I know I'm too late with the update to apologize! Yet, here I am saying that I am extremely sorry. But it couldn't be helped. I had to deal with some serious shit (including a crash of my laptop, thereby losing all my documents).

I know many of my readers would've abandoned the story after getting real tired of waiting for an update. I understand. I am sorry, but like I said I was helpless. I had to take some time off from everything.

To every reader who has come back to read this update THANK YOU very much! :)

Also, I thank everyone who had commented and complimented my story by following and and adding it to your list of favourites. Thank you so much! No more excuses. Only regular updates every week! ;)

Four years ago...

"Promise me you'll never do it again..promise me you'll get help.." Vivian stroked the head of a nineteen year old girl on her death bed. That was what the doctors said. The drugs had scourged her body and there was a very slim chance that she would even survive that overdose. They had given up hope but Vivian didn't. She had already lost her aunt and uncle and she wasn't going to lose her young cousin too. "Let me go.. I just can't take it anymore.." Rebecca groaned.

"No.. Becky you can do it.. Don't give up on me.." the older one begged.

"I'm not as ss..strong as you are..." Rebecca smiled weakly at her cousin.

"I'm so sorry..." Vivian wept into Rebecca's frail hand, the one she was holding on to, "I'm so sorry.. It's my fault. If I'd never come into your lives.."

"It isn't your fault.." Rebecca muttered, "Dad was wrong. Wrong about everything.. About me, about you.."

"I... I.." Vivian kissed the young girl's hand and wiped her tears. With renewed determination she made a promise, "You are going to be fine.. Absolutely fine.. I am gonna make all of this go away.. I'll protect you no matter what.."

"Really?" Rebecca asked with a glint of hope in her green orbs.

"Yes... It's a promise.."

Yet, today, she stood there staring at herself in the mirror. All she could see was a failure. A person...no a pathetic loser who failed to protect anyone and everyone she ever loved.

She splashed water over her face again and ran her fingers through her tussled hair. She had forced her team to leave despite Reid's fervent attempts to stay behind and help from D.C.

Garcia had offered to drive Vivian to the police station but she made sure that Garcia remained at the headquarters, helping the team and doing what was most important.

"I'll be there as soon as possible.." she had told Hotch who immediately dismissed it. "Take all the time you need. If you need anything..anything at all, remember we are only a call away."

"That's right kiddo," Rossi laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, "Take care."

Vivian exited the restroom looking even worse. She walked towards the bullpen to find Will talking to his superior. She moved a little closer to hear clearly and she was noticed. "Ah, Vivian." Will was relieved to see Vivian. He was beginning to worry about how she was holding up ever since she had told him that it was just Rebecca and her and they had nobody else the police had to contact.

"Can I talk to her roommate?" Vivian asked, suppressing her grief.

"Sure. She is still here.. Come with me…" Will led her to an interrogation room. He opened the door and let Vivian talk to her alone. He stood on the other side of the glass, monitoring their conversation.

"Melinda.." Vivian said taking the seat opposite to Rebecca's roommate. The blonde nodded at the Agent and wiped her eyes again, "Agent Parker.." she gave Vivian a weary smile.

Vivian returned the smile, fighting back her tears, "The both of you were pretty close. I'm so sorry."

"The past six months have been some of the best months of my life.." Melinda paused and wiped away fresh tears, "They are wrong.. The detectives say she died of a drug overdose. That's not possible..!" She looked Vivian in the eye, "You know Rebecca! She'd never do drugs again! Not after what you guys have been through!"

"I believe you..."Vivian slipped her hand into hers and squeezed it, "But we need evidence to prove that. Melinda, where were you when this happened?"

"I... I was visiting my parents in Manhattan. I asked her to come with me. But she said she had some work to do, an important assignment or something. But…" Melinda paused, trying to remember something.

"But what?" Vivian leaned in as she realised that Melinda knew something that might be very important. Outside the room, Will became alert for this was something new.

"She was upset about something. She wouldn't tell me," Melinda said.

"When was that?"

"Last Tuesday I guess…"

That was two days after Rebecca had visited Vivian, "Upset about what? She never mentioned anything to me…" Vivian recalled everything she could about the day she and Rebecca had dinner together. She didn't find anything that would suggest that Rebecca was upset. She was absolutely fine and was her usual self.

"The night before I left for Manhattan, that's exactly a week ago, she came home disturbed," Melinda was more than sure that something was wrong, "Her eyes were red like she'd been crying. I asked her what was wrong. She didn't wanna tell me. But she said something strange… that if she had a chance to change her past she would've chosen differently. I assumed it was about her you know…"

Vivian nodded at her understanding what Melinda had assumed: Rebecca's drug abuse. She sighed in despair when something struck her, "Did Rebecca maintain a journal or a diary of some sort?"

"I guess she did. The cops ransacked the place, turned it upside down looking for drugs," Melinda sounded pissed off, which was justified given the circumstances, "They must've found it."

"Are you sure? Did you tell this to the cops?"

"Yeah.. I did.. At least most of it. I just donno how I'm gonna go back in there!" Melinda covered her face with her hands and wept, "They say she's been dead for thirty six hours and.."

"I didn't even know…" Vivian said. She said it more to herself than Melinda, "I didn't even know…"

"Don't blame yourself… You couldn't have known." It was Melinda's turn now. She held Vivian's hand.

"Thank you Melinda… But it doesn't change anything…" It was becoming impossible for Vivian to contain her tears, "I'm sorry..." She stood up and stormed out of the interrogation room only to be faced by Will, "Vivian, you have to calm down."

It was too late. She was already in tears, uncontrollable. All the pent up grief came out at once. She sank to the floor weeping while Will tried to comfort her. He put his arms around her shoulders and helped her up. "I should've called her Will. I would've known. She is a stubborn girl but if I had insisted she might have told me if she was upset about something. I should've at least called her."

"You wouldn't have known. The preliminary reports came back. The M.E. placed the death around midnight. There are no signs of violence anywhere on her body, nor anywhere in the room…" Will said and let her take a seat, "Look, I understand this is painful. But is there any chance that Rebecca would've…"

"No!" Vivian snapped, "She would never do that. I know what she's been through. Trust me when I say I know. She wanted do something good with her life. She found a purpose Will, she found her reason to get better. When you find a reason you don't go back there. You just don't."

"I'm sorry. But I had to make sure," Will said and pulled out a diary from an evidence bag, "This was the diary we found at her place. We didn't find any entries for the past week. So we don't know what it was that upset her."

"What?" The profiler in her began to think, "She was alive for about a week after that... So why did she not mention anything in her diary or to me? Was she too ashamed to even think about it..? What could it be? We've got to find out what happened that day that made her so upset!" Vivian wiped her tears and looked up at Will, "Are you going to look into this?"

"Yes, I am going to. But if you mean, am I going to let you look into this; then no. I've been given strict orders not to let you. This case isn't exactly FBI material. I hope you understand…"

"I can talk to Hotch," Vivian looked hopeful.

"It wouldn't work," Will tried to convince her, "Trust me Vivian. If Rebecca was killed I will find her killer. It's a promise. But I need you to stay out of this. Please."

"Will, let me help…" she begged him.

"We don't even know for sure if this was a murder." Will knew that his words would enrage her but he did what was necessary. Their Captain did not appreciate a Federal Agent butting into their investigation. As much as he wanted to help Vivian, his hands were tied. "I'll keep you informed and that's the best I can do for you right now."

Vivian sighed and nodded, "Thank you."

Will was relieved. At the same time he was dubious of the lack of any vehement defiance on her part. He wondered what her plan was. Was she planning on talking to his Captain directly? That was a possibility he didn't seem to like. He wanted Vivian to trust him with the case and let him do his work rather than making it personal. He knew he might react the same way if he was in Vivian's position. Yet, he trusted Vivian to do the right thing.

"Go home and get some rest. You'll need a lot of strength to pull yourself through this," Will said.

"And we are going to be your strength," a familiar voice forced Vivian to turn around.

"Garcia?" Vivian was surprised to see her there, "What are you…"

"Doing what is necessary," Garcia said and thanked Will, "I'll make sure she's fine."

Garcia led Vivian out of the police station, "We're heading to your place right now and you're getting some rest."

"But what about the team? They need you more than I do!"

"Shhh… I can work from anywhere honey. But look at you. Please, you need to get some rest…" Garcia hailed for a cab and they left for Vivian's place.

Chicago

"Did you call her?" Morgan asked Reid, who had just left another message in Vivian's voicemail.

"It's going straight to voice mail," Reid said, "She'll need time."

"How close are they? Rebecca and Vivian?" Morgan asked as he and Reid stepped out of Crane's prison cell.

"From what Vivian told me they were cousins and have known each other since they were kids," Reid said, "Rebecca's all Vivian had."

"What?" Morgan was more than just surprised. His heart sank as he realised how dear Rebecca was to Vivian.

"I know. And that is why I am worried. Garcia said she'd be picking up Vivian from the police station and take her home," Reid checked his phone again. There was no sign of a reply.

"So Will says she ODed?" Morgan asked referring to the phone call Vivian got earlier that day.

"Yeah, that is what he says. Rebecca came over for dinner at Vivian's place nine days ago. That was when I met her. I can't bring myself to accept the fact that she died of a drug overdose," Reid said, lost in thought.

"What do you mean?" Morgan frowned.

"You should've met her. She showed no signs. She was clearly not using," Reid said with confidence.

"Maybe it was a onetime thing gone bad. You know, the curiosity to try something new... Or maybe she had a history and it relapsed," Morgan was being the rational thinker, which he usually was. He never liked jumping to conclusions when it came to cases and this wasn't going to be any different.

"It is true I don't know anything about Rebecca except that she and Vivian are pretty close. But, I have this uneasy feeling..." Reid sighed.

"You're worried about Vivian. We all are... Garcia will take care of her. Let's just deal with this bastard as soon as possible and get back home, to her." Morgan patted Reid on his shoulder and led him back to the cell where they resumed searching for clues in Crane's journals.

Vivian's Apartment

6:30 PM

Garcia set her work station up in Vivian's living room letting Vivian freshen up.

"Yep, she is fine Emily," Garcia said into the microphone, "And JJ, don't you worry. She's in safe hands."

"It's just that I don't even know what to say. I called Will a few minutes ago and he says it might be a murder, but chances are they're rule it as death due to drug overdose," JJ said over the speaker.

"Good, at least Will thinks it might be murder. He'll definitely do something about it," Garcia said, lowering her voice, "I know the MPD wouldn't like us butting in, but I don't think Viv is going to let go of it so easily."

"I know," this time it was Emily, "I would've done the same. In fact that was what I did."

"I remember. Those exorcisms… If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have arrested that priest," Garcia said.

"Anyways. Gotta go. We'll get back to you if we need anything."

"Who was it?" Vivian asked as she entered the living room. She settled on the couch, her back rested on the arm of the couch and her legs crossed. Garcia sat down in the empty half of the couch with her laptop.

"You should eat something. You haven't eaten anything all day," Garcia said affectionately.

"I am not hungry," Vivian shook her head.

"Do you wanna talk about it? It helps," Garcia offered. She was willing to try anything to make Vivian feel even a little bit better.

Vivian remained calm. She wasn't in a state to say anything, for that matter she didn't even want to feel better.

Garcia sighed and decided to give her some time.

It was a few minutes later that Garcia heard Vivian speak, "I was… fifteen, when I lost my parents. My uncle and aunt took me in, gave me a new life. But…" Vivian paused for a moment and gulped down the lump in her throat, "that was only the beginning of their misery. My uncle lost all his money because of a fraudulent partnership. Things began to get worse at home, almost unbearable. My uncle used to come home drunk and fight with my aunt. Sometimes he even hit her! He used to call me the curse that destroyed them, an unnecessary, extra mouth they had to feed. However, I managed to get into Yale with a scholarship and it gave me an excuse to run from the hell that the beautiful home had become."

Vivian brought her knees close together and wrapped her arms around them. Garcia slipped her hand into Vivian's and squeezed it gently. Vivian inhaled deeply and said, "That was my first mistake. I ran like a coward. For two years I bothered not to return. I kept in touch with Rebecca and my aunt through phones and emails. Not once did Rebecca tell me that matters had gotten worse. Another two years passed and I graduated. Rebecca had promised that she would be there, but there was no sign of her. That was when I finally decided to return. But, it was too late. Rebecca was…"

"Rebecca was addicted…" Garcia completed her sentence. Vivian nodded and continued, "I had applied to the FBI Academy and I got in. However I made sure I visited Rebecca every week. I tried my best to send her to rehabilitation. Hell! I tried everything. My aunt and uncle's separation came as another blow to her. The drugs had completely destroyed her. Like what she was going through wasn't enough, her parents died in a car crash while returning from a counseling session." Vivian shook her head, "Amidst all this mess I graduated from the academy and got posted in New York first. I kept shuttling between D.C. and New York. I took her with me, wherever I went. It took her three years to get back on her feet… and now that everything was working out for her…" Vivian sighed.

Garcia moved closer to her and Vivian shifted to rest her head on Garcia's shoulder, "She didn't deserve any of this…"

"She did not," Garcia conceded, "We will figure this out Viv. Trust me you're not alone. You have us."

Vivian closed her eyes and held onto Garcia's hand, "Thank you." Vivian had never felt weaker than how she felt now. She was ashamed that she ran away when Rebecca needed her the most but she knew she had to do it; to fight her own demons. She had come a long way since then and tried to do the same for Rebecca. Fight her battles for her. And she succeeded too… almost!

"I am so sorry," Garcia heard Vivian whisper in her sleep, "I am so sorry."

Garcia didn't know Vivian too well to judge her. However seeing Vivian in that state made Garcia wonder what it took for a strong woman like Vivian to become such an emotional mess. Though it had been just three months she had seen Vivian display immense patience and strength when it came to emotions. Initially Hotch had been reluctant to let her deal with families of victims, for he wasn't sure if she could handle them. But, she had proven him quite wrong. Their chief was known for being a bully sometimes, strict with the newbie and very keen. It took not more than ten days for Vivian to prove herself and show him the reason for being the only one chosen to be on that elite team, while there were several other aspirants competing for the very same thing.

A call from Morgan returned her attention to the case at hand and she dived back into work.

I will be back soon with an update!

XRosalindX