CHAPTER EIGHTY: HOT FOR TEACHER !

7x17

━━━━━━

IT HAD BEEN A COUPLE OF WEEKS SINCE THE CASE IN PHILADELPHIA. Casey often found herself sitting alone and only speaking to Morgan, Garcia and usually the rest of the team — all except for Spencer Reid.

Casey still hadn't forgiven him for what he said to her and what he practically called her. She also felt that Spencer didn't respect the relationship her and Sawyer had, that was a whole different thing, though. The point was: she was still pretty angry at Reid. Which didn't make cases any better.

Speaking of cases, they were actually about to go on one. Morgan walked in last and Garcia had been suspicious of the fact that him and Kevin were walking together and she was confused by it since they never talked to one another.

     "Garcia, I'd like to get started." Hotch told and Harcia nods, "Oh. Yes, sorry. Uh, two couples were found shot, uh, to death in the Delridge neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The first was Mark Daniels and Ben Priestly. They were found dead in their living room. The second was John and Heather Miller. They lived 4 miles away, and they were found last night dead in their home." Garcia explained.

      "Their daughter found them?" JJ asked. "Yeah. She had snuck out to see her boyfriend. When she got back, they were dead." Garcia informed. "Two double homicides must be rare in that area." Rossi tells. "What makes it weirder is that there was no sign of robbery or sexual assault." Garcia added.

      "The shooter used a .22." Morgan tells. "Shot them execution style." JJ says. "He's experienced to use a pillow as a silencer." Hotch tells. "You don't want to wake the neighbors." Emily comments. "You know, these crimes seem to lack the emotionality that we typically see in personal cause homicides." Reid tells.

       "Most executions are criminal enterprise related." JJ says. "The probability of these couples being involved in the exact same illegal activity is kind of low." Reid says. "Well, there's no way these were random victims of opportunity." Casey added, as Reid caught a glimpse of her as she spoke. Casey looked away, rolling her eyes as she did so.

       "Garcia, any sign of forced entry?" Hotch asked and Garcia shook her head. "None that the authorities have found, no." Hotch had come to the conclusion that it was a home invasion. "Or our unsub is using some kind of ruse." Emily added. "Either way, they're calculating and dispassionate." Rossi tells. "And no appreciation for chenille throw pillows." Garcia comments.

       "The violent and targeted nature of these crimes suggests that there could be more." Morgan finishes off as Hotch stands. "Wheels up in 30."

       The team headed onto the jet. Originally, Casey had decided to sit on the couch, but when Reid sat next to her, she immediately moved over to a seat next to JJ. Emily and JJ had both seen this happen and shrugged. They knew she was still mad and it was obvious that this wasn't gonna go away any time soon since Casey always held grudges.

      "All right, let's go over victimology. Each of the victims is a professional." Hotch started. "The domestic partners were lawyers, and the Millers worked at a tech company." Rossi stated. "But PD couldn't find any overlap." Emily added. "Both couples were really enjoyed by their peers, neighborhood watch, volunteered in community groups, you name it." Garcia says.

       "This was a straight-up execution. Kneeling on the ground, placing a pillow behind the head." Morgan points out. "It seems ritualistic." Hotch tells. "Or they're simply taking precautions." Rossi figures.

        "Some of the vics were shot in the leg." Emily tells. "They were probably trying to defend themselves, and this was the only way our unsub could get them to the floor." Casey theorizes. "Well, the scene's pretty clean, except what's left on the floor and the pillows." JJ added.

        "Garcia, how are each of the couples' financials?" Hotch questioned. "Yo, I wish mine were this good." Garcia told. "What about the Millers' daughter, Abby? She sneaks out to see her boyfriend? That's kind of convenient." Rossi tells.

         "The PD confirms her story," Reid says. "A neighbor saw her kissing her boyfriend in his backyard during the time of the kill."

       "You guys, something just happened." Garcia told. "Another couple, the same area, shot to death in their house." Morgan looks at the team. "This is turning into a spree." He says. "Targeting potentially unrelated couples." Emily tells. "And the time between the murder is accelerating." Reid adds.

       "Prentiss, you and JJ go talk to Abby. Dave and I will go to the first crime scene. Morgan, Reid, Willows, you go to the new one." Hotch orders and separates the team but Casey sits up almost immediately.

        "Actually, I had some evaluating to do with Garcia and I need to be sitting at a table because we're working on the geographic afterwards, so I'm just gonna go to the PD with you and Dave... if that's okay." Casey decided herself. The team looked at one another and Casey shrugged, "It's faster this way."

        Hotch locked eyes with Reid and then over to Rossi before turning to Casey. "No problem." He told. Casey nodded, "Thank you."

       Reid looks down at the floor and Casey turns back to the file of the case. Morgan looked at the two, upset that they weren't talking to one another. Reid knew that Casey was still upset about his comment and he didn't blame her. If he were her, he wouldn't talk to him either. But the fact that she couldn't even stand to be the same room with him or paired together on the case. Hell, he had more class than that when he was paired with JJ when they were arguing. He thought she'd be the same since she did that with Emily as well. But it turns out, this was different. He was getting shut out from her, this time.

━━━━━━

      When they landed in Seattle, they went their separate ways. When Morgan and Reid got out of the car, Morgan began the convo, trying to get something out of Reid about what was going on with Casey. "Hey." He spoke and Reid looked his way, furrowing his eyebrows.

     "What's going on between you and Willows, man?" Morgan questioned and Reid shrugged as he looked at the ground. Obviously, he didn't want to talk about it. "Nothing." He told.

      "Doesn't seem like nothing," Morgan stated. "She seemed pretty pissed off at you. So, what did you do?" He asked.

       There's a pause and Reid takes a breath. "We had an argument and I said some things I shouldn't have said. Can't really apologize because she won't listen to anything I have to say."

       Morgan looks Reid's way. "Just try and talk to her. Trap her in a room if you have to. I don't like seeing you guys fight. You're Casey and Reid - you never fight."

      "There's a first time for everything." Reid shrugs as they walk towards the crime scene. "Just try and talk to her," Morgan has Reid turn his way as he points. "Apologize."

       Meanwhile, Rossi, Hotch and Casey arrive at the PD with Prentiss and JJ. Casey had been trying to focus her mind on this geographic of the murders. Rossi had been looking over the files and took notice of Casey.

       He was pretty curious on the whole Reid-Willows argument, too. "What's the reason?" Rossi asked. Casey looked his way and furrowed her brows. "What's what reason?"

      "Why you're avoiding Reid?" Rossi asked and Casey stiffens as she looks down. "You heard our argument a few weeks back." She told.

       "You're still on that?" Rossi asks.
       "Rossi, it's none of your business, okay, just—" Casey realizes that she snapped at Rossi and takes a breath. She feels bad now.

       "Casey, if this gonna affect your fieldwork—"
       "It won't," Casey assures. "Okay, I'll still take a bullet for him if I need to. And I'm sure he'd do the same."

        Rossi studies the girl and sighs. "I'm sure he didn't mean it. What he said." Casey shrugged, "People say a lot of things they don't mean. Doesn't mean we should excuse them."

━━━━━━

       Another woman was found murdered in her home and the team had gone to examine her and her home. They had discovered that their unsub had been a woman and she was searching for a child. They had delivered their profile and once they had finished, Reid watched as Casey walked away and decided to follow through with Morgan's advice. To talk to her.

     Reid approaches her as she is unfocused on him coming towards her. "Hey, can we talk?" He asks and Casey continues to do her work and keeps her focus. "I'm not really in a talking mood." She bluntly says as she grabs the file.

     "Casey." Reid tries.

      Casey glares up at Reid. "I have work to do." She begins to walk away but Reid follows behind her.

      "Casey," Reid tries. "Casey!"

      "What?!" Casey turns around to Reid. "What do you want?!" She questions. This certainly got the attention of the PD. Reid is dumbfounded and is at a loss for words. "I—"

       The Willows scoffs and shakes her head. "That's what I thought." She walked into the room behind her and Reid followed behind.

       "Wait, just let me—" Casey tries to close the door on him and Reid lets himself in and closes the door behind him. "Just let me explain myself—"

       Casey turns over to Reid. "Explain what?" Reid realizes that maybe he can't talk his way out of this. "You called me a slut, Spencer. What you said: you cannot take back. And it's incredibly ridiculous how you're gonna try and justify yourself out of it." Reid sighs at Casey's words. "I can't forgive you. I don't. Okay? You're the one who screwed up. Not me."

        Casey shoulder-checks Reid as she takes her file and exits the room, letting herself out. Reid is left in hopelessness, there was nothing he could do. She was gonna hate him forever.

━━━━━━

   
       The team had discovered that a woman had been shot and her baby had been taken. Hotch had gone with the woman to find out whatever he could as Rossi, Casey and Emily put an APB on the vehicle the unsub took. And they looked over at the mother's car and investigated.

      "Did you get anything from Karen?" Rossi asked as Hotch walked in the PD. "She's in surgery for two more hours. What about you?"

       "We think the unsub carjacked Karen at a pediatrician's office two blocks from where she was shot." Casey told. "Witnesses said that a woman with blond hair, early 40s, was waiting on a bench for an hour around the same time Karen took her kid there." Rossi explained.

       "We're working up a composite now," Emily told. "Dozens of women and their children were in and out of the building in the morning, but her only focus was Karen."

       "So it's not just about maternal desire. It's about a specific child." Hotch figured out. "Karen was in the process of becoming the kid's adoptive mom." Casey informed. "The boy's name is Ben. What if he's our unsub's baby?" Emily asked. "Then he was probably fostered by all of our victims." Rossi thought.

        "Do we know the birth parents' names?" Hotch asked. "Sealed with the state." Rossi told. "Time to unseal it." Hotch says as Casey picks her phone up and calls Garcia.

       The team surrounded themselves as Garcia had unsealed the records. "Okay, here's the dealio, and stay with me." Garcia started. "Ben, formerly known as Johnny, was born to Margaret Hallman."

       "Where is she now?" Hotch asks.

       "Well, uh, she should be at the Fallbrook Women's Correctional Facility, but she was released four days ago due to overcrowding." Garcia informed. "We thought it was a mental institution." JJ told. "But if she was released, why kill to get your own kid?" Rossi asks. "Her maternal rights must have been terminated." Reid figures out.

        "Yeah, that happens when you have sex with one of your high school students two years ago. His name, Thomas Brown, aka Tommy Brown, and he is little Johnny's baby daddy, like, for real." Garcia informed the team and Casey's eyes widen. "Well, that's a plot twist."

       "Teacher love syndrome." Hotch told.
       "Hot For Teacher by Van Halen. Literally." Casey comments.

       "She gave birth to Tommy's baby in jail, and then when Tommy's mom refused to raise it, the baby was put in foster care." Garcia explains. "Okay, so we were right. The baby did spend time in each of the victims' homes." Morgan tells.

       "Oh, you betcha. In each of the victims' homes." Garcia told. "That would explain the spree and the maternal desire. She's trying to put her family back together." Emily told.

       "Garcia, we need the Browns' address."

━━━━━━

 
       In the Brown's home, they had discovered a teenage girl shot but she was alive. The team called an ambulance for the girl and got more info from Garcia through the sealed records.

       "Ms. Hallman had an exemplary record in jail." Garcia informed. "What was her correspondence like with the outside world?" Morgan asked. "Um, well, she had limited computer use, and she used all of that time searching for a... Johnny Lewis."

      "Her baby?" Casey asks, furrowing her brows. "No," Garcia paused. "Johnny Lewis is one of her former students from Lake Forrest School. His parents charged her with molestation, and then they dropped the charges."

      "When was this?" Emily asks. "Three years prior to meeting Tommy." Garcia answered. "So, she has a baby with Tommy and names it after the first kid she assaulted." Emily figures. Casey raises her brows, "Talk about obsession."

      "Yeah, and according to the prison's hard drive, she wrote dozens of emails to this Johnny Lewis." Garcia told. "Maybe Tommy's a surrogate for him." Casey shrugs.

      "Garcia, we need to talk to the Lewises." Hotch told and Garcia paused. "Mm, their phone is disconnected." Hotch asks, "What about an address?" Garcia looks it over. "They've moved around a lot. Oh, wow. Okay, it's like they're off the grid."

       "After what happened with Ms. Hallman, they could've left everything they knew behind due to the embarrassment. Probably changed everything." Casey tells.

       "Well, who lives in their old house now?" Morgan asked. "Maybe they can help us get info."

      "Uh, it's changed hands a lot." Garcia paused again. "Oh, snap, crackle, and pop goes the lady weasel. You'll never guess who bought it."

       "Ms. Hallman." Emily guesses.
       "Mm-hmm. It was picked up by her sister a year ago and then it was transferred to Maggie's name yesterday."

      The team gets to the address and Hotch and Emily sneak in through the back as JJ, Casey and Morgan make their way to the front of the house. Tommy had walked out of the house with the gun in his hand. "FBI! Drop it!" Morgan announced to Tommy as he moved back.

      He held his free hand up. "Just--just move. Move--move back." Casey has her gun raised as she looks at Tommy. "Tommy, drop the gun." She says in a calm yet stern voice.

      "Just--just get off our yard." Tommy says calmly. "You don't want to do this." JJ tells. "You don't know me. My--my girl and kid are in there." Tommy tries.

      "She's a predator, Tommy." Morgan tells. Tommy shakes his head, "No, she's not an animal. We love each other."

       Morgan keeps his gun high. "No, Tommy, this isn't love. This is a woman who's been taking advantage of you. She molested you." Tommy shook his head. "No, I--I knew what I was doing."

       "Did you know that there was another kid exactly like you from another school?" JJ questioned and Tommy shook his head. "Shut up!"

        "No. No! They're lying." Ms. Hallman exits the house, exposing herself to them.

        "Tommy, she wrote letters to him, too." Morgan told. Ms. Hallman looked at Tommy and shook her head. "That's not true." Morgan continued, "And she'd tell him that everything happens for a reason." Ms. Hallman stamp her foot as she looked Morgan's way. "Be quiet!" She yelled.

         "She said that he was the love of her life." JJ continued. "That's it!" Ms. Hallman covered her ears. "That she loved sneaking out to see him." Casey added.

       Tommy looked the woman's way. "You wrote that to me, Maggie." He had tears in his eyes. "Tommy, she wrote it to another boy. His name was Johnny Lewis, and he lived in this exact house." Casey told.

       "What are they talking about?" Tommy questioned. "She named your kid after him." JJ told. Tommy looked her way. "Is that true? I wasn't the only one." Ms. Hallman still had her hands on her ears. "Answer me, damn it!" Tommy yelled, making Ms. Hallman jump.

      She removed her hands from her head to her chest. "Without you, my life would be empty. Without you, I would go numb, and that's why nothing's going to keep us apart, and I mean nothing."

      Tommy decided to drop the gun and when Maggie went to reach for it, Hotch had shot her and killed her on the spot. "Maggie!" Tommy yelled. "We need paramedics on the front porch." Hotch informs in his mic.

     Maggie's last words to Tommy before he died were: "You were my light. You were my soul. I don't care what anybody says. I love you... I love you, Johnny Lewis."

    
━━━━━━

       The team had made it back to Quantico and Casey had finished her report as well as the rest of the team. She had been ready to head back to her apartment when JJ stopped her. "Hey, Case, you wanna go for food?" She asked.

       Casey got a look at the group, looking at Garcia, Morgan, Emily and then her eyes lingered on Spencer. "I'll pass." She stated. Reid sighed, knowing the reason she didn't go was because of him.

       As she headed towards the elevator, Morgan stopped her. "Hey." He stopped the elevator and looked at Casey. "Look, I don't know what Reid said to you and I don't know why you're acting like this. But you gotta know, the kid does feel sorry for what he said."

       Casey sighed and shook her head. "It not even about what he said, anymore. I mean, yeah, it's a big portion of it but... Spencer also disrespected my relationship. Disrespected Sawyer. And it's obvious that he's not happy for me. He can't even fake it. So I think I have a right to be mad at him." She told and entered the elevator.

       Morgan looked her way. "Wait a minute, hold the door." Casey did so and Morgan walked back over to the group before entering. "So, what are we doing tonight?"

       "We?"

       "Yeah, we never spend time together. And you shouldn't be alone tonight. And believe me, now that you told me this; I'm on your side." Casey smiled a bit as the elevator doors closed.

morgan & casey are the #1 brotp🫶

also peep the new cover,,, i'm actually proud of this

also also check out my tiktok! @/k4revsreid.wp
i make a lot of "cardigan" edits !!

anywayssss thank you for reading!
i hate this era of casey and reid but it'll be worth it in the end😩
-mya </3333