A/N: Hello again, everyone!

A shout-out to AHowell1993 and Martha for either reviewing Chapter 20, favoring, and/or following the story.

My apologies if I took long to post this chapter-writer's block and I've been feeling down lately. Again, my apologies if I had made any mistakes but do enjoy the chapter!

Also, I would like to credit AHowell1993 for helping me with this chapter.

"Stay back, Griffin!" Élise warns him. "I mean it."

"Or what?"

BANG!

"Yah!"

Élise couldn't believe she got him in the shoulder.

"Is that the best you got?" Griffin scoffs her.

BANG!

"Uh!" She shots him again but in the chest instead.

"You're not getting out of here alive; you can't stop me..."

BANG!

Élise gets him in the head.

Only…

"I told you so." Griffin mocks her in a sing-song voice. "You can't stop me."

Élise shoots him again.

And again.

And again.

Only for him to keep on taunting her and laugh evilly as she kept shooting.

"Whoa!" Élise exclaimed as she leaned forward and gasps for air.

"Hey-hey-hey."

Reid began to solace her. "It's okay. It's okay. I'm right here." He placed his hand on her lap. "I got you."

"Oh, God," Élise presses her hand to her face.

Reid guessed, "Dreaming about Griffin again?"

"More like another nightmare," Élise corrects Reid before exhaustingly exhaling again. "I swear…"

"Maybe you should see Dr. Merrill again." Reid suggested.

Élise nods her head, "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

"You don't deserve to go on like this." Reid soothes her.

"You're so sweet." Élise pulls the comforters to the side and gives Reid a peak on the lips, "Excuse me. I need to use the restroom."

Élise stretched as she entered the bathroom. As she was stretching and started to massage her stomach, she noticed the right-side scar from her final encounter with Griffin.

"No!"

She shuttered when she flashbacked to Griffin wounding the right side of her stomach.

"Thank you so much for looking after Anastasia," Élise expressed her gratitude to Morgan and Savannah.

"Anytime," Savannah said as she was carrying Hank in her arms. Whispering in her ear, "How's it going with Spencer?"

Élise asked, "Can you keep a secret?"

"My lips are sealed."

Élise pulls out her necklace and shows off her wedding ring, causing Savannah's jaw to drop and her eyes to widen.

"Oh, my…congratulations!" Savannah gives her a hug. Whispering to herself, "Took you both long enough."

Soon after dropping Anastasia, Élise and Reid headed to the BAU bullpen. While Élise had her appointment with Dr. Merrill, Reid had a case. Grouping with the rest of the team, Prentiss began the meeting,

"Our victim is Melissa Wallace, 39, a wife and mother who lived in Tallahassee, Florida. Local law enforcement referred the case to us due to the ritualistic nature of the kill.

"Her body was discovered in a wooded area not far from where she lived," Alvez said. "She was found barefoot, wearing a nightshirt and bound to a tree. Cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head."

Tara observed. "No signs of sexual assault."

"And the back door was wide open, otherwise there were no signs of forced entry," Simmons replied.

Rossi noted. "Looks like she was lured or abducted from her home."

"The kids aged 10 and 13, they were both asleep in the house. Neither one woke up."

"Well, threatening to hurt them could be how the unsub got her out of the house." JJ presumes.

Reid asked, "Why leave the house with her when he could have just bludgeoned her to death in bed"

JJ thought, "Maybe he didn't want one of the kids to find her body."

"Is Tallahassee sure they need our help?" Alvez questioned before thinking. "I mean, everything about this says that the husband is their prime suspect."

"Except the husband, Danny Wallace, has an alibi," Prentiss said. "He was in Tampa on business."

"That's about a 4-hour drive from Tallahassee," Reid said

Simmons asked. "We're sure it checks out?"

"Yeah, Garcia confirmed everything with Danny's employer. She also pulled time-stamped CCTV footage of him on the I-10 heading back to Tallahassee from Tampa. It cover the time-of-death window. Plus, Garcia accessed Danny's phone and financial records. Nothing indicates he hired someone to kill his wife."

Tara replies. "Well, Garcia's nothing if not thorough. That essentially rules out our prime suspect."

"Well, looks like Tallahassee does need our help," JJ concluded

Prentiss said. "The Wallace family moved to Florida roughly 4 months ago. Before that, they lived in Arlington, Virginia."

"Do they still have roots up here in our backyard?" Rossi asked.

"Lots," Prentiss said. "That's why you and I are gonna stay back while the rest of the team heads down to Tallahassee. Wheels up in 20."

"You can't keep running…!"

An exhausted Élise looked back as she kept on running.

"Élise…!"

"Élise."

Élise jumped when she heard someone call out her name.

And it was just Reid, who immediately pulls her into a corner.

"Sorry if I scared you." Reid apologizes.

Élise comments, "Better you than Griffin."

"It's going to be okay," Reid assures her. "I have a case in Florida. Prentiss and Rossi are staying behind though. Call them or even me if anything."

"Okay." They give each other a quick lip peak. "Love you."

"I love you more." Reid playfully bops Élise's nose. Stepping out of the corner a few seconds after Reid, she waves goodbye to him before watching him leave with most of the team while Élise continued with her appointment with Dr. Merrill.

On the plane ride to Florida, the team began discussing the latest victim, Melissa Wallace, and her family; from her married life to her personal life, which included her homeschooling her kids after moving to Florida.

Hoping to know more about her underneath her 'façade,' Prentiss had Luke, JJ, and Simmons, go to the crime scene and the family home and Tara and Spence go to the church Melissa was associated with while she and Rossi Dave dug through the life she left behind in Arlington."

Tara began questioned a Pastor Hollis, "So, Pastor Hollis, when did you last see Melissa?"

Hollis answered. "Melissa stopped coming about a month back."

"Are you sure about that?" Reid questioned. "Her husband said that she was here yesterday."

"I'm sure." Hollis assured Reid, "I keep a close eye on my flock. She also stopped coming to Bible study and to Sunday service. Lately, it was only Danny and the kids."

"Do you know why?" Reid asked again.

"Why do any of us stray?" Hollis retorted. "Because the devil paves our way with temptations. I meant to check in with Melissa, but I didn't get to it. That was my lapse.

"Melissa lied to her husband about where she was yesterday," Tara mentioned before asking. "Any idea why?"

"No," Hollis answered again. "She had two beautiful children, and Danny's a good provider, God-fearing. They seemed happy."

"You didn't think it was odd that she stopped coming?" Reid guessed.

"It's the nature of sinners to stray." Hollis figured. "I only hoped that she might stand as a warning to others."

A doubtful Tara asked, "You think that what happened to Melissa is some kind of punishment from God?"

"Not punishment, no. But she gave up the lord's protection when she left his flock."

Reid decided to take a break after having a second talk with Pastor Hollis, who was strongly denied Reid and Tara's accusation about him having an affair despite being married and alibis himself at home while his wife was at an all-night prayer vigil or killing the latest victim's sister, Laura. Pressing the phone to his ear,

"Pretty boy!" Morgan answered after the first ring.

Reid smirked; sometimes it was good to hear Morgan call him 'pretty boy.' Got him thinking about the good old days before Morgan left to be with his own family. "Hey."

Morgan asked, "How's everyone?"

"Everyone says, hi. How's my little girl?"

"Napping." Morgan sounded exhausted. "Those essential oils, especially the lavender, is actually good. Savannah even wanted to use some on Hank for when it's nap time."

Reid snickers before seriously asking him, "Has she…?"

"No meltdowns."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," Morgan reassures him. "If there's any, I'll let you know."

Tara and Reid watched as Alvez and Simmons were in the integration room with Danny just as Chief Burrows came into the room.

And unexpectedly enough, Pastor Hollis wanted to talk to them.

About his final encounter with Melissa

And the two were in for a major surprise.

Tara was bafflingly surprised, "All right, let me get this straight. Melissa rebuffed your advances?"

"I took advantage of Melissa's trust." Hollis guiltily said. "I was weak. But she didn't want to betray her husband, her vows."

Reid asked. "Did she threaten to tell Danny or your wife? Was she going to expose you?"

"No, she didn't. But after that, she stopped coming to church. She came to me for spiritual help."

"And instead, you took advantage of her," Tara replied with slight disgust.

"I wanted to save her," Hollis continued. "I wanted to comfort her, and I slipped. I drove her away. I can't prove to you that I didn't kill her, but I didn't. Are you going to arrest me?

"You are a hypocrite," Reid professed to Hollis. "But we believe you."

Tara tells him. "You're free to go, Pastor."

As they were on their way back to the interrogation room,

Tara scoffed, "Can you believe him?"

"In all honesty, I'm not even that surprised. I knew there was something about him that turned me off." Reid commented before watching the interrogation between Simmons, Alvez, and Danny again. "He seems surprised by the accusation, but that hesitation."

Tara notes, "He's lying."

They continued to listen in and that's when Reid observed something about Danny, "He didn't know."

"Well, maybe he's just reacting to hearing the accusations out loud for the first time."

Reid doubted, "I don't think so."

"If he didn't suspect her of cheating, he had no motive to murder his wife."

Reid figures. "Simmons and Alvez are going to have to push him."

Suddenly, Danny confessed to the murders, confusing both Reid and Tara.

"He's lying."

"Usually when abusers lie, it's to deny the abuse, but he's lying about murdering his wife. He's protecting someone."

"We need to figure out who," Reid stated.

"Why?" Élise bluntly said as she continued her therapy session with Dr. Merrill.

Dr. Merrill wondered, "Why what?"

"Why have I've been dreaming about Griffin lately?" Élise clarified. "In the nightmare, I kept shooting him and he just…"

"Wouldn't die?" Dr. Merrill correctly guessed.

Élise nods her head, "No doubt." Shakingly hissing, "Was it wrong that…?"

"Was it wrong that you what?" Dr. Merrill asked.

"You know…" Élise timidly tries to finish the sentence. "That I…"

"Of course not." Dr. Merrill was unjudgmental. "Absolutely not."

"I meant what I said about living my life to the fullest and not letting him, anyone, or even anything stop me from doing so and now," Élise vows. "I know it's easier said than done but…I'm not going to."

Dr. Merrill smiled, "And you don't let him."

"Like I said, easier said than done."

Reid has a written piece of paper in his hands. "Danny is sticking with his story. He signed a confession."

Alvez includes, "Still says he killed Melissa when he found out she was cheating on him and killed Laura because she figured out what he'd done."

"He just pulled a complete 180," Tara observed. "That doesn't make any sense."

Simmons replies. "And we can't ask him any more questions because he lawyered up."

"It's the M-Vac report," An officer said. "They were able to get DNA off the limestone rocks. There wasn't a match in CODIS, and they tested it against the sample from Danny Wallace."

Alvez believed, "Let me guess, - not a match?"

"No, it's not."

"Danny's not our unsub."

"Alright, let's go back over what we already know."

"Well, one thing's for certain Melissa Wallace had a secret, a secret that weighed very heavily on her."

Simmons replied. "Whatever that secret was it put a strain on her marriage."

"Danny believed that moving cross country would give them a new beginning, so they pulled up stakes and moved to Florida."

"Even with a change of scenery, Melissa was still troubled," Tara said. "She was no longer working outside of the home, but she was homeschooling both of their children."

Reid questioned. "That's sort of strange, isn't it?"

"What, the homeschooling?" Tara asked.

"Yeah. Normally when people move to a new town, they want to make ties in the community. Sending their kids to school would have allowed them to do that, but instead, they chose to homeschool."

Simmons guesses, "So maybe their school back in Arlington has some answers."

"Hey, Lady G." Élise creeks into Garcia's office with Garcia acknowledging her back,

"Hello."

Élise pulls out something from behind her back.

Her broken unicorn mug.

"Hey, it's fixed."

"Yeah-yeah." Élise chuckled. "Because you're like the glue that holds the team together. Plus, I…wanted to talk to you because…you and I…have similar experiences."

"With being abducted, almost killed, and having to shoot someone?" Garcia guessed.

Élise silently nods her head and mouths, "Yeah."

"I thought I was going to die." Garcia was about to tear up but fought hard not to. "The Believers, even though I almost killed Meadows when I ran her over while escaping. I shot the person who was going to kill Reid and me in a Texas hospital a few years ago. He lived, even though he died by lethal injection a few months later, me being shot over ten years ago…"

Élise got chills when she learned that Garcia was shot and almost died. And how she ran over Meadows. "Wow. A lot has happened to you."

"Yeah." Garcia agreed. "I still have the scars, but…"

"They don't have to dictate where we're going because they remind us where we've been." Élise quoted Rossi. "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger. A bit corny and cliché but true."

Someone knocked on the door and it was Prentiss and Rossi…

And Carlos, Garcia's stepbrother.

Élise nods her head, "I'll leave you two alone." She exits the room to give them privacy.

Prentiss watched from afar Garcia walking out of her office with her brother, Carlos, by her side, talking with each other when Élise approached her.

"Reminds me of my own brother," Élise said, watching Garcia and Carlos before confessing. "I fell out of touch with my family for a few years and reunited with them after I was released from the hospital when Griffin…you know. But now we're on good terms again."

"Well, that's great," Prentiss said before asking her, "How was it with Dr. Merrill?"

"Still good," Élise answers honestly. "I meant what I said about living my life to the fullest and not letting Griffin, or anyone, or even anything stop me from doing so and now. I'm still taking it one day at a time."

"Take all the time you need," Prentiss advised Élise. "You don't let anyone tell you differently."

Élise sighs, asking Prentiss, "Was it wrong?"

"Was what wrong?"

"Loving Griffin, despite all the times he…?" Élise looked away ashamedly, fearing she was about to cry.

Prentiss was understanding, "You…don't choose who you fall in love with."

"Even if that person has repeatedly hurt you and expected you to forgive them again and again. But I couldn't this time."

"What a day," Élise quietly exclaimed as she and Reid crashed on the couch after putting Anastasia to sleep.

Reid agreed, "Most definitely."

Élise began flipping through the channels before asking, "So the unsub you guys had to deal with was a thirteen-year-old boy who was about to kill his own half-sister after learning he was the result of an affair his mother had? He not only killed his mother but did it because in the Bible adultery was punishable by death?"

"Yup. I even had to deal with a hypocritical priest."

Élise groaned, "Ugh. This is pretty much why I stray away from religion. The one thing Arthur hates more than anything is a hypocrite."

"Who doesn't?" Reid agrees again.

Élise shrugs her shoulders, "People." Changing the topic, "You know, I saw Garcia and her brother. I heard they're patching things up. Reminds me of myself and Arthur." Smirking, "Did you know Garcia ran over Meadows? And how she shot someone to save you both?" Chuckling, "In all honesty, I would have done the same thing, only I kill her. Would you?"

"I'd do anything to protect my family. Even you."

"Oh." Élise blushed before kissing his cheek. Finding a channel. "Oh! There's Dallas."

"Oh, a classic!" Reid mentioned.

"I know." Élise squealed in excitement.

She sighed before confessing, "I'm still struggling with Griffin."

"I know." Reid cuddles her closer to him. "I still get it."

"But that doesn't mean I will stop living my life to the fullest and not going to let him, anyone or even anything stop me from doing so."

"Carpe diem." Reid kisses her head.

Élise purrs, "Oh, I love it when you speak Latin."

"Do you want to hear my French?" Reid smoothly asked, causing Élise to giggle.