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A/n hey all... Here's the next chapter. Once more I want to thank all of you for your kind support. Please enjoy.

Convert Operation

"What kind of incident?" Reid asked as his cat hissed from his carrier.

"There's been a murder-suicide and attempted murder in 3B." The officer explained.

Reid's training kept him from responding with the sudden horror that sent his heart racing. He knew the officers, in their blue uniforms with guns and badges, were sizing him up. He said with as much care as he could, "What happened?"

The wail of a siren rose, then fell, as what Reid assumed to be the ambulance, raced away. It must have been the one he'd seen outside the apartment complex.

"A Marilyn Strong lived in the apartment with her daughter Violet. It looks like her boyfriend killed Marilyn and thought he killed Violet before shooting himself in the head. The medics took Violet out on the other elevator as you came up on this one."

Reid observed the officer, who had blond hair so closely cropped to his head that pink patches of scalp were clearly visible. His face was as round and pink cheeked as a Cupie doll. If he hadn't glowered nearly as well as Hotch, Reid could have taken him for someone as dangerous as a bunny rabbit. Reid well knew that appearances were deceptive.

"Which one is your apartment?" The second officer asked.

He was the exact opposite of his partner. He stood at least three inches taller then Reid and had a shock of dark brown hair standing up like the bristles on a hairbrush. His face was all angles and hard lines with dark grey eyes. His eyes were kinder, but Reid decided that he was the force with which, to be reckoned.

"I live in 3E."

"Had you met the family?" The second officer asked.

"I've met Violet." Reid said.

The first officer stared at him with cold eyes. "How do you know her?"

"I'm curious as to why you're interrogating me." Reid asked lightly.

"Why do you think we're interrogating you?"

Reid sighed. "You know my name, but I don't know your name officer."

"My name is Richardson, this is my partner O'Malley." He indicated the taller, dark haired man.

"I met Violet less than a week ago. I don't think her mother and she lived her very long before I ran into her in the hallway one afternoon."

"Did she mention her mother or her mother's boyfriend?" Richardson asked.

"She told me about her mother, but I didn't know about the boyfriend."

The two officers looked at each other.

"What aren't you saying?" Reid inquired as the cat yowled.

"It appears that the boyfriend entered the apartment while the mother was out and tried to assault the girl."

"By assault, I assume you mean sexually." Reid added the pit of his stomach growing cold.

He should've called CPS when he knew that Violet's mother locked her out of the house on a regular basis. He shouldn't have let the cat and his grief over Emily distract him.

"Yes… Apparently, there was quiet a struggle, the girl's mother came home sooner then the boyfriend planned, so he shot them. Then he shot himself. Another neighbor called the police. We responded."

"Can you tell how Violet is?" Reid asked again.

"She was shot in the chest. She was still alive when the medic took her out. It looks very touch and go." Richardson said.

"Do you know which hospital they sent her to?" He asked. His hands shook so he shoved then in his pockets.

"I believe they're on there way to Georgetown University." O'Malley stated.

"If we're done here, I'd like to go over there."

The officers looked at each other again. "I'm surprised you'd care. You've only met her once."

Reid sighed in irritation. "If you must know, she has a way with my cat. I haven't had him long and we don't get along."

As if to ram that point home for the cops, Sergio yowled and hissed in his carrier.

"He doesn't sound too happy," Richardson said with something resembling a smile.

"No… He really doesn't like the carrier. I need to get him out actually. Are we done here?"

"Yes for now… Is there a number I can reach you at?" O'Malley asked.

Reid dug one of his business cards out of his bag and wrote another number and name on the back. "The number on the back is my boss SSA Aaron Hotchner."

"Thank you."

Reid nodded curtly. "If you don't mind…"

They stepped aside and let him round the corner to his apartment where he went inside, set the alarm, let Sergio out of the carrier and dropped down on his couch.

The cat didn't run from his as normal. Instead, he jumped up on the couch and crawled into Reid's lap. The profiler went still as death and didn't try to pet the cat. Sergio turned his dark eyes up to Reid.

"I should go see Violet."

Sergio only stared up at him. Reid lifted a hand and began to stroke the cat. For the first time Sergio didn't pull away or hiss at him.

"They probably wouldn't let me in." He said to Sergio. "I'm sure she's in surgery and I'm not next of kin so they won't tell me how she's doing."

Sergio softly mewed as if he understood everything Reid said. "It's my fault. I should've called CPS or the police. Instead, I just pretended all was well because I couldn't stop thinking about Emily."

He sniffed and lifted Sergio to hold the cat in his arms against his chest and shoulder like a little baby. "I wish she were here. She'd scold me for not paying attention to Violet's obvious cries for help. She would say "You're the profiler Reid, use your head."

Sergio stretched his neck under Reid's long fingers and purred.

"I screwed up Sergio."

Sergio reached up and tapped Reid's cheek once with his paw. Reid looked at the cat's bright green yellow eyes that stared at him with something in their depths that sent a chill along his back. The cat had poked him just as Emily had when he'd gone on and on about an Aryan code. "He's so life like." She'd said making everyone laugh.

He could always count on Emily to break the tension with a well-placed remark or jibe. It took him a while, but he soon came to learn that her teasing was good-natured and not meant to make anyone feel bad. At least she wasn't as relentless as Morgan could be in his older brother role.

"What do you think Emily would do?" He asked the cat.

Sergio just stared at him the same way that Emily used to when he went off on some tangent that wasn't necessarily appropriate to a case.

"I get it… So are you willing to help me?" Reid asked his new friend.

Sergio leaped down out of his arms and ran out of the room with his tail in the air. "I'll take that as a yes." Reid yelled after the cat.

CMCMCMCM

Garcia drove them to University Hospital a week later. Reid figured that if Violet had been in the ICU after surgery, she might be out now. If not, they'd come back another day. If she were, they'd use Sergio as a way to get in to see her.

"I don't understand why you don't just use your credentials." Garcia complained as they turned into the parking lot.

"I don't flash my badge to get what I want. That's not what our credentials are for." He informed her.

She parked Esther and turned her gaze on her friend. "You're no fun at all. Think of all the girls you could get if you just showed your badge. At least you wouldn't have to fake it like that idiot Emily, JJ and I met in a bar."

He laughed, "I remember, you guys thought it was hilarious."

"You were the one that said we should've called the cops on him for impersonating a federal officer."

He grimaced. "I still think you should've called them. We lose our credibility if people go around lying about being agents."

"You need to loosen up." She informed him. "Get the cat and let's go."

He removed the carrier from the car. Sergio had been strangely quiet on the trip as though he knew something important was happening.

Garcia approached the nurse at the check in station with a confidence Reid envied so badly it physically hurt. There were only two people in the waiting room as they entered. The waiting couple was very old, with white hair, wrinkled skin and matching walkers. He held the woman's hand and was softly talking to her while she wept.

"Excuse me…" Garcia was saying. "We were wondering if we might be able to visit the patients in your children's ward. We brought a therapy cat to see them."

The nurse behind the desk wore her long red hair in a French braid and blue scrubs. She looked up from her paperwork and gave Garcia a smile.

"I'm sure the children would like that very much. Why don't I have Lisa show you the way upstairs?"

A curvy Asian woman with short black hair and cranberry scrubs appeared a minute later. "I'm Lisa."

"My name's Penelope and this is Spencer."

"We're always happy when the kids get furry visitors. We had a therapy dog in just last week and the kids loved it. Which agency are you with?" She asked while leading them through a pair of double doors.

"We're with DC Child Rescue."

Lisa beamed at them. "We appreciate it. I'll just show you to the day room. Most of the kids are there after lunch."

"Thanks…" Garcia said. "We love visiting the kids."

When they got off the elevator, Reid hung back a little and hissed at Garcia. "Are you sure lying is a good idea?"

"Shut up and follow the nice nurse." Garcia hissed back.