I was called in after a few days to fill out all of the paperwork required by me on this case. God I hate paperwork! And I only have like half of what the others have. I have never been more grateful that I am not an actual agent. Wonder what that would be like? If I was actually an agent.
I would probably be a real badass, but then again I would not have anyone in my life, and I do not know how to get into this program, but I do not think just great streetsmarts and a ninth grade dropout, will make the cut. If I had not been a criminal I would have never met this people. Not that I liked crime anymore, but I understood it, it was necessary for people like me to survive. I wondered what Rossi, Prentiss and Morgan was doing? Spencer and Hotch had been psychoanalyzing someone in prison, but the rest kept me in the dark. They all came back and some dude was in Rossi's office and told him they should talk like men. I looked over at them then the rest of the team furrowing my eyebrows.
"What is that about?" Emily asked, beating me to it, JJ just smirked.
"Garcia and Gavin sitting in a tree." She said and walked away from us, the two adults started laughing, Reid and I seemed to be the only ones not getting it.
Reid asked Prentiss what it meant but she told him it did not matter so he turned to look at me and I shrugged.
"Don't look at me Doc, I don't know either." I said this made the two other agents turn their head to me.
"Hold up, Pretty Boy I understand doesn't get the reference, but our little criminal, how do you not know? Didn't they have rhymes on the streets of Chicargo?" Morgan said while Emily chuckled and I shrugged.
"Not really. Not that one at least, the only rhyme you hear on the streets is the classics you know; Bitches who snitches they end up in ditches needing stitches." I said and smiled, I thought it was a quite nice rhyme Morgan and Prentiss just looked at me horrified, I looked to Reid who just shrugged and I smiled at him. It was nice not being the only one in the dark on this one.
"What? Honor amongst thieves, or something." I said trying to get them to stop looking at me like I was crazy.
Was I crazy for thinking that way? I mean I only had my own childhood I have no clue how a normal one could go. Probably good I so far have followed the thieves code which says not to have any family. I would not know what to do with it, how to raise it not to hustle and steal, it was the only thing I knew. I want to teach my fictional kid something, make them know how smart I am, but I can not help them with their math homework, so much as I can teach them to pickpocket. My train of thought was interrupted by Spencer.
"I actually read something about that. Called the thieves code, guidelines for all thieves, like taking youngsters with potential under their wing, but never having a family of their own. Or always have enough to cover your own debts. I find it particularly fascinating in you case actually Lola, since you accepted a job with us when this code says to never take any job involved with the government." He paused and looked at me, he did not realise how insulting that was to hear from him, telling me I had broken the code. I knew the god damn code.
"Hey, I took this to get out of jail. And I don't break the code, unless you see us putting away any mobsters or thieves. Besides the code is not about being a thief and establishing your network. It is about loyalty, respect and surviving, together. Plus I have little more leeway since in not directly in a family, I just have to pay my dues." I said, it has been a while since I talked about the familia and used their terms.
Sometimes I miss it, the nice family dinners sitting around joking. Morgan broke in this time getting up standing in front of me confused.
"Wait kid you have ties to the mafia? I knew you were italian but damn." He said and I chuckled.
"I have delt with them before, but I am not involved with them, last time I checked I stole not shooting peoples knee caps off, extortion and drug deals. But I dealt with them and I owe some of them my life. So if you think you can get me to give your bureau some info on the mafia, then you got the wrong gal compadre." I said.
After I said it I thought it through, I was loyal to these people and I owe them my life, but maybe I should not have been so defensive with Morgan. Maybe he was just curious. I felt a little bad but honestly I would never give up anything on the mob, I owed them my life.
"I'm sorry, that was harsh. But you gotta understand I don't understand how life works without criminals involved. And it is not all bad, there is actually honor amongst thieves. People usually see a crime family or a group of street kids and only see the bad, not that part where you have a home all of a sudden. La strada é la mia familia, la familia prima da tutto." I said.
I got up from my desk feeling the need to leave the conversation. It was strange talking about this, I had tried to forget about that part of my criminal past. I did not want them to judge me. I sometimes wonder why I am still loyal to these people. I know I should care less, I was a criminal informant now. But I also could not ignore people who have helped me when no one else would. It was like I was being pulled in two different directions.
Reids P.O.V.
Lola got up to leave the conversation, we had apparently hit a nerve when talking about thieves, I had not meant to hit a nerve, I was just curious. I stood up and smiled at the others, I needed a coffee anyway, might as well try and comfort her. Emphasis on try since I have been known not to be very good with emotions.
"Wait kid, what did that last thing mean?" Morgan asked before I could leave I turned around and smiled at them.
"The streets are my family, family always comes first." I said and they all nodded seeming to understand where she was coming from.
I did too, I understood not having anyone and being loyal to those you have. I did not actually know that much italian but I looked up the words I did not know online and guessed the rest. Maybe I should ask her to teach me some italian, that could be fun.
I walked into a little secluded corner of the office and saw her sitting up against a wall. I cannot imagine what she is going through, maybe feeling like she is betraying her family by being with us. Or maybe not knowing how life works without being a criminal. It must be tough knowing you could do other things yet with the cards you were dealt that just is not a possibility. I sat down beside her and smiled at her even though she did not look up at me.
"You seemed distressed. How would you like to approach it, with words of comfort, a study suggests that 30% of women sometimes prefer solitude before talking about it." I said and she looked up at me half upset half smiling.
"I just feel weird. Like I miss my criminal friends, but I don't even know if half of them are dead. And it sort of hit me today, I do not know how I am gonna function in normal society once I get out. It has always been survive, no matter what laws you're breaking. But I don't owe anyone nothing, I could live without crime, but then what? Get a shitty job because no one will hire a convict? Live alone, no friends and family. Then I think I would rather be a criminal." She said.
I understood her confusion, most convicts have a hard time getting a job, and she is clever so she would most likely be unfulfilled by that job and start hating her life before eventually turning back to crime. It also seemed different from most people I meet (not that I meet too many criminals actually.) but growing up on those streets not knowing anything else, how can anything in a normal and sad life change that connection she had with these people.
"Most CIs get hired after release, so maybe you have a good shot at working here when you get out." I said and she smiled at me.
"Yeah? I just might. I like it here. It's safe. But I can't turn my back on family you know?" She said and I looked down smiling slightly.
"I get it, but we were our own little family here as well. And I personally would like to have you here in it." I said and when I looked up she smiled put her hand on my cheek and kissed it, then left the kitchen.
I could feel a blush creep up on my face and I did feel all warm inside.
I quickly tried to gather myself, I knew how those things go and they never end well. That and this is the second time she has done this so I think it may be more her way of saying thank you than anything else.
I grabbed some coffee and went back into the bullpen, I could not help but smile though. JJ walked in and told us we had a case. I sighed, we had barely been done with the last one and now a new one rolled in? I got up and walked into the conference room and sat down. I opened the file in front of me and looked over the details. Two boys both 13 years old was being tortured and killed. Violent showing no signs of remorse and suggests sexual impulse. However the way they were buried seemed highly unlikely to be sloppy as the rest of it seemed to be. We got briefed and went to the jet, I stayed silent for most of it, but my mind kept wondering about other things about this case. It seemed a little weird being around everyone right now. We got to Wisconsin and said hello to the police officer on the case. We all went to the burial sights to see what we could get out of them. We started of by going to the first boy Timmy's burial sight. We looked it over, nothing seemed significant about this place. He was hiding in plain sight which told us that he was not someone you noticed, maybe from around the area. There did not seem to be any ritualistic significance to how they were buried, except that they were put like a natural burial position, which tells us that he feels some remorse, this could also be his signature. I said all of those things to my two companions and they agreed. We met back at the precinct to discuss the case.
"What I don't get is how he gets these victims? They were on their way home from extra curriculum activities when they were abducted yet no one saw anything." Morgan said and Lola cut him off.
"And this is the suburb not the inner city so a ruse would be suspicious." She said and I nodded.
"It would have to be someone who would not look suspicious talking to children." Emily said and then something clicked in my train of thought.
"What if he is a coach or an educator, seeing one of those with a kid would not be suspicious." I said and they all nodded.
"If it is he definitely won't have any prior pedophile charges since there is no way a school would hire a teacher with a record like that." Rossi said and I nodded.
"Something about the second victims autopsy does not make sense, it says that Joe was struck across the face? But the drugs in their system suggest them to be unconcious so it would not make sense as a punishment for trying to escape. And since Timmy does not have it I wonder what could have caused him to be hit." I said.
I looked around seeing if anyone had a theory and the only one who seemed to wonder was Lola who the proceeded to open the file she read something smiled then poked Rossi and made him look and he smirked.
"Yeah Reid, we have a very plausible idea as to why Joey was hit." Rossi started smirking. Lola took over tossing me the file.
"He is italian." She said and Morgan seemed to get the reference the rest of the team seemed mildly confused as was I, I furrowed my eyebrows looking at them.
"What does that have to do with anything? As far as I know there are no statistical evidence that supports that italians are more prone to domestic abuse." I asked and Lola chuckled. I liked her laugh.
"It's not abuse. But here is the deal, I met his dad here at the police station, he is old school italian." Rossi started and again Lola elaborated.
"If your parent is an old school wise-guy it means there is one rule. You act like a dumbass." She paused and looked at Rossi.
"You get smacked cross the face." They said in sync. Sometimes I forget that they are both italiens, it seems to give them some sort of special bond.
I looked around to see everyone in the room get that reference. I looked still confused how that was linked to being italian up at Morgan who smiled at me.
"Hey, don't look at me kid, if I acted like a dumbass I would get my ass whooped by my ma." He said and I nodded, I think I figured it out. At least I was going to refer to that detail as insignificant until proven otherwise.
We walked out of the room and Rossi, Lola and I was sent to talk to the first victims family. I decided I would ask again in the car, it felt a little embarrassing in front of everyone.
"So why is the "smacking cross the face" significantly connected to italiens?" I asked and they smiled at me.
"Italiens are proud people, and back in the old days that was just how you raised kids. Thats how they were raised, and thats how they raised their kids. Beside once you've been hit in the face a few times, you learn not to fuck up again." Rossi said and I nodded feeling closer to the answer.
"It funny how different cultures are when it comes to raising children. I read once a Zuni saying, that every time a child makes 20 mistakes you should forgive 19 of them. Which seems to connect more with how most white families seem to raise their kids." I said and opened the door getting into the cars backseat. Lola turned around and looked at me grinning.
"Yeah? Well we also have an italian saying like that. You must have been told right Rossi?" She said looking at him and he smiled nodding.
"Yeah of course I have been told that. My uncle used to say it when he was busting my balls. Si scopre tuna volta, si perde due denti." He said in perfect italian, it is a quite beautiful language.
"And what exactly does that mean?" I asked and Lola looked back at me smirking.
"You fuck up once, you lose two teeth." She said and I widened my eyes looking horrified, she just started laughing at my reaction.
When we got to the house I walked up to Rossi and whispered to him.
"They don't actually pull your teeth out do they?" I asked a little worried and he chuckled and grabbed my neck.
"Of course not you dork." He said laughing a little but quickly wiped away his grin as we approached the mourning family.
Lola's P.O.V.
We had caught the killer and were flying home, it turned out to be a volunteer who had lost their kid and therefor killed these boys to keep his own kid "alive". Weird, but anything can make sense in a delusional mind. I was sitting across from Prentiss and Reid when she proposed we play poker to pass the time. It was a long flight home so I agreed to it. Reid looked at us and shrugged.
"Sure, but you are aware that I am from Vegas?" He said and I smirked, that was a challenge I was willing to accept.
Prentiss dealt the five cards and we split peanuts chips and pretzels up as chips. We each bet and drew a few cards, Emily and Reid were listing off statistics of probably at me which I rolled my eyes at. Spencer the fool he was played all in and I complied looking worried when I did it to give him a sense of confidence. Emily put down first and had two pairs, spencer smirked as he put down his hand a straight flush. I sighed and he chuckled about to collect all of the snacks when I cleared my throat and put down a Royal flush, his eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his scull and I chuckled leaving the snacks there not actually wanting them, just the satisfaction of winning.
"How did you do that? That is almost statistically impossible to get." He said and I chuckled standing up to go to the bathroom. I waved my finger to tell get him in close like I was telling him a secret.
"Don't gamle with criminals." I said padding his cheek softly. He frowned and looked at me confused.
"A literal ace up your sleeve?" He asked still confused as to how he had lost and I chuckled shaking my head walking away.
"Eddie guerro." I said and his face made an oh shape and I knew he would understand that reference. I walked to the planes bathroom when I heard Emily ask what that meant from behind me, luckily he explained so I would not have to.
"It's a economist saying stemming from wallstreet but also common in the game theory: If you aint cheating, you aint trying." He said, I could actually feel him smiling at me.
I got changed into my prison suit and went out of the bathroom back to the table. We talked a bit, eventually Emily went and sat with the others leaving me and Reid. I liked it when we were alone, we seemed to get each other. I mean he understood my weird behaviour, and I understood his. I guess it is true that the two outcasts usually find each other.
We got back to DC and I was escorted back to the prison. I hoped we would get on case again soon, I sort of missed being around the team already. Maybe the doc was right, it was like a little familia. I liked the feeling you got from that, I have not have anyone in my life I trust for a long time, or anyone I like for that matter. On the inside it is all about usefulness not about if you like that person.