Author's Note:
Um...sorry it's so late. I would probably have updated this two Fridays ago, but it was my birthday, so I kinda didn't...I FaceTimed a friend in California instead...then I ate cake, opened presents, and went to bed around one in the morning...doing what, I don't really remember...but it wasn't FanFiction, unfortunately...so yeah...and then I went to bed surprisingly early all this weekend...
I also have really bad writer's block right now. Unfortunately, that means I want to write when I can't think of anything to write about. It's strange: When I have writer's block, all I want to do is write; whereas when I don't have writer's block, I don't want to write at all. It's so weird.
Anyways, I'm going to see if my usual trick to breaking writer's block works today. To the chapter!
Friday, April 13th 2012 6:49 PM
Amy and Domonick's Apartment, Quantico, VA
Amy sighed as she, Reid, Domonick, and Eloïse made their way over to the sibling's apartment after visiting Reid's half-sister Aryanna for an hour. Eloïse was pushing Amy through the hall, Dom not far behind on his crutches, Reid in front. Something about the agent made Amy a little skeptical.
"Okay, what's going on?" Amy asked as Reid stopped in front of the apartment door, his hand on the doorknob his hand raised to knock.
Reid struggled to remain composed. "What...uh, what do you mean?"
Amy crossed her arms. "You aren't throwing a surprise party for me, are you?"
Reid stomped the ground. "And we almost slipped past you!"
Amy laughed as Reid opened the door, holding it open for Amy and Eloïse, and then for Domonick before letting himself in and closing the door behind him.
The team, Mrs. Meyes, Mr. Bronsky, Cameron Bronsky, and Danielle all exchanged confused glances. "Wasn't this supposed to be a surprise?"
Reid sighed.
"Wasn't it?"
Reid sighed again, then exclaimed, "She literally just figured it out!"
Everyone - even Hotch - burst into laughter.
"Happy birthday, Amy!" everyone cheered, causing the paralyzed child to blush severely.
Dom smiled as Danielle made her way over to him, helping him over to the armchair. Once seated, he patted the arm, upon which she sat and allowed him to wrap his arm around her waist. They were such a beautiful new couple.
Cameron walked over to Amy with his father and Mrs. Meyes, wrapping her in a hug that picked her up out of her wheelchair before he set her back down again. "Happy birthday."
Amy's face heated up even more as she blushed deeper. "Thank you, Cameron."
Mrs. Meyes smiled at the two, then squeezed past Cameron and hugged Amy much more gently. "Happy birthday, sweetheart."
"Thank you, Mrs. Meyes."
Once Mrs. Meyes let her go, Mr. Bronsky handed Amy a small card and wrapped box. "Happy birthday, Amy."
Amy smiled, her blush fading slowly. "Thank you, Mr. Bronsky."
Her old guitar and orchestra teacher smiled at her and nodded.
Soon the team was surrounding her and wishing her a happy birthday and giving her gifts, which eventually were opened once she had been seated on the couch near Dom and Danielle. From Mr. Bronsky she had received a new viola rosin, plenty of expensive guitar picks, and a new book of sheet music "because you're running out of new stuff to play." From Mrs. Meyes she received several new books and a beautiful notebook and caligraphy set - "You know me too well!" - and from Cameron she received a beautiful silver, diamond, and ruby pendant as well as a beautiful handmade card. Hotch gave her a chemistry set which made Amy squeal then laugh at the insanely high sound), Rossi gave her a hand-carved wooden keepsake box ("I did not carve that, but I watched the guy do it," he claimed), JJ gave her a cute red leather jacket ("Oh, JJ, you know me too well"), Prentiss gave her a new project ("A bag made from these old jeans and whatever else I want? Alright, sounds like a plan! I love giving gifts instead of receiving - it gives me something to do!"), Morgan gave her a collectable Minnie Mouse watch ("I've always had a thing for Minnie and Mickey"), and Garcia gave her $50 gift cards for iTunes, JCPenny, Target, Michael's, and the local music store. Reid finally handed her his gift: a chess set, "In memory of a good time in darkness."
"Thank you all so much," Amy said with tears in her eyes.
Danielle exclaimed, "I haven't even given you mine yet!"
Morgan quickly ran to the front door to let in Aryanna and James Meyes. "Nor have we given you ours!" Aryanna added with equal enthusiasm before hugging Amy, laying a bouquet of flowers in her lap.
Dom smiled as James walked over to him. "Hey James. Glad you could join us."
James nodded in his direction. "So am I. Hey Danielle."
Danielle blushed slightly as James gave her a hug. "Hey James."
Aryanna went around giving everyone hugs, and James struck up a small conversation with his mother and Morgan (they were second cousins by marriage).
Eventually, everyone settled down again, and Dom said to Danielle, "Can you get Amy's present from me from my room? I don't think standing will be a good idea."
Danielle smiled and stood. "Of course. Where is it?"
"It should be under my bed on the right side closer to the nightstand," he said, and Danielle gave a thumb's up as she squeezed past everyone and over to his room.
Dom smiled as he watched her open the door and enter the room, chuckling as she made a comment no doubt on the messy state of it.
Amy noticed this and smiled. It was good to see him in love again. He and Rachel had something special, and this was very close to their beginning.
Aryanna commanded her attention as she sat next to her and placed a large box in her lap. "Open," she ordered with a playful smile.
"Yes ma'am!" Amy joked, laughing as she ripped open the paper and lifted the lid of the box. Her eyes flew wide. "You're kidding me."
Aryanna's smile did not waver. "Nope. It's yours."
Amy squealed. "OH MY GOSH! THANK YOU SO MUCH!" She held up the beautiful shawl Aryanna herself had made that Amy had fallen in love with when she first saw Aryanna wearing it when they first met back when Amy was still in the hospital recovering from the gunshot wounds Stan... Amy stopped thinking about it and looked back into the box as she wrapped the shawl around her suddenly freezing shoulders. There was another, smaller box inside.
Aryanna noticed this, and smiled as Amy removed the lid and gasped. "That's real silver and sapphire," she explained as James slid next to her, wrapping his arm around her waist and kissing her head lightly. "They were my grandmother's wedding hair pins, then my mother's, then mine twice, and hopefully they can be yours now."
Tears formed in Amy's eyes. The hair pins were truly beautiful. "Thank you so much, Aryanna." She threw her arms around her neck in a tearful hug.
Aryanna's own eyes were wet with tears. "You are very welcome, Amy."
Danielle came out of Dom's room with two boxes. "Dom, once this is over, you and I need to talk."
Dom cocked his head to the left. "We do?"
Danielle nodded. "We do."
Dom suddenly looked like he'd been caught. "Ah. I see. I guess we do."
Danielle smiled, and handed Amy the two boxes. "Here. The smaller one's from me, the bigger one your brother."
Amy pushed aside that small conversation the two had and opened Danielle's first. It was a beautiful leather journal and a sleek fountain pen with extra ink. The note transcribed on the inside was in the reporter's flowing cursive: Hope this helps my budding reporter! followed by her graceful signature. "Wow," Amy commented, eyes wide. "This is truly beautiful, Danielle. Thank you so much."
Danielle smiled, sitting on the arm of Dom's chair again at his insistence. "You are very welcome, Amy. My co-worker has a friend who makes them, and my co-worker likes to give them away so I have quite the collection of leather journals now and have absolutely no need for them because I use legal pads, not journals."
"Well, I like this a lot. Thank you," Amy said with a smile.
Danielle smiled back. "You're welcome."
Amy set the journal and pen back in the box to open Domonick's gift. Upon peeling back the wrapping paper, Amy closed her eyes and smiled. This was exactly what she wanted. "I'm surprised Spencer didn't get this for me, but a magic set? Wow. I am officially speechless."
"That's a good thing, right?" Dom asked.
Amy nodded, holding the box to her chest. "Yes, that is a good thing. Thank you. Thank you so much. I've been meaning to mention it, but never have. Thank you. I'd get up and hug you, but I kinda can't, and neither can you."
Dom frowned. "Not without both legs cramping out on me."
Reid winced. "I know the feeling."
Amy laughed quite suddenly, and said, "Air hug!"
Dom joined her laughter and reached his arms out as she did, wrapping them around an invisible being.
Soon everyone was laughing and having a good time. Mrs. Meyes disappeared into the kitchen and came back with a beautiful cake with fifteen lit candles. Everyone sang "Happy Birthday," Amy blew out the candles, and the decadent homemade red velvet cake was cut and served, the first piece going to Amy.
"Finally fourteen!" Amy declared once she took the first bite of her cake.
Everyone cheered, and the cake was quickly devoured. The night lasted late and ran solely on high notes. However, it always felt like someone was missing...
Friday, April 13th, 2012 10:27 PM
Outside Amy and Domonick's Apartment, Quantico, VA
The older man sighed, wrapping his arms around himself due to the early spring chill. He'd been watching the apartment lights for nearly four hours, always feeling like he was really inside that tiny place next to Amy or with her friends and family. He had to remind himself none of her family would be there; none had survived. He sighed as he sat on the sidewalk, a lit but unused cigarette burning in his hand. Looking at the smoldering cancer stick with misery and disgust, he dropped it and stomped on the embers, humiliated he had to resort to such a deadly explanation for being out on the street so late at night since his real reason would raise suspicion.
The lights and shadows and laughter soon came to a slow demise, and fifteen minutes later people began to stream out of the front door of the apartments. The team on Amy's case minus the one held hostage was the first to exit, then the three other hostages, then an unknown couple that looked oddly familiar. A young woman followed them and bid them all goodnight from the door, but then the window the older man had been watching opened and a face he did not expect to see popped out along with a faint outline of Amy's.
"G'night!" the man called, waving, trying not to fall over his crutches... His crutches?
He moved and Amy's sweet face appeared. "Good night!" she sang, also waving.
The older man's heart fluttered at the sight of her and the sound of her voice. It was almost as if seeing her edited face on television had led him to forget her true and pure beauty. He salivated at the sight of her beautifully rounded angular face, the slightly pointed nose with the slight bulge at the tip, her dancing brown eyes, her long, wavy, brown hair, and most importantly, her beautiful, effortless smile. What he didn't appreciate were the dark circles around those dancing brown eyes that seemed to express much too much, nor that faint scar on her cheek (which he couldn't see but knew was there) or the bulky wheelchair (which he also couldn't see but knew was there). He caught a faint glimpse of a small curl of fabric at her chin, A turtleneck? In spring? Oh what have I done? the older man thought.
Yes, it was his fault he noticed these tiny faults in her. He had caused these faults, and he was paying for them. But, as he watched the team get into their vehicles and drive away, he realized he wanted to fix that. It wasn't all his fault; he wasn't the only one that fired.
The older man sighed and walked to the far corner, taking out the seldom-used cell phone to call a cab. Once the cab arrived he got in and directed it to his house, not really thinking about the world around him. He was simply lost in the plan he was starting to form.
As he paid the cabbie, his nephew came out of the house and helped him inside. The older man noticed the TV was on but the living room light wasn't; rather, the kitchen light was on and coffee had been brewed.
"Should I get some water boiling for some sleepy time tea?" his nephew asked.
The older man shook his head, walking slowly over to the cupboard and taking out a mug. "No, I'm going to have some coffee instead. I have a lot to think about tonight."
His nephew looked at him in confusion, but shrugged it off and said, "Alright. I'm going to finish this show, then I'm off to bed."
"Fine with me," the older man replied, pouring himself some coffee.
His nephew stopped walking and turned around quite suddenly, as if realizing something. "You...you're not drunk."
The older man set down his coffee cup and straightened his neck. "Does this surprise you?"
The younger man shrugged. "I mean, whenever you come home late via cab you're pretty intoxicated. Tonight you aren't. Are you alright?"
His uncle chuckled. "You should be more worried about me when I am drunk, not when I'm not. Go finish your show. I'll be fine."
His nephew narrowed his eyes but went back into the living room and sat to finish watching his show, Doctor Who.
The older man smiled. His nephew worried too much, much like himself. He sighed, opening the liquor cabinet and pouring in a cap-full each of gin and brandy into his coffee before stirring it and drinking it, allowing the alcohol to relieve his cramping muscles. He sighed again as he put away the bottles and took his mug up to his room, upset he let the drug control him physically. After turning on the light and closing the door, he shuffled over to his desk and set the mug down after a small, scalding sip. Taking his special box with him back over to his desk, he pulled out the photo album, skipping ahead to his more recent years. He watched that child age and mature, growing into a truly beautiful young woman. Given years, she would blossom into a true crown jewel if she would only display her beauty more. The black, modest mourning clothes she wore were too much. Turtlenecks, boots, and long pants - all in black - were simply too much for spring and summer.
Amy, his mind whispered longingly. He hadn't dared speak her name to himself for fear of breaking down and revealing himself to his nephew. Instead he let himself get that...rousing feeling as he looked at her pictures before closing the album and focusing on his plan.
It was a truly dangerous plan. If it didn't go perfectly right, someone could find out and he would be in big trouble. Taking out a blue spiral notebook and pencil from his desk drawers, the older man began to draft ideas, making quick sketches and writing shopping lists. He knew it could be a while before he could carry it out, but the wait would be worth it. Amy would know the truth, and he would be happy. Their suffering would finally come to an end. And the older man knew that no matter what he did, the BAU team would do everything they could to stop him. But that was all part of the plan.
Before finally calling it a night, he unlocked the bottom drawer of his desk, and slipped the notebook inside, taking out a rather large locked black case. He carefully unlocked it and lifted the lid, smiling at the M9 9mm semiautomatic pistol and ammunition inside it. He carefully closed and locked the case after making sure the chamber was empty, slipping the case back inside the drawer under the notebook and locking the drawer once everything was settled. Taking the keys, he placed them in the box with the photo album, locking that box and putting it on his bedside table.
Taking out the locket from his back pocket, he set it on his nightstand as he changed into pajamas, taking it back in his hand as he slipped into bed.
As soon as he turned out the lights, he sighed, closing his eyes and smiling as sirens rang out through the otherwise still night. In nine months, not even those sirens could deter him from his plan. And he knew, as he fell asleep, nothing ever could.