CHAPTER NINETEEN: DNA !

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THE MORNING STARTED OUT NORMAL FOR CASEY... ONLY FOR A FEW SECONDS, THOUGH. The anniversary was today. The girl checked her alarm clock and rubbed her eyes in discomfort. She hated mornings.

Casey got out of bed and dressed up in her work clothes and put on a pot of coffee to get her through the drive to work.

The girl had put a two pieces of bread in her toaster and poured a glass of orange juice and waited for her toast to pop out. After that, she had been getting ready and her cell phone began to ring. The Caller ID had been an unknown number but Casey knew where it was from. She looked down at her phone and let it continue to ring until it stopped.

      Casey didn't answer because it was the same call she got every single year on this day. She had seen that she had a voicemail and decided to check it to see what he had to say this year.

      "1 message in the inbox — 'Hey, Casey. It's Dad. I just... I knew you weren't gonna answer. But it was worth a shot. I-I love you, kiddo. I want... I want to see you. I want to know how you're doing. And I just want that. I love you, Casey. Bye' — End of message."

      Of course he wanted to see her. This was what her father did every year. It had been the anniversary of the day her father went to prison, also one of the worst days that occurred in Casey's life. Every single year of the anniversary, her father had called to ask if she would go and see him and of course, Casey never answered. Casey always had a variety of voicemails to delete when her father called — which she had just done with this voicemail.

There had been a reasonable explanation for why she never answered. After Casey was born, her mother had died due to complications with her pregnancy. That's what Casey chose to believe.

After she was gone, Casey's father was negligent with baby Casey. He had cared about drugs and money more than her. He had tried multiple times to turn his life around as Casey grew but Casey saw right through it at a young age. He tried his best with Casey and he wanted to be the father that she deserved. But he just couldn't do that. When Casey turned twelve, she had made the decision to stop seeing her father and her uncle Gideon chose to accept the decision.

Casey's father had always promised her growing up that he would be out soon and that he was looking at parole. That's what the lie always was. But always after that, he had done something that wouldn't get him that parole and Casey was tired of the lies and decided to stop seeing him.

Now, she was twenty-one (almost twenty-two since some time had passed) and living her life with the job she wanted and would soon get. Nothing could stand in her way now and she was fine with how life was going for her.

The girl had gotten into her car and drove down to work where she was greeted by Agent Jordan Todd, who was now taking JJ's place as JJ was taking her maternity leave. Casey and Jordan had a small conversation as Casey had grabbed a cup of coffee that she so desperately needed.

      Casey had then met up at the BAU roundtable, following Jordan as she announced that they just got a case. Jordan had grabbed the remote to the screen as Casey had sat herself down between Rossi and Reid and looked at the file placed in front of her.

      "Julia Wesson was found murdered inside of her apartment in Tennessee," Casey looked at the screen and a picture of a woman who had her throat slit appeared. "Police are suspecting the husband, Steven, since there is video footage of him rushing out of the home just seconds after the murder. He took his daughter with him, little Stella, 8." Jordan informed.

      "So, are we ruling this out as a kidnapping?" Emily questioned. "That's how we have to look at it." Jordan nodded. "Do you have the video footage?" Derek asked and Jordan nodded, pulling it up on the screen as the husband had put his daughter in the car and went back inside and moments later, he was rushing out of the house.

      "Video cameras," Rossi stated. "Don't you think you would cover those up if you were murdering someone?" He questioned. "Could be that he forgot about the video cameras." Morgan added on.

       "Psychotic break with the wife? Could be considering how he handled his daughter versus how he handled his wife." Casey stated.

      "Well, Steven was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Says so in the file." Hotch informs the group.

"Many people believe that psychosis is a sudden, severe break with reality. But psychosis usually develops slowly." Reid explains.
"Could be that the wife recognized signs, tried to shield the daughter and get him out and failed to do so." Morgan thought out.
"Yeah, but if she was trying to protect her daughter and maybe the daughter knew that she was, why would she still get in the car with him?" Casey questioned.
"Probably to try and survive." Emily told. "People will do whatever they can to get out of situations alive." Rossi agreed. "Yeah, but that little girl was holding onto her dad in the video. If you were scared, you'd show fear. An eight year-old especially would." Casey told.

          "We'll have time to discuss this later. Right now, we need to find Stella because if we broke down to Julia—" Hotch said. "He'll break down with Stella." Rossi finished. "Wheels up in 30. Casey, will you stay behind? I need to discuss something with you." Hotch said and Casey froze in her tracks as Hotch said her name.

        The gang looked at one another in confusion to what could Casey have done and coming up with simple theories all at once in their heads. Hotch closed the door, leaving him and Casey in the room.

        Emily, Morgan, Rossi and Reid all huddled in a group and Penelope soon joined them. "What's going on? Where's Casey and Hotch?" Penelope asked, heading towards their desks. "Back up at roundtable." Morgan informed. "He wanted to talk to her about something." Reid said.

         After at least a minute, Casey immediately stormed out of the office. "Casey, he wants to see you." Hotch stated, following behind her.
        "I can't believe he thought you were his next best chance!" Casey said, rushing down the steps and to her desk. The team pretended that they didn't notice what was happening in front of their eyes as Casey grabbed a file from her desk.

          "Casey, he believes that it's time to talk to him—"

   "Well, I'm not going to, Hotch," Casey told. "I don't even understand why all of a sudden, he's trying so hard to see me. Where was this energy when I was twelve? Just drop it and tell him that I don't want to see him. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a case I need to get ready for."

    Casey grabbed the file and her things and began to walk away. "Casey, he's not going to stop and he at least wants to talk about it." Hotch pried. "Not now." Casey stated softly.

      "Willows—"

      "I said not now!" She yelled, practically shaking the building as she stopped in her tracks. Casey had now gotten everyone's attention and she ignored the eyes on her as Casey placed the files over at a nearby desk and rushed over to the bathroom. The team hadn't seen her like this before.

      "It's like dealing with a teenager... again." Rossi commented. "What was that about?" Morgan questioned. "Who knows, but something is obviously bothering her." Emily told, watching as she went to the bathroom. "Yeah, but Casey never lets things bother her. I wonder what's so different about today." Reid added on. "Could it be the case?" Jordan assumes. "No, this stuff normally doesn't bother her either." Morgan shook his head.

      Penelope cuts through the gang. "I'm gonna go and talk to her." She volunteers. "You sure about that, baby girl?" Morgan asked. "Uh-huh, my sweet."

Casey had went to the bathroom to refresh herself and dapped water onto her face to clear her head. She looked up and saw that Garcia walked in the bathroom. "Hi." She said and Casey looked at the woman in front of her. "Hey." She said, grabbing paper towels to dry her hands.

"Are you okay?"

Casey furrowed her eyebrows and acted as if nothing happened. "Yeah, I'm okay." She assured.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure, Penelope." Casey told.

"Because if you're not, you're not alone. I want you to know that. This year has probably been rough for you considering the shooting and then—"

"Pen," Casey smiled at Garcia. "I'm fine, really. It's just..." She didn't know if she wanted to tell Penelope about what was going on with her. "I have a lot on my mind right now."

"That's it?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, okay, well... you have about five minutes to leave. So, I'll see you when you get back."

Casey smiles at Garcia and heads onto the jet and decided not to bring up what happened just moments ago. It wasn't worth mentioning, but she had been receiving concerned looks from her team.
Casey ignored them, wanting to focus more on the case.

"Besides Steven's bipolar disorder, they seemed like a normal family. He was a lawyer, she was a housewife. Pretty much the average American family." Morgan explained.

  "Nobody would've ever thought that there was something bad going on in this family. According to the neighbors, they never fought." Emily told. "If they never fought, this was definitely one of the big ones." Todd commented.

"What could have broke him down all of a sudden?" Rossi questioned. "Could've been the wife." Casey shrugged. "Or possibly that his wife was the only person he could take his anger out on. The only person that was right in front of him, at least." Reid explained.

"That's what we'll find out when we land," Hotch said. "Morgan, Prentiss, Willows, I want you guys to go down to the Wesson home, talk to neighbors, investigate what might've happened. Rossi, Reid, Todd and I will set up at the P.D.."

          As ordered, Morgan, Emily and Casey had headed to the Wesson home where crime scene tape covering the outside of the house. The three entered the home and see the body for themselves. Casey looks at the woman's body and how her throat was slit. She knelt down to get a better look.

         "Definitely a rushed killing. He was sloppy." Emily commented. "Killed her and ran. But why would he feel the need to kill her?" Morgan asked. "She was trying to stop him so he buckled up his daughter in the car, came back and killed his wife." Casey stated and looked at Morgan. "We have an APB out on his vehicle, right?" She asked and Morgan nodded.

          "Agent Morgan," A detective had come in the house and the man reached his hand out. "Detective Doherty." He introduced himself. "Agent Prentiss and our intern over at the BAU, Miss Willows." The man then shook the women's hands next. "We're trying everything we can to reach this son of a bitch and get his daughter home safely."

        Casey thought about the young girl. She was only eight, her parents would be gone. She knew what that was like and it was not good to have.

        "The neighbors said they heard something before they left. They'd like to talk to authority." Morgan and Prentiss exchanged eye contact and Morgan decided to follow the detective outside to the neighbors.

         Casey looked back down at the body. "That poor girl, she's not gonna have any parents to go home to." Casey said, covering the woman's body up. Prentiss could see how Casey was affected by this and Casey stood up.

          "Hey," Emily spoke and the girl turns to the woman. "Are you okay?" Casey shrugged and pretended as if nothing had occurred just a few hours ago back at Quantico. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" She asked.

Emily opened her mouth and continued to speak, "Well, we kind of all noticed what happened back at the Bureau. I'm-I'm just letting you know that if you need to talk to anyone—"

"Well, I don't need to," Casey started. "Now, I'd appreciate it if you would just... drop it. Can you respect that?" Casey questioned and Emily gave in, nodding at the girl. If Casey wasn't comfortable with talking about it, she didn't have to talk about it. "Thank you." Casey walked away and decided to head outside to clear her head.

Whatever she was going through was really hitting her and Emily could see that she didn't want to talk about it and she wanted to pretend like it didn't exist, but that wasn't gonna help. She wasn't a naïve teenager anymore, she was a grown woman and needed to face the reality of her problem.

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The three had headed down to the police department and Casey had fiddled with her pen as the group among her began to speak. "We talked to Julia's sister. It was indeed a complicated marriage." Hotch stated. "Garcia's still trying to track this guy down but he took his plate off his car as seen in the video and he left his phone so we aren't able to track that down either." Jordan explained.

           As she had been talking, Hotch's phone had gone off and he checked it. "This guy's one step ahead of us and we need to find him before he could hurt someone else." Morgan told. "Too late for that." Hotch said as he was done checking his phone. "There was an employee found dead down at a gas station near Memphis." He informed.

          "Rossi, Reid, Morgan, Willows, I want you guys to go and check it out." Hotch told and the four had gone down to the gas station where police were waiting and crime tape surrounded the store. Detective Doherty had met them down there.

           "Employee's name was Michael Vega, kind of a loner, no reason for anyone to harm him." The detective informed. Reid and Casey both knelt down and looked down at the body and removed the cloth to see it. Casey felt a little squeamish at first, but she decided not to let it bother her.

             "Steven sliced his throat, just like he did with Julia's." Reid pointed out. "Cuts are jagged around his throat, still not experienced, meaning he felt that he had to do this." Casey explained.

Rossi stood up and looked up at the TV screen that was shut off, "My guess is that Michael had seen what was going on in the news and the man's standing in front of him and Steven figures out that he knows who he is..."
         "And kills him before he has the chance to call the police." Reid finished off.

         Morgan looked towards Detective Doherty. "Is there any security footage?" The man nodded, "Yeah, I'll take you to where the cameras are." He leads Rossi and Morgan away, leaving Casey and Reid to look down at the scene in front of them.

        "My question is: where the hell is he going? If you go to a gas station, you'd have to be going pretty far." Casey stated.

         The four go back to the police department and Casey had been looking over the file to keep herself distracted. She had inserted herself into a separate office, isolating herself from everyone and everything. All she wanted was quiet and she was just focused on was trying to get this little girl home safe.

           Emily had come into the room that Casey had been in. "Hey," She greeted, knocking on the door as she had already opened the door. "Hey." Casey said back, not looking up from file.

          "Uh, we just contacted Stella's grandparents, they're coming in from Clarksville, they don't live far." Emily gave the news, hoping that Casey would like the news. Casey looked up and nodded, "That's good." She said.

          Emily inhaled and decided to sit in front of Casey and wanted to talk to her. "Hey," Emily holds her hands up in surrender as Casey looks up. "Don't bite my head off, but... what's going on with you? You don't usually separate yourself from everybody like this. You don't have to go into detail, I just... wanna know if you're okay." Emily explained.

          Casey closed the file folder and folded her hands and sat up. "I just... I wanna help find this girl. She must be scared being with her dad. Or she may not even know what he's doing and that's... even scarier. And when you're young, you can't hide your fear." Emily could tell that Casey was speaking from experience.

          "I was five when my dad was running from the cops. He had me in the back of the car. I was terrified. They arrested my dad right in front of me. I'll never forget that night because that was one of the... worst nights of my life." 

           Emily looked at the girl, unaware that she went through that at such a young age. A look of concern spread across her face and Casey exhales, thinking she should've kept her mouth shut.

"Casey, I'm—"

"I don't want sympathy, okay? Let's just... focus on this girl." Casey gathered the files and walked out of the room, leaving Emily and suddenly, bumped into someone and the file fell out of her hands, papers scattered all over the floor.

          "Shit." Casey muttered under her breath.

          "You might wanna consider washing your mouth out with soap, Ace." Morgan smirked, but by Casey's scowl, she wasn't in the joking mood for him.

          Casey picked up the papers herself and stood up quickly. "Are you okay?" Morgan asked. "You know, I really wish people would stop asking me that." The girl began to walk away but Morgan gently pulled her to stop.

         "Hey, hey, hey," He said. "You seem... flustered." Casey looked anywhere but Morgan. "Come on, you can talk to me." He encouraged.

          Casey was frustrated, that was for sure and she was trying her best to keep her cool this whole time but at that moment, she snapped.

         "It's personal!" Her yelling had gotten everyone's attention, including her own team's. "Okay? It has nothing to do with you, so why don't you and everybody else just drop it and stop asking me if I'm fine when it's obvious that I'm not?!" Casey tossed the file over at the nearest table and stormed out of the department.

         The girl needed some air. She couldn't believe that she had gone off on Morgan like that. Casey never snapped unless it had been necessary. She felt terrible but she felt somewhat relief — finally getting something out. She wasn't gonna lie, she was tired of everyone asking her how she was doing, when they wanted to know what was going on. She didn't feel like telling them, she couldn't add on to more stress of others knowing. She just wanted to get through this day and never wanted to worry about it again. She looked up at the sky and scratched above her eyebrow and then rubbed her eye. This was too stressful.

Casey heard footsteps running up behind her and a voice that she wasn't expecting. "Casey." She turned around and faced Reid.

Casey scoffed, not wanting to deal with anyone at the moment. "What? They send you out here?" She questioned.

"No, they didn't," Reid shook his head. "I came out here on my own." Casey tried walking away but Reid stopped in front of her before she could leave. "Can you please just tell me what's been bothering you because frankly, we're all worried about you." Reid stated and Casey crossed her arms.

Reid looked towards the ground and then licked his lips and looked back up at Casey, the soft breeze blowing in his locks. "I'm worried about you," He said. Casey looked up at him and she knew that he cared. "We just want to know if you're alright."

Casey exhales and realized that she would have to talk about it sometime soon. She couldn't just forget about it and maybe she did need to talk about it.
"My dad wants me to come and visit him," She started and Reid stood up straight, practically towering over her since she was short. "And the anniversary of the day my dad went to prison is today and he does this every single year, he leaves me a voicemail and says he wants to see me but I never go. And this year, he called reinforcements — aka Hotch."

That explains what happened back at Quantico. Reid thought as she continued.

"And he wants me to see him and I don't want to. I haven't seen the man in ten, almost eleven, years, I bet he doesn't even know what I look like now."

Reid could see how she was feeling and he remembered feeling that way when it came to his dad a couple of weeks back. Casey understood him and he was time he understood her.

"Maybe it's not such a bad thing," Reid spoke and Casey turns to him and she was about to speak but Reid beat her to it. "You know, one of the things that kills us emotionally and mentally is the spirit of un-forgiveness. Holding a grudge against someone is like eating a poison and expecting someone else to die. We all do this thinking we are doing ourselves a favour, but it does nothing but break us down emotionally. The only way you can forget about the past is by forgiving whoever has done you wrong." He explains and Casey sighs.

"Thanks for the lecture," Casey says. "But... I don't know if I'm ready to yet." Reid looked at the girl. "You never know until you try." He told, awkwardly putting a hand on her shoulder. "Just think about it. Maybe it won't be so bad as you're depicting it." He shrugged.

          Hotch had come out from the police department, getting the attention of Reid and Casey and Reid immediately removed his hand from her shoulder, realizing it lingered.

          "We may have just found out his location." Hotch informed and both Casey and Reid exchange a glance and rush inside of police department and into the office where the rest of the team had been and on a phone call with Garcia.

           Morgan turned towards Reid and Casey and Casey had avoided eye contact with Morgan as she entered the room, staying closely behind Reid to avoid him at all costs. She felt bad for yelling at him and she wasn't good when it came to confrontation with friends. She could do it with serial killers, but with friends? That was the challenge.

           "Alright, baby girl, repeat what you just told me." Morgan tells, looking down at the phone in front of him. "Okay, about a couple of minutes ago, there was a distressed 911 call informing about a young girl being locked in a car, crying along with no adult supervision around." Penelope informed.

"It's over 100 degrees in Tennessee, who would do that?" Reid questioned, furrowing his eyebrows. "What does it have to do with the case?" Casey asked, crossing her arms.

         "I'm getting there, my fair maiden," Penelope spoke. "So, I listened to the 911 call and looked at the street cameras, did a lot of digging and found out that the license plate is the same as Steven Wesson's." Penelope explained.

          "He stopped and parked and left his kid in the car while doing so." Rossi stated. "Garcia, is the vehicle still parked?" Emily questioned. Casey could hear the click-clacking of Garcia's keyboard. "Yes, it is — near the pharmacy on 8th street." The woman informed. "Thanks, baby girl." Morgan told, hanging up the phone instantly.

          "Let's go." Hotch stated as the group rushed out of the police department. "Willows," Hotch paused in front of the vehicle and looked at the girl. "I'd like you to come with us but... if you don't feel that confident out there, I completely understand—" Casey immediately interrupts Hotch.

          "No, no, I wanna do it." Casey tells.
          "Are you sure?"
          "I can handle it, I promise." Casey assured.

           They had managed to get their vests on and took separate vehicles down to the pharmacy. Casey had the pleasure to be in the passenger side as Morgan decided to drive. Reid had been in the backseat.

As they drove, Casey felt the tension and she knew she had to cut it out. "Derek, about what happened back there..."

"Casey..." Morgan said.

"No, I just... I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. I just... I've had a lot on my mind recently and I just took it out on you. I'm sorry." Casey apologized.

"It's okay," Morgan spoke. "We all have our bad days. I just hope you're okay now." He said, looking towards her for just a second before fixating his eyes back on the street. "I will be once I save that girl." Casey commented.

Just in a nick of time, the two cars approached the scene and saw that Steven was at his car along with the passerby and he had his daughter out of the car. Reid, Casey and Morgan hopped out of the car.

         "Steven Wesson, FBI!" Morgan shouted but Steven acted quick and stabbed the passerby, grabbed his daughter and ran.

        Morgan, Hotch, Rossi and Casey began to chase after him as Reid and Emily approached the injured man, informing the others that they needed a medic to get there stat.

         Steven had run back into the store and Morgan chased him as Casey ordered everyone to get out of the store. Wesson and his daughter were stuck at a dead end now and his daughter, Stella, looked horrified of what had become of her father.

        Casey met up with Morgan, Rossi and Hotch and she kept her gun up and ready in case she needed to shoot. "Steven, drop the knife." Morgan ordered. "No, you'll hurt me. Everyone— Everyone hurts me and they are not going to hurt my Stella. They are not!" Steven slapped his own face and ran his free hand through his messy hair.

       "Steven," Casey began to approach closer with her gun held up. "I need you to drop the weapon and I need Stella to come with me." Steven didn't budge and Casey went with the next best option and held her hand up in surrender, stuffing her gun in her holster and the older men behind her saw her movement.

"Casey—"
"What are you doing?"
"Willows—"

"Trust me." Casey said.

"Casey, back up—"

"Trust me!"

Casey kept her eyes locked on Steven and slowly approached him more. "Steven, I know that you just want to protect your daughter. But this is not the way to do it." Casey stated.

Steven looked at Casey. "I want to protect her more than anything in the entire world." He said.

"Look at her." Casey told, motioning to a scared Stella. "She's terrified of you." Steven's face fell as he looked at his teary-eyed daughter. "Is that how you want her to see you for the rest of her life? As the person who took her mother away from her?"

Tears formed in Steven's eyes. "No," He said. Casey looked at the man. "Then, make the right decision. For her. Drop your weapon and I will make sure that Stella is safe." Casey stated and Steven closed his eyes and then looked back at Casey.

"Promise me that she will be okay." Steven begged and Casey nodded, "I promise." She said and in that moment, Steven dropped the blade on the ground and Morgan came up behind Casey and put Steven in handcuffs.

Casey encouraged Stella to go up to her and Stella wrapped her arms around Casey, in need of comfort. "It's okay... shh, shh, shh." She quieted the girl's sobs as the adults exited the store and Morgan was reading Steven his rights.

Stella had suddenly jumped out of Casey's arms and ran outside and Casey quickly followed and saw that Stella wanted to hug her father one last time before he was gone. Morgan let them hug.

"I love you, daddy." Stella said. "I love you too, Stella." Steven said and pulled away from the girl as Morgan took him to a police car.

Casey watched as the girl cried over her father leaving and it was like déjà vu all over again. Except she hadn't hugged her father after he got arrested. She didn't hug him at all since he got arrested now that she thought about it.

The medics had to check Stella and Casey watched from afar as they did so. Hotch had then approached Casey and put a hand on her shoulder. "You did good today." He commented and Casey sent a small smile his way. "Thanks." She said and the two looked over at Stella.

"Her grandparents are already here." Hotch said and Casey noticed a new vehicle pull up and the police let them through to see their granddaughter.

Casey looked at the scene, her heart warming up just a bit. The case was closed... but now, there was another thing she had avoided all day and needed to take care of but she didn't know how just yet.

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The plane ride home was quiet. Casey had distracted herself with her thoughts up until someone had seated himself in front of her. "Have you thought about it?" Casey looked up to see Reid with two cup of coffee in his hands and he handed a cup to Casey.

       "Thanks," She muttered and grabbed the cup and shrugged, "Honestly, I don't know. I mean, I've held this... grudge against him for so long and... I just— I'm just confused. But... what made me consider was... that..." Casey sighed. "That girl. Stella forgave her father even after what happened. Even after he killed her mother."

      "Well, in her defense, she's only eight. She may not feel that way when she's older." Spencer told and Casey shrugged. "I still knew when to hold grudges at six. And yeah, maybe she won't." She looked down at the coffee mug perched in front of her. "My point is... ten years has passed and I still don't forgive my father and it only took Stella five seconds to forgive hers. Is that even smart?" Casey questioned.

      Reid sat up. "I think the reason why Stella chose to forgive her father despite what he's done is that ... well, maybe she just wants her father in her life." He explained. "And it's taken you time. And maybe you're ready to forgive him."

     "I don't know how," Casey admitted. "It's been so long." She grew fidgety and folded her hands together.

      Reid looked deep in thought before deciding a decision. "I have a proposition for you." He spoke.
"And what would that proposition be, Doctor Smartie?" Casey asked, furrowing her brows at him.

      "I'll go with you." He told.

      Casey nudged her head towards him in uncertainty. "You're gonna go with me?"

      "Yup." Reid nodded.

       "You'd seriously give up a Saturday to visit my father with me?" Casey questioned. "Yup." Reid said again. Casey looked at Reid in awe. She barely knew him but she knew him enough to know that he was a good guy and he was just trying to be a good acquaintance to her.

       "Will you go?" He asked again.

        Casey looked at Reid in thought. "Tomorrow, eleven a.m., I'm driving."

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Casey messed with the thread of the sweater she was wearing at the moment. This would be her first time seeing her father since age twelve. Of course, she was gonna be nervous.

Roanoke County Jail was small, but Casey remembered the smell and the humidity when it was hot and the coldness when it was cold. It felt all-too familiar. She was even beginning to consider second thoughts but she was already committed to this. There was no turning back now. "I don't know about this." She admitted as her thoughts were getting the best of her.

Reid had been sitting down, reading one of his books that he had just started the second they walked in the waiting room and he was already halfway done with it. "Just relax." Reid told.

       "Easy to say when you're not the one seeing your dad in prison after ten years." Casey commented, pacing.

         Every time she paced, something good always ended up happening. That's why she paced in hospitals whenever it had something to do with a family member or friend. When Penelope got shot, Casey paced and she turned out to be okay in the end. She had hoped that if she paced, Casey's visit to her father in prison would run smoothly.

She bit at her thumbnail, a bad habit she had when she was anxious or stressed. The door opened and Casey turned around and an officer had peeked through. "We're ready for you." He told and Casey looked at Reid.

He understood that she needed to do this by herself, he was mostly there for emotional support. "Good luck." Reid through a tight-lipped smile at the girl and  Casey inhaled sharply and exhaled and grabbed her bag, following behind the officer.

        She was brought into a room. Casey had been in front of what looked to be an interrogation table. She had seated herself down and tapped at the table, looking around at the empty room and waiting.

       After ten minutes of waiting, the door opened and Casey had come face to face with a person she hardly recognized. Her father had the same tired eyes but his face was full of a dark scruffed-out beard and dark messy hair with streaks of gray hairs popping out, looking silver almost. Casey's father couldn't believe the woman standing in front of him today. She wasn't a little girl anymore.

Even though they were related, they were complete strangers to one another.

     "Casey." James spoke, looking at his daughter.

     "Hi, Dad." Casey said, looking back at the man in front of her.

      The police officers decided for the two to be alone and assured that they would be standing on the other side of the door if Casey needed anything.

      The Willows father and daughter stood for a minute before sitting down. "Wow," James had a homely smile on his face. It was hard for Casey to realize that he seemed to be more happier in a prison than when he was out. Casey barely ever saw that smile on his face growing up — guaranteed she didn't even remember it since she never did see it as much.

"You're— You're so grown up." James told. "Last time I saw you, you were what, twelve?" He looked at the woman as she put a small smile on her face. "Yeah. It's, uh, it's been a long time. Sorry. I hope you know, I just... I needed time.. to—"

     James shook his head and he understood. "You made a choice and I had to respect it. I know, peanut." Peanut. Casey only saw the word written in the letters and cards. She hadn't heard the nickname since the last time she saw her father.

    There was small silence until James spoke once more. "I heard about your uncle Gideon," He said.
"Finally retired, huh?" Casey knew that the only way he kept tabs on her was through her uncle and now that he was gone, that wasn't possible anymore. "Yeah." Casey nodded.

    "Have you heard from him?" James questioned.
Casey shrugged, "Not much. I'm just letting him live his life."

"I heard you finally got in the BAU, but you're an intern," Of course, her father knew of her lifelong dream. "I always knew you would soon live out your dream." Casey smiled small once more. "Almost there." She told. "So, what made you consider? Coming down here?" James asked.

Casey looked at her father and took a deep breath before fiddling with her fingertips. "There was a case down in Tennessee. A man killed his wife after a bipolar breakdown. He took his kid with him and ran off. He didn't get far. But... we finally found him and just as he was about to get into that police car, his daughter hugged him. She was eight... yet she still loved him despite everything he put her through. And it made me think... I've held onto this grudge for... a long time. And I want to move on... but I need to hear you say it." She explained.

James looked at Casey's blue eyes, to which he realized she shared with her mother. "What?" He asked.

Casey swallowed before continuing. "That you loved drugs more than you loved your own daughter." She wanted to hear it. That's all she wanted. She wanted to hear him admit it. The truth. It would hurt, but she wanted to put an end to this avoidance once and for all. And this was the way to do it.

James sighed, "Casey—" Obviously, the past was painful but he had to face the reality of it, just like Casey had to.

     "Dad—" Casey began. "It's okay. Just say it. I know the truth. I just... I want to forgive you. And this is how I want to forgive you. Just say it."

     "I-I can't—"

     Casey didn't hesitate. "I hated you." She admitted. "For years, I hated what you did, what you became. That kid should've lived his the rest of his life." She mentioned the kid that he had shot.

      "But he can't. Because of what you did. I visit his gravestone, y'know. I send flowers to his family every year. But they want nothing to do with me. His little sister grew up without a older brother by her side. Like how I grew up alone."

    James has his head in his hands. "You were negligent, you cared about getting your next high more than you ever cared about me." Casey took a deep breath as the tears formed in her eyes.

    "But now, I realize why you did what you did.
You just wanted me to have a life. You cared... you just didn't know how and I can't hate you for that anymore. I know Mom would've wanted a better life for me. Please... just admit it."

     James looked at his daughter and held his breath. He had to stop lying to himself. He needed to tell her what the truth was and she wanted the answer. The real answer.

     He took a deep breath and confirmed: "I loved drugs... more than I loved you." James admitted, a single year running down his face.

    Casey's face mimicked his and a single year ran down her cheek. She nodded, her stone cold face plastered. "Okay." She simply said.

    She stood up from her seat and wiped her eye and James looked up at his daughter. "What are you doing?" He asked. "I have to go... but I will write and I will update you in what's going on in my life..." Casey sighed and swallowed the lump in her throat. "But I'm going to need time to... breathe and to carry that weight off my chest."

    "You'll write?"

    "I will."

    With that, Casey knocked on the door and exited the room as her father was being put back in handcuffs and she was walking. And that weight was carried off as she walked.

hey lovelies!
this is seriously so long, i'm so sorry!!
anyways,,, i hope you guys enjoyed this one!
i tried my best with this one lol
we finally got in on casey's past a little bit more and we found out a little bit of stuff including her dad and all :)
anyways, have a good night and i love you all and thank you for reading!
next chapter is — normal
-mya <3