CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE: TEENAGERS SCARE THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF ME !

6x05
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CASEY HAD TAKEN TWO WEEKS OFF OF CASES AND HAD GONE TO THERAPY SESSIONS AT LEAST THREE TIMES A WEEK. Now, she was back at work and she felt content, she wasn't walking on eggshells — she felt free, almost.

She was glad to finally be called in on for a case regarding family killings. Garcia had now been presenting the case to them. "Last night, all four members of the Bennett family were killed in their home in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Jake and Sandra Bennett were the parents of Sammy, 11, and Kayla, 9."

       "Agent Beeks in the Omaha field office called me," Hotch stated. "The previous night, the other family, the Archers, were killed just across the state line in Nebraska. He thinks it's the same offender."

        "The M. O. is consistent," Morgan spoke. "Both mothers died due to severe blunt-force trauma, and the fathers suffered multiple stab wounds."
         Rossi added: "The children were all strangled. Violence only in the kids' rooms, but no sexual abuse on any of the children. That's odd."

       "Odd comes up right now," Garcia said. "Because the Bennett father was not just stabbed, he was also..." Garcia looked at the team and turned the screen off. "And those pictures are in your personal files because I didn't think they needed the help of 1080p."

      Casey made a face as she opened the file. "His chest was opened, organs disturbed, intestines... removed, lovely."

     "That's awesome," Garcia commented. "Could we please leave the gross part of the conversation for the plane?" Casey slightly chuckled to herself. "The father of the Archer family had multiple stab wounds but no dissection." Reid said.

      "So he went from piquerism to this overnight?" Emily asked. "Two families in two days," Rossi said. "He's on a spree."

      "Wheels up in 30." Hotch spoke and everyone began to walk out of the office. Casey began to make her way to the door when suddenly, a glimpse of a familiar girl by the name of Ellie Spicer caught her eye. And she seemed to have caught Ellie's.

       "Hey, Morgan?" Casey asked and Morgan made his way over to the girl. "Isn't that Ellie?" She asked.

       The two had decided to pull the little girl aside in an office, along with Emily who followed and Morgan had said something to Garcia before going to the room. The last Casey had heard was that she was settling well with her foster family in California. She had snuck on a plane to go and see Morgan and Casey, since they were the ones she had kept in contact with after what happened to her dad and aunt.

       "Ellie, how did you get past airport security?" Morgan asked. "I stayed real close to this family. Nobody asked. If they had, I would have said I was twelve, 'cause you can fly by yourself." Ellie explained.

       "This is not all right." Morgan told. "Yeah, honey, you can't just run away like that." Casey said, putting an arm around the girl. Ellie looks at Casey with tears in her eyes. "But that house is awful. The older boy tries to watch me in the shower." Casey shakes her head and looked at Morgan and Emily.

        Garcia walked into the room next. "Hey," She said. "It's way early in LA, I left a message with Child Protective Services, but I haven't heard--" Ellie immediately interrupts. "You can't send me back there."

        "Ellie, you're a missing kid. We have to let them know you're safe." Morgan informed. "I didn't know where else to go." The girl said and Casey rubbed onto her shoulder. "I know."

       Morgan points up at Garcia. "Listen, this is one of my very good friends, Penelope. She's going to look after you while I'm gone." Garcia waves at the girl. "Hi, honey." She says softly. "You'll find out that she's very cool." Casey added with a small smile on her face. 

       "Ellie, I'll come back as soon as I can." Morgan told, wiping a tear from her face. "We both will." Casey smiles.

      "Come on, Ellie." Garcia says. "Go ahead. It's okay." Morgan persuades. Ellie nods and begins to leave with Garcia. "Have you ever been in a lair before? You'll like it."

      They exit, leaving Morgan, Casey and Emily in the room. "We can't send her back there." Casey spoke. "What are you gonna do?" Emily asks, looking at the two. "I don't know." Morgan shakes his head.

       Casey checks her watch. "We should probably start heading out." The three leave the building and make their way to the jet.

       Morgan had explained the situation to Hotch and everyone had been debriefing over the case. "Check this out," Rossi spoke, getting everyone's attention. "No forced entry at either house. Both dinner tables are set for five people, not four."

"Maybe they knew him and invited him to dinner." Morgan suggested. "Both families live in different States but only eight miles apart. Is it possible they knew each other?" Reid asked.

Hotch talked to Garcia, who was on the computer screen in front of them. "Garcia, did you find any overlap between the Bennett and Archer families?" He asked.

"Zip," Garcia said. "They didn't work, shop, eat, or worship in any of the same places."

"Worship?" Morgan asks. "Both families religious?" Hotch followed. "And then some," Garcia said. "Pretty much all their social lives revolved around some kind of church activities."

"Maybe he forced the families to make dinner as part of a ritual, like Karl Arnold." Emily says. "The Fox was a classic family annihilator who targeted patriarchs." Reid said. "The dissection of the last dad makes me think the unsub was focused on male parents, as well." Morgan added.

"I'm not so sure." Rossi said. "Yeah, there's a lot of overkill on the mothers. Not really any on the fathers or the children." Casey stated.

"All right, when we land, Morgan, Prentiss, and I will go get set up at the field office with Agent Beeks. Dave, you, Willows and Reid drive to Council Bluffs while the crime scene's still fresh." Casey nods at Hotch. "Got it, boss." That earns a look from Hotch as Casey gives him a small smile. To the team, it was good to see them talking again. Strange to see again, but it was good nonetheless.

Rossi, Reid and Casey had gone over the attack in their heads and pointed out the fact that they were going to have tacos for dinner and that one pot had red meat and the other had a tofu mix. They had suggested that if they were being held against their wills, they wouldn't have the time to make a tofu mix as well.

Based on the disorganization of the kills, Casey had reached to the conclusion that the unsub was a teenager. It was just a theory, but she usually guessed correctly on these types of cases. She decided not to share until she knew for sure what they were dealing with.

The three came to the police station and began to go over the victims and their lives. "Sandra was a sixth-grade teacher, she ran a church program for adult literacy, and volunteered at a local soup kitchen." Reid explained.

"Monica Archer was a nurse at Northern Omaha Medical, and she worked pro bono with disabled veterans at the V. A.." Emily explained next.

"Maybe he posed as a victim, asked for their help." The lead detective spoke. "It's likely these women would help a stranger but doubtful that they'd let him upstairs." Hotch said. "It could be another volunteer." Reid assumed.

"If they met him doing charity work, he could seem trustworthy." Rossi says. "Okay, so, we'll look into volunteers who worked with both Monica Archer and Sandra Bennett, but even so, neither of these women would have left their children with someone they didn't know well." Emily told.

"It's unlikely that it's a stranger, but we haven't found a single person that knew both families." Reid said. "Great. So, we have a disorganized killer on a spree who appears perfectly stable." Emily told. "People trust him on sight." Rossi added. "And he has absolute confidence that no one will guess what he is." Hotch finished.

A day had passed by and another victim had been found, this time, it wasn't a family. It was a man and his car had been off of a cliff but the unsub's signature was all over it. Rossi, Reid and Casey decided to check it out.

The lead detective met up with the three. "He dissected the victim's arm postmortem. I think it's our guy." He said. "Just one victim?" Reid asked. "Yeah," Beeks stated. "He's in the passenger seat."

The three safely made it down the cliff and took a look at the car. "Who is he?" Rossi asked. "Louis Hannum, forty-one years old, well-known local Reverend. He closed the church after a canned food drive at 6pm, told the other volunteers he was taking the donations to the Salvation Army three miles northeast on Route 6." Beeks explained. Casey looked at the body and his arm.

"Did he leave with anyone?" Casey asked. "No, they said he left alone. We're still getting names of everyone who was there." Beeks stated. "Before now, he's attacked families in their homes. Now just one victim on the side of the road? It doesn't-- it doesn't really fit his victimology." Reid explained.

"Well, it looks like he stabbed the Reverend while he was driving and then the truck crashed down here, he pushed him over, tried to drive away, but the truck was stuck." Beeks explained.

"His rage was so blinding, he takes out the driver while in motion. He's lucky he didn't crash into oncoming traffic." Rossi said. "Then he immediately calms down and dissects the victim's arm?" Reid questions. "It's like he's telling us he's doing it. Without that signature, we probably wouldn't have assumed that he did it." Casey told.

"Yeah, he's incapable of thinking five minutes ahead. It's like he's got ADD." Beeks told. "A short attention span is putting it mildly. He's got wild mood swings, he's impulsive." Casey tilted her head and crossed her arms. "Huh. I was right." She muttered, causing both Rossi and Reid to look at the girl that was standing in between them.

"What's that, Willows?" Rossi asks. "I had a theory that with the disorganized killings and the overkill on the mothers and the impulsive behavior, I assumed that maybe we were dealing with a teenager." Casey explained and Reid nodded, agreeing with her, as he said: "Young adults are inherently nonthreatening."

"Parents would allow him to be alone with their children because he's the same age." Rossi thinks. "If he's prepubescent, it would also explain why there's no sexual experimentation on the victims." Reid tells.

"You guys can't be serious." Beeks looks at the three. "Think about it," Rossi says. "He opens up human bodies out of curiosity, the same way I used to open up radios and tv sets when I was thirteen. We're dealing with a teenager." "Hm, maybe I should tell you guys about my theories a little earlier before... you know." Casey stated.

The three went back to the station and delivered their profile. Morgan had been getting more info about Ellie and was keeping Casey updating with the news. Morgan was currently working on getting Ellie transferred to CPS in Virginia.

Casey, Beeks and Reid were currently going over the geographical profile of the unsub. "He's been in the system?" Beeks questioned. "I thought you said he's from suburbia."

"He grew up in medium socio-economic status, but his rage against families tells us that he experienced extreme abuse or neglect, so at some point, he was most likely removed from his family." Reid stated, pointing a finger up in the air. "Now, I had Garcia widen the search of missing children to those in foster homes and juvenile care facilities, all represented by these ten black dots."

Casey looked at the board. "Ten kids fit our profile?" She asked. "Actually, each dot represents a thousand currently in the system." Reid corrected and Casey widened her eyes. "10,000 children fit our profile?" She questioned.

"Nebraska's one of the nation's highest per capita state ward populations." Reid stated. "And I thought Florida was worse." Casey commented, earning a slight smile from Reid because of the joke.

"Now, using the age and the gender of our suspect, I was able to whittle down the search and that yielded this interesting pattern." Reid pointed out the red dots. "A pattern of red dots." Beeks stated. "Give me one more hint."

"The red dots represent 33 boys between the age of 10 and 17 who became wards of the state this year, all abandoned at major hospitals." Reid explained. "The state safe haven law." Beeks nods.

"Wait a minute," Casey spoke. "I thought the safe haven law was so that women could leave unwanted babies in hospitals instead of leaving them in dumpsters."

Reid looks at the girl. "That's correct, but initially there was no age limit in Nebraska." Beeks speaks up next. "He's right. The law now just covers infants, but we still get teenagers left at hospitals with a note pinned to their jacket. Some are even driven in from out of state."

"Now, Monica Archer, our first victim, worked at this hospital, Northern Omaha Medical. If the unsub's parents abandoned him there, it's probably where they met." Reid explained.

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Rossi, Reid and Casey all stopped by the Archers' house and discovered a voicemail from a Nancy Riverton, who had been watching over a boy named Jeremy, who was the "son" on the Archers. But their sons' names were Eric and Daniel. There was no Jeremy. They had found their unsub.

Morgan and Emily had decided to go by the Riverton's home and found two children tied up and the mother missing, along with Jeremy.

Hotch, Reid, Rossi and Casey stayed behind on the phone with Garcia. "Monica Archer called a friend at the Northern Omaha children's hospital about an abandoned 13-year-old boy. Monica was going to bring him in the next day." Garcia explained.

"We need to talk to that friend." Hotch said. "Oh, no, I already did that. Apparently the children's hospital and child services have a strong rapport." Garcia told.

"Did she get a name?" Rossi asked. "Yeah, Garcia said. "She said the child's name was Niko Bellic and his hometown was Newton, Iowa."

"Say that again-- Niko Bellic?" Beeks questioned. "The thing about that is that--" Rossi interrupts Garcia.

"Nico Bellic is the name of a main character in 'Grand Theft Auto IV'." Rossi stated, causing the team to give him interesting looks. Casey and Reid exchanged a look before looking back at Rossi.

"How do you know that?" Casey questioned.
"What? I know things." Rossi adds.

"Guys, he's headed due East on Route 6," Reid says. "It passes right through Newton." Casey adds on: "He probably didn't expect the question and gave away his real hometown in a haste. Because if he hesitated, it would've shown that he was lying."

"Garcia, call the Iowa State Police, tell them to be on the lookout for a minivan headed East towards Route 6." Hotch told. "Will do." Garcia told and hung up.

In the end, the unsub had been caught by Morgan and Emily and Nancy Riverton had been reunited with her kids. Jeremy's real target had been his mother and Emily and Morgan had saved Jeremy's mother and sister in the process.

The team had now been on the jet ride home and Casey was sitting by herself, staring out the window. Morgan had explained to her how he had Garcia find her mother and that she was coming to get Ellie but it would take Ellie long to get used to — Casey knew that for sure.

Casey sitting by herself had caught the attention of Hotch and he excused himself from his seat and went to go and speak to and sit with her. "I heard Morgan had Garcia find Ellie's mom." Hotch began.

Casey nodded, "Yeah, she had a hard time being married to a cop, so she moved back East for a while. She travels a lot." She explained from what Garcia told her and Morgan. "You think that's a solution?" Hotch asked.

"I just don't know how she could leave that little girl." Casey stated. "She probably left a bad marriage." Hotch assumed. "But that's her child. How could she just walk out of her life like that?" Casey questioned.

"Maybe she didn't have any other options," Hotch said. "Most parents try to do what's best for their kids. Maybe being with her dad in California was more stable? Her mom couldn't offer her that? Kids are adaptable, but they need somebody they can depend on. Maybe her mom can give her that now."

It made Casey think about her mom. As desperately as she wanted to be a mother, maybe Stephanie knew that she couldn't give Casey the life she deserved. And maybe that was true.

Casey thought: "How will I know?" Hotch gives the girl a look and smiles a bit before he says: "You'll know."

When the plane landed, Casey had taken a little bit of time to gather her things so she told Morgan to go and meet with Ellie's mother and she would catch up with him after. Casey walked into the office and had seen Morgan speaking with Ellie's mother in front of Ellie.

She walked in as Ellie's mother spoke. "Ellie used to walk around with the biggest frown. And I thought I had done that to her. She's angry because that's how she sees me."

"So what are you saying? You're better now?" Casey walks into the scene as Morgan questions. Ellie's mother looked at Ellie and pulled a sort of scrapbook from her bag. "I've wondered if you'd like the places I've been. If you still took ballet. If tulips are still your favorite."

Ellie's mother placed the book in front of her and Ellie pushed it away. Ellie's mother looked heartbroken but she looked at Morgan. "Go ahead. Look at it." Morgan picked the book up and looked through the pages. "You wrote to her every day."

"So what?" Ellie questioned with attitude in her voice. "Ellie..." Morgan said. "She wrote to me every day. Who cares?" Ellie questioned.

Morgan looked at Casey, hoping she could spare some wise advice to the young girl. Luckily, Casey had a speech in mind. Casey sat in front of the girl in a chair.

"My mother died when I was a baby," She began. "She was an addict and she died a couple of days after having me. Growing up, I was so angry at her. I was so angry because she left me and I didn't know why. I was so angry to the point where I let my emotions get the best of me and I started becoming a person I didn't even recognize," Morgan closed his eyes as Casey spoke. She was lucky to have found herself just in time.

"This past year, I've learned to forgive her. Sure, she made decisions I didn't like, I didn't approve of them. But I learned from her mistakes and I know why she did what she did." Casey paused. "I think my mother had assumed that I would have a better life without her. Like your mother had assumed for you. But she was wrong. And so's your mother." Ellie had tears in her eyes as Casey continued.

"I forgave mine 24 years too late. It's not too late for you. You still have time with your mother. And it's gonna take time to forgive her. But eventually, you will." Casey finished.

Morgan knelt down to Ellie's level in the chair. "Hey." Ellie looked at Morgan next. "This book means that your mom never stopped thinking about you. Ellie, you know that I lost my father the same way that you did. And it's really hard growing up without your dad. I miss my dad every day. But my mom, she means everything to me."

Casey threw a small smile at Morgan. "I gave your dad my word that I would keep you safe. Ellie, right now you have a chance to have a really good life with your mom. Just give it a try."

Ellie had been crying now. Morgan handed the book to Ellie and she looked down at it and smiled to herself, causing Morgan and Casey to smile as well. Ellie looked over at her mother. "I remember that we used to read stories together all the time." Ellie's mother smiled at her daughter. "I miss that." Ellie smiles back: "Me, too."

Ellie had begun to bond with her mother and so Casey and Morgan had decided that maybe it was best to leave the two alone to bond mode. Before they left, Ellie looked up at the two. "Thank you." She said softly.

hey, lovelies!
12:30am and i have school tomorrow yippee
back to the old updating schedule which was the weekend before lmaooo (i had a week off for president's break lol)

anywayssss
kind of happy with how this turned out even tho i definitely rushed it but oh well

thank you for reading!
ik there wasn't that much with reid and casey but🤷‍♀️
more to come!
-mya <3