CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX: MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER FROM HELL !

6x15
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      THE TEAM HAD BEEN CALLED IN FOR ANOTHER CASE. Casey and Reid had arrived at the same time at the roundtable and both saw that Emily was the only one there and she was on the phone with someone. "Lauren Reynolds is dead," She spoke before realizing Casey and Reid walked in the room.

Both exchanged a look as Emily finished wrapping up her phone call. "Who's Lauren Reynolds?" Reid asked in curiousness once Emily hung up.

"She was a friend of mine." Emily said. "How did she die?" Reid asked and Emily looked as the team was coming into the room. "A car accident." She said. "I'm really sorry." Reid apologized and Casey gives her condolences.

"Good morning." Rossi spoke as he, Seaver, Hotch, Morgan and Garcia entered the room. "Let's get started." Hotch told.

"Hey," Garcia starts. "Thank you all for coming. And time is of the essence. Okay." She grabs the remote to the screen and begins. "Molly Grandin, twenty-five years old, she's been missing approximately 24 hours. Her car was found abandoned in a strip mall parking lot."

"Syracuse police chief just called me to tell me that four months ago another woman, Gail Langston, also twenty-five, went missing." Hotch informed.

"Gail's body washed up three days later in Onondaga Lake. She'd been held captive, her hands and feet smashed, and then she was stabbed to death." Garcia added. "Her car was found in the same parking lot as Molly Grandin's." Hotch said.

"Other than abandoned cars, what makes them think it's the same offender?" Emily asked. "Both women packed a bag with enough clothes and toiletries to last them for the weekend, and in both cases, the bags were found in the car along with their purses and cell phones." Garcia told.

"If the unsub is sticking to the same M. O., then Molly only has 36 hours left." Reid told. "Let's go." Morgan told and the team heads on the jet and Hotch decides to have the group meet up at the PD before splitting everyone off.

They arrive at the PD where the team meets the chief but somebody catches Rossi's eye when being introduced.
"Marco?" He asks, confusedly. And sure enough it was.

Marco looked entirely different from when Casey last saw him. He was thirteen, he had braces and he definitely did not have the looks he does now. He looked like Rossi, but younger.

The man looked at him in disbelief and smiled: "Uncle Dave?" Rossi approached the man. "Marco, mí nipote!" The two exchange a tight hug and pull away and Rossi pats his shoulder.

"Cosa ci fai qui?" Rossi asked, which stood for: 'What are you doing here?' "Lavoro qui." Marco replied and that stood for 'I work here.'. "Lead detective on the case."

Rossi looked at the team. "These are my colleagues: Agents Hotchner, Prentiss, Morgan, Willows. And Dr. Reid. Willows might be the only one you remember."

Marco had locked eyes with Casey and she certainly didn't look like the girl he once knew before. This woman in front of him was entirely different and looked older. "Casey Willows." Marco says. "Marco Rossi." Casey greets and the two exchange a hug next.

Casey pulls away. "I haven't seen you since we were kids. We used to make mud pies together when we were younger. Last time I saw you, I was twelve!" Casey tells.

"Stai ancora lavorando al tuo italiano?" Marco asks, which stands for 'You still working on your Italian?'.

With a smirk, Casey replies with: "Ancora un po' frettoloso, potrebbe usare un po' di lavoro, ma sembra bello, credo. Cosa ne pensi?" That stood for: 'Still a little hasty at it, it could use a bit of work but it's looking good, I think. What do you think?'

"Perfetto." 'Perfect.'

The two laugh and Hotch clears his throat: "Sorry to cut the reunion short, but we have a case." He says. "Right, sorry." Casey apologized.

The team debriefed shortly and Hotch had split the team up. He, Ashley, Rossi and Casey would stay at the PD while Emily went to check out Molly's apartment and Reid and Morgan went to the dump site.

Before Emily left, she had spotted Casey staring at Marco outside of the room as he talked to Rossi and led him to interrogate Molly's ex-boyfriend, who was their top suspect at the moment.

Emily stood beside Casey. "You and Marco must go way back." She comments and Casey looked at the woman next to her and nods: "Yeah, when Gideon and Rossi used to go on cases together, Gideon would drop me off with Marco's family most of the time. I learned a lot of Italian that summer. It's actually the reason I wanted to learn Italian." Casey explained.

"What happened?" Emily asks. "Well, Rossi retired and Gideon kept working at the BAU and I never saw them again. Except through letters, of course. It just wasn't the same though." Casey looked outside again as Emily smirked: "Well, you can always make up for lost time." She looks down in her bag as she continues: "If you don't go for him, I will."

Casey chuckles: "Be my guest." Emily gives the girl a look. "Come on, you're not at all attracted to... that?" Casey shrugs, "I mean, yes, he's cute. And he got... cute. And he's got that accent thing going for him... but... well—"

Emily looked at the girl and read her like a book. "You're trying to find something wrong with him so you don't date him."

Casey sighed, knowing she was caught and gave her excuse. "All guys like that have something wrong with them! Their egotistical attitudes are... ick. Plus, Italian guys have... egotistical attitudes. Who knows? Maybe he grew up and thought he was better than everybody. But... I saw how he greeted me..." Casey began to blush and then looked at Emily. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

"Yes, I do. I was just wondering when you were gonna shut up." Emily smiled jokingly as she headed out. Casey furrowed her brows and decided to work on the geographical profile — but kept staring at Marco outside of the room as she did so.

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The team had discovered that they were definitely dealing with a female unsub and Hotch decided to send Emily, Seaver and Casey over back to Molly's apartment to see what else she could be hiding.

As soon as they arrived, Casey noticed the post-it notes everywhere on the walls and on the mirror and everywhere in the bedroom as she put her gloves on. "'Today I do, tomorrow I will.'" Casey read from one of the post-it notes. "I used to write the same thing back in college."

"She was overdosing on daily affirmations." Ashley pointed out. "Yeah, saying you're happy isn't the same as being happy." Emily said as she pulled a box under Molly's bed. "Oh. I think I found her dark secret." Emily opened the box and found two bottles of pills and a journal.

Casey knelt beside Emily and examined at the bottles. "Diet pills." She said. Emily helped up the journal next and said: "And diet journal." Emily looked up at Seaver. "Check with Garcia. See if her spending reflects a disorder."

Ashley called up Garcia, who immediately answered. "Hey." Ashley started: "Hey. It's Seaver. How much money did Molly spend on food every week?"

Casey heard clacking on a keyboard. "Thirty bucks a week at the grocery store. Thai food every Friday. Yikes, she is worse than me. $8.00 a day for coffee." Garcia explained. "Can you go back a couple months before her disappearance?" Casey asked.

"Yeah," Garcia paused. "Oh, my. Back then, the spending tells an entirely different story of the unhealthy sort. Lots of drugstore purchases, fast food places. Only a few dollars a week at the grocery."

"Carrots and hot sauce." Ashley said.

"And then 17 bucks at McDonald's." Garcia told.

"Binge night." Casey sighed.

"Anything in the journal?" Ashley asked. "It's intense," Emily started. "She recorded not only what she put into her body but what came out. Calories expended during exercise, and she weighed her bowel movements." Emily explained.

"Anorexia and bulimia." Ashley commented and Casey shrugged: "Hm, had the same journal in middle school." Everyone stopped and looked at her. "Sorry, that was dark." Casey apologized. She used her trauma as a coping mechanism most of the time.

"The last entry is ten weeks before she disappeared. When did her spending change?" Emily asked Garcia and she answered with: "About three months ago. She got a membership at a yoga studio and stated paying for cooking classes."

"Thanks." Ashley said. "We need to find out if Gail Langston had a similar pattern before she was killed." Emily told. "Rossi's speaking with her family right now." Casey added.

Emily had informed Rossi through text as they headed back to the PD. They had given the profile and Rossi spoke with Molly's father and argued with him about the fact that he didn't tell them about Molly's anorexia. Garcia had also discovered through pharmacy cameras that both Gail and Molly had someone following them before their disappearances and was wearing the same things as the victims to strike up conversation. The victims' families had never seen the woman before and Molly's ex-boyfriend had gone missing next.

Morgan had approached Rossi, Hotch, Casey and Marco as he spoke. "Barrows found Lyle's car in the same parking lot where Molly and Gail's cars were found." Morgan told. "She's got him, too." Rossi said. "She's too obsessed with power and control to work with anyone, especially somebody like Lyle." Hotch told.

"He's dominating and violent, just like her. If anything, she sees him as a threat." Casey explained. "But why take him now, with all this heat?" Marco asks. "She's not done with Molly yet." Hotch added.

       Hotch, Morgan and Rossi walked away, leaving Marco and Casey. "So, this is what you do on a regular basis, huh?" Marco asked. "Yeah. Sure beats having to hang out with you all the time like when we were little." Casey jokes.

     "Remember when we would go down to sewers and my mother would be so pissed at us when we would come back home?" Marco questioned and Casey chuckled. "Oh, my God. I remember that! She made us take five showers before we could finally get rid of the smell." Casey told. "How's she doing by the way?"

     "She's doing well," Marco told. "Ever since Dad died, her health has been a issue but she has her days. How about your dad? I remember you took an oath to no longer speak to him at age twelve."

     Casey shrugged, "Finally speaking to him again. But it's complicated." Marco nods at the girl. "That's great. What changed?" Casey took a deep breath. "It's a long story."

     Marco looked around. "You know, when you were younger, you always told me you were gonna be an FBI agent. I never doubted you for a second. And here you are." Marco stared at Casey.

     "Yeah. I never thought you'd become a lead detective." Casey admitted and Marco shrugged, "After my dad, I followed in his foot steps. My mom, she's fearful every time I leave the house. For good reason. But I keep telling her that I'm always gonna make it back home to her."

      "Things like that remind me that I shouldn't be sad about not having a dad around," Casey told. "All he would do was nag me."

      "What about Gideon?" Marco asked. "I heard about him finally leaving? That was when Uncle Dave came back to the unit."

      Casey nods, "Yeah, he did. It's good for him. Sure, I'd like to hear from him once in a while but... I'm glad he's doing good. Probably bird-searching or whatever." The two share a laugh and Reid watches the two from inside of another room.

      His tired eyes gazed at them as they and he rubbed his left eye and wiped his nose on the sleeve of the grey sweater he was wearing. He wouldn't show it, but he was jealous.

       Ashley noticed the stares and noticed who Reid had been staring at. "Hey, Reid?" She asked, breaking the gaze and snapping Reid back to reality. "Yeah?" He asked.

      The girl leaned forward. "Before I joined, was there any chance that you and Casey were a thing?" Reid looked at the girl in disbelief. "What?" Reid shook his head. "No, why?"

     "Because you keep staring at her like her head's gonna explode," Ashley looked outside. "And you're staring at Marco like you want his head to explode."

      Reid shakes his head. "It's nothing." Ashley was beginning to pick the profiler instincts and looked at Marco and Casey. "Oh, my gosh, you're jealous." She stated. "What? No, I'm not." Reid denied. "You definitely are." Ashley nodded.

       Reid paused and looked down at the table in front of him. "For couples who work together, it may be difficult to keep conflicts in their appropriate spheres. Conflicts and disagreements at work may be carried over to the home, and vice versa. This, of course, puts tremendous strain on both the marital and working relationship. In addition to that, careers, personal lives, and families are in jeopardy if the union comes to an end. Hence the reason why it wouldn't work — hypothetically, if I liked her." Reid explained.

Ashley looked at the man. "Word of advice?" She leans forward. "Stop relying on statistics like you're used to doing. I'd talk to her. Just do it."

An hour passed by and Morgan and Casey entered the room, on the phone with Garcia. "Garcia, Dr. Weingold at Syracuse General sent us an extensive list of female patients in their mid-20s that match our profile." Morgan told. "She's most likely local, raised by a single parent or in foster care." Reid added.

"Okay, narrowing it down." Garcia told. "This unsub likes familiar places. Look for extended family or previous addresses. Did any of them grow up near Onondaga Lake?" Casey asks.

"Okay, wait, wait. Here's one that might fit. Jane Gould. Her grandparents had a house near Maple Bay, which is where Gail's body was found." Garcia informed.
"Are they still alive?" Reid asks. "No," Garcia answers. "They died when Jane was in middle school."

"Is the grandparents' house currently occupied?" Reid asked. "Yeah, water and power all paid up." Garcia told and Reid looked up at Casey and Morgan. "That's the one place she got attention from a parental figure. She feels at home and in charge there."

"I'll send you an address. I'm calling up her photo right now. Hold on." Garcia immediately paused. "Oh, lord. Oh, lord. This is her. This is the creepy stalker woman from the surveillance video."

Hotch sent Morgan, Emily and Reid to the house and they discovered Lyle's body and that Jane and Molly were gone. He, Rossi, Casey and Marco had then left to catch up with the rest of the team and found that Jane was about ready to kill Molly in the lake.

Jane held a screwdriver to Molly's chest but before she could press down, the team stopped. "Jane Gould! FBI! Let her go!" Casey rushed down to the lake with Marco and extra backup.

"Move away from the girl and get your hands above your head." Emily yelled. "She'll drown if I let go!" Jane yelled back. "No, she won't. Move away now!"

Morgan and backup reached the opposite side of the lake and Morgan held his gun up. "Jane! Put it down!" He yelled. Molly began to try and get away and Jane was trying to go after her. "Help me! Help me! Please help me!" Molly pleaded.

"Come on, Molly! I got you!" Casey told, nearly stepping in the lake. She successfully grabbed Molly's hand as Jane was now taken and was arrested by Marco and the chief.

They had solved the case, once again. The team had been back at the office as they were packing up and ready to go. Casey was the last one there, per usual. Marco walked in the room. "Hey." He greeted. "Are you getting ready to...?" Casey nods, "Yeah, Quantico's my home. You live in New York?"

"Yeah, for the time being. I gotta get out of Syracuse sometime." Marco chuckles and Casey couldn't help but stare and wait for him to just ask her out. I mean, would it be so bad if he asked her out? She was allowed to have a little fun in her life after the pain she endured on a daily basis, right?

Casey noticed the stubble on Marco's face that made him look even more handsome and the way his hair was... wowza. And the fact that he spoke Italian perfectly was just the icing on the cake. Marco was nice, they knew each other from a young age and he was someone she could definitely trust.

Marco stared at the woman back and the most intriguing thing about her had been her navy blue eyes. I mean, besides that, he liked the way she carried herself. He liked everything about her - inside and out. She stayed the same, but she was different at the same time.

Casey broke the gaze — seeing that he wouldn't be doing anything. "Well, I should, uh..." She took a deep breath. "I should probably go, I have a plane to catch."

The girl slowly begins to walk out the door and suddenly, Marco stops her. "Wait, Casey." The girl turns around. "Before you leave..." Marco stared at her once more and then spoke:

"Cosa mi ci vorrà per prendere il tuo numero e portarti fuori a un appuntamento?" 'What is it going to take for me to get your number and take you out on a date?' .

With a smirk, Casey replied with: "Pensavo che non l'avresti mai chiesto." 'I thought you'd never ask.'

From a distance, Reid was watching as this went down. He decided to go back to see what was taking Casey so long and saw the moment and heard the Italian words coming from Marco's mouth. It didn't take a genius to know that he just asked her out. Reid nodded, not wanting to intrude on the moment and he backed out of the doorway and walked away.

The timing was wrong, obviously. But Reid felt it. In a way, Casey was his twin flame. Twin flames are believed to be two halves of the same soul. As such, they act as mirrors for each other and can be a great source of reflection and growth. Still, there's no scientific evidence that twin flames exist. So, how could he think such a thing. And to add onto it - it wouldn't work. Casey was his co-worker and younger than him. What was he thinking?

hey, lovelies!
1) marco is portrayed by mr. giacomo gianniotti
aka my bae deluca from grey's anatomy☺️
i was watching grey's and i decided i wanted to add him to the story at the last minute lol

2) i literally used the translate app on my phone for the italian🧍‍♀️idk if what they were saying was right tbh but feel free to correct me if i'm wrong lmao

3) we're literally almost at the emily storyline and i am about to shit a fucking brick

4) i cannot believe this book hit 100k reads! 🥳 i am so glad that this fandom has created such a big impact on my life that i decided to make a wonderful fanfic about it :) casey and i appreciate y'all !!
(ew that was cringey)

anyways
thank you for reading!
i love you all
you're amazing
< mwah 3
-mya <3