Author's note:
I am extremely sorry for the huge delay on the updates. But the recent airing of the 200th episode compelled me to make huge changes to my storyline and rethink the plot. Hence the delay. Also, I had to deal with a shit load of work at college.
I've revised the fourth chapter and this is the new one. Thanks a lot to all the readers who have added my story to their list of favourites and are following my story. A big thanks to all those who have reviewed so far.
That's it for now and I'll get back to you with the new chapter very soon!
Thanks!
- Rosalind
Vivian raced across the hall to answer the door bell, pulling her black cardigan over a white T-shirt.
"I'm almost done! I'm so sorry I slept in!" She left Reid at the door staring at her as she grabbed her scarf and stuffed the rest of her belongings into her bag.
"You should calm down. Hotch only wanted me to check on you," Reid said, standing in the doorway.
Vivian stopped whatever she was doing, "Hotch what? And come in…"
"He's been calling you. He couldn't reach you. So he just wanted me to make sure you were fine. You better call him. It must be important. Otherwise he wouldn't have insisted," Reid said before he turned to leave.
"Wait! Hotch called me?" she looked pretty confused, "Oh my god! I left it uncharged! The battery must've died. It must be about the reports he gave me last night before we left."
"Okay." Reid made another attempt to leave. But something made him turn around, "Are you going drive..today too?"
"Umm.. I was actually planning on taking the metro. Not really in a mood to drive." Vivian saw that Reid was all dressed and ready. "You don't have to wait…"
"It's okay," Reid said as he stepped into her apartment. It was like his apartment, only the ambience was very different. Most of the furnishings had a lot of white and other light colours. The shelves were decorated with all kinds of toys, small goodies and antiques. It wasn't the strange combination of decorations that bothered him, but the absence of something very important. Photographs.
There wasn't a single photograph anywhere on the walls. No loved ones? He tried to ask her about her family only find out that she had lost her parents in a home invasion. She gave him no other details and he didn't probe any further.
"Reid? Shall we?" She stepped out of her bedroom, her hair tied up in a ponytail.
"Yeah."
HQ, Quantico.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Vivian looked at Reid wide eyed as they stepped into their office, "You don't play chess anymore because you've probably played all patterns and strategies?"
"It's not like I don't play anymore. I just don't play as often as I used to. Since you are claiming to be good, I'll give you a chance to actually prove it," Reid removed his bag and placed it on his table. Vivian leaned against his desk, her hands folded across her chest, "You just wait Dr. Reid. You'll be so sorry.."
"Oh yeah?" Reid smirked slightly, "You should probably go and see Hotch. You don't want him disappointed now, do you?"
"Wait for it Reid..wait for it.. I'm gonna wipe that smug smile off your face.." Vivian said, pulling the files out of her bag.
"Yeah right, we'll see about that.." Reid walked towards the coffee machine as Vivian headed to Hotch's office.
"Looks like someone's in a good mood today morning.." Emily said.
Reid smiled at Emily and grabbed his own cup of coffee, "Where's JJ?"
"She's taken the day off. She had some things to take care of," Emily said and the two agents returned to their desks, "If I get this file done, I'm gonna be free…"
"You wish," Morgan, who was already there with his own load of work, smirked, "That word doesn't even exist for us."
"Sir?" Vivian stepped into Hotch's office to find him on the phone with someone. He signaled her to wait and continued to talk to the person on the other side, in a very polite tone, "Yes sir. It will be taken care of." He cut the call and looked up at Vivian, "Do you have any idea…"
"They are done," she placed the files on his desk, "I'll mail the rest of them to you in a minute. Is there anything else I have to do?"
Hotch took the files and skimmed through them. He remained silent for a moment before he pushed another set of files towards Vivian, "There are two case files that need immediate attention. I'm checking one and I need you to work on the other."
"Sure," Vivian grabbed the files and headed towards the door when Hotch spoke, "Vivian?"
"What is it?" She waited for him speak but he said nothing.
"Nothing. You can leave."
Hotch watched Vivian leave his office with the files in her hands. He wished Strauss hadn't given him the background information on Vivian. The minute he read that file, he had a profile built in his mind and the Vivian he saw in the past few months didn't fit. He wondered what it was that made her so different, that helped her beat the odds. He wondered what it was that brought her to the BAU. His experience had an answer ready for him, perhaps the right one. Only, he wished to be wrong. He returned to the file on his desk, reminding himself that there were other things worry about, like a call from the Congressman.
"Whao!" Vivian almost scared Garcia when she walked right into her 'work station'. Filled with computer screens and Garcia's own goodies that kept her sane, Vivian found the room to be too small.
"Don't you think the room's a little crowded?" Vivian said and took the empty seat beside Garcia's.
"You know, there's only one other person who ever said that," Garcia said closing the window of an online game she was playing, this time using her own network connection.
"Who?"
"Gideon," Garcia said, as her mind wandered off to the senior agent, who knew when to give up. She heard some people calling him a quitter. But she knew that Gideon had given too many of his years to this job to be a quitter. There was nothing wrong with wanting to retire, especially from a job like theirs. Everybody had their own breaking point. Before Vivian could comment, she evaded the topic, "So what can I do for my super heroes today?"
"See if any repeated sex offenders have been recently released on parole in northern Louisiana. Look for parole violations," Vivian said and slid closer to the screen, "Narrow it down to these zip codes."
"Sixty four," Garcia waited for further instructions from their newest member. Vivian listed each of the possibilities on one half of the paper she placed on the desk and facts on the the other. She then struck out the theories that weren't feasible. Garcia sat there listening to her deductions, finally narrowing the list down to two preferential sex offenders.
"You know, you almost sound like Reid when you start that babble of yours, except you're poles apart when it comes to everything else.." Garcia twirled the pencil in her hand and hit the send button, mailing the report that Vivian just compiled. "Sent."
"Thanks, Garcia." Vivian smiled at the technical analyst before she got up from the chair.
"I'm curious," Garcia swiveled around to face Vivian, "You are neighbours right?"
"Yeah," Vivian settled back in the chair, her chin propped on her elbow, "What is that you are curious about?"
"Do you guys even talk to each other outside work? I mean not just random conversations on your way to work and back.. More like actual talking, like we're doing right now?"
"And why are you asking that?" Vivian tilted her head amused by Garcia's sudden display of curiosity.
"Like I said, I'm curious.." a smug smile appeared on the blonde's lips, "Tell me.. It's been only three months and you both seem like you've known each other all your life."
"Of course not. You're just exaggerating it. And it's actually three months and twelve days since I joined," Vivian dismissed the thought right away. It was true that she and Reid got along pretty well but they certainly weren't as close as Garcia felt they were. Or were they?
"Oh I'm not," Garcia said, "The last time I checked, you chose him over me."
"That was because I was pretty fucked up. With the reports pending and all that paperwork.. I just couldn't refuse when Reid offered to help. Plus, Hotch had taken the day off after such a long time.." Vivian paused and narrowed her eyes at Garcia, "What is it that you really wanna ask me?"
"Okay..here I go. You like him.." There wasn't a question in there nor did Garcia intend it to be one.
"I don't! I mean I do like him. But, it's just that..." The emotion that Vivian felt right about then was inexplicable. "It's just that he is easy to converse with. He is a great guy. He is a profiler, I am a profiler..we work together, we are neighbours... We see each other a little too much and that's probably why we became friends so easily but.. Seriously Garcia, we are colleagues..federal agents working on the same team!"
"Hold on sugar, I was just messing with you. But, you do look cute together," Garcia winked at Vivian and turned to her screens. Vivian couldn't help but smile. She shook her head, a soft smile lingering on her lips, "Penelope, you're unbelievable!"
"Tell me something I don't already know," Garcia said. She had her back towards Vivian, but the agent knew that their tech genius still had that smug smile plastered on her face.
"Anything today?" Emily asked with her fingers crossed.
"Just some consulting," I said walking up to them with the file in my hands, "I guess we're free.. At least for now. You got somewhere to go?"
"Not now. Later in the evening," Emily replied casually trying not to sound too excited. "Oooh! A date.." Morgan and I cooed in unison and I could swear I saw a faint blush as she disagreed with us, "Not a date! I'm just meeting an old friend."
"An old friend huh?" Morgan stressed on the friend part, grinning as he said that. Emily rolled her eyes, "Whatever.."
"Do you have any plans for the evening pretty boy?" Morgan moved on to Reid.
"I? I don't know.." he said and turned to me, "You said something about a new restaurant opening down the street."
I skipped a beat when he suggested that we should check it out. My mind went right back to what Garcia had said about me liking Reid. I mentally kicked myself for even thinking that was possible and straightened myself out, "That was two days ago. Yeah, we can check that out if you want to. It's Indian actually," I said and looked at Morgan, "How about you and Garcia? Wanna come?"
Morgan obviously hadn't expected the invitation. Frankly, neither did I. Yet, I was already looking forward to having dinner..that evening..with Reid.
"Sorry sweetheart, count us out. I've plans for my beautiful behaviour analyst. Actually Hotch has plans.." Garcia said. She jerked her thumb at the conference room, "A call from Chicago PD. Crane's sentence is being carried out tomorrow. And he wants to talk."
Morgan's countenance changed. His forehead creased with worry as he walked away without another word.
"Did he ask for Morgan?" Reid asked Garcia, who nodded in return. She followed Morgan with the same worry in her eyes. Reid shook his head and sat down in his swivel chair and so did Emily in hers, facing Reid.
"Who's Crane?" The anxiety was contagious.
"He is a serial rapist and a homicidal maniac. Morgan arrested him during the time he worked for the CPD. Hotch and Gideon worked on that case along with him. Crane almost killed Morgan. Somehow they were able to apprehend him alive," Reid explained, "Perhaps Crane has agreed to talk to us one final time."
"But why?" I asked, only to realise the answer, "He has a list; the list of the victims, whose bodies haven't been discovered yet. There are families out there who need closure, right?"
Emily nodded, "He tried to use that as leverage, to get a deal. But they've sentenced him to death anyway. I wonder what he's planning now."
That sick bastard… The thought of the families not finding closure left me unsettled. Waiting for someone, not knowing if they were even coming back is the worst thing that could happen to somebody. It leaves you haunted, helpless and struggling to find an answer any way possible. Some give up, some move on but the void remains. The nightmares keep coming back. And for some even closure doesn't end the misery...
"Hotch called. I heard Crane wants to talk," Rossi and JJ walked in together. Rossi looked at the conference room upstairs, "Are they in there?"
"Yep," Emily said and turned to JJ, "I thought you were taking the day off."
"Oh that... It can wait. It's okay. Moreover Will had to leave for work. Then I got this call from Hotch," JJ said, "I thought I might as well come in. Vivian.." JJ signaled me to wait and extracted a card from her bag. She offered it to me, "He's really good. You should get that ankle checked out."
"Thanks JJ!" I took the card. "You said that the ankle was fine!" Reid sounded upset, "You should've said something." The look on his face was that of disapproval, "You really are very careless."
"You're right about that," JJ agreed with him, "If I hadn't seen her clutching the sore ankle in pain yesterday, no one would've known."
"Hey cut me some slack. It isn't that bad," I held my hands up in defense. Before Emily had the chance to add her two cents worth I directed their attention towards Hotch and Morgan descending the stairs followed by Garcia, "We're leaving for Chicago in thirty minutes," Hotch was in no mood for banter, "We are getting that list. All the details we need are on your tabs. Vivian, Reid, take these," Hotch handed me the case files, "Go through the victimology and geographical profile. We can use a pair of fresh eyes," he said to me.
In less than ten minutes we were ready and were about to step outside when I got a call from an unknown number. "Hello?"
"Special Agent Vivian Parker?"
"Yes?" The accent was familiar. There was no need for me to rack my brain trying to figure out who it was as the speaker introduced himself right away.
"This is Detective William LaMontagne, WPD."
"Will? Hey.. How are you?" I knew I heard that voice and accent somewhere. It was Will! JJ spun around up on hearing his name. I shrugged at her ignorant of the reason for that unexpected call.
"I'm good. Umm.. Vivian? Will you be able to come down to the station right now? It's important."
Hesitation was evident in his voice, like he was holding something back. What could it be? Well, being asked to come down to the police station couldn't exactly be good news.
"Right now? We are actually leaving for Chicago in ten minutes."
"It's about Rebecca…"
"Becky? What happened to Becky?" The rest of the team had gathered around me by now, probably wondering why Will had called. The minute Will mentioned Becky's name, I felt my heart throb. Something wasn't right! Something just wasn't right!
"I'm so sorry Vivian.. She.. she's dead…"
My mind exploded and my vision blurred. I must've lost my balance for I could feel a pair of strong hands supporting me. "Vivian? Are you okay?" It was Hotch.
"That's not true!" I managed to choke a few words out.
"You are listed as her next of kin. I need you to come down and complete some formalities. I can't give you the details right now…"
He continued to say something but those words were incomprehensible to me. I felt someone's grip on my shoulders and I looked up.
Reid shook me once, "Vivian, what happened to Rebecca?" How did Reid know her..? Of course he did.. He met her when she'd visited me last week.
"Will's saying she's dead…" I said and dropped the phone into his hands. I sat there, my shoulders slumped as the world around me started to spin. Those three words: she is dead echoed in my ears. That is not possible. No! It cannot be true!
I could see Reid talking Will and my team talking to me, but I could only hear myself saying again and again, "That's not true!"
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