A/N: Hello again, everyone!
IT'S 2023! I hope everyone's had a good New Year's. Out with 2022, and in with 2023!
Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds. No copyright infringement intended.
Here's the first chapter of 2023, and this chapter takes place a day or two after Séraphine's third birthday.
Spencer spent most of the morning after breakfast in the gym after hearing from the FBI bureaucrats that he'd have to complete a fitness test a few days before leaving the office. It's been a while since he properly exercised—though he considered chasing down unsub and caring for two small children exercise enough, he steadily paced himself on the treadmill.
He looked at his watch and realized that it's been 30 minutes since being on the treadmill and decided that was enough. For now, at least. He pressed his index and middle fingers to his neck to check his artery for his pulse rate for the third time. Spencer walked over to the rustic wooden frame console table next to the mini fridge, helped himself to bottled water and a clean white Turkish cotton towel, and whipped it around his neck.
"Hey, you…" Spencer had just finished sipping when he snapped his head to Élise, standing by the door. "Have a nice workout?"
Spencer had another sip and swallow. "Mmm-hmm…"
Élise up-and-downed Spencer's workout attire: a long-sleeve crew hoodie, shorts that went down to his long-legged knees, signature mismatch socks, and low black Converse sneakers. "I haven't seen you looking like this in a long time."
Spencer gulped when he finished up the rest of his water. "Well, I have to do that fitness test that's coming up soon, so I need to get in shape."
Élise patted his shoulders, drew herself closer to him, and kissed his cheek. "You'll be fine," she pulled back from him and clutched her hands onto his face. "Guess what?" she asked cheekily with her tongue on her front teeth.
"What?" Spencer shrugged his shoulders, oblivious.
Élise got her cell phone and showed Spencer an email. His mouth dropped, and a small gasp came out.
"Our little girl got in WIS…" he whispered.
Élise bit down on her tongue and shook her head, squealing in glee. The couple pulled into a hug.
Spencer and Élise also got word from Maeve and Bobby, and the parents they met during the campus visit who attended Séraphine's birthday with their children also got it.
Now, the BAU team was called to Las Vegas for a case involving two women who strangely drowned nearly two weeks ago.
Spencer was so excited that on the plane ride there, he decided to give his mother a call, though he had to leave her a message. He hoped to get chicken fried lobster at Binion's with her when the case was over.
Élise had been figuring out what she wanted to wear for the past ten minutes when announcing the President's criminal justice reform budget plan. She finally deciding on a navy-blue suit, neck-tie blouse, and heels.
While brushing the ends of her hair with her favorite detangling brush, she heard her phone buzzing on the vanity table and got it.
It was an email notification. Clicking on the notice, she entered her phone password, and it pulled her to the email.
While working on the case, Spencer got word from his mother's psychiatrist that she was on a supervised field trip to the Grand Canyon. Though he was happy for her, he felt a bit sad that she didn't at least tell him, though Spencer was the one who wrote every day to feel less guilty about the fact that he had to commit her to a sanitarium.
He worried that she had forgotten about him. But he had to worry about that later since there was still a killer in Las Vegas.
Élise got the children tucked in and was getting ready for bed herself. She took the chance to call Spencer since she figured he and the rest of the team would be taking a break. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she got her phone, pressed the talk button, and placed the phone to her ear, patiently waiting for him to answer.
"Hello?"
Élise replied, "Hey, babe…how's the Sin City?"
"Oh, you know, still the same as ever. Gambling, entertainment, nightlife," said Spencer before he blurted, "Oh, and my mom's in the Grand Canyon."
Élise lifted an eyebrow. "Say what now?"
Spencer repeated, "Her psychiatrist said that she was responding well to her new medications and was allowed to go on a supervised field trip there."
"Oh, well, that's good, right?"
Spencer sighed. "Yeah, but…I just can't believe she didn't at least tell me."
"Are you worried she forgot about you?"
Spencer answered, "A little bit, yeah."
"I'd bet a year's supply of Girl Scout cookies that she hasn't, and she's just enjoying yourself," said Élise. "But I get it why. Growing up, we were so dependent on our parents, and when we're finishing growing and living our own lives, we don't really need them."
"Yeah." Spencer agreed. "At least I can call my dad for a chicken fried lobster dinner at Binion's."
"Exactly." Élise asked again, "Also, do you have any plans this weekend?"
"Not that I know of. Why?"
"Patricia Levingston sent me an email this morning about attending a formal charity party at her and Harold's place in D.C. to help raise money for the families who applied for financial aid."
After a couple of seconds, Spencer said, "Why not? It'll be for a good cause."
The following day, the team got word of another murder, only this time, the victim was a male who was strangled to death in the city.
Realizing there might be a pattern involving the homeless community, the team delivered the profile about the vagrant cult and its leader.
A disguised Élise and Maeve went to Macy's at the Tysons Corner Center to find a cute little outfit for the Levingston-Winthrop charity party.
Élise stared at herself in the three-way floor mirror in one of the store's dressing rooms and had her hands on her hips, wearing a cream-white scuba crepe petite sheath dress with a bow at the mock side neck. She turned to Maeve, who had just come out wearing a black knee-length long-sleeve jersey dress, and stood beside her.
"This looks nice, right?" Élise turned around again. "It doesn't make my butt too big, right?" she lightly tapped her backside.
"Your butt's fine." Maeve giggled. "Isn't that supposed to be a new thing?"
"Surprisingly, yeah," answered Élise. "Back in the day, having a big butt was a big no-no. Now all these celebrities and people want a bigger butt, like bigger chest sizes or the perfect nose via plastic surgery."
"And the obsession with looking younger and anti-aging," Maeve checked herself out. "It's kinda shallow now, don't you think?"
"Sadly, yes," Élise answered again. "But the wrinkles and aging…but luckily for me, I don't have to worry," she patted her face. "Black don't crack, and brown don't frown. We're like vampires, aging gracefully. Ask Angela Bassett, Iman, Janet Jackson, Naomi Campbell, and Bianca Lawson."
"Except you don't have to bite anyone's neck," said Maeve, making Élise snicker.
Spencer and JJ headed to the M.E.'s office and discovered that the newest victim was killed beneath the city tunnels, making them realize the victims were actually killed in the tunnels before getting the got word of a missing reporter.
Séraphine was in the living room with Isaac and Opal, watching an aminated movie, and started mimicking what the characters in the film were doing.
"Hi-yah!" Séraphine punched the air. "Si-yah!"
"Hello, honey…" Élise popped her head and was suddenly amused by what Séraphine was doing before looking at the screen. "You're quite a kung-fu panda, huh?"
"Yah-yah!" Séraphine cried, swinging the air and being able not to hurt herself.
With a little help from the unsub, who was manipulated into doing the killings—and some deception on Spencer's end, the team caught the cult leader and one of his followers and rescued the victim.
Knowing there was still enough time to get to Binion's, Spencer called up his father for a late-night chicken fried lobster dinner.
The team made it back to D.C. in the early afternoon time. Spencer just got off the elevator and was heading for the bullpen with JJ by his side.
"I'm sorry you didn't get to see your mom," said JJ.
"It's ok," Spencer replied. "I guess now I know what a parent feels like when their kid grows up.
Someone who's depended on you for so long, and then suddenly they're off living their own life, and they don't really need you anymore." Now all this talk about growing up would get him thinking about Séraphine and Isaac when they're older, and they won't even need him or Élise.
JJ added. "Except she's the parent, and that's how it should be."
When the two got their cubicle desks, Garcia was there to greet them. "Oh, hi. Welcome back. This came for you," she gave Spencer a small mail package.
"No return address?" Spencer asked, shaking it, wondering what it was.
"Yeah, and it's really heavy. So, what's inside it?" Garcia asked, looking at JJ for a couple of seconds and looking at Spencer, itching with excitement. Spencer used his pen to open the package. "Yes, that's me being nosy." When he finally opened it, it was just some tiny brown wooden sculpture. Garcia frowned, feeling slightly disappointed that it wasn't more than that. "That looks like a pile of—"
"Shale, limestone, and sandstone," Spencer explained. "It's a sculpture of the Grand Canyon from my mom."
JJ was excited for him and that she was right. "See? She didn't forget you."
Inside the package were a bunch of postcards from her as well. "She said she was gonna mail the postcards, but then she decided to send the Grand Canyon instead. Here, listen to this," he started reading one of the messages on the postcards. "You may have to commit me twice, Spencer, "because not only did I ride a mule on a tiny trail "with a 1,000-foot vertical drop, "I paid for the privilege. Now, that's crazy."" Spencer laughed. "Can you imagine my mom on a mule?"
"No."
"It's like Hotch at the beach." Spencer joked; he hoped Hotch wasn't around to hear that and continued reading. "The mules must do this all the time because they seem very..."
When Spencer finally got home, he showed the children what their grandmother sent him on her trip to the Grand Canyon before Élise saw them.
"Your mother on a mule." Élise couldn't stop reading about the part where she rode on a mule. "That's like…" Élise thought about a good comparative simile. "Hotch at the beach."
Spencer took off his jacket. "That's exactly what I said."
Élise scratched her eyelid. "Still…I told you she didn't forget about you."
Spencer sat on the edge of the bed and removed his sneakers and socks. "Yeah. Still got me thinking about when Fifi and Ziggy grow up and they won't need us anymore."
"Oh, I think they'll need us in the future," Élise tugged one ankle behind the other, sounding confident. "But until then, let's enjoy the time when they do need us."
"When?"
As if it was on cue, Séraphine cried out for Spencer. "Daddy, I need you, please!"
Élise shot Spencer a told-you look before he kissed her lips and attended to what Séraphine needed him for.
It was finally the weekend. And since neither Spencer nor Élise had any cases or plans, they decided to go to the charity event.
Within twenty-five to thirty minutes, the Suburban pulled through the Levingston-Winthrop D.C. residence's opened wrought-iron gates. The quarter-mile-long driveway was surrounded by tall trees. When they finally arrived at the circular driveway, one of Élise's security agents, McKinsey opened the backseat door; Spencer stepped out first and helped Élise out.
"Wow…" Élise admired the stone-brick Tudor-styled estate. "You know, I read that the estate is nearly a hundred years old."
Spencer tucked one hand in the pocket of his tailored pure Italian wool twill suit and escorted Élise to the door. "Well, both families have a history in D.C."
"And in the Northeast," Élise added when they got to the arched mahogany front door and used the cast-iron gargoyle knocker. A suited gentleman in a full-length coat opened the door. Spencer and Élise showed him their IDs and invitation, and the gentleman allowed them into the house, including McKinsey and Yates, the agent who drove them.
Once entering it, they went through security checkout by the study before finding themselves upon the other D.C. elites, including some exclusively prominent VIP guests.
The estate's interior was as equally stunning as the exterior. The front foyer had this double staircase in the center of the room, oil paintings and old portraits hung on the paneled walls, and the glistening chandelier, antique furniture, and heavy gilded curtains covered the windows.
Élise helped herself to a small canape that was set up in the middle of the walnut-paneled living room when she heard someone call out for her and Spencer.
"Spencer! Élise!"
Spencer and Élise, who had finished chewing, spotted Maeve and Bobby among the crowd and waved to them.
"Hey, you two." Maeve was attired in the same black long-sleeve knee-length dress she tried at Macy's with Élise the other day, low heels, and a simple gold necklace; her hair was in soft curls, and she wore no makeup except for a little foundation—not that she needed makeup with her great skin and Maeve preferred it that way. Bobby had his hair sleeked back and was in a gray suit. "Don't you two look good?" Élise complimented.
"Thanks." Maeve flipped her hair. "So, do you two."
A pudgy petite caterer thrust a tray of cheese appetizers into the four's faces. "Gruyère bites?"
Bobby helped himself to a cracker and took a little bite. It was so good he finished the one in his hand and helped himself to another one. Maeve took a stuffed mushroom and ate it in one bite, slowly chewing before swallowing.
From a small distance, Patricia—whose hair was in a chignon and wore a fitted black sheath dress that showed off her toned arms, tiny freshwater pearls, and heels, spotted the group and approached them, flashing her pearl white smile. "Hello…so glad you all were able to come."
"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Élise helped herself to a sparkling water goblet and took a sip; Patricia had a glass and sipped.
"Why don't I give you the heads-up on some of the guests?" Patricia led the way and pointed to a middle-aged man chatting with a woman in a St. John's tweeded skirt suit. "That gentleman there is Jared Fuller, the new artistic director for the Utopian Rep. With him is…"
"Genevieve Decker, the President of Pythias Planning." Maeve knew who she was. "Lady's a genius, to say the least."
Patricia nodded her head once. "And she and her husband donated money to various STEAM projects around the country."
Élise saw a tall gentleman who looked like he was in his early sixties with short brown hair talking to another gentleman with balding gray hair. "Is that the Director with Senator…?"
"Yup." Patricia had another sip. "The Director is said to be one of the godfathers to the Senator's daughter; she's in Europe. I think her name is…" Patricia's train of thought stopped when Élise saw another tall, silver-haired gentleman with a dark blonde bun hairstyle woman in a flowy black dress by his side.
"Ambassador Gosslien and Susanna…" Élise's mouth made a small O shape. "Rumor has it he left his wife for her…"
"That's what I heard, yeah…"
Haughty laughter caught the five's attention of a group of four women in their early-mid thirties, who seemed more interested in themselves. "Fabulous!" they said together.
"Who's the real-life Gossip Girl group?" Maeve joked, making Bobby and Élise snicker.
Patricia swung her manicured finger at the tall blonde in the mini crystal embroidered pink dress and heels. "The blonde hair blue eyed is Belinda Sinclair. Back in her day, she modeled for some of the biggest names in fashion after winning a model competition when she was a teen. She traveled the world, mainly in New York, London, Paris, and Milan. She retired after over ten years in the game but contributes to fashion and lifestyle magazines from time to time. She's married to that guy," now she swayed to the blonde hair guy talking to Harold. "Semi-playboy Jonathan Anderton, one of the heirs of the Anderton hotel chain. They have a little girl, Angela, and a son, Thatcher."
Now Patricia swerved to the cacao brown complexed woman in a velvet yellow midi-length dress. "Shania Davis. One of the top and youngest rising mavens in the D.C. metro. who works at Abner Consultations. Mother to Adeline and Terrell and married to that guy, Reginald Ballou." She turned to the umber-toned man.
"I heard about that guy," said Élise. "He's from some bourgeoisie old-money New York family who, rumor has it, got him scot-free whenever he got into trouble when he was a teen. Looks like he cleaned himself up and became one of the youngest partners at Blake & Colby and professor at Georgetown Law."
"Oh, yeah." Patricia nodded her head and aimed at the long raven-haired beauty in the blue slit dress. "Her right there is heiress Calista Tan married that man…" she pointed to a chiseled featured man. "Otto Quek, real estate heir. Two kids: Agnes and Taylor. To say their families are "rich" would be an understatement." Patricia air quoted rich.
"Crazy rich?" Bobby asked, lifting an eyebrow.
Patricia shook her head again, answering Bobby's theory. "Going back to the 1800s all throughout Asia. And last but certainly not least, Luna Reyes—entertaining lifestyle guru; she even planned this event—one of her many talents ." Patricia waved back to the tanned lady in the spaghetti strap green floor-length dress when she spotted her. "Married to the eminent surgeon, Edmund Tolentino—also from a wealthy family and have two children, Anabel and Tadeo," she veered to the bronze complexion man.
From how Patricia told them about the families, Spencer questioned, "I take it you want us to watch for them?"
"Big time," said Patricia. "They all even live on the same street. They are many words to describe them. To say they're…snobbish and…arrogant sometimes is me putting it lightly."
"Sounds like a high school clique." Élise summed up Patricia's words. "Believe me; I can handle them."
Maeve replied, "I've dealt with my share of mean girls, so…" she shrugged her shoulders.
Soon the four scattered to different corners of the events and mingled with some of the guests.
A/N: See the Easter eggs I put in the chapter?
Hint: party...