Chapter 12

Revelations

Hi everyone! I'm so sorry for the time I spent with no update, I was very occupied with my Master Thesis, so I had to stop writing for some times. Hope you'll enjoy this chapter, I'll try to update on a more regular basis from now on.

Emily sat down, feeling tired. She felt like she couldn't handle it anymore. She knew she had to be strong but it was beginning to be hard. They had gone immediately to Warren's house when Garcia gave them his address, minus Jordan, Hotch who was still at the Sheriff's house and JJ who had to go on with her interviews. Warren wasn't dead but he ran away. His car was missing as well as a lot of his clothes, his wallet and his laptop. He had another computer however, a bigger one. Elle was looking through it while cops and the rest of the team were searching everywhere in the house. Gideon was telling Garcia to check if Warren made any payments with his credit card, while Reid was inspecting the bedroom with Morgan.

She just hated what was happening. When she heard about Warren, she hoped they would find him. Not only to make him pay but also to know what happened to Gary once and for all. But no, it had been a deception again. They hoped only to be deceived. Now despair was crawling through her. She wished she could be level-headed as she always was at work, but it was way too personal.

Looking back at Reid and seeing him working like this, she decided she couldn't stay here and mope while they were all doing their best. She went to Elle, thinking that maybe she would need help.

"Hey, can I give you a hand?"

"Maybe… I can't find anything in here. Not any trace of a secondary location or hints to tell us where he is."

They searched together for quite a long time in the files before they decided to check in his photo folder. Emily spotted something that made memories come back suddenly. It was called: Pretty Ones. She then remembered something: the image of a man, who always looked proper but gave her creeps as a child. A man who lived in her neighbourhood and who would always say hello to their little group, talk to them a little, asking them how they were doing...

"Elle..."

"What?"

"Look at this file."

Elle nodded and opened it. What they saw shocked Emily. Elle wasn't sure at first but she understood soon:

"It's the four of you...When you were kids..."

"Yes."

The pictures had been taken when they weren't looking. None of them were posing, for a good reason. None of them ever noticed that. It was either when they were talking or playing in the streets or when they were coming back from school. She was feeling dirty right now, imagining what this pervert did with those pictures... She hated that, but she had to tell the others, they had the right to know.

"Reid..."

He came immediately, Morgan with him and when he saw that, he just gaped and looked like he was about to throw up. It was the same for Derek. This was just sick.

"He took pictures of us."

"He was living in the neighbourhood, do you remember? He was often talking to us."

"It's him," said Morgan, "he was obviously obsessed with you. He is certainly our killer. Maybe the death of his brother made him snap."

They all looked at him and realised he was right. The guy had been obsessed with them and he just ran away. Elle progressed through the file and she stopped and felt a spasm of disgust when she saw pictures of a naked little boy, Gary Michaels more exactly. The others looked at it. Emily let out a slight whimper, something Elle never thought she would hear from her, and Reid ran out. They went after him, to find him holding onto a tree, throwing up. Morgan went to him but Elle stopped him, letting Emily go to him instead. She was crying. The two hugged each other. Gideon went out as well as some other cops and asked what happened. Elle and Morgan explained them what they found.

"There are loads of pictures like this, even for me it was hard to handle, so for them..." Morgan explained.

Gideon closed his eyes, looking sad. The cops looked either infuriated or disgusted at what they just heard. Everyone knew what Gary Michaels went through, but seeing it in crude pictures was still horrible and sick.

"Someone still has to go through the file," Elle said. "I'll do it."

"You sure?"

She nodded. It was obvious she was scared of what she would see but she had to do it.

"Yes, I am the one who started to look through it, I have to continue."

She went inside again while Gideon went to the two. Emily was still crying, while Reid was holding tears away and trying to comfort her. He put a hand on Reid's shoulder and looked at both of them.

"I am sorry. You both have the right to grieve as much as you want. I wish we could have spared you from that."

"We knew it was happening, still..." Reid stopped through his sentence

"It's normal… There is a difference between knowing something horrible and seeing directly."

"It's him," Prentiss said, echoing Morgan. "It's the killer. We knew him."

She explained to Gideon how they knew Warren, and Jason realised it was probably the truth. He also wondered if Warren was the one who introduced Mary Michaels and William. Maybe he was the one who arranged the deal. He would have to interrogate her again. He left the two and called Hotch and told him about everything they found.

"It's very likely that he is our guy indeed. I'll call Garcia."

"Okay, we should do the press conference earlier also."

"Yeah, call JJ. Also tell Reid and Prentiss to come back. They have to rest… Too much happened in one day."

When he called the liaison, she assured him she would do her best to have it prepared for the evening, but she would need someone to come back and do the interviews instead of her. Gideon decided that he would go himself and told Morgan and Elle they were in charge of this. He went to Reid and Emily.

"Come, you need rest."

"We can't… We have to find him."

"The police and the rest of the team are working on that. Come back to the station with me, now."

They accepted. Reid couldn't help but have the feeling they were running away again. Back in the station they found Jordan. JJ had already told her about what they found. Though she looked mortified, she didn't cry. She tried to comfort her friends and convinced them to take some rest before going back to work.

"If you don't work on it… You can focus on something else anyway," she said. "It's okay. You worked like crazy. You deserve to breathe a little. They have sent a message to every other town and city around. Every cop in Maine heard about him."

"Maybe he left Maine?" Reid suggested.

"I don't know that."

Deciding to learn more, he called Garcia.

"Goddess of computers!"

"Hey Garcia, I wanted to know if Warren Curly left the Maine or not."

"No, for now I don't have any trace of him. I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

"How are you doing?"

"Hum... Fine, I'll be fine."

"Reid..."

"Call me if you learn anything."

He hung up and Emily looked at him, murmuring a barely audible 'liar'. It wasn't a blame but a simple statement that she knew otherwise. Jordan smiled to him. It was sad smile, though she was trying to be comforting she was also suffering. They didn't rest for long and went back to work. Prentiss worked on Trisha's murder while Reid focused on the Sheriff with Hotch when he came back. When the evening approached, JJ was done with her preparation for the press conference. Jordan had assisted her by making some calls for her, following her directives. It wasn't exactly orthodox to ask for a civilian to do that but it was only some calls to some reporters. It was harmless and she didn't want Jordan to feel like she was thrown aside. She started to really appreciate her.

"Everything's done?"

"Yes, I'm gonna confront them now," JJ said.

"It must feel like you're thrown to the wolves."

"I think wolves would be a much better company."

The two women laughed at this before JJ asked her:

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes. Don't worry."

Feeling it wouldn't do any good if she insisted, JJ left. Jordan didn't follow her though. She would join her friends. She appreciated the liaison, but she couldn't open up too much to her. She already did before when she learned about what Gary went through. She didn't want to be more exposed to anyone but her sister and Spencer. Some people would say that she was distrustful; she would say she was prudent.

As they expected, JJ did well with the press conference, answering the journalists without giving away too much and also giving a call to the killer:

"We are sure you want to tell us something. We know it… we are asking you to contact us directly to explain to us what you want. If you have any compassion for the victims and their families, please, contact us."

Now that it was over, the team was given some rest and they were all heading back to the hotel. Emily slumped on her bed and Jordan, with whom she shared her room, smiled sadly at her.

"You told me once that an investigation could take a really long time, but I didn't know it was so frustrating."

"You feel like we can find the truth but no real justice," Emily replied, "but you know we might be able to find Warren and give him what he deserves."

"I hope so."

"Jordan, there is something I have to tell you: I'm glad to have you here. I know it can seems egoistic, because this is really exhausting for you and you're not used to that, but you're presence is really helping me, and I think it's helping Reid too. It wouldn't be the same without you."

Jordan sat at her side and smiled.

"I don't wish to leave, at no cost. This is where I belong right now. Not only for you two, but also for Gary. I will never forget. I want us to find him and... Well, I guess he is dead now, so I hope we will find his remains and bury him decently so there will finally be a grave to grieve on."

Emily hugged her sister without another word. There was no way she would let anything happen to her or Spencer. Not after everything they shared. She would not lose another precious one.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere wasn't as lovely in Reid and Morgan's room. The young genius was silent while Morgan was looking at some files, being unable to really concentrate. Every time it was about a child molester, it was hard, but seeing one of his team being so affected made it even more difficult. He didn't know Reid for long, but he understood what he went through better now.

"Reid?"

"What?"

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine."

Morgan knew it wasn't going to be easy, but he continued nonetheless.

"I mean, how are you feeling about the Sheriff and his death?"

This surprised Reid who looked at him and Morgan knew he had something, so he went on:

"I know what happened at the crime scene… Hotch told me… You know this is not you or your friends' fault."

"I know, that's not..."

He stopped in his tracks, unwilling to say more. Yet Derek had always been someone hard-headed and he wouldn't let it go.

"I know how you feel about him. When I was young... well I wasn't exactly a meek boy, and there was this cop who thought I was nothing but a delinquent,. He liked to accuse me each time something wrong happened, even though I never did anything really bad."

"What did you do?"

"Just a fight once. Nothing that bad, but the guy was a racist. So I think I know what you felt about the Sheriff before, but what about now?"

"Why would you want to know?"

"Because it's obvious you're not well and even if we aren't close we are still in the same team. I also feel bad for the other day, when we were looking at your stories and..."

"Why? You had every right to look into it."

It was obvious that Reid wanted to sound disinterested but Morgan could hear the bitterness.

"Technically speaking yes, but I know we were intrusive. I don't want to be anymore so I would rather ask you directly. You aren't doing well and it's obvious but I don't want to profile you."

After a short silence, Spencer finally decided to say something; Morgan wasn't close to him but he needed to talk with someone and he was there.

"That guy was a douche bag. I told him about Gary's mom and he gave me the 'This is a respectable person' speech, making me think I was just some crazy little idiot. He humiliated me but even worse he let Gary stay in this situation. Now he is dead, and a part of me feels bad and even a little responsible, but on the other hand..."

"What?"

"If he listened to me, this wouldn't be happening, so it's also his fault, more than mine."

"You think he deserved it?"

"Not really deserved, but he could have avoided it. I know he was sorry, but this doesn't change much. Now I see all this, those pictures and this room Gary lived in...Everything that happened… I can't change it anymore. I know… No one can, but I am also aware that it would have been so simple to save him."

"Not for you three, you were kids."

"No, but a lot of people could have. I hate to be here.

With that the genius left and went in to the bathroom, leaving Morgan alone. Derek knew he made progress with his co-worker. it wasn't easy to speak about the past, even harder to confront it. He went to bed. Reid didn't speak to him when he exited the bathroom, and maybe it was better. During the night Morgan wondered if he would have to confront his own past one day like Reid, Jordan and Emily. This fear stopped him from sleeping.

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