CHAPTER EIGHTY-SEVEN: BOMBSHELL !

7x24

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SPENCER REID HAD NEVER BEEN MORE ANXIOUS IN HIS LIFE. Maybe a couple of times in his life but not ever so recently. After figuring out that there were gas mains in the building that blew up, he thought about Casey and Emily and how they both went in as soon as he made his discovery. He began to question himself. He should've found it a minute earlier. He could've.

      Reid stood over Kevin's shoulder, trying to get a hold of the team. And Kevin was getting just as anxious as him. Maybe even more so. "I can't get through. Even the SAT phone's got a busy signal."

Reid's heart began to race even more as the news played in front of him. Casey was in that building, if something happened to her, he would never forgive himself for figure it out sooner. Casey. She was all he could think about and maybe it wasn't the right time to think about her but he truly did care about her. He needed to get down there to make sure she was okay.

"What do we do? What are we supposed to do?" Kevin questioned and that was when Reid decided: "We gotta get over there." With that, Reid left and Kevin followed behind.

Casey coughed aloud and tried to see through the smoke. The explosion, thankfully, didn't kill her but it most certainly knocked the wind out of her. She found her gun beside her and she slowly stood up and squinted through the smoke. "Emily?" She called out.

She coughed once more and put her arm in front of her face. "Emily?" Casey tried again and was beginning to see clearly again. "Over here!" She heard Emily's voice and took a breath of relief as she heard her voice.

Casey followed Emily's voice and reunited and together found an elderly couple together. The woman was alive and the man was knocked unconscious.

Soon enough, Casey was in relief once she heard Morgan's voice, calling for her and Emily. "Over here!" Casey called. Morgan's figure formed and so did JJ once they found the women. "You all right?" JJ asked the two.

Casey nodded as Emily answered, "Yeah. They were hiding back here." Morgan kneeled, looking at the couple. "Can we move them?" Emily nodded, "Yeah, with help. He's unconscious."

"Just let me stay with him," The woman spoke, her voice hoarse. "Please." She begged.

JJ looked at the couple and then looked over at Casey and Emily. "I can't find Will," She said. "Have you seen him?" Casey looked at the woman and shrugged, "He might be down below. I don't know, we haven't seen him." Both Morgan and JJ nodded as Emily and Casey stayed with the couple.

"We're gonna get you out of here." Emily assured. "He's my love of sixty-six years. My story." The woman stated and Casey nodded at the woman and gave her a bit of a small smile. She wished to have something like that of her own. And hoped that maybe it would come soon, but she couldn't think about it now. I mean, this job wasn't the best mixed with her own relationships.

Soon enough, they had gotten out of the building and into the networking building, where Casey was shocked to see Reid standing there. He had sighed in relief once he saw the woman standing before him. He wanted to hug her and keep her close to him and ask her if she was okay. Instead, he just asked her if she was okay and Casey gave the man a smile and nodded.

They had discovered the unsubs escaped with Will in a vehicle. "JJ and Morgan said the unsubs were in an alley northwest of the perimeter." Reid told.

"Yeah, this footage confirms it. Okay, I can see two figures in the car. Please tell me one of them is Will." Garcia said. "See how she's turned? It's like she's keeping an eye on someone in the back." Hotch points out. "Does this mean Will's in the car?" Garcia asked. "It has to be." Casey told.

"What's the license plate?" Reid asked. Garcia zoomed in and furrows her brows lThat's weird. They're government tags."
"Federal or district?"
"Federal."

"Well, they're either stolen or forged." Reid concludes. "Who the hell are these people?" Garcia shakes her head. "They set up roadblocks in the district from 66 to Dulles." Strauss told, approaching the team. "Wait. So we're looking for a black SUV with its sirens on. That's gonna stand out." Kevin told.

JJ and Morgan walked in the room next. "Will's with them. I found his wallet." JJ announced and everyone looked her way. "It benefits them to keep Will alive." Hotch assured to the woman.

"They must have a safe house set up." Morgan tells and Emily continued, "Whoever their outside man is, that's where they're heading now." JJ adds on, "But where? What's their end game?"

"There's no logical reason," Rossi told. "They want to create panic." Reid continues, "She's struck all over the world, which says she might not be American, but her ideology certainly speaks to Washington. Whatever point she and her partner are making, it's important that DC's the setting." He explained.

"The brothers were from Philadelphia. The other partner might be homegrown as well." Emily says. "Homeland's sending over a list of possibilities." Strauss tells. "They're not on anyone's list." Hotch shakes his head. "Then how do we find them?" Casey furrows her brows.

"We find the common denominators between all 14 robberies and we go from there." Hotch tells. "So she's our only answer." Strauss tells, pointing to the woman. "For now." Hotch nods.

"I'll call Easter at Interpol again," Emily stands up from where she's sitting. "Now that there's been an explosion, he might have some ideas." With that, she leaves and after ten minutes, comes back. Morgan had gotten a call as well.

Reid looks at Casey and decides to ask: "You okay?" He questions, already knowing he asked this question before but he wanted to ask again. "Uh, yeah. I'm okay, I have a bit of a migraine but it's nothing Tylenol won't fix."

Emily walks back in the room as Morgan gets off of the phone. "That was the lab. Semtex and C-4 like we thought. Red, blue, and yellow wires in each, old cell phone used as a detonator." Morgan explains.

"How old is the phone?" Emily asked. "10 years." Morgan answers. "That's specific and rare." Emily raises her brows. "Ridiculously." Morgan nods in agreement. "Well, has anyone seen it before?" Emily asked.

"It was last seen in a number of bombings in Chad." Morgan added on and Emily began to think. "For a signature that specific, they must have been there to learn it."

Hotch turns to the woman. "Did Easter have any insight?" He asks. "A woman they called Lady X stole a sedan from Scotland Yard 8 years ago. The investigation concluded she was a trained assassin. She disappeared."

"So Lady X and Queen of Diamonds are the same person?" Casey asks. "It sounds like it." Emily nods.

"Garcia, look at assassination attempts around the civil unrest in Chad." Hotch orders the woman.

"If she was a hired gun, she was likely taking orders from someone." Reid tells, looking towards Casey as he spoke. "Maybe she's still working for the same guy now and he's still pulling the strings." JJ tells. "Or maybe she's found her equal." Casey tells, looking at Reid.

"Their obsession with kill and domination has culminated in what we've seen today." Emily tells. "Getting off on the disaster they've created. Classic symphorphiliacs." Reid adds. "Then this isn't over." Morgan stated. "Far from it." Rossi added.

"No. Now that they've gotten away with this, where are they gonna strike next?"

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They had discovered an ambulance and a medic killed and Will's bloodied shirt in the back of the ambulance. No one except for the dead medic was found. The rest of the team stayed as Garcia and Kevin found more information.

Hotch called in Morgan, Emily, Reid and Casey once they found the info. "The explosion was a distraction so they could escape. Watch." He tells. "Allow me to fast-forward. All right, here's where Chris started shooting hostages. The fella next to him didn't even flinch. Doesn't even break a sweat. We know he's ex-military, but still..."

"His name is Matthew Downs," Garcia began. "That's what he told Rossi and he wasn't lying. History shows dishonorable discharge from USMC in '04."

Emily stands next to Kevin and tells him to move the footage. "Okay, now watch him. And then... look at her." Matthew and the woman had made eye contact. "Her partner was in there the whole time, just not in the way that we thought." Casey points out.

"They shot this whole thing like a home movie." Emily says. "He could have been killed." Reid adds. "No, she wouldn't let that happen." Morgan debunked. "What the hell are they doing?" Kevin questioned.

"It's all part of their plan." Morgan says. "They've created scenarios that are practically impossible to survive." Reid said. "When they make it, it's the ultimate high." "Like an adrenaline junkie." Kevin says.

Strauss walks in the room. "Nobody can find Matthew Downs. ERT said that he helped them, then he disappeared."

The team had called JJ and Rossi to let them known what they had found. "Of course Will thought Matthew was a hostage. Why wouldn't he? There's a good chance Will tried to help him out. He told him when to go for the doors or offered to be a hostage to save the others." Emily said. "I'm sure he did." Rossi tells.

"Well, there's a flip side to this. This guy could have gotten into Will's head. 'Is there anything you want to tell your family in case you don't make it?'" Morgan tells. "You think Will told them about JJ and Henry?" Casey asked. "Unknowingly." Hotch tells.

There's muttering from JJ's end and Rossi asks: "What's wrong?" JJ speaks up. "Will's license is gone. They know where we live." Fear struck Casey once she heard the news. Was this the part of the plan? For JJ and Will's home to be a hideout spot for them?

Hotch sends Morgan, Casey, Reid and Emily over to bank to try and discover more about their unsubs. "So why didn't they take all the money?" Reid questioned.

"They were a man down and they had to get out in a hurry." Morgan tells. "But for her, today was less about the money and more about the spectacle." Emily says. "Everything they've said and done was for a reason. But what doesn't make any sense is she switched the negotiation demand." Casey told.

"Chris wanted to go to Switzerland. She changed it to Chad." Morgan tells. "They also requested a private plane, but no mention of a pilot." Emily adds. "Guys, if you think about it, even the dates mean something. In 2004, while she was wreaking havoc abroad, he was dishonorably discharged. Then in 2008, they likely met in Chad. And now this in 2012." Spencer explains.

"Okay, so is it a coincidence that those are all election years and they attacked DC? Maybe this is a political statement." Morgan said. "No," Casey spoke. "It's more personal than that. It's their own story."

"What does that mean?" Emily asks. "All of the details are a part of their story." Casey tells and her theory ends up being told to the rest of the team next.

"Their timeline suggests they were both destructive before they met." Casey told. "So we're talking about ex-military turning on their country." Strauss says. "I know that it's rare, but soldiers become disenfranchised no matter what the nationality. They either go crazy or cope with their mechanisms. In this case, maybe this guy tried to cope with it and suddenly decided he didn't want to anymore." Casey explained.

"And if he met someone like-minded at that time, there'd be no stopping them." Emily added on. "So you're thinking they met during the civil unrest in Chad in '08." Hotch tells, looking to Casey.

"It's just a theory but... yeah." Casey tells. "And one or both of them are pilots." Reid says. "So if Garcia concentrates on that region, specifically weapon running in and out of Libya, there's a good chance we'll find their paths crossed." Emily says.

"Ok, multiple entries into Libya for a private pilot named Matthew Downs in '08, but I don't have her name." Garcia turns to Casey. "Well, because she had aliases. It's the only way to stay a ghost." Emily says, speaking from experience.

"Here's the thing-- they are a couple. Regardless of what we believe of them, they will celebrate themselves and their connection. We've predicted that their narcissism reflects. Is there anything that happened on this date in Chad?" Casey questioned as Garcia did her magic.

"Oh, you are good, Cassandra Willows," Garcia compliments. "But this news is not. Yes, there were multiple explosions on this date in '08."

"Where were the most casualties?" Hotch asks. "At a church-- no, no, a train."" Garcia corrects herself mid-sentence. "Semtex and C-4?" Morgan asks. "Yep." Garcia nods.

"Are trains still arriving at Union Station?" Hotch asks. "Yes, but only the authorities are allowed in." Strauss tells. "That's why they needed Will." Emily figured out.

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Hotch, Emily, Morgan and Casey all arrived at the building and security guards were evacuating citizens out of the building. Hotch ordered the team to go their separate ways and Casey found a staircase that was closed off. She had figured that maybe they could be hiding there.

Casey took a deep breath and took her gun out for safe-keeping and to try and defend herself if need be. She had looked ahead as she turns a corner and found Will, tied up to a pole and a bomb duct-taped onto him and duct-tape on his mouth.

"I found Will." Casey announced on her mic as she kneeled in front of Will. "Is he mobile?" Hotch asked. "Negative. He's got 6 transmitters on him and this whole place is gonna blow." Casey explained.

"All right, where are you? I'm on my way." Hotch tells. "Just wait for us, Willows." Casey shook her head as she spoke into her mic, tearing off the tape on Will's mouth. "No, there's no time. you gotta get everyone out. Is the bomb squad here yet?" She questioned.

"They're 3 minutes away." Casey looked down at the bomb countdown and there was two minutes and forty-four seconds left on the timer. "Shit," Casey muttered to herself, "Copy."

"Casey, you gotta get Henry. They're at the house." Will tells. "No, Rossi and JJ are handling that. Right now, I've gotta get this bomb off of you. God, why do I always get myself in these situations?!" Casey panicked but immediately calmed herself down.

"Just get everybody out of here." Will told. "I'm not leaving you. Just give me a minute to think." Casey told and Will looked down at the countdown and noticed that the countdown was at a minute and forty-six seconds. "Look, that's about all you got." He joked.

"Okay, normally, I'd laugh at that type of joke but now is not the time." Casey began to think quickly. "Okay, everything they did and said was about them. Narcissists. Romantics. They met in 2008." Casey put the pin down for 2008 and a red button appeared that said 'Try again - 2 tries left!'

"Oh, what are you doing?" Will leaned back and nudged his head forward. "Seriously, Casey, go." Will told. "No, JJ would never forgive me if I left you. If you die, we're dying together." Casey told. "I'm not leaving you, so hold on." Casey thought quickly once more. "Chad. 2-4-2-3." She put the pin down and the thing beeped again, "Try again - 1 try left!'

Casey closed her eyes. "Damn it." She thought again quickly. "Okay, these are Valentines for her, so a 4-letter word. Love, life, soul. A little help here would suffice!" Casey told. "Izzy. Her name is Izzy." Will informed and Casey nodded as she put the pin down and with forty-five seconds left, she cracked the code.

Casey smiled but that lasted for a minute up until a thirty-second bomb had armed itself. "Are you kidding me?!" Casey yelled.

"Casey!" The girl looked up and saw Emily rushing towards her. "I need a little help here. He's got a bomb on him, no time to explain! Just help me because I'm freaking out!" Casey shouted.

"Okay." Emily says as she looked at the bomb but not before both her and Casey both remove their earpieces to think without Hotch asking them what their statuses were.

"Okay, the storytelling's in the details. Those wires mean something." Emily points out. "Like what?" Casey asks. "The colors of the flag of Chad. Red, yellow, and blue. Only one is different from the U. S. flag -- yellow."

"What do you think?" Will asks and Casey goes in to cut the wire without hesitation. Lucky enough, the timer stops at one second and the bomb is disarmed.

The three all sign in relief and Casey falls to the ground and breathes, staring up at the ceiling. "How did you do that?" Will questioned Emily. "I didn't overthink it." Emily answers.

"But I did and acted very quickly on it." Casey told and slightly chuckled to herself.

wedding chapter is next!

casey being her chaotic self and throwing herself in bomb situations😁

and reid being in love with casey for a whole chapter straight😁😁

and casey being her smart self for a whole chapter straight😁😁😁

cannot wait for the next couple of chapters lol ;)
-mya </3