Kabby AU (Criminal Minds)
Six months have gone by the day the leader of the sect "City of Light" was arrested by the Behavioral Analysis Unit, directed by Marcus Kane with the help of the criminologist Abigail Griffin. Six years during which everyone thought that this dreadful case was finally over. Six years during which everyone was trying to forget, to piece themselves back together, to move forward …
But, the discovery of a body will force them to return into a past whose all the wounds have not yet healed.
This is the translation of my french fic with the same name.
Thank you so so so much to charmingly-evil & artisan-kom-kabbykru for her help with my english mistakes.
Chapter 1 :
Nothing seemed to have changed. It was like, even after six years, time had stopped. Only the three letters above the main entrance seemed to have been refreshed, unlike the rest of the frontage.
Although she dreaded coming back here, Abigail Griffin hadn't imagined the brutality with which all the memories she had tried to forget in recent years would come back to her mind.
Her hands tightened around the coffee she was holding and for a while she remained motionless, struggling not to immediately turn away.
" Can I help you? " asked a young man around twenty who was wearing flippantly a backpack on one of his shoulders.
The question made her come back to reality and she shook her head.
"No, no thank you. I've been here before," she replied, trying to smile despite the lump in her throat.
The student nodded slightly. He was about the leave but at the last moment, hesitated, and finally turned back to her.
"You're Abigail Griffin, right? The profiler? " he asked, staring at her.
The woman held back a sigh. She hated being recognized on the street. Since her publisher had decided to add her portrait on the cover of one of her books without telling her, she was frequently accosted by strangers who, sometimes, asked very weird questions.
"Rather doctor of criminology, " she corrected automatically.
No, she wasn't a profiler, at least not in the generally accepted sense of that word . She wasn't the kind of person who could guess the life of one another because of a badly ironed shirt or some messy hair. No. Abigail Griffin did nothing more than analyze the facts in light of sociological, historical, psychological or forensic elements.
She only linked the hundreds of pages of a file. She gave meaning to a broken glass in the middle of a kitchen or to an anomaly in cadaveric rigidity, but in any case, she was able to enter in the killer's mind. To be honest, she had been skeptical about the reliability of this discipline for a very long time. But then, one day, she had pushed this door in front of her… This damned door and all of her skepticism had been put to the test …
"But yes. It's me, " she finally confirmed reluctantly.
A broad smile stretched the student's lips.
"My name is Jasper Jordan, I am student at the Academy. I'm reading one of your books these days. The one about the crimes related to sectarian abuse… I have it with me, do you think you could sign it? " he asked, starting to open his bag without waiting for an answer.
Abby took a step back and shook her head.
"I don't sign autographs, " she said, more coldly than she wanted.
"Excuse me, I'm expected! " she added quickly to end the conversation.
She wanted so badly to run away from this student that, without thinking anymore, she finally found the courage to climb the few stairs to the front door above which was inscribed the acronym for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
After a quick stop to the security checkpoint, Abby walked to the reception and gave at the receptionist the official papers, which justified her presence here. The young woman offered her a friendly smile and began to type on her computer keyboard.
"Aurora Blake doesn't work here anymore? " Abby asked casually.
The young girl's face, who was named Maya Vie according to her badge, suddenly darkened. She looked up from her screen and gave her a sympathetic look.
"No ma'am … She … She died two years ago. Leukemia. " she said by grimacing slightly.
" Oh ! I … I didn't know, " Abby whispered, shocked.
Even if the two women had known each other a very little time, Abigail kept some very good memories of Aurora Blake. The woman had always been friendly and helpful. Abby was used to stop and exchanged a few words with her before going home when she worked here six years ago. The receptionist was a wonderful woman. She had raised her two children alone and had sacrificed her health to give them a better future.
"What about her son? " she asked with a genuine interest.
"The agent Blake still works here and his sister, Octavia, has officially joined the team! ", Maya informed her, this time, with a grin.
"I can't wait to meet her, " Abby said, which seemed to make the girl in front of her giggle.
"You won't be disappointed," commented Maya with a lower tone, stifling a chuckle, before looking at her screen again.
Abby arched an eyebrow, surprised by the girl's remark, but she remained quiet.
When she met him, Bellamy Blake was still a young agent. A kind of a hothead, but who was, in no doubt, very promising. His sister couldn't possibly be worst than him.
"Everything is in order Doctor Griffin, you can go, " the girl finally told her.
" Thank you, " Abby said before taking back her record and walking toward the elevators.
Once inside, Abby instantly regretted to not having taken the stairs. She pressed the button for the ninth floor and slipped between the other users to go leaning against the back wall. She looked at the screen, which announced the different floors and she tried to focus on the red numbers. She tried to didn't let her old memories invaded her mind but she failed.
It was late, so late that only the cleaners were still at work in the building.
He was standing beside her and she could feel his arm brush almost imperceptibly against hers. None of them had spoken about what had happened the previous night. They didn't have had the opportunity or at least, they had avoided the opportunity to arise, she couldn't tell.
It was a mistake, an accident probably due to fatigue and to the excitement of the moment. Her eyes were fixed on the elevator's floor, which worked too slowly for her taste. She could felt the beating of her heart becoming faster in her chest. Tension and discomfort seemed to saturate the atmosphere. Ordinarily, she would have immediately get everything clear. She would have taken action and made sure that this kind of thing could never happen again. However, at this time, everything was different. Everything was different because it was him. Because no matter the words which would come out of her mouth and the belief that she would put in her tone, he would be able, with only one look, to know that nothing was true, that she was speaking with her head and not her heart. He seemed to be able to read her like an open book. Not because of his job, but because of an inexplicable reason, he knew her by heart.
Suddenly, she felt his fingers gently stroke hers and she had to fight with all her strength to not shudder. She kept her eyes on the floor, but unconsciously, she let her thumb brush lightly the back of his hand. She was playing with fire. They were playing with fire!
"Abigail…," he whispered, turning abruptly toward her, his hand firmly gripping her elbow to keep her close to him.
For the first time since they had entered in this elevator, her gaze met his and Abby suddenly felt like she was running out of air.
"That's your floor right? " he pointed out to her the man who stood before her.
The question abruptly brought her back to reality. Abby nodded vigorously and muttered a few words of apology as she was sneaking between other users. Once outside, the woman ran a hand over her face and tried to take her composure back.
"Let's go !" she muttered to herself before pushing the door of the Behavioral Analysis Unit.
"If you had plans for this weekend, it's time to cancel it. And I'm not saying that just for you Octavia, " exclaimed the agent Raven Reyes as she was entering the meeting room, her arms filled with records.
All eyes turned toward the youngest member of the team. The young woman shrugged ostensibly and shook her head like if she had no idea about what the analyst was talking about.
"Do not act innocent ! Do you really think I haven't seen this beautiful Greek god who dropped you off this morning? " teased the agent Gina Martin by exchanging a knowing glance with Raven.
"Who is she speaking about? " inquired suddenly Bellamy with a suspicious glance in the direction of his little sister.
"Raven ! The case ! Now ! " exclaimed Marcus who had no time to waste with this childishness.
If in recent years, the agent Kane was accustomed to working with young adults, he wasn't nonetheless become more conciliatory with them. Although he wasn't the oldest of the team, the agent David Miller preceding him of a few years, he was the one who always broke the mood, the one who call them to order, the one who was almost unable to smile. However, he was also the one who knew how to motivate them when they needed it, the one who encouraged them to use all of their capacity and the one who knew to congratulate them when they deserved it.
" Immediately Sir ! " Raven said as she hurried to distribute to each member of the team a copy of the file.
Once done, the woman grabbed a remote and activated the overhead projector. The photograph of a body, face against the ground and covered by blood, appeared on the whiteboard.
"Dante Wallace, seventy-three years old. He was found dead in his country house, two days ago. He has obviously been tortured. We don't have the results of the autopsy yet, but the hundreds of superficial lesions on the body left no doubt. A priori, he would have been killed by a bullet through the heart, " she explained seriously while the team was listening to her quietly.
"A robbery gone wrong? The killer might have simply wanted to make him say his credit card number," Octavia offered as she was leaning against the back of her seat, as if the case has, finally no interest to her.
"Nothing has been stolen and— " Raven began to answer but she suddenly stopped and turned her head slightly toward the agent Kane.
Marcus nodded and the young agent moved on the next photograph of the crime scene. This time, the body was on its back and the image was centered on his forehead.
" Does that remind you of something? " asked Raven.
The oldest members of the team nodded while Gina and Octavia shook their head negatively.
"For those who weren't there six years ago, this is the infinite symbol, but I bet you already know. Where it gets interesting is that during the last fifteen years, it had been found on over fifty crime scene across the country. On the victim himself or on an object or a nearby wall. These crimes have probably all been committed by members of a sect: The City of Light. A group of nut who believe that the greatest danger to the mankind is the mankind itself, well except for them of course, they consider themselves as the elect beings, " she explained with a slight smirk.
"What happened six years ago? " inquired Octavia, visibly more interested than a few minutes earlier.
Raven brought out the portrait of an Afro-American man, around forty-year-old and opened her mouth to answer, but she was cut off by the intervention of another person who was standing in the doorway of the room.
"Their leader was arrested! Thelonius Jaha. He was a member of the Congress. He was elected in New York. He is currently serving a life sentence at the Red Onion State Prison in Virginia. He was the one who decided who could leave or who had to die, that's why no other murder has been recorded since his arrest. At least until today," replied a female voice.
Marcus felt all of his muscles tensed. He didn't need to turn around to know to whom this voice belonged to. He swallowed hard but tried to keep a perfectly neutral expression.
Raven's face seemed to light up while those who had known the Dr. Griffin in the past seemed as stunned as their boss to see her here.
"Maybe a former member wanted to finish the job? " Octavia offered as she didn't seem bothered by the intervention of a woman she didn't know.
" It's unlikely. The members of the COL are extremely submissive, either because they firmly believe Jaha's precepts or because they are certain to be paid for their work, " Abby stated as she walked in the room.
All eyes were now fixed on her, except Kane's. He stayed motionless with his back to her, but Abby couldn't help but notice the way his fingers were particularly tightened around the armrest of his seat.
"An imitator then? " asked Gina.
"This is what we have to determine, " Marcus replied abruptly in place of the criminologist.
"First, we must focus on the victim, establish his profile and eliminate all other motives : family tensions, economic or sentimental, problems with his company, burglary … Well, you know your job. If we got nothing then we'll search for something linked with the COL, " he said with his usual professional tone before getting up from his seat.
"Raven give them a quick rundown about Dante Wallace! I'll let you finish, I have a phone call to make, " he added, pulling out his phone from his pocket.
Then Marcus turned toward the exit and this time he couldn't avoid to be facing to the last woman on earth he wanted to recross one day.
"Dr. Griffin," he greeted her coldly, looking at her right in the eyes for a split second before getting around to leave the conference room.
"Agent Kane, " she replied with the same tone, emotionless.
It could have been worse, she tried to convince herself, although the way her heart had suddenly tighten in her chest when his eyes had crossed hers told her the opposite.
After the agent Kane had left the room, the atmosphere seemed to relax. Raven put the remote on the table and walked toward the criminologist to take her in her arms.
"Abby ! I missed you, " she said warmly.
Despite their age and personality differences , the two women were especially close when the Dr. Griffin has first come in Quantico. Abby had liked all the team members, but Raven had become something like a friend to her.
"Dr. Griffin! Welcome back! " Bellamy exclaimed, shaking her hand.
"This is my sister, agent Octavia Blake and our new former liaison Gina Martin, " he added, as the two women addressed her a nod.
For a split second, Abby hesitated to express her condolences to the Blake, but she changed her mind at the last moment. This was neither the time nor the place and somehow, she wasn't supposed to be aware of their mother's death. Furthermore, her arrival and Marcus reaction had already cast a chill more than enough for today.
"I don't need to introduce you to the agent Miller, " Bellamy continued as he turned his head toward the senior of the team.
"Dr. Griffin, " Miller greeted her with a pleasant smile.
"I thought the agent Iceta had told you I was coming…," said Abby, still uncomfortable due to Kane's reaction.
"No, but that's not a problem, you're just in time! " Raven reassured her.
"Please sit down! " she added by seizing the remote control to display again the photography of Dante Wallace's corpse.