Hi everyone I am so so sorry for the delay – I am struggling to find time to write and had really wanted to have this up before Christmas but it didn't happen. Thanks for your patience. I hope you all had an amazing Christmas. Enjoy
Chapter 25
'Ability is what you are capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it' Lou Holtz
When they landed at Lincoln airport they found two agents waiting for them. When they saw Hotch they instantly stepped forward. "Agent Hotchner" one of them greeted "I am Agent Galt with the Nebraska FBI field office, this is my partner Agent Hollins; we work with Agent Prescott, he sent us to escort you and your agent to the station."
He frowned then spotting the rest of the team disembarking the plane. "We were not aware that you were bringing the rest of your team Agent Hotchner" he added "we were told it was going to be just you and your agent who was requested to go undercover."
His eyes fell on Livie before Hotch stepped in front of her "Agent Beckett is a part of our team" he said firmly "and there was no way any of us were going to let her go undercover without us being there to help her, if our presence is going to be a problem for Agent Prescott tell us now so we can board the plane again because if we are not able to assist then the deal is off…"
Galt and Hollins looked at each other uncertainly before they looked at Livie standing surrounded by the team, then slowly they nodded "very well Agent Hotchner" Hollins said "let us just call in some extra cars"
Whilst they waited for the cars to arrive Morgan moved over to Hotch. "I don't like this Hotch" he murmured "neither do I" Hotch said quietly watching the other two agents eyeing Livie keenly where she stood talking to Reid and JJ.
When the extra cars arrived Galt insisted on driving Livie as though afraid she might run off. Without any deliberation Hotch moved to sit in the front whilst Reid followed Livie into the back and the others divided themselves amount the other cars. "Emily ride with Hollins" Hotch muttered before he climbed into his vehicle "see what you can get from him." Emily nodded and clambered into the front seat beside Hollins turning to smile brightly at him as she did so.
At first the drive was silent whilst Livie stared out the window. Hotch stared straight ahead trying to decide what their next move would be. He looked over at Galt "Have there been any new developments since last night he asked. Galt nodded "another girl turned up this morning" he said "name was Kiera Hager"
"Didn't she only disappear three nights ago" Reid asked frowning "I thought they usually kept them for at least a week." "usually they do, we don't know why they disposed of her sooner" Galt said "is the crime scene still active" Hotch asked and Galt nodded "in that case I want to send Agent Prentiss and Rossi to have a look at the crime scene; could you get Agent Hollins to take them there please" Hotch said managing to sound very pleasant."
Slowly Galt nodded and spoke quickly to Hollins through his earpiece and behind them one of the SUVs broke away whilst the one carrying Morgan and JJ continued to follow theirs back to the station.
"Have you learnt anything new about the Unsubs" Livie asked and Galt looked at her in the rear-view mirror, nothing that isn't in the file we sent you" he said "have you memorised it" Livie shrugged "most of it" she said "well you would do well to memorise all of it" Galt said "these people are dangerous." Livie scowled at his patronising tone and opened her mouth to fire something back but caught Hotch's eye as he turned in his seat to look at her and when he shook his head slightly she grudgingly settled back down.
When they arrived at the station Morgan pulled up the car right behind Galt's and instantly moved over to them, his eyes flashing around uncertainly. His eyes fell on a man watching them from across the street, a camera held loosely in his hand. As Livie climbed out he shifted interestedly but before Morgan could point him out to anyone the man spotted him watching and turned and vanished into the crowds.
Morgan frowned after him before turning and following the others into the building, they slipped into an elevator and Galt pressed the button for the third floor and they rode up in silence.
When the doors opened they found themselves standing in a huge bullpen filled with life and the sounds of phones ringing as people called in tips about the unsubs. Galt lead them across the bullpen towards a conference room with huge white boards was set up. Inside was a man Morgan took to be Agent Prescott.
He was a small man, slightly balding already on the top of his head but what remained was salt and pepper coloured. He was dressed very smartly as though he was ready to go on camera at any minute and Morgan suspected he would be, the moment they had anything he would be the first to leap forward and claim any praise; because that was what he lived for; the praise.
He turned as he sensed them approaching and his eyes instantly locked on Livie and a greedy smile slipped onto his face causing both Reid and Morgan to shift closer to her almost unconsciously.
Prescott's eyes narrowed then as he spotted that Hotch had brought his team and he stepped forward "Agent Hotchner" he said in an oily voice "so good to see you again, how is your wife and son" everyone winced as Hotch flinched briefly before regaining himself "Prescott" he said woodenly "what do we have"
"You brought most of your team" Prescott said eyeing JJ, Morgan and Reid. "I brought all of my team" Hotch said "Agents Prentiss and Rossi are with Agent Hollins at the most recent crime scene."
Prescott had to fight to hide a scowl but he quickly recovered "the presence of your entire team is not necessary Aaron, all I needed was your intern." He swept forward then towards Livie and studied her keenly "yes" he murmured "yes you'll do perfectly, little sprucing up and you'll be the perfect bait"
"Excuse me" Morgan said tensing at the word bait but Livie quickly touched his arm "I'm not acting as bait" she said firmly and Prescott smiled "of course not my dear that was just a slip of the tongue, believe me your part in this will be easy."
"Mmhmm sure" Livie said not sounding at all like she believed him, "before I do this though I want to lay some ground rules" she added and Prescott frowned in confusion "what do you mean" he asked uncertainly and Livie stepped forward "I'll only do this if you agree to a few ground rules" she clarified "excuse me but you are not in charge here" Prescott said coldly.
"Yes but you need me" Livie said matching his icy tone "so unless you want me to change my mind and return home where I was quite happy having just finished my internship, you'll consider what I have to say."
Prescott eyed her not looking like he suddenly liked how strong willed she was. "Fine" he said curtly "what is it that you want."
Livie looked at Hotch who eyed her uncertainly not knowing what it was that she was doing but then slowly he nodded. Livie looked back at Prescott. "I want my team to be a part of this investigation and to be able to have a say in what happens to me" she said "I want Hotch to have just as much authority as you do." Prescott opened his mouth to protest but Livie cut him off "I have heard stories about some of your undercover missions" she said "I don't feel very comfortable doing what you ask unless I know that my team; a team that I trust with my life is behind me"
Prescott eyed her deliberating her request and his eyes flashed over the assembled team before slowly he nodded "very well then" he said "but Agent Hotchner has to admit that I am in charge here." Everyone looked at Hotch who nodded "I can do that" he said.
"Any other demands sweetheart" Prescott asked mockingly and Livie eyed him "just that should I want to I can pull out." "Of course" Prescott said in a sickly sweet voice "you will always have that option… now if that is everything I think we should get started… Miss Beckett have you memorised the case file we sent you."
"I read it but I haven't memorised it" Livie said "why not" Prescott demanded and Livie narrowed her eyes at him "because I noticed some flaws in your profile" she said and Prescott snorted "Oh really."
"Really" Hotch said stepping forward and placing the file on the table before opening it "we have been analysing your profile and there are a few points we would like to bring up which we feel might be wrong." He moved forward and sat himself down at the table whilst Livie, Morgan, Reid and JJ quickly settled themselves around him. "Firstly you profiled that these unsubs are mostly Sadistic Rapists am I correct" Hotch asked. "Yes because of the fact that they brutally mutilate and murder their victims" Prescott said sharply sitting down opposite them with Agent Galt uncertainly sitting beside him.
"You are correct that at least one of them is certainly a Sadistic Rapist but I would say at least one is a Power Assertive rapist" Hotch said calmly. "Oh and why is that?" Prescott asked. "Because of the victimology" Morgan said leaning forward "all of the girls abducted are small and weak looking and also very feminine which is exactly what a power assertive rapist looks for in a victim; someone who can reinforce their masculinity and make them feel powerful"
Prescott narrowed his eyes "that is possible" he said "But that doesn't change much." "It changes how Livie should act when undercover" Hotch said before he looked at Reid who quickly launched into his description "typically Power Assertive rapists make up for 25 per cent of all rapists, they are control freaks so this unsub is most likely to be the one choosing the victims; in order for Livie to attract him she must act feminine and weak, but not too weak. All the girls are physically fit suggesting they wouldn't be ones to go down without a fight suggesting he likes a bit of a challenge. She must present herself in a way that attracts him; that makes him remember his masculinity but she also can't seem easy, that would be no fun for him."
"Fine" Prescott said "anything else" "Yeah" Reid said "you suggested that these unsubs are a tight knit group and have thus known each other for a long time, I don't agree with that based on the crimes"
"But they are sophisticated and leave no usable evidence" Prescott argued "that suggests they are clever and know what they are doing it doesn't mean they are close" Morgan said "think about it the methodology; it is all over the place; the women are assaulted multiple times by different people and they each do something different to the women. The Power Assertive Rapist dominates the women, he abducts them and most likely scares them, he most likely believes that women are toys for him to play with, this one is most likely the leader of them all."
"Then you have the Sadistic Rapist who gets off on inflicting maximum pain on the women so will torture them, this unsub is probably second in command, he follows the dominant unsub but still has a good degree of authority, out of those two this unsub will probably spend the most time with the victims torturing them and enjoying watching them suffer" Morgan described noticing how Reid flinched and shifted closer to Livie and under the table he saw their hands interlink.
"How many unsubs do you think there are" Prescott asked no longer arguing. "At least three" Hotch said "that is the minimum you would need to pull off an operation like this, but I don't think there is any way to predict exactly how many there might be"
Slowly Prescott nodded before he looked up and following his gaze they all saw Emily, Rossi and Agent Hollins coming across the bullpen towards them. Hollins looked slightly uncertain as though he was worried about what Agent Prescott might think of him taking the two agents to the active crime scene.
As they entered Prescott forced a smile onto his face "well I am glad to see everyone is getting along" he said "especially since we are all going to be working together now." Rossi and Emily looked at Hotch quizzically and he gave them a look that plainly said 'long story; tell you later.' "Did you get anything from the crime scene" he asked and they both nodded "we think there might be a submissive follower" Rossi said and everyone leant forward looking interested "what gives you that idea" Morgan asked.
"When we found her Kiera Hager she was fully dressed, lying under a blanket looking like she was sleeping" Emily said "that level of remorse does not fit with the brutality of the other unsubs. We think they might have someone they have do their dirty work like disposing of evidence and probably keeping the women alive."
"That would explain why so little evidence is found" Morgan said "they have someone cleaning up after them." "But who would do something like that" Agent Galt asked "who would stand by whilst women are raped and murdered and then dispose of them"
Everyone in Hotch's team looked around at each other before they all nodded "someone who does feel a bond to one of the other unsubs" Hotch said "like a brother" Livie said and Prescott frowned "I thought you said that they weren't related" he defended "we said that the rapists weren't related due to the different ways they treat the women but one of them could easily have a younger submissive brother who he makes do all the dirty work" Hotch said "this brother most likely never touches the women, he is most likely respective of them and will not harm them, he is not a threat to the women, but he might affect how easy it is to stop them depending on how loyal he is to his brother; that depends on whether that loyalty is based on love or fear."
"Which would be easier to break" Hollins asked and Hotch sighed "both emotions are very strong" he said "but both can be broken if careful, but both can also intensify if challenged; we need to be very careful should we manage to find him."
"Did you find anything that might indicate why Kiera Hager was killed sooner than some of the others" JJ asked looking back at Rossi and Emily who both shook their heads "no but maybe her autopsy will turn something up" Emily suggested and Hotch nodded "call the coroner and ask them to give us a call as soon as they have finished her autopsy" he instructed before looking back at Prescott. "Did Kiera have any family in the area" he asked and Prescott shook his head "we informed her parents of her disappearance but they are from Georgia and it took us a while to track them down as they were abroad on holiday. When we told them that their daughter had gone missing they cut their holiday short, they should be here any day."
"That is not a conversation I am looking forward to having" Agent Galt muttered "they hadn't seen their daughter in months when she was abducted; now I will have to tell them that they will never see her again." Everyone fell silent for a minute mourning the family's loss before Prescott leapt back into action.
"Right then my dear" he said looking at Livie, "how about we start prepping you for this mission then? After all, we are rapidly losing light and we have a lot of work to do before sundown." "Wait you want her to go undercover tonight" Hotch asked "but we just got here, we don't have enough information" "well then I suggest that you start working whilst I get Miss Beckett ready" Prescott said as he rose to his feet "shall we my dear" he asked gesturing to the door "I have some outfits that you can choose from in another room and we can design your cover story."
Livie looked uncertain but she slowly rose to her feet. She suddenly looked scared as though it had only just hit her what she was about to do. She looked at Hotch almost pleadingly and he instantly knew what she wanted. "Reid go with them" he said "you know a lot; you might be useful helping create a backstory." The grateful look on Livie's face was mirrored on Reid's as he slowly rose to his feet and followed Livie and Prescott out of the room.
"I'll go get coffee" Hotch decided spotting a break room across the bullpen "Prentiss would you like to give me a hand." Emily nodded and they both slowly headed over to the break room to make everyone a drink. "Did you get anything from Hollins" Hotch asked quietly. "Not much" she responded "he wasn't very talkative but I did learn he hasn't been here long; he transferred two months ago from Vancouver. This is his first big case; I think he is terrified of screwing up so thus he wouldn't talk much." Hotch nodded.
"Did you learn anything" Emily asked as she piled all the mugs onto a tray whilst Hotch grabbed the pot and a mug of milk "just that Prescott is still a self-centred jackass who really doesn't want us to be here" he said "it is only because Livie put her foot down and said she would only go undercover if we were allowed to help. She did good"
Emily nodded and headed to the door before pausing "we are going to get her home safe aren't we Hotch" she said "because that is one phone call I don't want any of us to have to make; to have to call her parents and tell them that even after their daughter had finished her internship with us we still managed to get her killed. I don't want her little sister to loose Livie; you saw how much that kid idolises her big sister and… I don't want Reid to lose her either; she means so much to him."
Hotch sighed "I can't promise that everything is going to turn out ok Emily" he said truthfully "but I sure as hell know that I really don't want to make that phone call either so I am going to do everything in my power to make sure I don't have to." Emily looked at him before slowly she nodded and together they headed back to the conference room to continue profiling; hoping to arm Livie with as much information as possible before she confronted the dragon.
XO
In the small room outback Reid was sat next to Prescott helping him design a fake ID for Livie who was currently behind a screen trying on some of the outfits that Prescott had bought in for her to try on.
"You need a new name" Prescott was saying "something that you can easily remember but it can't be your first name still, it needs to be something different." "How about Lizzie" she called from behind the screen "Lizzie Baker; I've used that once before, and it is a fairly common name"
"Yes that will do" Prescott said as he quickly typed 'Elizabeth Baker' into the first box. "Have you found anything yet" he asked before Livie stepped out from behind the screen wearing a very short dress that didn't leave much to the imagination and Reid had to remind himself to breathe as he found himself gawking at her. "Hey eyes up bud" Livie said pointedly and he quickly snapped out of it as she looked at Prescott "You got the bottom half of this outfit" she asked sarcastically and he gave her a look "we have to make you look interesting" he said "yeah this one looks more easy than interesting" Livie said as she stepped behind the screen again "anything that won't make me look like a prostitute" she asked as they heard her rummage through the clothes.
Prescott muttered something that Reid didn't quite catch but he guessed was not a compliment towards Livie. "Right you are going to be a transfer student from Boston University studying Philosophy" he said.
"No way" Livie said sticking her head out from behind the screen "I know nothing about philosophy, I won't be able to maintain a conversation about that, why can't it be psychology." "Because the idea of you being able to read their body language might be threatening to them" Prescott said. "Make it creative writing" Reid said looking over at Livie "I mean you know all about writing don't you… because of your dad and you always said if you hadn't gone into psychology you would have liked to become a writer."
Livie smiled at him "yeah" she said "he's right, make it creative writing." Slowly Prescott nodded and quickly continued to fill in the boxes until Livie stepped out again. "This will do" she said looking down at herself and Reid felt a half pained smile slip onto his face at the sight of her.
She did look beautiful in the figure hugging white jeans and a snug lacy blue top that covered her modestly but left her stomach bare. Luckily the bullet wound from her childhood was low enough down to be covered by the waistband of her jeans and the scars on her back could be covered by makeup.
She was beautiful, but he wasn't happy with how beautiful she looked now; because the more stunning she looked, the more attractive she would be to these unsubs.
Livie smiled weakly at Reid brushing her hand through her hair, ducking her head seemingly knowing what he was thinking. "Umm… I'm going change back into my own clothes" she said before she ducked back behind the screen.
Reid exhaled sharply and ran his hand through his hair. He could feel Prescott eyeing him suspiciously but at this moment Reid didn't care if he found out about their relationship. He was too concerned about Livie to care what everyone might think.
When Livie came back out Prescott asked her to show him her scars on her back and when she did, he tutted as though she had done it to herself on purpose to sabotage his mission. Livie didn't react but Reid knew he was annoying her. He had to be; because he was annoying him.
Whilst they continued to develop her cover story, Prescott had Livie recite it back to them over and over again until she had memorised it enough to satisfy Prescott. Then at last he allowed them to return to the team whilst he made a few changes and finished up.
When they returned the whole team looked up at them "how'd it going?" Emily asked. Livie gave them a sour look "great, I really like Prescott, he makes me feel so special" she said with a great deal of sarcastic enthusiasm that made everyone smirk.
"Could we have a few minutes alone with our agent please" Hotch asked Galt and Hollins and slowly the two of them nodded and left the room. Hotch turned to Livie. "It's nearly time you know" he said and Livie gave a fake smile "yep counting down the minutes" she said.
"Lose the false bravado for a minute will you" Hotch said gently and slowly the smile slipped from Livie's face and she nodded. "I don't care what happens out there but trust your own instincts. I don't care what Prescott says. I don't care if he threatens you in an attempt to get you to continue. The moment you want out just say and we will be in as fast as it is possible to get you out ok?" "Ok" Livie said "thanks… I feel safer… knowing you guys will be there to watch out for me" she looked around at them all and they all smiled supportively at her.
"We'll be in the van just outside" Morgan said "it will take us less than a minute to get into you ok, and Prescott wants Agents Galt and Hollins to be stationed inside at the other end of the bar to you, there are also hidden cameras around the bar that they have had installed since the undercover operations began. We'll have eyes on you at all times." Livie nodded. "You go in, chat to a few guys then get out" Hotch said and she nodded again.
"I got it" she said "so tell me everything you know about these unsubs." The rest of the team looked at Hotch who nodded and reached across the desk for the file and he quickly spread the pictures and some documents from the medical examiner across the table in front of her.
They spent the rest of the afternoon coaching her on what they had profiled about the unsubs. Livie sat listening attentively thought they all saw how close she sat to Reid and how they clung to each other's hand tightly until there was a knock at the door and Agent Hollins entered "it is nearly time" he said tentatively and everyone looked at Livie who nodded uncertainly "all right" she said "I'll be out in a minute."
She then looked at the team "can you give us a minute" she asked and they all nodded and slowly they all rose, vacating the room leaving Livie and Reid alone in the room. Livie sat for a minute before Livie rose and slowly moved over to the windows of the room and quietly closed the blinds shielding them from sight.
Once that was done she slowly moved over to Reid and sat down in front of him. "I love you" she whispered reaching up to slowly brush her fingers down his cheek and across his jaw. "I love you and I promise you that I am not going anywhere."
Reid looked up at her before he quietly brushed his fingers through her hair "I love you too" he whispered "please don't leave me, I … I can't imagine my life without you."
"Well then you won't have too" Livie said "because I know that if you ever went off without me to do something like this that you would fight tooth and nail to get to me, just like I will fight with all that I have to get back to you."
Reid managed a weak smile before he slowly rose and Livie followed him. Then he gently cradled the back of her head staring into her eyes as she stared back before she quietly reached up and pressed her lips firmly to his and kissed him passionately.
And for that moment the world stood still. With Livie in his arms and their lips together nothing else mattered and Reid didn't care about what came next.
But all too soon the moment was over and Livie had to pull away. And then reality was setting back in and as Livie stepped back breathing slightly quicker than usual as her gaze flashed between his eyes and his lips. "My parents have this thing" she whispered "well a promise more like. They used to say 'always' to one another. To them it was a promise that no matter what happened they would always find one another and never leave one another no matter what and that they would always love each other."
She caught hold of his arms holding him tightly "and I will make you that same promise" she swore "I will always come back to you, I will always be yours and will never leave you and I will always love you, no matter what."
Then before Reid could say anything she had slowly released him and he was forced to watch her slowly walk away.
But he held her promise in his heart and knew that she would work as hard as she could to keep that promise, doing whatever it took. Just like he would. To make sure she was safe.
'I'm saying to be a hero is means you step across the line and are willing to make a sacrifice, so heroes always are making a sacrifice. Heroes always take a risk. Heroes always deviant. Heroes always doing something that most people don't and we want to change - I want to democratise heroism to say any of us can be a hero.' Philip Zimbardo
Sorry again for the delay – university is a lot more demanding than school and it is impossible to find time to write.
For those of you who don't like where I am going with this story I promise I am not planning to drag it out for too long. I know where I want to go and how I want to finish up and this sort of became necessary in my eyes to finish up.
Anyway hope you liked it.
If you have any suggestions I would love to hear them :D
Please review and I promise to try and get the next chapter in soon.
Thanks
Mysticgirl