I'm so so so so sssooooooooo sorry about the long wait!
I had so much homework the first two weeks, it was unreal. English and math in the same semester is not fun. I'm trying my best to write a bit during the week and post on weekends, but I'm afraid my updates are going to be much more irregular than that. Okay, enough of my excuses, you're here for the story!
(I don't own criminal minds and all that jazz)
Okay go!
"Morgan, you aren't going to believe this."
Hotch's voice was angry and strict, but tainted with relief.
"What is it?" Morgan stood up slightly taller, straightening his tired shoulders curiously.
"Blaine turned himself in." Hotch's voice was incredulous, even though he was standing outside of the two way mirror, looking directly at the bastard. "He drove to Malibu to do it but he turned himself in."
"You're in Malibu?!" Morgan exclaimed, slightly ticked. "Why didn't you call earlier?"
"Because we needed to be sure it was him first." Hotch reasoned. "And to be honest, we were so caught up in everything that we forgot."
"Fine." Morgan understood the negative kind of excitement that comes with a confession. "Just keep us posted."
"Of course." Hotch ended the call and looked into the glass, disgusted at the man who had admitted to the Malibu Police that he was the culprit.
JJ and Rossi stood on either side of Hotch, disgust and anger seeping through their stoic masks. They all stared at Blaine, who was handcuffed to the table, for about ten minutes. He was leaning back in his chair, looking completely relaxed, albeit a tad irritated, as if he was waiting for something. He was definitely the kind of person to which neighbors would say 'oh no, he isn't capable of that!' when you told them he was a suspect.
Without saying a word, Hotch went to the door of the interrogation room and walked in, careful to keep his face emotionless but stern at the same time, a look he had mastered over the years. Rossi and JJ stayed outside, watching through the glass and listening through the speaker.
"Hey Hotch." Blaine greeted, almost cheerily. "How're my friends doing? I miss them ya know." Hotch's expression never wavered. He expected Blaine to know who he was considering the time he'd spent stalking Reid.
"It's Agent Hotchner to you." He managed to keep the bitterness out of his tone and he took a seat across from Blaine.
CMCMCMCMCM
Blake leaned against the back of her chair, head lolling slightly forwards as she dozed. After Reid had told her his plans to foster Makaia, he had gotten tired again and began to nod off. Blake was glad to just sit there and watch the two young geniuses sleep, keeping one eye on the door.
A couple of hours after Reid had fallen back asleep, Morgan had told Blake Blaine had turned himself in, in Malibu. Blake had been extremely relieved and gladly accepted Morgan's offer to go on a coffee run. She relished the idea of a caffeine kick now that her adrenaline high was diminishing and her sleep deprivation was catching up to her.
A few minutes after Morgan left, Blake was drifting off herself.
Just before she was completely asleep however, a soft whimper caused Blake's eyes to snap open. She looked first to Reid, who seemed to be sleeping soundly, then to Makaia, whose brows were knit as if in concern. Blake waited for a moment, knowing she shouldn't wake Makaia unled she was in danger of hurting herself. People usually either wake themselves up from nightmares or go through them and don't remember them in the morning.
Makaia whimpered again and Blake's heart sank. The poor girl sounded so sad and innocent, so utterly terrified. Blake decided she should wake Makaia and rescue her from her own mind.
Just as the agent got to Makaia's bedside, the teenager jerked violently to the side, rolling onto her back and nearly punching Blake-who jumped back just in time-square in the face as her arms flailed. "No!" she shouted, he voice filled with rage and malice. "NO!" Makaia's heart rate monitor was beeping much faster than it had been thirty seconds ago.
Blake grabbed Makaia's shoulders and shook her gently. "Makaia." She said firmly. "Wake up."
Makaia's eyes flew open and she shot straight up into a sitting position. Her breathing was ragged and her eyes darted around, terrified. Bake took a step back, not wanting to crowd her. "Hey." She said gently, kneeling before the bed. "It's okay. You're safe." Makaia found Blake's eyes and seemed to come back into reality. "It was just a bad dream." Blake soothed. The beeping of the heart rate monitor began to slow back down to a normal pace. Blake then realized Makaia didn't yet know who she was. "I'm agent Blake." She said with a soft smile.
"Hi." Makaia's voice was soft and innocent but tainted with despair and fear.
"We found Blaine." Blake said encouragingly, hoping the teenager in front of her may crack a smile. "He's in custody now."
"Good." Makaia's left arm snaked around her torso, clutching at what Blake assumed was a broken rib.
"Can I get you anything?" Blake asked, concern for the girl flooding into her words.
"No, thank you." She shook her head slightly but then seemed to realize something. "Actually, if it's not too much trouble…" she trailed off and ducked her head, clearly not liking asking for anything. In the thirty seconds Blake had been talking to Makaia, she was amazed at the similarities between the child and Reid.
"What is it?" Blake prompted softly.
"Is there any chance I could get a toothbrush?" Blake could tell Makaia felt ridiculous asking for such a thing, but Blake understood completely. The girl hadn't brushed her teeth in six days; Blake would be asking for a toothbrush too.
"Absolutely." She smiled in what she hoped was a comforting manner. "Actually," Blake glanced over to the bathroom in the corner, "there might be one in there. Let me check."
Blake stood from her squatting position on the floor, using the edge of Makaia's bed for balance, and walked to the opposite corner of the room, popping her head into the tiny bathroom that contained nothing but a toilet and a sink. However, there were two toothbrushes sitting on the ledge of the sink, along with a tube of toothpaste and a bar of soap.
"You're in luck." Blake turned back to Makaia, who was already swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. "There are toothbrushes in here."
"Thanks." Makaia's smile was implied as she grabbed her IV rack and set her feet on the floor, peering over the edge of the bed as she did so, as if she expected the floor to fall out from under her. Blake took a small step towards her, just in case she fell, but Makaia walked to the opposite side of the room with no trouble, only holding the IV rack because she had to roll it along with her.
Blake stepped aside, letting the teenager into the bathroom to brush her teeth, then hovered just to the side of the doorframe, gazing at her peacefully sleeping colleague. She was surprised the commotion hadn't woken Reid, but extremely happy he was getting some sleep.
While Makaia was brushing her teeth, a nurse came into the room wheeling a cart full of plates. She nodded to Blake with a smile and pulled the swinging table-trays on each bed up, setting a plate of what looked like mac and cheese, green beans and Jell-O onto each one. The nurse left without a word, wheeling the cart with the rest of the plates on it out of the room in front of her and closing the door behind her.
Blake glanced at her watch, noting it was just past six o'clock. They had gotten in just after noon, so they had just missed lunch service, not that anyone particularly felt like eating.
The water in the bathroom turned on briefly and then off again and suddenly, Makaia materialized next to Blake.
"Feel better?" she asked with a smile.
"A bit." Makaia nodded as she headed back to her bed; Blake couldn't help but look at the blood stains all over her shirt and shorts.
"You know, we aren't too far from your house and Morgan ran out for a few minutes." Blake said as Makaia climbed back into her bed. "I could get him to stop by your place and get you a change of clothes. Pyjamas maybe? Would you be more comfortable?"
Makaia looked down at the bloodstains on her clothes as if noticing them for the first time. "I don't want to cause any inconvenience." She said quietly. So Reid-like.
"It's not inconvenient." Blake insisted.
"Thank you." Makaia nearly whispered, not meeting Blake's eyes.
"Alright, I'll call Morgan." Blake headed for the door. "You should eat something."
"Okay." Blake slipped into the hall.
Makaia clutched the shirt covered in her family's blood, not wanting to let go.
'It's all my fault. It's all my fault. It's all my fault. It's all my fault. It's all my fault.'
"It's all my fault." She finally said aloud after thinking it for a while.
"What's wrong?" a voice Makaia hadn't heard in what seemed like years startled her out of her mind. She jumped slightly and turned to see Dr. Reid sitting up slightly. She felt a fresh wave of guilt roll through her as she saw the claw mark across his face for the hundred and thirty seventh time.
"Hey." She said quietly, her lip twitching up the tiniest bit. "I'm so sorry about the whole face scratching thing." Makaia stared down at her hands, feeling horribly guilty.
"Don't worry about it." Reid assured. He really didn't blame her for what happened; how could he? "It wasn't you." This part was quieter. He didn't want to make Makaia feel worse. "Where's Blake?" he asked, just to change topics. He figured she was out in the hall with Morgan, talking about the case.
"She stepped out to call agent Morgan." Makaia explained, grateful for the change of subject.
"Call him?" Reid as curious. "Where did he go?"
"Coffee run." Blake explained as she walked back into the room. "And to get Makaia some clean clothes." Seeing Reid's confused and slightly alarmed expression, Blake quickly explained. "Blaine is in custody."
"That caught him?" the alarm left Reid's face, surprise replacing it.
"Not exactly…" Blake felt uneasy, knowing Reid and Makaia would both know what Blaine's trip to Malibu said about the case. "He turned himself in."
Reid's expression was relieved for a moment, but then darkened to something between solemn, angry and scared. Makaia simply looked like she was trying to hide her fear. She knew from her classes what Blaine turning himself in meant, and it was never good.
"So what's he hiding?" Reid wondered quietly, not quite realising he'd spoken aloud.
"Let's not think about that right now." Blake sat back down in her chair, looking at both geniuses and their plates of food. "Unless you want me to eat your Jell-O, I suggest you get to work on it." Blake turned to Reid, seeing the smile playing on his lips brought a grin to her own. She knew Jell-O what his favorite, and her hunch was confirmed when Makaia slowly reached for her own dessert.
"You like Jell-O too?" Reid asked, scooping a small amount of the red gel onto his spoon.
"It's my favorite dessert." Makaia smirked the tiniest bit, making Reid's smile broaden.
Blake shook her head and smiled, seeing the bond the two shared and loving the possibilities the future may hold.
So I know that was a kind of lame reveal of Reid's plan, but A-you don't know the whole plan and B-I probably wasn't keeping it much of a secret. I need to work on the whole "tell them about the smoke but let them infer the fire" thing.
Okay, I will try my hardest to update this weekend, but no promises. As always, please review! Adeus!