CHAPTER SEVEN: MEMORIES OF HIGH SCHOOL PAST !

3x16
━━━━━━

    
      CASEY HAD BEEN BACK AT THE BAU, READY FOR ANOTHER CASE DOWN IN A SMALL TEXAS TOWN. Two police officers had been blown up along with a house. That's all Casey knew, really.
      They had been waiting on Reid at the round table since they had gotten the text towards the nighttime. Casey was wide awake since she hadn't gotten any sleep and was drinking caffeinated soda to keep her on track and awake.

Casey looked up at the screen as JJ had showed them what the officer who died shot on a camera before he was killed. Casey looked over as she saw JJ turn her head away from the screen and Casey sees that Reid has arrived and seats himself next to her.

"Sorry, I'm late." He apologizes. "I hope she was worth it." Rossi comments and Casey furrows her brows in a joking manner. "I hope it was a she." Morgan follows. "Oh, I'm sorry. I was at the movies." Reid clears up.

"Oh, really? Why don't you tell us what it was about?" Rossi questions. "I had to leave early, so I can't really--" Reid looks at both Morgan and Rossi and Casey could see that he was lying about seeing the movies. She didn't have to be a profiler to see right through him.

      Hotch interferes, "I know it's late, I know we're tired, but we've got two dead cops." He says, sticking back to the case.

"All right, uh, the resident, Rod Norris, was DOA. They're still trying to ID The remains of the second victim, whom they believe is his sixteen-year-old daughter, Jordan. From the condition of the remains, she would have had to have been inside the house close to the source of the blast." JJ explained.

"Clearly, they used the bombing to set the officers up for an ambush." Emily added. "It's a well-established terrorist tactic. First wave takes out civilians, the second wave takes out first responders." Reid tells.

"The locals are thinking terrorism in West Bune, Texas?" Casey asks. "No offense, but they're not really a target, are they?"

"Not exactly a tier-one target, but DHS did issue a terror alert for the border states yesterday, just due to the timing and nature of the attack." JJ explained to Casey. "I've never heard of this place," Morgan said.
"I mean, the militia, okay, that I could see."Emily shrugs, "Yeah, well, it is close to the border. It could be traffickers sending a message."
"Whoever it is, they gunned down two cops and blew up a teenage girl. Till they're stopped, no one in that town is safe." Rossi stated. "We need to be cautious with the locals. They've lost two of their own, They're anxious, they're scared and they're gonna want revenge." Hotch explained.

"Can you blame 'em?" Rossi asked.

     The team takes the jet down to West Bune, Texas and they arrive at the crime scene, the remains of the blown up home. Casey follows behind the team, her sunglasses on her face to avoid the dust of the dirt getting into her eyes.

    "Sheriff Hallum?" JJ asks, looking towards the sheriff walking towards them. "Ma'am." He greets. "Jennifer Jareau," She introduces herself, shaking the man's hand and looked over at her team. "This is the team. Agents Hotchner, Rossi, Dr. Reid, Prentiss and Morgan. This is our intern, Miss Willows." Casey nods her head towards the man.
"We're really sorry for your loss." The sheriff nods. "Thank you. Where do we start?"

"First victim, Rod Norris." Hotch looked up. "Manager of the chemical plant over at Ibis. No arrests in ten years since his wife left him. I can't blame her for leaving him, but it's a shame she left Jordan behind."
"What can you tell us about Jordan?" Rossi asked. "Sweet girl, a bit slow." The sheriff told.
"Slow?" Emily asked. "She was mentally challenged?"

"Not quite," The sheriff cleared up. "Special Ed and all that stuff. Takes some talking to her to notice it. I think her mother leaving took its toll." He explained.

"Sheriff, I'd like to gather your people back at the office so I can brief them all together." JJ stated and Sheriff Hallum nodded, "Sure. But I'm staying here." JJ nodded back at him. "Of course. Thank you."

    Hotch had split the groups up so that Morgan would go with him and Casey, Reid, Rossi and Prentiss would go over to the destroyed house and examined how the blast killed Rod and his daughter. It had been designed to blast on whoever came through the door and someone had to have known that Rod Norris would be coming through that door and smoking while he did so.

     They had found out that Owen Savage knew both Lou Savage, whom was his father and Rod Norris, who was the father of the girl he was dating. Hotch had Morgan, Casey and Reid join him and Officer Hallum as they go the Savage residence.

    "My deputies didn't find Owen at home." The officer said as he entered the empty home along with the team. "How long did you know Lou Savage?" Hotch asked. "My whole life." Sheriff Hallum stated.
     "And Deputy Savage's wife?" Hotch asked next.
     "Hope?"
     "How did she die?"
     "Drunk driver in '02," Hallum stated. "Lou was in Afghanistan." Casey looked around the home — which didn't feel very homely. "Owen lived with us until he got back."

Reid had said something under his breath that Casey couldn't catch and looked over at the sheriff. "How long was Lou Savage in the marines?" She asleep "Twelve years," Hallum informed. "He was discharged so he could raise Owen."

"Is that why he resented them?" Reid spoke up and Casey looked over at him in confusion and it seemed as if Hallum was, too. "Pardon me?" He asked.
"Uh, did Lou blame his wife and son for ending his career in the marines?" Reid questioned, a little more clearer this time. "Lou was a good man." Hallum defended.
"A good man that doesn't have a single photo of his dead wife or only son anywhere in his entire house." Casey exchanged a look with Morgan. Neither of them had ever seen Reid like this before. Casey had thought that she would be the blunt one in this situation, but surprisingly, she wasn't.

Hotch looked at the man apologetically due to Reid's words. "I know this is hard, and if we had more time we would be more sensitive, but we don't."

The sheriff sighs, "Hope was the drunk driver. I didn't write it up that way, But it didn't matter. Her drinking was no secret in town."

"Where's Owen's room?" Reid asked and Sheriff Hallum pointed him in the direction.

"Here's your gun safe," He said, pointing him over a locked up cabinet. "I don't know the combination." Casey had stayed where she stood as Morgan checked in the next room.

"Start with birthdays-- Lou's, Owen's, Hope's."Morgan had come out of the room, holding up a bag of clothes that looked untouched and as if they came from the dry-cleaners. "Dress blues in plastic. No pics of wife and son."

Hotch turned around and the sheriff had told him he had no luck with unlocking the gun safe. "Try 11-10-75." Hotch stated.

"November 10, 1975? What's that?" Morgan asked.

"1775," Casey corrected. "Marine Corps birthday." She had remembered doing research on that back in college.

Suddenly, the safe had opened and the sheriff looked back at the age. "You might have just sold me on that profiling of yours." He opened the safe and no guns were inside.

"That's bad." The sheriff stated.
"How bad?" Hotch asked.
"Lou was our tactical trainer," He said. "He had a whole collection of automatic weapons and handguns."

"Which he taught Owen to shoot." Hotch told.

Casey knew that this was not good. If Owen had his hands on those guns, there was no way to see how he was gonna turn out — except the hard way and Casey didn't want to see the hard way.

Morgan and Casey decided to go to Owen's room, where Reid was. "Gun safe is empty." Morgan informed. "That's a surprise." Reid said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice and Casey decided to ignore that.

The three had looked over at a picture of a crashed car. Owen's room was dark and eerie, like a typical teenager's would be. "That's James Dean's Porsche. No pictures of James Dean, though. That's a bad sign." Morgan pointed out.

"Especially when your mother died in a car accident," Reid spoke. "Still haven't found the father of the year award." Casey's eyes widen at Reid's sarcasm and she exchanged another look with Morgan. He was definitely irritated. Casey was, too, but she held it in.

"You already check his computer?" Casey asked, changing the subject quickly. "It's password encrypted." Reid told. Casey raised her eyebrows in understanding. "Well, smart move if your dad's a cop."
When Casey was a teenager, she used to hide stuff on the internet from her uncle Gideon, all the time. But since he was so smart, he figured it out most of the time anyways.

"Ah, assuming he cares enough to snoop." Reid comments again and Morgan looked at him and gave him a warning. "Hey, Reid. Check yourself." He told. "That sheriff out there wanted to take your head off. I think Hotch might have let him."

Reid turned around, ignoring what Morgan had just said to him and Morgan looked down at his drawer. "All his clothes are black." Reid opens his closet door. "The same here."
Casey turned around and saw the Johnny Cash poster up on a wall. "Just like his friend Johnny Cash. So. Owen identifies as being a misunderstood loner. Know what that's like." She muttered to herself.

"You know, I wish all our unsubs would just tack their profiles on their walls like this for us." Morgan told. "It doesn't mean anything. What, you grew up in Chicago, a high school jock, you had pictures of Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan all over your walls, trophies everywhere?" Reid assumed.

"Yeah, but you forgot Walter Payton," Morgan continued. "Not to mention the sexy ladies of the Sports Illustrated swim suit issues." Morgan made a movement with his hands and Casey rolled her eyes playfully at the man.

"Smart money says you didn't paint your mirrors black." Reid told and Casey looked over as Reid pointed out that painted-over mirror. "I guess Owen didn't like what he saw." Morgan added.

"Don't try to stop me! I need to get by!" Casey heard from outside and checked the window and said: "Guys." The three walked out of Owen's room and rushed towards the front door where Sheriff Hallum stood in front of a woman, holding her back.

As soon as they had walked out, Hotch informed the three that it had been Officer Letts' wife. "Send them home, you don't need them. You know what to do. You find that little son of a bitch. You find him and do what's right." She told Sheriff Hallum and walked away.

"Why do I get the feeling she's not going to be the only one with that sentiment?" Morgan asked. "Stay here and work the room," Hotch said to Morgan. "Reid, Willows and I are going to go to the high school and talk to Owen's teachers and friends. We need to get a profile and figure out where he's going." Casey followed Hotch and Reid and Sheriff Hallum looked at Hotch and informed them that Owen was heading out of town, they found his car near the interstate right next to victim #5. Surely, this wasn't gonna go well in the end.

     Hotch had gone down to the high school, being Casey and Reid right along with him as they met up with Owen's counselor. As they had headed towards the school, they had received news that Jordan wasn't dead and he body was replaced by various meats, which mean she was alive.

"As Owen's counselor, what can you tell us about Jordan and Owen?" Hotch began as they walked down the halls of the school. "Not much," Mr. Barter, the counselor said. "They started dating last year when Owen moved to Special Ed."
"Junior year-- isn't that a bit late?" Hotch asked as Reid skimmed through Owen's file. "Yes, if he'd been put there for academic reasons." Mr. Barter told. "So what was the problem?" Casey asked.
"Bad attitude, lack of effort. Owen applied himself in some classes. He did very well. But it didn't last." Mr. Barter had led them towards an office as Reid looked down at the file. "The problem wasn't lack of effort or bad attitude," He stated.

"The A's in Math and Science tells he's a gifted student. The D's in English and History, that tells us that he had difficulty reading. And the F in geometry, that indicates a severe problem with spatial relations. That's further confirmed by his atrocious, illegible handwriting." Reid explained, handing the file over to Hotch. "All consistent with a brilliant but severely learning disabled student." Hotch added.

"Yeah, but his standardized tests didn't support that kind of intelligence." Mr. Barter tells. "A spatial relations handicap affects your hand-eye coordination. He couldn't fill in an answer bubble any easier than he could... hit a baseball." Reid thought.
"Which is why he stayed away from sports." Casey added, figuring out herself. "Sports was a sore spot with his father," Mr. Barter added. "I mean, he joined the wrestling team freshman year just to appease his old man, but, uh... that didn't work out."

One of the telephones began to ring and Mr. Barter went to go and pick it up. "He was probably the smartest kid in class. He just couldn't prove it." Reid stated, looking towards his boss in reassurance. "Being the smartest kid in class is like being the only kid in class. He missed all of it." Reid knew from experience and Casey could tell he did.

"But schools like this can't meet the specialized needs of every student." Hotch told. "He gives it everything he's got, over and over and over again and continues to fail. And the whole time — the whole time, they tell him it's his fault. I mean, it makes sense." Reid explained.
"No, it doesn't," Hotch said. "An undiagnosed learning disability does not add up to this level of violence, not without severe emotional abuse. You know that." Casey kept away from the conversation, looking around as if she were interested in doing other things than standing there in that moment in time.

Hotch's cell phone began to ring and he picked it up, knowing it was Morgan and he sent an MPeg over to a computer over a school.

The video consisted of a camera facing towards Owen, only in a towel and practically being humiliated by some students. This definitely brought back memories in high school for Casey, she could barely bring herself to watch the video.

"He didn't know he was being filmed." Reid stated. "Did Owen tell you about this?" Casey questioned, looking over at Mr. Barter. "He didn't have to. It was posted on the school social networking site. We pulled it down immediately." Mr. Barter told.
"Once it's on the internet, it's out there forever. Owen knew that." Reid stated. "Did Owen tell his father about it?" Hotch asked. "Not at first, but when Owen quit the wrestling team, his father confronted him. I mean, he blamed Owen for the whole thing." Casey shook her head at the man's words.

"Owen joined the team to get his father's approval." Reid told. "How were these boys punished?" Hotch asked. "Owen identified them, but on film, all we have is their voices. I mean, even if they'd admitted involvement, all they'd have to do is say Owen didn't have to do it." Casey thought that that was ridiculous and by Reid's next few words, he thought the same thing.

"He didn't know he was being filmed." Reid said and Mr. Barter stood up from his chair. "Look, it's his word against theirs. I mean-- parents will get involved, the school board, lawyers. I mean, cyber-bullying is a hot issue right now. And the whole thing would wind up on 60 Minutes. How's that gonna help Owen?" He explained his excuse.

"What did you tell him?" Casey asked, curiously. "I told him that dealing with bullies is part of growing up." Casey scoffs at his words and Reid raises his eyebrows in annoyance. "Sounds familiar." He says.

"Boys have a way of sorting these things out for themselves." Mr. Barter told.

"Yeah, they sure do," Casey could tell that Reid was beyond annoyed at this point but he needed to stick to his regular antics, not make the situation worse. "Right now, Owen's out there sorting it out with an assault rifle."
"Reid." Casey raised her eyebrows at him, telling him to watch himself but he nodded towards Hotch and Casey, knowing he was in the right and he walked out of the room, tossing Owen's file on the ground.

Hotch picked the file up off of the ground and looked towards Mr. Barter apologetically. "I apologize. It's just, we--we've heard those phrases before when we interview school shooters." He explained and Casey looked over as Emily had walked in.

"Jordan was the motive for Kyle Borden. It was revenge." She told. "I need to speak to the boys who made this video immediately." Hotch told Mr. Barter. "I'll check their class schedules."

Mr. Barter had looked through and he made a face and Casey could tell by his face that something was off. "What is it?" Hotch asked. "None of them show up at school." He stated and that's when the team had left the school and went back to the police department to get more info from Garcia over the phone.

"He deleted everything but the one MPeg. I'm walking Morgan through retrieving what he put in the trash, but--" Garcia was interrupted by Hotch.
"We've got three missing kids, Garcia. We need access to Owen's e-mail." Hotch told.

"The kid is tech savvy, sir. But fret not, I am tech savvier. Is that a word? That sounds like a word. If it is a word, I'm it." Casey had taken notice of Garcia's mug in her hand and knew that the coffee was definitely making her chipper.

"D.C. time, Garcia." Emily stated.
"11:17 am." Penelope said.
"D.C. Decaf." Emily told and Casey smirked at the two and Garcia nodded, hanging up the call.

"Two alienated kids, no maternal presence, dysfunctional relationships with dominating fathers who withheld love. They were made for each other." Rossi stated. "Mm, as lovers, yes, but partners in crime, no." Emily cleared up. "There's nothing in Jordan's profile that indicates she's capable of violence and certainly not murder."

Penelope's face had popped up on screen again and her face looked worried. "A new MPeg just posted to the school social networking site. He... You need to see this."

Her face disappeared and the video was replaced by the three boys that made the video of Owen on their knees in nothing but their underwear, pleading for their lives and Owen's voice chirped behind the camera and they were shot right in front of the camera and Casey looked away as that had occurred.

"Garcia, is there any way to trace the MPeg To the computer that sent it?" Hotch asked. "It was sent from Jordan's PDA, but Owen's hacked the SIM card. He's anonymized it. It stops the phone from transmitting its current position. Hackers do it to stop roaming charges. It's good for one call, and then the carrier turns the service off." Garcia explained.

"So even if it's turned on and he's using it, We can't track it?" Rossi asked. "Bingo." Garcia nodded. "Have the cell company leave the service on In case he sends anything else." Hotch ordered to Garcia. "Yes, sir." She said.

"Let's bring in Sheriff Hallum and see if he recognizes the background." Hotch said. As they went to check out the crime scene, Casey stayed back and Hotch and the team had come back soon, ready to give the profile but frankly, the department just wanted to go after Owen and let it be done. The team refused until giving the profile.

"Once you've heard the profile, you'll understand." JJ told. "We are wasting time. Owen is here and we should be knocking on doors." An officer spoke. "It's not a good idea." Hotch stated. "And why is that?"

"Because Owen's watching. He's monitoring the news. Right now, he thinks you think he's gone. He feels safe. If we start knocking on doors, he's gonna know that he's not. He's gonna feel trapped." Hotch explained to them.
"Why the hell should we care about this little bastard's feelings?" The officer questioned. "All right, we're here to help you bring in Owen Savage with minimum loss of life. The profile tells you the best way to do that." JJ said, sternness filling in her voice.

"Owen Savage fits the profile of a type of school shooter known as an injustice collector. He's trying to avenge perceived wrongs." Reid explained.

"If he's a school shooter, why hasn't he hit the school yet?" Another officer asked. "Jordan," Emily spoke up. "Most of these guys are so angry and hopeless, they just want to kill as many people as possible and commit suicide. But Jordan gives him a reason to live."

"Otherwise he's a textbook case," Reid told. "His life was one torment after another. His teachers gave up on him, his classmates bullied him and his father blamed him while giving him access to guns. Given these conditions, you're actually quite fortunate." Casey looked at Reid and sighed, knowing he was doing it again — making it bad for himself and sounding like he was blaming the cops. Hotch makes a face, seeing the same thing Casey was with him.

"It sounds like you're saying these victims deserved this."
"We're not," Casey spoke. "Nobody deserves this."
"But you could have prevented it." Reid added on and Casey looked his way. "Reid." She was getting agitated that he should've been taking it professionally and he wasn't.

"Reid, can I talk to you?" Hotch spoke and the two went into another room and Casey knew that Hotch would try and straighten him out and she knew that Reid knew that, as well.

Emily looked over at Casey and the rest of the team. "What is up with him today?" She questioned. "I don't... know." Casey shook her head and the sheriff split the groups up, telling them to come back afterwards.

It had been at least three minutes and Reid had stormed out of the department, Casey watched as she stood next to JJ. "He was out of line, and I'm sorry." JJ apologized to the officer in front of her.

Hotch had come up behind Casey and JJ. "Willows, I would like you to go with Reid down to the Savages' home with Morgan. They'll need a fresh set of eyes." Hotch told.
Casey just saw Reid storm out the door. She didn't want to be stuck in a car with him if she had to be with his attitudes and mood swings going through the roof right now.

"Wait, but..." Casey saw as Hotch gave her a stern look and she sighs, giving in. "I'll go." She grabbed her bag and rushed out of the door and she hoped she go out in time to catch up to Reid and thankfully, she did.

Casey had made it out to the parking lot and rushed towards the vehicle Reid was about to get in. "Reid!" She called, jogging towards him. Reid squinted his eyes towards her. "What?" He asked. "I'm coming with." Casey told.
"What, did Hotch tell you to come with me?" Reid said, his snarkiness sparking through at the moment. "Yeah, actually, he did. He thinks you and Morgan may need a fresh pair of eyes." Casey stated.

"Just go back in," Reid told, getting in the vehicle. "Morgan and I can take care of it." Before he could put the keys in ignition, Casey had slyly gripped on his keys and slipped them in her hand. "Hey, what are you—" Reid had butterfingers and sighed as Casey had successfully taken the keys away from him.

"Look, I've dealt with worse attitudes at a public high school, you're not the first one I've encountered. And I know I'm just a stupid intern that you don't want to take care of, but at least pretend you care, because — no offense, but you're kind of being an ass, right now." Casey looked at Reid. "Now, get out, I'm driving." Her words had dumbfounded Reid and he began to stammer, trying to get words out but it was no use.

He simply sighed and got of the car and Casey drove them down to the Savages' house — meeting up with Morgan.

Casey had looked through Owen's room as Reid had scanned through Owen's computer. Morgan had been in the other room, looking through things in the home to be sure they didn't miss anything. Casey looked over at Reid and sighs — "Garcia restored those e-mails."

"Yeah, I'm sorting through them right now." Reid told and Casey exhales again and realized that maybe she was a little harsh at Reid before. She knows that in some way, he sees himself in Owen.

Casey sits at the edge of the bed and calls, "Reid." He turns around, looking at the girl. "You know, you're not the only one who identifies with him." In some ways, Casey saw herself in Owen, as well.
Reid turns his body towards Casey, his eyebrows furrowed and wondering how the hell she could possibly understand. "Believe it or not, I got picked on. A lot. Especially in middle school and freshmen year — those years were... absolute hell." She said.

Casey looked down at her hands, fiddling with them. "I remember one time in freshmen year. It was after gym class. I had just finished my shower and I went back to go and get my clothes — I was only in a towel and these seniors took my clothes and made me roam around the school halls as they antagonized me." That memory had been scorched in her brain because it was one of her first high school memories she even remembered having.

Reid had definitely underestimated the girl, but he felt some sort of understanding to her now. He saw her in a different light. She wasn't different or special, she was just like everyone else.

"And the worst part of it? Those girls never got in trouble. It was about survival, at that point." Casey told and nodded towards Reid, telling him to share his war story — that was, if he wanted to and he decided to share it.

Reid cleared his throat. "I was in the library, and, uh... Harper Hillman comes up to me and she tells me that Alexa Lisben wants to meet me behind the field house. Alexa Lisben's, like... easily the prettiest girl in school." He began to explain.

"So what happened? Was she not there?" Casey asked.

"She was there," Reid told. "So was the entire football team." Casey looked down, not knowing where this was going next. "They...uh... stripped me naked and tied me to a goal post. So many kids were there, you know, just watching."

Casey shook her head and she tried not to show her guilty face but it couldn't help but come out. "Oh, Reid." She said. "Nobody tried to stop them?"

Tears formed in Reid's eyes as he continued. "I begged-- I begged them to, but they just-- they just watched. And finally, they got bored, and they left.
It was, like, midnight when I finally got home. And my mom didn't... Mom was having one of her episodes, so she didn't even realize I was late."

"You never told her what happened?"

"I never told anybody," Casey wondered why Reid had trusted her with this story if he had never told anyone about it before. "I thought... it was one of those things that I thought If I didn't talk about it, I'd just forget. But I remember it like it was yesterday."

There had been times that Casey wished she could have an eidetic memory like Reid. She could remember special memories and remember almost everything that occurred in her life — this was not one of those times. She couldn't bare to live with something like that in her head and for it to replay over and over and over again like a broken machine.

"You don't need an eidetic memory for that." Casey stated. "You know, we forget half of what they teach us in school, but when it comes to the torment and the people who inflicted it... we've all got an elephant's memory." She told.

Reid leans forwards and inhaled. "Owen just wants to forget, And I know what that's like." Casey swallows a lump in her throat. "Well, it sucks that we didn't go to the same school. Because I would've totally kicked the whole entire football team's asses for doing that to you. And those Alexa Lisben and Harper Hillman bitches. You didn't deserve that." She tells, assuringly to Reid and Reid gives the girl a tight-lipped smile in return.

    Casey had gone right back to the case. "You know, he's been making a big deal out of saying good-bye to Jordan In all of his e-mails. None of it's shorthand." She told.
    Reid had begun to think. "He never got a chance to say good-bye to his mother. Abandonment is his biggest fear. That's why he chose Jordan. He thinks she'll never leave."

━━━━━━

    The team knew that they had to save Jordan and get her away from Owen. They didn't know how they were gonna do it since the only person she trusts is Owen, but Emily had figured out her best friend was someone she trusted other than Owen.

    Jordan's best friend was hesitant, but she had gone through with it anyways. As she walked out of the room, along with JJ, Hotch, Reid and Casey entered the room.

    Casey sat next to Reid, looking over the previous message and Hotch ordered for Reid to send the news coverage and the pictures and that Owen was lying.

    Jordan responded back in all caps — IT'S A LIE. YOU ARE LIARS.

   "Send the MPeg," Hotch orders and Reid is hesitant for a moment but Hotch encouraged him to do so, practically ordering him and Reid sighed, scrapping it out of his pocket.

    "Tell her, when the police come for you, Owen will kill you and kill himself." Emily told as Reid had sent over the MPeg and began to type on the keyboard.

     Jordan responded back with — You lie. Owen loves me. She had logged off right afterwards.

    "She's gone." Reid asked.
    "Now what?" Casey asked.
    "We've planted the seed. Now we wait." Hotch told and in a minute flat, she had logged back on.

    "She's back." Reid announced.

     Jordan said — You were right. What do I do?

     "Ask her where she is."

     Reid typed on the keyboard and Jordan responded again.

     If I tell you, you will hurt him.

    "She's not gonna give it up." Reid said. "Ask her if she can get away?" Hotch asks and she typed back. I can try.

     Jordan had logged back off and had come back.

     You turned her against me.

    "It's not Jordan." Reid stated the obvious.

     Casey shook her head. "Somebody please tell me we didn't just get Jordan killed." She looked over at Reid and then at Hotch and looked at the floor in guilt.

    Casey had been back at the department and standing with Emily and JJ with a coffee in her hand. The three women stood in silence. "It was the right thing to do." JJ convinced Emily and she nodded, "I know. I just-- I really thought we could save her."

   Casey looked up and the doors had opened and Casey stopped leaning against the wall and her eyes widen. "Guys." She spoke. "We had no choice." Emily said, looking towards Casey. "Guys." Casey said, more sternly and they turn around in confusion and Jordan had appeared in front of them, tears steaming down her face.

    They had taken the girl into a secluded room and looked as she began to speak. "I got to the car while Owen was... digging. And he didn't see me until he heard me start the truck. He tried to stop me, but I kept driving." She told.

   "We need to know where he is." Emily tells.

    Jordan shook her head and tears streamed down her cheeks. "You're gonna hurt him." She said.

   "We don't want to hurt Owen, but we think he might hurt himself or someone else if we don't get to him really soon." Casey told and sat next to the girl. "I promise you, we won't hurt him." It was idiotic to make promises you can't keep but Casey knew that.

   Jordan exhales and gave in. "He's at Stratman's Ranch." Emily went to go and tell the others and Casey nodded at the girl. "Thank you, Jordan."

   Hotch, Rossi, Morgan and Reid had gone down to the ranch and had found nothing — but Reid had been the only one to come back.

    Casey stood in front of the board as Reid approached behind her, taking the picture of Hope with her necklace off of it. "They think he's going to his mother's grave." He said. "Isn't he?" Casey asked as Reid spun past and he went to talk to Jordan. "He was gone when we got to the ranch. I want to save his life, but I need to ask you a question. This necklace-- he gave it to you?" He questioned.

    "Uh... I left it at the ranch." Jordan told and Reid walked out of the room saying: "He's coming here."
Casey followed after him as Emily told JJ to call Hotch.

    Reid has rushed out of the department and Casey followed and looked around outside. "What makes you think he'll come here?" She asked. "It's what I would do." Reid stated.

   "Willows," Reid began and Casey saw that Owen was coming around the corner, armed and Reid grabbed his gun out of his holster, handing it to Casey. "Cover me." He told and Casey's eyes widen. She was pretty sure he had to have his gun on him at all times, especially if this was an emergency.

    "Whoa--what--Reid! I can't—"
    Reid looked at Casey and pointed at her. "Do not shoot." He told. "Reid!" She called and Reid walked ahead into the street, towards Owen. Emily had rushed out, seeing Owen armed and drew her gun out next.

     "Owen, I don't have a gun." He held his arms up in surrender. "My name is Spencer, I'm with the FBI, and I'm here to help you."

    "Yeah? I need you to stay back!" Owen yelled, holding his weapon towards him. Casey held up Reid's gun since she wasn't thinking and didn't bring her gun with her outside.
     Hotch and the others had shown up just in time. Reid turned around to see the team had made it but he turned back to Owen almost immediately.

    "I know the only reason you joined the team was for your father. I know that he blamed you for what happened."

    "Stay back! Right where you are!" Owen yelled.

    The team had been pointing their weapons towards Owen.

     "I also know the only reason You killed Rod Norris and Kyle Borden was to protect Jordan. I know the harder you tried, the worse it got, and it felt like everybody just stood there watching you suffer, And not a single person even tried to help."

    "They didn't." Owen shook his head.

    "I know you want to escape... And forget. Believe me when I say I know--I know exactly how that feels. But you know what? You don't have to die."

    "No. No, I'm already dead."

    "No. No, you're not dead," Reid told. "If you die, you're gonna leave Jordan just like your mother left you. I know you don't want that. Do you?"

    The look on Owen's face was as if he were terrified of his life ending at any second. "Okay, you bring her to me, all right? You bring her outside." He demanded.

"I can't bring her outside, Owen, but if you put the gun down, I swear to god, I'll take you to her. I promise nobody will hurt you. You'll say good-bye to her and you'll give her the necklace. All right? So what do you say?"

    Casey watched as Reid was putting himself in danger and didn't know what Owen was gonna do. He could easily shoot him right now, all she could have to do is squeeze the trigger and she prayed she wouldn't have to do that because she definitely wasn't ready for it yet.

    Owen looked around and decided to give in, putting his gun down on the ground and Morgan and Hotch moved towards them. Reid had taken a breath of relief as Morgan put him in handcuffs. Casey put the gun down and looked towards Emily and sighed in relief, as well.

     Reid had brought Owen in and he had given the necklace to Jordan and he was put in jail afterwards. If Casey were being honest, if she were in Owen's shoes, she would've run off. When she was a teenager, she would've done that. The case was now behind them and they had taken another win.

        As soon as Casey got on the jet, she took this opportunity to get some paperwork done for training. She'd overheard Hotch's lecture to Reid about his decision he made with Owen.

         After the fact, Reid stood up and walked towards the seat in front of Casey. "Hey." He spoke as he sat down. Casey didn't even bother to look up at him. "Don't talk to me. I'm mad at you right now." She stated.

         Reid furrowed his brows in confusion. "Why are you mad at me?" He wondered.

          Casey looked at Reid in disbelief and put her pen down as she looked at the man. "You gave me your gun, Reid. You could've died right there, you know that. And I'm gonna save the lecture because you already went through it with Hotch, but what you did was dumb. And I'm aware that that was harsh but you kinda deserve a little harsh right now."

          Reid looks down in understanding and Casey sighs, taking a breather. "I'm sorry but..." She takes her pen and fiddles with it as she speaks in a quiet, softer tone next. "I just don't wanna see you die in front of me like that. Been around that too much recently." It was so quiet, Reid almost missed it.

          "You sound like you care." Reid stated, sounding like he was in disbelief himself. "Because I do care, Reid. You're my friend." Casey said.

          "We're friends?" Reid asked, kind of shocked to hear it come out of Casey's mouth. The woman in front of him shrugged, "I mean, I would like to think so. I mean, after all we've been through and seen, I think we are, don't you?"

          Reid thinks to himself before he nods, "Uh, yeah." He pauses, realizing it sounded kinda rude when he asked if they were friends. "I didn't mean it in that way. I just meant that... no one's referred to me as their friend before." He admitted. Casey winks at him. "Well, get used to it."

            Reid throws Casey a small smile and she heads back to her paperwork. As she begins writing with her pen, she notices a small medallion in his hand. "What's that in your hand?" She asks, curiously.

           "It's a one year chip." Reid stated and Casey's eyes widen. "You're a year?" She asks quietly, knowing he didn't want the rest of the team to make a big fuss about it. "Ten months, actually," Reid says proudly. "The—" He pauses and then says something else. "Someone gave me their—"

            Casey nods, understanding what he's saying. "Either way, it's good. I'm proud of you." She tells and Reid smiles a little dumbfounded, he couldn't remember the last someone told him they were proud of him. "Th-Thanks." He tells and Casey smiles at him before returning to her paperwork.

hey, lovelies!
this was seriously super long but it's whatever lmaooo
at least reid and casey are getting along! and they had a bonding moment or whateva 🤪
next episode is going to be an original i pieced together and trust me — it's gonna be suspenseful and I MEAN suspenseful!!
the next chapter is called: assassination nation
see y'all soon!
i love you all!
-mya <3