CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN: BLACK-OUT !

5x23
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IT WASN'T EVERYDAY THAT CASEY WILLOWS RECEIVED A PHONE CALL FROM ERIN STRAUSS. From what Erin was saying on the phone, it seemed urgent to go into the office today. Once Casey entered the office, she met with Reid, Morgan and Emily and they had all gotten the same call. They arrived at the round table, expecting answers from Hotch.

      "Hey, what did Strauss want?" Emily began as she walked in the room. Hotch and JJ turned their heads as everyone walked in. "She needs us in Los Angeles." Hotch informed.

       "Home invasion homicide last night," JJ told. "Officers found Gregory Everson, 56, beaten, with a GSW to the head. His wife, Colleen, was equally beaten and raped repeatedly." Emily looked up. "Repeatedly?"
        "That's what she reported." JJ said. "Wait, she survived this?" Casey asked. "He chose to keep her alive." Hotch stated.
       "An intentional witness." Emily added.

      "Everything but that points to an organized offender, an experienced one." Rossi told. "Was she able to identify him?" Reid questioned. "She said he was white, with mean eyes and repulsive breath." JJ replied. "Rotten inside and out. Did he rape her in front of the husband?" Rossi asked and JJ nodded.

      "One home invasion rarely warrants Strauss personally sending us out." Morgan told. "No, there's more," JJ said. "Ballistics match a double homicide downtown LA, 48 miles away." Hotch continued: "Where three days ago, those two women were raped and killed."

      "But last night was in the suburbs." Emily said. "They're afraid of another night stalker." Morgan told. "Hence the reason why we're being sent out." Casey adds.

       On the jet, the team debriefed and Hotch had grouped Reid, Rossi and Casey together to go to the hospital to chat with Mrs. Everson, to see if she had remembered anything.
A doctor had showed them her room and the first thing the team noticed was that she was asleep, in pain and in restraints.

      "Why is she in restraints?" Reid whispered over to Casey. "She tried to kill herself." Casey whispers back. "Twice." Rossi added. As the three walked in the room, Casey kept her distance as Reid and Rossi approached closer.

      "Mrs. Everson?" Reid asked softly. "We're with the FBI." The woman looked tired and Casey felt for her. She went through something traumatic. "We know you talked to the detectives this morning. But if you're up for a few more questions, it could help." Rossi stated.

       "Why didn't he kill me?" Mrs. Everson sputtered out. Casey looked at the ground. "It-It wasn't about you. This man only thinks about power and control." Reid said. "Leaving you behind gives him that." Rossi added. The woman began to cry.

       "Now... did he ever speak to you directly?" Casey saw in the woman's eyes that she was reliving the experience in her head. "Did you talk to you?" Rossi asked. "No, he really didn't. I'm sorry." The woman said.

      "It's okay," Casey spoke. "You take your time." The woman looked up in thought. "Greg looked at me... the way he always did. We didn't need words. We... he just... looked at me and we would know. I tried to be strong, but I-I... shut my eyes... when the gun went off and... that's the last thing Greg saw. Now every time I shut my eyes... I see him." The woman told and she looked over at Casey. "How long will that last?"

        Casey tried to pull it together but she couldn't bare to watch this woman suffer. She excused herself from the room and tried to keep calm. She could hear Gideon's voice now: telling her to keep it together. She saw as Rossi and Reid exited the room and saw Casey.

       "Are you okay?" Rossi asked. Casey nodded, "Yeah, yeah, I'm okay." Truth was, she wasn't.

        As she saw the woman relive her experience with the unsub, it made Casey relive her experience with Adam. For a while, Casey managed. She was okay. But now, with her job, everything was beginning to come back into spurts. Instead of dealing with it and taking a breather, all she could do was lie, put on a fake smile and tell everyone she was okay. Her own emotional support was back at home at the bottom of her refrigerator anyways.

        Reid, JJ and Casey had begun their geographic as soon as they had gotten back to the PD and Emily and another man had walked in the room and he had looked up at their evidence wall in a middle of a conversation. The man was tall, carried a badge. "It's hard to find the reason for this, though. Utterly meaningless crimes, no obvious motivation. Pure evil." The man told.

        Reid stood up from his seat. "Evil can't be scientifically defined. It's an illusory moral concept that doesn't exist in nature. Its origins and connotations have been inextricably linked to religion and mythology. This offender has shown no signs of any belief." The man just stared and Emily, JJ and Casey weren't surprised that this had been the man's first interaction with Reid.

       "I'm, uh, I'm Spencer Reid." Reid greeted. "Matt Spicer." The man introduced himself. "Jennifer Jareau." JJ introduced herself as well as she stood up and shook his hand and Casey followed. "Casey Willows."

       "The media's been asking for you." JJ told. "Yeah, well, nobody else around here wants to talk to them. I figure it hasn't hurt me yet." Spicer stated. "Uh, they'd like an interview for the 11:00 news. Can we go over a few points?" JJ asked and Spicer nodded, "Absolutely."

        Morgan had then found Casey staring at Spicer as he and JJ had a conversation and raised his eyebrows and Casey noticed as he did this. "What?" She asked and Morgan gave the girl a look again. "What, I like older men!" Morgan scoffed and chuckled at the girl.

Over a night of the regular rolling blackouts, another woman had been killed and a young boy had been found alive. The news reporters had already been at the sight as the FBI had arrived. Officer Kurzbard had let the team in the house.

"Annie Danzi. 30, single mom." Kurzbard told. "Was her child home?" Morgan asked. "Spicer's with him now." Kurzbard informed and Morgan walked in and Casey had decided to follow behind as well.

The young boy had been sitting at the kitchen table, holding a toy in his hand and not making eye contact with the people in front of him. Casey decides to sit in front of the boy and she introduced herself to him — in hopes of gaining trust with the young boy.

"What you got there?" Morgan asked the boy, trying to make conversation. "Is that a robot?" The boy looks at the toy. "It's a monster." Morgan looks at the boy. "Monster, huh? What's it doing?"
"It's protecting you, right?" Spicer asks, causing Casey and Morgan to glance up at him. "It's gonna make the man stay away." The boy replied.

"Did you happen to get a look at that man?" Morgan asks. "Or was it too dark under the bed?" Morgan and Casey give Spicer another look.

"He moved me to the closet," The boy said. "And my mom told me to close my eyes." Casey looks at the boy. "Would you mind showing me how you did that, Carter?" Casey asks and Carter puts his toy down and covers his face with both hands. "That's good, kid. That's really, really good." Morgan added.

"So you didn't see him at all?" Morgan asks. "Once that man left, what did you do? Did you get back under the bed?" Carter looks down at the table. "I didn't want to leave her."

"But you were scared, huh?" Casey guesses and Spicer kneels down and puts a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Hey, Carter, do you, um, do you have, like, a really cool backpack you could throw some things in to take over to your cousin's house?" Spicer asks and Carter nods, "It's in my room." Carter looks over at Casey. "Will you come with me?" Casey nods and looks at Morgan. "Yeah, of course." She says.

         Casey had helped the boy with packing and had joined Spicer and Morgan to drive the boy over to his aunt's house. The family had already been waiting outside for Carter as Casey walked him up to the porch.

         She could tell that Carter was becoming hesitant. "What if he comes back?" He asks. "He won't," Casey assures. "He can't hurt you again. We won't let him." She tells.

         "How do you know? You didn't find him." Carter responds. "You're right," Casey tells. "But we will." Carter looks up at the woman. "She should have known better."

         Casey gets down to his level. "Who? Your mom?" She asks. "She tried to fight him, but he had a gun. Why did she do that?" Carter asks.

        "Well, she needed to protect you, Carter. Sometimes, moms care more about their kids than themselves. And your mom was doing the right thing." Casey assured. Spicer had been behind Casey and nods to Carter. "The man who did this, he's very bad, okay? I'm going to find him. I promise." Carter nods to the man's words.

        As Carter went into his aunt's home, Spicer and Casey had gone down the car and Morgan had finished up a phone call with Prentiss. "Did you tell her that we're gonna need to talk to Carter again tomorrow?" Morgan asks.

       "Why would we?" Casey asked and Morgan looks at the girl. "We have psychological markers, things that could help him out." He told. "He won't remember anything." Spicer said. "But it could help him." Morgan pressured.

       "You want to make him relive it?" Casey questions. "If it will help us catch this guy, yes." Morgan tells. "I mean, you saw him. He feels helpless, weak. There's nothing he could have done about it, but he's gonna keep blaming himself." Spicer told.

        "You know, Carter didn't reveal that much. How come you know all this?" Morgan asked Spicer. He knew why Casey was handling it the way she was because she hadn't had functioning parents even before she was born, so he didn't question it.

        "'Cause when I was a kid, I lost my parents." Spicer revealed and both Morgan and Casey looked at him. "How?" Morgan asked. "Drunk driver." Spicer said.

         "And you were in the car?"
         "No."
         "You seem to have some insight, as if you witnessed it." Spicer opens the car door. "Maybe because I pictured it a thousand times."

After a discussion with Morgan and Spicer, the three headed back to the station. The unsub had struck again, this time, leaving a baby behind. The team, along with Spicer and Kurzbard had began to try and investigate the old crimes, to see if they could piece together anything.

       "He circled back to LA for a reason." Hotch stated. "The first two murders here in LA County were close by. Long Beach is on the cusp of LA and Orange Counties." Reid informed. "Let's look into that one." Rossi said.

       Reid, Casey and Morgan began to look through the files. "Home invasion. Husband was shot. Wife was left alive." Reid stated. "Sounds familiar." Rossi commented. "What's the next one?" Hotch asked.

       "After Long Beach, he went to Santa Monica." Morgan told and Casey had spotted something on the file in front of her that caused her to pause. "Wait a minute." Everyone looked at Casey. "Spicer, do you have family out there?" She asked.

        Spicer nodded, "Yeah, that's where I grew up." Casey read from the file in front of her. "Home invasion robbery, double homicide. Joe and Sylvia Spicer were killed." Spicer looked confused. "Those are my parents. It doesn't make any sense. Let me see that." Casey handed the man the file.

        Spicer read from the file. "They died in a car accident. A drunk driver." He told. "Who told you that?" Morgan asked. "My grandparents," Spicer said. "I remember my grandfather waking me up. I was sick the night they died. I had a fever. How would I not remember that happening to them?"

       "Maybe your grandparents never told you, Matt," Kurzbard told. "They were trying to protect you." Spicer looked at the man in disbelief. "They lied?"

       "You were the first child he left alive." Hotch told. "You've been all over the news." JJ said. "This guy knows who you are."

        Casey felt bad for Spicer. She knew what it was like to find out everything you've been told as a kid was a lie. Especially with something like this. Morgan had pulled Spicer into a different room and had a cognitive interview with him, finding out information he didn't know had been lost in his brain for years, now.

      Afterward, the two had come back in the room with the rest of the team. "Okay, why is he doing this?" Spicer asked. "He keeps a survivor so that they'll never forget him, but with you, it goes beyond that, because..." Reid said. "He believes he turned you into the city's hero." Emily finished.

       "If your parents weren't killed, you might not have become a detective." Rossi said. "Yeah, but how would he know that? It's not like he stayed in LA. He's been all over the country." Spicer told.
        "The press has talked about your history. He's not a part of it." JJ said. "And he wants that recognition." Casey added. "He wants everyone to know what he's done to you." Morgan stated.

        "How's he gonna do that?" Spicer asked. Hotch turned his attention towards Spicer's desk and to a picture frame of Spicer with a little girl. "Is that your daughter?" Spicer looks at the frame in front of him. "Where is she?"
        Spicer grabs his cell phone out of his pocket. "She's with my sister at my house."

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         Spicer's sister and daughter had gone missing from the home and he, Morgan and Casey had all been in a vehicle, on the phone with Emily and Hotch. "Ellie's gone. So is his sister." Morgan informed.

        "Are they on their way to the station?" Emily asked. "The car's still here and the power's cut, so the unsub was definitely here." Morgan told. "Where are you going?" Hotch asked.

        "We're gonna try his sister's place," Morgan said. "This guy needs privacy. He didn't leave them here for us to find, which means he took them somewhere."

        "What's her address?" Emily asked. "1720 Sheridan." Spicer answered. "Okay, we'll meet you there." Emily told. "Okay, good." Morgan hung up.

        "Do you think we're gonna find them there?" Casey asked and Morgan paused and began to think quickly. "You know what? We won't." Spicer looked at Morgan. "What?" He asked. "This is about you. There's no history at your sister's place. He probably took them to Santa Monica to your old house." Morgan answered.

        So, the three had gone down to Santa Monica. The blackouts were beginning and all of the lights were off. Morgan had tried to call for backup but the service was unavailable.

        Casey got out of the car, her vest tight and her gun in her hand as she followed Morgan and Matt. "Spicer, we really should be waiting for backup." Morgan advised but Matt didn't listen. "We don't have time. There's a door around back. I'll check that." Spicer split off. "Go with him." Morgan told Casey and she had nodded.

        The two had split off as soon as they got in the house. Casey couldn't see anything through the darkness. She squinted her eyes but couldn't find anything. Suddenly, she had heard a thud and the yells of a woman and a girl.

Casey had entered the room moments after Matt did. The unsub stood in front of them, he had Spicer's daughter in a chokehold. Matt's sister was on the bed, she looked beaten. Morgan was on the ground, in pain.

"Matt." Spicer's sister spoke. "Daddy, help." His daughter pleaded. "Drop it." Spicer said. "You first." The unsub growled. "Drop the gun!" Casey yelled.

Suddenly, the unsub aimed his gun at Casey and shot her in arm. Casey went down on the ground and the all-too familiar pain of being shot had come back. Casey landed on the ground and her gun felt ways from her on the ground. Casey gasped and looked at her arm. "Damn it." She muttered.

Lucky for her, the bullet had grazed her and it made a hole in wall she was standing near. But still, she was in a lot of pain. It felt like her arm was burning.

"You son of a bitch!" Morgan yelled. The unsub kicked Morgan in the face. "Please, Daddy, listen to him. Listen to him. Don't let him hurt me." Morgan sat up. "Spicer, don't do it. He doesn't kill children. You know that." Morgan states.

"You sure about that?" The unsub spoke. "Just put it down, Matt." Matt's sister told. "Put the gun down or she dies." The unsub threatened. "No, Matt, don't put it—" Casey grumbled in pain. "Don't put it down."

"Don't give in to him, man. He's not gonna hurt you unless you surrender. Don't do it." Morgan pleads. "Please. Daddy, Daddy, he's squeezing me. I can't... I can't breathe." Ellie begs. "Let her go, damn it!" Casey yells.

"Matt, he will... he will kill you... if you put that gun down." Casey said. "Look at him. He's nothing but a coward!" Morgan told. The unsub kicks Morgan once more.

Matt gave in. He tossed his gun to the side. "No, pick it up! Matt, pick it up!" Both Morgan and Casey begged.
The unsub let go of Ellie.

"On your knees." The unsub tells and Spicer is on his knees. "Don't do it!" Morgan said. "That's a good boy."The unsub growls. "Matt!" Kristin, Matt's sister, shouts. "Your sister grew up real pretty. Last time I saw her, she was just an itty-bitty thing. Not as good as your mom, though. She squirms too much." The unsub stated. "Go to hell." Kristin tells.

Spicer tried to run after him but the unsub knocked him down. "Spicer! Come on, man!" Morgan shouted. "Get up! Get up!" Spicer gets back on his knees. "You think they'll remember me now?" The unsub says. Ellie calls her father.

"You've destroyed me. Is that what you want to hear?" Matt told. "Well, it's... better." The unsub aims a gun at Spicer. "Promise me she'll be okay, Morgan." Spicer begs. The unsub looks at Morgan. "Go ahead, promise him."

Morgan shakes his head and a pause is left. "Do it and promise him!" Kristin yells. "Promise me, Morgan." Spicer says. "Okay, okay! I promise." Morgan says.

Spicer looks at his daughter. "I love you, Ellie." Kristin and Ellie yell as soon as the gunshot goes off.

Casey immediately looked away and sat near the bed. In a way, she just wanted to hide from the unsub. Her heart began to beat fast and Casey couldn't breathe.

"No! Spicer! What is wrong with you?!" Morgan yells and the unsub hits Morgan across the face once more. The unsub goes to the bed and takes Ellie and Kristin pleads for him to take her but the unsub has Ellie now.

The unsub covers Ellie's mouth as he speaks to Morgan. "I don't usually take much to kids. This one's... just... special." Casey heard the unsub say.

"We will find you, you sick son of a bitch." Morgan threatens. "Is that another promise?" The unsub chuckles sinisterly as he takes Ellie away. "Please! Please, help!" Ellie shouts. "Ellie! Oh, my god, Ellie, no!" Kristin sobs. "I will find you!"

Casey's panic attack worsens as Kristin pleads for her niece and the unsub is now gone.

oh my god we made it
it literally took half of a year but we made it
i think i started s5 like back in june of 2021 and now it's february of 2022 and i finally finished s5 lmaooo
can't wait for s6
it's gonna be a movie man i swear lmao
also
not me updating in the middle of the day i usually update at night lmaooo
-mya <3