Chapter Four: Ne Me Quitte Pas
"Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of overcoming it." –Helen Keller
The team sat in the station late into the night, trying to establish a profile for the case. It had been a fairly quiet night in the city of Boston, and most of the halls of the precinct were empty.
"So a white male, mid to late twenties, with a history of violence and most likely a previous record," Morgan conferred with the team.
"Yeah but we're still missing something. Theo obviously knew the killer, and well. This wasn't a spur-of-the-moment killing. The UNSUB knew Theo's schedule, he knew how to get in and out of the house, and he knew no one would find him until Sunday night," Hotch asserted.
Just as Hotch was finishing, Detective Fitzpatrick came bursting through the doors of the conference room the BAU had been given to work in.
"Johnathan Banks was just found dead in his apartment. He was stabbed in the same way as Theo," he told them, slightly out of breath.
The team jumped to their feet and grabbed their phones and guns off the table.
"JJ, you stay here and get ready to give a press conference when we get back. Will, you come with us," Hotch ordered.
By the time the team arrived at the brownstone, it was surrounded by police tape, and a crowd was looking in on the scene. They climbed the stairs that Morgan and Emily had gone up just hours earlier, and entered the apartment.
Like the Jacobs' home, the apartment was trashed, and Johnny lay on the floor of the living room. Blood covered the floor, staining the rug and bottom of the couch. Johnny lay in the center of the rug, green eyes open, but lifeless.
After a few minutes of inspecting the body, Hotch stood up and looked at the team. "We need to deliver the profile".
"We believe we are looking for a white male in his mid to late twenties," JJ began.
"He will have a reputation of being violent, and a previous criminal record, which he likely received as a juvenile," Hotch continued.
"He will also have a prior relationship with both victims. Since Theo and Johnny both met in foster care, we are assuming this is where they came across our unsub as well,".
Reid waited for a moment, allowing the officers in the bullpen to finish scribbling down their notes, before continuing. "The killer will seem polite at first, maybe even charming and personable. But he will be quick to anger, and he is most certainly the type to hold a vendetta. He feels he is righting a wrong that has been committed against him, or someone close to him,".
As Reid finished, Hotch decided it was time to end the meeting. "Our technical analyst, Penelope Garcia, is looking through Theo and Johnny's time in foster care and seeing where they overlapped and who they could've met, but until then this is all we have. Let's get back to work".
As the officers scattered from the bullpen and the team turned back towards the evidence board they had set up, Hotch grabbed Fitzpatrick's arm.
"I want to get Tate Jacobs in protective custody as soon as possible. If the killer's coming after people he met in foster care, there's a chance he'll be coming for her next,".
"We have a safehouse apartment we could put her in. I could put a rota of officers there to watch her. I'll have some officers pick her up and bring her here first so you can explain what's going on," Jack offered.
"That'll be great, thank you".
As Jack exited the bullpen, Hotch reached into his jacket pocket and grabbed his phone to call Garia. While the phone rang, he put it on speaker and set it on the table for everyone to hear.
"Speak and be heard, my superfriends," Penelope greeted them.
"Garcia, have you found anything on the boys' time in foster care," Reid asked.
"So far, the only overlap I can find is a group home they spent time in four years ago. Theo was almost 16, Johnny was 15, and Tate had just turned nine. Looks like there were about 20 other kids in the group home, about an even split between boy and girl, from the ages of 8-18".
The team went quiet, thinking about their profile. They'd be looking for one of the oldest boys, and he likely got into trouble quite often.
"Garcia, did they get into any trouble while they were there?" Will asked. "Any kids they might've butted heads with?".
"Not according to the records, but I'll keep digging".
"Alright, thanks, Garcia," Hotch hung up the phone.
Will watched as Tate stepped out of the car, an officer holding the door open for her. She looked like she hadn't slept in days, and Will could see the fear in her eyes. He admitted to himself that the kid put up a brave front, and was holding together better than most people her age would, but he knew deep down she was struggling with her grief.
"Are you sure you wanna be the one to tell her? I can do it, it's literally in my job description," JJ offered.
"Nah, I owe it to her. And Theo and Tommy. I gotta be the one to do it".
Will walked over to the entrance to meet Tate and the officer escorting her at the door.
"Hey, kiddo, why don't you come in here with me and we'll talk, hm?" Will asked.
When Tate nodded, he led her into a small break room off the side of the bullpen.
Once they had sat down on the aging sofa, Will took a deep breath and began.
"Theo's friend, Johnny, was found dead in his apartment tonight. Our current theory is that someone met them in foster care and is coming after them. So just to be on the safe side, you're gonna stay at an apartment with an officer until all this is over, okay?" Will gave the girl a moment to take in everything he'd told her.
After a moment, Tate looked up at him and asked, "what happens when you catch him? I mean, what happens to me?".
She didn't even know why she had bothered to ask. Tate knew as well as anyone that there was no family left that could take them. All of her grandparents had died long before she was born, her mother had been an only child, and her father's brother died when Tate was a toddler. Theo had once had a hope that Bill would take them in, but that had been dashed years ago when the man slowly stopped contacting them. And he obviously couldn't help Tate now, since he'd been dead for two years.
"Well, you'll be a ward of the state, and they'll find you somewhere nice to stay," Will told her, despite the fact that he knew she was aware of what CPS would do.
"They didn't last time. They never did," Tate stuttered, breathing slightly faster.
One would think that out of six foster homes, Theo and Tate would've found at least one decent one, but that simply hadn't been the case. Tate could still remember the sharp smacks she received from several foster fathers along with the distinct smell of liquor on their breath. She'd barely survived the first time, and that had been with Theo. Tate had known ever since she was a little girl that Theo was the stronger of the two. He always took care of them, no matter what, and he was the only reason Tate made it through her time in the system. But she couldn't do it without him, she wasn't strong enough.
"Well, we'll make sure they find you a good one this time, alright? I promise," he reassured her.
Tate looked down at the floor and was shaking, taking quick, shuddering breaths. Will knew that despite holding it together for the past 48 hours, she was coming apart.
"I-I don't think I can do this without h-him. I can't. I can't be alone. Please don't leave me alone," Tate pleaded, as she began sobbing.
Will broke at the sight of the young girl sobbing. She had lost everything, her mother, her father, her brother, and their closest friend. And now, for the second time, she was being forced to go into foster care and from what she had told him, and the CPS file he'd read, she didn't have a good history with foster homes. Two out of the six they had stayed in had been outright abusive, and another neglectful. The other three, well…Will could guarantee they weren't a walk in the park either.
When he couldn't take it anymore, he pulled Tate into his arms, tucking her head under his chin and rubbing her back.
"Shh, it's alright, Chéri, you're safe. Nothing's gonna happen to you, alright? I'm here, it's okay, you aren't alone," Will murmured to her. "Just breathe, okay?".
Tate stiffened at first in the man's arms but soon relaxed slightly. She hadn't been able to let her guard down over the past few days, but for just a few minutes while she was in Will was here with her, she knew she was safe. As long as she stayed here, they couldn't cart her off to another foster home, and Theo's killer wouldn't be able to get her either.
They sat there for over half an hour until Tate's cries and pleas not to be left alone quieted down. When Will felt the tension leave her body, he knew she had finally fallen asleep, exhausted from her lack of sleep and the crying.
The poor kid was terrified, and he couldn't blame her. He remembered the fear he'd had as a child when his mother left, but he still had his father and his brother. To be so young and not have any family left just wasn't right. Tate deserved a better life, one with a loving family, but she clearly wasn't going to get that in foster care.
Getting up from the couch, he laid her down and covered her with a blanket. He gently pushed a piece of hair out of her face and behind her ear, before exiting the room, quietly shutting the door behind him.
"Everything ok?" JJ asked, seeing him enter the bullpen.
Will could only nod in response, slightly numb from his interaction with Tate.
Seeing how unsteady he looked, JJ walked over to Will, wrapping his arms around him and giving him a soft kiss.
"She'll be okay," she assured him.
"Yeah, sure," Will murmured, knowing it wasn't true in the slightest.
"In every life there comes a point when you have to make a decision about how you will live." –Alice Walker