rossi asked.
"Emilia is getting her PhD in psychology. She probably knew there was something wrong with Leann, but since she was her friend, she didn't want to hurt the girl's feelings so she stayed close to Leann to protect her. Emilia is going to think that she's a failure for not anticipating this action and not saving three men, her parents, and in the end her own family." Hotch explained.
"You're right." Rossi said. "It's a good thing for Reid that Emilia didn't listen to him." Hotch said nothing. There was no reason to say what they already knew. Emilia did save a life. She saved Reid from being shot like her parents.
"We should go check on Reid." Hotch said once everything was cleaned up. Emily was with Emilia in one of the cars. Hotch could see the blank stare Emilia had in her eyes. It was going to take some time for the girl to recover from this. Her parents were dead and she shot her best friend to protect one of his agents. Emily was rubbing Emilia's back soothingly, but Emilia showed no reaction. Maybe if she saw Reid healthy it would be okay.
They drove to the hospital. Reid was already out of surgery and sleeping in his bed. "This kid is in the hospital way too much." Morgan said laughing slightly. He plopped down in chair next to Reid's bed. The door opened and everyone walked in. Emily walked Emilia in. She had her arm around her for support. The girl looked like hell.
"How is he?" Hotch asked. Emilia looked nervous.
"He's completely fine. He's just being Sleeping Beauty for the moment." Morgan said hoping to get the girl to smile slightly, but she just looked down full of guilt. "It's not your fault Emilia." Morgan said to the girl. She looked like she was about to break down. He stood and hugged her and she welcomed the gesture. "Everything will be okay."
"How do you know?" Emilia asked. Her voice was weak compared to what it was like just the day before.
"Well Reid will make a full recovery. He should wake up soon. And you are one of the strongest people I have seen in this field. I owe you for saving our Boy Genius." He smiled and Emilia smiled lightly.
"Emilia… Are you alright?" Reid asked groggily. He opened his eyes more to see fresh tears falling down her face. She nodded lightly. She couldn't help herself. She ran and hugged him tightly. "Ah… stitches…" He said and she pulled back quickly.
"I'm sorry!" She exclaimed. "I'm just happy you are okay."
Reid smiled and looked deep into her eyes. He could tell there was so much turmoil even though she tried so desperately to hide. He knew that she no longer had anyone left. She had no family and no friends because of how young she was. "Will you be okay?"
"Somehow." She said with a weak smile.
The group hung around longer than usual. For one Reid couldn't fly right away and for another, they wanted to keep an eye on Emilia. She wasn't reacting the way they thought. The next day, she acted like nothing happened. Reid had told the team that she buries her emotions within herself. They knew she was going to have a mental break down eventually. They needed to find a way for her to let her emotions out.
"You know she told me that she likes boxing because she can talk with her fists." Reid said to the team. Everyone looked at him confused. "She says no one can judge her that way. She likes to get people's respect that way." There was a slight pause. "You want her to vent? Then fight her."
Morgan sighed. "She hasn't been doing her normal routine lately. According to people on her hall, she only eats, sleeps, and studies. She doesn't do anything else."
"She would always go to the gym in the mornings. If she stopped doing that, then she's in more trouble than we thought." Reid said. "So who wants to fight her?" He said smiling knowing just how good she was with her fists.
"Morgan, you're probably best to fight her." Emily said looking at him and JJ agreed. He was the best fighter.
"Why should I fight her?" He tried to protest.
"Well I'm not fighting a girl." Rossi said.
"So you want me to fight her?" Morgan seemed in disbelief. "That's not fair to her."
Hotch stopped the argument. "It's decided. Morgan you'll fight Emilia."
"But Hotch." Morgan tried, but Hotch was already gone. Everyone was smiling as they walked out of the room. Spencer walked up to him and patted him on the back. "Good luck, you'll be needing it." He said trying not to laugh.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Morgan called out to Reid, but he received no answer.
They rolled up to Emilia's dormitory. They knocked on her room, but found that she wasn't there. "Are you looking for Emilia Ricci?" One girl asked.
"Yes, have you seen her?" Hotch asked.
"She was carrying her duffel bag. She probably went to the gym." They thanked the girl and found Emilia in the gym. Reid observed her motions. They were much different from before. Her movements weren't as fluid and people were actually landing punches on her. Neither she or her eyes were smiling like they were before. It looked like she was just there to show her face. There was no fire coming from her.
"What are you guys doing here?" She asked after she won her last fight. Her voice sounded happy, but once again, that happiness never touched her eyes. She looked over at Morgan who wasn't wearing his usual attire. "What's going on?"
"Let's have a fight." Morgan stated simply.
Emilia smirked. "You're on." The two began to dual. It was intense, but everyone except Reid was surprised that Morgan couldn't land one punch on the girl. Her fluid movements returned as she began to get more and more excited at having a new opponent who was stronger than anyone she had fought. "I must admit Agent Morgan, you're not half bad." She said smiling, but Reid knew it was fake. In fact everyone probably knew that.
"Why won't you let your emotions out Emilia?" Morgan asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Emilia tried to feign stupidity, but Morgan wasn't about to let her.
"You just lost everything you had. You have no family left and you have no friends." Morgan said. Emilia began to lose her fluid motion. Her eyes slowly began to darken and her punches were slowing getting harder, but at the same time uncontrolled. "Your best friend Leann, who you knew had a disorder, killed your mother and father all for you. It was all for you. All so you and her could live happily and in turn, you turn around and shoot her three times in the chest. You killed your only friend."
Emilia couldn't take it anymore. Her eyes were furious and she lost control of all her emotions for the first time since she began to bottle them up when she was 13. Her breathing was abnormal and her punches weren't even close anymore. Finally, furious with everything she had done and was currently doing, she let go of all her emotions that she had been hiding. "AH!" She yelled. She went to punch Morgan one more time, but he side stepped to the side and Emilia missed. She was completely exhausted that she fell to the flood of the ring. She whimpered as tears fell down her cheeks. "I didn't want to..." She whispered. "I didn't want to do it..." Emilia choked on all her pain and sorrow.
JJ and Emily went to her and hugged her. Reid was surprised at how much pain she was in. Emilia's body would shake every time she tried to gain control of herself. "Just let it all out." Emily said. JJ lightly rubbed her back trying to sooth her. Emily continued. "You of all people should understand that it is better to let things out than keep them locked inside your heart."
()()()()()()()()()()()()()
One week has passed. Emilia returned to her normal self, at least as normal as she will get for a few years. She knew that it was going to take a while for her to forgive herself for not saving her family and her best friend, but she knew that she was on the right path now thanks to Reid, Morgan, Emily, JJ, Hotch, and Rossi. She really did need someone to force her to open up like that. She also knew that Reid was probably the one to suggest the fight that she had with Morgan, and it was a good idea. Emilia looked up to them now. They had become good friends of hers and especially JJ and Emily who really helped her cope with her pain.
But now... they were going back. Reid was able to fly again and she was a little sorry to see them all go. "Maybe one day, I'll be able to join them." Emilia thought to herself as she tried to get to the airport before they took off. She managed to catch them. She said goodbye to all of them, and then it was time to say goodbye to Reid. "Thank you Reid." Emilia said.
"No problem." Reid said. "If you ever need help with school, give me a call. I'm sure I'll be able to help you." He said smiling.
"Yeah right." Emilia said. "You might have me beat, but I'm going to catch up." She smiled back at him. It was silent for some time, but then she hugged Reid who stood there frozen. With her head pressed against his small frame she began to speak. "Reid, you have no idea how happy I am to have met you. Having met you gives me a whole new look on things. I know I'm not alone anymore and I'll find new people who I can trust with my life. You've become a friend that is very special to me and I want you to remember that. But still I can't forget and I'm sorry for being the cause of your injury. I want to make it up to you somehow." She was about to continue, but she was stopped by Reid's laughter.
She looked up at him. "Relax a little." He said with that goofy smile on his face. "To make it up to me, try to beat me with all my PhDs and BAs." Emilia smiled. "And just live your life the way you want to."
Emilia nodded. "Okay. Then I guess this is goodbye."
Spencer laugh. "It's not a goodbye, it's more like I'll see you later." Emilia laughed as they hugged one last time and released each other. She watched as their plane took off and vanished into the sky. A small tear ran down her big smiling face as she whispered, "Thank you so much Spencer Reid."