"I'm sorry I'm late!" Aitana hurried to sit down at the table where her best friend was waiting. They were due for a lunch date.
Elia merely smiled as Aitana scrambled to get comfortable in her chair. "It's alright." Almost a year into Aitana's new BAU schedule, Elia was more than used to waiting and rescheduling. "I know you're super busy."
"Yeah." Aitana lost breath as she fixed all her belongings on the ground and her bag on the table. "We had a case — I just got back — oh!" Her bag almost spilled her entire contents had Aitana not managed to grab it off the table.
Elia laughed and bent down to pick up what had fallen. "You're a klutz."
"More like I'm tired!" Aitana exclaimed, bending down to pick up what was nearest to her. "I just flew back from Texas!"
"Busy gal." Elia picked up a mascara, lipstick, two pens and a slip of paper. She put it all down on the table but not before plating with the makeup. "You need lipstick to find corpses?" She uncapped a bright red shade of lipstick. "Red is to impress."
"No it's not!" Aitana made a face.
"You know damn well it is. Red is to impress and to seduce. Plus, red is your color," Elia winked at Aitana. "Makes you look sexy."
Aitana rolled her eyes. "Can you please give me my stuff?"
Elia handed the lipstick over, then the mascara and pens. She would've done the same with the slip of paper if she hadn't started reading it instead.
"Nosy," huffed Aitana. She dumped everything back inside her purse.
"What are these?" Elia tapped a finger on the paper.
"Pet stores," Aitana said, reaching to take the paper but Elia drew it back.
"You're buying a pet? Oh, are you finally buying a kitty!?" Elia exclaimed. Before WPP, Aitana always talked about buying a kitten for a pet.
"No, at least not right now," Aitana shrugged. "Those are locations where I might be able to find my Venus and Mars."
"Venus and Mars?" Elia repeated, unimpressed.
"My missing fish for my tank, remember? Spencer jotted down a couple spots he saw. I was going to go tomorrow."
"That's nice of him," Elia plucked the paper from Aitana. She reread the places. "These are far. How'd he know about them?"
"He passed by them," shrugged Aitana.
Elia snorted. "He just happened to walk by? Well, now I see why you keep red lipstick in your bag." Her smirk was more than unappreciated.
Aitana shifted in her seat, brushing a hand over her hair. "He just happened to see these stores and wrote them down for me. Unlike everyone else, Spencer actually understands my project."
Elia playfully rolled her eyes. "Mhm. Isn't he also the one who convinced you to keep dancing for the competition?"
Aitana regretted her habit of telling Elia everything. "He's very good at talking, alright?"
"Yeah, that's not exactly the vibe I got from him the first time we met," Elia said, thinking back to when Spencer and Emily had shown up at her door with Aitana's journal.
"You just have to get to know him some more," Aitana said plainly. "I've known him for almost a year now. Things change."
Elia was smiling strangely at Aitana. "Yeah, they do."
Aitana snatched the paper out of Elia's hand and stuffed it inside her bag.
"Since we're on the topic of your FBI friends, have you invited them to the competition?" Elia posed a good question that Aitana had not really considered until then.
"No. They don't even know that I'm doing it. Well, Spencer does but I haven't gotten around to the others."
Elia hummed. "Interesting."
Aitana pointed a warning finger at her best friend. "Don't even start."
"For now," Elia winked. Aitana groaned. Elia couldn't help but laugh a bit. "You do have to invite them. They're your friends aren't they?"
"Well, yeah, I just...it's very nerve wrecking knowing that my abuela is coming to see me."
"Then this is exactly why you should invite them — moral support," Elia nodded. She made perfect sense. "Plus, I want to meet these famous profilers of yours. I want to see what they say about me."
"Yeah…" Aitana chewed on her bottom lip, "Is it crazy to say that being in big groups is still nerve wracking sometimes?"
"No, not at all," Elia shook her head. "You're entitled to take it slow, Aitana."
Aitana sighed. "I know, but sometimes it just feels like I should be better already."
"You are," Elia said. "Last year, you wouldn't even talk to me. Progress has been made, I swear."
Aitana half smiled. She could agree with that. "I'll talk to them about it," she resolved. She could already hear Penelope's excited jabbering about the competition.
"Good." Elia picked up the menu in front of her. "Let's order before they call you away again."
Even though she was only half joking, Aitana still made a hasty order. One could never be sure when you worked in the BAU.
~0~
Two weeks later, Aitana was coming out of her dance practice when she got an urgent text from Penelope. They had a case. She didn't think that she had time to go home and change so she made a direct trip to Quantico instead. On her way into the building, she met Spencer.
"Do you know what the case is about?" Aitana asked him on their way to the elevator.
"No, I thought you and Penelope were working on it," Spencer said, pulling his phone out just to double check the text. It had come only from Penelope.
"No, I was at dance practice," Aitana gestured to her current athletic outfit as proof. "I was literally just coming out when I got the text."
"Pretty late for a practice," remarked Spencer. He pressed the elevator button to open its doors.
"They make exceptions for me and my schedule," Aitana hummed. "Our lovely schedule…"
Spencer smiled. "Yeah, I get that."
The two went up to the BAU and exited together. On their way out, they spotted Morgan and JJ in the bullpen.
"Hey, do we know what's going on?" Aitana asked the two.
"Garcia's got a personal case," Morgan said, eyeing Aitana strangely.
Aitana sighed, knowing her appearance wasn't at all professional. "I know, I know. I will get changed as soon as we finish the meeting. I didn't have time."
"Were you out running at this hour?" asked JJ with a spark of bemusement in her eyes.
"God no!" The way Aitana answered so fast had the trio laughing at her. "I do enough running for this job. You really think I'm going to go home and keep running? Yeah right!" The laughing increased. "I was coming out of a dance practice. Something I need to tell you guys about, actually."
"You dance?" Morgan raised an eyebrow at her.
"Traditional Mexican Folklore. I have a competition coming up next month and I was wondering if you guys wanted to come and watch," Aitana said, smiling very awkwardly now that she was exposing a big part of her life.
"Oh right, you said it was on a Saturday?" Spencer knew she had told him the day but not the actual date as the competition was still being finalized.
"You knew about this, Pretty Boy?" Morgan's eyebrows rose even more.
"Yeah, he found me once, a while back," Aitana shrugged, "I think right outside, actually."
Spencer nodded. "Yeah. I needed to talk to her anyway."
"Really? Talking? That's it?" Morgan made no attempt to hide his teasing smirk.
"I-I don't know what's going on anymore…" Aitana said slowly, glancing at Spencer for some help. The latter was glaring at Morgan.
JJ snickered. "I do but it's best not to get into it. We should start heading in – Garcia's pretty upset." She reached for Aitana's hand and pulled her for the steps.
"Not funny," Spencer muttered to Morgan as they followed the women. Morgan thought it was pretty funny.
All jokes ended when the group gathered together in the conference room to discuss the case. One of the people who attended Penelope's support group had gone missing. It was also the anniversary of the woman's daughter's kidnapping.
"So we can safely assume we're dealing with the same unsub," Aitana said right off the bat. It was the only logical conclusion they could draw until evidence showed otherwise.
Penelope didn't want to outright agree but when she mentioned the fact the victim, Monica, had been left a letter allegedly from her daughter, it made more sense.
"The anniversary could have been the trigger," Rossi agreed.
"We can't rule out the possibility that Monica committed suicide," Hotch offered the other possibility even though Penelope refused.
"No. No, Monica would — would never hurt herself," she assured the group, "She—she still thought Hope was alive."
"Is the father in the picture?" asked Emily.
"No, he died in a car accident right before Hope was born."
Spencer had taken the only evidence they had from the abduction – Hope's letter – to scan it. "There's no postmark, which means this letter was obviously hand-delivered."
"You do a full linguistic analysis," Hotch said, "We need to determine authenticity."
JJ leaned closer to Spencer's seat to get a glimpse of the letter. "There's a butterfly drawn next to Hope's name. That has to mean something."
"There was no sign of struggle at the scene," Morgan told the others since he had been the first one Penelope had called. He did a scan of the scene himself.
"Her going willingly wouldn't be such a stretch," Aitana shrugged, "If it was the same unsub, all it would take is for him to tell Monica a couple details of Hope and she'd be more than compliant."
"Still, it's pretty high-risk to abduct in such a high-traffic area," Hotch said, drawing from what Morgan had told him earlier of the scene. "The parking lot was right next to a strip mall."
"Any witnesses?" asked Emily.
"I was the last person that saw her," Penelope said with a sigh.
"Unless we have reason to believe otherwise, we should assume that the same unsub is responsible for both abductions," said Hotch, "So let's get started."
The others agreed and started getting up.
Aitana took that as her chance to hurry to her office for a change of clothes. She already couldn't stand the fact she didn't get to go home for a shower first but at least a change of clothes would help her out a bit, along with some perfume. She pulled on a white button-down shirt and black pants, slipped on a pair of flats, fixed her hair as much as she could and returned to the team ready to work. By the time she rejoined, Emily and Rossi had gone to Monica's home to do another examination while the rest of the team remained back to go over Hope's case.
"So this letter Monica allegedly received from her daughter contains no indication of female authorship," Spencer was telling the others. He had Hope's letter on the screen behind him. "It lacks expression of emotional attachment."
"The unsub wrote it?" Hotch presumed.
"I believe so. The language used is inconsistent with that of a 15-year-old held in captivity for 7 years."
"No way that he forced her to write it then?" Aitana said as she came up behind Penelope's chair.
"I don't think so," Spencer shook his head. "By this point in time, Hope would have Stockholm syndrome and she'd be more than compliant to write a letter. The language doesn't fit."
"Uh, I just got a hit on someone who matches Monica's description at a gas station 17 miles outside of Manassas," Penelope said with an urgent urgent in her tone. She pulled up the security camera she talked about and sure enough they saw Monica conversing with a man in the gas station store.
"Hope's not with him," noted JJ.
"It looks like they're having a conversation," Spencer said a couple seconds later. Monica seemed totally at ease and not at all frightened.
"She's cooperating," JJ realized. "Garcia, can you get any closer?"
Penelope tried with all her might. "No. No, I can't get a good look at him."
"Don't fret, he's doing it on purpose," Aitana said as she moved around Penelope's chair. "Look at the unsub's body language. He's shielding himself from the cameras. He knows where they are and he knows exactly what he's doing."
A couple seconds later in the video, Monica made a hasty retreat out the store.
"She leaves, but the unsub stays?" Even as Spencer asked, the others were still trying to wrap their heads around the phenomenon.
"Because the unsub knows she won't actually go," Aitana said, watching as the unsub left the store a couple minutes later. "He's in control."
Hotch agreed. "He's not worried about her contacting the authorities. Garcia, run the pump receipts against the timeline. Maybe he used a credit card."
Penelope was quick to go through the information. "Pumps one...through 9. Nothing. Who goes to a gas station and doesn't buy anything?"
Spencer moved to the map he'd brought in and checked a couple of the sites between the support group and the station they were in. "There are plenty of service stations between the community center and here, but he drove her clear across town. This place must mean something to the both of them."
"This could be where it all started," theorized Hotch.
When Emily, Morgan and Rossi returned, the group had already gotten a report from the person who lived in Monica's old home. She'd been there with the unsub, in the latter's car, completely fine.
"The old man didn't get much of a description on the unsub or the truck," said JJ as she went over the notes, "He did say Monica had been by a lot recently. Apparently somebody dropped a letter for her a week ago. The owner called her to come pick it up, and ever since then she's been parked outside the house."
"What's this guy doing with her?" Penelope asked with all the indignance of the world. She didn't understand the game here!
"If he's had Hope captive for 7 years, she's completely compliant by now," Spencer said, "He might have abducted Monica as a reward for good behavior."
"Or he could be getting off on the fact that he successfully abducted a mother and a daughter," Rossi suggested, not that it was a better reason.
"Okay," Aitana returned to the group with a file in her hand, "So I went back through the original Hope case and Monica's statement the day of Hope's abduction confirmed that she made a purchase at the same gas station hours before Hope went missing. Coincidence that they happened to go there tonight? I think not."
"He's taking her through all the steps of Hope's abduction," Hotch concluded, "Having both of them could have been his plan all along."
JJ made a face; that wasn't sitting right with her. "So are we saying he's sexually diverse, attracted to children and adults?"
"The unsub stalked Monica, so he knew about the spare key under the mat," said Morgan, "He had complete access. So why wait 7 years to circle back if that's the case?"
"The butterfly could symbolically represent not just transformation but maturation of his erotic ideal," Spencer offered another reason.
"Well, he started with easy targets. Children are much easier to abduct, manipulate, and control," Emily listed the unfortunate many reasons, "Or he could be a preferential offender and a situational child molester, meaning adult women have always been his preference, but given the right circumstances he'd offend against a child."
"Monica's not a preference. She's a specific target," Rossi pointed out. This was the whole reason of the case, after all. "He didn't go after just any woman, he went after Hope's mother."
"Which means that Hope is probably dead and he's taken Monica because she reminds him of Hope," Hotch reached the conclusion first.
Penelope couldn't help the distraught face she made upon hearing that. That was all Monica put her faith in and now it turned out her daughter was actually dead.
~ 0 ~
"So, what's the word, genius?" Morgan approached Spencer near the map board. The latter had been working alone and hard for the past hour or so.
"I may have been able to narrow down the unsub's comfort zone," Spencer proudly said as he turned back to meet Morgan. "The gas station was the third point I needed to complete the geographical profile. Factoring in Monica's abduction site and her apartment, I would assume the unsub lives somewhere within this area." He gestured to the circle he drew on the board.
"That would make it easier for him to learn her routines," said Morgan as he eyed the known streets in the area.
"That zone can't be more than 20 miles," Rossi said as he did the same as Morgan. It was a sliver of hope.
JJ finished up with a call and when she hung up, she informed the group that they had yet to find a witness to their case.
Emily and Aitana joined them a couple minutes later with their own findings.
"You know, it looks like there are 5 different reported incidents that we might be able to attribute to this unsub," Emily announced.
"When was the first case reported?" asked Rossi.
"Six months before Hope's abduction," Aitana raised a finger. "And you'll see why we think it's the same guy."
"A 12-year-old girl in the area reported a man taking pictures of her on her way home from school, and 3 weeks after that, she thought he was peeping into her window," Emily started going over the first case from their file. "And then her house was burglarized, and the only thing that was missing were her clothes."
"Well, if that's him, then there was a clear escalation in his M. O. He was building his confidence to abduct Hope and then 7 years later, Monica," Spencer said.
"Except there's a little blip between that and Hope's case," Aitana said, gesturing for Emily to show them something.
Emily revealed an evidence bag with a small butterfly necklace inside. "It was found on Heather Wilson's bike 2 weeks after Hope disappeared."
Penelope's face jerked up from her laptop she brought over to the bullpen. "That's the girl that Hope was playing with when she was abducted." She jumped from her seat and hurried over to Emily.
"There's a message," Aitana said regretfully. She knew Penelope wouldn't like it.
Penelope took the necklace into her hand and read the engraving on it. "'Without you, she wouldn't have been set free. This is a token of my appreciation'?" She looked up, horrified. "He sent a thank-you card to the girl he didn't abduct?"
~ 0 ~
The only logical step afterwards was to once again speak with Heather Wilson, now a high schooler and very different from her childhood photos. High school Heather was brunette now, not blonde, with dark pink streaks in her hair and heavy black eyeliner. As Aitana and JJ approached the girl just outside the school bus, both agents knew that Heather had never outlived the trauma of losing Hope.
"Heather?" JJ called to the teenager. The brunette looked at the two approaching women. "I'm Agent Jareau. This is Agent Serrano. We're with the FBI. We have some questions about Hope Kingston. Do you remember her?"
Heather almost rolled her eyes. "What do you think?"
Fair point. Aitana decided to skip to the crucial part about their visit. "Heather, we have reason to believe that the same man who took Hope abducted her mother last night."
Heather was already a pale shade but when Aitana mentioned the abduction, she went a deep pale shade. "This can't be happening again."
"Did you and Hope play together often?" asked JJ.
"Every day. She was like a sister."
"You told the police that you saw a man watching you guys play that day—"
"Look, I've been through this a thousand times. I wish I could help you more, I really do, but I gotta get to class now." It was clear Heather was making a run for it and as such, Aitana pulled a card she didn't exactly feel proud of but felt was necessary for the greater good.
"You put streaks in your hair because it's a constant reminder of how much you two looked alike!"
Heather froze in her spot. The two agents could see the girl's shoulders beginning to shake. "You don't know anything about me."
"I'm sorry, I…I noticed that in your pictures," Aitana said. She had to apologize for playing that dirty card. "And I also know that you struggle to let people in because you're afraid of losing them. And that you are constantly asking yourself why he took Hope instead of you?"
Heather was in tears, making Aitana feel not much better about herself. "Are you done?"
"Listen, if there's something that you know, please tell us," JJ spoke up out of sympathy for both Heather and Aitana. Neither seemed very much okay.
The good thing is that Heather turned around again, deciding to answer their questions. "It wasn't the first time I had seen him," she admitted. "It was a week earlier when Hope and I were at the park."
"Did he say anything to you?"
"No."
"Can you tell us about the day Hope was abducted?" Aitana regretted asking, knowing how hard it would be for Heather to do it. She was grateful that Heather still tried.
"Um...we were playing hide-and-go-seek in front of her house. I had just finished counting. And I turned around, and there he was...just standing there smiling at me. He was holding a jar of butterflies. He knew that would get my attention. And that's when he asked if he could play. And I told him he could. I'll never forget that voice."
Aitana didn't have a perfect memory like others but she was sure that what Heather had just told them wasn't in the case file. It meant Heather kept it to herself and had only now admitted to it. "Why didn't you ever tell anyone?"
Heather rubbed an eye to dry it. "Because it was my fault. I'm the one who told him that he could play with us. I overheard my dad saying that someone put a butterfly necklace on my bike. Then he asked if I knew who had put it there. It was my chance to come clean...but I just kept my mouth shut!"
"It's not your fault, Heather," JJ said, reaching a comforting hand on Heather's shoulder. "It was that guy's fault, not yours."
Heather nodded to herself but she was a distraught mess with the resurfaced memories.
~ 0 ~
Before returning to the BAU, Aitana very sheepishly asked JJ if she was willing to make a quick detour to her house.
"Thank you!" Aitana practically ran inside her house to have a five minute shower upstairs.
JJ laughed as she stepped inside afterwards. "Don't worry. I won't touch anything!"
"Feel free to grab food!" Aitana hollered from upstairs.
JJ waited patiently in the living room, distracting herself with the large fish tank Aitana had against a wall. It was always a sight to see the various kinds of fishes swimming inside, especially when she knew each fish represented some ungodly fantasy in Aitana's mind. Her personal favorite was the fish representing Mercury. It was simply beautiful.
Aitana came back downstairs wearing a long sleeve blue shirt, black pants and with wet curly hair dangling over her shoulders. "I really needed that," she said as soon as she spotted JJ. The blonde was looking at the portraits on the fireplace.
JJ smiled at the brunette. "Glad you're better now."
"Yes. I'm not really keen on smelling like sweat," Aitana shuddered. "I like my perfume better. Plus smelling like soap over sweat is good on any day."
JJ laughed. She had to agree there. "I'm sure it'll be worth it when you have your competition. When is it again?"
"Right, it's next month on the 23rd. Eleven a.m. at the park."
"I will jot it down on the calendar," JJ promised, "I'm sure Henry will love the dances."
"It'll be all vibrant colors and full of food," Aitana said, shaking her head to get rid of some droplets. "It's like a mini-festival. Fun for the whole family!"
"Sounds like the perfect place, then. I can't remember the last time Will, Henry and I got to do something as a family. This job doesn't exactly leave a lot of room for planning."
"I know," Aitana sighed. "That's why I was so reluctant to accept the dance proposal in the first place. Elia convinced me; I used to do this way before Witness Protection. But I'm still super nervous about it."
"I bet," JJ said, "I used to do volleyball in high school and no matter how many times I played a game, seeing the crowd always made me nervous."
"My grandmother's flying in from Mexico to come see me dance," Aitana crossed the living room to stand beside JJ. "She used to dance folklore professionally in her day and she was always so happy that one of her granddaughters followed in her footsteps." JJ chuckled. "She was so upset that I stopped dancing — she has no idea about Witness Protection — so now that I started dancing again, she wants to come see me."
"And let me guess, you're even more nervous about that?" JJ only bothered to ask out of sheer politeness. The answer was clear as day on Aitana's face.
"Yes," Aitana let out a heavy breath. "I haven't danced in years. What if I'm terrible?"
"I don't think so," JJ said, "I bet you're a wonderful dancer."
"Spencer said something like that too. He thinks I shouldn't worry too much; that my grandmother just wants to see me."
"Ah," JJ's eyebrows raised significantly as she fought back a smile. "So he knew that too?"
Aitana nodded her head. Her eyes had fallen on a portrait on the mantle to notice the look on JJ's face. "Yeah. I mean, he's probably right but it doesn't take all the nerves away."
"Well," JJ folded her arms over her chest, "Spence does tend to be right most of the time."
Aitana cracked a smile. "I've noticed." She picked up a portrait and turned it over to JJ. "That's my grandmother."
JJ took the portrait into her hands and studied the picture. It was an elderly woman with soft brown eyes, reminiscent of her granddaughter's. She stood beside a slightly younger Aitana and Mateo Serrano. They seemed to be on a ranch judging by the natural scenery behind them.
"I haven't seen her since before Witness," Aitana said, "Safe to say I am nervous from all angles."
"Don't be," JJ said, handing Aitana the portrait back, "Because I can tell from that picture that she loves you so much. She'll be proud of you no matter what."
Aitana shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so." She carefully put the portrait back on its place. "We should get back. I'm sure Penelope's going crazy."
JJ nodded in agreement. "Yeah, let's go."
Aitana moved ahead first and swiped her keys off the foyer table.
"Hey Aitana, I really think you should ease up about your grandmother," JJ said as they headed for the car. "I know it's easier said than done but you're going to be great. And I'm sure that Spencer probably already told you that too."
"You guys are in sync or something," Aitana sarcastically said, even feigning a surprised gap.
"We've known each for more than years now," JJ reminded her. They climbed into the car and grabbed their seatbelts. "Which is why I know that you should listen to him."
"Mm, it's easier said than done, remember?" Aitana's face fell grim for a second. "Lately I've been thinking more about how I act thanks to Witness Protection. Sometimes, I feel like I'm still not all that great. This is actually the first big event I go to after that. It's scary."
JJ could figure as much considering the big event that Aitana had to go through. "It's a normal part of PTSD." She started driving into the road.
"But it's not like the cases that we see or talk about. There's just moments where I have to stop…" Aitana felt like she should just get over it and leave the label for people who actually suffer enormously from it. She had blips, moments — could that be considered PTSD?
"It's part of it," JJ told her, "And big or small, you have every right to process it. It's not something to be ashamed of."
Aitana shrugged meekly. "That's why I kept quiet about the dance too. Sorry about that."
"Don't even worry about it," JJ smiled, "Just know that we're all going to be there, cheering you on."
Aitana had no doubt about that. She would focus on that instead, or at least try to before the competition.
~0~
Aitana and JJ returned to the BAU after the profile had been delivered. The two agents joined their team to continue discussing their next steps. Somehow, Hotch and Rossi came up with the conclusion that maybe their unsub was actually part of Penelope's support group.
"That would just be horrendous," Aitana whispered to Morgan and Emily as they watched JJ take Penelope away to conduct a cognitive session.
"Among everything else about this case?" Morgan raised an eyebrow at her. She deadpanned him but of course he was right.
Half an hour later, JJ and Penelope re-emerged with a clear idea of who the unsub was. Penelope vividly remembered a man in her support group who went after Monica towards the end of the group session.
"So William Rogers joined the support group 2 months ago," JJ told the rest of the group in the conference room. "Garcia's still looking for an address."
"Any priors?" asked Hotch.
JJ nodded. "Yeah. An attempted kidnapping of a 14-year-old. He lured her to a studio with promises of becoming a model. When she got there, he made sexual advances. She got away."
"You know, rethinking the type of offender he was 7 years ago, it's possible the unsub didn't sexually assault Hope initially but waited until she was older," Spencer said after a moment's thought. His theory had the others thinking as well.
"That would explain why he held on to her all this time," Emily said, he'd head bobbing from one side to the other, "In his fantasy, he might envision Hope at a more desirable age."
"What story did he use to get into the support group?" Hotch asked JJ.
"Well, he told them his pregnant wife committed suicide. Apparently they were trying to conceive for over a year."
"And that wasn't just a story," sighed Aitana. No chance of that. "Hope couldn't bear the thought of bringing his child into this world, so she took what little control she did have and ended her life."
"And that was never part of his plan," Rossi said with a shake of his head. "It turned his world upside down. He's not ready to let go of the bond he had with Hope. And now he's trying to get back what was taken from him."
"Wouldn't it just be easier for him to start over again?" JJ said, exasperated with the constant loops.
"Unless Monica could give him what he lost," Morgan said slowly like he was still coming to the conclusion. "...another didn't take Monica to remind him of Hope, he took her to recreate her."
The conclusion also brought the team to another dark matter that meant Monica was in even more danger than they previously thought.
~0~
"Where is Penelope going?" Emily asked Morgan when she and Aitana spotted Penelope heading straight for the elevator. They had just gotten the home addresses of William from Penelope herself.
Morgan seemed tired and it wasn't from the lack of sleep. "I tried telling her 'no'. Either of you want to take a go?"
Emily and Aitana exchanged glances, both silently asking each other who wanted to take a turn.
"I...will go get her a vest," Aitana declared.
Morgan smiled tightly. "Yeah."
The team split into two groups to take each address. Hotch, Emily, Rossi and Aitana's location turned out to be the old address William still used, no doubt for illegal reasons. It all looked perfectly normal for it not to be a hideout. One call to JJ and they found out that the second address was the real home, the one with all of Hope's things, including her own corpse.
Poor Penelope was so out of it when they were able to close the case, and with good reason. Monica had taken the only control she had in the situation and killed Bill with his own gun. It was deemed self control and emotional in the moment, but it didn't take away the fact that Monica would probably not be coming back to the support group.
"She'll just need some time," JJ told Morgan who'd come from a failed attempt of talking to Penelope. The blonde had locked herself in her office.
"I know," Morgan nodded. In truth, it was always what one of them needed after a particularly hard case.
"Why don't we go out for a drink or something?" Emily said on her way up to them. It was like she had been part of the conversation the whole time, reading minds.
"I'm all for it," JJ said, letting out a big breath.
"Me too," Morgan nodded. "Who's going to tell the local hush-hushers over there?"
Both JJ and Emily laughed as Morgan gestured up ahead of them to Aitana and Spencer. It seemed like Aitana was looking at something Spencer held in his hands.
"Yeah, I already went to the first three," Aitana pointed at the three store names Spencer wrote down for her weeks ago. "They didn't have the right one. I'm going to go to the last store tomorrow."
"I have a couple other ideas where you might be able to find them," Spencer said, grabbing his knapsack off his desk. "We can go later this week if you want?"
"Sure!" Aitana exclaimed. They started walking towards the elevator, giving brief waves at the others on their way past them.
"Who's going to tell them?" Morgan made the question as if he was dead serious on the matter, and maybe he was.
JJ half snorted, almost laughing.
"C'mon," Emily patted Morgan's arm, "First round's on me."
That time, JJ did laugh.
A/N:
It's come to my attention (thanks to a commenter) that I uploaded the same chapter lmao so here's the actual update!
As always, I have AO3/Wattpad accounts under "noblecrescent" and a tumblr account under "saiilorstars" if you'd like to follow :)