(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters)
Thank you fishtrek, Bohogal1998, Caroliny Hotchner, Jesuslover123, Guest, Daisyangel, TheBalckSlytheryndor, and MaidenMoonshine, for reviewing the last chapter.
If anyone follows Searching for Home, I promise the next chapter will be up tomorrow. This story was in desperate need of an update though.
Please review.
Enjoy.
Caroline hurried through into her kitchen and wrenched the lid off the pot which had started to forth up, dripping down the edge. She peered down, frowning at the concoction. After an analytic pause she sighed and turned off the hob, taking the steaming pot off the heat.
She turned looking over the vial in front of her. Set up next to it on the kitchen counter was a tube slowly dripping a pale, slightly translucent, blue liquid into the vial. Caroline stared at it for a moment before turning off the faucet connected to the tube, stopping the dripping. She moved the vial from underneath it and peered at the liquid.
A small squeak from the other side of the kitchen pulled Caroline's attention from the vial. She smiled to herself and walked toward the cage.
"Here," she mumbled and she pulled off the empty water bottle that had been attached to the cage and poured a drop from the vial into it. When she put it back in place she watched the old mouse creep out from the darkness, leaving a small, more skittish mouse behind. The old mouse padded curiously up to the bottle. It took a sip and Caroline made a cry of triumph which had the mouse scuttling back under its bedding, startling the young mouse.
All she had to do was wait. Caroline set the vial back in place and turned the faucet back on. She left it dripping, glancing at the cage once more before hurrying back to her computer. She quickly logged the time of administration in and the test number. The blank spaces would need to be filled in within a few hours, when, as Caroline hoped, the results would be perfect.
She glanced back at the vial for a moment, biting her lip. The mice were hiding beneath the bedding, the younger one watching Caroline curiously.
Caroline turned the faucet off again and grabbed the vial. She stared at the liquid, taking a long moment to contemplate what she was doing.
"Only one way to find out," she muttered.
JJ grabbed Spencer before he could charge down anymore of the hall. He struggled briefly before realising who had him and cracking a smile.
JJ cocked an eyebrow and asked, with a smirk on her face, "and where do you think you're going?" She glanced at Spencer's hands, there was a plastic dinosaur in each. She looked back at Spencer's face which was red from running, the collar of his pyjama top ruffled.
"I," Spencer started, a little breathlessly. "I'm playing," he said.
"Really? You know that you should be getting ready, right?"
Spencer's arms dropped but the dinosaurs stayed in his clutches. "Not day cawe again?" he mumbled, looking down dejectedly. JJ shook her head and a soft smile pulled at her lips.
"No, sweetie, one of the team is taking you out today," she said, beaming when Spencer's face lit up. The rest of the team were going to work on Caroline's girlfriend's case, Morgan and Rossi had both offered to take Spencer, but surprisingly, Emily had too.
"Who who who!?" Spencer asked excitedly, grabbing onto JJ's shirt with the tips of his fingers, his palms too busy encasing dinosaurs to grab her properly.
Aaron walked by casually with a grin. "Was that an owl?" he asked, ruffling Spencer's hair as he went. "'Who' back at ya, buddy."
JJ shook her head at Aaron's poor dad-joke. She adjusted Spencer, walking away from where the boy had been headed.
"You'll find out when we get to work," said JJ as she set Spencer on his feet in his room. "Now, lets get dressed so we can have breakfast."
JJ didn't get a break from Spencer's questions until they were sat down for breakfast. It started off as endearing but once changed and downstairs JJ was close to putting her hand over Spencer's mouth to halt the onslaught of pointless questions.
Spencer briefly paused with the questions when he realised Emily was taking him for the day and he had a visible look of confusion on his face when JJ transferred his things into Emily's car.
Spencer tried his questions again with Emily but her answers were always so brief that the little boy soon ran out and they ended up sitting quietly in the car. But Spencer, looking out the window curiously, soon thought up another question. "Auntie Em?"
"Hmm?" Emily took a sip of her coffee when they stopped at a red light.
"Whewe awe we going?" Spencer asked, looking up from the window, his head cocked to the side.
"I thought we'd go skiing," Emily said passively as she put her foot back down to beat the Porsche next to her off the lights. Spencer, thrust back into his car-seat for a moment, looked up in sudden panic.
"Skiiing!" he cried. "B-but I can't ski!" He looked into the rear-view-mirror imploringly before looking down at his gloveless hands in shock. "I-I don't have a hat o-or gloves!"
Emily was laughing to herself in the front and she glanced around with a grin. "I'm joking, Spencer," she said.
Spencer stopped rubbing his ungloved hands and frowned. "But..."
"We're not going skiing, handsome. Do you think I can ski?"
Spencer considered it for a moment so Emily quickly answered her own question.
"No, I can't ski," she said with a laugh. "And No, we're not skiing."
Spencer nodded and turned back toward the window. It dawned on him that Emily had never answered his question. "So what awe we doing?" he asked.
"We, little guy, are going swimming!" Emily waited for Spencer to react, but the car fell into an anti-climactic silence.
"Oh," Spencer said finally.
"Don't you like swimming?" Emily asked. "I wasn't so thrilled either, but your mum booked you in and she's-" Emily stopped looking back at Spencer in the mirror. "She's working," she said carefully. Spencer didn't react.
"I like swimming," Spencer mumbled but he turned to the window and didn't ask anymore questions. He loved swimming really, he just wanted his dad to be teaching him.
Emily pulled up to the swim centre and pulled Spencer and their bags out of the car.
"Is this it?" Spencer mumbled, looking up at the unfamiliar building with apprehension. He glanced back at the car as it disappeared behind automatic doors. He turned with a scowl while Emily signed them in.
"Chill out," Emily said, smiling at the lady behind reception.
Spencer huffed, watching the people walk by as they made their way to the changing rooms.
He was still pouting when he stepped out of the cubicle, Emily behind in her swimsuit, towels on her arms while Spencer stood in his swimming trunks and his water-wings shoved up his arms. He crossed his arms over his chest (with a little difficulty since the water-wings made his arms stick out) and followed after Emily, watching his feet slap against the damp floor.
"Come on, Spencer. They have a slide here." Emily shit the locker and held her hand out for Spencer to take.
Spencer looked up at Emily's extended hand. "Slide?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.
Emily smirked. "Yes."
Spencer narrowed his eyes at Emily's hand for another moment before grabbing it. He hurried after her into the pool room and his eyes fell straight on the curled slide in the corner. Emily grinned at the feeling of Spencer squeezing her hand. Spencer pointed at the slide.
"Look how big it is, Em!"
"Yea, it's-"
"Can we go on it now!?"
Emily looked down and found Spencer's round eyes staring back at her. Spencer clasped his other hand over Emily's gazing up imploringly at her. Emily rolled her eyes.
"Stop being cute," she said and Spencer stuck his bottom lip out. Emily pointed at the pool and tried to turn Spencer's attention toward it. "We need to go for a dip first."
"Why?" Spencer asked, frowning at the quiet pool.
"We need to get used to the water."
Spencer's face fell and he gave the slide a fleeting look. "B-but the slide..."
"Patience, grass hopper," Emily said, making Spencer frown harder.
"Awe you twing to quote-"
Emily cut Spencer off by heaving him into her arms. "Don't question me," she said with a laugh. She sat down at the pool's edge and lowered her legs in. "I'm older than you," she added. "Which means I know better."
Spencer shook his head indignantly, glancing down at the water. "Age doesn't-"
Emily slid into the pool, pulling Spencer with her, the cool water making Spencer's sentence turn into a squeal. They were at the shallow end, put it didn't stop Spencer grabbing at Emily's neck, worried she might let him go.
Emily let out a sigh while the little boy clung to her. For a moment it felt as if the old Reid was back. She smiled quickly when Spencer shot her an annoyed glare.
"Hey," he said. "I was talking."
"You always are, handsome," Emily said and she laughed. "Stop sulking and swim, okay? Can I let you go?"
"No!" Spencer cried, lunging for Emily who had started to let him go. She pulled him back against her, wincing when the sharp plastic edge of the water-wings scratched her cheek.
"Alright! I won't let you go."
Spencer held onto Emily as she gently waded across the shallow end. He only let go to hold the side and kick back, giggling when his little feet rose from the water and splashed Emily.
Emily finally floated toward the pool steps and Spencer clapped his wet hands, splashing them both.
"Slide!?" he asked and he pulled his bottom lip between his teeth in anticipation.
Emily let out an exaggerated sigh. "Yes," she said. "If you insist."
Spencer hopped up the steps after Emily. "Oh, I do!" he said, grabbing Emily's hand and pulling her toward the slide. She had to tell him to slow down since the lifeguards were eying his excited little feet on the wet floor. There wasn't a line, so Emily stood back and let Spencer take the lead up the steps, keeping close behind him so he didn't fall.
A lifeguard was waiting at the top. She was looking pretty bored until Spencer stepped around the corner, and she smiled. Spencer stopped and looked back anxiously at Emily.
"Hi." Emily smiled.
"You wanna go on the slide?" the ligeguard asked, looking down at Spencer and putting on a sweet voice.
No, Emily thought, we walked up here to check out the view. She forced a smile on her face. "We sure are," she said, her voice sarcastically high. Spencer turned and gave Emily a look, probably wondering why she sounded uncharacteristically happy.
The lifeguard glanced over the side as if checking if the exit point was empty, which, since clearly no-one had been on for several minutes, was just a pointless display of authority. "Sit him on your lap. Put your arms across him, like this and keep your legs straight. Oh, and lie back."
Emily nodded and stepped into the small entrance, sitting down and patting her lap. Spencer looked down at her then across at the lifeguard who just smiled.
"Come on, Spencer, I'll hold you tight," Emily said. Spencer stepped up, letting Emily lift him and situate him in her lap. He didn't know what to do with his arms and he panicked at the sight of the dark tube ahead of them. Emily quickly encased him in her arms, squeezing tight.
"I got you," she whispered.
"Okay, you're ready to go!" Emily glanced back at the lifeguard before shimmying a little bit. The water pulled them into the dark slide and suddenly they were off.
Spencer gripped Emily's arm as they passed through the curled slide. He looked up at the changing lights and giggled when water splashed up around them. When they got to the bottom, they were dropped back into a roped off area of the pool and Emily quickly lifted Spencer's head out of the water.
"Was that cool or what?" Emily said, swimming toward the pool ladder. She helped Spencer up it. He jumped up onto the side, flicking his soppy hair from the face. Emily was barely out of the water when he tugged at her arm.
"Again again!" he cried.
The team worked on several theories at once, trying to construct a profile form the minimal evidence they had. Finally, they managed to scrape something together, and it certainly suggested Lacey's innocence.
Aaron was about to go over everything they'd discussed when his phone started to ring. He scowled at the unknown number and reached for his phone, taking a step away from the team as he did.
"Hotchner-"
"Agent, it worked! It's worked!"
Aaron frowned. "Who..." he paused, slowly recognising the voice. "Caroline?"
"Yes! Look, I've done something... well, it's better if I show you in person."
Aaron's brow fell again. The team were trying to listen in, the noise around the table having quietened considerably.
"What have you done? I don't understand," he said but the voice on the other end was much too rushed and excited to let him answer.
"Meet me outside your building in five minutes and I can show you."
With that she hung up, leaving Aaron to stare back at his team.
"What?" Morgan was up out of his seat.
"I think she's had a break through but she didn't say much other than to meet her outside."
Morgan looked around at the team before heading to the door. He looked back at Aaron. "What are you waiting for?"
Aaron looked toward JJ who got up too.
They hurried into the elevator.
"What do you think it is?" JJ asked, taking her eyes off the descending numbers.
Morgan folded his arms. "Maybe she'll show us some proper proof that this is possible," he muttered. The elevator came to a stop and Aaron led the way to the doors on the ground floor.
Aaron stepped into the dim sunlight and glanced around.
Morgan followed close behind, also scanning the area. "She here?"
Aaron shook his head, stepping out of Morgan's shadow. After a moment more, a young woman stepped out from a blue car across the road. Aaron narrowed his eyes. The young woman looked back at him, her glasses seemed too big for her face... as did her clothes. Aaron took a step towards her but she eagerly covered the rest of the distance.
"It's me," she hissed. Aaron stared at her.
"Caroline?" he muttered and the girl nodded.
"The human trial worked!" she said, looking immensely proud of herself.
Morgan has quickly caught up and he looked Caroline up and down.
"She's younger," he said. "Why are you younger? You're meant to be working on the opposite."
"Aaron?" Hotch turned and saw JJ hanging back apprehensively. He waved her over.
Caroline frowned at Morgan. "In order to create a successful cure for de-aging I must first understand how the initial strain was made." She stepped back, motioning down her youthful body with a grin. "I took 12 drops drops and I'm seven years younger!"
Morgan continued to scowl at Caroline. JJ took Aaron's hand and squeezed it.
"Have you finished the reverse of this then?" Morgan said.
"I'm working on it," Caroline said, folding her arms. "I don't think it's ready for human testing yet-"
"You're testing on yourself?"
Caroline turned back to Aaron and shrugged. "Who else can I test it on?" She stared at Aaron intensely before her scowl eased and she glanced around at the building behind them. "Have you made any progress?" she asked. "I've spent all day on this, I need to know Lacey is in good hands."
"We have a profile," said Aaron and Caroline smiled in relief. "Nothing concrete yet, but it's getting there."
"Good." Caroline gave a swift nod. "Well," she said. "I'll... I just thought you should know my progress."
"Yes, thank you," JJ said and she smiled, only briefly.
Caroline took her cue to leave and the three agents watched her closely as she want back to her car, wondering whether they were really doing the right thing.
I'm sorry, I took so long and this isn't a good chapter at all. I'll try and post the next chapter by next Friday.
Thanks for reading. Let me know what you thought in the reviews.
See you soon. Stay safe.