Here you are, a continuation of the previous chapter! One chapter to go and this case = finished. *claps*
I changed the story behind Mattie's last name by the way. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, heh..
Review and get a message expressing my genuine appreciation? In other words, a thank you, but one with much love! :D
"No."
Her firm response echoed throughout the empty, dull room.
Elli blinked. "What?"
"You heard me." Mattie leaned back against her chair, her arms crossed behind her head. Cross lunged for her neck, surely aching to begin torturing her until she spilled.
"You little—"
Mattie lifted a leg and kicked him back forcefully and quickly, frowning slightly. "It might help your chances on getting the information if you told me what you wanted it for."
The two exchanged glances. The agent sighed, tugging on her fingerless gloves slightly and flipping through the files. "This case's outcome is none of your business," she told them in a monotone, looking up.
"We know," Elli said before Cross could open his mouth, and she looked at Mattie with gentle eyes.
"We also know that John McCoy escaped soon after you and Chase did," Cross managed to add.
The following moment was a blur. In less than three seconds, Mattie had pinned Cross against a wall, Elli grabbing her left arm, while her right hand was mercilessly gripping his throat tightly. "Don't you even say his name, you traitorous fucker…" she hissed at him, referring to her deceased boyfriend, every word coated with extra fury and hatred. Cross made a choking sound as Mattie's grip tightened, desperately trying to shove her off.
"Mattie! Stop!" Elli threw her back and Mattie stumbled into the chair, casting the girl a murderous glare.
A long moment of silence passed as Mattie looked down at her feet. "So, what's so important about Strider, anyway?" she finally said.
"John McCoy," Cross snapped, regaining his composure. "Don't act like an idiot, Jones, you know he's always been vital, and now that he's escaped, he is nothing but a lethal threat."
Cross was right. She did know how important Strider's skills were. He was an exceptional hacker and retrieved confidential information faster and better than Garcia. He covered his tracks quite well, so with him around Madam could get whatever she wanted and have no one discover she's been digging around hidden files from the government or the FBI.
As evil and cruel as she was, Mattie wondered how Madam managed to keep her illegal organization secreted. They killed too many to simply go unseen.
However, at that moment, something was seemed incredibly off. "And why does she want him back suddenly? He escaped years ago."
Cross opened his mouth to say something, but Elli cut in. "She has some tasks for him, plus she's almost certain he's been up to no good."
"She's paranoid sooner or later he'll give one of the higher authorities everything about Il Sangue," Cross mumbled, looking away.
"That didn't answer my question, to be perfectly honest." The unamused agent crossed her arms over her chest. "Why does she want him back after ten years?" she asked, pausing shortly after each word as if they were each one sentence.
Cross scowled at her. "We don't have to answer any of your questions, Jones." He seemed to realize something and a small smirk spreading over his scarred face. "In fact, you better start answering ours if you want to even keep your hidden little life with your crime fighting family."
Her eyes narrowed. "Leave them out of this. This has nothing to do with them," she said flatly and she cursed herself for reacting. His smirk grew wider. "Ah, you've gotten attached, have you Jones?"
Elli put a hand on Cross' arm. "Justin…"
He shook her off, leaning close to Mattie's blank face. "Putting on a poker face, dearie? Afraid you'll show emotion?"
Before Mattie could react, Elli shoved him back with her arm sharply "Cross, get out."
Evidently irritated, he complied and opened the door to leave. Mattie grinned slightly, unable to simply stay quiet. "Finally found someone that could shut you up, skunk man?"
Elli whipped out a shotgun and held it to the agent's forehead, her eyes ablaze. "I'll take care of you."
The team sat in their briefing room, frustrated.
Reid desperately looked at the map, ignoring whoever tried to speak to him. Prentiss and Morgan were busy looking through Mattie's files. Rossi was on the phone with Garcia as she went through the agent's life.
"You're on speaker, Garcia."
"Alright, my lovelies, hear hear." Garcia didn't seem too affected by the lack of leads on the current case. And if she was, she certainly didn't let on. At least she's still smiling, Reid thought to himself as he listened to Garcia speak. To be honest, her optimism was helpful in cases like these and Reid appreciated it very much. "It turns out Matilda Hotchner, which is her real name by the way, you know, before she changed it, isn't exactly an innocent angel." The young doctor's heartbeat quickened faintly. That was something he didn't really want to hear. What was he going to find out, that his friend was a criminal of some sort?
"She may have been an honor student, but even as a prodigy, she's been suspended once for truancy and once for engaging in a fight with kids in high school. Arrested once for trespassing on a rich man's mansion with another kid. When she was twelve, she filed a report that a gang had assaulted her and beat her. The police in New Jersey never bothered to follow up on the accusation."
"Who was the other kid trespassing with her?" Morgan asked, frowning. Garcia paused and she clicked a link on her screen. "Oh..Charles Nicholls. Her…her boyfriend that was slaughtered by that sicko in Maryland."
Just like that, another possible lead, gone.
Reid's heart dropped. Figures, the one time he's was beginning to bond with someone and depend on her, she's endangered in a case as puzzling as herself. He knew she kept secrets. And sometimes when he brought up subjects that involved her history, she faltered or changed the subject immediately. He always wondered what was so bad about her past that she had to hide it. Was it that troubling?
As troubling as his own?
But right now, they had nothing and the thought of losing another friend that maybe, truly understood him motivated him to keep trying. Not after Gideon…I won't lose Mattie, too, Reid thought to himself.
"Well, why would she trespass on his mansion?" Morgan directed his question to the phone.
"No clue, but, uh, they did find each child armed with a Smith & Wesson 9mm semi-automatic."
Everyone blinked in confusion. "W-What..?" Reid stammered, straightening up in his chair. "Why would children…why would they have ammunition like that?" Prentiss asked, the shock in her voice equivalent to the shock on her teammate's faces.
"I think the question we need to ask is who supplied the kids with them," said Rossi, who was flipping through her files.
"Gangs? Street kids?" Reid proposed, clearing his throat. He was desperately trying to make sense of this. "No…I don't think so." Rossi set the papers down, cocking his head to the side. "She was smart; she avoided street kids and gangs. Her little boyfriend, it is possible he influenced her."
Considering this, Morgan leaned into the phone. "We need a background check on Charles, Garcia," he requested.
"Way ahead of you, sweet cheeks."
The older man cracked a small smile. Garcia's speed with technology never ceased to amaze him. "And?"
"Good kid, just as good as Mattie. He was twelve and Mattie was ten when they met in high school. Charles apparently took really advanced classes on engineering, robotics, and technology. He was extremely gifted and his mom died in a snowboarding accident when he was seven, his dad left him two years later, so he was an orphan that lived with foster parents. No siblings, no foster siblings either. But he..he dropped out before he was able to graduate, even if Mattie graduated at twelve years old. That's where his trail ends. I have nada. No one's reported a missing child, nothing."
"So, a good kid with that much potential would just.." Morgan waved his pencil, "..drop out?"
"Maybe he found something else to do with his life?" Reid implied softly. "Or maybe his foster parents pressured him and that was his final act of rebellion."
"But Mattie did graduate and the two remained together even after she left to Maryland. They were inseparable until one day a completely unrelated criminal comes in and shoots the boy," said Rossi, recalling the strange psychopath's case. He didn't fit with this case at all, so he concluded Charles' killer was, in fact, unrelated.
Prentiss ran her fingers through her hair, frowning and closing her eyes. "This is too much."
"The question still stands, who gave her and her boyfriend that type of ammo and why where they trespassing on this rich guy's house?" Rossi repeated, ignoring Prentiss.
"Ricardo Martinez, sir," Garcia clarified.
"Right."
And the young genius said what the agents where too afraid to announce themselves.
"They were aiming to kill him."
Silence fell over the agents yet again. After a few moments, Garcia broke it. "If I may…if they were going for murder, I wouldn't blame them or whoever made them. This guy is downright filthy."
"What's he got on him?" Rossi asked her.
"He now lives in Brazil and he is 58 years old. He was born in Puerto Rico and moved to New Jersey for business matters. He started out with petty theft, robbing some jewelry from a mall at thirteen, working his way up to a Steel Grande Heure Minute black-enamel watch at fourteen. Then, at fifteen, he was charged with sexual assault on Maria Santos. Few months later, he was convicted of rape on Daniella Alvares. Stayed somewhat clean for a while, then was arrested for shooting two business men. His wife managed to bail him out. And, for the big finale, he was also involved in some sort of weapon trade...dirty, dirty boy."
"Weapon trade?" Morgan repeated incredulously. "What the hell did this girl get herself into…?" The disturbed agent closed his eyes, thinking. He'd only known Mattie for six months. But it definitely felt like he'd known her longer. You'd think secretive people distanced themselves. Not Mattie. She smiled and laughed and joked with them as if they had been friends for a long time now. However, it didn't take a profiler to see she was hiding several things.
She could have the biggest grin on her face as a result of Reid's confusion with modern day trends, but the slight sadness in her eyes was unmistakable. As if being happy hurt her.
Garcia continued, "Well, she obviously has a record, but there's something else. A case that was expunged."
Rossi interrupted. "Find it, now," he ordered curtly. Reid noticed the senior supervisory agent had been treating this case differently. The others were too, but something about how Rossi spoke about Mattie…it was almost as if she was the criminal in this situation.
Was she?
"Yeah, well, I would, but I can't seem to find it. It's…it's gone. Normally, I could find expunged cases faster than you can say Penelope Garcia. But it's like it never happened, it was never recorded or documented or filed or anything!" she responded in a flustered manner, and then she exhaled. "I'm so sorry."
"Now, why would she never mention any of this?" Morgan tapped his fingers against his knee, visibly unnerved. "More importantly, why would a mere child, straight A's, risk truancy and get into a fight?" Rossi asked, revisiting the subject of her school issues. "In junior high, what was she, ten, eleven?"
"He's right, it's possible she had a lot of pressure coming from her parents," Prentiss agreed, crossing her hands in front of her. "She would've stayed out of trouble. What provoked her?"
"Uh, guys, thought I might add something."
Everyone directed their eyes to the phone. Morgan picked it up and held it out to the agents. "What is it, baby girl?"
"The amount of damage she caused on those two high schoolers when she got into that fight…their wounds were pretty harsh. I mean like, not that harsh, but pretty harsh considering her age. It's almost as if she's been in some advanced, hardcore judo or karate, or some type of self defense."
"Can you get us the names of the kids?"
"Uh…" The analyst typed hurriedly. A window popped up on her screen. "I can get you one that lives around here. Ronald Patterson. Sent the address to your phones."
The agents breathed out a sigh of relief. "Alright, Prentiss and I could go talk to him—" Morgan began.
Suddenly, the BAU unit chief stepped in the room, his face grim. "I've got some bad news. We've been banned from working this case by local police and investigators. They've already set up a task force and since we haven't been invited…" Hotch trailed off.
Reid's heart sank. "What? Why? We actually have a lead now!" he objected.
"Reid's right, Hotch. We can't just sit around, doing nothing while Mattie suffers," Morgan told their frowning boss.
"We could start a preliminary profile!" The edgy doctor gathered files together, swallowing nervously. "We know that the leader, at least of the group that took Mattie, is Justin Cross, who supposedly died a couple of years ago."
Morgan stood, concerned. "Reid, are you—"
Ignoring him, the other man continued hastily. "We, ah, I'm assuming that he's had some connection with fairly powerful people who hold enough authority to proclaim him dead."
"Why would he want to be dead?" Prentiss interrupted.
Hotch's dark eyes met Reid's. "He wanted to disappear. It's most probable he's involved in something not exactly legal," he deduced, catching on rapidly.
"Whatever he's involved in, Mattie and Charles were probably involved in it, too," Prentiss added, her eyes solemn.
Reid nodded quickly. Morgan spoke up, "Then, we can assume that the group is similar to a gang…?"
"Actually, gangs are sloppy and disorganized…I think it's something bigger…an organization of some sort," Reid told him, blinking a few times.
"You said the members of the group had an emblem of a spade on their clothes," Rossi reminded him. "Yes, but they were wearing uniforms, and they all looked…" The agent took a pause. "They all looked really young, actually…"
The agents considered this. "How young?" Prentiss asked quietly.
"One girl…one girl looked thirteen…"
Hotch shook his head. "This is definitely not a gang at work here. It's something else. An association that recruits even the youngest."
"That also supplies the recruits with weapons and makes them target criminals?" Prentiss suggested. "But why would Mattie ever…?"
Rossi told them, "Her boyfriend may very well have convinced her to take on such a task."
"Knowing Mattie, even as a child, she was always on the good guy side. She wanted to be a police officer or a detective. She would never do this unless she absolutely needed to, not for a boy not for anything," Hotchner elucidated to his team. Rossi sighed. He knew that as her uncle, he did, in fact, have a close relationship with Mattie. He couldn't argue.
"But why would they kidnap Mattie?"
"She was involved." Everyone glanced at Reid, who was staring down at his hands dismally. "Mattie was in this organization, she worked with them, and now they need something from her, I-I think that's why.."
"After graduation, Charles and Mattie stayed together…for protection," Rossi realized, beginning to understand the roots of this complex case. "All they had left was each other. They were running away from whatever they were involved in. Mattie wanted a future, Charles didn't, so he dropped out. It's possible that after their experiences with this underground organization, he felt like—"
"Like it was too hopeless to even try.." Reid whispered.
The senior continued, "He would still follow his friend to whatever extent, though. They shared one common goal: they wanted to leave whatever they started in New Jersey. It worked for ten years, but now the organization's back and Mattie knows something that they recently realized they needed."
"Why recently? Why do they need her intel now?" Morgan mused, staring at Rossi. "Maybe they're commencing something new," he responded, shrugging lightly.
Emily Prentiss' dark eyes widened and she sat up. "It's why she changed her name, isn't it? She changed it to Mattie Jones after she left Jersey, right Garcia?"
"Right, Jones was her mother's maiden name," she piped up. It took the agents a few moments to process everything. "Wait a minute, how the hell did they manage to escape and leave no trail?" asked Morgan, the gears in his head whirring. "They were out of the radar for a good ten years or so."
"Maybe they had a Garcia on their side," Prentiss commented with a tired smile.
"It's possible," Rossi admitted. "This unknown organization is advanced, illegal, underground, and they probably finally picked up a breadcrumb she or her Garcia left. She's an escapee without authorization; they would have eliminated her already if it wasn't for what she knows."
"You think she's cooperating?" questioned their boss in a low tone, who had been listening intently.
"If she had, they probably would have killed her anyways and dumped out her body somewhere," Reid pointed out. "She's a liability in their eyes."
"Alright, here's what we're going to do," SSA Aaron Hotchner explained, his dark eyes set in serious determination. "Prentiss, Morgan, go check out that man she knew in high school. Reid, talk to Garcia, make phone calls to Mattie's teachers and Charles' foster parents. Also, talk to Justin Cross' wife. JJ and I will take care of the local authorities calling us off." He stopped briefly and lowered his voice. "We are not stepping off, do I make myself clear? With an invitation or without an invitation, we have enough for a preliminary profile and we're bringing Agent Jones back as quietly as possible, however, I will alert JJ for a rough sketch of the man called Justin Cross, his crew, and a description of his van to Virginia's borderline officials." His team nodded, none of them objecting.
"How do we know they're still in Virginia?" Morgan inquired, looking at Hotch.
"I don't think they would risk a plane, and we have Garcia's satellite images on the borders' traffic lights and gas stations along DC, Fredericksburg, Manassas, and other surrounding cities," he replied, opening the door and striding out.
Prentiss sighed, slipping on her coat. "Now, what could she possibly know?"
Elli and Mattie had stared at each other for a long time before the younger girl began talking.
Her stone face melted into a face of fear and sorrow. "Oh Mattie…you don't understand…"
The FBI agent blinked confusedly at the shaking girl in front of her. There was a loud clatter as the gun dropped to the ground and Elli bowed her head, crying silently. Mattie looked at her, then at the gun on the floor. "I-I never meant to…" she breathed, shaking her head. "I never meant to betray you, Mattie, I swear…"
Mattie kicked the gun up into the air and in an instant, she had leveled it to the weeping girl's face. "Madam was supposed to think Chase and I had been killed in a Mafia shooting," the agent told her angrily. "But, no. You just had to—"
"It was him!" Elli wailed, burying her face in her hands. "I-I had no intention...o-of ruining your escape-and-disappear p-plan…"
"Cross?" Mattie's voice cracked slightly, her expression incredulous. "You're blaming it on Cross?"
"H-he knows my family…he told me if I didn't cooperate…" Elli sniffed and wiped her puffy red eyes. Frowning, the other girl lowered the gun the tiniest bit. "They were and still going to kill my parents and my little sister, Mattie…remember Amanda..?"
Her grey eyes widened faintly but she didn't speak. She nodded cautiously. "She..she was just a little baby when I knew you..I showed you so many pictures of her, I thought you were ready to choke me.." Elli barked out a small laugh and fixed her eyes on her old friend. "Please, Mattie...they're all I have left. I can't lose them. Not like this."
Mattie stared at Elli for a long time, trying to determine whether she was being honest. "Please," she whispered, holding her hands to her face.
Then Mattie did something normal Mattie simply does not do. Not to people that let her down.
But she did it anyways.
Mattie walked over to the crying girl and wrapped her arms around her, shutting her eyes tightly before the waterworks came. Elli choked slightly and buried her head in the older girl's shoulder. "You could've told me…" Mattie murmured, stroking Elli's red hair comfortingly. "All this time I've blamed you…jeez, Elli, I'm so sorry…"
"I-I wasn't sure if you would've believed me…" stuttered the blubbering girl.
"I believe you." Mattie pulled away with her hands on Elli's shoulders, staring at her with sympathetic eyes and a small, determined smile. "I believe you and I'm going to get you to Strider, alright? We're going to save your family. Don't you worry."
Please review :3 I'm not getting many reviews, and even its it's criticism, I appreciate them and will most probably say thank you and check out your stories!
For those that don't review, please? It would mean so much to me if you just took the time to write something, whether it's short or something long, it could be two words for all I care! The more reviews, the quicker the chapter, people!
I sincerely apologize if you guys got confused throughout the BAU's conversation. I tried to write it so you could start understanding this huge part of Mattie's past.
Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed!