My Life Had Stood
Chapter 29: For Put Them Side By Side
Shelly watched behind the wheel of her own car as Rossi drove off. The message that had been left on her phone reverberated in her ears. It irked her. More than she would care to admit.
The concern in Spencer's voice as he'd asked her to pick up Alsie, and the way he consistently called the latter Alsie rather than Allison or Schmidt, stoked a flame of jealousy.
She may have set up their first date, but that was only because she thought Alsie wouldn't pursue another one. Yet not only had Alsie done so, effectively nullifying her prior protests that she didn't want another relationship, but the two seemed to have grown close. Quite quickly.
Shelly grimaced, tightening her hands around the steering wheel. She had waited in the parking-lot since receiving the voice mail, hoping each second she delayed picking Alsie up, that Spencer would escort the petite brunette home.
Rossi bringing Alsie back was completely unexpected. It threw her off.
"...damn." Shelly grumbled and opened her handbag that she'd laid on the front passenger seat. Pushing aside her cell phone and makeup, she unzipped the inner pocket of her purse and took out a small photo wallet. Followed by a medium sized metal case.
She stared at both things, her eyes narrowed as she thought.
0
Alsie lied down on her bed, her head still throbbing. Her stomach still churned with migraine-induced nausea, a feeling much worse than the pain.
It reminded her of her pregnancy and the morning sickness she'd experienced.
Her eyes teared up as she remembered. Those first few weeks after finding out she was finally pregnant had been filled with trepidation - she had miscarried twice before. Once she made it into the second trimester, then the third with the doctor finding nothing wrong with her daughter, it'd seemed guaranteed that she'd be a mother.
Even after James had left without a word, she'd felt happy because she had her baby. And no one would be able to take her daughter from her.
Alsie swallowed back a sob, and with it tried to dismiss the memory of that day. Of the incident that stole her daughter from her. She couldn't view it as an accident, despite what Shelly and the doctors had told her.
The car that hit her that day had been speeding. And its driver hadn't bothered to stick around, despite having actually gotten out to help her. Perhaps he'd been too afraid to after she'd loss consciousness?
Alsie shuddered and grabbed a vial and syringe she had brought with her from the bathroom. She hadn't planned on taking it, especially considering it wasn't prescribed for her migraines but rather for the injuries stemming from that accident.
She sighed and measured out the dosage. Her lips twitched as she recalled how she had twisted the truth when Spencer had asked her about it at their second cafe rendezvous. She hadn't lied, but she hadn't explained the truth either.
She grimaced and closed her eyes, wincing as her head throbbed anew.
0
Garcia frowned as she dug through the electronic data she had on Victor Cutler, and compared it to Jeremy Yaegar's. So far nothing connected the two, aside from their murders and the fact both had frequented clubs and bars. Neither had worked at the same places, nor lived in the same neighborhoods. Victor Cutler wasn't even from the area and had been in town on vacation.
She was about to grumble when her phone rang. A glance at the number revealed it to be Rossi's. She quickly answered and gave one of her customary greetings.
-"Garcia, there's someone I need you to look into." Rossi said, explaining that it wasn't connected to their current case. "Allison Schmidt."-
Garcia's eyes widened and her typing fingers paused over the keyboard. "You mean Reid's girlfriend?" She blurted, confused and reluctant to agree to the request. Even more so because she had seen Rossi leave to escort Alsie home.
-"...you know about her and Reid?" Rossi queried.-
"I met her when she visited Reid in the hospital, I thought she was nice." Garcia replied, her reluctance audible in her voice. "Couldn't you just talk to her directly rather than have me snoop into her life?"
-"Believe me, I'm not fond of doing things this way either." Rossi paused while Garcia interrupted, asking him why he didn't talk to Alsie then. Or have Spencer do so. "Garcia, I'm not asking you to look into her whole history. Just..." Rossi hestitated, then explained what Alsie had told him that morning.-
"OMG." Garcia gaped after Rossi explained about Alsie's connection to James as well as her pregnancy three years ago. "Sir, that's...Alsie and your son...? I..."
-"Garcia, will you look into what happened to Alsie's child?" Rossi replied, further iterating about Hotch and his suspicions - the possibility that Somerfield or Connell knew about Alsie and James' child.-
"All right." Garcia replied, agreeing to the request.
0
-memory/flashback-
"What did I tell you about going into the woods?" A sullen woman, with graying hair tightly pulled into a bun on top, rounded on the two girls entering the front door. Her glare was sharp and her lips pressed into a thin line that made it almost seem non-existent. "It isn't safe, especially around that old well."
The smaller girl froze and seemed to shrink beneath that piercing glare, while the other girl - Alsie - simply stood still, remaining quiet.
"It...it isn't my fault, granny. Addie made me go with her!" The younger girl blurted, and Alsie flinched at the accusation. She bit down on her tongue while screaming in her thoughts that she hadn't forced the younger child to follow her.
"Is that so, Adrienne?" The woman, the younger girl's grandma, asked sternly. Her sharp gaze focused on the older child, taking in how Alsie deliberated before answering.
Alsie bit her inner cheek as she thought, studying the older woman. The lady, Mary Schimdt, had taken her in after finding Alsie sleeping in a shed on the far edge of the property. Though it had been at the insistence of the lady's granddaughter Allie.
The eleven year old stood up straight, hands folded in front of her. "It is so, ma'am." She answered, succinct and polite. Her brown eyes, partially hidden behind her long brown hair, betrayed nothing. Or at least she thought.
Mary Schmidt noticed the waryiness in the young girl's eyes. She sighed.
"Allie, go help Miranda in the kitchen. Adrienne, come with me to the study." The woman instructed, glaring at her grand-daughter when she started to complain. The sharpness of it silenced Allie who skittered away quickly.
Alsie followed Mary into the study, betraying none of the whirling emotions and thoughts plowing through her brain. She remained quiet and simply watched as the older lady sat down.
"There's no need to cover for my granddaughter." Mary spoke, her tone softening as did the harshness in her eyes. "She's like her cousins, placing blame on others and not herself."
Alsie remained silent. Still wary despite the vanishing of the older lady's rigid glare. It was only after she was offered to sit and have some candy from the jar on the desk that she started to relax.
"Thank you." Alsie whispered as she took a candy, her whole demeanor suddenly demure. But at the same time much more natural. She didn't even mind that Mary kept calling her Adrienne even though she had explained she hated it.
Mary studied the eleven-year-old, and smiled as the girl finished the first candy and asked for permission to take another piece. Permission that she granted, at the same time thinking how her granddaughter wouldn't have bothered asking.
Alsie said thank you again and took another piece, savoring it with a smile that finally reached her eyes. Something that seldom occurred.
"Adrienne," The woman began after a moment, her tone gentle but serious. The child winced, catching the subtle change in tone. "I hired someone to try to find your family..."
Alsie flinched, her eyes widening into saucers. Her face drained of color and she shook her head. "No, no. Please. Don't...please! I'll do anything just don't...please!"
Mary shook her head. "I'm sure they're worried..."
"No! Momma'll kill me." Alsie cried, instinctively touching the scar she hid with her hair. She trembled, her breathing quickening.
Mary watched this, her eyes widening. They widened further when Alsie flew from her chair and cowered by the bookshelf. She had had an inkling that there was some reason the girl had been homeless and alone. And she had chalked it up to Addie having ran away or been abandoned. The truth of it didn't dawn on her until that moment.
"Momma, please, don't..." Alsie mumbled, no longer aware of her surroundings as a past memory broke through. She cowered into a ball, trembling.
"Oh god." Mary uttered, hurrying towards the child. She suddenly realized why this girl had never talked about home. "Adrienne, Adrienne. It's all right. You're safe."
The woman felt tears fill her eyes seeing the girl so terrified. She wanted to embrace the cowering child and comfort her, but couldn't. From the first day Alsie moved in, it'd been clear that physical contact of any sort terrified the girl.
The woman continued trying to soothe Alsie, finally resorting to using the nickname the girl had introduced herself with when they'd met.
"Alsie, Alsie, it's all right. You're safe." The older lady crooned, kneeling beside the child. Her voice finally getting through to the cowering girl.
"...are you going to send me back?" Alsie sniffled, her question punctuated by a sob.
"No. I won't. No matter what."
x
Alsie jolted back into consciousness, the vividness of the memory intense. She hadn't allowed herself to think about that time in her life for a long while. Not since her twentieth birthday. The day she decided never to return to being 'Adrienne Crawford.'
She stared up at the ceiling, mentally commenting on how her sunglasses hadn't fallen off. She had to have been out of it for an hour, perhaps longer. Her migraine had dimmed down to a slight throb.
"Hey." Shelly interrupted the silence, her tone surprising Alsie more than her presence. It was a tone the blonde had never used with her before.
"Shel? When did you get here?" Alsie asked, the harshness in her friend's tone stopping her from demanding to know why Shelly hadn't come to pick her up earlier. She sat up, her eyes widening behind her sunglasses at the look on her friend's face.
"I thought you had no intention of dating anyone for real. That since James..." Shelly glowered, unable to hide her jealousy. Nor the brief contempt that flashed over her face.
"...I don't...Shel, I don't..." Alsie chewed on her lip. "...you're the one who set up that first date with Spencer...why are you angry now?"
Shelly's answer was a glare full of loathing. "I only set that up because you figured out those roman numerals. Which he gave to me years ago. You should've declined another date."
Alsie flinched and instinctively started to move away from Shelly. Her dimmed migraine threatened to renew its throbbing.
"...I don't understand. Why should I have declined...? I thought..."
"...You thought I didn't care, that it was all right to date a guy I met first?" Shelly mumbled, her sharp eyes following Alsie. For a second she glanced away, thinking before continuing. "Honestly, I was okay with it at first. You've lost a lot, been through a lot, these past few years. I thought you deserved something positive."
Shelly paused, taking a breath before glaring at Alsie again. She refrained from approaching the brunette however, instead remaining the one closest to the bedroom door.
"Shel, then why..."
"You really don't get it..." Shelly shook her head at the timid and confused woman. She exhaled, and slipped her hand into her pocket. "Of course you don't. Then again, you're not the real Allison."
Alsie froze, her face drained of color. She swallowed and tried to reply but Shelly interrupted.
"Don't deny it. I knew for years. Your...Allison's grandma, Mary Schmidt, told me years ago. She took you in after something happened to her granddaughter, and had you become Allie." Shelly gave a mirthless laugh.
"Shel, I...it wasn't my...I..." Alsie took in a deep breath, trying to steady herself. A sense of dizziness crept up on her, which she attempted to hold off.
"I don't care." Shelly spat, taking out a syringe from her pocket.