CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN: TROUBLED TWOS !

━━━━━━

      ANOTHER NORMAL WORKDAY FOR THE TEAM PER USUAL. Casey had been filling out some paperwork and seemed to be preoccupied with herself, as was some of the team. She bit her pen, wondering what else she could add to the rest of the paperwork from the previous case. She pulled a strand of hair behind her ear and sighed, her hand getting tired from all of the writing she had been doing.

       From a distance, someone was gawking at her. And that person was Reid. Of course, Reid couldn't help but stare at her. Something about her made him stare. He couldn't put his finger on what he was feeling for her now. Usually, he knew what to do but when Casey was around, he just went dumb. His feelings confused him. What was he feeling and what made him feel so dumbfounded about her? He wasn't even focusing on the paperwork in front of him, he was too busy staring at her, his paper was blank.

        Someone else had taken notice of this and Morgan put two and two together and realized Reid was staring at Casey. He nudged Emily and simply pointed at Reid and then Casey. They both smirked as they walked over to his desk. "You know, you make it obvious if you keep staring at her, kid." Morgan comments, making Reid sit up straight and clear his throat and pretend he was focusing on his work.

"I'm not staring." Reid told, looking down at his work.
Emily and Morgan exchange a look. "Mm, yes, you are." Emily chuckled. Before anything could continue, the team watched as Hotch and Garcia walked in a line to the round table room. "We've got another case." Hotch told.

Casey looked up and followed the rest of the team upstairs. Garcia walked the team through the case as they stood around surrounding the table. "You guys are going to good ol' San Fran." Garcia introduced. "Married couple, Henry and Kim Seymour were both found dead in their vehicle. Kim's throat was slit and Henry was stabbed to death. A lot of overkill was found on the wife."

"Slit her throat, stabbed her thirty-seven times and..." Emily paused as Casey decided to finish what she was reading. "She was sexually violated with a knife."
Rossi looks over the case himself and comments: "Sounds pleasant."

"They were last seen exiting the Marriage Counseling Center in San Francisco." Garcia informed. "Wasn't there another couple earlier this week that also counseled there but were also found dead in their vehicle?" Emily asked.
"Yeah, the overkill was also on the wife, there, as well." Rossi told.

"We may have already found this unsub, as well." Hotch grabbed the remote from Garcia and had the team look at the screen once more. "Dr. Edgar Estelle."

JJ looked down as she read over the file of Edgar Estelle that Hotch left. "Counseling license, marriage license, happy-go-lucky man. Are we sure it's him?" She asked.

"All of our victims were last seen with him before exiting the building. They all had appointments with him shortly before they were killed." Reid read out on the file, sneaking in a glimpse of Casey at end but she hadn't been paying attention.

"We'll debrief on the jet. Wheels up in 30." Hotch ordered and the team headed onto the jet.

Casey sat on the jet in one of the seats and Rossi and JJ sat in front of her. "Dr. Edgar Estelle," Casey closed the file in front of her. "Where have I heard that name before?" She questioned. Reid joined the spot next to her, bringing her a cup of coffee.

"He wrote two books about marriage counseling — Troubled Twos — and how he coped with his own divorce and marriage. He was with his wife for twenty years before they filed for divorce." Reid explained.

"Let me guess, she cheated." Casey guessed. "He never went into detail about the divorce, it's unclear if she did." Reid told.

"It would explain the overkill on the wives. He could still be angry at her." Morgan thinks. "Could we talk to her? Maybe she could confirm his behavior for us." JJ suggests.

"We could, but she dropped off the face of the earth five years ago after the divorce," Garcia told. "She signed the papers, changed her name and moved far away from the city."

"As if that weren't already suspicious enough." Rossi told. "And we're sure he committed these crimes?" Casey asked. "His alibi is the only one that doesn't fit, according to the PD. He knows we're onto him, though. He's been hiding his face." Hotch explained. "Again, already suspicious enough." Rossi told.

"Morgan, go down to the latest crime scene, try and get a feel for the scene. Rossi, Emily, get info about Estelle's wife and go and talk to her. The rest of us will go down to the PD." Hotch ordered the team.

So, the team waits for the jet ride to be over and Reid stares in Casey's direction again, causing Rossi to notice and Reid looks away like he's doing nothing but he was too late — Rossi already saw him and smirked.

        Not even a day had passed and two other victims were found. Reid and Casey were finishing up the board of the victims and their potential unsub when Emily and Rossi walked into the room.

       "We spoke to Edgar Estelle's wife, she left him because there were multiple instances where he tried to kill her in her sleep, mostly he would try to slit her throat and once sexually violated her with a knife." Emily explained.

       "Just like Kim Seymour." JJ says. "And when she found out, she couldn't have any kids that was the last straw and she left." Rossi explained.

        Suddenly, Hotch and the lead detective walked into the office room. "So, our suspicions were confirmed. Edgar Estelle is our unsub. We spoke with him and he seemed fidgety, his alibi didn't quite fit and he gave away a hiding spot to one of his previous victims." "We got the son of a bitch." The detective told.

        "We can't exactly go in there, though," Morgan spoke.
"If he knows we're onto him, he has an escape plan. We gotta blind-side him so he confirms what he did without him suspecting it's us."

         "But how?" Reid asked, both him and Casey turning over to their boss. Hotch took a look at the youngest members of the team and then at the pictures of the victims and got a sudden idea.

          "Willows, Reid, come with me, please."

         The rest of the team looks at the two in confusion and both Casey and Reid exchange a look before following their boss — wondering what he wanted with the both of them.

━━━━━━

         "What?" Both Reid and Casey nearly exclaimed as they stood in front of their boss in shock for what he ordered them to do.

          "You and Reid will be acting as a married couple." Hotch repeated himself and both Casey and Reid exchange an awkward look to one another. "Reid and I? No offense, but you're gonna patch me up with Reid?" Casey questioned. She had no problem being paired up with him, it's just the last time they went undercover, Casey was compromised. She didn't want it happening again. Reid looks over at Hotch. "Why?" He asked.

          "You're already friends and closer than anybody else here. Your relationship would be the most believable. All you need to do is go in as a married couple with marital problems." Hotch explained. "This could be the only way we can catch Estelle. I trust both of you will make the right decision."

            Casey and Reid kept looking at one another in shock, awkwardness and unsureness. They didn't know if they would be making the right decision, let alone if the other person wanted this as well. But they knew, they had to put their personal feelings aside for the sake of other people's lives. They knew they had to do this. So, it was gonna be an awkward evening for them both since they had to piece all of their information together and pretend they had been married for a while.

         The rest of the team decided to help the two with their backstory. Reid sat down and pulled out a notepad in front of him, acting like a mess as he fiddled with the pen in his hand. "Okay. Let's start with basics. How did you two meet?" Emily asked, trying to get them to answer simple questions — putting them to the test.

       "We met on an online-dating app," Casey told. "We weren't crazy about one another at first but by our second date, we knew it was meant to be."

        "How long have you guys been together?" JJ asked.
"Hm..." Casey began to think. "Let's say... five years?" Reid suggested and Casey shrugged, going along with it.

        "Okay," Casey started. "Before we met, I was a bartender in Wisconsin. Spencer was an accountant downtown just a city down from the bar." Reid nodded along, going along with whatever Casey was saying.

        "We started getting into arguments because..." Reid started and Casey snapped her fingers and pointed at Reid.
"I cheated on you." The team looked at Casey and Casey shrugged, "I mean, this guy... he goes after the women who've had infidelities, right? All the more reason."

         "We tried to work through it..." Reid started.
         "And it hasn't worked out since." Casey told.
         "So we tried out therapy..." Reid said.
         "In hopes to fix our marriage." Casey finished again.
"We are good at this." She smirked.

         "No wonder Hotch patched you guys up together." Morgan smirked at the two and both Casey and Reid smiled at how much they were getting done.

          Since the two were quick studies, they had figured everything out with the roles they were playing ... building their lives up one by one, just under a day and a half.

          "Okay, we set everything up. Now all that's left is the appointment." Both Reid and Casey looked at one another, happy that they both figured out the roles they needed to prove they were.

         "I'm Chip McCormack." Reid started.
         "And I'm Nancy McCormack." Casey finished.
         The two high-five.

━━━━━━

Casey and Reid had headed into the building and sat in the waiting room, waiting to be called in. "Reid, Willows, squish together. Act more like a couple." Morgan ordered into their earpieces. The rest of the team had been on a stakeout right across the street as the two went into the building.

Both Casey and Reid give each other a look. "Are you kidding me?" Casey asked. "Do you wanna catch this guy or not?" Morgan asked. He knew what he was doing.

"We're supposed to act like we're having troubles, here. I don't see how this is gonna help." Casey told. "Well, at least act like you guys are a couple and not awkward around one another."

Casey looked over at Reid and moved a bit close — not too much — and hesitantly grabbed his hand and looked away as he did so. Reid felt something inside his stomach as she grabbed onto his hand. Something he couldn't explain. Butterflies. Although, you actually can't swallow butterflies so he assume his insides were twisting up.

Soon enough, they were called in by Dr. Estelle and into his office. They hid their fear deep inside — hoping Estelle wouldn't catch it. "Hello, Dr. Estelle." Reid greeted as he shook the man's hand.

"Mr. and Mrs. McCormack." Dr. Estelle shook Casey's hand next. "Come right in." The two decided to sit apart — acting as if they had their troubles and weren't sitting close. The goal was to make Casey look like the bad guy here.

Estelle sat in front of them, looking at each of them. "How are you two doing today?" He asked, pouring the two glasses of water in front of them. "Uh, well, thank you." Reid told and he looked over at Casey, playing her role. "Hmm." Casey replied.

       Estelle leans back in his seat. "What brings you two here today?" He grabs a clipboard.

       Reid looked over at Casey. "Uh, h-honey, do you want to... explain?" He asked. "You can, since I'm basically the reason we're here." Casey responded with. Reid looked at Estelle. "We're working through things in our... marriage."

       "You can say it, you know." Casey told and she looked at Reid and then at the man in front of her. "I cheated on him. And he happens to think that getting couples' therapy will help us. And I'm willing to try it out."

        Estelle gave the girl a judgmental look. "Very well. Let's start with basics. How did you two meet?"

       "On an online dating app. We weren't so crazy about one another at first but by the second date, we knew it was meant to be." Reid recited, looking Casey's way, who nodded along with what he was saying.

       After going through the questions the man was asking, their answers seemed perfectly aligned and exact. They had to lay off from being too perfect sometimes since Estelle started to get suspicious towards the two.

      "What led you to cheat, Nancy?" Dr. Estelle asked. Casey looked Reid's way before responding with: "He loves his job more than he loves me." 

      "That's not true!" Reid defends. "Oh, no?" Casey questions, raising her eyebrows. "How many nights, Chip?
How many nights did I have to wait for you to come home only for you to kiss me goodnight and go to sleep?" Reid looked Casey's way and started to argue back with her. "It doesn't give you an excuse to sleep with the first guy you see when you walk into a bar."

       "It sure does," Casey told. "God, you're useless!"

      That comment seemed to set Estelle off inside. "Why don't we just take a breather for a minute?" He asks and Casey grabs her glass of water and sips from the glass as Reid does the same thing.

      "Nancy, when you met Chip... what was the first thing you noticed about him?" Dr. Estelle asked.

      Casey looked over at Reid and tried to list off the first few things in her head she liked about him. "His awkwardness, his smile. The way he just... cared. It's why I..." Casey paused. "...Fell in love with him." She cleared her throat as she did so.

      "Then, why did you cheat on him?" Dr. Estelle put his clipboard down.

      "I just..." Casey coughed and cleared her throat once more. "I don't... I don't know..." Reid looked Casey's way. "Nancy?" He coughed a little. "You okay?" Casey nodded in Reid's direction.

       "Why did you cheat on him, Nancy?" Estelle questioned.

       "I just... went over this. Is it..." Casey cleared her throat, realizing that her vision was blurring and that her palms felt clammy. "Is it hot in here?" She pulled her collar a bit. Reid coughed a bit beside her. He looked sweaty.

        Casey stood up and stumbled towards the door and realized it had been locked from the inside. She tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge.

       "Feels perfectly fine to me." Estelle removed the glasses from his face. "Let me ask you two this: Agent Casey Willows and Dr. Spencer Reid... how did you two think you were going to stop me?"

         Casey fell to the ground as she muttered into her mic, she knew Morgan and the rest of the team was listening. "H-Hotch. Hotch." Afterwards, Casey had completely lost consciousness.

━━━━━━

        The next thing Casey knew, she was in the back of an ambulance, having puked the results of her water mixed with pasta she ate prior. Hotch stayed with the girl as she sat, drinking water and holding an ice pack to her head. "I swear to God, I'm fine." She assured.

       "Casey, you were drugged." Hotch told, trying to make her understand that she wasn't fine. Morgan walked up to the two. "We caught him. You're okay now." He assures.

        "Where's... Where's Reid?" Casey tried to stand but not even Hotch or Morgan would let her stand. "I should talk to Reid. I need to know if he's okay."

        "He's getting treated just like you are." Hotch told the girl. "Stay hydrated, don't go anywhere." Morgan practically ordered as he walked away.

         Casey scoffs a bit. "Can't really go anywhere if I wanted to with Hotch watching me like a hawk." That much was right since Hotch was standing there, gawking at Casey as a hawk.

         Meanwhile, Reid was in a different ambulance and was drinking water as well and holding an ice pack to his head. He was on the same boat as Casey. He puked up the water as well. But he refused to sit down until he found out about Casey behind okay.

        "Where's Casey? Is she okay? She's not hurt, is she?" He bombarded Morgan with questions as he walked up. JJ had been watching over Reid like Hotch was doing with Casey and she looked over at Morgan.

        "Calm down, Pretty Boy, she's okay," Morgan answers and Reid sighs in relief. "She was just asking about you... making sure you were okay."

        Reid looked at Morgan. "Will you let her know I am?" Morgan and JJ exchange a look next. "Yeah, I will." Morgan nods and heads back over to Casey. Reid sat down and JJ carefully looked at her friend in concern. He looked back at Morgan, who walked over back to Casey's ambulance. 

       "Spence, what's really going on here?" JJ questioned Reid and he looked up at her, confused. "What do you mean?" He furrowed his brows as he asked.

       "Casey," JJ said, as if it were the most obvious thing ever. "You keep staring at her, you keep asking about her." She paused before asking her next question. "Do you like her?"

        Reid scoffed, "No, I— no. That's ridiculous." He chuckled to himself but JJ read right through Spencer like a book. She knew that Reid at least had some sort of feelings for Casey.

       "Spencer, she has a boyfriend. And she's happy with him. You can't just ruin it, you know that." JJ reminded the man, making him realize he couldn't like her like that. He couldn't — not while she was in a relationship. And yet that annoyed Reid. He had had... some type of feelings for her... but that stupid Sawyer Gunthey was in the way. How could Sawyer not understand that Casey was... pause. Reid couldn't actually be gaining feelings for Casey. Did he like her? Did he have a schoolboy crush on her? No. No, he didn't.

       "Well, I don't like her, so it's fine." With that, Reid stood up and walked away from JJ.

this sucked😀
anywaysss couple of days until criminal minds gets taken off of netflix yay😁
another original will be coming up next and this one will actually be good👍  and put y'all's seatbelts on for this one because ✨drama✨
anywayssss
not reid gaining feelings for casey while she has a bf so original of me lol
-mya <3333