Clara sat up with a gasp. The bed sheets were wrapped around her feet and she had a layer of sweat covering her. She was breathing deeply and she suddenly felt Dean sit up.
"What? What is it?" he asked quickly, his eyes not opened completely.
"Nothing." Clara answered quickly. She was reliving the moments before their wedding but she couldn't tell him. "Just a dream, I guess." She sighed and Dean rubbed his eyes and looked at her. "Sorry for waking you." She smiled over once he placed a kiss on her shoulder to let her know everything was going to be alright.
"It's fine... not like I was sleeping." He laughed and she shook her head. "Now go back to sleep... we have a very early and long day tomorrow." Dean sighed as he laid back down punching the pillow a few times. Clara sighed deeply as she lay back slowly staring at the ceiling. It was quiet for a second before Dean noticed. "You know sleeping usually works best if you close your eyes." He said opening one eye to see the look on her face. "Clara?" he questioned and she looked down at him with a small smile.
"Yea?" She asked finally settling into a comfortable place.
"You alright?" he asked reaching out for her hand.
"I thought we were past the days where we would ask that question." She laughed with a deep sigh.
"And I thought we were past the days where I needed to ask." Dean answered quickly.
"Just a stupid dream Dean, let it go." She rolled her eyes at him and he huffed at her answer.
"A dream that has been waking you for almost two years... and yet you still won't tell me what it is." Dean sighed taking his hand back from hers.
"It's not something worth talking about." She huffed back.
"Fine..." Dean ended the conversation and turned his back on her.
"Oh what? You're mad at me now?" She huffed with a laugh and when Dean didn't answer she knew he was tired of her lying. Hell, she was tired of lying. "Dean?" She questioned and he didn't move. "Seriously?" She asked annoyed.
Nothing more was said between the two. Clara groaned as she turned to the other side. She fell asleep soon but she felt guilty. She wanted to tell him what her dream was about but she couldn't. She couldn't bring all that up now, things had been going so good for almost four years now that if she told him he would never forgive her.
The sun rose quickly the next day and Clara was last to get up. Dean was in the shower when she opened her eyes. She rolled off the bed and walked into the hallway. It was quiet and she wondered why. She walked by Gwen's room and panicked a bit at the silence.
"Gwen? You awake yet sweetheart?" She asked as she opened the door slowly.
"Yes." Her little voice came from the corner of the room.
When Clara walked in she couldn't see Gwen. "Where are you?" She asked with a laugh.
"Over here." She answered calmly.
Clara followed the voice to the other side of her bed. Gwen was sitting the corner staring at ground. "What are you doing?" Clara asked walking over and sitting in front of her.
"Waiting." She answered not even looking up at her mother.
"For what?" Clara had to keep asking questions.
"Castiel." She sighed deeply. "He said he was going to bring me something but he hasn't come yet." She sighed a bit disappointed.
"Gwen, Castiel hasn't been around for a long time." Clara rolled her eyes. Cas hadn't even come to see her or Dean since Adrian was taken by Crowley. But apparently he made weekly visits to her daughter and Clara didn't know whether to be concerned or happy.
"He's coming." She argued.
"Okay... well how about we go eat breakfast and then you can come back and wait?" Clara offered.
"Okay." Gwen finally looked up with a big smile. She jumped forward into Clara's arm and they both laughed. Clara let her climb onto her back and she gave her a piggy back down the stairs and into the kitchen.
"Adrian you better get your ass in gear!" She called out as they passed his closed bedroom door.
"Yea!" Gwen giggled loudly.
"Alright, do we want cereal or toast?" Clara asked Gwen as she placed her in a chair.
"Lucky Charms!" Gwen yelled and smacked the table a few times.
"Yea cause you need more energy." Clara whispered herself as she got the box out of the cupboard. When she opened the door and noticed there wasn't a box sitting on the self. "What the hell?" She whispered again.
"Lucky Charms!" Gwen shrieked loudly. She was hungry and if Clara didn't get her those colourful marshmallows she would have one really pissed of three-year old.
"Hold on sweetheart." Clara tried to say calmly. Clara looked in a few other cupboards and she couldn't find the stupid red box. "Really?" She sighed. Then her answer came jumping down the steps.
"Oh yea I ate the last of those last night." Adrian's voice made Clara turn around with a huff.
"What?" Both Clara and Gwen asked. Clara was more angry, and Gwen was hurt.
"What? I was hungry." He shrugged and rolled his eyes.
"So out of all the food in the fridge you choose the one things she eats?" Clara crossed her arms and watched as Adrian walked into the kitchen and grabbed an apple from the fridge.
"Well why does she get to eat them all." He whined.
"Oh my god, grow up." She rolled her eyes.
"Wow." Adrian huffed and rolled his eyes. "Nice."
"Just as nice as you eating your three-year old sister's cereal." Clara huffed.
"That's okay mommy... I can have toast." Gwen spoke up with a sigh.
"See she can have toast." Adrian said with his mouth full.
Clara shot him an annoyed look as she loaded the toaster with bread. Adrian huffed and rolled his eyes. For someone who was about to graduate high school, he was very moody. Then again it seemed to be a common thing with most 18 year olds... to me annoyed with their parents and just want out. But Adrian was worse. He had been distant, moody, and reckless the last year.
He would sneak out in the middle of the night, and disappear until the morning. He would skip school and come home late without an explanation. Clara and Dean have asked him hundreds of times where he would go and who he was hanging out with but he would get angry, yell, storm to his room and wouldn't come out until the sun came back up.
Clara and Dean had tried their best to try and discipline him but he would just run away. Something was bothering him but he wouldn't share. Clara didn't know what to do. She didn't have the parenting skills to deal with his attitude, and she didn't feel right lecturing him or yelling at him because he wasn't his mother. Something he reminded her of everyday. "You aren't my mother!" Were like little daggers in her heart every time he said those four words.
Clara sighed as the bread finally popped up. "Peanut butter or jam?" Clara asked Gwen.
"Um..." She hummed.
"Not that hard of a question." Adrian rolled his eyes.
"I...I.. Both?" Gwen stuttered as Adrian huffed at her.
"Alright." Clara smiled at Gwen and passed her the small plate with her toast. "Here you go." She smiled.
"Thank you." Gwen sighed sadly but smiled anyway.
Clara shook her head at Adrian who finished his apple and threw it into the sink. "Really? What are you an animal?" She asked and Adrian huffed putting the core in the garbage.
"There! Happy..." He rolled his eyes.
"You know you should really get a new reaction... because rolling your eyes at everything is just annoying." Clara shrugged.
"Oh yea..." he laughed. "Look who's talking."
"Don't you have class to skip?" Clara looked up quickly.
"Yes." He smiled proudly. She knew he wasn't bothered by her jab.
"Why don't you go to class? You might actually learn something other than smart come backs." Dean's annoyed voice came into the kitchen.
"Says the hunter who didn't finish high school." Adrian said under his breath.
"And look how that turned out for me." Dean fired back.
"Easy." Clara warned.
"No, I've had enough of your attitude toward school." Dean said looking over at Adrian and ignoring Clara. "If you don't want to go to school that's fine but you better be ready for a pretty shitty life kid. No education equals no job."
"Language." Clara barked as they all looked over at Gwen who just smiled up at them cheerfully with peanut butter on her face.
"No you're right Dean." Adrian laughed as he walked over to Dean. "I should go to school... because I might end up like you... with an annoying kid and a naggy wife!" Adrian yelled finally getting angry.
"Get out." Dean ordered with is fists balled at his side and his face as cold as it could be. Adrian huffed and rolled his eyes and left quickly.
"And who knows if he'll come back this time." Clara sighed as she took Gwen's empty plate and put it in the sink. "Go wash your face, brush those teeth, and get dressed." Clara smiled down at Gwen.
"Okay!" She said and took off.
"What do you expect me to do?" Dean huffed getting back to the topic.
"Nothing." Clara shrugged as she leaned against the counter. "We can't do anything... we both know damn well you have to make mistakes before you can actually learn." She sighed.
"And that's what you want him to go through? You want him to screw up so he can learn?" Dean asked a bit confused.
"If that's what it takes." She sighed rubbing her face.
"Seriously?" Dean asked with a huff.
"Well what else do you suggest we do Dean?" She snapped a bit. "We aren't his parents, and he is 18. He is free to do whatever he wants and he knows it." Clara sighed.
Dean watched as she walked by him. He knew she had given up on Adrian because every time he told her she wasn't his mother it broke her heart. Dean understood that one person could only take so much and even though Clara was the strongest person he had ever met, he knew she was tired.
"We got a case... I'll drop Gwen off at daycare. Pick her up after work and I'll be back in a couple days." Clara said quietly.
"What about Adrian?" Dean asked.
"Just wait." She shrugged and finally made her way up the stairs.
Dean stood alone in the kitchen for a second. At first he was trying to think of a way to get Adrian to see his mistakes but then he suddenly realized what his life had turned into. It had all changed so quickly that he never really had a chance to think about it until it hit him. On his way to work his mind was racing.
It had been almost four years since he'd touch a gun, and it had been longer since he had even spoken about anything supernatural. He and Clara had turned into a normal, suburban couple, with actual problems. It seemed like a cliché when he thought about it. A rebellious teenager, a little girl who was the best accident of his life, and a wife who was slowly pulling way from him. 18-year-old Dean Winchester would never believe it.
"Alright what we got?" Clara was last to walk into the conference room.
"Where have you been? You're like fifteen minutes late." Morgan pointed out.
"Yes thank you, I have a watch." Clara rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry... Gwen didn't understand me when I said hurry up the first three times." She sighed sitting down looking at the tablet in front of her. It was quiet for a second as everyone stared at Clara. "Are we gonna keep staring or are we going to catch a killer?" She huffed and Penelope finally snapped into her brief.
"Right." She started. "Three days ago Atlanta P.D got a letter." She sighed. "And then they found this the next day." She sighed looking down quickly.
"I took her. What are you going to do about it?" The letter was written in slanted and very messy cursive. It was a clear taunt to the police. When they all looked up at the screen they realized why Penelope wasn't exactly chipper to present them a new case.
"Jesus." JJ was first to express what everyone was thinking. The crime scene was by the side of a road and the pavement was no longer grey, not it was stained dark red. Someone had taken their time and dismembered a little girl.
"Becky Jenkins. She was 10." Garcia sighed not being able to look up at her friends or the screen. "She was taken from a local park in Atlanta. She was with some friends and when she didn't come home her mother called the police. They got that letter an hour after she was reported missing." Garcia said sitting down her back facing the screen.
"Talk about over kill." Clara spoke up and they all looked at her. "What we were all thinking it." She sighed. She knew she should feel something, guilt, pain, or anger at the sight of Becky but she felt nothing. She could tell everyone was going to take this case very seriously and it was going to be a tense few days. "Is she the only victim?" Clara asked slowly a bit afraid of the answer.
"No..." Garcia sighed and clicked the next button.
A few gasps from JJ and sighs from everyone else was what came with the next picture. Somehow the next body was even more mutilated and this time the Unsub took her head.
"Jamie Gunderson, 10 as well." Garcia huffed.
"We need to get to Atlanta." Hotch stood up quickly. "Plane leaves in ten." He said quickly.
"Oh and one more thing..." Garcia said before anyone could leave. "He has another girl. They just got a letter an hour ago." She sighed. "Alicia Jones."
"Garcia I want every child offender, sex offender, violent persons, with in teeny miles of every one of those girl's homes and background on everyone in the neighbourhood.
"Yes sir. Be careful." She nodded and quickly turned to leave for her office.
Everyone had their usual assignments. Talk to the victim's family and friends, search the crime scene for anything the local police could have missed, and starting on victimology. They all separated and got their jobs done.
Each girl was quiet, not many friends, but still very kind to who ever spoke to her. Loving homes and older siblings that already blamed themselves for not saving their sister. None of the victims had an over lap and it seemed like they didn't even live in the same town, their paths just never crossed.
"Well that doesn't help me." Clara sighed as she sat in a small conference room in the Atlanta police station. She had been given the job of finding something that linked the three girls. If they were going to find Alicia she needed to find the tiniest bit of evidence that they had something in common. Or else this Unsub would become much harder to track and more girls would die. No pressure.
Garcia had sent over everything about Becky, Jamie, and Alicia that she could find. Clara had spend the better part of three hours going through all the files and coming up with nothing, not even the same taste in Barbie dolls. She decided that she would go through everything one more time and see if she missed anything before the rest of the team got back.
"Come on girls... give me something." She sighed as she pushed the files away from her just to take a breath. When her phone rang she didn't even want to pick it up. She thought about letting it go to voicemail but she had promised Dean never to do that. His worry levels always reached record levels when she was on a case and he was alone with Gwen.
The two were best friends but he always panicked when the tiniest thing went wrong. When she was a baby he would avoid holding her for to long because he was paranoid he would drop her. But once she looked up at him with those green eyes he never wanted to let her go. It never bothered him to wake up in the middle of the night to rock her back to sleep or to check under the bed for monsters.
"What?" Clara huffed without even looking at who was calling. The small memory of Dean checking for monsters gave her the smallest bit of joy but snapped out of it before the voicemail picked up.
"Don't snap at me girl." Bobby's cranky and annoyed tone.
"I'm sorry... I didn't know it was you. Look Bobby can I call you back. We are in the middle of a case and it's bad..." She sighed.
"If I hang up you better call me back." Bobby warned. "No more of this I'll call you back when you never do."
"I know... I'm sorry." Clara sighed feeling guilty. "Look once teh team comes back we are going to deliver the profile and I'll call you back as soon as I get a chance."
"I mean it Clara if you don't so help me I'll-"
"Alright easy old man." She joked trying to lighten the mood.
"Idjit." Bobby swore before hanging up. Clara caught herself smiling for a second once she put her phone away.
"Find something?" Reid caught her smile as well and hoped she had found something to connect the girls.
"Ah... no." Clara sighed being pulled back into the job. "Do you think it's intentional that they don't cross?" She asked as he handed her a cup of coffee.
"Maybe? I mean I don't think I've ever seen three people who were so unaware of others in their city." Reid laughed. "Even people in China or New York have crossed paths before."
"Exactly..." Clara agreed.
"Maybe he is just picking them at random?" She questioned.
"What?" Hotch asked as he and the rest of the team stormed into the room. Morgan was last in and he closed the door behind him.
"I was just saying that it's weird how these three have no connections... at all." She huffed. "Maybe that was intentional." She added.
"There has to be something... we can't go out there and tell them it's random. I mean that's rare and not very reassuring that we will catch this son of a bitch." JJ got angry quickly.
"Look I'm sorry that the serial killer doesn't have a specific type but I can't do anything about it." Clara fired back quickly.
"And you went through everything?" Morgan questioned.
"Twice." Clara crossed her arms and couldn't believe they didn't agree or believe her.
"Walsh I think-"
"Wait hold up." Clara cut Morgan off. "What you think I'm lying? Seriously?" She shook her head. "Fine then you go through all this crap and tell me if these three are connected." She rolled her eyes and headed for the door.
"Walsh." Hotch ordered. Clara stopped at the door and turned. "I don't think you fully understand the circumstances here." He huffed. Clara rolled her eyes, there was the tension that this case was bound to bring out in everyone.
"Oh no, I understand." She shook her head. "I don't find anything, another girl dies." She finished her thought before anyone could say anything. "I am aware that if this Unsub is a random picker then we are screwed and a lot more girls are going to die!" She raised her voice. "But you adding presser isn't going to help them! I did my job, I found nothing. I can't just find something that just isn't there."
"We came up with nothing as well." Hotch started. "We talked to every one who knew those girls and they have never even heard of each other." He sighed. "There has to be a reason this Unsub picks these girls and if we don't find it... Alicia is going to die and more girls will as well." He pointed out again.
"I know that." She said through her teeth. She literally just said that and it being repeated angered her. "Just because I don't let cases like this get to me doesn't mean I'm not doing my job." She jabbed at everyone.
"What is that supposed to mean?" JJ asked with a huff.
"It means that every case we work is different and I understand that people tend to be more impacted by a child's death and yeah it's awful but come on! People die and whether we catch this guy or not won't change the fact that someone else's kid somewhere else is being murdered." She huffed. Everyone stared at her in horror. They couldn't believe she was being so cold. "And acting like the world is ending every time isn't going to help." She said looking at JJ who was always the most emotional about kids. "So can we focus on the case and not what happens if we fail." She sighed deeply as everyone stared at her.
It was quiet for a long time before anyone could say anything. "Let's give the profile." Hotch said and everyone looked at him.
"We don't have anything." Clara reminded him.
"We give them what we have." Hotch said as he left the room first.
"It appears that these kidnappings and murders are random, and as hard as these cases can be it also gives us a clue as to who we are looking for." Hotch spoke to the police. "This Unsub is obviously secluded and doesn't have a type. He is just angry." He shrugged.
"The amount of over kill on the two victims shows us that he may be spiralling out of control. For a kill to have such a dramatic method usually leads to built up feelings." Morgan sighed. "Which means our guy has mostly done time for violent crimes and spent a few years in prison."
"And the age of each of these girls shows up he either has a daughter the same age or had one." JJ sighed. "She mostly died in a tragic way or just doesn't have a relationship with her father and that makes him angry."
"But wouldn't he be angry at the mother for keeping the child away?" A officer spoke up.
"Not always ." Clara spoke up. "She may just not want a relationship because of his past." She pointed out. "Kids are smart that way, they know who is bad and good." She added.
"So he blames his daughter." Hotch continued. "and it won't be long before he goes after who he really wants to punish."
"So we find the daughter we find out Unsub." Reid said. "But don't be surprised if you have already interviewed the daughter. She is most likely ashamed of her father and may hide it. That's probably why we couldn't find an actual connection between the victims." He said looking over at Clara who stared back.
She snuck away from the group as they informed the police about how dangerous this man is and how important it was that he still had another girl. Clara went back into the conference room and sat down looking at the files. She went through the list of friends and when she finally noticed some missing information she rolled her eyes.
"Garcia where is the rest of Carina Bennet's file?" Clara talked loudly through the speaker.
"Who?" Penelope questioned not recognizing the name.
"Carina Bennet. She was friends with Jamie Gunderson." Clara huffed. "All you sent me was her school records and her address. What about her family?"
"Carina Bennet..." Clara could hear the keyboard clicking quickly as Penelope rushed. "She doesn't really have a family. I mean her mother died a few years ago and her father was never really in the picture. She lives with her aunt." Penelope paused. "She's apparently a very angry child. She was in the foster system for a bit because she and her aunt didn't get along. Guess the aunt just couldn't take it?" She sighed.
"And you didn't think any of that was important?" Clara huffed at Penelope. "When I asked for the files on everyone you would think that a trouble child who is distant from her father would be top of the list Garcia!" Clara snapped.
"Hey!" Morgan came into the room quickly.
"Look I gave you what you wanted and you yelling at me isn't going to save that little girl." Penelope fought for herself and she sounded hurt on the speaker. "So don't snap at me!" She yelled then hung up the phone loudly.
Clara sighed as she sat down slowly. She didn't mean to snap at Penelope, and she instantly felt guilty. She rubbed her pounding forehead angrily. "What the hell is your problem Walsh?" Morgan's booming angry voice spoke up again.
"Look I'm sorry..." Clara said sincerely. "I didn't mean to snap." She sighed again.
"So yelling at Penelope is gonna fix that?" Morgan narrowed his eyes at her.
"Well at least we know who we need to talk to next." Clara shot back.
"I don't want to talk about my dad." Carina huffed crossing her arms ass he sat back on her aunt's couch.
"I know this must be hard but it could save a little girl's life." JJ tried to sympathize with Carina.
"She's never liked talking about her father." Her timid aunt added.
"Why?" Clara looked over to Carina waiting for an answer. JJ didn't want her tom come along but Hotch said it would be helpful to have two women talk to the child.
"Because he is a deadbeat!" Carina laughed shaking her head.
"That's not very nice." Her aunt added. Carina shot her aunt an angry look and she stopped talking.
"You're aunt is right. He may have made some bad decisions in life but he is still your father." Clara added.
"Well I haven't seen him in years so I don't really have to be nice about him." Carina rolled her eyes. "Why are you asking me these stupid questions?" She asked.
"Because we think your father might have taken someone." Clara repeated what JJ had stated earlier.
"Oh my..." Her aunt gasped a bit. "Those stories on the news... you think that as Adam?"
"Adam? What's hi last name?" JJ asked quickly trying to et all the information she could before Carina started to yell again.
"Adam Gillian." Her aunt sighed. "Last I heard he was in Phoenix. I can't believe he's back..."
"Like he ever stayed long enough." Carina added.
"Where did he like to go?" JJ asked. "Did he ever take you anywhere special?"
"Nope." Carina popped her lips.
"You really could care less about what's going on." Clara stated.
"Why? It don't effect me." She huffed.
"Really? She once he's killed Alicia and he comes for you, that won't affect you?" Clara rose her voice as she stood slowly.
"Walsh." JJ warned her and Clara now yelling at this girl was not going to help but she was being so difficult and she was tired of it.
"Let's see how you feel when it's you he has a knife pointed at. Or when he starts cutting your body up and scattering the pieces around. Will it affect you then?" Clara said slamming down the file with some crime scene photos. "Let's see if you are so smug and careless when you are laying bloody in the street!" She spread a few of the photos over the coffee table. Carina jumped at the sound of the file slamming in front of her. She looked down at the photo's and her eyes started to glaze over. It wasn't Clara's intention to make her cry but something needed to be done.
"You are just like him!" She stood with a sob. "Cruel!" She huffed tears rolling down her cheeks. "It's not my fault these girls are dead!"
"Then tell me something that will save Alicia's life!" Clara yelled back.
Sure yelling at a ten-year old wasn't Clara's proudest moment but she managed to scare some information out of her. JJ was pissed at her and hadn't talk to her since they left Carina and her aunt. The ride back to the station was quiet and cold. Clara didn't feel guilty but she could have handled it better.
When Clara and JJ walked into the station there was a lot of background noise. It was like a bomb had gone off and no one knew what to do. JJ rushed to the rest of the team to see what was going on but as Clara looked around she already knew. Alicia was dead.
The room started spinning as everyone around Clara finally got a handle on things. She watched from the middle of the room as everyone rushed around her. Phones needed to be answered and parents needed to be notified. Clara looked over to the conference and she saw the defeated look on everyone's faces. The guilt hit her when she saw JJ drop her head once Hotch had filled her in. Clara went to grasp a desk so she wouldn't fall over in shock but before she could JJ came storming out.
"Are you happy now!" She yelled her eyes full of fire. "You had one job while the rest of use got information! You were supposed to find that one connection and you were too late!" She yelled even louder and everyone stopped what they were doing. "You said you don't let cases like this bother you, well I hope you can live with that ten-year old's blood on your hands!" She screamed.
"This is not my fault." Clara said through her teeth, not believing it anyways.
"Keep telling your self that." JJ spat at her. Clara was both taken back by the pure anger in JJ voice and how much this case had hit her.
"Enough." Hotch ordered and JJ walked away. She was the one who had to talk to the parents, so she needed to leave.
"I..." Clara's voice was barely audible.
"Morgan and Reid go to the crime scene. Rossi see what you can find at Adam Bennet's house." Hotch said as he stared at Clara.
"Walsh and I will stay here and add Alicia to the profile. Our guy most likely keeping the girls somewhere else, that's what we'll look for." He said turning his head slowly with a nod. As everyone went about their duties Hotch looked over at Clara and seen something he had feared for a while. The look of a burnt out agent who was slipping.
"Hotch... I..." She started.
He walked up to her and turned her shoulder toward the conference room where he made her walk. He shut the door quietly behind him and she kept walking into the room. She started pacing but never turned to look at him.
"What JJ said is not true. You did your job and you came up with nothing." Hotch said.
"Nothing that got a little girl killed." She said weakly.
"Can't make up stuff that isn't there." Hotch replied.
"But I should have seen it!" She snapped and turned to face him. "I should have seen the holes in Carina's files! I should have dug deeper!" She said and Hotch watched as her anger turned to guilt and pain. He could see it growing in her eyes.
"Stop." He said walking up to her. "You can't blame this on yourself." He said trying to get her to calm down.
"How can I not." She shrugged as she looked down.
"I think we both know your mind hasn't always been 100% on this case." She looked up quickly. "That doesn't make Alicia's death your fault. Blame Adam Bennet who murdered her." He said placing a hand on her shoulder. "Is everything alright?" Hotch had to ask.
"No." She shook her head. He was surprised at her honesty. She opened her mouth to say something else but she was cut off.
Two sharp and loud gunshots went off and the sound of class shattering made Clara and Hotch drop to the floor. Hotch was blocking her view as they fell but she knew something was wrong when he didn't look up. She reached for her gun quickly and proped herself on her knees.
"WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO NOW!" An angry voice yelled over the yelling of a few police officers.
Clara looked down at Hotch and noticed he hadn't moved. She nudged him slightly with her knee but she only groaned. She looked up over the table and saw Adam Bennet standing just outside with two guns. One aimed at the receptionist and he other as his head.
"PUT THE GUN DOWN!" A few officers called out.
"Hotch?" She whispered. "You okay?" She asked again as the police fought to gain control over the scene. Hotch did not answer.
"I said.. PUT THE GUN DOWN!"
"Alright enough!" Clara finally got to her feet and stepped in front of Hotch's body so no more harm could come to him. "Everyone needs to calm down." She sighed aiming her gun for Adam. "Everything is going to be alright." She smiled at Adam who just stared at her. He was confused and that's what she wanted. "What seems to be the issue here?" She asked ad Adam tilted her head.
"Agent what-"
"Shut up." She ordered the officer in front of her. "I wasn't walking to you." She glared at him and he kept quiet.
"Who are you?" Adam stuttered a bit.
"Well that depends... who are you?" She asked with a sigh.
"I'm the one who's been this city's nightmare for the past week." He spoke like Clara should know who he was.
"Oh really?" She laughed. "So you are the one running around knocking over mailboxes."
" I KILLED THOSE GIRLS!" He yelled at her.
"What girls?" She laughed again and the gun that was pointed at his head was now set on her. She tightened her grip on her gun with a smirk.
"Stop toying with me!" He yelled.
"Alright... alright." She sighed. "I know you killed those girls but the real question is why are you here?" She asked. "I mean there are no ten year olds here." She said slowly taking steps closer to him. Adam was to confused to notice.
"The news keeps saying you don't have leads! But you know now! So you tell them!"
"Why would I tell them anything? You killed three little girls. Who cares who you are." She huffed.
"Because she has to see!" He shook his head, his body shaking as well.
"Who needs to see what?" Clara asked now confused.
"Carina..." His eyes got wide. "She has to see that I became something. Not just a failure. I am somebody." He said his eyes glazing over.
It was quiet after Adam finished speaking. She noticed the SUV's that the rest of the team were in speed into the parking lot. She knew she only had a few seconds before Adam stated shooting.
"And you want her to see that you are a murder?" Clara asked with a huff. "She hates you Adam. She doesn't even like saying your name!" She rose her voice and Adam stared at her in shock. "All she will know you as is the bastard that ran out on her and killed three girls!" Clara said lowering her gun and putting it in her holster.
"Shut up!" He yelled and just as he aimed both guns at her the rest of the team filled in.
"She will hate you for the rest of her life!" Clara yelled.
"Walsh." Morgan and Rossi warned. She was to close to both guns.
"She will never see you as a good man. She will never love you and when you go to prison she will never visit you. You will die alone in a cell." Clara spat at Adam. "Waste of space." She whispered.
"You're right." He whispered back.
"Clara..." Reid spoke up and before anyone had a chance to say anything or act, Adam raised both guns to himself. He placed both barrels under his chin. Clara watched as he pulled the trigger and he fell.
Once he fell all she saw was blood and her team looking at her horrified. Did she just get him to commit suicide? Clara did not wait for anyone to say anything. She turned her back and rushed to Hotch. He was still on the floor.
There was a small pool of blood on the floor. "Aaron?" She asked dropping to her knees. He rolled to his side and grunted.
"I'm good." he said reaching behind him and placing his hand over the small hole in his back.
"You're shot." She huffed placing her hand over the hole with more pressure.
"Nothing to serious." He laughed.
"Fine... just don't move." She ordered as she pressed harder on the wound. "Paramedics will be here soon." She sighed looking around at all the glass.
"Clara?" Hotch looked up at her and noticed how cold her face had gone. She had just seen someone pull the trigger and it was like she wasn't even phased by it. She looked down slowly and waited for him to continue. "You're slipping." He whispered trying not to upset her even more.
"Yeah... I know." She said and looked away. She knew damn well she was slipping and pulling away. She knew that if something didn't change she was going to get hurt or burn out.