Savior
Chapter 33
-xx-
Cate closed her eyes as she relaxed back in the massage chair. Madison had requested a manicure while out shopping, and Cate was the first to agree. A relaxing pedicure was exactly what she needed after what transpired when they arrived at the mall.
Teddy treated his two daughters and granddaughter to lunch at a restaurant at the mall before heading back to the station. Lunch helped to keep her mind off of Cole, but as she sat alone in the massage chair, her mind wandered back to him in the parking lot.
He looked so lost when he was handcuffed, and it broke Cate's heart. But her father's words rang through her ears; he will get the help that he needed so desperately, and that brought peace to Cate's mind.
Derek had sent her a few text messages when he had the chance, and mentioned that they were very deep in this case, and hoping to close it out by morning. She longed for him to be home. Even just being in the same room as Derek Morgan calmed her fears.
"You blush like a school girl every time he texts you," her sister said from the chair next to her.
Cate opened her eyes and turned to Jackie. "Sorry?"
The two laughed. "It's good, though, Cate." Cate found herself taken aback by the sincere smile on her sister's face. "I like him," she added kindly.
"I like him, too, Auntie!" Madison exclaimed happily from the kid's pedicure chair next to her mother.
Cate winked at her niece. "If all goes correctly, you'll see him at Nana and Papa's on Sunday night for dinner."
The young blonde beamed while her mother pursed her lips. "Is it tough when he goes away for work?"
The brunette shrugged. "It can be, especially with all of this bullshit going on," Cate began. "But I know that he's one of the best at what he does. I'm living proof of that."
Jackie sighed; June 2015 was always going to be a reminder of how she almost lost her best friend. But Derek and his team at the BAU saved her.
They were truly the best in their field, but travelling the country could put a strain on any relationship.
The more Jackie got to know Derek, the more perfect she saw that he was for her sister. She was finally able to get over his job, though it seemed that Cate sometimes had reservations about his career. Cate would say that she was being selfish wanting to have him around more, but Jackie believed she deserved the right to be that way.
"Hey Maddy," Cate called over to her niece to break the tension. "What color should Auntie get for her nails?"
The blonde pondered the question for a minute. She was currently fixated on the hot pink being applied to her toenails. "Maybe a lime green?" she replied with a grin.
Cate chuckled. "I need something a little bit more subtle."
Jackie rolled her eyes. "Auntie is boring, Maddy." Madison nodded in agreement. "She doesn't change from black, red or French very often."
The brunette shrugged. "If I don't get back to the nail salon next week before I leave for Chicago, I want to match anything I wear."
"Hold up," Jackie began, turning to her sister with her eyebrow raised. "When are you going to Chicago?"
Cate laughed nervously. "Apparently with everything going on, I forgot to mention that Derek and I are travelling for his sister's bridal shower."
Jackie beamed. "This is like real, real now. You're going home to meet his family!" Catherine nodded. "Holy crap, Cate."
Her younger sister blushed. "We video chat with his mom all the time, and I've talked to his sisters a couple of times. I feel like I know them, but I want to meet them in person so badly."
Jackie reached across the seats and placed her hand to Cate's forearm. "This sounds sappy, but I'm so happy for you." Cate smiled softly.
"For you, that's the perfect amount of sappiness."
"Auntie," Madison interrupted sweetly. "You should get the same pink that I have!"
The young blonde held up a bottle of a light pink polish. "If they can match that in the nail dip, I will gladly get the same color as you." The nail tech looked up from massaging Cate's calves to see the color, and nodded back at Cate. "Looks like you're getting your way, kiddo."
"What are you wearing to this bridal shower," Jackie asked as she began to stand from her massage chair.
Cate shrugged. "I have no idea. Most of my dressy stuff is in boxes right now."
"I guess that's our task today – find you a bridal shower dress." Jackie replied with laugh. "And something for dinner in Miami."
Cate's face dropped. "I almost forgot about Miami."
Jackie turned to her and lifted an eyebrow. "There's more reason to celebrate now," she responded. Cate grinned. "It's not every year that I get to celebrate my birthday in Florida, but with Cole gone, it's going to be a good weekend."
"My liver hates you already."
The two chuckled. "Fruity drinks, no tequila - I've got it."
Cate gave her sister a thumbs up. "It'll be a crazy few weeks, that's for sure."
"Crazy can be a good thing."
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Cate readjusted the shopping bags on her arms. Jackie was in the fitting room with Madison trying on clothes, as Cate relaxed in the waiting area.
She jokingly texted pictures with only a bit of each dress showing to Derek. Cate could only laugh when she would get texts back asking for a photo of the entire dress. Derek had no idea how stuffed the bags in her arms were, and how many of the dresses she sent to him were coming home with her.
From a lace romper she bought for Miami, to a handful of dresses to choose from for Desiree's bridal shower, Cate was filling the closet Derek designated for her. He cleared out the closet in the guest bedroom and let her have full control over it.
Cate told herself that she'd get enough wear out of the new things she bought for work, anyways. A quick little black dress was always necessary for going to listings with customers, and a shirt dress was perfect for the office.
She laughed when Jackie talked her into buying everything she liked. Keep the tags on until you wear it. Don't like it, return it.
The bags were equally full of things for her niece. Madison had a way about getting whatever she wanted from her aunt.
Cate noticed as she looked down at her cell phone that her hands were still shaking. She pushed everything out of her head the best she could, but realized that it wasn't going to slip her mind as easily as she hoped.
Even a fresh coat of nail polish and a hand massage could not get the nerves to stop.
In the back of her mind, she was brought back to her attack; she never actually saw the knife Dennis Stone held. Having a gun pointed at her point blank definitely brought every fear she had back.
It was definitely not something she wanted to deal with every day, and she would be damned to understand how Derek could deal with that every day in the field.
Even in the apartment, she saw their guns pointed at Stone, but they were not pointed at her exactly. And those deep brown eyes behind one of them calmed every fear in her body.
The way Derek spoke to her instead of her attacker relaxed her and took her mind off of the knife connecting with her back and ultimately her stomach.
She tried her best to shrug every negative thought from her mind and focused on the laughter coming from the dressing room.
Madison sauntered out of her fitting room in a soft pink dress and danced up and down the aisle until she reached her aunt. Cate took her hand in hers and twirled her around the entrance to the dressing rooms.
Madison Rose was her reason to get through multiple surgeries and sixteen days in the hospital. She was definitely a powering force in Cate's life, and was the only reason Cate stopped in the parking lot.
She knew in the back of her mind that if she had entered the mall with her niece and sister, they both would have been in danger. Cate would gladly give her life for the young blonde with the dazzling smile and invigorating laugh.
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