A/N: Hello again, everyone!
A shout-out to Quilter1993, fishtrek, and lylooo99.
Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds.
My apologies if I made any mistakes but enjoy the chapter!
The chapter starts the weekend before the case.
"Ooh, I can't get over this jumper I got for Ziggy!" Élise showed off the orange and brown turkey jumper she got for Isaac before folding it back, returning it back to the shopping bag, and eating a bit of her BLT sandwich. She and Maeve had just finished shopping for Thanksgiving in the next couple of weeks. "I can't wait for Thanksgiving."
"Same here," Maeve sipped her chai tea. "Bobby and I start taking the children to my parents' place in D.C. What about you?"
Élise replied, "Las Vegas." Élise figured it would be good if the person who sent her that note and possibly that hang-up call last week would start.
"Ooh!" Maeve squealed. "Ophelia found a few homes within our price range and look." She gave Élise her cell phone.
"Cool!" Élise strolled down to the listings of houses. She stopped when she got to one particular house. "Ooh, I like this house."
Maeve was handed back her phone and looked at the house Élise wanted her to look at.
Reading the description, it's said to be a restored farmhouse from the 19th century, painted in yellow paneling. It had five beds and baths, a laundry mudroom, a walk-up attic, and a basement with a finished wine room and a mancave.
"Ooh, I like it." Maeve wiped through the gallery. "Something tells me Bobby will like the man cave."
Élise joked, "The library is Spencer's mancave."
Maeve burst into chuckles. Fanning herself after wiping her mouth, "Okay-okay. I'll send Ophelia an email tonight, and hopefully, after Sunday services, we'll meet up with her."
"She has a magic touch for real estate," Élise toasted. "And to be honest…"
She felt a slight bump from behind her chair.
"Oh, God," a bit of her water slipped. "Oh, sorry about that…"
Élise felt the shivers on her face when she saw an elderly man, possibly in his late sixties-to-early seventies. He had this slightly disgusted look on her face as he walked past her.
Maeve eyed Élise and the man back-and-forth before asking her, "Who's that?"
Élise rolled her shoulders back and shook her head. "I…rather not talk about it."
Maeve knew there was something but decided to push Élise any further and continued describing the house.
"Hey, family!" Maeve waved when she saw the Bastien-Reid family at the parking lot at the church after stepping out of the car. She unstrapped BJ from his car seat, gently got him out, and carried his hand. "How are you doing?"
Élise held Isaac in her arms and answered, "We're good. And you?"
Bobby carried Charlotte in his arms and replied, "Great. We got in touch with Ophelia yesterday, and we're going to see the farmhouse after services."
"Glad we helped you get in touch with her."
Maeve smiled. "Thank you both so much."
Reid yawned as he walked out of the bathroom; his teeth were brushed, his skin was clean, and he was dressed in his black and purple plaid pajamas.
Élise walked into the bedroom, stretching her body, rolling her neck, and groaning.
"Oh, boy," an exhausted Élise moaned. "I can't wait for work. This week…" She shook her head as she crawled under the soft comforters.
Reid sensed something. "Are you okay?"
Élise flapped her lips as she sighed.
"Come on, Lise," Reid pleaded. "Tell me, please."
Reid was at his desk, scribbling some mathematics that popped into his head when he saw his phone vibrating next to him. Looking at the caller ID, he answered. "Hello?"
"Morning, Spencer."
"Morning, Maeve," Reid set aside his notepad and pen and rested his elbows on his desk. "How are you?"
Maeve answered truthfully, "I'm good. I even have an appointment with Generation Group this morning."
"Oh, I had about them. Aren't they an imprint of Prescott Publishing?"
"Yeah!" Maeve exclaimed. "They're one of the major publishing companies in the country. Their headquarters is in New York City, but they do have an office here in D.C., so if all goes well…"
"Congratulations." Reid's voice grew a bit. "That's great. But, uh…I take it that wasn't the only reason you called me this morning?"
"No, it's about Élise," Maeve whispered. "Have you talked to her? She got really freaked out when she and I were out on Saturday, and she saw this guy and…"
Reid assured, "Don't worry, Maeve. Élise and I talked about it last night."
Maeve sighed in relief. "Well, that's good. Élise is like a sister to me, you know?"
"Aw, that's so sweet." Reid smiled before he saw Garcia rushing into Hotch's office, presumably about a case. "Uh, Maeve. I have to get going."
"Okay, later."
She and Reid hung up, and Reid met up with Morgan, JJ, and Blake in the roundtable room. Soon, Rossi entered, and then Hotch and Garcia with a case in Santa Monica involving burned bodies.
Élise was in her chambers at her desk, smoothly at work and typing when she saw her phone vibrate. Picking it up, Élise noticed it was a text message from Reid. She opened it and read the message.
CASE IN SANTA MONICA!
Élise took a moment to reply to the message.
OKAY! STAY SAFE! LOVE YOU!
Élise set her phone down and continued typing,
She saw that she had an email,
Though it was the message's subject was blank, and it was an unfamiliar recipient unless it was junky spam, Élise curiously clicked on it.
I'M STILL WATCHING YOU BITCH!
Élise felt her face crawl and tingle icily. Her mouth opened and formed an O; she felt nauseous in her stomach to the point where she felt like vomiting and her heart beating. Shallowly exhaling, she picked up her phone again—she almost dropped it—and frantically dialed her source.
Reid and Blake visited the M.E.'s office and discovered that the victims were stabbed before being set on fire.
After the visit, Reid and Blake were on their way; Blake asked, "So, you lived somewhere two months and didn't make any friends?" she thought about what he said on the plane.
"I wasn't exactly the most gregarious or social when I was growing up," answered Reid. "I mean, I-I-I had a friend or two growing up. And definitely not the most popular or coolest kid when I was in school, especially when you're a child prodigy whose classmates were six years older, but…" he shrugged his shoulders. "I get you can say I pretty much kept to myself since I found it hard to make friends."
Blake remarked, "Look how far you came. I mean, you have a wife, two beautiful children, a good career, great family-like colleagues."
"Yeah," Reid smirked.
Soon, they met up with Hotch after he finished talking to the female victim's mother and disclosed to him what they got from the M.E.
Élise was done with work for the day and was on her way out of the building, waiting for Marshal Johnson, when her phone vibrated.
After placing her phone to her ear, she answered it, "Hello?"
"Hey, Élise?"
Élise heaved a sigh. "Did you get anything from the email I got?"
"Unfortunately, no. But just in case they try to send you another email, I blocked it for you."
Élise had her hand on her stomach. "Thanks. That makes me feel a little better." After hanging up, she saw Marshal Johnson waiting for her, and he escorted Élise to the car and drove her home.
Unbeknownst to her, someone was taking photographs of her.
"Only in due time, bitch."
Reid laid his back on the plushy twin-sized bed, scrolling through some of the recent messages he got from Élise during the case.
Hotch walked in. "Hey."
"Hey," he replied, not looking away from his phone.
Hotch asked again, "So, how's life?"
Reid picked his body up. "Good. The house we bid on; one of the other bidders dropped it due to finding another one, so now we're completing with the other bidder who placed a little bit higher than we did."
"Oh. Well, I hope you do get it," said Hotch.
"Yeah."
Hotch detected something off. "Anything else?"
Reid let out a big puff. "I'm just worried about Élise?"
"Worried about what?"
Reid shrugged and massaged his neck. "Is it weird that I don't know, but I can't put my finger on it?"
"No," Hotch replied. "It's okay to worry. Maybe I can talk to her?" he offered.
Reid set his phone on the bedside. "If you want to, yes. But try not to push her," he warned Hotch. "I don't want her to feel ganged up or…"
"I know." Hotch nodded.
In the middle of the night, like about two in the morning, Élise moaned when she heard her phone vibrate under her pillow. She smirked; Élise guessed Reid wanted to talk to her again.
Her eyes were still sleepy, but she still managed to answer it before she closed her eyes again, still smirking, "Oh, did you miss me?"
Élise quickly sat up when she heard heavy breathing over the phone. "Hello? Who's this?"
All the receiver did was continue to breathe heavily before hanging up.
A look of shock came on Élise's face. As she dialed for her source, Élise tossed the comforters aside and checked on Séraphine, Isaac, and Opal.
The team delivered the profile to Santa Monica people about the unsub targeting and hunting the homeless.
Élise had a second helping of the green tea she brewed this morning. She barely slept after the call she got last night and kept checking on Séraphine, Isaac, and Opal.
Nevertheless, she focused on her work and decided to her phone turned off.
Reid and Blake visited the M.E.'s office and noticed that the unsub's M.O. had changed with the victim. Meeting back with the team and gathering the information, they realized the unsub is house cleaning the homeless.
"Wow, Rose," Élise dabbed her mouth and tossed her white napkin on the plate. "Dinner was amazing."
Rose blushed. "Oh, thank you, Élise." She rose from her seat and gathered everyone's plates.
Élise looked at her phone and noticed she got a voicemail message after turning it back on. "Hey, Fifi." She kneeled to her size. "How about you help Rose with the dishes, okay?"
Séraphine obeyed. "Yea, mommy."
Élise smiled and kissed her temple. "Good girl." She scooped Isaac into her arms and exited the dining room. After logging in her password, she placed the phone to her ear and dialed for her messages.
"You have one new message," the dialer said. "New message."
All Élise got was heavy breathing for about fifteen seconds before hanging up again.
Élise was so zoned in from the voicemail, what snapped her out of it was Isaac's cries.
"Oh, sweetie." Élise tended to him. "Mommy's here, Zig-zag."
The team got the unsub name: Chad Mills and managed to save his two homeless victims, one connected to Rossi's past.
Élise rested her hands on the sink edges in the bathroom and stared at her reflection.
She imagined a figure dressed in black was behind before spinning around, but nobody was there. Élise grabbed for her phone and spun around again. She kicked the stall doors to make sure no one was there and sighed to herself in relief.
She was on her way out, but the door was locked. Élise remembered she locked it and walked out after unlocking it.
"Whoa!"
Élise jumped when she saw Marshal Johnson sitting on a nearby bench on his phone.
Marshal Johnson tucked his phone inside his jacket pocket. "Are you okay, ma'am?"
"Yeah," Élise nodded.
Marshal Johnson noted. "Your husband's waiting for you."
Élise sighed as he escorted her to Reid, waiting for her. "Thank you. Have a good night."
"Same as you," he replied as Marshal Johnson watched the couple drive off and go to his own car.
Reid observed Élise resting her hand on her forehead and looking defeated. "So…how was today?"
Élise groaned in response.
Reid tapped her shoulder. "Believe me; no matter how many cases we solve, it never ends. I get it."
"I'm so tired and drained and mentally exhausted," Élise grumbled; her eyes were still closed.
"We're on our way home to see our wonderful children and dog," Reid chippered.
Élise replied, "Yeah."
A/N:(whispering): Don't worry, you'll find out certain things as the story progresses.
Last post of the 2021 Year!
GOD BLESS YOU ALL IN 2022!