Chapter 9
Garcia's POV
A little beeping noise told Penelope Garcia that her latest search on the doctor from Bethesda was completed. She clicked open the window and was surprised to find this search had been successful. After a week of searching, opening useless files, and watching a lot of cat videos she may have actually made a breakthrough. However she was a little nervous when she looked at her latest search.
Department of Justice: Witness Protection Program.
"This cannot be good." Garcia took a deep breath and went to open the file. It was a classified document, sealed shut. But Rossi had told her to do everything she can. And when Rossi says everything, he means everything. But this might not be a hole she wanted to jump into. There might be a reason Cat was hiding things from Spencer, her sweet baby.
But they both wanted answers and Garcia would do anything for this team that had given everything for her. So she took a deep breath and typed in the commands she needed to unseal Cat Grant's file.
Then her screens went dark. The sound of her computer drives hushed. The bat cave was unusually quiet.
"No no no no no. This is not good. Not good at all," Garcia stood up and went around her room unplugging hard drives, plugging them back in, clicking all sorts of buttons and tapping the screens. "No one can outsmart me, what is happening here?"
Her phone began to ring and she contemplated whether or not to answer it. Maybe it was the hacker answering her question? Or maybe it was Derek needing advice about Savannah? Or maybe Hotch needed research on a case? The team had been called to Texas this morning to deal with a serial killer targeting prostitutes. A disturbing and gruesome case as usual. Deciding it was better to answer than let it go to voicemail, she hit the button that answered the phone.
"Hello? How can I dazzle you today my fearless crime fighters?" Garcia spoke into the gray phone, finding it difficult to keep the tremble out of her voice.
"Is this Penelope Garcia, Technical Analysis of the Behavioral Analysis Unit?" A deep voice responded on the other end.
"Um, yes?"
"This is Michael Thompson with the Department of Justice. We have gotten notice that you attempted to access sealed case files in the Witness Protection Program. This is a breach of confidentiality and a danger to any victims currently under the protection of the US Government."
"I…I apologize, sir. I promise not to do that again."
"We appreciate that, ma'am. As we speak your computers are currently being searched for any incriminating documents from the Department of Justice and all traces of the files you tried to access. This may take a few moments but your computers will be up and running again soon. We thank you for your cooperation and ask that you stay away from any files unless you get permission from the Department of Justice." A click signaled that Michael Thompson had hung up. Garcia was left in silence, her breath the only indication that she wasn't having a nightmare. It took a moment before Garcia registered what had just happened and realized she had stumbled onto something much bigger than family killed in a car crash. She quickly dialed the number of the person who needed to know this information the most.
It was only two rings before a voice answered, "What is it, Garcia?"
"Rossi, thank god. I figured out where you know Dr. Grant from. She was a victim you must've encountered on a case before you retired. I don't know the details because I couldn't access the case file."
"You, Garcia, couldn't open a case file?"
"Well, it was a Witness Protection File and when I tried to unseal it, the Department of Justice may have shut down my computers temporarily."
"Sounds like the Department of Justice."
"Yeah, anyway, something happened to Cat a long time ago. From what I've found, probably around the time she was nine years old. That's when all of her school files start, and around the time her father was killed in that car accident with her aunt and cousin."
"But it probably wasn't a car crash."
"Exactly. I'm sorry Rossi, I don't think I'll be able to get any more than that unless you want me arrested by the DOJ."
"That's okay Garcia, I can figure something out from there. Good work."
Garcia smiled as she heard Rossi hang up the phone. Even though he'd been on the team for seven years, it still made her happy whenever he complimented her work. He was almost as hard to please as Gideon was. Beeps and vent sounds filled the room as her computers finally clicked back on. The screen in front of her was blank except for her computer background. All traces of her search on Cat Grant were gone.
Rossi's POV
Although he was disappointed that Garcia couldn't get him any more answers, he had enough to work on to start a base profile of Cat Grant. Whatever case he had met her on had happened 16 years ago, around the time she was nine years old and the same year he had retired. It must have been one of his last cases. Gideon had definitely worked on it with him; if only he was here, he probably would be able to pull out his victim notebook and find the pictures he'd gotten of this poor little girl.
And because of the Witness Protection file Garcia had stumbled upon, Rossi could gather they hadn't solved this case. The Unsub was most likely still out there. This would explain Cat's fear of letting Spencer in on her past, not because she was upset about her family dying in some car accident.
"This is the most high profile case we have probably ever faced. The unit got a lot of publicity and a lot of judgment in the way we handled this difficult situation. But you all did exceptional work with the obstacles we dealt with. It was a personal case for everyone here, this Unsub hit us right in our weak spot and any branch would have had emotional ties here. We did all we could have done but unfortunately we will have to classify this as a cold case. There are others that need our attention and we haven't had any leads for three months. Thank you all for your dedication and work following this tragic event."
"Rossi? Rossi you in there?" Morgan shook his shoulder and tore Rossi from the new memory that popped into his head.
"Yes, sorry, must not have gotten enough sleep last night. Did I miss anything about the case?"
"No, you were just staring at Blake with an odd expression. Do you need some coffee or anything?" Morgan looked at him with a concerned expression.
"No, that's okay. The coffee might be the reason I didn't get any sleep," Rossi chuckled.
Morgan, however, did not look too convinced but he decided not to question the older agent. "What was that call from Garcia about?"
"She was updating me about a personal case I had her look into. Nothing too serious though," Rossi saw Reid look over at him at the mention of the personal case. Rossi shook his head to tell him not to ask at the moment. He was torn whether or not to inform the kid about Garcia's findings. It wouldn't do him any good to know that there were even more serious things going on in this girl's life. He could tell the kid was falling hard for her. After Maeve he didn't want to cause the young agent any more pain. Getting involved in whatever case this girl had in her past would not end well for any of them.
Cat's POV
It had been over a week since Spencer had come to her apartment with his emotional speech. Cat couldn't get up the courage to call him and she didn't know what she would say to him even if she did. Would she tell him all of her secrets? Would she tell him she couldn't see him anymore? Would she spill all of her feelings to him? Rather than face her emotions she threw herself into her work. She scheduled as many surgeries as she could. She even started research for the Schizophrenia trial she had planned. But she could tell something was missing from her life.
She had avoided the coffee shop at all costs, even going so far as to drink the hospital's coffee. It almost made her give up the drink it was so gross. But she would endure as long as she didn't have to face Spencer. She didn't know how she would react to seeing his big brown eyes fill with hope when he saw her walk through those doors. Or if she could handle seeing the sadness when she left without talking to him.
Thinking about his eyes made her smile as she walked to work that morning. And then she remembered his laugh. She thought about his perpetually messy hair, which sometimes fell in front of his eyes in the cutest way. The adorable dorky smile he got when he made a joke and she laughed at it. And finally she thought about his speech, how genuine it was, and how honest he'd been. She had learned more about him from it, and not just the parts of his life that he'd revealed in it. She learned he cared more about her than she ever knew. She learned how deep his love and his loyalty went to those he considered friends. She learned how thoughtful he was. He would not push her into accepting his offer; he wanted to be considerate in giving her space. Spencer Reid was a good man and he loved her. Of all people he loved her. And she realized that she loved him too.
Cat turned around even though she was at the entrance to the hospital and ran all the way back to the bookstore. Even though she was 20 minutes late she hoped Spencer would still be there. They were both creatures of habit so she was pretty confident she would find him at the usual table. But she was wrong. As she burst through the doors she saw their table was empty. Disappointed filled her and she turned around again, heading back for a long day of work.
She took her time putting her bag in her locker and changing into scrubs. Maybe Spencer had given up waiting. He probably realized she was not worth waiting for. Who would wait for a girl who hadn't told a guy she likes her favorite book after four months of talking?
Savannah walked up on the other side of nurse's station while Cat was looking through her latest patient file. A new idea flashed through her mind when she saw her friend. "Savannah!"
"Oh, Cat. Hi, what's up?" Savannah gave her a wary glance. She had a pang of guilt as she realized she'd been distant since the whole OR and Spencer incidents.
"I'm sorry about everything. Spencer and I had a disagreement and I didn't know how to tell you."
"Girl, you know you can tell me anything. I may be dating his coworker but that doesn't mean I'm gonna take his side. I want you to be happy. We just thought it would be cute if our two geniuses got together."
"I know, I know. Speaking of the other genius, did they get a case recently?" Cat was relieved that Savannah understood her odd way of handling stress.
"Yeah, they've been gone for a few days but Penelope told me they were getting pretty close to solving it."
"Penelope?"
"The blonde one with the crazy outfits you met when Derek came to help Will and JJ?"
"Ah, I remember her. She seemed very nice. Different, but nice," more relief flooded her as she heard that Spencer was missing because of a case and not because she had waited too long to accept his offer.
"She is. Are you okay? You face is getting red and you're smiling bigger than I think is possible for you," even though she sounded worried, Savannah was also smiling.
"I'm fine. I'll see you after work," Cat walked away, running potential apologies through her mind for when she saw Spencer again.
Cat waited in the hospital lobby after work for Savannah. Both of them had ended up having overnight shifts because of a fire at a local restaurant. The ER had flooded with burn victims and head trauma victims when the roof had collapsed. An elderly man had a major head bleed that Cat could not stop and she was ready for breakfast with her friend. She had decided to tell Savannah about the issues she was having with Spencer, and although it had been a long night she knew her friend would need a good meal. But she saw her friend's face and knew something had happened.
"Derek texted me. They got back last night but there was an accident with Spencer on the case."
"What? Is he okay?"
"He got shot in the neck. But he's fine! He's alive," Savannah put a hand on her shoulder, the most comfort she could offer since she knew Cat did not handle hugs well.
"Can you drive me to his apartment? I don't know where he lives and I need to see him," Cat looked frantically at Savannah. Her emotions taking over rational thought; the only thing on her mind was Spencer and her fear for him.
"Of course sweetie. Come on," she grabbed Cat's hand and dragged her out. It was only a twenty minute drive to Spencer's apartment. Savannah gave Cat his apartment number and she raced inside. She was up the stairs in seconds and then pounded on his door, not letting up until she heard a voice inside telling her he was coming. The lock clicked open and then a tall figure was standing in the open doorway.
"Cat?" Spencer looked fine for the most part, besides the white bandage on the right side of his neck. He had on plaid pajamas and his hair was even messier than normal. She felt bad as she realized she had woken him up. But she pushed it aside as relief flooded her system and she did the only rational thing that came to her mind; she surged forward and hugged him. Her arms wrapped around his torso and she buried her head in his chest. It took him a moment to overcome his surprise but then she felt him wrap his arms around her and hug her back, resting his head on top of hers.
"Hi," she murmured into his pajama shirt.
"Hi," he said into her hair.
