DATE: April 2010
AUTHOR: LosingInTranslation (losingntrnslatn, Jennifer)
DISCLAIMER: Don't own anything associated with the show… I just like playing with the characters in it from time to time. Dance Monkeys! Dance!
RATING: T - Teen
FANDOM: Crossover Fic between Criminal Minds & The West Wing
PAIRING: CM = General Team & light Prentiss/Rossi - TWW = Charlie/Zoey
SPOILERS: Through US Aired Episodes of Season 5
WORD COUNT: 13,894
SUMMARY: The BAU is called in by the Secret Service to profile an old case, once thought closed.
DEDICATION: To Ali for inspiring the story with her generosity. To Carri for getting me totally hooked on TWW again. And to Cheryl and Lisa for putting up with my insanity as I wrote.
A/N: This one is almost epic, but the request sort of demanded it. With Darth Real-Life constantly getting in my way, it took me a long time to finish this one. It was written by special request as part of the Help_Haiti LJ Comm.
REVIEWS: Reviews are the way I know if people are enjoying the work or not. So, if you leave one, THANKS! And if not, I hope you found at least a little something to brighten your day, and thanks for taking the time to read.
CHAPTER FOUR
Emily felt like an unwelcome guest from the moment they walked in the door. Though not an uncommon feeling for her as an F.B.I. agent, it is the first time she has ever been on the other side of a coin she has experienced, first hand. As the daughter of an ambassador and legal attaché for the U.S. State Department, Emily Prentiss knows exactly what Zoey Bartlet-Young is going through.
Her mother and father were the frequent recipients of credible threats throughout her lifetime. Many were the times various security agents were advising her parents about yet another threat. And just like Zoey, there were also several actual attempts on their lives. She still believes her father's early stroke was a direct result of the stress and strain of their lives in the State Department.
Bringing herself back into the moment, Emily busies herself surveying their surroundings while Hotch runs down the facts of the case, as they knew them. For all intents and purposes, it is just like every other Georgetown townhome. The width is narrow, the floors a highly polished hardwood, cornices and moldings are plentiful and tastefully displayed. The tall ceilings and black walnut banisters can practically be found inside every house in the Northwest part of the District. The delicate balance of Early American antiques and soft modern furniture is what gives this townhome a distinctive feeling. And the contrasting blend of Herbes de Provence and baby powder tells her this is the home of a new mother from the modern breed.
Emily is drawn out of her observations when Mrs. Young voices her disbelief with a little more passion.
"I just don't understand how you people could have missed all of this. I mean, isn't this what you're trained to do? Figuring out the sick twisted minds of the maniacs before they hurt people?"
"That's what we strive for, Mrs. Young. But when we're faced with such a highly organized unsub, especially one who has hidden away from sight for such long a time, it's more about identifying and protecting their targets as we learn what makes them tick." J.J. is the best at her job, putting on just the right spin, even in the most difficult cases.
"So, what, you plan to use me as bait for this nut job? Are you crazy?" Mrs. Young's voice reaches another decibel level.
"That's not what she's saying, Zoey." Director Toscano steps in to diffuse the young woman's anger. "But this is not a typical case. It has a level of sophistication that none of us could have anticipated. So, it'll require a unique set of tactics."
"Well, you people can strategize all you want, but I am not about to put my son in danger to help you do what should have been done almost ten years ago!" Her anger is ramping up and Emily understands exactly what her frustrations are, and she knows it is time for her to step into the fray.
"Mrs. Young, no one is asking you to put anyone in harm's way." Emily sits forward on the couch and puts her case file on the coffee table in front of her. "We're asking you to allow us to complete a full profile of this case, with your assistance, while the Secret Service and the F.B.I. protect you and your family from this threat until we can figure out exactly where it's coming from. But we need you in order to do that. You know this person, even if you can't see it yet."
That gets her attention and she locks eyes with Emily. "That's not possible."
"I know it seems that way, but this person has intimate knowledge of your family, your personal and professional lives, and your habits. This person is connected to you, or your family, in some way." Emily knows that Hotch wanted to keep that information to themselves for a while longer, but she also knows if they want to find out who that person is, it means they have to get Mrs. Young's help. And to get that, they need her trust.
"It could be as simple as a gardener, or a piano teacher, or a tutor. Or…" Looking at Hotch, she sees his disapproval glaring at her, but she still chooses to forge ahead. "Or it could be someone close to you, like a friend or family member."
"Now I know you're crazy!" Mrs. Young jumps to her feet and flails her arms in the air. "There is absolutely NO WAY anyone in my family would ever do something like this!"
"That may be true…but as profilers, we have to look at all of the possibilities to find the truth. That's where we failed ten years ago." And there is the bombshell. Emily would never dare say it with Rossi around, but the truth everyone kept in their hearts is out there now. As she turns to look at Hotch and J.J., she can see the confirmation in their faces. However, she finds something else entirely in Director Toscano's face. In her eyes she sees guilt and shame, and it makes Emily regret her admission for a moment.
"But you caught them before…" Mrs. Young looks between Hotch and Director Toscano before dropping back down to the couch. "And Gina spotted them before the shots started, because of the profile back then, so I don't understand."
Emily can feel the pain in Zoey's words and it makes her pause. Before she can speak again, Director Toscano answers. "She's right, Zoey. We found a likely target and never widened our search. We were so focused on the hate crime angle, it never dawned on us back then that the skinheads were nothing more than hired thugs."
Hotch steps up to take some of the heat away from the situation. "There are also the technological advances we've made in forensic linguistics in the last ten years. Ten years ago, the letters were read by behavioral analysis students and flagged for the attention of a specialized group of Secret Service agents, and then by the agents in charge of specific protection details to determine their credible danger."
"And now?"
J.J., sitting next to the young woman, takes out a report detailing the key phrases found in the hundreds of letters flagged by the comparative linguists program Garcia has been using on this case. "We have software that scans through the transcripts of each letter for word usage, syntax and grammatical pattern similarities. We now have the capability to scan thousands of transcribed letters in a single day, which would have taken months in the past."
"And you found matches in more than just the hate mail for me and Charlie?" Her eyes, betraying her shock at such a revelation, also hold a depth of sadness that surprises Emily.
"Yes…" Hotch brings out another report, detailing the dates and addressees of each letter matching the one Mrs. Young received the day before. "Six hundred seventy-two letters and post cards during the time of your father's presidency, and we have technicians in Manchester going through the archives from his time in the Governor's mansion. If we can determine a timeline for when these letters began, we might be able to help narrow down the suspect pool."
Her eyes are glued to the page as the information sinks in. "That's…that's just… My God. The level of obsession something like that would take…"
"In a typical case, we refer to this kind of unsub as an erotomanic, but given the level of organization, and their ability to avoid detection, forces us to revise that classification." J.J. tries to explain the team's conclusions to the young woman, but Emily can see that nothing is going to get through until she can digest what she has already been hit with.
When J.J. attempts to maintain eye contact with the woman, they are interrupted as the front door is thrown open and a voice bellows throughout the house. "ZOEY!"
In a flash of movement, Mrs. Young is off the couch and flying through the room. As she reaches the doorway she is enveloped in the arms of her worried husband. "Zoey, are you okay? Where's Jack? I got here as fast as I could. Why didn't you call me?" His questions spill out in a stream, without regard to any answer. Emily can tell his words have probably been cycling through his brain for a while. "What happened?"
When no one answers his last question, he speaks again, but in an angry voice this time. "What the hell happened?!"
Hotch tries to bring things down a few notches before they explain the case to the young man. "Mr. Young, perhaps you'd like a few moments to collect yours-"
"Forget that! What happened and what the hell do you plan to do to protect my family?" The man's anger is seething from every pore in his body.
"Charlie, you need to get a hold of yourself. We're here to help." Director Toscano puts her hat into the ring, hoping to calm him down.
"I don't want to hear it, Gina. You told us it was over. You said your investigation was thorough and there were no loose ends. I was standing right there when you told Zoey's father it was over." Mr. Young holds his wife a little tighter before his anger explodes. "And there I am sitting in a hotel in Montreal when I get a damn phone call, A PHONE CALL from some low level flunkie saying my family has been threatened, but I shouldn't worry because you've got it under control?"
Director Toscano desperately tries to calm the angry young man. "Charlie, I know you're upset right now, but-"
"Upset? Upset?! Look, I don't know what you folks over in the Secret Service are smoking these days, but you obviously need to knock it off and rejoin us here on Planet Pissed the Hell OFF!"
There was no point trying to continue the interview after Mr. Young arrived. Both of them were far too worked up for anything to get through. Director Toscano drew the short straw and was busy working to calm the couple down.
"It's gonna be a while before they're ready for any more." J.J. looks over her shoulder in the direction of the parlour. "If he's anything like Will, it could be a long while."
"It's not easy when your family is in jeopardy and you feel powerless to protect them." She could feel the pain in Hotch's words. And the look she finds on J.J.'s face tells Emily she can feel it, too.
In an attempt to throw the focus off of Hotch, J.J. asks Emily a question. "Emily, did you really mean that? Does the profile actually point to the possibility of a family member?"
"It's a longshot, but at this point we really don't want to discount anything." Begrudgingly, Emily confirms the most difficult aspect of the profile. "Whoever it is knows this woman's life with an intimate detail reserved for very few people."
"Emily's right. This person has access to information available only to a select group. When we finally reveal the unsub, it's going to be a real shock…" Hotch's face turns into a perfect stone when he concludes, "To everyone involved."