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The precognition.
Two days ago.
Reid:
Spencer woke up with a start. It was 4:00 am and this was the third time he was brutally awakened by a dream he couldn't recall. It almost sounded silly. Dr Spencer Reid, youngest member of the BAU with an IQ of 187 and eidetic memory couldn't remember a nightmare. Because it had to be a nightmare. What other explanation he could get after waking up three times in a row covered in cold sweat, breathing heavily and with a terrible feeling that something wasn't right? And that wasn't the worst part. No, the worst part was what came after the nightmares: pain.
Yep, the headaches came back. And. Worst. Than. Ever.
At first he thought this was his subconscious answer to Emily's departure to the Interpool, but that was months ago. He had even come to terms about it.
He flinched as he turned on the light, feeling the pain becoming stronger. Even after going to a dozen of doctors for more than a year, none of them could tell what was wrong with him, and he was starting to fear for the worse. If there was a God, he prayed that he hadn't what he thought he was having.
He knew that he wouldn't get any sleep anymore, so after a few minutes trying to calm the throbbing in his head he finally got up and walked to the bathroom to take a shower. He had resigned himself of spending the rest of the morning finding out how to calm down his headache, and, if lucky, reading something.
Just before getting into the bathroom he caught a glimpse of a picture of his godson, Henry, who was probably the only little child in the world he was good with. Right next to the picture was a little present wrapped in shinning blue colors. Today was Henry's fourth birthday. Spencer had never been good with presents, no matter how good profiler he was, but he was proud about this one. It was one of the first books his mom used to read at him when he was a child, The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer. He knew that it wasn't exactly a book for a four year old kid, but he wanted to share something like that with his godson.
A strange feeling appeared out of nothing as he saw the present, it was the same feeling he felt when he woke up, the feeling that something was very wrong. But what? And more importantly, why? Today was supposed to be a happy day, even JJ took the day off so she could prepare Henry a small birthday party at night, and all the team was looking forward to it. Then why he felt this way?
Spencer tried to push his pessimist thoughts away and replace them with more optimistic ones. Today was going to be a good day, after all, what could possibly go wrong?
Hotch:
"Jack! Breakfast is ready, you better hurry up, we are running late!" Jessica said as she served two glasses of milk and settled the table. Aaron appeared behind her a few minutes later with a big plate full of pancakes in his hands.
"I'm coming!" they heard Jack say.
"He won´t come unless you tell him what's for breakfast" he told her with a smile and Jessica rolled her eyes.
"Come on, Jack! The pancakes will get cold!" Jessica tried again, following her brother-in-law advice.
"We are eating pancakes!?" Jack said with surprise, and before Hotch could blink, and he never blinked, his son was already sitting at the table.
"Whoa, buddy. That was fast!"
"Eat quickly, Jack" Jessica insisted, looking at the clock. School started in forty five minutes.
"Yes, aunt Jessie"
Hotch smiled as he watched his son try to eat a whole pancake in one bite and failing completely.
"So, seems like you and Beth are getting… along pretty well" Jessica said in a small, kind voice. She didn´t have any intention of fighting, she was just trying to make conversation.
Before Hotch could even think an answer, Jack spoke.
"I like Beth, she is good to me" that made both Jessica and Aaron smile.
"He is right, we both like Beth very much" Hotch said, turning to Jessica. He had sensed her curious tone the moment she made the question, and knew she didn't have bad intentions.
"I'm happy. For both of you. From what I heard, she seems fine"
"Yeah. She is"
Jessica looked at the soft smile in Aaron's face. It has been a long time since she saw that smile, when… when her sister was alive.
As if reading her thoughts, Hotch got a little closer to Jessica and said in a quieter voice.
"I'm not trying to replace Hayle, Jessica"
"Oh! Aaron, I know that. I do" she said, almost in alarm. "I am sure she would want you to move on and be happy. You… you are happy, right?"
It took him a few minutes to answer, but when he did, it was accompanied by a soft and a whole-hearted smile.
"Yes, I am"
There were a few more moments in silence, and then Jack spoke, snapping both adults out of their thoughts.
"I finished daddy"
"Good, buddy. Now go brush your teeth" Jack nodded and, as fast as he came, he left.
"Today is Henry's birthday. Did you buy a present?" Jessica asked, changing easily the topic, and laughed as she saw the horror in Aaron's face.
"Don't worry, Jack told me about the party a week ago and just as I thought you forgot to buy something, so I took care of it. Jack knows where it is." Hotch let out a sigh of relief as he heard those words.
"I own you one"
"Yes you do"
Jack came back running again, present in hands, and jumped into his father's legs.
"I chose it, daddy!" he announced, proud of himself.
"Really? What is it?"
"It's a mini truck. Do you think he'll like it?"
"I think he'll love it, buddy. Are you excited for the party?"
"Yeah!"
Jessica smiled at her nephew's excitement.
"So I will pick him up at school today and wait for you in here until you return from work tonight, does that sounds okay?"
"Yes, thank you again, Jessica"
"Don't mention it. Okay Jack, time is up. We most go now, say bye to daddy"
Jack hugged his father's neck quickly and Aaron quickly returned the hug.
"Bye bye daddy"
"Good bye, Jack. See you at night"
"Bye Aaron. Be careful"
Hotch nodded with a smile in his face as he too started to take his things to go to the BAU. As he put on his coat his eyes caught a glimpse of Henry's present, which Jack had placed near a photo of him and his dad, and felt a strange feeling. The morning had been great so far, it was a beautiful day. Then why he suddenly felt that something was very wrong?
Aaron banished that thought as quickly as he could before it could change his mood. Nothing bad was going to happen today.
Morgan:
To say he was surprised would be an understatement. A huge understatement. Since his beloved cousin Cindy was rescued a few months ago, she and her son Anthony had been staying with her mother in Chicago. Of course, he went to visit them every once in a while, but this was the first time they came to D.C. So seeing them standing at his front door was a surprise, a nice one.
"Hey!" he greeted them with a happy smile while he stood aside to let them in his house "What are you guys doing here?"
Cindy smiled back as she placed both of her hands on Anthony's shoulders.
"Anthony wanted for a while to visit you, so after saving a little money we thought you could use a surprise. Do we come at a bad moment?"
"What? No! Not at all!" he replied, smiling even more. He knelt to see Anthony in the eye.
"So you wanted to see me, lil' man?"
"Yes" Anthony said happily "I missed you"
"We missed you" Cindy corrected and finally walked those few steps that separated her from her cousin to give him a hug, with the boy in the middle. Derek smiled and returned the hug.
He was so happy to see both of them, they were his family after all.
"So where are you staying at?"
"We are at the Holiday Inn Washington-Georgetown"
"So you are here for a vacation?"
"Well, something like that"
Derek nodded as he watched his watch. He was late for work.
"Hmm listen. I gotta run. How about you guys join me and my team at the birthday party of the son of one of my friends?"
"But we don't have any present" Cindy said, getting immediately that she was delaying her cousin. It didn't take a profiler to see he was in a rush.
"We could make them one of grandma's favorite desserts, that would count as a gift, right?" Anthony proposed and Morgand almost kissed the kid. Almost.
"That's a great idea! You could go and get whatever you need and make it here. Here are my keys, I don't think your room has an oven" he said as fast as he could. Cindy caught the keys and tried not to laugh at his cousin words.
Morgan quickly gave Cindy a kiss on the cheek, ruffled a little Anthony's hair and ran away from the house closing the door behind him.
Cindy giggled as she turned to her son.
"What we got ourselves into?"
"Apparently, in a birthday party" the boy said with a smile.
.
.
.
While Morgan turned on the car he saw his cousin and nephew getting out the building too. Somehow, as he saw them, he felt a strange and sudden feeling of impotence that had nothing to do with the fact that he was running late. He felt like a little voice was screaming at him don't let them out of your sight, don't let them alone in your house, but he didn't get why. Today was a good day, the sky was blue, it was Henry's birthday and his family came to visit him.
Derek shushed the voice away and drove out of the parking lot. It was not like something bad was going to happen today.
JJ:
Today was a big day. That was what JJ was thinking while she cleaned the breakfast dishes alone in the kitchen.
Her little boy turned four years old. It took her a while to convince her boss, but finally she managed to get this day off to prepare him a real birthday party. Will had to work today, but he promised that he would make it to the night and so did her friends. She wondered with a smile what kind of presents Garcia had prepared for her son, knowing her, she had to be ready for anything. Spence was another story of course and she was truly curious about what his present would be.
Since today was school day Will took Henry into the kindergarten before going to work. Henry was completely excited about today and she promised herself that he would enjoy every minute of it.
Today was going to be perfect.
Will:
He had to admit that he was surprised when Chief Brown told his unit to go to a crime scene. They still hadn't finished their other case.
Then what surprised him more was the fact that JJ's team was out of say crime scene.
"Hey!" he heard from Spencer as he got out the van.
"Hey" he greeted back with a small smile.
"They send you here?"
"Yeah. Seems like you are staying local too. What did you get?"
"Child homicide and parent suicide. The bodies are still inside." Hotch said, appearing out of nothing. Will nodded and entered the house in silence. He walked upstairs and entered the room he thought had the victims, then he froze.
"Oh no…"
"What is it?" Reid asked "Did you know the victims?"
"Yes, that is James Johnson." Will tried hard not to look in the eye to the bodies "And the father is…was George Johnson. Detective George Johnson"
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A shadow looked with curiosity how the the police and the FBI team talked inside the room. He hadn't expected that his little mission to cause so much attention. Usually they gave up once he took another life to his collection. Haven't they understood his mission yet? Why they couldn't get that he was doing a good thing, he was saving those childs from their own parents. He had to admit, he enjoyed the pain in the parents eyes, he enjoyed the fact that they felt the same way he did. The Detective's death took him by surprise, he didn't expect him to kill himself. He was weak.
The shadow looked with a calculative smile the new two FBI members that were joining the scene. He had big plans for them.
"Seems like this will be a busy day…"
I got surprise when I read the mistakes just after I uploaded this chapter, and realized that the ending was incomplete. Sorry for the ones who read it before. My bad.
See? Told you the poor George was important. Tell me what you think! Like it? Hate it?
