Hey guys, sorry for the delay in the update. I've been in Holland and again this chapter took me a while to write. Thank you so much for staying with me, and thank you so much for the reviews, views, favourites and follows. They mean the world. Anyway I hope you enjoy! And thank you:)
Spencer's POV
"I've searched all warehouses in a 7.32 mile radius. There's nothing. All warehouses are for commercial use, there are no abandoned warehouses. I even added other large, abandoned, creepy buildings into the search, but nothing. I'm sorry Reid and JJ, but this girls good." Garcia sighed. I wasn't to disappointed about this news, I had predicted this outcome. It would have been to easy to have found her this way.
"I've also been thinking about what they were made to read out. 'Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage', could mean that we've only got two hours to solve this. 'Do with their death bury their parents' strife'. Might mean that her killing Stella and Henry would end her obsession with me. I think, she thinks, it would break me, and it would." I said quietly.
"Garcia, watch the screen until we need you. Only update us if anything major happens. I'll be right back." Hotch stated. Garcia only managed to nod before he left the room. Everyone stared, slightly confused. However he returned quickly, dragging a whiteboard.
"We've got to be extremely sure of this answer. So I thought we should make a list of everything that we know Stella and Kazia ate and drunk that day." Hotch explained. It was a good plan but Stella hadn't been with her all day and I didn't know what they ate.
"Stella wasn't with her the whole time and I don't know what they ate." I admitted.
"Well maybe we should look at their daily routine. What they always eat and drink." Emily suggested.
"That sounds good." I agreed.
"What would they eat on a normal day?" Rossi asked.
"Well every morning Kazia would have a banana, and porridge with blueberries. Stella however usually eats anything but porridge. The pair of them have coffee in the morning. Kazia takes it with one sugar, but Stella takes it without." I said. It made me smile thinking about Kazia's routine.
"Guess Stella's just like you then." Rossi smiled. Hotch jotted all this down. He'd made two separate columns named Kazia and Stella. All the items they ate and drunk he wrote down, and items they both ate he circled.
"Right, what would they usually have for lunch?" Hotch asked.
"Well, seeing as it was on a week day Kazia would of had a sandwich at the hospital. What exactly I'm not entirely sure. She would of had another coffee and a bottle of water, as well. Stella would of eaten at school, again, I'm not entirely sure what." I sighed. It made me regret that I wasn't around as much as I should be.
"It's fine Reid. What about dinner?" Hotch asked sympathetically.
"Stella cooked it. I'm not sure what it was, but they ate the same thing. They both usually had a coffee when they came in. Stella came in at four, and Kazia came in at half five. But, Stella had gone out with her friends after school and wasn't back until dinner. She feels really guilty about this, she thinks she should of been around." I said. It was information, but still not a lot.
"So is there a good chance Kazia had an extra coffee than Stella?" Emily asked.
"Yes, definitely." I said quickly.
"That's good. What about snacks?" Hotch asked.
"Kazia usually didn't have time. Her job kept her busy. But, she always had a packet of crisps. I can't tell you what Stella eats, the girls always hungry." I moaned a little.
"That girl sure has an appetite on her." Morgan smiled.
"So I think our best bet would be the coffee." Rossi announced. Everyone nodded their head in agreement.
"Yeah but I really don't think it is. Stella said she was cooking. Whenever she cooks she's always to lazy to buy or cook a proper desert, so she does strawberries. Stella can't eat strawberries unless they have sugar on them. If it was the sugar in the coffee, how come it didn't effect Stella." I wondered.
"That is a good question. It could have been something else." Morgan tried to say hopefully.
"Like what though?" JJ asked.
"I don't know. There are so many missing pieces of information." Hotch sighed.
"Guys, they've fallen asleep!" Garcia said slightly panicked. I looked at the screen to see the pair of them asleep in each others arms.
"It's not the end of the world, by the looks of things they've only got a mild concussion. But Stella knows better to fall asleep with a concussion." I sighed.
"So does Henry." JJ sighed.
"Garcia, keep an eye on them. What else did Kazia take and Stella didn't?" Hotch asked. Everyone thought a about it for a moment. Then it came to me.
"Her asthma pump." I practically shouted.
"That's a good idea. Where did she get her medication from." Hotch asked.
"The local pharmacy. What if someone meddled with her prescription, what if the poison was in that?" I asked. Finally feeling like we were getting somewhere.
"That sounds like it could fit." Rossi agreed.
"I'll look up Kazia's pharmacy and see the last time she picked up another prescription." Garcia said typing away. I nodded in thanks at her direction. I looked over at the screen to check on Stella and Henry. Henry seemed peaceful enough, but Stella seemed to be fidgeting slightly. It looked like she was having a nightmare. I couldn't blame her, but I knew how bad her nightmares got. She began thrashing about more and more. Henry woke up looking slightly startled, but he was quick to realize what was going on. He desperately tried to wake her, but she was in a deep dream.
"Is she alright?" JJ asked softly.
"She gets these really bad dreams. Quite a lot of nights I've woken up to her screaming or shouting." I said quietly.
"Reid, you are one of the most clever and compassionate man I know. So trust me when I say, we will find out how this bitch has done this to you and stop her." Rossi said passionately. I just hoped that he was right.
Stella's POV.
I'm at school in home room. Henry and I are messing around with the group and it's a normal day. There's no crazy unsubs after us, and all is as well as it can be. Jake, Adam and Harry are all taking the mick out of Henry, whilst Grace and Sophie are having a girly chat with me. Everything seems and feels normal. Mr. Evans even walks in and is being his usual pushover self. As usual no one even bothers to sit down. Suddenly everything changes. The whole room go quiet, including Henry and the group. They all just stand in a trance, facing the door. I can see someone in the doorway, but who it is I'm not quite sure. The door bursts open and my whole body freezes. It's mum. Without thinking I run towards her. I hug her so tightly, not wanting to ever let her go. I breath in her smell and even brush my hand through her soft brown hair. Deep down I'm angry at her for doing this to me, for making me believe that she was dead, but all these feelings are pushed away by the relief that she's back. Tears flow down my cheeks. They aren't sad tears, but happy tears. Happy tears full of joy and relief that she's back. I hold her tightly. She's back. She's finally back. But every changes. Her body goes rigid and she goes deadly still. Within a second she's gone. Gone from my life again. I start screaming for her to come back. I scream so loud that it hurts my throat. Tears flow down my face. She's gone.
I woke up sweaty and shaking. Henry was looking down at me concerned. My eyes blurred over with tears as I thought about the dream. I didn't want to be here. I didn't want to cry in front of the camera for the whole team and a unsub to see, I just wanted to be at home. I wanted my mum. I buried my face in Henry's chest as the tears grew heavier and heavier.
"Stel, it's going to be alright. Do you want to talk about it?" Henry asked gently and quietly. I thought about this for a second. I felt like I needed to get a few things off my chest, so I nodded. Henry stood up and picked me up so I was on my feet. I put my head down so he couldn't see my face. He then guided me to the corner of the room, and sat me down, so my back was facing the camera.
"Spill. And I mean everything. The dream you just had and what you were talking about earlier." Henry said as softly as he could. I hesitated slightly before answering.
"W-we were in home room. Everything was normal. There was uh no unsub, we were happy. Mr. Evans even walked in. Then it got weird. Everyone went silent and faced the door. There was this figure there. It was my mum. She was back. I hugged her so tightly, I never wanted to let her go. She was finally back. But she left again." I started off. My voice was shaking and I was crying heavily. "It's just, I know it's bad, but I do fantasize about her coming back. I think that she managed to outsmart the unusub and faked her death. I think about her waltzing into the room. I even think about my reaction. I'd be angry but I wouldn't care for to long. I'd be to scared that she'd go again."
"Stella, I get it that you miss her. I have no idea what that's like, but it's not good to think like that. She's gone. I'm so sorry but she's gone and I don't think she's coming back." Henry spoke slowly.
"I know." Was all I managed to whimper. I was crying so much now that I could barely speak. I felt like I'd lost her all over again. Henry got his hand and tried to brush away the tears. I was trying to stop crying, not only because it was embarrassing, but because it was going into the cut on my cheek and it was making it sting.
"What about the other things you're feeling? Like the stuff you said earlier?" Henry asked.
"I just feel so down sometimes. I know I shouldn't because I have a family who love me and care, but I do. A lot of the time I can't help it and it just hits me. Like sometimes I've just got back from hanging out with you, and then I get thinking. I think about something which reminds me of mum and it just gets too much. I just feel like I'm suppose to be over it by now, but I don't want to be. I want to cry about loosing her. I feel so alone sometimes. I feel like there is a barrier separating me from everyone else. Not everyone's mothers get killed by crazy unsubs. Sometimes I just sit in class, looking around wishing I had a mum like everyone else. I know that not everyone's mums are around, or their parents are divorced. But, sometimes I wish my parents were divorced, because then I'd have a mum. I just don't want to be human sometimes. I don't want to feel the grief and pain I feel." It all just kind of came out of me. I couldn't stop once I started. I looked up through my blurry eyes, to see Henry staring at me. He was completely silent, processing what I said.
"You need to tell your dad this. He can help you. You don't have to go through this alone Stella. Promise me that if you're feeling like this you'll ring me. I don't care what time it is, please ring me. Stella you shouldn't feel like this. The fact that you don't want to feel is a bad thing. If you couldn't feel, you wouldn't know what love is, or what joy and happiness is. Life is all about feeling different things. Sure, sometimes you wish you couldn't feel, but just think of all the times you're happy you can. I love you Stella Reid, so it kills me that you feel this way." Henry replied passionately. I looked him straight in the eyes. This was something I never did when I was crying. I didn't mean what I said about the whole feeling thing, otherwise I wouldn't know the warmth Henry made me feel.
"I'm happy I can feel, otherwise I wouldn't know that I love you Henry LaMontague." I said. Henry smiled.
"Are you feeling better now?" Henry asked. I nodded as I wiped my eyes on my top. It really was a state.
"Here use mine." Henry offered. He leant in towards me, causing me to smile. I hugged him tightly, whilst I dried my face on his shirt.
"Better?" I asked, looking up. Henry's shirt was now equally damp and bloody.
"Better." He smiled.
Spencer's POV.
There was a loud piercing scream which made everyone look at the screen. I placed my head in my hands. I hated it when this happened. Even more so, that I was completely helpless.
"Reid, how often does this happen?" Emily asked concerned.
"More than I would like." I sighed.
"Reid, don't take this the wrong way, because I love Stella and care for her. But, I think you should take her to see someone."Morgan said gently. In normal situations I would of lost it. But it was true, she did need to see someone.
"I know." I sighed. Her screaming had gotten louder and Henry was trying desperately to wake her up. Eventually her eyes shot open. She looked startled like always. I could see tears forming in her and eyes, and she quickly threw herself into Henry's arms, before they could spill out. The whole team couldn't hear that well, but it was obvious that Henry asked if she wanted to talk about it. Henry obviously knew that Stella wasn't to open about her emotions, so led her to a corner where we couldn't see her.
"I don't think they're going to let us hear what they are saying." I told everyone. Everyone just nodded in agreement.
"I got something on the pharmacy search. But I'm afraid that it's not great news. Kazia picked up her last prescription a month before she died. If anyone tampered with it, then she would of died earlier." Garcia sighed. It wasn't the news we wanted to hear.
"Reid, it's got to be something you would know. She wouldn't make this impossible." Morgan tried to say encouragingly. This made me think. She would make this hard, but not impossible. So far the only two possible answers were the asthma pump and the sugar. Then it came to me, what if it was both. The asthma pump couldn't of been tampered, so what if the sugar reacted with it. Stella could have had the sugar but in a low dose and if it reacted with the asthma pump, it wouldn't of affected her.
"You need to tell your dad this. He can help you. You don't have to go through this alone." I heard Henry say loud enough so we could hear. I sighed to myself. What Stella told him must have been bad. Henry carried on talking quieter, so we could no longer hear.
"Guys, I think I've got something. What if it was both the asthma pump and the sugar. What if the sugar had something in it which reacted with the contents of the pump. It would make sense. If there was something in the sugar it wouldn't affect Stella because she doesn't have a pump, so it wouldn't have a chance to react. Also the pump would be more efficient. It would go straight to her lungs and react with the contaminated sugar in her bloodstream, then it would go straight to her heart. But it would have to be a new supply of sugar. Garcia check her credit card bill to see if she recently purchased any sugar." I said quickly. Garcia didn't need telling twice.
"Well done Reid, it sounds like it fits." Hotch said. I looked over at the screen to check on Stella. I smiled slightly when I saw her wiping her eyes on Henry's top.
"Better?"She asked.
"Better." Henry replied. I was just so relieved that she'd calmed down.
"I'm happy to lend out my mansion for their wedding venue." Rossi joked.
"Don't even go there." JJ warned. Rossi put his hands up, knowing not to mess with her.
"You genius!" Garcia cried. "Kazia purchased a bag of sugar at her local store, the day she died. She picked it up around six, so it was most likely when she was coming back from work."
"So she had an accomplice at the shop drugging the sugar, she then knew that Kazia would drink it in her coffee. The altered chemical in the sugar got into Kazias blood stream, then when she took her inhaler, the chemicals in the inhaler reacted with the ones in her blood from the sugar, causing a poisonous chemical reaction. This went straight to her heart." I concluded. The news hit me hard saying it out loud. It was hard to believe that she tried so hard to do this.
"That sounds like it's our only option. But is there a drug out there what does that. Also how come it didn't show up on toxicology reports?" Emily asked.
"Honestly, I don't know. But it's probably possible to design a drug like it. You just need to look at the chemical structure of the substance inside the inhaler. The unsub has money and people so she could easily get someone to do it for her." I said. I wasn't overly sure though.
"Is this our final answer?" Rossi asked.
"Yes." JJ and I said together.
"Did you get that?" Hotch asked the screen. Everyone was tense. Not sure what to do.
Congrats agents, the brats will be returned. But not without punishment for their attitude.
Everyone was overjoyed that they were coming home. But a shiver rang through me as I thought of the punishment they were going to receive. I let out a final breath of relief. For some reason tears came to my eyes. I tried to brush them away but it was hard.
"You okay?" Emily asked. I didn't really know how to respond. In the end I just shook my head. Suddenly I was surrounded by warmth. It was JJ.
"They're safe Reid. You did it." She said softly.
"It's not that. I just don't get why she has done this. All this time I've been speaking of Kazia like a victim, when really she was a smart, intelligent, funny woman, who was the love of my life. Yet, this woman, obviously didn't know this, or she wouldn't of murdered her. She wouldn't of taken her away from me and Stella." I whispered. My voice was failing.
"I know Reid, that's why we are going to catch her, and make her pay. Pay for everything she has done to us." JJ said angrily. I nodded. Drying my eyes, I looked up and nodded at her. I turned to the screen to see that Stella and Henry were being escorted out of the room. This meant that they should be here soon. Everyone left Garcia's lair. That was the last case, for now. It was nice to escape some of the darkness and go into the light of the bullpen. I was surprised to see Kevin, Beth and Will waiting.
"What are you doing here?" Hotch asked. Running towards Beth.
"I wanted to make sure you were okay. She said if I screamed then she'd kill you." Beth cried. Hotch hugged her straight away.
"She said the same to me." Kevin sighed. Kevin was also greeted by a hug.
"Are you guys okay? Did you get knocked out at all?" Rossi asked.
"No, a man came. He threatened to kill you all if I didn't get in the van. In the van he just blindfolded me." Will said.
"Same." Said Beth and Kevin.
"So the sick bastard only knocked out Stella and Henry." Morgan shouted. No one bothered to calm him down. We all felt the same.
"She what?" Will said angrily.
"Will, she also hurt them pretty badly. When Henry comes back, please stay calm, he doesn't need this." JJ begged.
"Fine." Will said a lot calmer.
"Where's the kids?" Hotch asked.
"Lola and Edward are with Jack. Jacks the only one who knows what happened." Beth said.
"That's fine. People just weren't allowed to get involved, solving the cases." Rossi reassured.
"We should go outside to meet them." Emily suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement. Everyone headed to the lift, with the exception of Beth, Garcia and Kevin. Beth felt like she should give them some space, and Garcia wanted to stay with Kevin. It was a slight squeeze, but we managed. It seemed like one of the longest elevator journeys we ever took. When we got to the lobby, we all rushed out and headed to the front steps. I was slightly disheartened to see that they weren't already there. I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself, so in the end I opted to pacing about.
"They should be here by now." JJ said worried.
"It will be fine JJ, they are coming." Rossi said, trying to comfort her. I was anxious too, we were told that they were receiving further punishment. My heart dropped as I saw two pale figures limping towards us. I practically ran full pelt, straight towards them. As I got closer I saw that both their faces had slight bruises on. Stella's lip was bleeding along with Henry's nose. They were both also limping slightly, and Stella was clutching her broken arm.
"Stella." I shouted. I hugged her tightly, only to hear a small wince.
"Dad. She told me to tell you that you only scratched the surface. She's giving you a break for now, but there's more. She also said she was there. She was there when mum died. She was one of the paramedics. I should of recognized her. She said she wanted to make sure mum was dead. She wanted to see it for herself." She said in a small whisper. This news shocked me.
"Henry." Came Will and JJ.
"What the hell happened?" Morgan asked.
"He beat us." Henry replied weakly.
"Reid, JJ, Will, I think they need to go to the hospital." Rossi said. I didn't take a genius to realize this. All you needed to do was look at the state of them.