Bobbie's eyes had already adjusted to the dim lights in Garcia's windowless office. If it weren't for the countless screens that were distributed all over the room, emitting a bluish kind of light that clashed horribly with the spare, but warm light coming from the ceiling, Bobbie could have easily understood why Garcia enjoyed locking herself up in her little cave for hours on end. Every now and then, she would risk looking over her shoulder and at the pictures, documents and data that were popping up on the screens behind her.

"Don't look," Garcia reminded her, "I don't want you getting nightmares over all this."

Garcia always spoke in a kind, gentle way, but whenever she caught her glancing at the images on the screens, Bobbie couldn't help but hear a dark undertone in her voice that wasn't quite erased by the technical analyst's playful demeanor. Garcia's eyes would lose their sparkle for a split second before their usual gleam returned.

"It's hard not to look at them." Bobbie admitted. She was sure that her quiet voice would get lost in the soft humming and whistling of the computers around them, but somehow, her words got through to Garcia.

"I know it is." she said, the volume of her voice matching Bobbie's.

"But I also know what it does to your mind."

She seemed lost in her own little world for a moment, acknowledging neither Bobbie nor the crime scene pictures in front of her, before she regained her composure and faced the girl again.

"I was 18 when I first started seeing images like these." She waved her arms around in the air, gesturing to various screens.

"I wasn't even working for the FBI at the time. I was just starting to develop my skills and I was young and didn't know what I was getting myself into." she said, and Bobbie could see that her eyes were starting to get a bit glassy, despite her voice not quavering even once.

"You can't un-see these things, Bobbie, once you've seen them, they stay with you forever. There is so much good in the world. At your age, you should go looking for the beautiful things."

"Go looking for the beautiful things?" Bobbie repeated, her voice carrying a touch of disbelief.

There was a knock on the door and Emily stepped into the room, closing the door behind her.

"Bad case?" Bobbie asked, noticing Emily's uncertainty.

"Yes..." Emily began, taking a seat next to her. "It's a lot worse than what we initially expected and the local police has asked us to join them... in Louisiana."

Bobbie's eyes widened slightly, but she tried to smile at the same time. "When are you leaving?" she asked.

"Everyone is grabbing their travel bags right now." Emily said hesitantly. "But I don't have to leave. If you want me to stay, I-"

"You can go." Bobbie said "Seriously, I'll be fine." she added, when she saw the doubtful expression on Emily's face.

"We'll be fine," Garcia chimed in, "I've been preparing for weeks." she said excitedly.

Emily raised her eyebrows and looked from Bobbie to Garcia.

"I have my guest room prepared and I have movies and candy and-"

"Alright, don't go overboard." Emily threw in. "She still needs to catch up on a lot of school work."

"Of course." Garcia said, faking a serious voice.

"Go and catch the killer." Bobbie said.

"Are you sure? I might be away for weeks, we never know how long we'll be working on the case." She wanted to join the others, but she also knew what it was like to have a mother who traveled for work. She wouldn't leave if Bobbie needed more time to adjust to living with- or in this case, not living- with her.

"I'm sure." Bobbie reassured her. "We'll be fine."

"Okay." Emily said with a sigh, before standing up and hesitantly wrapping her arms around Bobbie. "Remember, I'm just a phone call away- and listen to Penelope."

Bobbie nodded and Emily hastily thanked Garcia and said one final goodbye, before walking out into the hallway and hurrying after her team.

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Thanks for reading! I know I abandoned this story for months before uploading the last chapter and I can't even promise that it won't happen again, but I hope you all enjoy this update! Let me know what you think if you have another minute, it would really make my day :)