CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: HEAR NO EVIL, SEE NO EVIL !

WARNING:
MENTIONS AND DETAILS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT!
if that is triggering for you —
this chapter may not be for you.

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       THERE WAS CASEY WILLOWS, IN HER NATURAL HABITAT, HER NOSE IN FILES. It was pretty her last week of testing until later on where she had to take "the big test".

Morgan had taken notice of her studying over by his desk and sighs, "Ace," Casey looked up at Morgan. "Every time I see you, you always have your nose in papers and files. Is there any point in your life where you aren't studying?" He questioned. "Yeah, I've wondered that, too." Emily spoke up from her seat over at her desk.

Casey sighs and takes off her glasses that she had been wearing at the moment. "Morgan, when you're smart like me, you actually study for stuff. I didn't get a 4.6 GPA for nothing in high school."

"4.6?" Reid questioned from where he was sitting. "Nothing else better to do." Casey shrugged.

"How many more tests do you have to take before becoming an agent in training?" Emily asked. "A couple more. And then I'll finally be done with the hard part." Casey answered.

"What hard part?" Emily asked. "Main testing.
Then, I'll be on my way to more studying for training." Casey told.

"You're twenty-two." Morgan stated. "Do you ever go out, kid?" Casey shrugs, "Not really, no. I don't have many friends."

Hotch walks out of his office and walks past the team into the round table room. "Round table, everyone. Now." He said in a stern voice.

JJ had been walking behind him and Rossi looked up at the two and asked: "How bad?" JJ looked down at Rossi from the staircase. "Phoenix." She said.

    The team made their way to the round table room where Hotch was already setting up the screen. He and JJ place files on the table in front of the team.

   "Bank robbery down in Phoenix, Arizona. Three armed men. All of the men in the bank were killed, all of the women were raped and the children were locked in the back." Hotch informed.

    "Left the kids alone, that's kind of them." Rossi stated sarcastically. "This isn't the first time," JJ started. "This has happened before but down in Kentucky and then again in Oklahoma, victimology and M.O. were the same."

   "Was money taken?" Morgan asked. "Yes, a total of $10,000 was taken from each of the banks." JJ nodded.

    "Why do they take their time to kill the men, rape the women and lock the children up if the money is just right there for them to take?" Casey questioned. "Could be a couple of men looking for attention." Emily told.

    "Another thing, they've already named themselves," Hotch informed. "'Three Wise Men.'" JJ takes the remote and presses a button. "They've also painted this in the men's blood."

    The windows of the bank were transparent and were doused in blood with writing that spelt: 'Hear No Evil, See No Evil'.

   "Sadistic?" Emily asked.
   "Possibly." Hotch answered.

   "Sadistic serial killers have been widely diagnosed as sociopaths who are lacking in empathy and inordinately concerned with impression management, so there is a possibility of sadism considering the messages on the windows." Reid explained.

    "No matter what, we need to check this out. We need to stop these men from harming more people. We have no idea with who they could hurt next. Wheels up in 20." Hotch told.

The team went to the jet and debriefed about the case a bit. They had been watching the security camera footage that Garcia had sent over to them.
"They knew to cover their faces well." Morgan said as they watched the footage. "Can't hide their mess, well, though." Emily stated.

"Garcia, did you reach the outside cameras and see where they might've gone?" Hotch questioned.
"Nothing too much but the outside cameras did show them going left on Marham Street but that's all I could get. They also covered their license plate. These guys are really good, but fret not, I am better." Garcia stated.

Morgan stood up and looked over at Casey, who had a mug of coffee in her hands and she had a look upon her face. He decided to approach her. "Casey?" The girl looked up. "Something on your mind?"

The girl shrugs, "Yeah. Just wondering why they didn't harm the kids but the adults. Innocent adults." She questioned. "Kid, we never know that much. But it's our job to figure it out, alright?" Morgan assures and Casey nods and the two head back to the team and they continue to debrief.

   "'Three Wise Men.'" JJ reads from the file. "Reid, you have any info on that?" She questions.

    "'Three Wise Men', probably a parody of the Three Wise Monkeys, the Three Wise Monkeys are a Japanese pictorial maxim, embodying the proverbial principle "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil". The three monkeys are Mizaru, who sees no evil, covering his eyes Kikazaru, who hears no evil, covering his ears and Iwazaru, who speaks no evil, covering his mouth." Reid explained.

     "There has to be a reasoning for why that was up there." Rossi speaks, looking at the pictures of the bloodied windows. "They could possibly be worshipping the Buddhists, therefore naming themselves after the Three Wise Monkeys." Hotch tells.

      "But, why the message? If they're saying no to evil, why are they doing stuff that... is considered... evil?" Casey questions. "Maybe they want it justified that what they are doing is considered good." Morgan assumes.

      "When we get there, Morgan, Rossi, I want you to go to the latest crime scene, find anything new and put yourself in their shoes for why they had a reasoning for what they did. JJ, Prentiss, I'd like you to go the hospital to talk to the women, try a cognitive interview with each of them and see what they remember, Reid, Willows and I will go to the station and set up there." Hotch orders.

        So, the team headed to where Hotch sent them when Reid and Casey followed behind their boss as he approached a man in the station. "Detective." He called and the man walks towards Hotch with his hand out to which Hotch shakes. "Agent Hotchner. Dr. Spencer Reid and the BAU's intern, Casey Willows." He introduces the two. Reid waves and Casey shakes the man's hand.

"Pleasure," The detective says. "Detective Monroe. Wish we meeting under better circumstances. We set up a room just for you. Right this way." Casey follows behind her boss as he follows Detective Monroe.

The room had been set up for them and the boards were already up in place. "Good thing you came. People are freaking out."

"Have you closed off the banks?" Hotch questions and the detective nods. "In all the areas, yes." He looks up at the pictures they set up. "Just makes me wonder why these sickos are doing what they're doing."

Casey looks at the man and assures, "We'll get to the bottom of that." Detective Monroe nods at the three. "Appreciate you all being here."

Hotch nods, "It's no problem." The detective walks out and Hotch looked over at the colleagues he had with him. "Reid, set up the geographical. Willows, may we speak for a moment?"

Casey's heart dropped down to her stomach. What did she do now? She nods, "Uh, yeah, sure." The two exit the room and Casey looks at her boss, placing her hands in her pockets. "What's up?" She asks.

"I'd like you to stay at the station," Hotch tells. "I don't want you going when we eventually find out who these people are."

"Why?" Casey furrows her eyebrows.

"'Why?'" Hotch repeats. "Casey, based on what happened on the last case, you think I'm gonna let you go out in that type of stage again?" Hotch mentioned what had happened on the Kyle Murphy case when she shot at their supposed unsub when she wasn't supposed to.

Casey nodded in understanding. If she were in Hotch's shoes, she knew that she would have to do that, as well. "Yeah, you're right. That's understandable." She shrugged. "But, Hotch, I'm doing better now. I swear to you, that was just a one-time thing—"

"And I understand that, which is why I didn't tell Strauss about it." There was the reasoning. Hotch's job was on the line and Casey knew she couldn't put him at even more risk — especially when Strauss was watching the team like a hawk, especially watching Hotch's leadership skills, which Casey had no idea why since he was already a great leader. "I trust you to know the rules and to oblige them. Is that understood?"

Casey takes a deep breath and nods, "Yes, Hotch. I understand." Hotch looks at the girl. "I just don't want you to—" Casey interrupts. "I know. You don't want me to freak out."

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      The team had done more research and Emily and JJ had come back with a description and after doing cognitive interviews with the women. Casey looked up and noticed mayhem in the office.

    "What's going on?" Casey asked as JJ passed by and Reid looked up from the map he was marking down. "One of the men was spotted near the bank. Morgan caught up to him and they're on their way back to the station now." She informed.

      Casey and Reid exchange a look. "What, do they get a kick out of watching the places they hit, is that it?" Casey questions.

     Reid speaks up. "Could be a contributing factor in the matter. Serial killers sometimes return to commit murder in an area they know well from the past such as the community in which they were born and raised." He explained.

     "Well, we should find out who he is soon enough. They're bringing him in now." JJ spoke and Casey and Reid stand from their seats and walk outside their room and as if right on cue, Morgan walks in with the man, holding his hands behind his back and they pause once the man sees Casey.

       Casey looks at the man and her eyes widen and her mouth drops once she sees who it is. "Casey?" The man asked and once he spoke her name, the team was confused and all eyes were on the girl. "Eddie?" Casey questioned.

       The man took a breath of relief and Casey gave a stone cold look at him and began to approach him and suddenly slapped him in the face and began to hit him while shouting: "You son of a bitch! You son of a bitch!" Rossi acted quickly and pulled the girl away from the man and hoisted her away from him.

      "Get him to the interrogation room. And get her away from him." Hotch ordered and Reid grabbed Casey's arm and led her back into the office. JJ, Rossi and Emily had followed behind the two and Casey paced.

       "What the hell was that about?" Emily questioned. "That was Eddie." Casey said, looking at JJ. And JJ looked like she had recognized the name before. "Eddie? As in-As in the Eddie?" JJ asked.

      "Who's Eddie?" Reid asked.

      "Eddie as in ex-boyfriend Eddie." Casey stated.

       Everyone had obviously been shocked. Casey had dated an unsub? Many questions ran through the team's head with how they knew each other and they had just found their answer.

       Casey eventually calmed down and had been outside of the man's, also known as Eddie's, interrogation room and stood on the other side of the window, watching the man. Her arms were crossed and she took a deep breath. Hotch and Rossi had been talking to him but he wouldn't utter a word. Reid, JJ, Emily and Morgan stood with Casey.

Everyone kept their eyes on the girl and Casey didn't look but she could sense the eyes on her. "We dated when I was a freshman in high school. He was a senior. The only person I told about him was JJ." Casey explained.

"You dated him when you were a freshman?" Reid questioned and Casey looked his way. "I was 15. I made a lot of mistakes. I thought I loved him. We dated for two months. Didn't last very long." She stated.

"And what's the reason for that?" Reid questioned and Casey looked ahead and took a deep breath. "A reason I don't really like talking about." Casey would never reveal that reason. It was something she never wanted to bring up or talk about ever. And she never did talk about it — things were better that way.

"Was he like this in the past?" Emily asked. Casey looked ahead at the man in the room. "Honestly? No." She answered. "He got good grades, he had a football scholarship, best damn athlete on the field. I don't know what could've pushed him here." Casey shrugged.

Hotch and Rossi had exited the interrogation room and closed the door and looked at the team. "He's refusing to talk. But he said the only person he will talk to is Casey." He looked at the girl, who immediately shook her head. "No, you've gotta be kidding me." She said.

"Casey." Hotch sighs. "I'm not going in there," Casey argued. "Hotch, you cannot make me. You don't know... you don't know what he did." She told.

Hotch looked at the girl. "Casey, we may have a break in the case. And if that means finding out who his partners are and where they're heading next, that's all that matters. Lives could be saved."

Casey looks through the window and takes a deep breath. She could save lives, who knows, maybe this would be good for her career, as wells "Fine," Casey said. "But only if Morgan comes in with me."

Morgan nodded, "I've got your back, Ace."

With that, Casey grabbed the file from Hotch's hand and both Morgan and Casey entered the room. Even being in the same room together was eerie to her.

The man looked at her, his arms struggling against the handcuffs. "Casey, oh, my God, Casey. You've gotta get me out of here, you—" Casey sat in front of him and all she would look at was the file in front her. "Casey... come on. I swear to you. You know I wouldn't be capable of this—"

"Shut up and listen." Casey told in a stern voice. Morgan stood off by the wall as Casey did the talking. "Maybe you'll get off easy." She opens up the file in front of her.

"You and two other men have murdered over 18 people in cold blood. Quite gruesome, I might add. Tell me how a straight A student-athlete with a football scholarship get caught up in all of this?"

Eddie took a pause and looked deep in thought. At first, he looked as if he were in disbelief but his mood changed quickly. He didn't say a word.

"You're not gonna say anything?" Casey asked. Eddie looks at the girl but Casey maintains eye contact for a minute before looking back at the file. "I knew what they were capable of..." Eddie breathed out.

Morgan steps in after seeing the uncomfortableness on Casey's face. He steps towards him, resting his hands on the table. "Cut the crap, kid." Morgan threatened. "You knew exactly what they were capable of. Don't play innocent here."

Outside of the room, Hotch and the rest of the team had been watching as Casey and Morgan interrogated Eddie. "See how his mood shifted?" Hotch nudged his head forward. "Almost like he didn't know." Reid nodded. "Get Casey and Morgan out of there." Reid nods at his boss's words.

Eddie looks at the two. "I want a lawyer." He says. Before Morgan can speak, Casey speaks for him. "You don't get one." She states.

The door opens and both Morgan and Casey turn around and Reid nudges his head towards the two and with that, they leave the room.

Casey walks past the team, going to get something to drink. Morgan had stopped right in front of Hotch and Rossi. "Is she okay?" Rossi asked.

Morgan sighs, "She's alright, but something was definitely off in there. He would only look at her and Casey barely made eye contact with him and when she did, it was only for a minute, like she couldn't face him."

"Well, he was her boyfriend, maybe she just didn't expect this of him." JJ assumes. "Maybe, but this seems more than just a high school breakup." Morgan told.

       Thirty minutes later, Morgan had decided to approach Casey, who was sitting over by herself with her bottle of water in her hands. "Hey." Morgan greeted. Casey looked up and saw that it was Morgan. "Hey." She said back.

     "You good?" Morgan asks. Casey shrugs, "Could be better." She admits. There is a brief pause and Morgan looks at the girl.

     "I could see how you were in there. You barely made eye contact with him, you wanted me in there when you went to talk to him." Casey looked uncomfortable already. And it didn't take a profiler to read her behavior. "He hurt you, didn't he?" Casey grew even more uncomfortable now.

     "Casey—"

     "Don't give me the talk, okay? I dealt with this my whole life and I dealt with my feelings in private." Casey never knew how to deal with her emotions. She figured things would be better if she never opened up about certain things. This was just one of them.

     "That doesn't mean you still have to—"

      "I don't care." Casey snapped. "I hate talking about it. Because it reminds me of a time where I was afraid. And I'm not afraid. Not anymore. Just... don't tell anyone. Not until I'm ready."

       Morgan had known exactly what she was talking about. He understood why she didn't want to talk about it — the same reason why he didn't tell anyone about Carl Buford. Perhaps, that was the reason Morgan and Casey got along so well.

      "Casey, we think that this might be a way for him to break." Morgan stated. Casey looks at Morgan in disbelief. "To-To reveal the trauma that I went through? That he caused? To give him that? No." She stated.

      "Casey."

      "No," Casey said in a stern voice. "I'm not ready to talk about it, okay? And it should be on my terms, when I wanna talk about it. I thought you of all people would understand that." Casey walked away from Morgan and took time to herself outside of the station.

Eventually, Casey noticed that they weren't getting anywhere with Eddie not speaking to anyone. So, she decided to go back and rip the bandaid off.

      She approached the team and towards the door to the interrogation room. "Casey." Hotch spoke. The team had respected her decision for not wanting to go back in there and they were confused on why she wanted to go back in there.

     "Let me talk to him." Casey told. The team paused for a moment. "He's not talking? Knew he wouldn't, but I gotta step up." She looked at Hotch. "I gotta do my part."

      The team all exchange a glance before Hotch nods at the girl. Casey looks over at Morgan and he gets the signal that she wants him in the room with her.

      Reid hands Casey the file before watching her walk through the door. Casey took a deep breath as she stepped foot in the room and sat in front of Eddie. This seemed pointless to never look him in the eye. So, she did. And this time, Eddie was looking away.

     "You really weren't involved with the murders," Casey spoke, causing him to look up. "I know you weren't."

     "I promise you, I wasn't." Eddie nods. Casey sighs and looked over at the window and took a deep breath and she was about to rip the bandaid off.

      "I remember the last time you made me a promise," She spoke. "It was prom night. We were kissing and you put your hand up my dress and I wasn't ready, you knew I wasn't." Casey exhales. "But you promised me and told me everything was gonna be okay... but it wasn't."

      Eddie looked dumbfounded. He looked at the girl and uttered two words — "I-I'm-I'm sorry."

     "Did you know what you did to me that night?" Casey questioned. She knew that the team was watching and thinking about this secret she withheld from them. They probably didn't expect her to keep a secret like this from them.

     "Casey—" Eddie spoke.

     "You took everything from me!" Casey snapped, hitting the table. "You took the only thing I had left and that was my innocence. Do you know how much damage you caused?"

       "I—"

       "I was fifteen!" Casey yelled. "You ruined my life! You put me through hell. And I have to live with that for the rest of my life because of you!" She sighs and doesn't even realize a tear that ran down her cheek. "But it made me stronger and it made me who I am today. And I make no apologies for that." She admitted.

       "Even if you didn't commit those murders, you're going to prison for robbery and rape. And believe me, I will be filing a police report on that."

        Eddie began to cry and Casey looked over at Morgan who stepped in front of the table next. "You might as well just spit it out, man. They can't get you in here."

        "They-They can't?" Eddie questioned.

        "No." Morgan answers.

       "Earlier, you said you knew what they were capable of?" Casey played off. "What are they capable of, Eddie?"

        Eddie began to think and that was when he decided to reveal his secrets. "They're... they're dangerous. But... they're like my brothers. They took me in when I had nothing. It started off small with gas station robberies and eventually, we made our way up. But... I didn't know they were killing people. They said they weren't."

       "What are their names, kid?" Morgan questioned.

       "They weren't capable—"

       "Give us the names."

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       "Okay, Edward Wiley, graduated from Northwest High School, went to Georgetown until he was expelled for his scholarship expiring and no longer being paid for." Garcia explained Eddie's past to the team.

       Casey nods, "He always had problems with his dad, could be a chance he stopped paying for his scholarship."

      "He eventually got a new place with both Daniel Remington and Steven Schofield." Garcia informed.

     "Those were the names he gave us." Morgan spoke. "Garcia, do a search on Remington and Schofield." Hotch tells and there's clacking heard on the other side of the phone until Garcia starts up again.

     "Okay, bingo!" She exclaims. "Daniel Remington, age 27, dropped out of Georgetown and moved to Oklahoma right afterward."

     "That's where the first bank robbery took place." Emily told.

     "Steven Schofield, 26, he had gone to Utah State but eventually reunited with Remington in Oklahoma." Garcia told. "Turns out these guys have been best friends since they were eight, pictures all over social media — they both have lots of minor crimes on them."

      "Such as?" Rossi asked.

      "Uh, smoking in the high school bathrooms, charged with battery and breaking and entering and sexual assault on a 15-year old but the charges were dropped." Garcia info-dumped.

     "Garcia, show us the security camera footage again?" Reid asked and it popped up on the screen they were looking at.

     "I can confirm that Remington is the one with the hat and Schofield is pointing his gun towards the men and Wiley is standing near the kids." The video consisted of the three waving their arms around and looking as if they were arguing with one another.

    "They were arguing." Rossi points out.

    "Remington and Schofield give each other a look tell Wiley to go lock the kids away so he leaves through the back way to meet at their getaway vehicle..." Hotch tells.

     "And that's when they kill." Morgan adds.

    "Garcia, did you find an address?" Hotch questions.

    "Already sent to your phones." Garcia tells.

    "You're the best." JJ compliments.

    "I know I am." Garcia's smirk is heard through the phone before she hangs up.

     At the end of the day — adding to a high-speed chase and Morgan and Emily knocking the two off their feet and Hotch needing to shoot one of the men down, they were done and taken where they needed to be taken.

     Eddie would be taken into prison and Casey watched as they took him out of the station. She sighed in relief as they did so. No one said a word.

      The plane ride home was slow and this was probably one of the few times Casey wasn't seen studying. She was seen over at the window, Reid handed her annual cup of coffee.

     "Are you okay?" Emily broke the ice and she was sitting in front of her.

      Casey exhales, "I am now since that bastard's finally put away." She admits.

     "That must've been really hard for you to deal with, seeing him again. I'm sorry." Emily apologized but Casey shrugged.

      The team stood beside her not expecting her to say another word. But she continued. "I was fifteen.
He was... a senior. I thought he was cute. Fell right into his trap. He invited me to prom." Casey reminisced on the painful past. "We, um, we went to the janitor's closet and we started making out like reckless teenagers. And then he... stuck his hand up my dress and started to... feel me up. I kept telling him 'no', that I wasn't ready. You know what he said? He said, 'It's gonna be okay. I promise you.'. But I kept saying 'no' and he didn't listen."

       The team looked at one another, not wanting to hear anymore. "This continued and uh... well, you know the rest. And then I fought back and that's when I kicked him. I ran out of there and didn't even bother to look back. I remember crying myself to sleep that night. And I burned that dress."

      "Why didn't you ever tell anybody?" JJ asks. Casey sighed. She never told anybody about that night for a reason and she's kept it secret for years.

      "Because... society blames the girl for how she dressed and they praise the bastard that did it. I couldn't tell anyone because I thought that no one would've believed me."

      Emily leans towards the girl and puts a sympathetic hand on her leg. "It wasn't your fault, okay?" She stated. "It wasn't."

     Morgan sighed, "I should've killed that son of a bitch when I had the chance."
     "Join the club." JJ stated, looking up.
     "Count me in on that." Rossi nodded.

     "He's locked up now, that's all that matters." Casey spoke. "I am what I am now because of him. I'm a fighter, hell, I'm a FBI agent."

     "He's the one that pushed me far but that made me stronger," Casey continued, messing with the mug with her thumb. "This was one of the many reasons why I wanted this job. I wanted to stop bastards like him and let the girls that have been tortured by their past speak up. Because I know what that's like. And I don't want anyone living through that."

      What Casey went through was something she never wished upon anyone. It was something that made her feel powerless at first, but it made her feel powerful as she kept going on. Every day, she still smiled and she still kept going. No matter what, she was gonna fight and help others that needed it most. She felt free and that a weight had been lifted off her shoulders when he was put in prison. She made it. And soon, she would continue that fight against more and use it to the best of her ability.

hey, lovelies!
yes i updated 🤩
i wanted to do more with this chapter but i already wrote a lot lol
i realize that there isn't much between reid and casey yet, but soon!!! i promise!!

also, i want to apologize to anyone that may have been triggered by this chapter. ik that sexual assault is a sensitive topic and it is real.
if you guys need anyone to talk to about anything: my pms are always open and for anyone that needs it: the National Sexual Assault Hotline's number is 1-800-656-4673.

thank you for reading this, lovelies!
i love you all :)
-mya <3