Copyright: Criminal Minds, its cast, characters and plots are property of Touchstone Television, LOOK! Effects, Inc., Paramount Network Television Productions and the Mark Gordon Company. The show was created by Jeff Davis and is written by Mr. Davis and Simon Mirren.
(Purposeful) Technical Errors: You'll notice that I call everyone (except Hotchner) a Special Agent. According to the FBI's website, Supervisory Special Agents head up units—they do not make up entire units by themselves. That's the only time I intend to stick to conceivable reality in this story. ^_^ (I also confess to adjusting the events of "Demonology" to fit my story, and I apologize.)
A/N: This story started life in 2005 as Cornered and it involved Gideon and a slightly rushed storyline…but now I have a different target in mind. ;) (Garcia was involved in the original version, so that's why she's breaking out of her office to "come along for the ride".)
By the way—(the original airing of) "Demonology" was the first episode I've watched since Mandy Patinkin left, so I beg your pardon in advance for any canonical inconsistencies (other than the one mentioned above).
Prologue
He crept softly toward the window, taking care not to wake his wife. His glasses glinted balefully in the faint glow of the bathroom nightlight, but he did not bother to reach for them, so familiar was this path. To the bedroom window, pause for a short length of time, then down the hall to the guest room; to be alone with his thoughts—as he had been on so many sleepless nights since Matt's death. A year later, Tom Benton was still questioning whether he had made the right decision.
It had been a struggle to pull the memory from the depths of his mind, even with these visits to Matt's old room. With some effort, however, Tom eventually recalled the increasing worry he and Andrea had shared in Matt's declining years. He thought it had begun with five months of missed curfews, progressing to raucous parties when he and his wife were gone at length; finally spiraling into suspected drug use and rampant indulgence in prostitution. Andrea had tried to speak with Matt several times, but her queries had fallen on deaf ears. Tom had artfully arranged a few man-to-man talks, but the last had ended with Matt moving out. At last, he agreed with Andrea—it was time to see Father Lawrence, their parish priest.
Tom had attended the first few appointments alone; but when the parish secretary had found him in his car, ten minutes late for the fourth appointment and somewhat glaring at the windshield, Andrea finally consented to come along. The conversations had been endless, it seemed; discussing every nuance of Matt's life and some aspects on which the Bentons had only theorized. Just when Tom had become convinced of his apparent worthlessness as a counselor, however, Father Lawrence pulled through—he wrote them a referral to Father Silvano, a "specialist".
oOoOoOo
From there, Tom couldn't remember…wouldn't remember. He and Andrea had attended a lengthy meeting filled with long silences; followed by a much shorter one, perhaps a week after, with Tom and Father Silvano alone. He barely recalled Andrea refusing to attend the exorcism…and when they laid Matthew in the ground, he found that he couldn't blame her.
Tom suddenly snapped back to the present as he realized someone was speaking.
"Stupid actions net stupid results."
He sat up and glanced nervously toward the window. After a moment of silence, the voice spoke again.
"I'm sorry. Were you expecting something more…comforting? Perhaps something along the lines of, 'You did the right thing. We do what is best for our children, regardless of the apparent lack of wisdom in our decision'?"
A hint of laughter followed and the owner of the voice materialized. As he had half-suspected, she was clad in a floor-length white gown…he surprised to see the daring cut of the neckline and the dark blonde hair that waved gracefully over her shoulders.
"You're not an angel, are you?"
This time, the amusement was more evident as the woman turned away from the window, her gray eyes glinting in the light of the crescent moon. "I can be whatever you want me to be, Tom."