Author's Note: Hello, everyone.

Anyway, thank you very much and a shout-out to tannerose5, ahowell1993, spxxxxx, TVHollywoodDiva, Child-of-God16, and Beachgirl25 for your reviews.

Thank you and a shout-out to Pinksparkk, MarieReeds, alm0staverage and everyone else who has read, followed, favorite story/author alert and visited my story. I really do appreciate it.

Please, do enjoy my story and please review; ideas and constructive criticism are always appreciated.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Chapter 9:

A couple weeks have passed since Christmas—which meant the start of a new year and Reid did not know what to expect when he asked Élise to come by the BAU and help the team with a local case. This would also be the first time he had seen Élise since…their kiss. He knew, he was wondering if Élise knew, it would be awkward for the both of them. To meet under these circumstances. This was also the first time Reid would be leaving Anastasia in the care of a daycare facility, Mother Goose's Day Care Academy and the first time he would be leaving Anastasia in someone else's care other than the team, himself and Élise. Before enrolling her, Reid had Garcia run an under-the-radar access and search on the facility to make sure it was safe, and the staff and building were all certificated, licensed, immunized, vaccinated: everything.

"Dr. Spencer Reid?" A middle-aged, redhead woman greeted Reid.

"That's me."

"And is this little Anastasia?" She looked like a little French model baby: a nude-cream coat over a black dress, leggings, and shoes and a white knitted beret.

"Yes, she and I just woke up. We have a long day ahead of us. It's our first big day. Are you ready, little lady?" Anastasia had her focus on the decorative ceiling and walls other than Reid.

The area where Anastasia was going to be in for today was everything he expected it to be: clean, colorful, lots of educational toys for Anastasia to play with and from the way the workers interacted with the rest of the children, she was going to be in good hands.

"Okay. Okay. Uh…if it's alright, can I stay for a little while? I just want to…"

"Of course, doctor, but we recommend a quick and loving good-bye."

"Oh! Well…okay." He gently placed Anastasia on the floor since she still couldn't walk yet and gave her kisses on her forehead, cheeks, and head. "I love you."

"It's always harder on the parents than the children."

"Now, you'll tell me." Just one last kiss on her head. "Have fun, Anastasia. Love you."

His heart ached every time he took a step back away from Anastasia. He had not felt that way since the day he came back to work and he left Élise in her care. Now he must deal with worrying about Anastasia. Not to mention the case he will be working on with the team…and Élise.


Walking into the BAU and into the meeting room, where the team would be, he first laid his eyes on Élise. She was looking more and more…in his eyes…he loved her pink top; it made her medium-to-dark skin color look extraordinary. Tasteful paired with a pair of masculine gray pants, military officer blazer, and black loafers. He took a closer look at…was she wearing mismatched socks…?

"Reid?" Rossi called out to him.

"Mmm?"

"Are you okay?" Prentiss asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just…separation anxiety."

"Oh. Well, then. Let's get to work." Reid immediately took a seat next to Élise and got to work.


The case the team was working on mainly took place in the wealthy areas around D.C. They are also coordinating the case with Metro D.C. police, including JJ's husband, Will. The case included three dead men who were found dead in their homes; all wealthy, nicely dressed, but all were shot once in the head, hands and fingers were cut off and repeatedly stabbed and…castrated…in the…family jewels. While Alvez, Rossi, and Simmons took witness statements, JJ, Tara and Emily still at the crime scene and were on their way back and Garcia being Garcia, Reid, and Élise were all alone in the conference room, looking at the evidence.

Taking a minute off her work, Élise looked at Reid working away. She thought he looked like a professional male model who was modeling for Burberry, Tommy Hilfiger. Or maybe even Perry Ellis, Marc Jacob. White dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a charcoal gray vest and navy tie, tweed pants and oxfords. When he had on that coat and scarf of his…And his hair…she thought he looked handsome. Mentally kicking herself, she needed to focus on the case.

But it was just too silent. Reid looked at Élise and noticed she, too, was not focused. Finally breaking the silence, so they can really focus on the case,

"Élise?"

"Hmm?"

"About…the kiss…"

Élise let out a big sigh. The main reason why she really couldn't concentrate was the kiss she shared with Reid at Rossi's holiday party. She could still feel the chills and tingles on her lips. She couldn't help it; she had a feeling it wasn't the mistletoe. There was just something about him that just seemed…but she's Anastasia's nanny… "Yeah. I think…"

"Look. I…I…" Moving closer. "Look, Élise. I…"

Reid soon noticed her round-almond dark brown eyes then her lips. Élise first noticed his hazel eyes before staring at his lips. They could feel the tension on leaning towards each other before,

"Hey…" Garcia burst in, but not before Reid and Élise quickly parted from each other. Had Garcia caught them, it would have felt like catching their parents in bed together or teenagers caught making out on school grounds. Élise averting her eyes away from Spencer as he did with her. And she probably would not keep it between them. "Doctors. Prentiss needs you guys; time to deliver the profile."

"Be right there." They simultaneously said. The second Garcia left,

"After the case…"

"Then we'll talk." Élise agreed.


The profile they delivered to Metro Police was that they were looking for a white male between the age of 30 and 40. The unsub is not an abuser or molester, so it is possible that the unsub was abused himself as a child, but rather to be finely in sync and would never go after a child. For this unsub, it's not about intimacy, it's about displaced rage over either the sexual inadequacies, the abuse he suffered during his childhood; this amount of rage towards the victims is not the unsub's first stressor. There is a strong possibility the unsub is successful, but someone with low self-esteem that drive him to excel in another area and hide his insecurity.

After they delivered the profile a few hours later, two more bodies is found, except one of the victims is a woman. Élise started to get second thoughts and went over the evidence from the first three victims. Reid noticed this.

"Élise, what is it?"

"I've been thinking. I know I'm new to profiling, but we all assume the Unsub is male because of the sexual abuse, right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"Well, whoever said it had to be a male Unsub?"

"Are you talking about a female Unsub?" Tara questioned her.

Now that they think of it, maybe Élise was right. Come to think of it, this reminds them of a few cases from over ten years ago. The unsubs who they thought were committed by men were actually women.

"That could be true; I mean, anything's possible these days."

"But why kill the woman?" Rossi asked.

"Maybe she killed her because her mother didn't protect her from the abuse she suffered." JJ guessed.

"Okay. Garcia," Prentiss called for her. "Can you find background info on the victims? And please, hurry. We don't have much time."

"You know it, boss lady."


After a few minutes, Garcia managed to find some deep insider information on the first three victims. They were all accused and investigated for either rape, molestation, and abuse by their children and even though there was evidence, they ultimately managed to escape justice. The next male victim was a wealthy businessman accused of rape, molestation, and abuse by his stepdaughter, only to have the accusations dropped by her mother. When Élise asked for the person who handles the cases, the same name came up in all the reports: Maria Lefebvre. Her picture shown up and it was a woman with fair skin, brown eyes, and red hair.

History: biological father left her as a toddler, her mother, Veronica Lefebvre remarried and had her younger half-sister, Jenna Lefebvre. Before her wealthy stepfather died years ago in a suspicious accident, she accused him of repeated rape, molestation, and abuse when she was in her early teens, but accusations were dropped when she supposedly lied to the police and sent away to boarding school until college. Now, she has two children, a girl, and boy from two different fathers.

Upon farther research on the mother and sister, her sister is engaged to a wealthy man named Charles Worthington and it appears that her mother has been living off Jenna's money since her husband's death and her mother's place is secretly in foreclosure. Garcia gave them the coordinates; Alvez, Rossi, Simmons, and Lewis to Maria's place and JJ, Prentiss, Reid, and Élise to her sister's place. Reid wanted Élise to stay close to the team and him. Upon arriving at the sister's place, they soon heard gunshots and screaming. Bursting through the door,

"Maria Lefebvre! FBI!" Prentiss yelled.

"Drop your weapon!" JJ urged her,

Maria soon had a nicely-dressed man with fair skin, blue-green eyes, and short blond hair, at gunpoint with a revolver and a Beretta, fiercely clutching to his leg.

"Sam!" A young light skin woman with blonde hair, blue-green eyes attempted to be by his side. A middle-aged handsomely "beautiful" woman cowered in the corner.

"Back off, Jenna!"

"Maria…" Reid tried to talk to her.

"You back off, too!"

"Maria, we know what happened to you." Élise attempts to reason with her; she was the other only without a gun.

"Oh, really?" Maria sarcastically said.

"We know about the abuse you suffered when you were younger. With your stepfather."

"What are you talking about?"

"You want to do the honors?"

"What does my father have to do with this?" Jenna asked.

"Maria?" Élise urged her to say something. "Tell her the truth."

"Tell me what? What's going on?"

Maria took a deep breath, still eying her gun on Charles. "Your father," She felt like vomiting in her mouth…"The bastard raped me…Repeatedly."

"No."

"Yes."

"You're lying."

"Nope."

"That's not true."

"It is!"

"No! No!" Jenna started to cry. "Why…my dad…could he…my father…he never touched me."

"Sometimes, that's how it happens, Jenna," Élise said. "They pick one over the other."

Jenna felt like vomiting. "What…but…why Charles? Why are you…?"

"Why Charles?"

Maria was the one who soon started to cry. "Bastard…hurt my babies. My babies, for God's sake! Hell, if none of you had come early, I would have done a whole lot worse." Maria soon looked at him with disgusted. Élise eyed to the corner at her mother.

"And something tells me you had something to do with your stepfather's death."

"I do it again," Maria growled.

"You killed my husband?" Her mother came out from the corner but soon kept her distance.

"Please, mother. Don't pretend you're so innocent."

"Hold on, Maria. The men you hurt, your stepfather, I understand completely. But your mother, too?"

"It was nothing more but a simple bastard who could not help himself, but my mother? I still hate this simple bitch just the same."

"She knew." JJ whispered to Prentiss and Reid.

"She allowed it to happen." Through her tears, Maria grinded her teeth. "Even to my children…"

"No, I did…" The gun was soon pointed at her again. "I…probably…"

"Even to my children, she allowed this bastard to hurt them. I know when my children lie. My children were not lying about this bastard! I…"

"And when you killed that woman, you were thinking about how your mother did not protect. Look, Maria. I can help if you tell me what happened; your stepfather, Charles, the men you killed, everything and when you do, I'll convince the D.A. for leniency. Please, Maria. If you won't do it for yourself, do it for your children. No one, not every Charles, is ever going to hurt them again."

Maria looked hesitated. She had no regrets about what she did, but the painful thoughts were coming back to her. Through her tears, she gently placed her guns on the ground and began sobbing. Élise slowly walked over; everyone's weapons were still on her, and Maria immediately wrapped her arms around Élise, who soon comforted her before arresting her and placing the cuffs on her.

As they placed her in the back of the car, Jenna walked up to the team and,

"I had absolutely no idea. Really. And honestly, if I had…"

"We know."

Élise's eyes soon caught the sight of her mother, who slowly walked up to the team. Veronica failed to notice the disgust on everyone's faces; Élise's mainly.

"Don't give me those looks. I deserved everything I…"

Élise couldn't take it anymore. She grabbed her by her blouse and hurled her against a police car. Everyone, especially Reid, was shocked to see a petite woman like Élise, do this to a taller and slightly stronger woman like her.

"Please," Élise hissed. "Don't you dare…even try to rationalize the fact you allowed your daughter to get abuse by that bastard you had the nerve to call your husband. You did the same with your grandchildren."

Veronica doesn't say anything except give a slight smirk on her face, "I went through the same thing she went through when I was her age when it all happened. I got over my experiences; she should have gotten over hers long ago. On the bright side, the little bastards will get over it. What was I supposed to do? Be the cliché victim?"

Élise simply released her and walked away in disgust, not bothering to watch her get arrested.


After the case ended, Élise was packing up her stuff; the ladies invited her for a girl's night out, but politely declines, but not before congratulating her for talking down the unsub. The guys did the same thing and Reid was the only one left in the bullpen.

"Hey. Nice job out there."

"Thanks." Élise sighed before continuing. "How can a mother allow her daughter and her grandchildren to be abuse for the sake of herself?"

"Yeah. I understood your anger with the mother. I was hoping you get you."

"If I ever become a mother, I'll be looking out for them; protect them, love them, be there for them no matter what. Anyone who hurts them, it is on like butter on popcorn. And I know you will do the same with Anastasia when you adopt her. And to be honest, I was surprised to hear that you were adopting her. I thought she was your actual daughter."

"You did?"

"Of course. You're there for her, that makes you her parent."

"Thank you." The kiss! He reminded himself. "Élise! About…what happened…?"

"Yeah," It can't be avoided forever. Biting down on her lip, she really needed to stop that habit. "It was the mistletoe, right?"

"Yeah. It was just the mistletoe."

"Are you picking up Anastasia?"

"Yeah. You want to come?"

"Of course."

Reid smiled. He then started to think about the kiss again when he stepped into the elevator with Élise. Was it really the mistletoe? Was it the heat of the moment? He wasn't sure. Élise was not sure herself, either.

Sorry for little Anastasia in this chapter; I promise to include Anastasia more in the future chapters.