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<p>"You're assuming the whole thing wasn't my idea in the first place," he</p><p>answered, not taking his eyes off the road.</p><p>Tara scoffed and rolled her eyes.</p><p>"Are you telling me that you were more obsessed with the Bradford case</p><p>than Garcia, who can't stand being defeated by a computer, and Reid, who</p><p>was clearly smitten with our only living victim?"</p><p>Rossi chuckled at this.</p><p>"I think you're perhaps underestimating just how much I hate it when an</p><p>unsub evades us, Tara. But you're right. It was Penelope who asked for my</p><p>help when she saw Sweeney and Newlands' names on Charlotte's list. If</p><p>there's one thing that I hate more than a serial killer at large, it’s when said</p><p>killer is a coward who hides behind a badge."</p><p>Monday</p><p>Emily waited less than fifteen minutes in the car to sigh and glance quickly</p><p>at Spencer over her shoulder.</p><p>"Come on, say it," she said, impatient.</p><p>Spencer, who had been fidgeting with a loose thread from his scarf ever</p><p>since they had left, rose his eyes to her face, startled.</p><p>"Say what?" He asked.</p><p>"Spencer, you insisted that this case is connected to the Bradford case. I</p><p>only pretended to not see what you were doing until now because the case</p><p>was closed, but now we might reopen it and I need you to say it."</p><p>"I have been in an intimate relationship with Professor Amélia Ferreira</p><p>since last year," he said in a single breath.</p><p>Emily let out a small disappointed sound and ran one of her hands on her</p><p>forehead.</p><p>"Damn it, Reid. God damn it! You… I should suspend you. I should report</p><p>you! When did this start? Was her case still open?"</p><p>He opened and closed his mouth a few times.</p><p>"Uh… Things… Happened… Well, they happened mostly after the case</p><p>was closed." His leg was bouncing like crazy with his anxiety.</p><p>"Mostly? Reid, I can't believe..." Emily started saying between her teeth</p><p>when the phone rang.</p><p>She shot a look at Reid before pressing the button on the car's panel to get</p><p>the call from Penelope, who’d already patched in the rest of the team.</p><p>"What's up, Garcia?" JJ said over the line.</p><p>"Greetings, all – your herald bears tidings. Although I wasn't able to find</p><p>anything connecting our men to any of the eleven missing girls, Natalya, or</p><p>Charlotte, besides them all being known patrons of the world's oldest</p><p>profession, I was able to connect them to Emma Sweeney. All of them, in</p><p>fact."</p><p>"This quickly?" Luke asked. Poor Luke, he still hadn't learned to not doubt</p><p>Penelope's skills.</p><p>Penelope snorted on the other side of the call.</p><p>"Oh ye, of little faith! Newbie, I am the Oracle of Quantico, the one who</p><p>knows all things!" She retorted.</p><p>"Garcia…" Emily decided to steer the conversation into a more productive</p><p>territory. She still wanted to grill Spencer. "What did you find out about</p><p>Emma and the men on Charlotte's list?"</p><p>"Ok, boss lady, ask and you shall receive. I found several pictures online of</p><p>all of them at Jim Ellison's New Year's Eve gala this year. Apparently, it was</p><p>huge and everyone who was someone in DC went to this thing. Still, there</p><p>are pictures of Emma and several of our gentlemen chatting together or, at</p><p>least, in the same vicinity. I already sent them all to your phones. I'll keep</p><p>digging, see if I can find any personal connection or, at least, something</p><p>juicier than this."</p><p>Emily stole a glance at Spencer at the corner of her eye. He was very quiet,</p><p>looking through the car window.</p><p>"Good. It's still not enough to connect Emma with the other girls besides</p><p>Reid's gut feeling, but it's a lead, nonetheless," Rossi said.</p><p>"Keep digging, Garcia. Call us if you find anything else," Emily spoke</p><p>again.</p><p>"Your wish is my command, my liege! Garcia, out!"</p><p>There was a period of silence in which Emily was thinking carefully about</p><p>the necessary next steps.</p><p>"Tell me about her." This definitely wasn't something a Unit Chief should</p><p>be saying.</p><p>She shouldn't ignore the fact that Reid had disobeyed her direct orders and</p><p>jeopardized a high-profile case if the news ever got out. But, at the same</p><p>time, she had known Spencer for ten years now and he had always been so</p><p>closed off and lonely, with that big heart of his full of affection with no one</p><p>to receive it.</p><p>He whipped his head so fast to look at her that his neck snapped.</p><p>"What do you mean?" He earnestly asked.</p><p>"You disobeyed my direct orders. You jeopardized a high-profile case. You</p><p>risked your career. You lied to your friends, Spencer, for months. Convince</p><p>me that you didn't just become someone else and do all of this just to have</p><p>sex with a victim."</p><p>Spencer made a choking sound that became a coughing fit upon hearing</p><p>Emily's words. Too bad for his sensibilities. She was disappointed and</p><p>frustrated with him.</p><p>"So, before I make a decision, tell me about her."</p><p>Spencer let out a long sigh.</p><p>"Did you know that she could have gone to college when she was 12, but</p><p>her parents didn't think she was mature enough for it yet?"</p><p>"I remember Penelope saying something like that when we were starting</p><p>Charlotte's case."</p><p>"And then she could have gone to any college of her choice when she was</p><p>15, but she took a whole year off to do non-profit work helping refugees?"</p><p>"No, I didn't know that."</p><p>"That day after you told her I wouldn't see her again, she showed up at my</p><p>apartment; she said we were kindred spirits... That I made her feel</p><p>understood. I had spent fifteen years reading about her in the newspapers</p><p>and wondering if she would be that for me. If we could be friends."</p><p>"And is she?"</p><p>"Yes and no. I… Everything is always so loud and so fast inside my head</p><p>and… And, with her… Speed is relative. If two bodies are moving at the</p><p>same speed, it doesn't matter if they are breaking the sound barrier. One is</p><p>always in the same place, relative to the other."</p><p>Emily nodded without saying anything.</p><p>"But it's not that simple. She's not a mirror of myself, I'm not that</p><p>narcissistic." He laughed, self-deprecating. "She dominates entire areas of</p><p>knowledge that I was never able to. She speaks nine languages and wants to</p><p>learn another one this year. Perhaps she could understand your jokes in</p><p>Arabic, I don't know. No. She's not a mirror. She's the road not taken, to me.</p><p>Several big and small differences that made us find each other, but we still</p><p>gravitate in different orbits and… And she pulls me… She..."</p><p>"Outside your comfort zone?"</p><p>"Yes. She made me watch Legally Blonde the other night and she forbade</p><p>me to comment on the inaccuracies in the due legal process because,</p><p>according to her, that's not important. The important thing is how Elle</p><p>learns to love herself for who she is. According to Amélia. The movie is</p><p>very inaccurate, though."</p><p>"So she makes you feel at ease with yourself, but she challenges you. That</p><p>sounds good, I mean, from what you have just said."</p><p>"It is good."</p><p>"I still haven't decided what I'll do about this." She said.</p><p>"I understand completely. I deserve whatever you decide."</p><p>"So you're not planning to break up with her any time soon?"</p><p>Spencer let out that self-deprecating laugh again.</p><p>"No. I would never be dumb enough to break up with her. However, she</p><p>may recover her senses at some point and realize that she can do a lot better</p><p>than me."</p><p>Monday</p><p>A weird sense of calm settled in his bones once Emily knew the truth. He</p><p>knew he could end up fired if Emily reported everything to IA, as she</p><p>should do if she followed protocol. This tiny thought in the back of his head</p><p>scared him, but not as much as he always thought it would.</p><p>Spencer never chose the FBI or the BAU. Like he hadn't chosen to go to</p><p>college at 12-years-old, or to take care of his mother since he was eight. As</p><p>with pretty much any major decision in his life, the BAU had happened to</p><p>him. His skills in storing facts and identifying patterns drew attention to</p><p>him when he still wasn't old enough to know what he wanted with his life,</p><p>besides not feeling adrift anymore. The FBI recruiter who</p><p>stealing booze from</p><p>my parents' cabinets. Refilling bottles with tea and water and waiting for the</p><p>moment when someone would scream at me, punish me… See me at some</p><p>moment. It was useless." She snorted and sat on her chair again, looking at</p><p>Spencer and feeling taken by a strange nostalgia for such a bleak time in her</p><p>life. "To add to all of this I was also taken by these unexplainable feelings</p><p>for some of my friends. Our relationships were all-consuming, intense, and</p><p>desperate. I would count the minutes during the weekends for when I would</p><p>go back to my all-girls catholic school again just so I could let them braid</p><p>my hair or show them the nihilistic love poems I would write to boys that,</p><p>to be honest, I found very boring. Heteronormativity, am I right?" She</p><p>raised her empty glass in a mockery of a toast and contemplated how bad it</p><p>would be to have a third drink.</p><p>"I'll drive you home," Spencer said, answering the question she didn't ask.</p><p>"I can bring you to work tomorrow too, you don't need to worry. Just</p><p>promise me you will have a bunch of water on the ride home today."</p><p>"You got yourself a deal, boy genius." Emily winked at him and got up to</p><p>get the bottle again. "So… Where was I? Ah, yes, I was telling you my</p><p>terrible tale of a highly privileged baby lesbian whose parents couldn't</p><p>bother with her." She poured herself a double since Spencer would drive her</p><p>home and she would have the morning off to nurse her hangover. "And then</p><p>I met Louis. His father was the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, his</p><p>mother was a huge commercial partner with the U.S. Their champagne is</p><p>kind of famous in some circles. He was seven years older than me and all</p><p>the girls in my school thought he was so charmant, so I was walking in the</p><p>clouds when he noticed me. I mean, he couldn't be more unappealing to me</p><p>by himself, but… He would come to pick me up after school on his bike</p><p>and we would ride around Paris. I was only fourteen, so this was… It was</p><p>great, for a while. Riding with him and my friends to the shore in the</p><p>Summer in his convertible… It was the 1980s in France, so no one asked</p><p>anything about a grown man hanging with a bunch of teenage kids. No one</p><p>thought it was weird that he gave us booze and would like to lie on the</p><p>beach with us in our bikinis. In hindsight, it was pretty obvious, huh?"</p><p>"You had no way to know." His voice was tense, harsh. She knew it wasn't</p><p>against her.</p><p>"I know. Thanks. No, I had no way to know, but I thought that I knew</p><p>everything. He would read Baudelaire with me and take me to the Père</p><p>Lachaise to look at the graves and found my goth aesthetic endearing. I felt</p><p>seen. Validated." It had been a while since she had taken a sip, so she drank</p><p>before getting to the last part. The worst part. "My mom threw a 15-year-</p><p>old birthday party for me, but she only invited the people she wanted there.</p><p>Only her friends and important peers. The only 'friend' I had there was</p><p>Louis and even him was too engrossed with the other adults to pay attention</p><p>to me. He had just started his diplomatic career and he would say he would</p><p>become Ambassador one day. Well, good for him, I guess."</p><p>They stayed in silence for a while. In all the languages Emily could speak</p><p>fluently, the words escaped her to describe exactly what had happened on</p><p>her birthday. It seemed so silly to say it like that out loud, like her most</p><p>hidden secret. And it was no big deal. It was nothing. Nothing had</p><p>happened. Not really. Who was she to call herself a victim?</p><p>"I drank a lot of champagne that day and didn't even bother to hide it. At</p><p>some point, I was so frustrated and angry at feeling invisible that I stole a</p><p>bottle and ran to the official residence's library to drink myself to oblivion</p><p>alone. I knew my mom would give me grief if she saw me climbing the</p><p>stairs to my room, so I thought the library would be safe." She snickered,</p><p>bitter, at the word. "I don't know how long he waited to follow me into the</p><p>room. He closed the door behind him and approached, talking to me like a</p><p>friend. Back then, I loved his secret name for me. I felt validated in my</p><p>rebellion when he called me a 'savage'. He took some sips from my bottle,</p><p>and told me we were sharing a secret. That he was enabling my bad</p><p>manners and that I hadn't thanked him properly for my birthday present. I</p><p>didn't understand at first. And then he pressed me against the bookshelves</p><p>and I could… I could feel him. The bottle fell on the ground and broke and</p><p>all I could think was 'my mom is going to kill me if I let champagne spill on</p><p>her books'."</p><p>She felt like she had run for hours when she stopped speaking and looked at</p><p>Spencer. His face was blurry. Emily touched her cheeks and realized she</p><p>had been crying. For how long?</p><p>"I said no. I remember having said no while he ruined my first kiss and</p><p>slipped his hand under my dress. And he… He laughed. He said I didn't</p><p>have to put up such a fight to defend my honor. He was a gentleman and</p><p>would never share what I had done with him in the library. What I had done</p><p>with him." Her voice broke and she hid her face in her arms.</p><p>"You're safe now, Emily." Spencer's voice came from closer than she had</p><p>expected.</p><p>When she raised her head, she saw that he was crouching near her chair,</p><p>without touching her.</p><p>"But Emma wasn't!" She choked out. "My father… My father opened the</p><p>door to the library and took me away from the party. I wasn't even</p><p>grounded, but we left France before Christmas and I knew… I knew it was</p><p>my fault!" Emily was openly crying now. "It's my fault! It's my fault!"</p><p>Unconsciously, she started to scratch her neck with her fingers. If she hadn't</p><p>already ruined her nails, there would be a trail of blood on her marble skin.</p><p>She only noticed what she was doing when Spencer held her hands and</p><p>pulled them away.</p><p>"If we met a young girl who never reported her abuser and she said the</p><p>same things you're saying to me now, would you tell her it was her fault that</p><p>other girls got hurt?" He asked, very seriously.</p><p>"That's not the same..." She complained, stubborn.</p><p>"If we met a young girl who never reported her abuser and she said the</p><p>same things you're saying to me now, would you tell her it was her fault that</p><p>other girls got hurt?" He repeated the question, unfazed.</p><p>"No," Emily grunted.</p><p>"Whose fault is it, then?"</p><p>This was probably the longest time that Spencer had ever taken the</p><p>initiative to hold her hands.</p><p>"Emily, whose fault is it?" He pressed her.</p><p>"His," she whispered.</p><p>"Yes, you're right. It's his fault. And I don't care if he has diplomatic</p><p>immunity, we're going to find a way to make Emma be the last girl this</p><p>creep has ever hurt, do you hear me?"</p><p>Emily nodded, feeling another wave of tears coming. Even though she</p><p>knew he didn't like physical demonstrations of affection, Spencer let her</p><p>hold his waist and cry on his shirt until she calmed down while he patted</p><p>the top of her head.</p><p>Mia was lying in bed, absorbed in her book and listening to her music when</p><p>she heard Spencer's steps in the living room. He had sent her a text letting</p><p>her know he would sleep there, but that he would have to go to a meeting</p><p>before going home. Apparently, his day had been pure hell.</p><p>Her day had been ok, as much as a day that starts with a funeral can be.</p><p>Matt and Becky had insisted that she grab lunch with them and Becky</p><p>couldn't stop talking about their costumes and how they were going as</p><p>Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Mia bit her tongue to swallow her remark</p><p>on the destiny of the characters they were choosing to hommage. Her own</p><p>costume was doing well. She had had a fitting that week and the designer, a</p><p>Guatemalan trans woman who had found her path to legal residency with</p><p>the help of No Borders a couple of years ago, was giving life to the vision</p><p>they had discussed. They had finally nailed the final details with the string</p><p>quartet that would open for Florence and The Machine playing orchestral</p><p>covers of pop songs, the Smithsonian had shown them their security scheme</p><p>for the</p><p>guests and the auction items... Everything was going smoothly. After</p><p>lunch, Mia drove to No Borders for a meeting with Daniel and Eleanor,</p><p>which ended up being more of a happy hour where Ellie shared her insanely</p><p>huge wedding plans with them.</p><p>Spencer grunted as he walked into the bedroom and let his body fall face</p><p>down on the bed. Mia closed her book and scooted closer to him, rubbing a</p><p>hand between his shoulder blades.</p><p>"That bad, huh?" She asked, gently.</p><p>He grunted again, this time in agreement. Mia kept petting him and making</p><p>shushing sounds for a while. Salem had left the extra pillow that he and</p><p>Spencer shared on Mia's bed and joined her on her mission to make the tall</p><p>blond gringo feel better. The cat walked on his back, spun in the same place</p><p>a few times, and settled on his lower back, purring.</p><p>"Why don't you go to the bathroom and take a long bath before coming to</p><p>bed?" Mia was now scratching his head as if he, too, was her cat.</p><p>"Can't. Salem," was his answer.</p><p>Mia laughed.</p><p>"Did you eat dinner?"</p><p>"Food is overrated," Spencer turned his head to the side to look at her with</p><p>his big hazel eyes, pleading like a puppy.</p><p>"Are you fishing to see if I'll spoil you today?" Mia asked, endeared.</p><p>"Perhaps..." He attempted to smile when she pushed his hair out of his face.</p><p>"Do you want me to order that chicken tikka masala and rice for you while</p><p>you're soaking in the tub?" She dove in quickly to kiss his brow.</p><p>His eyes fluttered close.</p><p>"Hm… Sounds perfect..." He said, dreamily.</p><p>Mia gave one more kiss on his face before getting up. She read some more</p><p>of her book while she waited for the food to arrive, determined in figuring</p><p>out what, after all, had happened to Rachel in "Everything I Never Told</p><p>You" and what would happen to her family. It was ironic that, even when</p><p>she was living the real-life version of such a horrible event, mystery novels</p><p>would still soothe her.</p><p>She was plating the food, after paying and generously tipping the delivery</p><p>guy, when Spencer embraced her by her waist. He rested his chin on her</p><p>shoulder and just pressed his body against her in silence while she kept</p><p>doing her task. Mia liked the smell of his shampoo and soap, which now he</p><p>would keep beside her things in her suite. When she had finished</p><p>assembling the table, she stopped walking and turned in his arms to hold</p><p>him back. His heartbeat soothed her more than any drug.</p><p>"I need to ask you to do something and you can't ask me why," he muttered</p><p>against her hair.</p><p>"I don't like this game, Spencer," she said, but her hands were drawing</p><p>circles on his lower back.</p><p>"It's really important, please."</p><p>"Fine. Ask me and I'll consider your request."</p><p>"You're so stubborn..." He grunted and squeezed her harder against his</p><p>torso. Mia let out a laugh. "No, I'm serious." He let go of her and took a step</p><p>back to look into her eyes. Mia did her best to look serious too. "Please, do</p><p>not go near Ambassador Duvivier again."</p><p>She frowned and let out a short laugh.</p><p>"What the hell, Spencer? Ambassador Duvivier will be at my gala, he's</p><p>friends with Matt. How am I supposed to avoid this man?"</p><p>He took a deep breath.</p><p>"Just… Just don't be alone with him then, Amélia."</p><p>"Wha..." She was blinking, confused, for an instant. "Wait a minute, are you</p><p>jealous or worried? Should I be worried?"</p><p>He let go of her shoulders and took another step back.</p><p>"Jealous? Why should I..."</p><p>"I don't know, you tell me. I just met this guy today, you watched the</p><p>situation in your 'official capacities'," she made air quotes to emphasize</p><p>what she was saying, "and now you come into my place demanding me to</p><p>not see him again? And saying I can't ask you questions?"</p><p>"I'm not jealous!" He said, defensively. "I was there in my official</p><p>capacities, you showed up out of nowhere, without even giving me a</p><p>warning, and, yes, I did see the way he touched you today, but this is not</p><p>what this is about."</p><p>"The way he touched me today?" Mia let out an angry laugh. "He's a handsy</p><p>creep, Spencer, I deal with dozens of men like this every day. I'm a big girl,</p><p>I don't need my cop boyfriend telling me who I can or can't be alone with."</p><p>She crossed the table and sat in front of the plate she had made for herself.</p><p>"Your food is getting cold."</p><p>"I'm not a cop," he said between his teeth, frustrated. "And he's not just a</p><p>handsy creep, Amélia!"</p><p>Mia let her fork fall on her plate with a clattering sound and her eyes shot</p><p>up to look at him.</p><p>"Is he…?" She asked.</p><p>"Please, don't ask me hard questions. Just… Just believe me and promise</p><p>you won't be alone with him, please," he said, in a pained tone.</p><p>"Fine," she said, at least. "I don't like this. I don't wanna keep playing this</p><p>game with you, but fine. This time I'll agree, for your peace of mind."</p><p>They ate in silence for a while until he spoke again.</p><p>"Thank you. For taking care of me and for listening to my seemingly absurd</p><p>request. Please, believe when I say that I'm not trying to control your life or</p><p>anything," he said, tired and apologetic.</p><p>"I do believe you," she whispered, surprised by the fact that this was the</p><p>truth.</p><p>They switched to a lighter conversation, discussing the latest books they</p><p>were reading and Mia's plans for the gala.</p><p>"I figured out a way you can go, if you want," she said, sheepishly, while</p><p>they were brushing their teeth before going to bed.</p><p>"To the party?" He asked, after rinsing his mouth. "Amélia, we really</p><p>shouldn't be seen together in public before this is over..."</p><p>She crossed her arms on her chest and raised her eyebrow at him.</p><p>"Do you want to go or not? Because I told you: I figured out a way."</p><p>"Fine, tell me your schemes then, Professor Ferreira," he laced his arms</p><p>around her waist and pulled her to walk entangled with him to the bed.</p><p>"The way you're saying it seems like I'm Professor Moriarty or something,"</p><p>Mia laughed.</p><p>"Yes, that's pretty much the idea." They fell together over the sheets and</p><p>Mia let out an even bigger laugh.</p><p>"I convinced Rebecca that it would be good publicity for her and Matt to</p><p>invite the whole team of agents who arrested the man who killed Charlie."</p><p>Her smile faded when she said the words out loud. It felt almost cheap to</p><p>use Charlie's death like this, to have her boyfriend with her. Manipulating</p><p>Becky didn't feel so bad as confessing it to Spencer. "Ugh, I'm a horrible</p><p>person," she whispered, hiding her face in his pj's shirt.</p><p>"No, you're not a horrible person. Why are you saying this?" He tried to</p><p>comfort her.</p><p>"Yes, I am. I have been finding excuses and more excuses to betray</p><p>everything that I believe in since Charlie died. I am becoming someone I</p><p>don't even recognize, with charity balls, ass kissing, and</p><p>manipulating people… What is this money doing to me?" She rolled on the</p><p>bed away from him, pulling the covers tight around her body.</p><p>"Hey, hey, Amélia. No shutting the other out, remember?" He pulled her</p><p>back to him again and she looked at his face, pouting. "You know you</p><p>don't have to keep this money, right? You don't have to be like those people</p><p>and live like them."</p><p>She ran her index finger over his arched brows and delicate nose, finding</p><p>out that the movement of tracing his almost androgynous features eased her</p><p>mind.</p><p>"I know. I still don't know what I want," she whispered. "Besides you. I</p><p>want you."</p><p>He smiled and kissed the corner of her mouth.</p><p>"Good, because I have no plans of leaving. And, answering your question,</p><p>yes, I would love to go to your party, sweetheart. And thank you for inviting</p><p>my friends too, even if it's with ulterior motives."</p><p>He kissed her fully on the lips and Mia, in spite of her decision to keep</p><p>pouting, felt herself melt against his touch.</p><p>"I'm really tired today," he said, pulling himself away from her.</p><p>As if he had summoned it, Mia yawned.</p><p>"To be completely honest? I am too," she said, feeling sluggish.</p><p>To her surprise, Spencer blushed deeply.</p><p>"I… I had a dream last night..." He said, avoiding her eyes. "Not today,</p><p>because I'm really tired, but, after today, I… Hm, there's a thing I wanted to</p><p>try."</p><p>"Oooh, is it a sex thing?" Mia asked, feeling herself becoming more awake</p><p>almost immediately. Spencer nodded, blushing even harder. "Vamos,</p><p>galego, say it!"</p><p>She rolled them on the bed, climbing on top of Spencer, curious. He cleared</p><p>his throat and averted his eyes, letting his fingers drum on her thighs for a</p><p>few seconds.</p><p>"We have… We have had, hm, moments where you take… Take the lead.</p><p>And we have never… never exactly discussed it..." Mia was endeared by</p><p>his embarrassed expression while he tried to articulate what he wanted. She</p><p>wasn't going to interrupt him, knowing how to express his desires was a</p><p>very important part of Spencer's personal journey and their own</p><p>relationship. "I… I really like it, when we roleplay." He cleaned his throat</p><p>and stayed in silence for a while.</p><p>"Spencer… You said you had a specific fantasy you wanted to try?" She</p><p>leaned in over him, softly kissing his jaw and caressing his shoulders.</p><p>"Y-yes. I do. I actually do. Promise you won't laugh?" He asked, worried.</p><p>"Babe, one day remind me to tell you all the weird sex things I have already</p><p>done in this life. But, yes, I do promise. I may not want to try it, but I won't</p><p>make fun of you, no matter what you say."</p><p>"OK," he took a deep breath and Mia just kept nuzzling his neck, trying to</p><p>comfort him, knowing that letting him not have eye contact was the best</p><p>policy for this. "I want you to tie me up and… and use me."</p><p>She quickly raised her head, very interested.</p><p>"Use you?" She asked, puzzled. He nodded vigorously. "As in: treat you</p><p>like my very submissive boy-toy who exists only to give me pleasure and is</p><p>basically a human dildo?"</p><p>"Yes," he said, in a strangled tone.</p><p>His fingers dug hard impressions on the muscles of her thighs and she felt a</p><p>very specific part of his anatomy twitch under her body. His pupils were</p><p>completely blown.</p><p>"Hard limits?" Mia asked.</p><p>"Uh… I don't want to feel any serious pain, not more than normal." His</p><p>eyes were roaming her face, and he seemed incredulous that she was</p><p>interested. "No… No excrements either. Or blood. And, uh… I… I don't…</p><p>Hm..." He closed his eyes and took another deep breath. "It's so stupid,</p><p>but… Can you… Can you praise me?"</p><p>"Oh, my dear, dear galego," she showered his face with kisses. "My pet, my</p><p>love. Of course, I can praise you. I know you will be so good to me."</p><p>He held her face in his hands and kissed her, running his tongue against</p><p>hers. Mia kissed him back, gently running her nails on his stomach under</p><p>his shirt, and squirmed against him when she felt his erection pressing</p><p>against her thigh. Mia then took a fistful of his hair by his nape and pulled</p><p>him away from her. His breath was shallow and his face was flushed.</p><p>"I remember someone saying they were very tired..." She tutted, wagging a</p><p>finger on his face.</p><p>"I now know the errors of my ways, Ames," he said and tried to kiss her</p><p>again, but Mia held him in place.</p><p>Spencer let out a whimper and relaxed against her hand.</p><p>"Good things come to those who wait." Just to torture him a little more, Mia</p><p>rubbed herself against him a little. Spencer bucked his hips to match her</p><p>pace and it took every ounce of her control to not rip his clothes then and</p><p>there. "Stop it immediately," she commanded.</p><p>He went still underneath her. Mia had a huge smile on her face to see her</p><p>big FBI boyfriend at her mercy. She tugged a little on his hair, just because</p><p>she could. She couldn't resist the temptation to press two fingers of hers</p><p>against his lips and relished with the surprise that Spencer gladly sucked</p><p>them.</p><p>"Tell me, pet," she started saying, with a sultry voice. "When you used this</p><p>pretty little mouth of yours to suck cock…" He moaned against her fingers,</p><p>still sucking her. "Were you a spitter?"</p><p>She took her spit-coated fingers out of his mouth and dragged them through</p><p>his chin, so he could speak. His eyes were dark and shiny when he looked at</p><p>her through his lashes.</p><p>"No, Mistress," he answered, reverently.</p><p>Mia's heart soared inside her chest with the spontaneous honorific.</p><p>"Good," she praised. "I don't intend to put a condom on you tomorrow, do</p><p>you have any objections?"</p><p>She could see that brilliant mind of his running the scenarios she had</p><p>imagined that could result from the combination of her last questions. His</p><p>cock got harder against her ass. Mia ignored it, even though she was</p><p>soaked.</p><p>"No, Mistress. Nothing to object to. My only wish is to serve you."</p><p>"Safe words?"</p><p>"Green, everything is alright. Yellow, slow down, or redirect. Red, stop</p><p>what you're doing. And 'Nevada', stop everything and go into aftercare," he</p><p>recited as if he had memorized from some BDSM manual. He probably</p><p>had.</p><p>"Neat. Good night, then, babe," Mia let go of his hair, kissed him briefly on</p><p>the lips, and got out of his lap, stretching to turn off the lights in the room,</p><p>and lay down on her side of the bed with her back turned to him.</p><p>"Wait, what? You can't leave me like this!" He complained, spooning her</p><p>and letting her feel his hard-on.</p><p>Mia theatrically yawned, stretched her arms, and gently patted his arm.</p><p>"I'm so, so tired now, my love. But, don't worry, if you behave tonight, you</p><p>will be thoroughly rewarded tomorrow."</p><p>Chapter End Notes</p><p>[1] "Long time no see! How are you doing? And your mother, is she</p><p>well?"</p><p>[2] "Such a shame. I never understood why people deprive themselves</p><p>of the little pleasures in life."</p><p>[3] "She reminded me of you, my little savage girl."</p><p>[4] "Like you, she always loved to have fun."</p><p>[5] "My little savage girl, you know that I don't need to answer that to</p><p>you."</p><p>[6] "Us meeting again in a library brings up some good memories,</p><p>doesn't it?"</p><p>Author's Notes:</p><p>This chapter was hard. It's shorter because it's more intense. At least it</p><p>felt like this to me. We don't know much about Emily's childhood and</p><p>teen years from canon, besides that she felt neglected and acted out in</p><p>response. This is usually a perfect storm for groomers and other</p><p>predators, like Louis.</p><p>If anything like this ever happened to you, you're not alone. It wasn't</p><p>your fault. If they harmed other people after or before hurting you, it's</p><p>also not your fault. I hope you can find people in your life that cherish</p><p>you, make you feel seen, and help you heal your wounds. It was not</p><p>your fault.</p><p>Also, on a more positive note, LESBIAN EMILY! I NEEDED TO</p><p>MAKE MY HEADCANON EXPLICIT HERE.</p><p>peace</p><p>Chapter Summary</p><p>“Gods often contradict</p><p>our fondest expectations.</p><p>What we anticipate</p><p>does not come to pass.</p><p>What we don't expect</p><p>some god finds a way to make it happen.</p><p>So with this story”</p><p>― Euripides, Medea</p><p>Chapter Notes</p><p>This chapter is named after Taylor Swift's song, peace", which is one</p><p>of Spencer and Amélia's songs, in my humble opinion as the author.</p><p>Enjoy.</p><p>See the end of the chapter for more notes</p><p>Amélia was determined to torture him. She dressed in a half buttoned-up</p><p>cardigan with nothing underneath it and tight leggings to parade around the</p><p>house all morning; letting him see the perfect shape of her round ass every</p><p>time she bent to get something from the floor ― so many things seemed to</p><p>have found their way to the floor that morning! Trying to stay in front of</p><p>her was not any easier, because, every time she bent or leaned over, Spencer</p><p>could see the hardened peaks of her breasts and her mischievous smile. She</p><p>knew very well what she was doing. Every time he tried to come closer to</p><p>her, she batted his hands away and said "patience is a virtue", with that tiny</p><p>finger of hers pointed at his face like he was some unruly schoolboy.</p><p>So he unsuccessfully tried to focus on helping her tidy the house that</p><p>morning, since he lived there more than half of the time these days. But</p><p>Amélia didn't want him to distract himself from her tease, so she</p><p>https://open.spotify.com/track/7MbT4I8qGntX4fMdqMQgke</p><p>"accidentally"</p><p>let another button open at some point and then another, until</p><p>there was only a solitary button keeping her cardigan in place. While</p><p>Spencer did the dishes, she found several things to get from the kitchen</p><p>cabinets. He didn't need to do the dishes, since Amélia had a dishwasher,</p><p>but he also knew that she had a thing about his arms when he did household</p><p>chores, so he was trying to give her a taste of her own medicine.</p><p>Unfortunately, his plan worked too well, because she found a cannabis</p><p>lollipop somewhere in her drawers and came back to the kitchen, sitting on</p><p>the counter with her legs wide open, and slowly sucking on her "grown-up</p><p>candy", as she called it. This was when Spencer decided it was too much for</p><p>him and ran to the shower, even though he didn't have to leave to pick</p><p>Emily up for work for another hour.</p><p>When he was almost out of the door, thinking he would be free of this</p><p>succubus he called "girlfriend", Amélia ― who was still relishing on her</p><p>lollipop, but now comfortably seated on the couch with her laptop on her</p><p>lap ― said, completely nonchalant:</p><p>"I'll buy you some lace underwear so you can go to work knowing you're</p><p>my little perfect slut, in the future."</p><p>Amélia's little stunt helped him take the day in a lighter way. He was, of</p><p>course, still shaken by everything that had happened in the past week and</p><p>the emotional wounds from the prior day were still very fresh. He still was</p><p>giving everything he could to find a way to catch Duvivier, but there was a</p><p>soft Spring breeze in the back of his thoughts that smelled sweet and citric</p><p>and spoke to him in a dazzling array of several different languages.</p><p>Emily entered his car wearing sunglasses and holding a huge thermos that</p><p>smelled like coffee. Her face was paler than usual.</p><p>"How are you holding up?" He asked, driving away.</p><p>She grunted and rested her head against the car window's cold glass.</p><p>"Never let me drink on an empty stomach again," she eventually mumbled.</p><p>"As if I could ever stop you from doing anything, Emily," he snorted.</p><p>"Spencer," she said, after a while. "Did you get a chance to log in Louis'</p><p>cigarette stub as evidence yesterday?"</p><p>"No, not yet. It's on my desk, I will go down to the lab as soon as we get</p><p>there today." He took a quick look at her. She was chewing on her cuticle.</p><p>"The Embassy grounds are outside of our jurisdiction," Emily said, very</p><p>slowly.</p><p>"That would be a problem, if I had taken it from the Embassy," Spencer</p><p>answered, cooly.</p><p>He knew what he was doing was less than legal the moment he decided to</p><p>get that stub. The reason why he hadn't gone to the lab on Friday was that</p><p>he needed time to think. From the corner of his eye, he saw Emily sitting</p><p>straighter.</p><p>"Spencer..." She started to warn him.</p><p>"Ambassador Duvivier smoked two cigarettes at the cemetery and four</p><p>cigarettes at the Sweeneys’ house. I got that stub from the Sweeneys’</p><p>frontyard." He saw her opening her mouth to say something, but he cut her</p><p>speech. "You didn't see me get that stub, Emily. You can say under oath that</p><p>I logged it in today and formally told you that I got it yesterday from the</p><p>ADIC Peter Sweeney's frontyard when we were on our way to the</p><p>Embassy."</p><p>"Spencer, I can't ask you to do this."</p><p>"You're not. And I'm not doing anything. That was what happened and that's</p><p>what I plan to tell every single person for the rest of my life."</p><p>"Thank you," she whispered.</p><p>"I'm not doing anything," he repeated, trying to also convince himself.</p><p>"Guys, I just got the weirdest call," JJ announced, entering the breakroom.</p><p>They were all sitting together drinking coffee and enjoying a quiet moment</p><p>from the frantic review of all the material they had gathered during that</p><p>week.</p><p>"Is everything alright?" Penelope asked, looking up from her tea mug. "Are</p><p>the boys ok?"</p><p>"Yeah, no. Everything is alright at home, Pen, no need to worry. Who called</p><p>me was Representative Bradford himself to say that we are all on his</p><p>guestlist for the Charlotte Bradford Foundation inaugural gala, on February</p><p>12!" JJ said, still shocked.</p><p>Spencer was pouring sugar into his coffee and didn't turn once JJ mentioned</p><p>Mathew Bradford so he wouldn't have to be too worried about his face.</p><p>"Oh my god!" Penelope gasped.</p><p>"But that’s less than a month from now!" Rossi complained. "Isn't this gala</p><p>supposed to be a masquerade or something?"</p><p>There was a long silence and, when Spencer turned around, six pairs of eyes</p><p>were drilling holes at him.</p><p>"What?" He asked.</p><p>"Come on, kid, don't play coy now. Didn't you tell your girlfriend that it's</p><p>rude to invite people to a party without giving them the time to prepare</p><p>properly?" Rossi crossed his arms at his chest.</p><p>"I have nothing to wear!" Tara exclaimed as if Spencer could fix her</p><p>problem.</p><p>Emily hid her face in her coffee cup, but the rest didn't avert their gaze.</p><p>Suddenly, his tie was too tight.</p><p>"I… Uh..." He was looking around, trying to think of something to say.</p><p>"Ok, that's it," JJ finally spoke, with her arms raised like she was placating</p><p>lions. Spencer relaxed a bit, she was going to save him from the</p><p>interrogation. "Now we need to schedule something for today, tomorrow</p><p>tops, and officially meet Professor Ferreira because this is just ridiculous."</p><p>"Wait, what?" Spencer felt all the color draining from his face. "No, I…</p><p>There's nothing… Emily!" He turned to look at her, seeking help.</p><p>"Oooh! I can't wait to finally meet her again!" Penelope clapped her hands</p><p>in excitement.</p><p>"Fine. Brunch at my house, tomorrow. Come hungry," Rossi proclaimed,</p><p>standing up. "JJ, bring the boys. Luke, bring the dog. Spencer, bring the</p><p>girlfriend."</p><p>While Rossi pointed his finger at Spencer, seriously, he was still trying to</p><p>look for help.</p><p>"No, guys, that's not..."</p><p>"Come on, Reid, we observe people for a living and the two of you haven't</p><p>exactly been discreet," Tara said, with a knowing smile on her lips.</p><p>"Relax, man, no one is going to rat you out." Luke had gotten up and</p><p>clapped a huge hand on Spencer's shoulder.</p><p>"I mean, I'm a little hurt that you didn't tell me, but I understand." JJ</p><p>shrugged, pushing a loose strand of her hair behind her ear.</p><p>"Fine… Fine… I… I'll talk to her..." He finally gave in.</p><p>"Great! Now I have something to look forward to while I deal with the DOJ</p><p>and the Ministry of Justice's liaisons to try to convince them that we need to</p><p>find a loophole that gives us the right to investigate an Ambassador for</p><p>murder," JJ celebrated.</p><p>"JJ, on that note," Emily said.</p><p>Now she can speak ― Spencer thought, bitter.</p><p>"I talked to one of my contacts from Interpol and they're very interested in</p><p>getting a sample of Duvivier's DNA to perform tests of their own." Her</p><p>voice was tired, strained. "It seems like he has been a suspect in several</p><p>rapes and assaults in France and Spain, but they have never gotten a sample</p><p>of his to compare with the physical evidence they have."</p><p>Penelope made a face of disgust and shivered, muttering "I'll never get used</p><p>to these things."</p><p>Spencer's gaze was glued to Emily's face, torn between the commitment to</p><p>not dishonor her trust and the concern for her state of mind, which clouded</p><p>his judgment.</p><p>"There's no way that Emma was his first kill," Rossi interjected, very</p><p>seriously. "Him being a serial rapist that has escalated to murder fits his</p><p>MO, but no one goes from not a killer to staging a corpse in a public place</p><p>with that level of skill without experimenting first."</p><p>"What was the profile of the women he raped in Europe?" Tara asked.</p><p>"They were mostly highly expensive escorts. It seems like Duvivier liked to</p><p>tie them and rough them up on a semi-regular basis, sometimes he got</p><p>too… excited and got carried away, which led the girls' pimps to let them go</p><p>to the police or the doctors to call the cops when they appeared in ERs."</p><p>Emily's face was a mask of professionalism, but the knuckles of the hand</p><p>she used to hold her coffee mug were white and her</p><p>posture was very stiff.</p><p>"Maybe he's the one who has been disappearing with the girls here, after</p><p>all," Luke said, sounding almost surprised.</p><p>"Maybe. Let's wait and see what DNA tells us," Emily said, ending the</p><p>conversation.</p><p>He had called Amélia to give her the news of Rossi's Sunday Brunch. She</p><p>had been surprisingly ok with the whole thing and agreed that it was best</p><p>for her to meet them before the gala anyway. At the end of the call, she</p><p>changed her tone entirely and told him that he should text or call her when</p><p>he got into his car before going home.</p><p>There was a note with his name and instructions glued to the door of her</p><p>place when he got out of the elevator. Reading them, Spencer felt really</p><p>grateful that Amélia's building only had one apartment per floor.</p><p>Spencer</p><p>Take off your clothes as soon as you get home</p><p>Come to the bedroom on your hands and knees</p><p>There are more surprises for you on the bed, pet</p><p>With his heart beating like a whole school marching band, he got inside.</p><p>The apartment was lit up with candlelight and everything just smelled so</p><p>much like her that Spencer wondered if she had sprayed perfume in the air</p><p>or something. His hands were shaking with excitement as he took off his tie</p><p>and unbuttoned his shirt. Where was Amélia?</p><p>His face burned as he crawled through the apartment's floor, but every</p><p>conquered inch through the hardwood made him feel less and less like an</p><p>FBI agent, a profiler, a Doctor, someone who was constantly in his mind</p><p>and constantly in fear of his own thoughts. He was safe , he was fulfilling</p><p>everything he ever wished to be: Amélia's pet.</p><p>When he got to the bedroom, he saw a phallic-shaped vibe on the bed, one</p><p>he had never seen before. Had Amélia bought it that day? The thought</p><p>made his chest soar with appreciation and love. On the vibe, another note</p><p>"Wear me."</p><p>As he sat on the bed to get the bottle of lube Amélia had left for him, he</p><p>saw a pair of padded cuffs tied up to the bed frame with another note stuck</p><p>to it "Put us on." So Amélia was heavily relying on his illusionist skills for</p><p>him to tie himself up? He looked around; she was nowhere to be seen yet.</p><p>A smile bloomed on her lips as soon as Mia entered her place after her yoga</p><p>class. Spencer's clothes were perfectly folded on the small corner table in</p><p>her hallway. If she had calculated the time correctly, he should have gotten</p><p>home more or less ten minutes before her. She took off her sneakers and</p><p>walked to the bedroom, not bothering to press pause on her music. It took</p><p>all of her self-control to not let her eyes linger on his naked and tied-up</p><p>body on her bed while she put away her yoga mat in her closet. He told her</p><p>he wanted to feel like her human dildo, so that was how she was going to</p><p>treat him and dildos don't get to complain if a girl wants to take a shower</p><p>before using them.</p><p>Just to drive him crazy, she stopped by the bed and took a good look at</p><p>him. His feet were planted on the bed and his legs were wide open. The</p><p>sparkly rhinestone on the end of the new remote control prostate stimulator</p><p>she had bought as soon as he left for work peeked adorably out of his ass.</p><p>His eyes were glued on her face, looking anxiously for her approval. She</p><p>pitied him and almost decided to give him a crumb of it, but then thought</p><p>better and decided that he would probably bask even more in it if he felt</p><p>like he had arned it. So, without saying a single word, Mia spun on her</p><p>heels and went to her shower. She almost laughed when she heard his tiny</p><p>restrained sound of disappointment.</p><p>Her initial plan was to take a long shower, perhaps deeply conditioning her</p><p>hair or something, but Spencer wasn't the only one who was getting affected</p><p>by her game of cat and mouse. Planning everything and imagining him</p><p>exactly where he was, now, completely at her mercy, left her unable to</p><p>focus on anything else since the prior night. Many times during that</p><p>morning, she was wondering if Spencer had any Dominant fiber in his body</p><p>and would get tired of her teasing him, maybe grab her by her arms and</p><p>ruthlessly fuck her over the kitchen counter. Alas, her beloved gringo was a</p><p>perfectly behaved sub, for better or for worse. Perhaps she could try to</p><p>convince him in the future to switch roles just to see how things would</p><p>go…</p><p>However, she wasn't complaining in any way as her current situation</p><p>provided her that amazing view of his lean muscular body restrained by her</p><p>old faithful cuffs and eagerly waiting for her. Mia walked to her closet</p><p>again, opened her toy drawer, and got the remote control from it, turning it</p><p>on a low frequency at first. The sound of his surprised gasp made her feel a</p><p>crazy rush of adrenaline and pleasure. She was still wearing her fluffy</p><p>bathrobe as she slowly approached the bed.</p><p>Mia made an approving sound of interest as she saw his breath change</p><p>patterns and his back arch as she increased the frequency on the toy. He</p><p>whimpered and thrashed his head on the pillow. His cock was getting harder</p><p>with each passing second. Mia's mouth watered.</p><p>"I was thinking, pet," she said, calmly. At the sound of her voice, Spencer</p><p>opened his eyes and whipped his head to look at her. "Although it was</p><p>adorable that you took the initiative to call me 'Mistress', last night, I don't</p><p>think I like it enough."</p><p>Mia was in character, but this was also a vulnerable moment for her. She</p><p>had never verbalized it, not like this.</p><p>"What..." He strained to speak, with his breath erratic. "What should I call</p><p>you, then?"</p><p>"Call me Sir. " She felt a blush spreading through her cheeks as soon as the</p><p>words left her mouth.</p><p>To her relief, Spencer's pupils seemed to blow up even more.</p><p>"Your wish is my command, Sir," he said and his voice was charged with</p><p>desire and understanding.</p><p>Mia definitely hadn't planned on kissing Spencer until the Scene was over,</p><p>but she couldn't resist the impulse of gratitude, joy, and endearment that</p><p>flushed through her, feeling validated in her complicated relationship with</p><p>sex and gender. She grabbed a fistful of his hair and kissed him, licking and</p><p>sucking on his bottom lip and tongue, trying to say all the things she had no</p><p>words for. He kissed her back with everything he had and Mia could feel</p><p>that he, too, was keeping her safe there.</p><p>She pulled herself away from him, took a deep breath, and went back into</p><p>character. It was very, very hard to do so, since Spencer looked at her with</p><p>those big puppy eyes and she was really tempted to give up and just make</p><p>love to him. No. He asked her to realize his fantasy. She promised she</p><p>would do it.</p><p>"You're such a good boy," she purred, letting her fingers trail on his abs, and</p><p>shamelessly ogling his hardened cock, already leaking seminal fluid for her.</p><p>"My favorite toy," Mia's fingers hovered over his erection, but she didn't</p><p>touch him. "Just so eager to do everything that I want, aren't you, my pet?"</p><p>She loved the way he whimpered before saying "Yes, Sir, anything, Sir."</p><p>"And why is that?" Mia rubbed her index finger on his glans, collecting a</p><p>drop of the iridescent fluid. She was still seated beside him, in her bathrobe,</p><p>not touching his body beyond her hand.</p><p>"B-because..." He stuttered when Mia slowly pumped his cock. "Because</p><p>you're everything," he whispered, reverently, and Mia let go of him to take</p><p>her precum-coated finger to his lips and smear it on him. Like the day</p><p>before, Spencer suckled on it, his eyes fluttering close with pleasure.</p><p>"Playtime is over," Mia said, taking her finger out of his mouth. For a</p><p>minute, he looked at her with pleading eyes, but then he saw her hands</p><p>untying her robe and something hungry flashed in his eyes.</p><p>Mia saw his impulse to fight the cuffs when she straddled him and sank</p><p>onto his length in one fluid movement. She grabbed the forgotten remote</p><p>control from the sheets and increased the pace of the device inside his body</p><p>to match the maddening movement of her hips on him. She could hear the</p><p>wet sounds of their flesh and the increasing moans</p><p>that Spencer made over</p><p>the sounds of her own raspy breath. She knew she wouldn't come as quickly</p><p>as he would, but that was also part of her plan.</p><p>"Please," he meowed when Mia clamped around him and fluttered her inner</p><p>walls. "Please, Sir..."</p><p>"Such a good, good boy," Mia praised, running her hands over his chest and</p><p>lightly scratching him. "Taking everything I give you so well, making me</p><p>so… Ah… So happy... " Her curls bounced around her face and Mia</p><p>regretted for a moment not having made a bun or a ponytail. She switched</p><p>the angle of her hips and, when his pelvic bone rubbed on her clit, Mia was</p><p>surprised with a small orgasm that covered her skin in goosebumps. "Ah..."</p><p>She almost laughed and she didn't even know why. "Meu galeguinho, your</p><p>cock is so good that I just came way earlier than I had planned!" She kept</p><p>fucking him, rubbing herself again and again on that spot so, so sweet</p><p>inside her.</p><p>"I'm… I'm..." He couldn't finish his sentence as his whole face spasmed and</p><p>his breath almost stopped.</p><p>Mia could feel his crazy heartbeat under her palms as Spencer flooded her</p><p>with his come. She lowered the frequency on the vibe inside him to almost</p><p>nothing and stopped moving, waiting for his breath to normalize. His face</p><p>was so relaxed and happy that Mia just turned the thing off and reached out</p><p>to uncuff him. His flaccid penis slid out of her with the movement and Mia</p><p>felt almost sad with the sudden feeling of emptiness. To her most absolute</p><p>surprise, as soon as he had his hands free, not only Spencer held her in</p><p>place but used the angle to his advantage to kiss her breasts. Worship them</p><p>seemed like a more appropriate word. He let his tongue run over her chest</p><p>and applied several wet kisses to the underside of her left breast, trailing the</p><p>letters of her tattoo, before catching its nipple between his lips and sucking</p><p>on her. Mia's hands went to his hair and she moaned loudly.</p><p>She was still so horny. Thank goodness that Spencer was still in the mood.</p><p>"What else had you planned for today, Sir?" He asked, with his face still</p><p>buried in her small breasts.</p><p>To be able to speak, Mia pulled him away from her by the hair on his nape</p><p>and looked at his face, so she could be sure of his answer.</p><p>"Are you hungry, pet?"</p><p>Realization dawned on his face and his breath hitched again.</p><p>"Yes, Sir," he whispered.</p><p>Mia let go of his hair and straddled his shoulders, resting her knees on the</p><p>pillow and supporting herself on the bed frame. She let him contemplate her</p><p>come-smeared pussy for a moment and then said:</p><p>"Eat me up, then."</p><p>Spencer's arms enveloped her thighs and he pulled her to his face, licking</p><p>his come from her inner thighs and her short trimmed hairs before licking a</p><p>stripe on her slit, with his flattened-out tongue. Mia let out a weakened</p><p>sound when he pressed his nose against her clit and prodded her abused</p><p>entrance with his tongue.</p><p>"That's… That's right," she said, feverishly. One of her hands let go of the</p><p>bed frame and she tangled her fingers in his overgrown hair, pushing him</p><p>even harder against her. "Eat every single drop with that pretty mouth of</p><p>yours or I will have to find another pet to play with."</p><p>Spencer growled with her threat and doubled his efforts, alternating</p><p>between sucking her clit and licking her hole. Mia started to move her hips</p><p>against his face. His fingers dug hard into her legs and Mia wondered if she</p><p>had hit a nerve or a kink. She decided to archive this information for later.</p><p>Especially because talking or thinking were tasks that got more difficult by</p><p>the second. She heard at the back of her head the sound of the lube bottle</p><p>being uncapped, but she was too busy fucking Spencer's face to care. And</p><p>then he used one of his beautiful and long fingers to smear the gel on her</p><p>asshole. When he gently pushed one inside, Mia was taken by shockwaves</p><p>of pleasure that rippled through her body one after the other until she</p><p>collapsed on top of him.</p><p>She felt as if her body was made of jelly as Spencer maneuvered her to lay</p><p>on the bed beside him and embraced her, enveloping her completely with</p><p>his long limbs as soon as he got rid of the toy that was inside him.</p><p>"That's wrong," she grunted, like a spoiled child. "It should be me taking</p><p>care of you now."</p><p>He shushed her and kissed her temple, pressing her even harder against</p><p>him.</p><p>"Who says that you aren't?" He whispered against her sweaty hair.</p><p>Mia adjusted herself better in the cocoon Spencer created for them under</p><p>the covers, rolling to the other side so she could embrace him back.</p><p>"Don't let me forget that I need to get up and take out my contacts in… Five</p><p>minutes," she asked.</p><p>"I won't," he promised.</p><p>"Did you like it?" Relaxed, she now felt the insecurity flooding her and her</p><p>mind started to second guess each and every choice she had made.</p><p>"Oh," he murmured before kissing her hair. Mia nuzzled her face against the</p><p>fine hairs of his chest, inhaling his smell, as Spencer started to run his hands</p><p>idly on her back. "Oh, yes. Yes. Very much."</p><p>"If you ever want to do it again, you can give me your notes and I can be</p><p>better, next time. If you ever want it to be a next time," she really didn't like</p><p>this whole performance anxiety she was feeling then.</p><p>"Ames?" He called.</p><p>"Hm?"</p><p>"I can write a report for you at some moment in the future, if this will ease</p><p>your mind, but not right now." His voice was soft and gentle and Mia let out</p><p>a sigh. "It was great, it was exactly what I wanted, I'm really happy right</p><p>now, can you believe me and let it go?"</p><p>"Yes..." She pouted.</p><p>"How are you feeling?"</p><p>"Weird," she confessed. "It… It was good too. Really good. And I think that</p><p>I'm a bit scared? I felt almost drunk at some moments. Knowing you were</p><p>trusting me so much was… A lot. It's a lot of responsibility."</p><p>"Thank you," he said, and kissed her forehead. "I do trust you, that much</p><p>and a lot more."</p><p>Mia smiled, fluttering her eyes close and basking in the happiness she felt.</p><p>"Now come on, you need to take your contacts out and we should brush our</p><p>teeth."</p><p>Amélia chose to wear a huge fisherman sweater over leggings to go to</p><p>Rossi's brunch, as if the heavy wool could be her safety blanket. She was</p><p>antsy and silent on the whole drive to his mansion, with the paper bag of</p><p>gifts to the host she insisted on taking with her. She made Spencer tell</p><p>several anecdotes about his friends to humanize them for her and make her</p><p>not so afraid.</p><p>Spencer really understood, then, that her hostility towards Law</p><p>Enforcement was actually deep-set horror, ingrained in every cell of her</p><p>body through generations of repeated violence and trauma. Like she had</p><p>been trying to tell him for several months, her reservations about meeting</p><p>his team in a social environment had very little to do with abstract</p><p>ideological positions ― although they were, of course, a part of it ― but,</p><p>instead, they were mostly about the way her own body tensed when she saw</p><p>the gun he carried when he was on the job and how the mere sound of</p><p>police sirens activated her gag reflex.</p><p>Her family never got to bury her grandfather. Her grandmother's life was</p><p>threatened when she asked what had happened to her husband. Her father</p><p>had been a child refugee. She had been treated like a terrorist and</p><p>threatened with prison and deportation when she was barely 18 years old by</p><p>the very institution he worked for. She had worked for the past ten years</p><p>helping people who saw the ugliest and most violent face of the Police</p><p>State. And, yet, there she was, seated beside him, promising to not let all of</p><p>this cloud her judgment, promising to believe when he told her these were</p><p>good people, these were his people.</p><p>He also had promised she could spend most of the meal interacting with</p><p>Roxy and Henry, as a way to try to placate her fears.</p><p>"When a clan brings their children to a meal, this means war is off the</p><p>table," she had said, as an answer to him.</p><p>"Of course, war is off the table, Amélia,"</p><p>he reinforced, stopping the car on</p><p>Rossi's driveway.</p><p>She gave him a sad and nervous smile before opening the car door. "You</p><p>don't get it," was what she meant by it, without saying any words.</p><p>Rossi opened the door before they even rang the bell, wearing a red apron</p><p>and a huge smile on his face.</p><p>"Ciao, Amélia, che piacere conoscerti finalmente!" He boasted and Spencer</p><p>was relieved when Amélia mustered a smile.</p><p>"Grazie mille per avermi invitato nella tua bellissima casa," [1] she</p><p>answered, offering him the bag in her hands.</p><p>"A gift? Didn't you tell her that you didn't need to bring anything, kid?"</p><p>Rossi turned to look at him, with the unopened bag in his hands. "Please,</p><p>come inside, it's too cold to keep the door opened."</p><p>"She wouldn't listen," Spencer said as they were ushered into the hall.</p><p>The house was warm and smelled of delicious food. In the living room,</p><p>Penelope had a mimosa glass in one hand and played tug-of-war with Roxy</p><p>with the other. Luke was making a plate of food from the beautifully set</p><p>table.</p><p>"Spence!" Penelope greeted him, happy.</p><p>"Sono brasiliana, mia madre non mi perdonerebbe mai se sapesse che non</p><p>l'ho davvero ringraziata per la sua ospitalità," [2] Spencer heard Amélia say</p><p>to Rossi, behind him.</p><p>He waved at Penelope, nervously, and she let go of the toy, running to greet</p><p>them.</p><p>"I knew you spoke Italian, but I had no idea you had perfetta dizione,"</p><p>Rossi praised her.</p><p>Spencer felt himself relax a little when he heard Amélia's genuine chuckle.</p><p>"Thank you very much. It was very useful in the year I studied at</p><p>l'Universitá di Bologna during my Ph.D."</p><p>Amélia laced her fingers with Spencer's and stopped beside him, he</p><p>squeezed her hand to reassure her and turned his face from Penelope to look</p><p>at hers. Amélia was smiling, but she was tense.</p><p>"Oh, hi, Penelope," Amélia greeted her, waving.</p><p>"Hi, Amélia! Can I call you Amélia?" Penelope asked, almost vibrating</p><p>with her restrained energy.</p><p>"Yes, that's ok. You can call me Amy too, if you find it easier to say,"</p><p>Amélia chuckled.</p><p>"It's so nice to officially meet you, in a better moment," Penelope's smile</p><p>could light up a room by itself and Spencer felt Amélia relax more beside</p><p>him. "How are you doing?"</p><p>"Huh, I'm ok, I guess. Kinda hungry," she answered.</p><p>Luke was sitting on the couch, plate in hand, and Roxy was lying at his feet</p><p>― with her chewing toy between her paws and looking sadly at Penelope,</p><p>who wasn't near her anymore. Spencer waved at him and he waved back,</p><p>with the hand he held his fork.</p><p>"Oh, there's a feast here today for you to choose from." Without any</p><p>warning, Penelope grabbed Amélia's hand and dragged her along to check</p><p>the table.</p><p>Amélia let go of his hand and didn't look back and Spencer felt something</p><p>warm flutter in his chest. Rossi joined them, thanking her for the very fancy</p><p>Brazilian coffee beans ― while Penelope and Amélia talked, he had opened</p><p>the bag Amélia gave him. Spencer wandered to Luke's side to say hello to</p><p>him and Roxy.</p><p>"So, you managed to convince her to come over," Luke said, after</p><p>swallowing a bite of the weird-looking casserole on his plate.</p><p>"She didn't need to be convinced, to be honest." He sat beside Luke,</p><p>realizing that this was the best advantage point to observe the whole room.</p><p>"I can hear you thinking," Spencer said, when Luke's silence was charged</p><p>with hundreds of unspoken things.</p><p>"Nah, man, I'm just enjoying Garcia's casserole and these mimosas. I'm the</p><p>new guy, I don't even have an opinion."</p><p>Before Spencer could ask anything, Amélia approached him with a cup of</p><p>coffee in her hands.</p><p>"Weren't you hungry?" He asked, accepting the cup she pushed into his</p><p>hands.</p><p>"I am, but I know that you also didn't eat anything today, so I'm seducing</p><p>you with coffee to come with me to make a plate for yourself," she said,</p><p>with a charming smile. "Oh, hi, Agent Alvez."</p><p>"I'm not on duty, Professor, you can call me Luke," he said, with a charming</p><p>smile.</p><p>Spencer saw Amélia biting her lip for a moment, considering her next</p><p>move.</p><p>"Sure, Luke," Amélia finally said, but her voice was chilly. "I am not</p><p>working either, so you can call me by my first name too. So, is this Roxy?"</p><p>She asked, changing entirely her tone and posture to look at the dog.</p><p>"Yup, this is my famous girl. She's friendly, if you want to pet her." He</p><p>leaned in, resting his elbows on his knees, still smiling.</p><p>Spencer wished he could know what was that shadow behind Amélia's eyes</p><p>every time she looked at Luke. It hadn't been there the first time he saw</p><p>them interacting. Still, she crouched in front of Roxy and offered her hand</p><p>for the dog to smell it. After a few intrigued instants, which Spencer</p><p>assumed probably had something to do with Salem's smell all over Amélia,</p><p>Roxy touched her snoot on Amélia's hand and bowed her head, so Amélia</p><p>would scratch her ears. The sound of her delighted laugh made him smile.</p><p>A car pulled up outside and, in a minute, Tara was in the house,</p><p>complaining about the cold rain outside. That was Amélia's cue to drag</p><p>Spencer to the table so they could eat and she could chat more with</p><p>Penelope. Tara eventually joined the women and Spencer at the table while</p><p>Rossi went to the lounge area to hang with Luke.</p><p>A half hour later, Emily arrived in sunglasses and in a somber mood.</p><p>Trusting that it was safe enough to leave Amélia alone with Penelope beside</p><p>her, Spencer got up from his seat.</p><p>"Please tell me you don't have a hangover," he said, very quietly, to Emily.</p><p>She was pouring a huge cup of coffee for herself, still wearing sunglasses</p><p>inside the house, and didn't even bother to raise her head to answer him.</p><p>"Good morning to you too, Spencer," she said, bitterly, mixing in cream and</p><p>sugar to her cup.</p><p>Penelope had been talking non-stop for a few minutes about her cat and Mia</p><p>gladly indulged her, sharing pictures of Salem from her phone. Doctor</p><p>Lewis ― Tara, everyone insisted on first names around there, had gotten up</p><p>after a while to join Rossi and Luke in the lounge. Spencer was still talking</p><p>to Agent Prentiss, who hadn't come near Mia since she had arrived, almost</p><p>twenty minutes ago. She liked Penelope and the food was amazing, so she</p><p>was doing fine on her own. Rossi pulled out all the tricks with the spread ―</p><p>they had bagels with lox, pancakes, french toast, an amazing frittata made</p><p>with Italian sausage and spinach, some pasta with mushrooms, an array of</p><p>fresh berries, mimosas, and, of course, the breakfast casserole with eggs,</p><p>sausage, biscuits, and gravy Penelope had brought with her.</p><p>The door opened one more time and a blond child came running down the</p><p>hallway until he was hugging Spencer's legs from behind.</p><p>"Uncle Spence!" The kid, Henry, screamed, not paying attention to anyone</p><p>else in the room.</p><p>Spencer's face changed completely from the somber expression he had until</p><p>then to the biggest and brightest smile Mia had even seen as he crouched to</p><p>pick Henry from the floor and raise him in the air, making the boy laugh.</p><p>Agent Jareau was right behind her son, with her husband beside her</p><p>carrying a blond baby in his arms.</p><p>"So sorry for the delay, guys, Michael was very fussy this morning," she</p><p>apologized to the room, not talking to anyone in particular.</p><p>Penelope excused herself from the conversation with Mia to go say hello to</p><p>them so she took the opportunity to get a glass of mimosa for herself. She</p><p>drank in silence, just enjoying seeing Spencer and Penelope playing with</p><p>the kids and Roxy, as most of the room was doing as well. Agent Jareau</p><p>came to the cart with the drinks too, served a glass of OJ for herself, and</p><p>stood in an uncomfortable silence beside Mia for a few moments.</p><p>"I'm JJ, I don't think we have been formally introduced yet," she spoke,</p><p>breaking the silence.</p><p>When Mia turned to look at her, she saw that JJ had offered her a hand to</p><p>shake.</p><p>"I'm Amy. Nice to meet you," she answered. JJ's handshake was brief and</p><p>firm.</p><p>“Cute</p><p>outfit. It’s such a choice to wear a bulky sweater when you’re so</p><p>petite. I could never pull it off,” JJ said, with a flash of a smile. Before Mia</p><p>could understand if JJ had insulted or complimented her, she asked: "You're</p><p>a Georgetown Professor now, right?"</p><p>"Yep," Mia answered, emphasizing the p. "I was formally hired in</p><p>November. Sociology department." She took another sip of her mimosa.</p><p>“Spence must love that. He loves to go full nerd. It’s sweet.” JJ was looking</p><p>very intently at Mia as she spoke.</p><p>Unconsciously, she pulled her sweater sleeves over her hands, trying to hide</p><p>herself.</p><p>"I suppose it is..." She muttered, not knowing what else to say.</p><p>“You don’t think it’s sweet when Spence gets nerdy? Because he gets nerdy</p><p>a lot. It’s definitely something you’ve gotta like if you’re going to be with</p><p>him!” JJ laughed as she spoke, but it wasn't a joke in which Mia was invited</p><p>to participate.</p><p>She probably should have gone to more sleepovers with other girls when</p><p>she was the age to do so, because she was completely lost. Spencer had</p><p>forgotten to tell her that JJ would speak to her mostly in girl, the only</p><p>language she was never able to understand.</p><p>"I mean, I have no idea what you're calling 'getting nerdy', but, huh, I guess</p><p>I'm a nerd too, so it's… Not like… It's not a one-sided dynamic." She</p><p>downed the contents of her glass, trying to think of a way to escape this</p><p>situation without offending Spencer's best friend.</p><p>"Aw, that's adorable," she cooed, lightly touching Mia's arm. "But, even if</p><p>you don't get him, you’re so pretty I’m not sure how Spence could get two</p><p>words out around you!" JJ laughed alone one more time. She let go of Mia's</p><p>arm and turned to replenish her glass. "I mean, he did pretty well with Lyla</p><p>Archer. Do you know her, the actress?"</p><p>Mia put her empty glass on the tray and said, her voice one octave higher</p><p>than usual: "Excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom."</p><p>Before JJ could say anything else, she almost ran away. She could not find a</p><p>bathroom, but she found Rossi's personal office and decided it would have</p><p>to make do. Mia walked to the window and rested her head against the cold</p><p>glass, trying to stop hyperventilating. She counted a tree, one pair of</p><p>curtains, one window panel, and a rug under her feet. She touched the</p><p>window glass, her sweater, her hair, and turned to touch the wooden table</p><p>behind her.</p><p>Then she realized she wasn't alone in the room.</p><p>Seated on a big armchair, with a glass of what seemed to be vodka in her</p><p>hands, was Agent Prentiss. Great, everything Mia needed in the middle of</p><p>an anxiety attack provoked by Agent Barbie was dealing with yet another</p><p>fed. In a house full of feds. How could she ever think this could possibly</p><p>work was now beyond her.</p><p>"Are you going to say something or just keep staring at me?" Agent Prentiss</p><p>asked, sounding between intrigued and annoyed.</p><p>"I… should go back to the living room," she finally mustered up the</p><p>courage to say.</p><p>Agent Prentiss took a long sip of her drink and pointed to another armchair</p><p>in front of her.</p><p>"Sit, Amélia," she said, in a commanding tone.</p><p>Usually, Mia would resist. Make a big scene. But she was exhausted.</p><p>Humans aren't designed to feel a lot of stress for a long period of time.</p><p>Eventually, the body decides it can't care anymore.</p><p>"Pour me one of those, then," Mia said, as she sat on the chair Prentiss had</p><p>pointed to.</p><p>The older woman chuckled and got up, picking up a second glass from the</p><p>small bar in the room.</p><p>"Vodka too?"</p><p>"I'm more of a whiskey on the rocks girl myself, but I'm not feeling picky</p><p>today," Mia answered.</p><p>Prentiss opened another door on the cabinet and retrieved a whiskey bottle</p><p>from it and poured it for Mia.</p><p>"No rocks today, though," Prentiss said as she offered Mia her glass.</p><p>Mia laughed against the rim of the glass, rejoicing in the smell of the amber</p><p>liquid inside.</p><p>"I wasn't aware that the lack of ice was a funny joke." Prentiss sat back in</p><p>the chair she had been seated in at first.</p><p>"It's not," Mia said, shrugging. The whiskey was smokey, velvety, and</p><p>utterly delicious on her tongue. "I was just thinking of how this day was</p><p>already hard as a bag of rocks by itself. This is also not funny. Forgive me,</p><p>it's probably the anxiety speaking."</p><p>They stayed in silence for a moment and then the two women started</p><p>laughing at the same time, almost hysterically.</p><p>"Cheers to days that feel like a bag of rocks," Prentiss leaned forward on</p><p>her chair, with her glass raised in a toast.</p><p>"Hear, hear," Mia answered, raising her glass too.</p><p>"It's not personal," Prentiss blurted out, all of a sudden.</p><p>Mia blinked a few times, confused.</p><p>"What is not personal?" She asked.</p><p>Prentiss made a large gesture with her hand, theatrically pointing at the wall</p><p>closer to the living room.</p><p>"The overbearingness. The way it feels like we're all scrutinizing everything</p><p>about you and archiving it for further analysis. How casually nosy we can</p><p>be. It's not personal. We're like that with everyone. That's how it's like to be</p><p>around profilers."</p><p>"Huh," Mia let out, inside her glass. She couldn't stop herself from raising</p><p>her eyebrows.</p><p>"What?" Prentiss asked, curious.</p><p>"You know that I'm a Social Scientist, right? I also study and analyze</p><p>people for a living. My Anthropologist friends are all just gossipers with</p><p>diplomas," Mia retorted.</p><p>Prentiss laughed.</p><p>"Gossipers with diplomas, that's a good one." She took another sip of her</p><p>glass. "What is it, then, if not the fact that you were in a room full of people</p><p>profiling you?"</p><p>A smile played on Mia's lips and, for a moment, she thought of challenging</p><p>Agent Prentiss to find it out by herself. However, that would probably be a</p><p>horrible idea. Even worse than hiding in the middle of a party with her</p><p>boyfriend's boss drinking stolen booze. So Mia shrugged and chewed on her</p><p>bottom lip instead.</p><p>"I mean, it is a lot, facing you all at once. It wouldn't be so much if you</p><p>weren't, you know..."</p><p>"Federal Agents?" Prentiss finished the sentence for her.</p><p>"Federal Agents," Mia agreed.</p><p>"No one here means you any harm, Amélia," she said, very seriously.</p><p>"We're just fiercely loyal to our own and Spencer is… He's special, to all of</p><p>us."</p><p>"Let me put it this way, Agent Prentiss," Mia felt the liquid courage</p><p>flooding her. "If Spencer wasn't really special to me and I wasn't really</p><p>serious about being with him, I wouldn't even consider being here today.</p><p>But here I am, because I know how important it is to him that I get along</p><p>with all of you."</p><p>A warm smile spread through Prentiss' handsome features.</p><p>"So we can't scare you?" She asked Mia.</p><p>Mia finished her drink and stood up, before answering.</p><p>"I never got the luxury to give up on things in life because they scared me.</p><p>Thank you for the drink."</p><p>Spencer had been trying to play it cool after he realized Amélia had been</p><p>gone for too long from the living room after talking to JJ. Henry rejoiced in</p><p>the opportunity of almost beating him in a card game. She eventually</p><p>rejoined the room, with her face slightly flushed, and sat beside him on the</p><p>coffee table, in front of Henry.</p><p>"What are you playing, guys?" She asked, pushing her knees under her</p><p>sweater.</p><p>"Go fish!" Henry answered. "Do you want to play too?"</p><p>"Can I?" Her voice was soft. "I don't want to get in the way. I can just sit</p><p>very quiet here instead."</p><p>Spencer wanted to touch her, rub her shoulders and comfort her, but he</p><p>couldn't move, too anxious about how Henry would react to her presence.</p><p>"Sure," the boy declared and pushed the deck of cards for Spencer to deal.</p><p>"Are you Uncle Spence's girlfriend?"</p><p>Spencer froze for a minute with the cards, but Amélia didn't bat an eye.</p><p>"Yes, I am."</p><p>"Are you my Aunt?" He asked, very enthralled by her answers.</p><p>Amélia gently laughed.</p><p>"I don't think so, Henry. We could be friends, though. That is, if you want."</p><p>Spencer focused on distributing</p><p>the cards and avoided looking at Henry or</p><p>Amélia's faces.</p><p>"Ok," was his simple answer, switching his focus to the cards in front of</p><p>him.</p><p>It was Amélia who found his hand first under the table and squeezed it. He</p><p>raised his head to face her and she was smiling.</p><p>The rain poured outside by the end of the afternoon and Spencer</p><p>volunteered to help Will take the kids' things to the car while JJ got the boys</p><p>ready. Before Mia knew it, she had Michael in her arms while JJ put a coat</p><p>on Henry. Having finished with her task, JJ got up and stood awkwardly</p><p>beside Mia, waiting for Will and Spencer to come back.</p><p>"Listen," she said, coming closer to Mia with the excuse to adjust Michael's</p><p>clothes. "I think we started on the wrong foot."</p><p>"You think?" Mia kept her tone gentle, since she had no intention to startle</p><p>the kids or make herself the villain in this story.</p><p>It was a slippery slope, when dealing with a white woman, to very quickly</p><p>be perceived as angry and loud.</p><p>"I… Spencer is like the baby brother I've never had," JJ muttered. "It's very</p><p>easy for me to be blinded by my impulse to protect him."</p><p>"Your mommy says the funniest things, doesn't she, Michael?" Mia cooed</p><p>to the baby in her arms, tickling his soft belly and making him giggle. "She</p><p>talks about your uncle Spencer as if he was a teenager, and not a 35-year-</p><p>old man."</p><p>"Fair enough," JJ exhaled and took the baby from Mia, hugging him and</p><p>kissing his cheek. "We don't need to be friends, but I think that, for Spence's</p><p>sake, it would be nice if we tried."</p><p>Mia raised an eyebrow at her.</p><p>"I have been nothing but friendly with you and your lovely family, JJ."</p><p>The blonde agent took a quick look at her, getting Henry's hand to walk out</p><p>with him.</p><p>"I know. I'm sorry. Thank you for your help with my kids today and… For</p><p>the invitations to the gala."</p><p>The door opened and a semi-soaked Spencer got inside with an umbrella in</p><p>hand. He absorbed the scene in front of him for an instant ― JJ looking</p><p>uncomfortable, Mia with her arms folded on her chest ― before he</p><p>crouched on the floor, with his back turned to Henry.</p><p>"Hop on, monkey, we're taking mommy and Michael to the car together."</p><p>"I wanna hold the umbrella! Can I hold the umbrella, uncle?!" Henry,</p><p>oblivious to the scene that had unfolded before his eyes a few moments</p><p>before, gleefully climbed on Spencer's back like a spider monkey.</p><p>"I don't think so, buddy, it's too cold to risk your brother getting wet. Maybe</p><p>in the Spring," Spencer said, apologetically.</p><p>"Awww..." With Henry's complaint, they went out of the door and Mia bore</p><p>the wind for a moment, watching how perfect they all looked together.</p><p>Like a picture of the American dream ― two big houses with white picket</p><p>fences and conjoined yards, Summer barbecues, playing catch on the grass,</p><p>and blond heads all around. Mia felt her heart tugging painfully inside her</p><p>chest.</p><p>There was no place for her in that portrait.</p><p>Chapter End Notes</p><p>[1] "Hi, Amélia, how nice it is to finally meet you!"</p><p>"Thank you so much for having invited me to your beautiful house"</p><p>[2] "I'm Brazilian, my mom would never forgive me if she knew I was</p><p>ungrateful to your hospitality."</p><p>JJ is an ex mean girl, as we well know, and very overbearing with</p><p>Spencer, so it was kind of expected that she would be slightly Regina</p><p>George-y upon knowing Mia. But we all know and love her and she</p><p>means well and will behave in the future.</p><p>Of course our queer gals would have a moment of understanding of</p><p>their own, hiding from The Straight�s(TM) in Rossi's office (that's</p><p>not what this scene was, but it also wasn't what this scene was).</p><p>I'm hoping to hear from you folks again in the comments! How do you</p><p>think the story is going? Do you think they will get Louis? The Gala is</p><p>approaching (NEXT CHAPTER FOR REAL NOW FOLKS) and that</p><p>means the story is coming to its final part.......... TAN TAN TAN</p><p>offer me that deathless death</p><p>Chapter Summary</p><p>And Venus' son replied: "Your bow, Apollo,</p><p>May vanquish all, but mine shall vanquish you.</p><p>As every creature yields to power divine,</p><p>So likewise shall your glory yield to mine.”</p><p>― Ovid, Metamorphoses</p><p>Chapter Notes</p><p>See the end of the chapter for notes</p><p>Succinct. Amélia was never succinct about anything. Her Ph.D. thesis had</p><p>300 pages ― not counting the references and the three annexed chapters ―</p><p>and she was able to blurt out unprompted speeches about anything at any</p><p>given moment. Once, she spoke for over half an hour about her</p><p>disappointment in BBC's Sherloc adaptation, its infidelity to the original</p><p>material, and how much she abhorred the practice of queer baiting on</p><p>contemporary TV just because she happened to see a random tweet about</p><p>the show. She went on by adding how it was just typical of Stephen fucking</p><p>Moffat and Spencer shouldn't even let her get started on how he had ruined</p><p>Doctor Who. Spencer loved to be her captive audience. It was comforting</p><p>because she also enjoyed listening and interacting with his own obsessive</p><p>ramblings and, when they shared a passion ― such as Doctor Who and Star</p><p>Trek ― they could spend hours dissecting it.</p><p>Therefore, when she answered his question about what she had thought of</p><p>their Sunday with "It was fun," Spencer knew something was wrong.</p><p>However, she dodged his attempts at questioning with a considerable</p><p>volume of students' essays to grade and the need to call Rebecca Bradford</p><p>about something regarding the gala.</p><p>He left her house for work early in the morning ― decided to investigate</p><p>what had happened to Amélia during the brunch that he had missed by</p><p>questioning his friends instead.</p><p>The lasagna was almost ready. Just five more minutes or so for the cheese</p><p>to gratin properly and it would be ready to serve. Mia was anxious and she</p><p>had decided to bake a lasagna bolognese with the recipe she had learned</p><p>from her roommate during her year in Italy. She hadn't been able to stop</p><p>cleaning and tidying her apartment ever since she came home from therapy.</p><p>It had been one of those sessions ― the ones that left her with more</p><p>questions than answers and she had learned, after many years of dealing</p><p>with her overactive mind and chronic anxiety that trying to answer them too</p><p>quickly was always a mistake.</p><p>She should, instead, find things to occupy herself with. When she was</p><p>forced to stop and contemplate, Mia imagined she was seated on Tio</p><p>Juliano's surfboard with him on the ocean, watching and waiting… Waiting</p><p>for the right wave to come. She could smell the salty spray in the air, feel</p><p>the cold Atlantic currents chilling her feet and the sun on her back, and</p><p>waited. Instead of an unnamed monster, her anxiety was the perfect wave</p><p>she would ride when it came. Like surfing, she only needed perspective.</p><p>That was the reason why, as the minutes passed, Mia got more and more</p><p>anxious waiting for Spencer to arrive. He had asked to come to her place</p><p>again and she couldn't say no. Not by phone.</p><p>She had eaten two pieces of the lasagna and was contemplating putting the</p><p>rest away in the fridge when his keys turned in her lock. Mia almost jumped</p><p>from the chair, feeling her heartbeat against her throat, waiting for him to</p><p>get to the living room.</p><p>"Hey, this smells delicious," he said and bent over to kiss her cheek before</p><p>sitting in front of the plate she had separated for him on the table.</p><p>"How was your day?" She asked as he served himself a piece of the</p><p>lasagna.</p><p>"Exhausting. A lot of paperwork and research. Yours?"</p><p>She reached out to push his dark blond hair behind his ear, just because she</p><p>could, and she felt an urge to smile and cry at the same time.</p><p>"Pretty much the same. I had therapy today."</p><p>His eyes fluttered close as he took the first bite of the food.</p><p>"Ames, this is delicious." He chewed in silence for a moment. "How was</p><p>therapy?"</p><p>"It's because the sauce cooks for five hours, it curates the flavors together.</p><p>Therapy was… Hard."</p><p>"Hard? How so?" He looked puzzled and worried.</p><p>Mia pushed her glasses higher on</p><p>her nose and massaged her neck, which</p><p>suddenly felt very stiff.</p><p>"We can talk about it after you eat. I'll put my plate in the dishwasher."</p><p>Before he could protest, Mia got up from her seat.</p><p>Mia watched him eat from the small kitchen, too nervous to sit beside him</p><p>again. Spencer kept eating, even though she could see that his shoulders</p><p>were tenser than when he started.</p><p>"Ok, Amélia, I am done. What's going on?" He asked, leaning in on his seat</p><p>and crossing his fingers under his chin.</p><p>"I need perspective," she said, her voice so low that it was almost a whisper.</p><p>She slowly walked to the table and sat beside him, looking at his profile.</p><p>Mia wanted to touch his face again. But she felt like she couldn't.</p><p>"Perspective?" Spencer turned his face to look at hers, worried.</p><p>"My life… Changed so much so quickly. It's still changing. And I…</p><p>Before… Before Charlie was gone, my career was skating on thin ice and I</p><p>was working in therapy other possible paths and dreams for me. I was</p><p>thinking a lot about going back to Brazil. Perhaps teaching in schools there.</p><p>How it would be if I wasn't a foreigner all the time anymore, although I</p><p>suppose I have been here so long that I would probably be a foreigner there</p><p>as well. Anyway, I'm rambling." She pushed her glasses against her face</p><p>again. "I have no idea what I'm doing with my life, Spencer."</p><p>She could see the pain and the anxiety in his eyes. Mia wanted to smooth</p><p>the worrying line between his eyebrows with her index finger. She</p><p>shouldn't. She shouldn't touch him now. He licked his lips before speaking.</p><p>"And you need perspective," he said, very slowly.</p><p>"Yes," she whispered.</p><p>"What does that mean?" His voice was slightly strangled.</p><p>"I need space." She was trying not to cry.</p><p>He broke eye contact to look at her hands. Amélia was fidgeting with the</p><p>hem of her sweater.</p><p>"Are we… Are you breaking up with me?" It was his time to whisper.</p><p>"No!" She almost held his arm, but she thought better and recoiled her</p><p>hand.</p><p>"Then what… What do you want, Amélia?" His voice was trembling and it</p><p>took all that she had to not change her mind, to not give up on the plan she</p><p>had agreed upon with Doctor Beatrice.</p><p>"When you're around..." She sought out the courage to say the words she</p><p>had elaborated in therapy. "I'm completely taken by my desire for you, by</p><p>my desire to always please you and make you happy, and be with you.</p><p>And… And when I am alone, I'm taken by these humongous questions</p><p>about myself that almost suffocate me. I need to spend more time alone to</p><p>be able to come to any kind of conclusion." She took his hand in hers,</p><p>trying to convey her love with the touch, and calm him and herself. "I need</p><p>to know what I want for my own life to be able to even have something to</p><p>offer to you, Spencer."</p><p>"You don't need to offer me anything else besides you, Amélia," he said,</p><p>still not looking up from her hand.</p><p>"No, but I do. We're not teens, Spencer, and neither of us is toying with the</p><p>other here. Yesterday… Yesterday I saw you with your friends, with Henry,</p><p>and I felt..." She took a shaky breath before saying the last part out loud. "I</p><p>felt like I didn't belong there."</p><p>"Amélia..." He raised his head, his hazel eyes shining with tears unshed.</p><p>"That's not true..."</p><p>"I'm not talking about true or not, I'm talking about how I feel. And I</p><p>realized that we haven't talked about the future yet so I could know if your</p><p>vision can fit with mine… But how can I ask you this if I have no idea what</p><p>I want for my future, for starters?" She squeezed his hand and gave him a</p><p>sad smile.</p><p>"Can't we go on figuring it out together?" He pleaded.</p><p>Mia shook her head in denial.</p><p>"I'm not an easy-breezy kind of girl and neither are you this guy. And I'm</p><p>talking about major doubts, Spencer. I don't even know if I want to be a</p><p>Professor anymore. I don't know if I want to keep living in this country!"</p><p>She let out a nervous laugh. "And I need… I need to take a moment and just</p><p>breathe. I asked Daniel to spend less time at No Borders and will focus just</p><p>on my obligations to Georgetown and finishing up the gala for this month.</p><p>And… And in riding this wave that's approaching me, Spencer. And I need</p><p>to do it by myself, just for a minute."</p><p>"A month?" He asked, incredulous.</p><p>"We don't need to cut contact completely, just… Just slow down. A lot. See</p><p>each other less. Not have this… This almost married life that we have been</p><p>living since I moved in here." She gestured at the room around them,</p><p>anxious.</p><p>"And do I get a say in this at all? Or am I just supposed to say 'yes, Sir', like</p><p>a good boy?" He lashed out, getting up from the table and taking the plate</p><p>and the Pyrex with the lasagna with him.</p><p>"Spencer, don't," Mia said, coldly. "You don't get to ask me to do those</p><p>things and throw them on my face when you're upset with me."</p><p>"And you don't get to make major decisions about us alone!" He forcibly</p><p>closed the dishwasher after putting his plate inside it.</p><p>"I am not! I'm asking you, please, to understand that my life is insane and I</p><p>feel like a mess and I need time to understand what the fuck am I doing</p><p>because I can barely recognize myself anymore!" She cried out.</p><p>"Fine. Do you want time alone? Great. Have all the alone time you need in</p><p>the world. I'm going home tonight. Call me when you find out what you</p><p>want from me." He walked to the door, getting his coat and his wallet. He</p><p>stood in the small hallway for a moment, toying with the keys of her house</p><p>in his big hands. "I won't wait forever, Amélia."</p><p>She bit her lower lip, hard, to stop herself from crying.</p><p>"Do you want me to only seek you again when I have things more figured</p><p>out?" She asked and her voice was shaking.</p><p>"Honestly? I wanted to take a shower, talk about nothing with you until we</p><p>got sleepy, and go to bed. That's what I wanted when I got inside your</p><p>apartment tonight. But you're right, we both need to think about what we're</p><p>doing. So it would be nice if you didn't just decide to waltz into my life the</p><p>next time you want someone to fuck, but actually knew what you want."</p><p>Mia nodded, feeling her eyes burning.</p><p>"Yes, I will. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Spencer."</p><p>JJ tried to comfort him and say everything would be ok between them in the</p><p>end, but Spencer wasn't so sure. Perhaps Amélia's feelings for him had only</p><p>been a case of transference and meeting his friends all at once had shocked</p><p>her back to her senses. When a week passed and she didn't send him a</p><p>single text, he decided to block his feelings away and just throw himself</p><p>into work. He went to dinner a few times at JJ's after work and tried to keep</p><p>an eye on Emily as well, although she was determined to drown her sorrows</p><p>alone. JJ insisted that she, too, had been very guarded with Will at first and</p><p>this wasn't a sign of Amélia's lack of feelings for him, but, instead, that she</p><p>was indeed taking their relationship with the needed weight.</p><p>Ten days passed, and then two weeks. Spencer was seriously contemplating</p><p>not going to go to her ball at all. And to never again let anyone come near</p><p>him. What good could come from this? From opening up and loving</p><p>someone just to having your feelings trampled in front of your eyes. It was</p><p>surprising, really, how JJ was the one to stay more firmly in Amélia's corner</p><p>and repeat again and again that Spencer should be patient and mindful of</p><p>her needs. Especially considering what he had learned from the "talk" both</p><p>women had at Rossi's brunch, he was expecting that JJ would try to use this</p><p>opportunity to convince him that he could do better. Instead, she was taken</p><p>by this weird position of solidarity towards Amélia the colder Emma's case</p><p>grew before their eyes.</p><p>Ambassador Duvivier's DNA came back positive for the samples Interpol</p><p>had collected through the years of his violent and erratic behavior on the old</p><p>continent and, now, the DOJ and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were in a</p><p>political and legal battle with the French government as to what</p><p>approached him</p><p>at a chess tournament before his 18th birthday told him that he could use his</p><p>skills for the greater good. To make the country safe and the world a better</p><p>place. So he went along. He was sent straight to the BAU after graduating</p><p>from the Academy and having a father figure in Gideon was an extra perk</p><p>for him. He could finally feel like he belonged to something.</p><p>Still. Being comfortable living out the fate the Oracle prophesied for you</p><p>isn't the same as forging your own path. It isn't the same as free will.</p><p>It had been ten years and he would still wake up every morning and set out</p><p>to do the only thing that he ever thought he could. But Amélia also shook</p><p>this certainty within. When he told Emily she was the road not traveled, he</p><p>didn't mean it only about comparing his own past to hers.</p><p>He meant about all the possibilities of a future he had never considered</p><p>before. Amélia said to him once that her steadfast pace felt to her like the</p><p>magic fig tree Sylvia Plath described in The Bell Jar [5]. Only, instead of</p><p>sitting under the fig tree and contemplating her infinite possible futures</p><p>going spoiled and exploding on the ground around her, Amélia kept</p><p>marching forward trying to ignore them. She, too, had never really stopped</p><p>to ask herself what she would want to be. In her case, she told him she often</p><p>wondered if her life was hers or what her parents had envisioned for her,</p><p>many decades ago.</p><p>The maid who had welcomed them at the front door of Judge Larsen's</p><p>house now opened the door to his study. Larsen was seated on a large</p><p>leather armchair, dictating something to his wife, who was quickly typing it</p><p>on his personal computer on the big work desk. They both stopped when</p><p>Emily and Spencer entered the room.</p><p>"Good afternoon, Agent Prentiss, Doctor Reid. To what do we owe the</p><p>pleasure of your visit?" Mrs. Ingrid Larsen stood up to greet them with a</p><p>polite smile on her face.</p><p>Ingrid Larsen was a tall and slender woman in her forties, dressed in a</p><p>comfortable but sober manner. She had a BA in Art History from Brown,</p><p>but had married Ian right after college and never formally worked a day in</p><p>her life. Ingrid came from an old Midwestern family and had a large trust</p><p>fund in her name.</p><p>Ian Larsen was a tall man, even seated in his armchair with a knitted</p><p>blanket over his legs, Spencer could see that he dominated a whole room</p><p>with his presence. He had a salt-and-pepper thick beard that matched his</p><p>hair and made his eyes look even more impossibly blue behind his glasses.</p><p>"Good afternoon, Mrs. Larsen, Judge," Emily said. "We're working on the</p><p>case of Emma Sweeney's death and we're interviewing everyone who was</p><p>in contact with her at the New Year's Eve party."</p><p>"The party? But that was two weeks before she disappeared," Mrs. Larsen</p><p>said, sounding puzzled. She had crossed the room and was standing beside</p><p>the Judge's armchair.</p><p>Her husband rested a hand over hers, gently.</p><p>"I'm sure they're just trying to be thorough, Ingrid," the Judge said, speaking</p><p>softly. "I don't mind talking with you about the party, agents. I don't know if</p><p>I'll have much to say, though. Ingrid and I are friends with the Sweeney</p><p>family, but we were at different tables during Jim's party. But ask me</p><p>whatever you want and I'll answer as well as I can. After all, I first met</p><p>Emma when she was just a little child. Please, sit."</p><p>Ingrid's face seemed to look even more pale and stern at the memory of a</p><p>little Emma her husband had brought up. The Larsens had no children of</p><p>their own.</p><p>Spencer sat beside Emily on a small leather couch across from the Judge's</p><p>chair. Ingrid was still standing behind her husband, watching them with</p><p>distrust like a hawk.</p><p>"Her friends mentioned that she was interested in someone. An older man.</p><p>And they had begun flirting at this party," Emily said. She was</p><p>extrapolating the truth. Mackenzie and Hope said her older crush had been</p><p>toying with her for two weeks, but they hadn't specified where Emma had</p><p>met him or their relationship transformed if he was already in her life prior</p><p>to this event.</p><p>Ingrid scoffed. When all eyes turned to look at her, she seemed</p><p>embarrassed.</p><p>"Emma was…" She cleaned her throat and composed herself again. "A</p><p>lively girl. She knew she was gorgeous and always liked to flirt with</p><p>everyone. Not that it would mean anything."</p><p>"Everyone?" Spencer asked, letting all of the unsaid hanging in the air</p><p>between them.</p><p>Judge Larsen laughed and his laugh was deep as his voice.</p><p>"Yes, Doctor Reid. Everyone. I would usually act oblivious like grown men</p><p>often need to do around such little girls. Answering your question, I don't</p><p>remember noticing Emma spending any special amount of time with</p><p>anyone during the party. But, then again, this is an election year and I was</p><p>more interested in grown-up talk than monitoring my friend's wild child."</p><p>When he reached to pick up his teacup, the Judge's right hand spasmed and</p><p>he recoiled with a horrified look on his face.</p><p>It was a very sudden movement in his thumb and first finger. A fine, rapid</p><p>flickering, that Spencer could barely catch with his eyes before the Judge</p><p>rested his contracted hand on his lap again. The ever attentive Ingrid ran to</p><p>his aid, getting the cup from the tray on the coffee table and placing it in his</p><p>left hand.</p><p>"This question is just for procedure, but could someone verify your</p><p>whereabouts on Friday the 15th between the hours of 1 and 6 a.m. and this</p><p>morning, between the hours of 4 and 6 a.m., sir?" Emily used her most</p><p>diplomatic voice to ask this question.</p><p>"Am I a suspect, Agent Prentiss?" The Judge seemed amused by the idea.</p><p>"At the present moment you're not an official suspect, sir," was her answer.</p><p>"This Friday night… Where was I, honey?" Larsen asked Ingrid.</p><p>"In our bed. Snoring all night on both accounts," she answered. There was</p><p>something secretive behind her eyes. "He was still asleep when I woke up at</p><p>5:30 a.m. on Saturday and today for my morning run."</p><p>"You went for a run today with the streets covered in snow, Mrs. Larsen?"</p><p>Spencer asked her, incredulous.</p><p>"We happen to have this magical artifact called a treadmill in our indoor</p><p>gym, Doctor Reid." Her blue eyes were as cold as her voice. "If you don't</p><p>believe us, we can share the recordings from the security cameras on our</p><p>property."</p><p>"As a matter of fact, that would be very helpful, Mrs. Larsen, if you also</p><p>give your consent, Judge," Emily said.</p><p>The Judge waved his hand, dismissive, at the thought.</p><p>"By all means, if you need to verify my alibi to believe I had nothing to do</p><p>with Emma's death, do it."</p><p>"Would you also consent to provide us with a DNA sample, just to rule you</p><p>out completely?" Spencer asked.</p><p>Larsen chuckled.</p><p>"Now, now. We all know that giving a DNA sample to the FBI is the same</p><p>as inviting a vampire into your home. No, I'm sorry, agents, but this is</p><p>where I draw the line. If you want my DNA, you will have to show up here</p><p>with a court order commanding me to do so."</p><p>Monday</p><p>They regrouped at the BAU by the end of the day. Tara and Rossi had</p><p>scheduled an interview with Doctor White for the next day. JJ and Luke</p><p>could get a hold of Agent Thomas by phone, who immediately informed</p><p>them that he had been out of the country for the whole past week with the</p><p>Vice-Presidential detail, for which he provided extensive documentation.</p><p>They were able to interview Chief Newlands that day, who had no alibi for</p><p>the time of Emma's murder, but volunteered a DNA sample and authorized</p><p>CSU to search his car and properties.</p><p>Louis Duvivier's assistants informed Emily that the Ambassador had</p><p>traveled on that Monday for work and would be back and available for an</p><p>interview by Friday. JJ told the team that she and Luke found out that Justin</p><p>Miller wasn't in the country either. He had traveled that afternoon to</p><p>Switzerland for a ski vacation with his family in the Alps and would only</p><p>be back in two weeks.</p><p>The lab had gotten back with preliminary DNA results</p><p>should be</p><p>done with Duvivier. So far, no warrants had been issued.</p><p>Amélia called him, finally, on the Friday of Carnaval, asking if they could</p><p>meet at his place or hers to talk. Spencer asked her to meet him at his home</p><p>― he would be in no mood to drive after a breakup and being on the street</p><p>in a fragile emotional state was a facilitator to want to use again.</p><p>She arrived at 7 p.m. on the dot, wearing jeans and another huge sweater</p><p>that engulfed her completely. Spencer registered the small purse she</p><p>brought with her ― she wasn't planning on staying.</p><p>"I like your new haircut," she said, trying to get closer to him on the couch,</p><p>but Spencer stood up.</p><p>It hurt. It hurt so much to see her. To want her. To know he didn't mean as</p><p>much to her as she meant to him. Kindred spirits, she had said and then</p><p>changed her mind.</p><p>"It was too long," he said, avoiding looking at her and letting the double</p><p>meaning of the sentence hang between them.</p><p>She opened and closed her mouth a few times and then pressed her fingers</p><p>against her closed lips, swallowing a shaky breath.</p><p>"So…?" He pressed her, crossing his arms and watching her small figure try</p><p>to make herself even smaller.</p><p>"I quit No Borders and have taken an unpaid leave of absence from</p><p>Georgetown," she blurted out.</p><p>"Oh..." There was nothing keeping her in DC anymore?</p><p>"It's a lot of work to create a Foundation from the ground up and I want it to</p><p>really make a difference in the lives of those kids. Queer kids who have</p><p>nowhere else to go. If I left it in the hands of Matthew and Rebecca, they</p><p>would sanitize the whole thing, and make it palatable to their charitable</p><p>agenda and that's not what I want. That's not what Charlie would want. So I</p><p>have a team of lawyers on my side now and we're partnering up with No</p><p>Borders, but this project is mine." There was this feverish energy in the way</p><p>she spoke, once she had started.</p><p>"So, you're staying?" He asked, cautiously.</p><p>"What?" Her dark eyes shot up, looking at his face. "In DC? Yes, yes, I'll</p><p>stay. There's the Foundation, here is where the power is and… Well, if… If</p><p>you can forgive me, if you still want me..." Amélia couldn't hold his eye</p><p>contact as she rambled. Spencer couldn't even dare to breathe. "If you still</p><p>want me, DC is where you are."</p><p>"What do you want from me, Amélia?" He wasn't going to crumble to her</p><p>feet and cry just because she had asked him back, no matter how much he</p><p>wanted to.</p><p>She chewed on her lower lip. He wanted to scream at her and kiss her at the</p><p>same time.</p><p>"A life, a future. I know how I want my future to look, now, and I… I want</p><p>to talk to..."</p><p>He would usually want to dissect everything she had to say, but it was too</p><p>much. He felt as if he was about to burst. So he fell to his knees between</p><p>her legs on the floor and pulled her face to his, in a bruising kiss. They</p><p>could talk later. They could write essays on their expectations for the future</p><p>and compare notes. He could participate in a structured debate with her</p><p>about it if she asked him to. But not now. Now he wanted to melt against</p><p>her with the warmth and the taste of her mouth against his. He wanted to</p><p>run his fingers through her tight curls and mess them up. Amélia sighed</p><p>against his lips and pulled him by his shoulders to climb on the couch with</p><p>her.</p><p>"I love you," she whispered. It was the first time that she said it in English</p><p>and to his face. "I love you so much. Please, please forgive me..."</p><p>Spencer pulled himself away from her a few inches.</p><p>"Forgive you for what?" He asked, furrowing his brow.</p><p>"For hurting you. For being a mess." A tear escaped from her eye.</p><p>A horrible thought flashed through his mind.</p><p>"Is there someone else?" There was ice in his stomach as he uttered these</p><p>words.</p><p>To his relief, Amélia looked as horrified by the thought as he was.</p><p>"What?" She asked, sitting straighter on the couch again. "No! I spent this</p><p>month working my ass off and chilling with Eleanor. Why would you think</p><p>that?"</p><p>He ran a hand through his shorter hair, feeling embarrassed from having</p><p>asked.</p><p>"I don't know, I guess I just had to know."</p><p>Amélia shook her head and pulled him closer to her by his sweater's collar.</p><p>"I don't want anyone else but you, Spencer."</p><p>When she kissed him, desperately, Spencer could swear that he could taste</p><p>the future she offered him. It smelled of tangerines and lilies as her soft</p><p>hands danced through his now short hair and caressed his jawline. He could</p><p>feel in her firm muscles and soft skin the certainty, the power, the truth in</p><p>her decision to stay. There was the Foundation, but she said… She had said</p><p>that it was important that he was in DC too.</p><p>A life. A future.</p><p>A partner.</p><p>They stumbled to his bed, leaving the clothes scattered across the floor with</p><p>all the hurt they were choosing to leave behind.</p><p>When he found his way back between her legs, he discovered that her salty</p><p>taste resembled the sweetest fruits of the summer. He wanted to make her</p><p>sigh and scream for the rest of his life and pay the price she asked for it. A</p><p>lock of his hair, a drop of his blood, his firstborn… He would lay all his</p><p>offerings at her altar if it meant she would never run away without him</p><p>again.</p><p>"Just you," she whispered, as he climbed up to kiss her lips again. "Please,</p><p>please, just you."</p><p>She was warm, casting away the dying shadows of the winter each time</p><p>Spencer dragged himself inside her. He licked away her tears mixed with</p><p>her sweat and entangled his fingers and legs with hers.</p><p>"Never leave me again," he pleaded, looking for the flecks of gold and</p><p>green in her eyes that made him think of spring.</p><p>"Never," she promised and he felt himself cracking open with the orgasm</p><p>that left him breathless.</p><p>Below the curve of her breast, he could read the words on her skin he had</p><p>so many times imagined while she was gone.</p><p>A minha pátria é como se não fosse, é íntima doçura.</p><p>"I had a fantasy," she confessed, as they were lying together in bed in the</p><p>half-darkened room. "When we met, I started to create this whole world in</p><p>my head."</p><p>He hummed to let her know he was paying attention and Mia could feel his</p><p>chest rumble against her ear. Spencer was running his fingers along the ipê</p><p>on her back.</p><p>"You weren't FBI, but some random academic. We would have met at a</p><p>conference, in some hotel bar. Charlie would be there, obviously, and she</p><p>would have given you my number without my knowledge. We would start</p><p>dating and live happily ever after." She let out a sad laugh. "Reality isn't</p><p>better than my dream, but it's reality that gave you to me, so I decided to let</p><p>it go. The fantasy. And Charlie. She's dead and we're not and I need to</p><p>move on."</p><p>Spencer laid in silence for a long time. If Mia didn't know better, she would</p><p>think he was asleep.</p><p>"You said 'future'. What is the future, to you?" He asked, at last.</p><p>"More immediately, means that, as soon as we're authorized to go public</p><p>with our relationship, you will get to know my friends, officially. And then</p><p>I'll have my revenge for what your friends have put me through because</p><p>they are way more blatantly nosy and judgemental than yours." She poked</p><p>his ribs and he laughed. The sound comforted her. "Sharing a home seems</p><p>nice, too. At some point in the near future."</p><p>"I agree." His fingers left her tattoo and he briefly squeezed her shoulder. "I</p><p>assume you will want me to move out."</p><p>"I can move out too. My lease ends in November, we have a lot of time to</p><p>plan. Or you can move in at some point, if November is too far. When is</p><p>your lease due?" She rested her pointy chin on her hands, to raise her head</p><p>and face him.</p><p>"May."</p><p>Mia studied his face for a while.</p><p>"Do you want to move in with me in May and we’ll look for something</p><p>more permanent together?" She asked.</p><p>"That sounds like a nice plan." His smile was sweet and he pulled her up on</p><p>the bed to kiss her lips.</p><p>Mia adjusted herself on his shoulder and looked at the ceiling</p><p>as if she</p><p>could see stars there.</p><p>"We will need something big-ish, to fit all of our books. With the real estate</p><p>prices in the DC area, I'm glad that money isn't a problem."</p><p>"Oh, so you're planning to make me a kept man?" He asked, and there was</p><p>laughter in his voice.</p><p>"Not a kept man! From each according to their ability, to each according to</p><p>their needs. That's true equality." Mia looked back at his face and there was</p><p>an amused smile on his lips.</p><p>"Are you quoting Marx now? I thought you were more of a Bakunin type of</p><p>girl?" He asked, with a raised eyebrow.</p><p>"To be honest, I'm not really an anarchist."</p><p>"And what are you, Doctor Ferreira?"</p><p>"I'm a political anthropophagist. I take what I want from each theory and</p><p>use it as heretically as I can. So, to convince you to abandon any prideful</p><p>ideas of making us live somewhere we will have to share our bed with our</p><p>books, I will quote Marx and whoever else is needed."</p><p>He rolled them on the bed to switch their positions, feigning seriousness as</p><p>he looked at her face, propped on his elbows.</p><p>"I had no idea that you were such a cynic."</p><p>"I'm not. I'm from the Global South, I get to take the tools from the Master's</p><p>house to break it down however I see fit. But I was enjoying myself more</p><p>discussing our personal plans than Sociology, Doctor Reid." She half-raised</p><p>her torso to quickly kiss him before lying again.</p><p>"I love you," he said, all of a sudden.</p><p>Mia saw her smile being mirrored on his face and they stayed in silence for</p><p>a while again.</p><p>"Do you want kids?" He asked.</p><p>"Kids? What, now?" She asked back, startled.</p><p>"No, not now! I mean, someday, at some point in the future, do you want</p><p>kids?"</p><p>She chewed on her bottom lip and thought for a while before answering</p><p>with another question:</p><p>"What do you see for your career?"</p><p>"Is this relevant?"</p><p>"Very," Mia said, solemn.</p><p>"I… I don't care about internal politics, so I don't think that I have great</p><p>ambitions in the Bureau. I don't want to be Unit Chief or anything. I have</p><p>given some classes at the Academy and, honestly, it's so incredibly fulfilling</p><p>that I keep thinking of one day asking to go full-time as a teacher. Or</p><p>quitting the Bureau altogether, I don't know. But not now. Some day." He</p><p>said, after thinking for a while.</p><p>"Then, yes. Having kids sounds nice. Some day. When you're not in the</p><p>field anymore." She remembered she could touch him as much as she</p><p>wanted again and ran her fingers along his collarbone.</p><p>"You refuse to have children with a cop, Amélia?" He had a mix of irony</p><p>and worry on his face when he asked this.</p><p>"I mean, it's not like this is not a factor, but this is not the main factor. I</p><p>won't be a stay-at-home mom and raise kids alone while my partner is</p><p>constantly on the road. That's just not me. So, if you want tiny humans with</p><p>me, you must live and work in the same city as we do."</p><p>He let one of his hands idly wander across her body, caressing her stomach</p><p>and arms. Mia remembered something else.</p><p>"Would you learn Portuguese?" There was a needy tone in her voice, but</p><p>this was the moment to put the cards on the table. "I don't want to feel like a</p><p>foreigner at home all the time. And I want to be able to talk in Portuguese</p><p>with my kids, if I have them."</p><p>"I'm horrible with foreign languages. Although I can read Russian."</p><p>"You will study hard and get better if you apply yourself, I am sure." She</p><p>wouldn't let him off the hook that easily.</p><p>Spencer chuckled and kissed her cheek.</p><p>"Ok, ok, my little comrade. I'll learn Portuguese."</p><p>"Excelente," she smiled and kissed his lips one more time. "You will be a</p><p>great dad."</p><p>Ambassador Duvivier would still come to the gala and there was nothing</p><p>that Mia could do about it. She couldn't even warn other people against him</p><p>― Spencer had asked her a thousand times. So, when the day came, she just</p><p>focused on what she could do, instead. Better yet, what she needed to do.</p><p>She needed to wake up at 7 a.m and deal with a thousand different problems</p><p>at once. The florist found out they had bought the wrong color for the Calla</p><p>lilies for the centerpieces, so everything would need to be redone last</p><p>minute; the caterer suddenly realized they needed to hire more people; the</p><p>Smithsonian was worried about the possibility of people wandering into</p><p>their restricted areas; the mayor's office wanted to be reassured they were</p><p>taking every possible measure against violent incidents, mass shooters,</p><p>trampling, and every possible natural disaster. Maybe she should consider</p><p>getting a personal assistant like Rebecca had suggested to her.</p><p>So, when her costume arrived, she was ready to finally have a win, but</p><p>really not surprised to discover that it had a huge tear through the dry</p><p>cleaning bag that cut through the fabric and the sequins.</p><p>"Ah, puta que me pariu..." She muttered, before calling Valentina ― the</p><p>costume designer and seamstress ― to inform her of what had happened</p><p>and see what they could do. "Hola, Vale, no puedes imaginar lo que pasó.</p><p>Mi vestido está roto. ¡Si, verdad! ¿Vendré a ti o tú...? Si, por supuesto.</p><p>Gracias, cariño. Besos. [1]“</p><p>Valentina came to take the dress 20 minutes later. Mia paid for a car to take</p><p>her to and from her studio, and she went back to deal with the havoc that</p><p>organizing a gala for 500 people ensued. Worst case scenario, she would</p><p>deal with some formal dress or tuxedo Valentina had in her size, slap on a</p><p>mask on her face, and call it a day. Spencer told her he had some spare</p><p>masks at his place from Halloween, if she needed them. She still had no</p><p>idea what he was going to wear and they had agreed they would only meet</p><p>at the party.</p><p>No one could ever accuse her of not having a romantic side.</p><p>Mia was getting out of her shower when her intercom rang. It was her</p><p>costume being delivered to her. When she unzipped the dry cleaning bag,</p><p>instead of her silver armor-like gown, a shower of white rose petals fell</p><p>from it. She laughed. What the hell did Valentina do?</p><p>Inside the bag, there was a cream-colored long-sleeved gown with</p><p>multicolored delicate flowers embroidered all over it. Mia took a step back,</p><p>frowning. This wasn't any of the alternate costumes she had previously</p><p>approved with Valentina. She got her phone and called her.</p><p>"Hola, Vale, ¿cómo está?" She greeted her.</p><p>"Lo siento, cariño, pero aún no he logrado resolver tu vestido. Si no está</p><p>listo en una hora, le enviaré otro, ¿de acuerdo?" Valentina answered,</p><p>hectic, from the other side of the line.</p><p>"¿Así que no me enviaste nada todavía?" Mia asked, very intrigued.</p><p>"¡Por supuesto que no! ¿ Por qué?"</p><p>"Nada. Espero tus noticias, entonces. Besos." [2] She hung up and the</p><p>frown on her forehead deepened.</p><p>Could it be that Rebecca had changed her mind about her costume? Well,</p><p>she would have sent a card with it, so Mia took a thorough look through the</p><p>dry cleaning bag, and then opened it further ― to reveal that there was</p><p>another bag inside it, that looked like shoes and something else. The shoes</p><p>were delicate crystal-covered heels. The other thing was a very realistic-</p><p>looking tiara with an embroidered veil. Was this a very weird prank?</p><p>When Mia took the dress from the bag, she found it. In a safety pin placed</p><p>on the neckline of the dress, there was a very simple printed card, almost</p><p>business-like, which read:</p><p>"To Galatea"</p><p>No signature as to indicate who Pygmalion should be. She decided it was</p><p>weird enough to call Spencer. He picked up on the second ring.</p><p>"Amélia, what's wrong?" He knew her enough to realize that she would</p><p>only voluntarily call him instead of texting if she couldn't avoid it.</p><p>"Hm… Ok, I'm safe and sound and there's nothing wrong per se… So, no</p><p>need to freak out," she said, cautiously.</p><p>"Ok, I'm not freaking out. Tell me about what is not really wrong, then."</p><p>"I'm sorry for calling you when you're at work." She suddenly remembered</p><p>it was a Friday in the middle of the afternoon.</p><p>"I had to come to</p><p>court to testify on another case today and now I'm at</p><p>home, Amélia. Don't worry about me. What's going on?" He tranquilized</p><p>her.</p><p>"It's probably a prank. A very weird and elaborate prank. But a prank,</p><p>nonetheless. I still haven't even checked in with Matt and Becky to see if..."</p><p>"Amélia, what's going on?" He insisted, cutting through her rambling.</p><p>"Today has been hell and, on top of everything, my dress showed up torn."</p><p>She decided to start from the beginning.</p><p>"Like the dry cleaner ripped it or something?"</p><p>"No… I mean," she frowned again and closed her eyes, summoning the</p><p>image of her dress behind her eyelids. "It was so weird, but it seemed like</p><p>someone had tried to mug my dress. The bag had been cut with the dress,</p><p>with scissors or a knife."</p><p>"Was there anything else?" She was getting more anxious with how tense</p><p>Spencer sounded from the other side of the call.</p><p>"I sent it back to Vale and… Well, like ten minutes ago someone sent me</p><p>another dress. Not one of Vale's."</p><p>"What?! Do you know who?!" Mia could hear the sounds of him getting up</p><p>and fumbling through his things through the phone.</p><p>"That's the weirdest of things. It's… I don't know… It's like a wedding</p><p>dress? When I opened it, a bunch of rose petals fell from it and there's like a</p><p>fucking tiara and glass slippers as if I was Cinderella and this was my fairy</p><p>Godmother deciding to show up or something. There's a card, it says 'To</p><p>Galatea' and that's all." She tried to laugh it off. "Who the fuck does that?</p><p>It's… It's a joke, right?"</p><p>"Is your door locked?" He asked and Mia's heartbeat spiked.</p><p>"What?" She asked, confused.</p><p>"Amélia, I'm on my way. Lock your door, set the alarm, and do not open it</p><p>to anyone but me, ok? No one. Do it now."</p><p>She walked to the door and turned the three keys and a chain before setting</p><p>the alarm, still on the phone with him.</p><p>"Ok, I did it. Spencer, what's going on?"</p><p>Emily was already on the phone inside Amélia's lobby when Spencer</p><p>arrived. Apparently, she was talking to Penelope about the security cameras</p><p>in Amélias's building. He impatiently waited for her to finish the call, with</p><p>his hands balled in his coat's pockets and his jaw so tense it almost hurt.</p><p>"MPD will be here soon," she told him after hanging up, pressing the</p><p>elevator button.</p><p>"The MPD? Emily, you gotta be kidding me! You know they won't give a</p><p>damn about it." He sprung from the wall where he had been leaning to catch</p><p>up with her in front of the elevator's doors.</p><p>"This is not our jurisdiction, Spencer. To be honest, I don't even know if</p><p>there will be any kind of report to be filed here." The elevator dinged as its</p><p>doors opened and they went inside. "I'm not saying that I don't think this is</p><p>serious ― hence why I canceled a meeting I had now with the ADA about</p><p>Duvivier and I'm here instead. Just that we need to tread carefully here. The</p><p>building administration kindly agreed to send today's footage to us and</p><p>Penelope will review it at home as soon as she gets the email from them.</p><p>But, from what you have told me, no one saw when Amélia's dress got torn,</p><p>so we can't even prove it was intentional. There was no breaking and</p><p>entering, no explicit threat made to her safety, and this is the first time</p><p>anything like this has happened to her."</p><p>"So, what, we should sit and wait for this person to attack her before we do</p><p>anything?" He snarled.</p><p>"You know the law as well as I do, Spencer, I don't know what you want me</p><p>to say," she sighed.</p><p>He folded his arms on his chest, staring intently at the panel changing the</p><p>numbers as they went up and up in the building. Emily was right. Although</p><p>this didn't mean he had to like it. Spencer took a deep breath as the doors</p><p>opened and tried to school his face into a neutral expression. He rang the</p><p>doorbell and waited for her to open the door, since his keys were rendered</p><p>useless by the chain and the alarm. In no time, he heard her voice through</p><p>the wood.</p><p>"Spencer?"</p><p>"It's me, Amélia. Emily is here too. You can open the door."</p><p>Her face was pale when she let them inside. She was wearing her Berkeley</p><p>sweatshirt and grey fleece pants. Her hair was damp and she had her</p><p>contacts on. From the hallway, he could see the clothes rack Amélia had</p><p>placed in her living room, with an empty dry cleaning bag on a hanger.</p><p>Dozens of white rose petals pooled on the floor beneath it like a rug. On a</p><p>second hanger on the rack, Amélia had left the gorgeous and clearly</p><p>custom-made dress someone had sent her. She had left the crystal-covered</p><p>stilettos and tiara with the embroidered lace veil over her coffee table.</p><p>"Where is Salem?" Spencer asked, carefully taking in the scene before his</p><p>eyes.</p><p>"When you said to not touch it anymore, I locked him in my bedroom, so he</p><p>wouldn't fuss with the veil or the petals," she answered. "Can you… can</p><p>any of you tell me what's happening? This is not a prank, right?"</p><p>"Do you have friends who are this rich and cavalier about their money to</p><p>prank you like this, Amélia?" Emily's question was mostly rhetorical as she</p><p>walked toward the coffee table.</p><p>"I mean, Rebecca gave me a huge diamond necklace for my birthday and</p><p>insisted that I wore it today, but she gave it to me because it matches my</p><p>actual costume. She finds it endearing that I'm going as a knight to the</p><p>party. And she would have signed the card and called me already to ask me</p><p>what I thought of her gift… No, I don't have any living friends who would</p><p>do something like this."</p><p>She took a latex glove from her pocket and raised one shoe with it. "These</p><p>look like real Swarovskis. What is your shoe size?"</p><p>"8, why?" Amélia asked.</p><p>Emily showed the bottom of the shoe to Amélia and Spencer. There was a</p><p>perfect eight drawn on it.</p><p>"I bet that the dress will also have your perfect measurements," she said,</p><p>looking firmly at Amélia's face.</p><p>"Who would have known this?" Amélia cried out, in an anguished tone.</p><p>The intercom rang on her wall and she walked to answer it.</p><p>"It's the Metropolitan Police. Why is the MPD here?" Amélia's tone was</p><p>clipped and aggressive when she made the question.</p><p>"Amélia, send them up," Spencer answered.</p><p>"No. Not until you two explain to me what the fuck is going on. I don't have</p><p>the time to deal with the police today. I just need Vale to come here with my</p><p>fixed dress. The hairstylist and makeup artist will get here at any minute. I</p><p>have a fucking charity ball to host in four hours and I should have been at</p><p>the Smithsonian already!"</p><p>Spencer walked towards the intercom and took the receiver from her hands,</p><p>authorizing the MPD to come up. Amélia was fuming when he hung up.</p><p>"What do you think you're doing?!" She screamed at him.</p><p>"Amélia..." Spencer spoke slowly and he touched her shoulders, trying to</p><p>placate her. "You know why the police needs to be here. Look at that dress</p><p>again. Your actual costume was purposefully destroyed and someone sent</p><p>you something that looks like a fairytale wedding dress with a bizarre note</p><p>attached to it. That's not a prank. You have a stalker."</p><p>Amélia's eyes fluttered from Spencer to Emily, like a bird that entered a</p><p>room by mistake and hit the walls and windows trying to escape.</p><p>"No." Her voice was firm and angry. "No, I don't."</p><p>"Ames, be reasonable," Spencer tried to reason with her.</p><p>"No!" She batted his hands away from her shoulders. "No," she repeated,</p><p>pointing her index finger at his face. "I refuse it."</p><p>Spencer let out a tired breath and ran one hand over his hair, turning to look</p><p>at Emily for support.</p><p>"Amélia," Emily called and Amélia turned to look at her. "It's unfair, I</p><p>know. Your life has been hell lately and you're really tired of more</p><p>curveballs. Believe me when I say I get it."</p><p>"I really don't have time for it..." She whined, tired.</p><p>"I know, I know," Emily reassured her, signaling for Amélia to come closer.</p><p>"Sit on your couch. I promise you it will be over quickly. We will help you</p><p>deal with the police and soon we all will</p><p>be at the party, ok?"</p><p>With slumped shoulders, Amélia did as Emily told her, throwing herself on</p><p>her couch and hiding her face in her hands until the doorbell rang again, not</p><p>even five minutes later. Spencer, who was sitting beside Amélia and</p><p>running his fingers along her spine, got up quickly from the couch at the</p><p>sound. Emily opened the door to the two MPD detectives.</p><p>"Good day, ma'am, I'm Detective Yang, this is Detective Porter. Our captain</p><p>informed us that you have a federal witness who has been the victim of a</p><p>crime?" Detective Yang was an Asian-American man, with a calm voice.</p><p>Detective Porter was a white woman, with flaming red hair, smaller than</p><p>Amélia. Her eyes quickly scanned the room, while Yang focused initially on</p><p>the people there.</p><p>"Yes. Nice to meet you. It was I who spoke with your captain. I'm SSA</p><p>Prentiss, head of the Behavioral Analysis Unit, and this is Doctor Reid, my</p><p>colleague," Emily said, shaking Yang's hand and pointing at Spencer, who</p><p>waved at them. "The woman on the couch is Professor Amélia Ferreira, our</p><p>witness. At 4 p.m today, she noticed her dry cleaning bag with the dress she</p><p>had planned to wear later today to a charity function had been ripped and,</p><p>soon after, someone sent her this custom-made dress, unprompted."</p><p>The Detectives exchanged a look. Porter walked towards the dress in the</p><p>middle of the living room, looking mildly interested.</p><p>"I don't think that I'm following you, Agent Prentiss. We came here under</p><p>the impression that an actual crime had been committed here." Yang closed</p><p>the notepad he had opened when Emily started talking and crossed his arms</p><p>on his chest, staring Emily down with a frown on his face.</p><p>"Where's the other dress?" Porter finally spoke, after taking a long look at</p><p>the scene and Amélia.</p><p>"I sent it to the seamstress to try to fix it in time," Amélia raised her face</p><p>from her hands to look at Porter as she spoke.</p><p>"Was there anything on it?" Porter asked.</p><p>"What do you mean?" Amélia asked in return.</p><p>Porter shrugged before she spoke.</p><p>"A note, blood, feces, other bodily fluids..."</p><p>"No!" Amélia answered, horrified. "No, just… Wait, I have pictures of it. I</p><p>remember that I thought it was bizarre that it had happened and sent it to</p><p>my dry cleaning place because they are usually very careful."</p><p>She got up to get her phone in her bedroom and came back, handing it to</p><p>Porter, who had put on latex gloves. The ginger Detective raised an</p><p>eyebrow and let out a "huh".</p><p>"Yang, check this out," she called her partner.</p><p>"Hey, you're going through my phone. I didn't authorize you to do it!"</p><p>Amélia complained, trying to get her phone from Yang's hand as soon as</p><p>she realized he had left the picture and was reading her texts.</p><p>Spencer felt a cold feeling rush through him, worried they could find his</p><p>conversations with her. Luckily, there wasn't anything</p><p>compromisingly pornographic they had said via texts, but they were</p><p>damning enough to prove they were romantically involved.</p><p>"Relax, ma'am, I'm just looking at your texts with your dry cleaning place.</p><p>Did you know that, after your text, she sent you a picture of the dress when</p><p>it left her store? It had no tears in it." Yang handed Amélia's phone back to</p><p>her and she put it in her pocket.</p><p>"Yes, I did. Why is this relevant?" Amélia asked, defensively.</p><p>"Did you notice anyone following you around lately?" Detective Porter</p><p>asked, not answering Amélia's question.</p><p>Spencer knew what they were thinking. What if she made this up? What if</p><p>she tore her own dress?</p><p>"No, not that I recall," Amélia answered, after thinking for a minute.</p><p>"Late night calls? Texts from unknown numbers? Weird emails?" Yang</p><p>listed the typical signs of a stalker to Amélia.</p><p>"No, nothing like that. Since Marino was arrested, my life has been pretty…</p><p>normal." Amélia's voice got smaller as she mentioned Marino and her hand</p><p>unconsciously went to her throat.</p><p>"Marino?" Yang asked, writing the name on his notepad.</p><p>"Joshua Marino was arrested last October, after breaking and entering</p><p>Professor Ferreira's old home and trying to murder her. The MPD officers</p><p>arrived on the scene in time, saved her life, and made the arrest," Emily</p><p>elucidated. "Later, he confessed to two homicides my unit was investigating</p><p>and now he will be in a state facility for the next fifty years."</p><p>"And you guys think that this could be related to that?" Yang asked Emily.</p><p>"We're just trying to be thorough and look after our witness, Detective," was</p><p>her polite answer.</p><p>"Is your boyfriend aware of today's… situation?" Detective Porter asked</p><p>Amélia, out of the blue nonchalantly.</p><p>"What?" Amélia's face got very pale and Spencer was proud of her for not</p><p>looking at him. "Where is this question coming from?"</p><p>Porter pointed to a coat Spencer had left hanging behind Amélia's door</p><p>beside her own coats and bags.</p><p>"That's my coat," Amélia said, firm.</p><p>Porter and Yang exchanged another knowing look.</p><p>"Do you have a lot of bulky manly clothes, Professor?" Yang asked, with a</p><p>tinge of irony in his tone.</p><p>"As a matter of fact, I do," Amélia raised her chin, defiant ― her cheeks</p><p>were pink and her eyes burned with fury. "I wasn't aware that you were the</p><p>fashion police."</p><p>"So, it's your official statement that you are not in a committed</p><p>relationship?" Porter asked.</p><p>"My official statement is that I don't see how this is relevant." Amélia dug</p><p>her heels and crossed her arms on her chest.</p><p>"Listen, lady, we have more serious things to deal with than the fact that</p><p>your princess dress was torn and someone sent you a new one and you don't</p><p>like it. We're here as a favor to the FBI, so it would be nice if you</p><p>cooperated with us." Detective Yang scolded her as if Amélia was a small</p><p>child.</p><p>"Professor," Porter said. "Are you in a committed relationship?"</p><p>Amélia's eyes flew to Emily, looking for directions. A part of Spencer was</p><p>proud of how she wasn't looking at him and keeping the distance between</p><p>them, another part of him was a bit hurt that she seemed to trust Emily's</p><p>judgment more than his. Nevertheless, Amélia saw something on Emily's</p><p>face that made her tone down a bit.</p><p>"Yes. I do have a partner," she finally answered.</p><p>"Is your partner aware of what happened today? That you called the MPD?"</p><p>Porter pressured her.</p><p>"Yes, he is. He was the one to insist that I should talk to you." Amélia was</p><p>chewing on her bottom lip and looking straight at Detective Porter.</p><p>"And where is he, then, if he thinks this is a police matter?" Porter's voice</p><p>was softer and Amélia broke eye contact to stare at the window.</p><p>"He's at work," she said and her voice was tired.</p><p>Spencer felt horrible that he couldn't be by her side at that moment.</p><p>"Agent Prentiss, our hands are tied here. We can log in an official</p><p>complaint, but the truth is that it's not a crime to send an impromptu gift to</p><p>someone," Yang spoke with Emily.</p><p>"I understand perfectly, Detective," Emily said. "However, an official</p><p>complaint, including in it the complaint for the destruction of Professor</p><p>Ferreira's property, her dress, would already be really helpful. I believe that</p><p>it won't be hard to get the bill for the damages with her seamstress and, not</p><p>trying to tell you how to do your jobs, Detectives, but even ask her</p><p>professional opinion on what kind of instrument was used to do it."</p><p>Spencer opened his mouth to speak, but Emily shot him a deathly glare, so</p><p>he wandered to the window in the living room that gave access to Amélia's</p><p>terrace. He could hear Yang taking notes and discussing with Emily how to</p><p>better register the incident.</p><p>"Who's Galatea?" Porter asked, pronouncing it as something closer to</p><p>gelato.</p><p>"The Roman poet Ovid registered several oral tales and myths from the</p><p>Romans and the Ancient Greeks in his book Metamorphoses. One of the</p><p>stories is Pygmalion, which later would inspire the famous Bernard Shaw's</p><p>homonymous play. Pygmalion was a sculptor devout to Venus, the Roman</p><p>goddess</p><p>of love and beauty, who decided to carve a statue in marble in the</p><p>goddess' honor. As his work progressed, he fell in love with the piece of</p><p>stone that, little by little, resembled his ideal woman. Consumed by his</p><p>passion, Pygmalion stopped eating and sleeping and would spend all of his</p><p>free time with the marble statue, which he named Galatea. He prayed to</p><p>Venus that she gave him a wife just like his Galatea and the goddess, taking</p><p>pity on him, brought the statue to life," Spencer recited from memory, still</p><p>staring at the world outside.</p><p>"Never heard of it," Spencer heard Porter say.</p><p>"You probably know the musical adaptation, My Fair Lady; Hollywood</p><p>made a version with Audrey Hepburn in 1964," Amélia pointed out.</p><p>Spencer turned to look at them. Amélia dared to steal a glance from the</p><p>corner of her eye and smile at him.</p><p>Recognition spread through Detective Porter's features.</p><p>"Ah…! The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain!" The redhead said,</p><p>snapping her fingers and reciting a famous line from a song in the movie.</p><p>"Yes, exactly," Amélia agreed, giving Detective Porter one of the smiles she</p><p>usually had for her students.</p><p>"So… What? Your admirer thinks he rescued you from poverty and will</p><p>make everyone think you're a princess today?" Porter tapped rhythmically</p><p>with her pen against her open palm, thinking. "What are you, after all,</p><p>Cinderella or the statue?"</p><p>"One could argue that the underlying theme in these stories is the same. A</p><p>man sees the goddess in the brute stone, the princess in the girl in rags, and</p><p>he makes her fulfill his vision. This is probably what he thinks of his</p><p>relationship with Professor Ferreira," Spencer answered instead.</p><p>The intercom buzzed one more time and, before Amélia could take it,</p><p>Detective Yang picked it up from the wall.</p><p>"Your doorman says that there's a lady called Valentina and a guy called</p><p>Billy downstairs asking to come up," Yang said to Amélia.</p><p>"It's the designer and the hairstylist and makeup artist, please ask them to</p><p>come up, I need to get ready for the gala."</p><p>"Well, Professor, I guess that, with that, we're leaving." Detective Porter</p><p>took a card from her pocket and handed it to Amélia. "We're going to log in</p><p>your complaint and, if anything else happens, you can give us a call. Have a</p><p>nice party today. Agents, it was nice to meet you."</p><p>As soon as the Detectives were out of her door, Spencer walked to her guest</p><p>room, coming back a few minutes later with two big plastic bags that could</p><p>be vacuum sealed which Mia used during the warm months to store her</p><p>winter clothes.</p><p>"Em, can you put on your gloves and help me out here?" He asked Prentiss,</p><p>already putting on his own gloves.</p><p>"Good thinking," Prentiss praised him, following his lead.</p><p>They bagged everything Mia had gotten that day, even the dry cleaning bag</p><p>and the rose petals, and sealed it closed.</p><p>"Ames, I think we should keep it stored in the guest room closet," he said,</p><p>once they were done.</p><p>Mia could feel the bile coming up her throat and burning it.</p><p>"You don't think that he will stop at this..." She muttered.</p><p>Spencer and Prentiss' faces told her everything she needed to know.</p><p>Suddenly there wasn't enough air in the room.</p><p>"Do whatever you think should be done, galego," she said at last, tired.</p><p>The doorbell rang and Mia tried to put on a convincing smile to open the</p><p>door to Vale and Billy.</p><p>"No puedo creer que logré remendar tu vestido. No está perfecto, pero no</p><p>creo que se pueda ver," [3] Vale got inside, kissing her cheek and talking at</p><p>full speed. "Dale, cariño, who are the gringos?" She stopped in the middle</p><p>of the hallway, staring at Spencer and Emily, with Billy right behind her.</p><p>"Valentina, Billy, these are Agent Prentiss and Doctor Reid, they were the</p><p>FBI agents investigating Charlotte's death and they stopped by here today to</p><p>check on some stuff with me." Mia pointed at them. "They were on their</p><p>way out already."</p><p>Valentina let her eyes linger on Spencer's figure for a minute before</p><p>snapping her attention back to Mia.</p><p>"Well, I came here just to deliver your dress in person so we wouldn't have</p><p>any new surprises. Let me hang it here..." She walked to the now empty</p><p>hanger in the middle of the room, placing the bag with the dress there and</p><p>unzipping it. "Andale, come here to see how it's almost perfect now,</p><p>Amelita."</p><p>Out of the bag, the dress shone in all its glory, catching the dying rays of</p><p>sunlight entering through the living room. It was a more symbolic than a</p><p>literal interpretation of Joan of Arc's costume and Mia loved how just</p><p>exactly on the edge of femme and butch Vale had been able to make it.</p><p>"What do you think was used to cut the fabric, Ms…?" Prentiss approached</p><p>Vale and Mia and carefully let her fingers trace the almost imperceptible</p><p>patch on the back of the dress.</p><p>"Santiago," Vale answered, lovingly touching her creation. "We were very</p><p>lucky, actually, because whoever stabbed this baby used a sharp pair of</p><p>sewing scissors, almost as if they were sorry to really butcher it. It was a</p><p>clean cut, very easy to sew back, if it wasn't for the poor sequins we had to</p><p>reapply." Then Vale turned to look at Mia, back to her business self.</p><p>"Entonces, mi amor, ya me voy. Tienes tu vestido y Billy te hará aún más</p><p>increíble. Don't forget to pose for the reporters and say my name a lot today,</p><p>ok? Adiós, cariño. Bye, agents!" [4]</p><p>Prentiss walked Vale to the door and gave her a card, asking for the</p><p>seamstress to call if she found or learned anything new about the torn dress.</p><p>Vale, unaware of the other dress and the whole potential stalker situation,</p><p>found the FBI's interest immensely amusing but promised to call if she</p><p>knew anything. Meanwhile, Billy was setting up his equipment on Mia's</p><p>dinner table, since she didn't have a vanity table to get ready on. Rebecca</p><p>had sent her a few texts letting her know that she and her team were being</p><p>able to solve things without Mia, but that it would be nice if she was able to</p><p>show up at the Smithsonian any time soon. Spencer was still near the glass</p><p>doors in the living room. She walked towards him.</p><p>"You should go home to get ready, galego," she whispered, standing beside</p><p>him and slightly letting their shoulders bump.</p><p>"You won't be alone today with the Ambassador, Ames. Promise me this,"</p><p>he pleaded in the same hushed tone.</p><p>"I promise. But nothing bad will happen there, there are metal detectors on</p><p>the entrances and a heavy security scheme due to the high profilers and the</p><p>auction items there tonight. We will be just fine."</p><p>Chapter End Notes</p><p>So, I lied to myself as much as I lied to all of you! I really thought that</p><p>this would already have the ball itself, forgive me!</p><p>Translation notes:</p><p>[1] In Portuguese: "Ah, motherfucker..."</p><p>In Spanish: "Hi, Vale, you won't believe what just happened. My dress</p><p>is torn. Yes, it's true! Will I come to you or...? Yes, of course. Thank</p><p>you, dear. Kisses"</p><p>[2] "Hi, Vale, how are things?"</p><p>"I'm so sorry, my dear, but I'm still working on your dress. If it's not</p><p>ready in an hour, I'll send you another, ok?"</p><p>"So you still haven't sent me anything?"</p><p>"Of course not! Why?"</p><p>"Nothing. I'll be waiting for news, then. Kisses"</p><p>[3] "I can't believe that I was able to mend your dress. It's not perfect,</p><p>but I believe that people won't notice it"</p><p>[4] "So, my love, I'm going. You have your dress and Billy will make</p><p>you [look] even more amazing."</p><p>To the strike of midnight</p><p>Chapter Summary</p><p>Welcome Beauty, banish fear,</p><p>You are queen and mistress here.</p><p>Speak your wishes, speak your will,</p><p>Swift obedience meets them still.</p><p>Chapter Notes</p><p>See the end of the chapter for notes</p><p>Things were so hectic during the pre-party that Mia only realized it had</p><p>already begun when Becky, in her lavish Marie Antoinette brocade dress</p><p>and elegant lace mask, pushed a champagne glass into Mia's hand and</p><p>sighed "We did it, Amy."</p><p>The ballroom was, little by little, getting filled with people in elegant</p><p>dresses and tuxedos. Most people</p><p>chose to go with regular black-tie attire</p><p>and just throw a simple mask on their faces, but some were delightful</p><p>creations of ingeniousness. Mia felt the vibrations of a thousand drums</p><p>rumbling inside her chest.</p><p>She wore the Joan of Arc costume and a metallic veil over her head and</p><p>eyes that partially covered her face and only suggested the presence of her</p><p>short red wig underneath it. Lodged on her sternum, the huge Bradford</p><p>diamond pressed cooly against her heartbeat, grounding her. She had made</p><p>it. Her vision, her sweat, her hard work.</p><p>Her bright smile matched the dazzling one that beautiful Rebecca had on</p><p>her face. The soft lights emulated the moonlight over everything and</p><p>everyone in the room and the huge elephant in the corner made everything</p><p>seem like it had been plucked out of a lysergic dream.</p><p>"We did it," Mia echoed Rebecca, still not fully believing it.</p><p>Matt showed up soon after in his regal clothes and went straight to Becky,</p><p>kissing her before dozens of photographers, who could never get enough of</p><p>their beauty and apparent happiness. After properly saying hello to his wife,</p><p>Matt, always the jester, kissed Mia's hand for the photographers too, and</p><p>gave a small declaration to the press on the importance of "taking at-risk</p><p>youth off of the streets and getting them back into school."</p><p>Mia did the rounds across the room with Becky a few times. Rebecca was</p><p>still adamant about her position of making Mia her honorary sister-in-law,</p><p>her pet project as a new lady of society, and made sure to introduce her to</p><p>"everyone who mattered." At some point, she found Eleanor and Ewa,</p><p>sitting at a table with Daniel and Tiago, and decided that she had had</p><p>enough of smiling at strangers for a while.</p><p>Daniel and Tiago had opted for colorful tuxedos with embroidered and</p><p>equally colorful masks. Ewa was dressed all in golden fabric, with</p><p>traditional Nigerian clothes, a huge gele shaped like a rose, and a simple</p><p>golden mask over her eyes; her clothes and jewelry had tiny red details on</p><p>them. Eleanor was all in red, wearing an agbada and a fila with tiny golden</p><p>details, as well as her red mask. They rejoiced and hugged upon meeting</p><p>each other again. It had been weeks since all of them were able to be in the</p><p>same room.</p><p>"Oh my god, mate, this party is huge!" Eleanor exclaimed, pumped up.</p><p>"I know, I can barely believe that everything worked out," Mia answered,</p><p>finally starting to relax a little.</p><p>"When was the last time you ate, button? Here, have some of the hors</p><p>d'oeuvres from our plates. You can't work all night just on booze," Ewa</p><p>pushed a bunch of fancy finger food onto Mia's plate.</p><p>"There will be a seated dinner soon, Ewa," Mia tried to placate her. "There's</p><p>no need to stuff me like a goose."</p><p>Ewa shot her a "don't you dare argue with me, missy" look and Mia decided</p><p>that the best course of action was to comply and eat. Daniel and Tiago were</p><p>enjoying themselves trying to guess who were celebrities amongst the</p><p>people wandering the room and soon the whole table joined them. Mia</p><p>would just confirm or deny if the name was possible, given that she knew</p><p>the guestlist.</p><p>Not too much time of peace had passed when Becky's assistant found Mia</p><p>and practically dragged her to the Bradfords' table. Becky stood up from her</p><p>seat when she saw Mia arriving, giving her a warm smile.</p><p>"Amy, you vanished! Is everything ok?" Becky asked with a powerful</p><p>eyebrow that rose above the line of her mask.</p><p>"Yes, I'm sorry. I just found some friends. Your assistant told me you</p><p>needed to see me," Mia answered.</p><p>"Oh, yes, the string quartet will begin to play soon and we need to open the</p><p>dance floor, as the hosts. Do you already know who your partner will be?"</p><p>Mia couldn't hide the surprised expression on her face when she realized</p><p>that she had forgotten this very basic detail in all her planning. Secretly, she</p><p>was hoping that Emma Sweeney's case would already be closed by the time</p><p>of the party and she could have Spencer as her partner, no matter how bad</p><p>at dancing he was.</p><p>"I… How long do I have until we have to dance?" Mia asked, trying to</p><p>think of people who could save her from her embarrassment.</p><p>"We are starting on the dance floor in ten minutes or so, but, if you don't</p><p>have a partner, I can try to see if one of the gentlemen at our table can help</p><p>you..." Becky waved at the table where she and Matt sat and Mia saw that,</p><p>among several other people, Ambassador Duvivier was there.</p><p>"Thank you so much, Becks, but let me try to deal with this first, ok? If, in</p><p>ten minutes, I still haven't found someone, then I’ll let you arrange a partner</p><p>for me." Mia held her hands in front of her chest, theatrically pleading with</p><p>Rebecca, and hoping that Becky could see the puppy eyes she was trying to</p><p>make.</p><p>"Fine, fine. Ten minutes and then you come back here ― partner or no</p><p>partner ― to open the dance floor. And, remember, you need to find</p><p>someone who can waltz!" Becky said, and Mia was already running across</p><p>the floor, trying to dodge the people crowding the room and not bump into</p><p>any waiters, until she found the Adeoyes' table again.</p><p>Ishaan was sitting with them as well now, wearing a tuxedo and a simple</p><p>black mask, accompanied by a very beautiful woman wearing a sari heavily</p><p>embroidered with several gems and a blue mask covering her eyes.</p><p>"Ok, who here knows how to waltz and can save my neck in ten minutes,</p><p>by being my dance partner for one song, two tops?" She asked the group,</p><p>breathless.</p><p>"I am really not good with ballroom dancing, Ames," Eleanor said,</p><p>apologetically.</p><p>Mia grabbed a champagne glass from a passing waiter's tray and almost</p><p>downed it at once to see if she could calm down. There was a stretch of</p><p>uncomfortable silence over the table.</p><p>"I could do it," Ishaan said. "You don't mind if I help her for one song or</p><p>two, do you, Devika?" He asked the woman seated beside him.</p><p>"Not at all," her accent was British like Ishaan and Eleanor's. "Hello,</p><p>Amelia, I hope we can chat more later during the party. I'm Devika, Ishaan's</p><p>fiancée."</p><p>"Hi, Devika, nice to meet you. I believe that things will be calmer after the</p><p>auction and then we will be able to chat. Now, come on, Ishaan, we need to</p><p>hurry back to Rebecca before she makes me dance with some decrepit old</p><p>white guy," she hushed him.</p><p>"Good luck, princesa," Daniel cheered after her as Mia and Ishan walked at</p><p>a hushed pace through the room.</p><p>As Mia passed by the hundreds of people in masks, she noticed a tall figure</p><p>she had passed by a few times at the party. They wore a big collar with</p><p>black iridescent feathers draping over a stylized velvet jacket that looked</p><p>almost like big droopy wings. Behind the black leather mask shaped like</p><p>feathers and a beak, Mia recognized the eyes she could always describe in</p><p>every tiny detail. She wandered away from Ishaan for a minute, coming</p><p>closer to the man who smelled like coffee, old books, the ocean, and</p><p>lemons.</p><p>"Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore—</p><p>Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;—</p><p>’Tis the wind and nothing more!” She quoted, standing so close to him that</p><p>she could see the dark honey of his eyes, made even more yellow that night</p><p>by the dark kohl lining them behind the mask.</p><p>He smiled, tilting his head slightly down to look into her eyes.</p><p>"And you're a warrior witch who hears the voices of Saints guiding you</p><p>forward in your quest for freedom. I guess I could be your familiar,"</p><p>Spencer said, softly, raising his hand to touch her face, but giving up in the</p><p>middle and letting his hand fall to his side again.</p><p>"Will I become a wolf in the morning, my adored bird?" Mia asked, feeling</p><p>sad they couldn't touch in public without raising questions.</p><p>"I know nothing of your magic, Sire. You will need to show it to me."</p><p>Time stretched between them — the other people and commitments Mia</p><p>had rendered irrelevant by the closeness to him.</p><p>"Amélia?" Ishaan's voice came from behind her. "I thought you</p><p>said you</p><p>were in a hurry."</p><p>She turned around to look at him, feeling her cheeks burning with</p><p>embarrassment.</p><p>"Oh, yes. I'm so sorry," she apologized to Ishaan and then, turning once</p><p>more to look at Spencer, "I need to go now, galego."</p><p>"Do not leave my sight, Amélia," he asked, worried.</p><p>Walking away, Mia shot him a charming smile and promised:</p><p>"Nevermore!"</p><p>By Becky's insistence, the song to open the dance floor was an instrumental</p><p>version of Beauty and the Beast, which, according to her, was hers and</p><p>Matt's song. Mia had no qualms with it, but she felt oddly stiff as Ishaan</p><p>guided her across the floor. He wasn't a bad dancer, but they were a bad</p><p>pairing. His hand felt lax on her waist and her dress seemed to get in the</p><p>way of her legs. Mia had taken ballet lessons until she went to NYU, so she</p><p>wasn't exactly a bad dancer either, but she was known to be difficult to</p><p>guide.</p><p>When the song came to an end, people clapped and some couples entered</p><p>the dance floor as well. Mia thanked Ishaan once more for his help, dying</p><p>of embarrassment for having tripped on his feet a few times, and he excused</p><p>himself to go find Devika. Mia turned around to leave the floor, hoping to</p><p>find her friends or Spencer again, when Matt asked her to dance. Becky was</p><p>dancing with Senator Hawthorne.</p><p>"My sister would find this whole thing hilarious," he said, with his</p><p>charming half-smile, as they danced to the band's rendition of Take Me to</p><p>Church, by Hozier. "Becky, organizing something for LGBTQ youth; you,</p><p>being charitable; the both of us, being friends."</p><p>"Don't worry, Matt, I find it hilarious enough to compensate for the absence</p><p>of her snarky remarks," Mia answered, tenderly.</p><p>"She would be proud, though. Of us." His voice was almost childish, as he</p><p>looked around the room as if Charlie could show up any minute, wearing</p><p>some scandalous costume, to take Mia from his arms and dance with her</p><p>instead.</p><p>"I believe that too. That's why I'm doing it."</p><p>"You loved her, right? You two weren't a couple, that I understand, but you</p><p>loved her," he asked, after dancing in silence for a while. His blue-green</p><p>eyes pierced through her, trying to excavate the deepest secrets from her</p><p>soul.</p><p>"I still do," she answered, honestly.</p><p>"Welcome to the family, Amélia." He bowed to her with a flourish as soon</p><p>as the song ended, pronouncing her name correctly for the first time in their</p><p>acquaintance.</p><p>Mia clapped with the crowd at the end of the song and saw Senator</p><p>Hawthorne, dressed like some sort of French nobleman and carrying a full-</p><p>face Venetian mask in his hand.</p><p>"May I have the honor of this dance, Professor?" He asked, taking her hand</p><p>and giving a ghostly kiss on her fingers.</p><p>"Beware, Senator, for I have tripped on the feet of my two prior partners</p><p>and scared them away," Mia warned him with a laugh.</p><p>"You could never scare me, Amélia," Senator Hawthorne said with a</p><p>knowing smile as the band started playing again.</p><p>His blue eyes never left Mia's face as they swirled through the room to the</p><p>first bars of No Light, No Light the string quartet had adapted. There was</p><p>something enticing and dangerous in those eyes – as if Mia commanded his</p><p>entire attention and he couldn't get enough from her face.</p><p>"If you don't mind me asking," she started saying, after realizing they had</p><p>been dancing in silence for a long time. "What are you doing here?"</p><p>Hawthorne chuckled, amused.</p><p>"Dancing with you and proving that you just needed the right partner,</p><p>obviously," he answered, cocky and charming.</p><p>It was true. She hadn't tripped a single time. He tipped his intentions in</p><p>guiding her by pressing his fingers over her spine to one side or the other</p><p>and Mia just felt like she was almost floating, one second away from</p><p>disappearing between the guests.</p><p>"Be straight with me, Hawthorne, we're in election year. What will your</p><p>constituents have to say when they learn that you were at a beneficent gala</p><p>for teens who not only are immigrants but are also queer?" She scowled at</p><p>him, demanding a real answer.</p><p>"My constituents aren't such delicate snowflakes as to care enough that I go</p><p>to a lavish party on a Friday night to dance with beautiful women just</p><p>because said party was thrown in misguided efforts of helping the ones in</p><p>need." Mia could hear the disdain in his words, barely hidden by his silvery</p><p>tongue.</p><p>"Misguided efforts?!" She asked, offended.</p><p>"Lost souls, Amélia, don't need our soft pity. They need a strong hand</p><p>showing them the correct way to do things. A ruler accomplishes more with</p><p>the masses through fear than through love, my dear Professor." The</p><p>condescending endearment in his tone made her furious and it seemed like a</p><p>miracle that Mia hadn't stepped on his foot yet.</p><p>"Are you seriously quoting Machiavelli to me right now to justify why you</p><p>always support engorging the Defense budget and starving the budgets from</p><p>Education and Healthcare?" She raised her chin to stare deep into his eyes.</p><p>"You really believe you are quite the warrior, don't you?" He asked, instead</p><p>of answering her question. "I should remind you that Joan of Arc's end</p><p>wasn't quite as lovely as this ball."</p><p>Mia noticed that the song had ended and a new one started, a cover of</p><p>Taylor Swift's Out of the Woods, which introduced an electric violin to the</p><p>group. But Hawthorne gave no signs of wanting to stop their dancing — or</p><p>their discussion.</p><p>"And who are you supposed to be today? Some French nobleman who was</p><p>beheaded by the Jacobins?" She spat back.</p><p>He laughed openly.</p><p>"Would you take my head with you, if you could, in your revolution,</p><p>Amélia?"</p><p>"I haven't decided yet. As you have pointed out, adequate dance partners are</p><p>a scarce resource these days." Mia decided to joke a little to not have an</p><p>actual fight with one of Matt's guests in the middle of her own party.</p><p>Hawthorne just smiled in return and they went back to dancing in silence.</p><p>When the song ended, he was ready to keep dancing with her and barely</p><p>took his hands from her waist to clap with the crowd. But someone else</p><p>took Mia's hand.</p><p>"You need to learn how to share, Senator," Ambassador Duvivier spoke</p><p>with Hawthorne instead of Mia, pulling her to his side. "It's impolite to</p><p>hoard all the dances with the hostess. Professeur, maintenant c'est mon</p><p>tour."</p><p>Before Mia could say anything, the band started their cover of Do I Wanna</p><p>Know? , by the Arctic Monkeys, and Duvivier whisked her away on the</p><p>dance floor. Mia had heard him explain to Becky that he was dressed as</p><p>Don Juan, with a big feather hat and a velvet cape. Duvivier was good at</p><p>guiding her too, but perhaps it was the cold fear spreading through her</p><p>limbs under his green stare that had killed any determination in her to resist</p><p>his clammy hands too low on her waist and too tight on her hand.</p><p>"Tu es bien silencieuse, Amélie," He said, after a while, with a sleazy smile</p><p>on his lips. "Je pensais que tu étais plutôt du genre 'bruyante'."</p><p>"Je suis simplement fatiguée, Monsieur l'Ambassadeur," she answered in</p><p>French as well.</p><p>"Déjà? La soirée vient à peine de commencer!" He laughed, raspy. His</p><p>hands smelled of cigarettes and his breath of booze, making Mia remember</p><p>Marino and shiver. "J'espérais passer un moment agréable avec vous</p><p>aujourd'hui. Il est rare de trouver quelqu'un aux États-Unis qui parle si bien</p><p>le français. Peut-être que je pourrais vous donner quelque chose pour</p><p>améliorer votre humeur," he teased her.</p><p>"Je vous demande pardon?!" Mia asked, appalled.</p><p>"Oh, allez! Ne monte pas sur tes grands chevaux! Comme si tu n'avais</p><p>jamais pris de produits..."</p><p>She just stared at him, with her eyes wide as saucers. And he laughed again.</p><p>"Oh, je vois... En fait tu es une gentille fille, bien sage? Je parie que tu</p><p>aimes bien que les hommes te disent ça au lit."</p><p>Mia almost slapped him in front of everyone. Instead, she pushed him away,</p><p>snarling "Gros porc!" [1] and practically ran away from the dance floor,</p><p>feeling her face burning</p><p>with anger and her eyes prickling in the corners.</p><p>She wandered until she found a door to the Museum's gardens. It wasn't as</p><p>cold anymore and the night sky was clear over her head. Mia inhaled</p><p>deeply, feeling the chilly air and the smell of the grass calming her. Spring</p><p>was coming, she could feel it in her bones. Something rustled behind her</p><p>and she turned, feeling her heart catching in her throat.</p><p>"Amélia?" A known voice called for her.</p><p>Wearing a simple black tuxedo and a matching mask, Agent Prentiss</p><p>walked the stone path towards her.</p><p>"Ah, Prentiss, it's you," she put her hand over the diamond on her chest,</p><p>relieved.</p><p>"You shouldn't be here alone." The brunette stopped beside Mia, with her</p><p>hands in her pockets. "It's not safe, after this afternoon."</p><p>Mia chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, feeling guilty.</p><p>"I know. I'm sorry. It was just… just too much."</p><p>"Yeah. It's part of Duvivier's high, seeing women squirm in his hands. But</p><p>he could have followed you here, Amélia, and that would have been bad."</p><p>Prentiss sat on a garden bench, swirling the rest of the contents of her</p><p>champagne glass on the bottom of it.</p><p>"Is that why you followed me, instead?" Mia asked, crossing her arms on</p><p>her chest and turning to look at Prentiss.</p><p>"Pretty much, yeah." She shrugged, downing her drink. "This and to stop a</p><p>certain someone from coming here instead. JJ is with him now, trying to</p><p>convince that big beautiful brain of his that attacking an Ambassador in a</p><p>public setting is a terrible idea."</p><p>Mia exhaled, tired, and watched as her breath became a fog.</p><p>"Can you tell me some random thing? Just so I can forget for a minute the</p><p>things that pig told me and we can go back in time for dinner?" She sat</p><p>beside Prentiss on the bench, starting to feel cold. "It doesn't need to be</p><p>personal, just some random thing."</p><p>She saw Prentiss looking forward for a moment.</p><p>"I have beaten Reid at chess a few times," she said, at last.</p><p>"Really?!" Mia asked, amazed. "That's awesome! Is he such a sore loser as</p><p>he seems?"</p><p>Prentiss chuckled.</p><p>"Yes, he is. Being an only child and a genius, the poor boy just knows</p><p>perfection and failure; no other words fit in his vocabulary about himself."</p><p>"I'm an only child too, but I have like 20 cousins from my father's side and I</p><p>never knew a moment of peace when I was a child." Mia had no idea why</p><p>she shared this with her.</p><p>"I thought, from your file, that your father was an only child." Prentiss</p><p>looked at her, surprised.</p><p>"My grandmother remarried when they finally went back to Brazil and my</p><p>step-grandfather had four kids of his own. My father was an only child until</p><p>he was in his teens, but I got a big raucous family for my childhood," she</p><p>explained. "I was usually the odd one out, with my nose always buried in</p><p>some book and wanting to sit with the adults and have important</p><p>conversations with them… But I played with the cousins sometimes, sang</p><p>folk songs, those normal kid things."</p><p>There was a sad smile on Prentiss' handsome features.</p><p>"He didn't have that. I didn't have that either. My own childhood was pretty</p><p>lonely." She contemplated the sky above them. "My mom was an</p><p>Ambassador, one of the first American women to achieve the feat — she's</p><p>retired now — and my father was a journalist, international correspondent</p><p>from wherever she was. And I was just luggage to be carried along."</p><p>"I'm so sorry, Prentiss," Mia said, after a few minutes of silence. "I could</p><p>teach you some of the traditional songs I used to sing with my cousins and</p><p>how to dance the ciranda, one day, if you ever want to."</p><p>"You're very kind, Amélia," she said, gently.</p><p>They sat in easy silence for a while until Mia shivered with the cold.</p><p>"We should go back inside.” Prentiss was the first to get up.</p><p>"Yes, we should. Thank you for the company." Mia followed her along the</p><p>path inside.</p><p>"No worries. Remember what I told you, Amélia: we're fiercely loyal to our</p><p>own."</p><p>Spencer could only relax a little when he saw Emily coming back inside</p><p>with Amélia. They both seemed at ease with each other, a fact he stored for</p><p>later happiness, and Emily guided her to the BAU table.</p><p>"Look who I found!" Emily announced as they stopped beside the table.</p><p>People greeted Amélia with different levels of enthusiasm and Penelope,</p><p>slightly tipsy, got up from her seat, running to her side.</p><p>"Hey, pumpkin! How are you holding up? I've been on pins and needles all</p><p>night wanting to talk to you, but Emily said we shouldn't show too much</p><p>familiarity with you, but now she has brought you to us and, since your man</p><p>can't shower you with love, I can and I will!" The puffy glittery sleeves of</p><p>her violently pink Glinda dress floated around her arms as she spoke, and</p><p>she held her starry wand with one hand. She adjusted her huge crown for a</p><p>minute, before resuming to speak. "Will you eat dinner with us?"</p><p>"Oh," Amélia's eyes went to Spencer and then to Emily. "I don't know if I</p><p>should… I mean, I would love to escape the hellish nightmare that will be</p><p>the Bradford table, but I have friends at another table and…" Even with her</p><p>back turned to him, Spencer knew that Penelope was probably making</p><p>puppy eyes at Amélia because she was rendered unable to refuse. "I mean…</p><p>I could… I could stay for a minute and only go find them when the food</p><p>starts to be served."</p><p>"Yaay!" Penelope cheered, throwing a handful of glitter from her purse over</p><p>Amélia, who let out a shy laugh. "Come, sit beside me. That way, you two</p><p>lovebirds can exchange secret glances while you're with us and no one but</p><p>us will know what's really going on!"</p><p>"Penelope… Let her breathe." Emily pulled Penelope back to her chair as</p><p>Luke silently moved one of the extra chairs by their table so Amélia could</p><p>be at Penelope's side.</p><p>"Thank you," Amélia spoke to him in a kinder tone than she had used</p><p>during the brunch at Rossi's. "Are you Zorro?"</p><p>Luke bowed to her, taking his large black hat from his head.</p><p>"Si, señora," he answered, giving her a charming smile before his eyes</p><p>darted to Penelope and he straightened up. "My childhood hero."</p><p>"¿Y te uniste a la policía?" [2] Amélia asked, with an ironic smile on her</p><p>lips before changing her tone entirely. "That 1998 movie was probably my</p><p>bisexual awakening. The Mummy was also a lot, and just a year later. My</p><p>poor father should have never expected for me to be straight."</p><p>"For me, I was thirteen in France and snuck into a movie theater through</p><p>the back door with a few school friends to see Rendez-Vouz," Emily</p><p>signaled a waiter to replenish their champagne glasses as she spoke. "I</p><p>was not ready for all the sudden feelings Juliette Binoche having sex on</p><p>camera would awaken in me. After that, men really had no appeal to me."</p><p>Amélia laughed and Spencer decided to share his own story.</p><p>"I guess that the first thing that left me really confused was The X-Files," he</p><p>said, feeling himself blush as all the eyes on the table turned to look at him.</p><p>"Look, I… I mean… Mulder and Scully!"</p><p>"Please, tell me you didn't join the FBI due to your crush on two actors</p><p>from a sci-fi series, Spencer," Amélia said, laughing.</p><p>"No! Of course not!" Spencer denied, grateful that the mask and the</p><p>costume were hiding his probably very reddened face and neck.</p><p>"Ok, ok, I'll go next," JJ drew everyone's attention to herself.</p><p>Spencer saw Amélia barely be able to stop herself from rolling her eyes. He</p><p>should probably tell her how important JJ had been for them to still be</p><p>together, at another moment.</p><p>"I think that the first time I really had feelings was watching Prince Phillip</p><p>sing with Aurora in Sleeping Beauty," JJ said.</p><p>"Your sexual awakening was with a cartoon?!" Penelope asked, delighted.</p><p>"Oh my god, I love how you're secretly a weirdo, JJ!"</p><p>"He sang, danced, and had a nice butt, ok?!" JJ defended herself.</p><p>"Well, knowing that I have beaten a 2D cartoon in getting my wife's heart…</p><p>JJ, do you want to dance?" Will interrupted</p><p>the conversation, standing up</p><p>and offering her his hand.</p><p>On that cue, Rossi asked Penelope to dance with him, Tara pulled Luke</p><p>with her, and Emily excused herself to freshen up, leaving Spencer and</p><p>Amélia alone at the table. She downed her champagne glass, got up, and</p><p>said to him, in a conspiratorial tone:</p><p>"Follow me."</p><p>Mia went back to the corner in the garden she had found with Prentiss</p><p>earlier that night. She could hear Spencer's footsteps following her, but</p><p>wouldn't dare to turn and look, almost afraid that he could vanish before her</p><p>eyes like Eurydice.</p><p>She stopped under the trees, close enough that she could still hear the music</p><p>and know when the auction would begin, but hidden enough so no one</p><p>would see them. Only then did she turn on her heels. Against the light,</p><p>Spencer looked even more like a raven. Mia pulled her veil down on her</p><p>shoulders and took a step closer to him.</p><p>"We really shouldn't be doing this, Amélia..." He said, with no strength in</p><p>his voice.</p><p>"Make me stop, then," she challenged him, closing the distance between</p><p>them and pulling him closer to her by the lapels of his jacket.</p><p>He just stared at her, dumbstruck, and swallowed.</p><p>"I'll probably be way too tired for anything later tonight, but please tell me</p><p>that this mask is yours and you will be able to wear it on… other</p><p>occasions." Mia slowly batted her eyelashes at him, knowing full well what</p><p>she was doing.</p><p>"I had no idea you..." He started saying and needed to lick his lips in the</p><p>middle of the sentence. "You felt like this about, you know, ravens," he</p><p>laughed nervously.</p><p>Mia laughed, throwing her head back and letting him have a nice look at the</p><p>column of her throat.</p><p>"I mean, not about ravens themselves. Maybe just you with eyeliner and</p><p>your hair pushed back like this could do the trick as well."</p><p>"Yeah?" He asked, breathless.</p><p>"We could test my theory right now," Mia said, pushing his mask out of his</p><p>face. She could only vaguely see his features, but she didn't really need the</p><p>visibility at that moment. "Hmm… Just as I thought."</p><p>"And what did you think?"</p><p>"Yeah, it's you and eyeliner, pretty much," she said, with a wicked smile. "If</p><p>you ever want to seduce me, just wear eyeliner again and I'm ready to go."</p><p>"I’ll keep that in mind, if doing the dishes doesn't work out," he teased her.</p><p>"If you ever do the dishes while wearing eyeliner, I'll jump you against the</p><p>sink, Spencer."</p><p>His breath hitched upon hearing her words and he held her face with both of</p><p>his hands, pulling her to himself and eagerly kissing her.</p><p>Mia had barely any time to eat when she and Spencer finally wandered back</p><p>to the party. Daniel and Eleanor were very excited about everything and</p><p>told her in detail how they had chatted with several potential donors for No</p><p>Borders. Ewa and Tiago were just enjoying themselves on the dance floor</p><p>while their partners obsessively thought about work.</p><p>As soon as the waiters started collecting the empty dessert plates, a</p><p>spotlight shone on the stage over John Leguizamo. The crowd clapped and</p><p>cheered as he stood silent for a moment.</p><p>"Good evening, ladies, gentlemen, and everyone else; welcome to tonight's</p><p>performance of Latin History for Morons." The crowd burst out in laughter</p><p>and he waited for it to fade out before continuing to speak. "I know, I know.</p><p>You didn't put on your best clothes tonight so a Latino guy could try to</p><p>compensate for a lifetime of educational deficit in a couple of hours! No,</p><p>this is not my one-man show."</p><p>"You're damn right it isn't!" A second spotlight was lit up as Gina</p><p>Rodriguez walked onto the stage showered by thunderous applause. "You</p><p>must be asking yourselves right now: wait a minute, is this the Latin</p><p>Grammys?"</p><p>"Tonight's event, in case anyone had only come here for the food and the</p><p>opportunity to dress up outside of Halloween, is to raise funds for the</p><p>fantastic initiative of the Charlotte Bradford Foundation," Leguizamo said.</p><p>"The Foundation, which is being launched today, is being created to provide</p><p>aid to queer Latin youth in DC. They will have a shelter with capacity for</p><p>30 kids and, working with the No Borders non-profit, will offer art, music,</p><p>and drama classes, as well as free healthcare and counseling."</p><p>"This initiative is so important that John and I carved a spot in our hectic</p><p>calendars to come here tonight and host the auction, which will start in a</p><p>minute, now that you are drunk enough to open your wallets!" The crowd</p><p>laughed as Rodriguez theatrically winked at them.</p><p>"We want to invite to the stage with us the people responsible for tonight.</p><p>You know them, you love them, the magazines want you to believe they are</p><p>the new Kennedys! Please, come to the stage, Representative Matthew</p><p>Bradford and Mrs. Rebecca Bradford!"</p><p>Matt and Becky got up from their seats, giving blinding smiles and waving</p><p>to the crowd that cheered them as they walked to the stage.</p><p>"And, last but not least," Rodriguez added, "the visionary woman behind it</p><p>all, Charlotte Bradford's widow, Professor Amélia Ferreira!"</p><p>Mia felt struck by lightning when she heard herself being referred to as</p><p>Charlie's widow before a room filled with 500 people. Daniel had to pull</p><p>her chair for her as Eleanor coached her to get up. The applause of the</p><p>crowd was suddenly too loud and Mia was walking underwater, feeling the</p><p>huge waves of the Atlantic rolling over her at the bottom of the ocean, as</p><p>she went to the stage in a hazed state. She couldn't do it. Why had she let</p><p>Becky convince her that she was able to give a speech tonight?</p><p>The spotlight almost blinded her and she could hear the faint buzzing</p><p>sounds of the electric equipment around her when she stepped on the stage.</p><p>Gina Rodriguez and John Leguizamo were talking to her, asking questions</p><p>and making jokes, there was a microphone in her hand, and Mia knew she</p><p>was smiling and answering them like they had rehearsed on the prior day,</p><p>but she was drowning, going deeper and deeper inside herself.</p><p>Charlie's widow.</p><p>It was a lie.</p><p>A lie and she hadn't corrected them.</p><p>A lie.</p><p>She was a liar, undeserving of that position and that praise.</p><p>With the light in her eyes, she couldn't see Spencer or Eleanor in the crowd.</p><p>All alone in a room with hundreds of people.</p><p>"Where did this idea come from, Professor?" The question from Leguizamo</p><p>suddenly pierced through Mia's spiral and she was back in the purpose of</p><p>that moment.</p><p>She could see the faces of every teen and young adult, abandoned by their</p><p>families and the State because their mere existence offended preconceived</p><p>notions of how the world should be. She felt very raw on her skin how she</p><p>hadn't been able to help them until now; how writing their stories never felt</p><p>like enough, collecting donation boxes for them never felt like enough,</p><p>being hit by cops' batons on the streets for them was never enough. And it</p><p>still wouldn't be enough. Because she had almost been one of them, when</p><p>her father cut her off ten years ago upon finding out who she really was,</p><p>and, if it weren't for her mother sending her money in secret and the three</p><p>jobs she had in NY at the same time while writing her Ph.D., Mia would</p><p>have been one of them. She would have slept in a tent or vanished through</p><p>the cracks of the system, like so many of them.</p><p>But now, now she could do a little bit more. She wouldn't be able to save all</p><p>of them, but some. And "some" would have to be enough for now. It scared</p><p>her like nothing had ever scared her before. But she came from a lineage of</p><p>warriors, from a continent of survivors. Mia never had the luxury to give up</p><p>on things in her life because she was afraid.</p><p>She had no idea what she had said as an answer when the crowd erupted in</p><p>applause and she was conducted to her seat beside Becky on the stage,</p><p>where they would be during the auction. A glass of water was pushed into</p><p>her hands and someone dabbed her face with a tissue. She had been crying.</p><p>"... Becky?" She asked, blinking as</p><p>Rebecca's brown warm eyes got into</p><p>focus before her.</p><p>"Shhh… Shhh… My dear, you were great. Now drink your water and sit</p><p>straight while the auction goes on, alright? It will be over in a bit," Becky</p><p>cooed at her, with the same voice Mia had seen her use a thousand times</p><p>with Junior.</p><p>The cool water in her mouth brought her back little by little. Item by item</p><p>from her home with Charlie was auctioned before her eyes — antiques, art</p><p>pieces, tapestries, and silver cutlery, everything was gone, even the Great-</p><p>Aunt's china Laura coveted so much. In Charlie's safe deposit boxes, Mia</p><p>had found an original Picasso sketch, which had been gifted to her on her</p><p>21st birthday by her godmother, a study for Les Demoiselles</p><p>d'Avignon, which, by itself, was sold for U$30,000. Together, they amassed</p><p>a few million dollars, to Mia's surprise and joy. Becky smiled for the two of</p><p>them, but Mia managed to stop crying and was even able to smile too.</p><p>"And now we come to the moment everyone was expecting!" Rodriguez</p><p>announced as the last piece was sold.</p><p>A big frame, covered by a white cloth, was rolled onto the stage by the</p><p>auction house's staff.</p><p>"The secret auction item, donated by Matthew and Rebecca Bradford!"</p><p>Leguizamo cheered, gesturing to the hidden object behind him.</p><p>With a flourish, Rodriguez pulled the cloth to the ground, revealing the</p><p>canvas behind it. The whole room collectively gasped, Mia's surprise was</p><p>so big she took her hands to her mouth, with her eyes open wide. She</p><p>immediately recognized the style of one of her favorite painters. After all,</p><p>she had a reproduction of one of his paintings in her living room and</p><p>another in her office at Georgetown.</p><p>It was a Klimt.</p><p>Glittery, large, colorful, symbolist. A masterpiece.</p><p>Four naked women swimming among stars, fishes, and flowers. One with</p><p>their back turned to the audience seemed to be asleep; another, showing her</p><p>large breast, seductively faced the audience; while the final two, in the</p><p>background, seemed to share a secret. The Water Serpents II, a painting that</p><p>had disappeared in the 1980s, after a private sale in Berlin, when it had</p><p>been sold to an unknown buyer for U$ 60 million.</p><p>After what seemed like an eternity of silence, the room burst into a</p><p>cacophony of sounds. Phone calls and hurried conversations came from all</p><p>sides. Mia wanted to ask Matt how that painting had come into his hands,</p><p>but she would have to wait for another moment.</p><p>In that very instant, she wanted to drink in every tiny detail available,</p><p>before it was sold and disappeared from her eyes a second time. Charlie</p><p>would have found this sale outrageous. She probably didn't even know</p><p>about the existence of the Klimt in her family, otherwise, she would have</p><p>insisted for them to, at least, lend it to a museum, where more people could</p><p>bask in the grace of its presence.</p><p>It was, indeed, like a blessing, and Mia quickly cleaned a tear that had</p><p>escaped her eye, feeling really sorry that she couldn't just get up and stare at</p><p>it from a better angle. Her neck would probably be sore from her</p><p>unrelenting gaze, but it was worth it. It was one of the most beautiful things</p><p>she had ever seen.</p><p>She barely registered when the bidding started. Fourty. Fifty. Sixty. Seventy.</p><p>Eighty. Ninety. One hundred million dollars! This number shook her out a</p><p>bit and made her pay attention again, but it wasn't over. A proxy for</p><p>someone unknown, a tech billionaire, a Russian security mogul, and a</p><p>Middle Eastern prince fought tooth and nail for the right to claim</p><p>possession of the painting. The bidding war kept going until the proxy stood</p><p>up and declared:</p><p>"Two hundred million dollars!"</p><p>For the second time that night, the room collectively held its breath as Gina</p><p>Rodriguez called "Going once, going twice… Sold to the gentleman in the</p><p>back for two hundred million dollars!"</p><p>The reporters crowded the proxy, trying to find out who his boss was, but</p><p>he dodged all the questions, following the auction house and the museum</p><p>staff to the secure room to conclude the transaction, as the painting was</p><p>covered again and rolled away. Becky and Matt dragged Mia with them to</p><p>give a declaration to the press about their joy and happiness and how so</p><p>many kids would be helped thanks to all the people who had donated and</p><p>helped. The shelter would open in a couple of months, when the</p><p>renovations to the townhouse, adapting it into a group home, ended.</p><p>They finished the round of interviews when Florence and The</p><p>Machine were already on the stage, starting their show. The lights in the</p><p>room were dimmed again and people occupied the dance floor, excitedly</p><p>chatting with each other. Mia joined the crowd, still amazed by everything</p><p>that had happened that night. Except for her unpleasant encounter with</p><p>Ambassador Duvivier, the night was going incredibly well. Everything was</p><p>working out, the Foundation would have money for years and years of</p><p>work, even if they didn't do anything like this so soon.</p><p>To make everything more perfect, she was able to find the flashy pink and</p><p>glittery costume Penelope was wearing amongst the people dancing and,</p><p>with her, Spencer. His friends were all dancing and enjoying the show and</p><p>he just held her hand in the dark. No one would ever know. When the first</p><p>bars to Kiss With a Fist started playing, he leaned in closer to her.</p><p>"You know, this is our song," he said, against the shell of her ear. There was</p><p>a trickster's smile on his lips.</p><p>"No, it's not!" Mia laughed, gently pushing his arm.</p><p>"It most certainly is. I still remember you singing it in my car and how your</p><p>voice was what made me fall in love with you."</p><p>"You're horrible! A horrible, horrible man!" She chastised him, laughing.</p><p>"I'll make you pay for your disrespect."</p><p>"I sure hope so." His nose brushed lightly against her cheek before he</p><p>pulled himself away from her.</p><p>Penelope pulled Mia's hand soon after so they could dance together with the</p><p>others. Mia laughed and spun, singing along to every single song, even if</p><p>off-key.</p><p>As the drums started playing Breath of Life and Florence began vocalizing,</p><p>an unknown man in a suit and no mask touched Mia's shoulder.</p><p>"Professor Ferreira?" He asked, coming closer to her ear so she could hear</p><p>him. Then he pointed to a name tag on his chest that read Jeff. "I'm on the</p><p>Auction House's staff tonight; your presence is required in the safe room."</p><p>"Is everything alright?" Mia frowned, worried.</p><p>"I don't know, ma'am. I was just sent to fetch you." The man said, looking</p><p>honest.</p><p>"I need to go," Mia turned to Spencer to tell him. "It's something to do with</p><p>the auction."</p><p>"I'll go with you," Luke chimed in. Apparently, Spencer's team had been</p><p>paying attention to the interaction.</p><p>"This is really unnecessary, I'll be with the staff..." Mia tried to argue.</p><p>"Amélia, for my peace of mind," Spencer pleaded, squeezing her hand</p><p>before letting her go.</p><p>"Fine, fine," she agreed. "Come on, Jeff, lead the way."</p><p>They crossed the room without an issue, as soon as they left the dance floor.</p><p>Nobody noticed them, being too enticed with the show to care about Joan of</p><p>Arc and Zorro entering the restricted area of the Museum. When they</p><p>reached the safe room at the end of the hallway, the last bars of the song</p><p>could be heard, and Mia recognized the chimes that introduced Rabbit</p><p>Heart (Raise it up).</p><p>"You will have to go inside alone, Professor, as a matter of confidentiality.</p><p>If you want to wait outside, sir, there's a bench across the hallway," Jeff</p><p>explained, before opening the door.</p><p>"Why all this secrecy?" Luke asked, annoyed. "I don't feel comfortable</p><p>leaving her alone in a secluded room."</p><p>"Sir, we're at a charity function, not a biker bar. No one entered here with</p><p>guns and there are no loose psychos here," Jeff retorted in a superior tone,</p><p>rolling his eyes at Luke. "Professor Ferreira is one of the hosts tonight and</p><p>this entails some things that are none of our business." And, turning to Mia,</p><p>he asked: "Professor, are</p><p>and Peter Sweeney</p><p>wasn't a match for the samples on Natalya and Charlotte. Even though this</p><p>alone didn't mean he hadn't killed his own daughter, since they had no</p><p>concrete evidence that both cases were connected, Ava was his solid alibi</p><p>for Friday night. She hadn't been able to sleep once Emma broke curfew.</p><p>"Senator Hawthorne's chief of staff agreed to a meeting first thing tomorrow</p><p>morning," Emily said, entering the briefing room where the team awaited</p><p>her. "I know it's already five p.m, but tonight everyone will stay late. We</p><p>need to review every small detail in Emma's life and if there are any other</p><p>intersections with these men or any other. Penelope, give Spencer every</p><p>piece of footage you have found of the New Year's Eve party. See if you</p><p>two can find anything there. Anything at all."</p><p>Tuesday</p><p>Emily picked him up at Amélia's early in the morning. Her lips were a thin</p><p>line on her face. Spencer hid his face behind the thermos filled with the</p><p>amazing French-pressed Colombian coffee he had made for himself before</p><p>leaving. Amélia was waking up when he was leaving, at just 7 a.m. She</p><p>cornered him in the hallway like a caffeine-deprived zombie and pushed</p><p>three keys against his hand before kissing him quickly and closing the door</p><p>behind him.</p><p>The car had barely left Amélia's building when his phone buzzed with a</p><p>string of texts from her.</p><p>"no need to wake me up anymore</p><p>just use the keys whenever u wanna come over</p><p>i hope today goes better than yesterday</p><p>beijos"</p><p>She had nightmares again that night, he felt her tossing and tumbling in the</p><p>sheets. When she sat up in the bed, breathing hard, he had been too tired to</p><p>really wake up to comfort her, so he only rolled on his side to pull her down</p><p>and nuzzled her hair until he felt her relax again. He hadn't told her about</p><p>his confession to Emily yet. And he didn't have the opportunity to give her</p><p>the birthday present he had spent weeks obsessing about. The new keys</p><p>pressed against his thigh in his pocket and Spencer wondered if it would be</p><p>a problem to go back to her place that night again. Lately, he would barely</p><p>stay at his own place.</p><p>"This case isn't connected to the Bradford case." Emily's voice cut his train</p><p>of thought. "At least, not officially, not yet. Officially, the Bradford case is</p><p>closed and, officially, the man who killed Charlotte Bradford and Natalya</p><p>Petrovna is in jail after confessing in detail to his crimes."</p><p>He stayed in silence, listening to her firm voice.</p><p>"Right now, we need all resources available on Emma Sweeney's murder</p><p>and you're too valuable an asset to be chained to a desk or under an</p><p>investigation. You and Professor Ferreira will keep your relationship low</p><p>profile until this is all over and, if the question ever arises in the future, you</p><p>both will say you started seeing each other after Joshua Marino was</p><p>arrested and the case was officially closed. Am I making myself clear?"</p><p>"Perfectly clear," he said, keeping his voice in a humble tone.</p><p>"If we get even a whiff that your gut feeling is correct and this is, in fact,</p><p>connected to Joshua Marino, Charlotte Bradford, or Natalya Petrovna in</p><p>any way, you will be immediately removed from the case and you will be</p><p>on your desk doing accumulated log work."</p><p>"Thank you, Emily," he said. "This is way more than I deserve."</p><p>"Don't think that I'm doing this for you. I'm doing this for Emma Sweeney."</p><p>Tuesday</p><p>Mia had to get dressed for her classes of the day and her meeting with</p><p>Rebecca later, but she decided to risk being late by standing under the</p><p>winter sun for a few minutes on her terrace. Most of the snow was still</p><p>there, now turned into a mushy grey thing, tainted by the pollution hanging</p><p>in the DC air, but Mia didn't care.</p><p>She had dreamed of Charlie and given the keys to her apartment to Spencer.</p><p>What the hell was she doing with her life?</p><p>Sometimes, loving Charlie hurt like a suffocating pain similar to how her</p><p>throat felt for weeks after Marino had tried to kill her. The ultimate trick</p><p>Charlie played on her was to become this saint after her death. Everyone</p><p>thought of them as these star-crossed lovers and wondered what was it that</p><p>kept them apart in life. After all, Charlie left everything to Mia, Charlie</p><p>made multiple declarations of love to her.</p><p>The truth was a different thing. The truth was complicated, almost</p><p>impossible to capture or explain in words. Charlie was fucking her advisor.</p><p>Her married advisor. Charlie dated several men in the four years since she</p><p>broke up with Mia. She never had the guts to come out to her family and</p><p>she never had the decency to let Mia be free.</p><p>And Mia… Mia was too weak to leave her. No one stayed, no one really</p><p>wanted her once they knew her, so she accepted the crumbs Charlie fed her</p><p>and pretended this was enough. She, too, pretended one day they could be</p><p>together as Florentino and Firmina. But she resented Charlie more than she</p><p>could ever express to anyone else besides Doctor Beatrice.</p><p>This was one of the reasons why her grief felt so all-consuming: she hated</p><p>that Charlie had managed to leave her without ever confronting her own</p><p>irresponsible behavior. And she hated that now she could never be able to</p><p>confront Charlotte. To break ties from her.</p><p>And now… Now she feared she was getting herself into something like that</p><p>again. Yes, she had only been dating Spencer for four months and it was</p><p>perhaps too soon to start worrying about these things, but she did. He spent</p><p>a lot of time with her, hidden in her place so no one from his work could</p><p>risk finding out, and it was his work that made him not available to meet</p><p>her parents on Christmas Eve or her friends on her birthday. He was</p><p>overworked and exhausted and that was why he had shown up in the middle</p><p>of the night with that lame "I'm sorry I missed your birthday" and nothing</p><p>else. She shouldn't overthink it.</p><p>She shouldn't overthink the fact that she made that huge declaration of her</p><p>feelings at his place and he had never said anything back. That she had told</p><p>him she thought she loved him on Christmas day and he never even</p><p>acknowledged it. He had warned her that he wasn't that good at expressing</p><p>feelings and he had told her repeatedly that he needed her.</p><p>But needing someone isn't the same as admiring them. Or loving them. Or</p><p>wanting some sort of future with them.</p><p>Mia was an anxious person. She knew this. She could never stop herself</p><p>from dissecting and analyzing every little thing that happened, exploring the</p><p>scenarios in her head.</p><p>Charlie hated this about her. Most people did.</p><p>So she hid it away under her apparently carefree exterior and her very</p><p>understanding manners.</p><p>But there, alone on her terrace, wondering if she could ever break free from</p><p>the spell Charlotte had cast over her all those years ago, she could just listen</p><p>to the city below her, worry, and cry.</p><p>Tuesday</p><p>"Good morning, agents! Welcome to my office and please excuse me for</p><p>the mess. Election year, you know." Senator Theodore Hawtorne welcomed</p><p>Emily and Spencer into his office with a winning smile on his face.</p><p>He was almost the same height as Spencer, with a broad frame and a square</p><p>face. His dark blond hair was combed back, making his forehead more</p><p>prominent. His icy blue eyes positively sparkled that morning.</p><p>The office was indeed hectic, with interns taking calls in every available</p><p>corner, until Senator Hawtorne guided them to his private study and closed</p><p>the door. A young white man was already in there, standing in a corner and</p><p>studying some papers.</p><p>"When Austin heard the FBI wanted to interview me, he insisted on being</p><p>present. I hope it's not an issue, agent Prentiss," Senator Hawthorne said,</p><p>apologetically, pointing at the man.</p><p>"And Austin is…?" Emily asked.</p><p>"Oh, yes. I'm sorry about my manners, I don't really function before 10 a.m.</p><p>Agent Prentiss, Doctor Reid, this is Austin Harris, my chief of staff and</p><p>Republican wunderkind," Hawthorne said with an amicable laugh.</p><p>Upon hearing</p><p>you ready?"</p><p>"Yes, yes," she answered, feeling anxious, trying to think what could have</p><p>happened. Was there a problem with one of the items? An unhappy buyer?</p><p>Someone lacked the funds to pay for the item they had acquired? "Luke,</p><p>don't worry. You can go back to the party. I'll be out in a minute," she tried</p><p>to ease his mind.</p><p>"I'll wait for you on the bench, Amélia. It's literally not a big deal, I'm not</p><p>even a Florence fan," he said, shrugging.</p><p>Mia narrowed her eyes at him.</p><p>"Not even a Florence fan… You're a hard man to like, Alvez," she said,</p><p>before nodding at Jeff for him to use his key-card to open the safe room's</p><p>door.</p><p>Inside the safe room, the outside world's sounds disappeared. The room was</p><p>empty except for the Klimt hanging on a wall. There was even a chair in</p><p>front of it as if they knew that this painting was meant for adoring eyes.</p><p>Transfixed, Mia got closer to it, feeling her heart expanding tenfold in the</p><p>presence of absolute grace. In the room's appropriate light, the mermaid's</p><p>eyes seemed to glint at Mia, challenging her, calling her to dance with her</p><p>and her friends. She wanted to count each flower in their hairs and felt</p><p>saddened that this painting was destined to vanish once more.</p><p>A door to her left opened and two people walked out of it, Mia heard them,</p><p>but she didn't want to turn and look. She didn't want to waste a single</p><p>moment of the ones she still had with the mermaids. The door to the</p><p>hallway opened and closed, Mia heard one pair of footsteps approaching</p><p>her from behind.</p><p>"So, I gather from your reaction that this one you like," a well-known voice</p><p>came from behind her and she finally turned to look at the person there.</p><p>"Senator?" She frowned and blinked, confused. "What are you…?"</p><p>His manly features twisted in a charming smile as his cold blue eyes</p><p>examined her. She felt like a forest animal caught in headlights.</p><p>"Come on, Amélia, you're smarter than this," he teased her.</p><p>"...You were the mystery buyer?" She asked, and her eyes darted from him</p><p>and his regal clothes to the masterpiece behind them. "I had no idea that</p><p>you were such a Klimt fan."</p><p>"I'm not." His simple words echoed their brief conversation, months ago, in</p><p>the Senate House, when he had commented on her choice of clothes. "So,</p><p>you still haven't answered me. This one you like, right?"</p><p>"I…" She was speechless, her fast brain trying to process all the</p><p>information it was connecting at once. "It's a masterpiece."</p><p>Hawthorne stayed in silence, staring at her and barely blinking. Her heart</p><p>raced in her chest and she stole a quick glance at the door, wondering if</p><p>Luke would be able to hear her if she screamed. If she needed to scream.</p><p>"What are you planning to do… With it? What are your plans for the</p><p>painting?" She tripped over her words, fearing the possibility of saying the</p><p>wrong thing.</p><p>"If you hadn't been so in love with it, you would have seen the</p><p>Smithsonian's curator leaving this room before I spoke to you. I have just</p><p>permanently lent it to their collection. You will be able to come here and see</p><p>it whenever you want, Amélia." His voice was smooth and he took a step</p><p>closer to her.</p><p>"W-why?" She trembled as he leaned in and seemed to smell her.</p><p>"What do you mean by 'why'? Isn't it obvious?" His gaze leered on her neck</p><p>for a moment before going back to her face. "When Matthew told me</p><p>Rebecca wanted to use the auction to boost their charitable status and get</p><p>rid of this scandalous painting his father bought in the 80s, I knew I had to</p><p>buy it… For you."</p><p>"Me?" Her voice was two octaves higher and she took a step back, trying to</p><p>escape him in some way that he wouldn't perceive as rude. "How… how did</p><p>you know?"</p><p>He said nothing for a moment and smiled condescendingly at her.</p><p>"You're not the only one capable of research, you know? Also, your picture</p><p>on Georgetown's website allows us to see your reproduction of Judit I on</p><p>the back wall." He averted his gaze from her for a moment to look at his</p><p>new acquisition. "It's not proper, you know, for a woman of your status, to</p><p>be so enamored by sensual paintings of naked women."</p><p>Her mouth felt dry and she just wanted to run away.</p><p>"I'm… I was never… I'm not that conventional, Senator," she stuttered.</p><p>He looked at her again and chuckled.</p><p>"No, you're not. You're a rough piece of coal, aren't you? The diamond</p><p>within you is carefully hidden from prying eyes."</p><p>The goddess in the stone. Galatea.</p><p>She cleaned her throat and tried to compose herself before speaking again.</p><p>"Are you trying to seduce me, Senator?"</p><p>This seemed like the wrong thing to say because Hawthorne's face contorted</p><p>in a sneer of contempt and there was a flash of anger in his eyes that scared</p><p>Mia.</p><p>"What?" He asked, disgusted. "No, nothing vulgar like that." And then he</p><p>took a deep breath before continuing to speak, going back behind his mask</p><p>of chivalry. "We live in a predatory world. Mankind is at the height of the</p><p>food chain and we only have ourselves to fear. You think you're a warrior,</p><p>Amélia, but you aren't. You need someone to protect you, to guard you.</p><p>And that's what I'm offering to you."</p><p>Hobbes. Of course, he would quote Hobbes. Man is the wolf of man. She</p><p>licked her lips, retracing her steps, trying to find the right combination to</p><p>not set him off again and not make him even more… Whatever that was.</p><p>"I'm… I'm sorry for not being very eloquent, but I'm really surprised. I feel</p><p>a little dizzy." She walked to the chair and noticed that he didn't try to stop</p><p>her. Good, so playing the damsel seemed to work. "You asked me… You</p><p>asked me if I like this one. Did you… Did you give me any other gifts?"</p><p>He stared at her for a moment, considering her question.</p><p>"What do you mean? You’re royalty now; you deserve to dress like a</p><p>princess, Amélia. I can be very patient, very understanding. I can give you</p><p>every wish your heart desires, if you just… If you just agree to cast aside</p><p>your childish notions about the world and stop wasting yourself with people</p><p>who don't deserve you. Rebecca is a good influence on you, I have been</p><p>telling her this for a while now." With these words, Mia took her hand to</p><p>her mouth, trying to suppress a sob.</p><p>Rebecca and Matthew had been playing doll with her for Hawthorne? Did</p><p>they realize what they were doing or were they puppets in his sick game</p><p>too?</p><p>"If you could just see yourself the way I do, Amélia!" He exclaimed. "You</p><p>keep trying to be all manly and strong, but that's not who you really are!</p><p>You need me as much as I need you!"</p><p>His face looked almost deranged now, fevered, and Mia was shaking like a</p><p>leaf. He had sent the dress. He had manipulated her relationship with Matt</p><p>and Becky. What else did he do?</p><p>"But you barely know me!" She said, almost hysterical.</p><p>"You're wrong, you're so very wrong." He shook his head as if she was</p><p>nothing but a stubborn child. "I knew there was something about you the</p><p>first time that I saw you, in church, surrounded by beautiful white flowers</p><p>like you should always be. And then I realized we were connected in deeper</p><p>ways, ways no one can ever sever… But I'm rambling, you're still not ready</p><p>for it. I should have known you weren't ready when you showed up this</p><p>evening dressed like this. But I couldn't miss the opportunity with the</p><p>painting and god knows when we would be able to speak like this again,</p><p>with all the leeches always getting in our way."</p><p>He stood in silence for a moment, watching her pale and trembling with a</p><p>smile on his handsome face. Hawthorne crouched before her, took a</p><p>handkerchief from his pocket, and gently dabbed it on her clammy</p><p>forehead, gazing at her adoringly.</p><p>"I know… I know..." He shushed. "When Socrates severed the chains of his</p><p>brothers and sisters who used to just watch shadows on a wall and carried</p><p>them with him outside the cave, they were taken by pain and fear too. It's</p><p>part of being reborn, Amélia. The sun will hurt for a minute, but now you</p><p>know your true destiny."</p><p>He smelled the embroidered square of tissue in his hand for an instant,</p><p>before tucking it away back in his pocket.</p><p>"I'm a patient man, Amélia. I'll leave this room first, leave you here with</p><p>your present, and we will meet again soon. Hopefully, when you're ready to</p><p>walk in the sun with me."</p><p>Chapter End Notes</p><p>Translation notes:</p><p>[1] Duvivier: "Professor, now it's my turn."</p><p>Duvivier: "You're so quiet, Amélie. I thought you were a 'loud' one"</p><p>Mia: "I'm just tired, Mr. Ambassador"</p><p>Duvivier: "Already? The party has barely started! I was hoping to have</p><p>pleasant moments with you tonight. It's rare to find people who speak</p><p>French well in the United States. Perhaps I could give you something</p><p>to improve your mood."</p><p>Mia: "Excuse me?!"</p><p>Duvivier: "Ah, come on! Come down from this high horse! As if you</p><p>have never used anything before... Oh, I see... You're actually a good</p><p>girl, am I right? I bet that you love hearing so from men in bed."</p><p>Mia: "Disgusting pig!"</p><p>[2] "And you joined the police?"</p><p>Notes:</p><p>Well, we're ALL walking in the sun together now. Hohohohoho</p><p>I wasn't SUBTLE with the fact that Ted was the UNSUB so far. I</p><p>mean, I don't think so. But now he's out in the open and ready to cause</p><p>CHAOS.</p><p>A few references from this chapter: Amélia quotes "The Raven", by</p><p>Edgar Allan Poe, to Spencer, because he's one of his favorite authors</p><p>and this is the reference for his costume. When she asks if she will</p><p>become a wolf, she's referencing the movie "Ladyhawke" (1985), but</p><p>genderbending things because this is Mia lol</p><p>Then we have Ted quoting "The Prince", by Machiavelli.</p><p>Amélia thinks of Orpheus and Eurydice's legend in the garden (if</p><p>anyone is interested, Hadestown is the musical adaptation to it and it's</p><p>perfect! The soundtrack is available online).</p><p>The Klimt painting exists and you can find it online! It's also currently</p><p>safe in a Museum</p><p>In the final scene, Ted quotes "Leviathan", by Thomas Hobbes, and</p><p>"The myth of the cave", by Plato.</p><p>My love is dangerous (always makes you bleed)</p><p>Chapter Summary</p><p>So I run to the Lord</p><p>Please hide me, Lord</p><p>Don't you see me prayin'?</p><p>Don't you see me down here prayin'?</p><p>But the Lord said</p><p>Go to the Devil, the Lord said</p><p>Go to the Devil</p><p>Chapter Notes</p><p>See the end of the chapter for notes</p><p>The hurricane from the week before refused to go away completely and the</p><p>warm wind still ravaged the darkened streets of DC. She was grateful for</p><p>the absence of rain, because the guy was late and her looks would be ruined</p><p>if she got wet. She checked her work phone once more. Full battery,</p><p>complete bars of service, and ready to record.</p><p>A black van slowed down in front of her and a guy wearing a suit smaller</p><p>than him leaned on the window. His eyes took a minute too long on her</p><p>naked legs.</p><p>"You're not Savannah," he said, with a raised eyebrow.</p><p>"Savannah is sick and asked me to cover for her," she said, shrugging. "I</p><p>know your boss likes consistency, but it's me or his hand tonight."</p><p>Sasquatch narrowed his hazel-green eyes at her, as if he was doing some</p><p>complicated math equations.</p><p>"So?" She asked, crossing her arms on her chest at an angle that made her</p><p>small boobs look bigger.</p><p>"Fine, Goldielocks. Hop in." Pressing a button on the car panel, he opened</p><p>the back door.</p><p>She got inside, trying to stop her too-short sparkly dress from going above</p><p>her ass.</p><p>"Your Agency is a mess lately," Sasquatch mumbled as they rolled away.</p><p>"I'm not with the Agency, I'm an 'independent contractor'." She shot him a</p><p>charming grin while she fumbled with her purse. "But, yeah, since Piotr got</p><p>arrested, things are chaotic. They're still trying to decide who is going to be</p><p>the new alpha dog."</p><p>He looked at her through the rear mirror, staring at her toned legs.</p><p>"I forgot to ask your name. The boss will want to know."</p><p>"I'm Valerie."</p><p>Charlotte took one more look at her phone and smiled, satisfied with herself</p><p>when she saw the recording app functioning as it should. It was September</p><p>10th of 2015, and she was going to visit another of the special gentlemen</p><p>from her curated list.</p><p>Mia registered him leaving through the door to her left. Suddenly, the</p><p>mermaid in front of her wasn't a friend anymore. Mia walked into the water</p><p>and she was drowning. She must have stayed there for a long time, because</p><p>her legs felt numb, and then there were faint sounds of a discussion outside</p><p>the safe room's door.</p><p>She heard it open, after a minute, but she didn't turn even when she heard</p><p>the rushed heavy steps coming to her. Zorro crouched in front of her, she</p><p>could recognize him, and he tried to talk to her, but his voice came from so</p><p>far that she couldn't hear him above the piercing noise in her ears. She felt</p><p>cold. Zorro shook her by her arms, but she didn't move. She saw him talk to</p><p>someone else and then talk to his sleeve. And then Zorro took off his cape</p><p>and enveloped her in it, still facing her and his mouth moved.</p><p>Mia had no idea how long it was until other people joined them, dressed in</p><p>mismatched clothes. A blonde man dressed all in black and wearing</p><p>eyeliner took Zorro's place crouching before her. He spoke too, but his</p><p>words never reached her. Mia knew she knew him. Mia remembered she</p><p>should feel something for him. There was a black woman dressed in an</p><p>elegant silver gown taking her wrist and looking at a watch. The sharp noise</p><p>started to fade out in her ears.</p><p>"Amélia, can you hear me?" The woman asked in a soft tone.</p><p>Mia blinked and tried to nod. It apparently worked because the people</p><p>around her exchanged relieved looks.</p><p>"Do you know where you are?" She asked once more.</p><p>Mia wanted to speak, but speaking seemed like a lot of effort, so she</p><p>nodded again.</p><p>"Can you speak?" She asked. Tara. Mia suddenly remembered her name.</p><p>She denied, shaking her head. She didn't want to speak or she couldn't</p><p>speak, what difference did that make?</p><p>"Do you know who I am?" Tara continued her assessment.</p><p>Mia nodded.</p><p>"Were you given anything since the last time I saw you? Any drugs?"</p><p>Mia said no with her head again. She wished Tara could let go of her wrist,</p><p>she didn't want to be touched.</p><p>"Amélia, we're really worried. Can you try to tell me what happened here?"</p><p>Spencer asked. Spencer. It was Spencer crouching before her.</p><p>She pressed her lips even tighter, feeling her anxiety coming up again and</p><p>she had an impulse to start screaming and rip those clothes off of her. Then</p><p>she remembered she hadn't answered him yet and shook her head once</p><p>more. Spencer opened his mouth, but Tara raised her hand at him and,</p><p>letting go of her wrist, talked to her again:</p><p>"Amélia, how many people were with you in the room before Luke</p><p>arrived?"</p><p>Mia rubbed her wrist where Tara had held it for a minute, because the</p><p>physical sensation of her touch wouldn't go away from her skin. After her</p><p>wrist felt normal again, she raised one finger, answering Tara.</p><p>"Do you think you can walk?" At this question posed by Tara, Mia looked</p><p>down at her feet and considered her heels and her balance.</p><p>She shrugged.</p><p>"Lean on Spencer and let's try to leave this room to see if you will feel</p><p>better, ok?" Tara's voice was so soft that she wanted to please her, to help.</p><p>She just really didn't want to think about what had just happened, or speak.</p><p>Spencer got up from the floor and offered his arms to her, which Mia took</p><p>and got up as well. She changed her mind about listening to Tara and</p><p>decided to hug Spencer instead of trying to walk. He held her close to him,</p><p>gently pushing the uncomfortable metallic veil off of her head. Spencer</p><p>sneaked his fingers underneath it to apply a firm pressure to her nape. Mia</p><p>let out a shaky breath as his heartbeat calmed her, even if the feathers</p><p>around his collar tickled her nose.</p><p>"I'm here. I'm here, Ames..." He shushed against her hair.</p><p>Mia let go of him just enough to look around the room and noticed that,</p><p>besides part of the BAU team ― with the exception of JJ and Will ― they</p><p>were accompanied by Jeff and some other people from</p><p>the staff, who</p><p>looked at her like she was some kind of bizarre zoo animal. Mia hid her</p><p>face on Spencer's chest and breathed in his smell a few times.</p><p>"Not… Not here," she finally managed to say.</p><p>"Yes," Spencer agreed with her, letting out a relieved sigh. "We're leaving.</p><p>Can you walk?"</p><p>She nodded against his chest, feeling exhausted from the two words her</p><p>mouth had managed to form. They crossed the Museum together and Mia</p><p>felt kind of ridiculous having five FBI agents surrounding her just because</p><p>she couldn't speak. Nothing had really happened. Hawthorne had… had said</p><p>some disturbing things. He had a disturbed perception of her and their</p><p>relationship, but he hadn't threatened her. Not really. She gave Luke's cape</p><p>back when they arrived at Spencer's car in the parking lot. Penelope handed</p><p>Mia's coat to her, which she had retrieved for her from the coat check at</p><p>some point in the night.</p><p>"Amélia, can you tell us who was with you in the room?" Prentiss asked</p><p>with a worried frown, hugging herself against the wind.</p><p>Mia looked up at Spencer and to all of them, feeling the icy claws of animal</p><p>fear grappling her heart. She shook her head, looking straight at him.</p><p>"They can't hurt you now, Ames. I'm not going to let it happen," he pushed</p><p>the wig's bangs away from her eyes and Mia's eyes fluttered close.</p><p>Her jaw tensed harder each time she tried to speak. It was nothing. It was</p><p>nothing. It was nothing and she shouldn't trust them like this. She shouldn't</p><p>risk making him angry.</p><p>"Amélia..." Prentiss called her and she turned to look into her fierce dark</p><p>eyes. "Fiercely loyal to our own, remember? You're one of us, we will all</p><p>protect you."</p><p>She took a shaky breath and her eyes went to each expectant face in front of</p><p>her. They had all removed their masks and their eyes went from her to</p><p>Spencer, who hadn't let go of her shoulders.</p><p>"We know the person in the room with you was the mystery buyer. We don't</p><p>know more than this because the Museum staff and the auction house</p><p>signed NDAs about the purchase and the donation and couldn't refer to</p><p>anything that had happened in that room. We know he knew what the item</p><p>would be beforehand and came ready to spend a lot to purchase it. We just</p><p>don't know his name. You didn't sign anything did you?" Prentiss insisted.</p><p>"S… Senator Hawthorne bought the painting… f-for me." The words</p><p>seemed surreal as they left her mouth and she sobbed, feeling her knees</p><p>buckling up.</p><p>Spencer caught her and the backdoor of his car was quickly opened so she</p><p>could seat. She was shaking again.</p><p>"What?! What else did he say?!" Spencer asked, his eyes going wide and</p><p>his grip on her arms getting stronger.</p><p>Mia started to hyperventilate and Luke pulled him to the side as Tara got in</p><p>front of her and helped her with grounding exercises, not touching her</p><p>anymore.</p><p>"You're a very intelligent, resourceful, and reasonable woman, Amélia,"</p><p>Tara's soft voice reassured her. "That's why we're so worried now. I have</p><p>seen you in several stressful situations in the past few months and you have</p><p>never reacted like this. Did Senator Hawthorne threaten you?"</p><p>Mia started to shake her head again, but then she stopped. She opened and</p><p>closed her mouth a few times before she managed to speak.</p><p>"Not… Not explicitly." Mia tried to look at Spencer again, but Tara moved</p><p>her body and blocked her view.</p><p>"Focus on me now, Amélia. It's you and me here, only. You're safe, I</p><p>believe in you. I understand you. We will do this together, alright?" Tara</p><p>insisted. "So, Hawthorne didn't explicitly threaten you, but you are afraid. I</p><p>want you to try to tell me, in your own time, in your own words, what he</p><p>did that triggered this response from you. There are no wrong answers here.</p><p>Eyes on me only, please."</p><p>Mia closed her eyes and balled her hands in fists on the sides of her body.</p><p>She wanted to rock herself back and forward on the carseat like she used to</p><p>do as a child to soothe herself and her parents made her stop because it was</p><p>annoying. Instead, she ripped that wig and the veil out of her head and</p><p>threw them carelessly on Spencer's backseat.</p><p>"His eyes. His face. He..." She took a deep breath. "He was another man."</p><p>"Good. This is good. Another man how?" Tara guided her.</p><p>Mia closed her eyes again to speak more. Without her vision, her anxiety</p><p>wasn't so big and speaking was less of an impossible task.</p><p>"Like… Like he's pretending, all the time. And he was tired of… Of doing</p><p>it. With me. He… He kept going on and on about our bond and how we</p><p>both needed each other and I needed a protector. He… He sent the dress</p><p>today." She couldn't cope without it anymore and started to rock, just a little</p><p>bit, because the angle and the dress really didn't allow her to put her knees</p><p>on her chest, which was the second best thing. "He..." Speaking hurt almost</p><p>physically. But she needed to. She needed to end this. "He didn't say it with</p><p>all the words, but he did it. I'm… I'm not making this up."</p><p>"No one here thinks you're making this up," Tara eased her mind. "Ok. Do</p><p>you want to say anything else right now?"</p><p>Mia shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut really hard.</p><p>"I want to go home now," she whispered. "Please."</p><p>Hawthorne had flown right below his radar all this time. He had sent the</p><p>dress packaged with white rose petals and said things so disturbing to</p><p>Amélia that she crumbled and hid away inside herself. Spencer couldn't</p><p>stop thinking about it as he drove to Amélia's home, about how he had been</p><p>so thrown off by Duvivier's evident predatory posture that Hawthorne had</p><p>fooled him so completely.</p><p>Emily had insisted on going with them and crashing in the guest room.</p><p>Amélia just shrugged and got into the car, buckling up and gazing at the</p><p>window without focusing on anything. In the morning, he would insist that</p><p>she called her therapist. Perhaps he could go to a meeting while she was</p><p>safe inside the doctor's office. Or, at least, call his sponsor. It was not that he</p><p>wanted to use, but he was so hyped up ― feeling scared, angry, and</p><p>helpless ― that he feared how the crashing down might be. Eight years</p><p>sober, but, in truth, every day was a new challenge.</p><p>"He said he has been researching me. That's how he knew about… about</p><p>Klimt," she suddenly said, sounding more relaxed.</p><p>It could be the aftershock after the adrenaline crash. It could also be that</p><p>being rocked with the movement of the car and balling herself up on the</p><p>backseat were helping her.</p><p>"Did he say how long he has been… researching you?" Emily asked,</p><p>carefully.</p><p>Amélia stayed in silence for a while and Spencer wondered if she was still</p><p>having trouble speaking. He had to focus on driving, so he couldn't check</p><p>her out all the time through the rear mirror, no matter how much he wanted</p><p>to.</p><p>"Since Charlie's funeral."</p><p>"Did he say this exactly, Amélia?" Emily looked at Spencer through the</p><p>mirror as she asked this question.</p><p>"If you want to know his exact words..." He heard her taking a deep breath</p><p>before quoting Senator Hawthorne's deranged speech: "'I knew there was</p><p>something about you the first time that I saw you, in church, surrounded by</p><p>beautiful white flowers like you should always be. And then I realized we</p><p>were connected in deeper ways, ways no one can ever sever.' And then he</p><p>told me I wasn't ready to know more." He heard her chuckle, bitterly. "So,</p><p>unless I missed the sight of a 6ft blonde gringo with blue eyes at my step-</p><p>grandpa's funeral mass over twenty years ago in Rio, he saw me at Charlie's</p><p>funeral."</p><p>She barely slept and, at not even six in the morning, Emily was on Amélia</p><p>Ferreira's terrace, surrounded by her dead plants, watching the pitch black</p><p>sky get greyer and greyer until it was day. The daylight refracted by the</p><p>white clouds that occupied every inch of the sky hurt her eyes as she</p><p>insisted on staring at it, seated on one of Amélia's outdoor chairs. However,</p><p>the pain gave her clarity.</p><p>The glass door opened behind her and Emily smelled delicious coffee</p><p>before she heard Spencer's footsteps walking towards her. He handed her a</p><p>mug ― which had something written in Portuguese which Emily couldn't</p><p>understand ― and sat on a chair beside her. He was wearing a bulky wool</p><p>sweater. From what she had seen of Amélia's wardrobe, it could easily</p><p>belong to him or to her. On the night before, Spencer had given Emily some</p><p>of Amélia's comfortable pjs to wear to bed. Luckily, Emily was just an inch</p><p>or so taller than Amélia so the clothes fit her well.</p><p>"So, besides trying to figure out how to get a warrant for an Ambassador</p><p>suspect of murder, we also need to protect your girlfriend from a stalker,</p><p>who, incidentally, is a Senator." She took a sip of the coffee and realized</p><p>that maybe she should make him give a bag of those beans for her as</p><p>Amélia had given to Rossi.</p><p>He stayed in silence for a while, which was odd for Spencer. Emily turned</p><p>to look at him, he hadn't shaved yet, and his eyes were bloodshot.</p><p>"Did you sleep at all last night?" She asked, worried.</p><p>He drank the coffee and shrugged.</p><p>"Amélia told me more about what happened in the safe room. Hawthorne</p><p>definitely is Pygmalion and part of his plan to make her a 'lady of society'</p><p>was to convince Matthew and Rebecca Bradford that it would be good of</p><p>them to adopt her as their pet project."</p><p>"Does he want to marry her or something?" Emily narrowed her eyes at</p><p>him, very confused.</p><p>Spencer shook his head.</p><p>"He said he wants to… protect her. From what she told me, it's almost like</p><p>he sees their relationship as something like Medieval Courtly Love. She's</p><p>his Lady and he's her Champion. But he has more plans for them in the</p><p>future, he was very clear about that yesterday; he just thinks that Amélia is</p><p>not there yet. Not ready to walk in the sun with him ."</p><p>"So, he isn't violent towards her, at the moment."</p><p>"It appears that he isn't." Spencer took another sip of the coffee. "I think I</p><p>will talk with her about moving in here before we had planned. I don't want</p><p>her to be so vulnerable living alone."</p><p>"Are you guys there yet?" Emily asked, surprised. "Didn't she just ask you</p><p>for a three-week break for herself?"</p><p>"Yes. But then we agreed I would move in once my lease was due, in May.</p><p>And this was before we knew she had a potentially violent stalker."</p><p>Emily sighed, tired, and ran her fingers through her hair, not wanting to ruin</p><p>her cuticles even more.</p><p>"How come we stumbled on a psychopaths' nest with this case?" She asked,</p><p>more to herself than to him.</p><p>"A nest?" He asked and Emily could hear in his voice the frown in his</p><p>forehead.</p><p>"I mean, Louis is clearly something of the sort and it appears that Senator</p><p>Hawthorne is wired that way as well. And this is only if we're considering</p><p>that there aren't others in that group. I don't know if you noticed, but a</p><p>considerable part of Charlotte Bradford's suspect list is basically a group of</p><p>friends, or whatever they are to each other."</p><p>"It's not like the 0.1% of society is composed of that many people either,</p><p>Em. There are only 536 billionaires in the whole country, with data from</p><p>last year, and the number of multimillionaires is not that bigger."</p><p>"That much power fucks with people's heads, Spencer. I've seen it up close,</p><p>growing up." She gave up on not chewing her fingers and decided to pull a</p><p>loose piece of skin from her thumb with her teeth.</p><p>It burned as she got to the living skin. She sucked on it to make the bleeding</p><p>stop.</p><p>"You will end up without fingers before this is over, Emily." Spencer</p><p>sounded really tired. She was worried about him. "He saw her at Charlotte's</p><p>funeral. Surrounded by white flowers. The same flowers he sent with her</p><p>dress. The same flowers that surrounded Emma's corpse. Emma, who</p><p>showed up dead at Amélia's workplace on Amélia's 29th birthday."</p><p>"You think he's our unsub." She turned in her chair to look at him,</p><p>frowning. "That's what you were hiding from me, your suspicions that this</p><p>was somehow connected to Amélia."</p><p>He quickly looked at her too and went back to gaze at the sky.</p><p>"Yes," he answered.</p><p>"Because I would have taken you off the case."</p><p>"Yes."</p><p>"We don't have any concrete evidence that Louis Duvivier isn't the man</p><p>who killed Emma, though, Spencer. Like I said, this is a nest."</p><p>"What, you think that both men from the same 'group of friends' like to prey</p><p>on white girls with blonde hair and blue eyes, rape them, choke them to</p><p>death, and use red silk ropes to tie them up?" Spencer laughed, bitter.</p><p>"What do you mean by 'both of them are predators'?" Emily frowned her</p><p>forehead. She was really too tired to even try to keep up with Spencer's</p><p>logical leaps at six in the morning. "You know that white roses are a pretty</p><p>cliche flower and the fact that Senator Hawthorne sent white rose petals to</p><p>Amélia and Emma's killer surrounded her body with them is not even</p><p>circumstantial, right?"</p><p>"He saw her at Charlotte's funeral, Emily," he repeated it very slowly, as if</p><p>he thought that Emily was stupid. Sometimes he could be an asshole. "Just</p><p>like Marino claims that he did to target her. Marino, who confessed to</p><p>Charlotte and Natalya's deaths to protect someone very rich and very</p><p>powerful who scared Charlotte to the point she encrypted her notes in a</p><p>hard drive kept in a Swiss Bank vault. Theodore Hawthorne told us he's like</p><p>ADIC Sweeney's family, he saw Emma grow up. If there was someone she</p><p>would trust enough, if there was someone who had the opportunity to</p><p>groom her into his every wish, Hawthorne pretty much fits the bill.</p><p>Especially considering what we know about his penchant for marvellous</p><p>and expensive gifts. Perhaps Emma was more receptive to them than</p><p>Amélia. I still have no fucking idea what Amélia has that made him</p><p>obsessed with her in the first place, but..."</p><p>"Ok, no, shut up for a minute," Emily interrupted him. She never</p><p>interrupted him, but this time it was her turn for a sudden logical leap. Or</p><p>was her sleep-deprived brain making her think she was way smarter than</p><p>she was? "He's Pygmalion, right? She's the goddess he saw in the stone."</p><p>"Yes, I don't see how..."</p><p>"If you're right ― if he's our unsub regarding not only Emma, but Natalya,</p><p>Charlotte, and, perhaps, the eleven missing women and who knows how</p><p>many more ― I think that I know what Amélia's appeal is to him. He</p><p>created her." Saying it out loud it didn't sound dumb at all. It, actually,</p><p>sounded like the missing piece of the puzzle they had been trying to</p><p>assemble so far. "If we're right, you're off this case, Spencer, starting</p><p>Monday."</p><p>"Yeah, ok, but what do you mean by he crea… Charlotte." Emily could see</p><p>the exact moment that realization dawned on him.</p><p>"Charlotte," she echoed his thought.</p><p>Until September of 2015, Amélia was a nobody, an immigrant, poor, almost</p><p>homeless, skating on thin ice in her career. And then Charlotte Bradford</p><p>died and left her almost 140 million dollars. Through a very disturbed point</p><p>of view, whoever killed Charlotte was responsible for creating the woman</p><p>Amélia was now.</p><p>Emily entered Garcia's cubby on Tuesday with a huge mug of tea in her</p><p>hands. No one else knew about the conversation she had with Spencer on</p><p>Amélia's terrace Saturday morning, since they were treading on very</p><p>delicate ground. She had given him the week off under the guise that he</p><p>would be moving to Amélia's place, so she could have time to figure out if</p><p>Senator Hawthorne was more than a man with a serious obsession for</p><p>Spencer's girlfriend.</p><p>Emily feared being wrong and the news leaking to the French government,</p><p>providing the French with enough reasonable doubt to waste her efforts in</p><p>revoking Louis' diplomatic immunity and prosecuting him on American</p><p>soil. Therefore, she had asked Garcia to quietly check out Theodore</p><p>Hawthorne's life and past even more attentively than she had done before.</p><p>On Tuesday, Penelope had called her into her cubby after working hours.</p><p>"Ok, when we were digging through the secrets of ten powerful men, this</p><p>kind of went straight by</p><p>my head, especially because he has an alibi for</p><p>Emma's death. Emily, are you forgetting that he had an alibi for Emma's</p><p>death?" Garcia said.</p><p>"The security footage he provided from that Friday is legit, then?" Emily</p><p>asked, tired.</p><p>"Yes. I looked up the metadata of the footage and there's nothing there; it</p><p>has not been tampered with. I really don't know how he would have done it.</p><p>I'll keep looking at every single pixel if you are really sure, boss lady, but I</p><p>don't know what else can come from this."</p><p>"I'm not really sure of anything at this point, Pen." Emily took a sip of her</p><p>tea. She needed to go home and sleep, but this case haunted her even then.</p><p>"But, before you asked me about Hawthorne's alibi, you said that there was</p><p>something that you had overlooked before."</p><p>"Ah, yes." Garcia swivelled in her chair, turning to her computer and</p><p>opening some old newspaper articles that had been digitalized. "The</p><p>esteemed Judge Hawthorne, lil' Ted's dad, sent his son off for a year in</p><p>Europe in 1993. He was in his Junior year at UPenn, but he took a year off</p><p>and went back to finish school in 1995. I mean, this could definitely be</p><p>nothing, but..." Penelope then enhanced a newspaper article from the</p><p>Canaanville Gazette, the Hawthornes' hometown.</p><p>On July 14th of 1993, during Summer vacation, Nicole Nikki Olsen</p><p>disappeared after leaving home on her bike to meet with friends. She was a</p><p>Sophomore at Dartmouth, only 19, and adored by the whole town. Nikki</p><p>had been head cheerleader at the local high school and her date to her</p><p>Senior prom, when she was crowned Homecoming Queen, was no one else</p><p>but young Theodore Hawthorne himself. Penelope showed the images and</p><p>articles from the local newspapers to Emily, and Nicole seemed cut from</p><p>the same cloth that made Emma, Natalya, and the other missing women.</p><p>Blonde hair, blue eyes, bright smile.</p><p>"It's him," Emily whispered, getting up from her seat and coming closer to</p><p>Penelope. "Emma is not him evolving on his victimology, she's him going</p><p>back."</p><p>"Ok, to support your theory, things get even weirder. Nikki's mother's</p><p>maiden name was Fletcher, she was part of the DAR and her ancestors</p><p>came over on the Mayflower, just like the Hawthorne family, but… But! Do</p><p>you know who else has 'Fletcher' as a maiden name as well? Patricia</p><p>Sweeney, ADIC Sweeney's first wife and Theodore's cousin! He's, like,</p><p>really going back with Emma and I have no idea what he's going to do now</p><p>that she's dead." Penelope showed Emily the family trees and birth</p><p>certificates on screen.</p><p>"Right now, he's focused on wooing Amélia Ferreira and let's hope that he</p><p>doesn't become violent again any time soon. What happened with Nikki,</p><p>Penelope? Did the locals ever find out?"</p><p>Penelope went back to the newspaper articles on her screen.</p><p>"They tried everything, sent search parties around the river for weeks. In</p><p>mid-August, they found her bike tossed by the train tracks and the Sheriff</p><p>declared that she had run away and closed the investigations. That's why</p><p>this is not an open case on our database. And, by September, young</p><p>Theodore Hawthorne was in Rome, living his best life. Her mother died of</p><p>cancer just a few years later, but her father, Mr. Olsen, still lives in the same</p><p>house at Canaanville to this day."</p><p>They stayed in silence for a few moments.</p><p>"This all sounds really good, but… How did he do it, Emily? He never left</p><p>his home on Friday. How did he kill Emma and who placed her in front of</p><p>Georgetown's chapel on Monday when he was still in Ohio?"</p><p>"I don't know yet. I think that, to start answering these questions, I will need</p><p>to check with our forensic accountant on how their investigation into Jack</p><p>Walsh's finances is going and send Rossi and Tara to Canaanville to ask</p><p>some questions as discreetly as possible."</p><p>"Amy, you look lovely tonight!" Becky praised her as soon as Mia entered</p><p>the room where a bunch of people chatted and held drinks already.</p><p>Rebecca had made an updo with her luscious chestnut-brown locks and</p><p>chosen to wear an elegant black dress with delicate jewelry. She had</p><p>explicitly said on her invitation to Mia for dinner that she expected her to</p><p>"dress accordingly." Although Mia thought this was going to be just her and</p><p>Becky, perhaps Matt, and she would have the opportunity to ask her in</p><p>person about her connection to Senator Hawthorne and his "plans" for her,</p><p>she knew Becky was always serious about fashion. This was why she had</p><p>decided to wear a deep-red blouse and a grey tartan pencil skirt. Still, she</p><p>felt out of place and underdressed as the people around her were more</p><p>suited to a fancy restaurant than a week-night dinner at a friend's house.</p><p>She recognized the faces in the group from the Bradfords' table at the gala,</p><p>like Judge Larsen and his wife, but, even so, they were a group of strangers.</p><p>Mia accepted a glass of champagne from a waiter, thinking how much</p><p>Charlie would tease her if she knew that Mia had been converted into a</p><p>Moet and Chandon drinker, and counted the people in the room with her.</p><p>Counting herself, Rebecca, and Matt, they were ten. Six women and four</p><p>men. The oddity of the combination made her frown for a second, but then</p><p>Becky was redirecting her to attention to a small circle of two men and one</p><p>woman.</p><p>"Amy, you remember Holly, Mike, and Jim, right?" Becky, the ever</p><p>gracious hostess, had a hand pressed on her lower back as she waived with</p><p>a flourish to the people in the group.</p><p>Holly Jensen was a tall woman, blonde, with sparkly green eyes, in her</p><p>mid-thirties, whose biggest accomplishment in life was being a Canadian</p><p>heiress. During the gala, she had confided with Mia that she was relieved to</p><p>finally have "another immigrant" to share her experience of displacement</p><p>within their group. She was married to Mike Jensen, a white man with a</p><p>bland face that Mia would forget; if she could forget faces. He was a self-</p><p>made man in his forties who started his own company with the barely</p><p>worth-mentioning help of his grandfather, also a self-made billionaire, who</p><p>had loaned him the small amount of two million dollars for initial capital.</p><p>Jim, the third person in the group, was no one else but Jim Ellison, the tech</p><p>mogul multibillionaire who was famous for his apparently contradictory</p><p>politics, financing politicians from both parties, which, in truth, was just a</p><p>testimony of his commitment to his own interests. Mia didn't have the</p><p>opportunity to talk to him during the gala, since everything had been</p><p>confusing and rushed. She was now glad that Becky had pushed her to the</p><p>group with Ellison and the Jensens, since it would gave her the opportunity</p><p>to perhaps gather interesting bizarre stories from him ― if his Twitter</p><p>account could be trusted on how much he liked to give long speeches he</p><p>thought were very deep ― to tell her friends later.</p><p>Ellison didn't disappoint Mia on that front and she enjoyed herself during</p><p>the appetizers by nodding and listening to the platitudes he proudly boasted</p><p>as gems of innovative philosophy. Holly and Mike thought he was brilliant</p><p>and the confirmation of his brilliancy was his financial success. Mia would</p><p>be surprised if she found out he had ever even read Adam Smith in his life.</p><p>In the middle of his self-serving speech on the importance of charity and</p><p>how Mia should be proud of herself for her charitable work too, Mia</p><p>redirected their conversation by stating:</p><p>"I don't know if you're aware, but I'm a Professor of Sociology at</p><p>Georgetown, your alma mater." She wanted to ask him about the library and</p><p>have something to gossip with MacLeish about when she went back to</p><p>teaching classes.</p><p>Holly and Mike had wandered off and Mia was alone with Ellison in a</p><p>corner of the room. Ellison looked at her, puzzled, as if she had just said</p><p>something funny.</p><p>"Of course I know that, Amy," he said, with a laugh. "There's no need to</p><p>thank me, really. I'm always glad to help out my friends."</p><p>Mia stood there, confused and shocked, and frowned, trying to find Becky</p><p>in the room.</p><p>"What…</p><p>What do you mean? Did Matt ask you to..." She asked.</p><p>Ellison laughed again.</p><p>"Matt? My god, Amy, don't let Becky hear you asking if her husband is</p><p>going out of his way to ask his friends for a job for you. If you excuse me, I</p><p>need to have a chat with Judge Larsen. It's been a pleasure getting to know</p><p>you better, you're indeed everything I've heard about." He raised his</p><p>whiskey glass to her, as a toast, and left her alone with her thoughts.</p><p>So her job was the favor that Jim Ellison asked Professor Wong for when he</p><p>donated the money for the Social Sciences library. She hadn't gotten it by</p><p>her hard work. The whole idea she had been building about herself in the</p><p>past months, in which she wasn't a failure, was a lie. What was the</p><p>difference between her and Mike Jensen? The money she had came from</p><p>Charlie's death, the job she had wasn't earned, and the Foundation she</p><p>created was only possible because Becky had taken upon herself the</p><p>mission of making Mia into Amy, into a Respectable Woman of Society.</p><p>And there was a more pressing issue growing in the back of her head as she</p><p>spiraled through her self-doubt. If Ellison's favor hadn't been asked by Matt</p><p>nor Becky, the only other person who could have done it was…</p><p>"Ted!" Becky's voice gleefully greeted him as Senator Hawthorne entered</p><p>the room.</p><p>He kissed the hostess' cheek and shook Matt's hand, laughing and</p><p>apologizing for being late, justifying his rudeness with a last-minute</p><p>electoral issue he had to deal with. When Becky tried to pry his</p><p>whereabouts from him, he laughed it off.</p><p>"You're one of the most beautiful women that I know, Becky, but don't think</p><p>for a second that you can make me reveal political secrets to you!"</p><p>Hawthorne said and everyone laughed.</p><p>"Not sober, you won’t!" Becky retorted, pushing a glass of whiskey into his</p><p>hand.</p><p>Mia watched everything barely breathing, frozen in place. Six women and</p><p>four men. Of course Rebecca could never make her dinner table uneven like</p><p>this. But there was still a man missing, then. Who? Who was the sixth</p><p>gentleman and why was he even later than Hawthorne? Her mind was</p><p>scattered all over the place, trying to be able to function for the rest of that</p><p>dinner and also asking herself what else had Theodore Hawthorne</p><p>manipulated in her life without her knowledge?</p><p>"Well, Louis is officially late now," Becky declared at last, checking her</p><p>wrist watch. "It's 8:07 and we are going to have to start dinner without</p><p>him." And then, turning to the butler, she ordered for the dinner to be</p><p>served.</p><p>Senator Hawthorne managed to walk beside Mia on the way to the dining</p><p>room. She felt her blood pressure dropping, being so close to him. He</p><p>wasn't going to attack her, not in public at least, but they shared a horrible</p><p>little secret. It wasn't like she could tell what Hawthorne had told her in the</p><p>safe room to anyone there and be taken seriously. She just needed to endure</p><p>that night and leave as soon as she could.</p><p>"There's no need to be nervous today, Amélia," he told her in a whisper, his</p><p>lips almost brushing against the shell of her ear, as they crossed the hallway.</p><p>She swallowed and took a deep breath before turning to look at him with a</p><p>schooled mildly interested expression.</p><p>"And why is that, Senator?" There was a tense smile on her lips that didn't</p><p>reach her eyes.</p><p>Hawthorne's blue eyes shimmered like sapphires as he looked at her, as if</p><p>they shared yet another secret.</p><p>"There will be no pigs here tonight." His hand quickly touched her lower</p><p>back, in a comforting gesture that made her skin crawl.</p><p>Before she could ask what he meant, they reached the dining room doors</p><p>and Hawthorne left her to talk with Becky. As Mia was the guest of honor</p><p>in the dinner, since the occasion was meant to celebrate hers and Becky's</p><p>success with the gala, she was seated on Matt's left at the long mahogany</p><p>table in the dining room.</p><p>Even though he was all the way across the table, on Becky's right, Mia</p><p>could feel Hawthorne's gaze on her skin. This was going to be the last time</p><p>she would ever accept an invitation from the Bradfords. She could barely</p><p>touch her food with her anxiety and the laughs all around her felt hollow to</p><p>her ears.</p><p>"I was so sorry to learn that poor Pete and dear Ava are isolating themselves</p><p>from their friends," Holly said as the fish was served.</p><p>"They lost their daughter, my dear, I hardly think I would have the spirit to</p><p>bear social visits if that happened to me." Ingrid Larsen's voice was light,</p><p>but her eyes were as hard as her grip on her knife as she spoke.</p><p>The Judge was seated on Mia's left and his wife sat in front of him, in a</p><p>diagonal from Mia, and with Ambassador Duvivier's empty seat to her left.</p><p>"Oh, you were Emma's godmother, weren't you, Ingrid?" Karen, one of the</p><p>women Mia hadn't had the pleasure to chat with yet, asked.</p><p>"Yes, we were her godparents," Judge Larsen answered for her, in a soft and</p><p>sad tone.</p><p>"It's such a tragedy that she passed in that gruesome manner and the FBI</p><p>haven't been able to find out who did it yet!" Holly lamented. "I still</p><p>remember when she was just an adorable little girl..."</p><p>"You met her five years ago, Holly." Ingrid Larsen's tone wasn't light</p><p>anymore and she seemed to be ready to stab someone in the eye with her</p><p>knife.</p><p>"So, Mr. Ellison, how long do you think it will take for your space station to</p><p>be ready to accommodate human life?" Mia decided to intervene in the</p><p>situation before it got worse, since she was in no mood for any more drama</p><p>than her life currently had.</p><p>Ellison took the bait and monopolized the conversation for a long while.</p><p>Matt chuckled into his glass of wine at Mia's question, because he knew her</p><p>well enough to know she had no interest in Ellison's space station, and</p><p>Becky thanked Mia with her eyes. But the image that was burned on her</p><p>retinas was Senator Hawthorne's barely disguised fascinated gaze at her, as</p><p>if Mia had just cured cancer instead of avoiding an argument at a dinner</p><p>party.</p><p>The rest of the meal happened without incidents and Mia even managed to</p><p>amuse herself a little; the conversation with Judge and Ingrid Larsen and</p><p>Matt about the upcoming elections were able to sustain her . Her support of</p><p>Senator Sanders in the Democratic primaries was considered the endearing</p><p>position of an idealist who wasn't even a citizen. Ingrid Larsen was a</p><p>passionate defender of Hillary and, with the same intensity Mia had seen</p><p>before in her rage, she engaged in a passionate debate with Mia about</p><p>American foreign policy during the Obama era and Hillary's role in</p><p>destabilizing Middle Eastern countries.</p><p>When the dinner was over, Matthew led the men to his study for a nightcap</p><p>and a cigar as Becky led the women to her beautiful winter garden. They</p><p>hadn't walked twenty feet down the hallway when Judge Larsen's powerful</p><p>voice cut the low murmur of small talk.</p><p>"Oh my god!" He exclaimed. "Matthew, where is your TV room?! Ingrid,</p><p>oh my god, Ingrid, come here!"</p><p>"What's going on, Ian?" Becky asked the Judge as Ingrid ran to her</p><p>husband's side.</p><p>"Oh my god!" Ingrid cried out as soon as she took her husband's phone in</p><p>her hands.</p><p>With the commotion, Mia had stopped talking with Karen and turned on her</p><p>heels to also watch the group behind them. Matt had taken his phone out of</p><p>his pocket too.</p><p>"Louis Duvivier was murdered," Matthew was the one to answer, shocked,</p><p>looking at the women before him.</p><p>"What?!" Karen screamed, even though she didn't know the Ambassador.</p><p>"His body was just recovered in the woods, in Fairfax. Oh god, this is</p><p>horrible!" Ingrid was very pale as she spoke. "Ian, I want to go home!"</p><p>Everyone was taken by the sudden news, talking in mortified tones and</p><p>trying to keep up with the news on their phones. Apparently, an anonymous</p><p>caller tipped a tabloid that there would be a scoop for them in the exact</p><p>place of Ambassador Duvivier's staged corpse. He had been left for some</p><p>hours, naked, in the woods, hanging upside down from a tree,</p><p>exsanguinated like cattle. Another harrowing detail made the news: both of</p><p>his hands had been severed and were currently missing. However, there was</p><p>no doubt that the corpse was Ambassador Duvivier, since his face was still</p><p>very much recognizable, even with a few hours of work the scavenger</p><p>animals had on his soft tissues. Everyone was talking non-stop.</p><p>Everyone but Mia and Senator Hawthorne, who stood in silence on opposite</p><p>ends of the half-lit hallway. His face was relaxed. Proud. Triumphant. He</p><p>smiled at Mia, basking in the horrified recognition in her eyes.</p><p>Chapter End Notes</p><p>Hey people, are you still there? The ones who got to this point in the</p><p>story, what are your thoughts on it so far? Are you still rooting for</p><p>Amélia and Spencer? Did you know Ted was our UNSUB? Did you</p><p>like this? Dislike it? What do you think will happen next?</p><p>What are your thoughts on the gala? The reveal? Charlotte's flashback?</p><p>The info on Ted's First Girl? Ambassador Duvivier's death?</p><p>You don't have to write an essay, but some words of you would be very</p><p>welcome because I kind of feel like I'm posting to the void lol</p><p>This story ended up having A LOT of Original Characters and</p><p>information. I'm trying to assemble everything on my Tumblr. For</p><p>starters, this post has Amélia's family tree</p><p>. All posts about this story will have the tag tgammfic. So far, I have</p><p>published Amélia and Charlie's family trees and bios, and Amélia's</p><p>parents' short bios</p><p>https://rosaleoa.tumblr.com/post/646905197702070272/so-i-decided-to-make-a-few-posts-with-the-fan</p><p>Neverland</p><p>Chapter Summary</p><p>“Forget them, Wendy. Forget them all. Come with me where you'll</p><p>never, never have to worry about grown up things again.”</p><p>September 14, 2015</p><p>"Hey, where are you going? Savannah told me her dates with your boss are</p><p>always at his penthouse Downtown!" She complained, leaning over</p><p>Sasquatch's seat.</p><p>"You should be wearing your seatbelt. This way you could get hurt if we're</p><p>in an accident," he grunted, not bothering to look at her. "Yes, usually his</p><p>dates are at the penthouse, but there are a few paps circling him in the past</p><p>weeks, since his breakup with that model, so we're going to his house in</p><p>Palisades, where you guys can have some privacy." Sasquatch eyed her</p><p>through the rear mirror for a moment and his eyes crinkled with a smile.</p><p>"Don't worry, Goldielocks, the Senator pays his girls really well and I'll</p><p>drive you back to the city tomorrow morning. If you please him as</p><p>Savannah does, he may even let you swim in his pool. There's no need to be</p><p>this worked up."</p><p>Charlotte smiled back at him, nervous, and quickly texted Savannah about</p><p>their change of plans. She probably shouldn't be so worried. It was not like</p><p>a fucking Senator would kill her with Savannah knowing who she was with.</p><p>She should be less paranoid.</p><p>Thursday, February 25, 2016</p><p>Mia adjusted her coat better and tucked the ends of her scarf under its</p><p>cleavage. Spencer had called her soon after word of Ambassador Duvivier's</p><p>death made the news and he told her to not leave the Bradfords' mansion</p><p>until he arrived to pick her up. It was odd that he hadn't been called back up</p><p>to work, even if the week Prentiss had given him off hadn't ended yet. The</p><p>death of their prime suspect in Emma's murder should have forced him back</p><p>into the field.</p><p>The cold February wind made her shiver and Mia considered going back</p><p>inside the house, even if she couldn't stand being in the presence of any of</p><p>those people a minute more. Especially…</p><p>"Aren't you afraid of the dark?" Hawthorne's voice came from her side and</p><p>Mia turned her face to look at him.</p><p>The part of her that feared him was still frozen inside her, but there was</p><p>something else bubbling underneath the surface. She still couldn't name it</p><p>or quite understand what it was, but it gave her strength.</p><p>"But I'm not in the dark anymore, am I?" She answered, looking straight</p><p>into his eyes.</p><p>His smile grew bigger and he didn't break eye contact.</p><p>"My driver should arrive at any minute to pick me up. Do you want a ride?"</p><p>He was still studying her face, as if she was the most fascinating specimen</p><p>he had ever encountered in his life.</p><p>"No, thank you. My boyfriend is coming for me." There was no use in lying</p><p>to him, considering that he or, more likely, someone he hired, was stalking</p><p>her.</p><p>However, her answer made him laugh, finally breaking eye contact and</p><p>looking ahead into the empty driveway.</p><p>"When were you going to tell me our esteemed Doctor Reid moved in with</p><p>you last week?" His voice was playful, but cold.</p><p>Mia didn't know how to answer this. She was using a lot of her energy to</p><p>hold herself together and she wasn't in the mood to give Hawthorne more</p><p>than strictly necessary. She also wasn't surprised to learn he already knew</p><p>about Spencer moving in with her.</p><p>"You shouldn't be with him," he said, in an angry tone. "He doesn't respect</p><p>you enough, if he thinks he can move in with you without any serious</p><p>commitment."</p><p>Mia was taken by the same calm she felt during Charlie's will reading,</p><p>when she realized she was the one in control of Charlie's funeral and</p><p>remains.</p><p>"You won't touch him." Her voice didn't falter, clear in the silent night.</p><p>Hawthorne turned to look at her, his eyes were wide.</p><p>"And why is that, my dear Amélia?"</p><p>She returned his challenge, raising her chin and narrowing her eyes at him.</p><p>"Because I told you so."</p><p>"I don't deal well with being told what to do." He licked his lips, still</p><p>smiling.</p><p>Mia swallowed, but didn't budge. Hawthorne laughed again, shaking his</p><p>head in disbelief.</p><p>"Are you trying to put a leash on me, Amélia?"</p><p>"I'm not stupid," she spat. "And neither are you. You're having fun now,</p><p>Ted, and I'm dancing with you. Hurt him and this game is over."</p><p>He drew an excited breath and Mia could see his pupils dilating.</p><p>"You called me Ted," he whispered.</p><p>"I believe we're way beyond formalities at this point."</p><p>Spencer's SUV parked on the driveway and he got out of the car, walking</p><p>towards her with a worried frown on his face. Amélia turned to Hawthorne</p><p>one last time before meeting Spencer halfway.</p><p>"You told me you want to be my protector and give me everything I wish</p><p>for. If you meant it, you will behave and listen to your lady's desires."</p><p>His only answer was bowing to her, with a laugh. Amélia didn't look back</p><p>again.</p><p>Wednesday, February 24, 2016</p><p>Canaanville was a cold town and Tara stood out amongst the locals like a</p><p>sore thumb. She and Rossi arrived on the BAU jet to the John Glenn</p><p>Columbus International Airport in Columbus at nine in the morning and</p><p>drove the rest of the way there. Even though it wasn't raining and they got</p><p>into town almost at noon, there was a freezing mist covering everything in</p><p>the small town, hiding every object located more than a feet away. The</p><p>visibility was so low they had to turn on the car lights on their way to the</p><p>local police station. They passed by abandoned houses and buildings with</p><p>their windows covered in planks, the signs of a dying old coal mining town.</p><p>Emily had been in touch with Sheriff Timothy Jefferson before they arrived.</p><p>He wasn't too keen on the presence of the BAU digging into a case so old.</p><p>Their cover, however, was that Tara and Rossi were conducting research on</p><p>missing person's cases across the country and how the protocol to deal with</p><p>them had evolved in the past twenty years. Upon hearing that Canaanville</p><p>wasn't being unfairly targeted by the Bureau, the Sheriff had relaxed and</p><p>now his welcome for Tara and Rossi was mostly warm.</p><p>To Garcia's horror, almost nothing from Canaanville's public records had</p><p>been made digital to that day, so the reports written about Nicole's</p><p>disappearance were only available by manual consultation. The district was</p><p>so small that it didn't even have it's own website and the old Gazette had</p><p>closed in 2008. What Garcia had been able to find of Nicole's case and the</p><p>issues of the newspaper made digital were due to a PhD thesis published</p><p>in</p><p>2012 by a student from the History Department from Ohio University, who</p><p>studied the history of the town told through the Gazette across the decades,</p><p>and had digitized their entire archive.</p><p>"We don't have much crime here in Canaanville. I mean, even before the</p><p>crash, when folks flocked out of here. It was always mostly domestic</p><p>disputes, some petty thief, and kids’ pranks during the Summer," the Sheriff</p><p>said, with his hands in his pockets. "When I was elected, in 2012, I installed</p><p>an internet spot in the Sheriff station and hired a local kid as a part-time,</p><p>unpaid intern to scan things and all, but then she went to college and I know</p><p>we should hire someone else. The problem is: there isn't really anyone</p><p>interested in this and we don't have the budget to pay someone."</p><p>He was about an inch and a half shorter than Tara. His hair was dusty</p><p>blonde and he had shiny blue eyes, which looked even smaller on his round</p><p>face. He was a heavy man, large, solid, soft spoken, and with slow manners.</p><p>"Before Nikki, when was the last time someone went missing in</p><p>Canaanville?" Rossi asked casually as he opened the old dusty case boxes.</p><p>"I believe it was in the 1970s. Lots of kids using drugs and running away to</p><p>become hippies and such. Most of them showed up later or sent news to</p><p>their family, though. Nikki… She just poof, became smoke, disappeared</p><p>into thin air." He made a gesture with his hands to emphasize the</p><p>onomatopoeia.</p><p>Tara opened a file. Inside it, there was everything the old Sheriff, Mr.</p><p>Robert Smith, had gathered about Nicole's life. The High School where</p><p>Nicole and Sheriff Jefferson went had been closed in 2009. In 2016, there</p><p>was only the small Elementary School still open in Canaanville, with less</p><p>than 200 kids studying there. Nothing remained of the old gymnasium</p><p>where Nicole Olsen had been crowned homecoming queen and inspired the</p><p>small crowds to cheer for their local football team.</p><p>"Did you know her personally?" She asked while flipping the pages of the</p><p>file.</p><p>"I mean, everyone knows everyone around these parts. But Nikki was three</p><p>years my junior and I was already a Deputy when she disappeared. We</p><p>really weren't in the same circles." Sheriff Jefferson pulled up a chair and</p><p>sat in a corner of the room, watching them as they worked.</p><p>"So you worked on her case?" Rossi asked, closing the file with the</p><p>witnesses’ statements he had been reading.</p><p>"Yeah, I did. We all did. Deputies, volunteers... Every single man in town.</p><p>We roamed the woods around here, got divers in the river… The whole</p><p>circus. It was fruitless. I mean, until someone found, almost a month later,</p><p>her bike on the train tracks. That was when Bobby, that is, the old Sheriff,</p><p>decided to declare her a runaway and close the investigation. But you</p><p>already know that."</p><p>"And what do you think about this case, Sheriff Jefferson?" Tara asked, with</p><p>her voice dripping with interest.</p><p>He became uncomfortable under her stare and rubbed the back of his neck.</p><p>"Listen, I don't want to step on anyone's toes..." Jefferson said.</p><p>As Tara and Rossi stayed in silence, observing him, he felt compelled to fill</p><p>the silence, like Tara imagined he would:</p><p>"That case never really stopped haunting me. Nikki was a nice girl. She</p><p>wasn't messing with drugs or anything. And she never reappeared? Even to</p><p>go to college? Never called home once or sent a single postcard to her</p><p>mom? It's weird, to say the least."</p><p>"Yes, it is weird..." Rossi pretended to be considering the Sheriff's words for</p><p>a while. "You know what? We only came here to do research, but what if…</p><p>Nah, never mind."</p><p>"What?" Jefferson eagerly asked.</p><p>"I mean, you're right. We shouldn't step on anyone's toes and it's been so</p><p>long…" Rossi kept the charade and scratched his beard for a minute. "But,</p><p>with your expertise on the terrain and the locals and our fresh eyes, I bet we</p><p>could crack this one."</p><p>Tara frowned, pretending to be put off by the idea.</p><p>"Rossi, that is not what we were sent here to do. Would our C.O. even</p><p>authorize this investigation?"</p><p>"Come on, Lewis, what about Nikki's father? Doesn't he deserve to know</p><p>what happened to his daughter?" Rossi argued. And then he turned to</p><p>Jefferson, as if looking for support. "I bet her old man would appreciate the</p><p>initiative, don't you agree, Sheriff?"</p><p>Jefferson's face was flushed and he got even more pink when Tara stared</p><p>him down.</p><p>"Y-yeah. Old man Olsen was never the same after Nikki disappeared.</p><p>Perhaps we could bring him some comfort," Jefferson agreed, anxious.</p><p>"Fine," Tara sighed, theatrically, and turned to Rossi, pointing her finger to</p><p>his face. "But you will call Prentiss and ask for her to green light this thing."</p><p>Thursday, February 25, 2016</p><p>"How are you feeling?" Spencer asked, tense, as they left Fairfax heading</p><p>towards her apartment in Georgetown.</p><p>Their apartment? It was still fuzzy. He had never moved in with anyone. He</p><p>hadn't cancelled his lease yet and some of his books were still at the old</p><p>place. He feared that Emily was right and this was too much too soon. Still,</p><p>he wouldn't be able to sleep knowing she was alone at home, waiting for</p><p>Hawthorne to attack her.</p><p>Amélia adjusted herself and fidgeted with the seatbelt before saying</p><p>anything.</p><p>"He knows about us," she said, looking at the darkened road in front of</p><p>them. "The crime scene isn't too far from here, right? Did you go there?"</p><p>"I can't work this case, Ames."</p><p>With the corner of his eye, Spencer could see Amélia looking at him. Her</p><p>face was briefly lit up as another car passed by them, deepening the</p><p>shadows surrounding them.</p><p>"And why is that?" She asked, with her voice firm and defiant.</p><p>He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, considering how much</p><p>Amélia should be made aware of the investigation and the hypothesis they</p><p>were currently working on.</p><p>"Spencer..." There was a nervous edge in her voice. "I know we agreed on</p><p>'no hard questions', but I think we're way past that point right now, don't</p><p>you?"</p><p>"And why is that?" He repeated her words at her, partly to gain time to</p><p>think and partly because he wanted to know what she knew.</p><p>"I know you can't work this case because Senator Hawthorne pretty much</p><p>told me tonight that he killed Louis Duvivier for me, but I want to know</p><p>how the FBI knows it before I have had the chance to tell anyone."</p><p>"He told you what?!" He looked at her, shocked, and almost let go of the</p><p>steering wheel.</p><p>Amélia had to grab it from his hands and steer the car into the right lane</p><p>again.</p><p>"Not a confession. Nothing you could use in court, probably, but, yeah. I</p><p>can go into details later, I'm alright for now, but I wanna know why you</p><p>can't go to the crime scene and why you have been playing house with me</p><p>since the gala. It's my life on the line, Spencer, I have the right to some</p><p>honesty."</p><p>"I… The BAU is working on the assumption that Senator Hawthorne is</p><p>responsible for other crimes and he has a signature, which he used on</p><p>Ambassador Duvivier."</p><p>She pulled her phone from her pocket and scrolled on it in silence for a few</p><p>minutes.</p><p>"I don't know how you do it," she said, with her voice shaky. "I read for,</p><p>what, less than ten minutes about Duvivier's murder and I already feel my</p><p>dinner trying to leave my body."</p><p>They didn't say anything else for another stretch of the road. They were in</p><p>Georgetown already. Just five more minutes and they would be home.</p><p>Spencer could ask more about the dinner after she took a shower and</p><p>perhaps convince her to talk to someone from their team in the morning,</p><p>give an official statement about whatever it was that Hawthorne said to her.</p><p>Wednesday, February 24, 2016</p><p>Not many people who knew Nicole Olsen personally still lived at</p><p>Canaanville. After the 2008 crash, most people moved away to the big</p><p>cities or, at least, Athens. Tara and Rossi had spent the morning reading the</p><p>vague notes the old Sheriff had made about the case before they felt ready</p><p>to visit him, with Sheriff Jefferson</p><p>serving as a buffer to their presence.</p><p>Robert Bobby Smith retired in 2004, after his only son died in Iraq. He was</p><p>replaced by another Sheriff, who died of a heart attack in 2011, when</p><p>Sheriff Jefferson was elected.</p><p>Since his retirement, Bobby had been living in a small cabin beyond the</p><p>city limits, with no electric energy or running water. Jefferson told Rossi</p><p>and Tara that Bobby would go into town about once every two weeks or so</p><p>to buy supplies. He also had no phone in his cabin, so their visit was going</p><p>to be pretty much a surprise.</p><p>They drove for forty minutes before getting to the small shack that made</p><p>Tara ask herself how that man was managing to live by himself, all alone,</p><p>for almost a decade, like that.</p><p>"Bobby?!" Sheriff Jefferson shouted, as he jumped out of his pickup truck.</p><p>"Bobby, are you there? It's me, Timmy!"</p><p>As no one answered, Sheriff Jefferson signaled for Rossi and Tara to wait in</p><p>the car while he walked by himself to the cabin. Bobby Smith wasn't very</p><p>keen on strangers and it was best if he felt no need to get his shotgun or any</p><p>of the other several firearms he had. After a few minutes, Jefferson came</p><p>back to the car.</p><p>"His car is still parked behind the house, so he's not far. He's probably out</p><p>for a hike or something and will come back soon. We could wait or come</p><p>back tomorrow."</p><p>"Let's wait for him. It's not a problem. Our thermos are filled with coffee</p><p>and we have time." Tara said, getting out of the car. "Unless you had</p><p>somewhere else to be, Sheriff. We don't want to be a hassle."</p><p>Away from the town, in the middle of the woods, the air was probably even</p><p>colder than in the morning, when they arrived. Tara was relieved that she</p><p>remembered to bring hiking shoes and changed her heels for them when</p><p>they stopped by the B&B before heading to the woods. The ground was</p><p>muddy from the constant February rains and the air smelled of dead leaves</p><p>and decay. Spring was still a long time away from that place.</p><p>"No, Doctor Lewis. It's not a problem. If you don't mind sitting outside in</p><p>the wind for god knows how long, I don't mind it either."</p><p>"I have been to way worse stake-outs than chilling in a beautiful forest</p><p>during the day, kid," Rossi said, paternalistically putting a hand on Sheriff</p><p>Jefferson's shoulder and immediately starting to share some of his famous</p><p>stories.</p><p>Tara pulled out her notes from the case and decided to study what she had</p><p>been able to gather from the sparse documentation available so far. Nicole</p><p>was staying in her parents' house during the summer. From what Garcia had</p><p>gathered, Phil Olsen, Nicole's father, was a small businessman in Athens at</p><p>the time and Jane Olsen, her mother, was a housewife. Nicole went to</p><p>Dartmouth because she was a legacy kid, since the Fletcher women seemed</p><p>to have always gone to Dartmouth for generations, but, looking at how</p><p>much her father made yearly in the early 1990s, it would have made more</p><p>sense to send her to the University of Ohio and save a lot of money. Jane,</p><p>her mother, had grown up in a family with way more resources; her father</p><p>was the owner of a few small local newspapers in Ohio, including the</p><p>bury a friend</p><p>peace</p><p>offer me that deathless death</p><p>To the strike of midnight</p><p>My love is dangerous (always makes you bleed)</p><p>Neverland</p><p>his name, Harris raised his eyes from the documents he was</p><p>reading for a brief moment.</p><p>"I also graduated Summa Cum Laude from Harvard Law in the class of</p><p>2012 and will be assisting Ted in the capacities of his lawyer during this</p><p>meeting," Harris deadpanned, before turning his attention back to the papers</p><p>in his hands.</p><p>"Please, sit, make yourself comfortable. Do you want a coffee, some water?</p><p>I can ask an intern to bring us something." Senator Hawthorne walked to his</p><p>work desk and sat in his big office chair behind it, signaling with his hands</p><p>that Emily and Spencer should sit across from him.</p><p>"We're fine, thank you. We're interviewing people close to the Sweeney</p><p>family and it has been brought to our attention that you're friends with the</p><p>ADIC?" Emily said, sitting on one of the chairs Hawthorne had pointed.</p><p>"Oh, yes. Pete and I have been golf buddies since I came to DC, six years</p><p>ago. We’ve known each other longer than this, of course. Patricia, his first</p><p>wife, is my father's cousin, so we are family." His open face got harsher and</p><p>his jaw worked when he added: "I want to do whatever I can to help you</p><p>nail the bastard who hurt Emma."</p><p>"We're very glad to hear it, Senator. The Bureau is sparing no expense in</p><p>this investigation," Emily reassured him.</p><p>"I am relieved to know that. What kind of son of a..." Hawthorne started</p><p>saying, but he was interrupted by a cough from Harris. "I'm sorry. You're</p><p>not here to listen to my ramblings. Please, ask away."</p><p>"It's been brought to our attention that you attended Jim Ellison's New</p><p>Year's Eve party," Emily began saying.</p><p>"Yes, I did."</p><p>"And you were seated at the same table as the Sweeneys," she added.</p><p>"We're family, like I said. We usually go together to these events."</p><p>"How would you describe your relationship with Emma?" Spencer asked.</p><p>"Friendly, I guess. It's not like we had that much in common. Emma was at</p><p>that phase where she liked to party and all my life is the Party," Hawthorne</p><p>answered.</p><p>"We have some pictures of you talking with Emma, you seem close," Emily</p><p>baited. They had, indeed, pictures of Hawthorne and Emma chatting, but</p><p>they weren't that many and nothing out of the ordinary.</p><p>To this, Hawthorne slightly frowned his face and opened his mouth to say</p><p>something, but Austin spoke first.</p><p>"I didn't hear a question, agent Prentiss," the young chief of staff said.</p><p>"What did you talk about during the party?" She asked.</p><p>"I don't remember. New Year things. Emma's classes, maybe? The kind of</p><p>generic small-talk you have with a younger cousin." Hawthorne scratched</p><p>his chin, trying to remember the party.</p><p>"Did she mention anything about a boyfriend?" Spencer asked.</p><p>Hawthorne laughed.</p><p>"Oh, no, Doctor Reid. I was her father's old friend, Emma never had these</p><p>conversations with me. I'm not cool enough."</p><p>"Come on, Senator, you're not old. You're just forty-two and several of your</p><p>dates have been Emma's age," Emily said, in a joking tone.</p><p>Theodore Hawthorne was, indeed, a common face in gossip magazines.</p><p>Every month he had a different model or actress on his arm at a charity</p><p>event or a famous restaurant.</p><p>"We will not comment on the Senator's personal life, agents," Harris stated.</p><p>Hawthorne gave them an apologetic smile and shrugged.</p><p>"I'm terribly sorry, agents, but I have to defer to Austin's advice. Otherwise,</p><p>he might give up on me and surrender to the relentless courting from other</p><p>members of my Party."</p><p>Emily adjusted herself on her seat.</p><p>"Well, Senator, this is just standard procedure, but we are asking the</p><p>whereabouts of every man in Emma's life on Friday night, between 1 and 6</p><p>a.m, and yesterday morning between 4 and 6 a.m."</p><p>"I was in Ohio from Saturday morning to yesterday around noon,</p><p>campaigning. I guess about 300 people can vouch for my whereabouts</p><p>there. Austin, see that the FBI has our schedule and the pictures from the</p><p>breakfast at the V.A. center," he answered.</p><p>"And Friday?" Spencer pressed.</p><p>"I was at a charity dinner until about midnight, when I had a terrible</p><p>migraine and went home, to my house in Palisades."</p><p>"Can anyone confirm your story, Senator?" Emily asked in her diplomatic</p><p>voice.</p><p>Hawthorne frowned, amused.</p><p>"My god, agent Prentiss. One would think that I'm a suspect." He laughed it</p><p>off.</p><p>"I can guarantee you that you're not an official suspect in our investigation</p><p>at the moment, Senator. We're just trying to narrow the list of men in</p><p>Emma's life, that's the reason why we're here today," Emily said.</p><p>"I live alone, but Bob, my driver, can attest that he drove me from the</p><p>dinner home on Friday and he picked me up at 8 a.m. on Saturday, at home,</p><p>to go to the airport. My housekeeper was there already when Bob showed</p><p>up. She makes excellent pancakes. And I think that Austin can see that you</p><p>have a copy of the security footage from my house. Can’t you, Austin?"</p><p>"Sure. Whatever you need, agents," Harris said, with no emotion in his</p><p>voice.</p><p>"One last thing before we let you go on with your day, Senator. We are</p><p>asking the men who knew Emma to volunteer a DNA sample just to help</p><p>our investigation and I wonder..." Emily started saying.</p><p>"The answer is 'no', agent Prentiss. If you want the Senator's genetic</p><p>material, you show up here with a signed warrant with probable cause to do</p><p>so," Harris interrupted her. "And, with that, I believe that this interview is</p><p>over." He rolled the papers under his arm and walked to the door, opening it</p><p>for Emily and Spencer. "My assistant will email you everything we</p><p>promised in order to cooperate with your investigation later today. You can</p><p>see yourselves out. Have a good day, agents, and good luck."</p><p>Tuesday</p><p>Spencer arrived at Amélia's place late in the night for the second time in a</p><p>row since Emma Sweeney's death. It was the first time he used the keys she</p><p>had given him. The whole place smelled like pancakes and there was music</p><p>playing loudly in the background. When he turned to the right towards her</p><p>kitchen, he saw that Amélia was, in fact, making a pile of pancakes while</p><p>she sang along off-tune to the song and danced carefreely. She was wearing</p><p>an old rainbow sweatshirt, boxers, and knee-high socks with a Spock print.</p><p>Her hair was in a messy bun and she was wearing her round glasses.</p><p>"Yeees, I've been broken-hearted, blue since the day we parted!" She sang</p><p>into the turner in her hand like it was a microphone.</p><p>Spencer had it bad. He had it real bad.</p><p>She turned to him, startled, when she heard his endeared chuckle. But then</p><p>she laughed back and exaggerated her moves in a farcical version of the</p><p>movie's choreography. Spencer had been forced to watch Mamma Mia with</p><p>her during her last PMS crisis. The IUD had stopped her blood flow, but it</p><p>definitely hadn't stopped her hormonal fluctuations, and, apparently, a huge</p><p>dosage of cheesy musicals and/or cheesy romcoms was the only thing that</p><p>could save her from them.</p><p>Amélia flipped a pancake with a skilled movement of her wrist and pointed</p><p>with the turner at him while the chorus' lines echoed his question of how, in</p><p>fact, he could ever resist her.</p><p>"Well, hello there," he greeted her, coming closer. "Pancakes at midnight?"</p><p>She kissed him briefly and turned her attention to the stove again.</p><p>"It's been an awful 48 hours and I'm doing something I learned with my</p><p>mom. I don't know how to translate it, though. She calls it 'contrariar o</p><p>astral' and it's kind of a mix between swimming against the tide and</p><p>laughing in the face of Fate. So… Pancakes at midnight and the Mamma</p><p>Mia soundtrack. Care to join me?" She asked.</p><p>"Sure, how can I help?" Spencer rolled his sleeves up to his elbows.</p><p>"Wash your hands and set the table for us, galego."</p><p>"Why have your last 48 hours been awful, sweetheart?" Spencer asked</p><p>while he grabbed the cutlery from her cabinets.</p><p>"Besides one of my ex-students being brutally murdered on my birthday</p><p>and my boyfriend being dragged off to work her case, you mean?"</p><p>She</p><p>tossed the last pancake on the pile and carried the almost Pisa Tower-like</p><p>structure to the table with her. "I had the weirdest meeting today with</p><p>Becca; she gave me a huge heirloom diamond necklace and welcomed me</p><p>to the Bradford family. Which is… Hilarious and horrifying at the same</p><p>time. And they're being so nice to me, helping so much with the gala, the</p><p>remodeling of the No Borders headquarters, and our new shelter, that I</p><p>didn't have the guts to tell her that I already have my own family with</p><p>enough problems for a lifetime, you know?"</p><p>He was bringing the syrup and the honey to the table while Amélia poured</p><p>them chamomile tea.</p><p>"Also, my classes today were crap because none of the students could focus</p><p>on anything besides the swarm of paparazzi on campus and the fact that our</p><p>chapel is now a crime scene. And, as the cherry on top, I feel like we need</p><p>to talk," she spoke while she stabbed three pancakes at once to put on her</p><p>place.</p><p>"What do you want to talk about?" He asked, feeling his throat tighten up</p><p>with the anxiety.</p><p>"You work a lot. I understand that. I have two jobs and I'm organizing a</p><p>charity gala, so it's not like I sit idly at home picking daisy petals and</p><p>wondering if you like me or not. But I gave you the keys to my place partly</p><p>on an impulse and partly to force myself to have this conversation with</p><p>you." Spencer focused on Amélia's hands, which gently spread cream</p><p>cheese and blackberry jam over her top pancake. She let out a deep breath.</p><p>"Where are you standing?"</p><p>"Huh?" He asked her, blinking in confusion. Her face showed tension and</p><p>anxiety and she was biting her lower lip.</p><p>"About us. Where are you standing in this relationship? How are you</p><p>feeling, what do you want for us?"</p><p>"Amélia, I… I don't understand what you want me to say."</p><p>She forcefully cut her pancake upon hearing his words and angrily chewed</p><p>before speaking again.</p><p>"You were still awake, at Christmas. I know when you are asleep and you</p><p>weren't. So I know that you heard me talk about my feelings. And you said</p><p>nothing then and still haven't even acknowledged it so far. And I'm trying</p><p>really hard here to be reasonable and know that people have different</p><p>rhythms and different ways to express affection, but besides you crying and</p><p>telling me you need me and that you're scared of liking me, the truth is that,</p><p>in these four months, you didn't really say much, right?" She took out her</p><p>glasses and rested her face on her hands. "I'm trying to not project on you,</p><p>I'm trying to tell myself that you are not Charlotte. As a matter of fact, you</p><p>seem to be her direct opposite in so many ways, but… Sometimes I wonder</p><p>if I'm just someone comfortable and convenient for you. If I am just good</p><p>enough to placate your loneliness until something better shows up, and..."</p><p>When Spencer realized she was crying, he got up and walked to his satchel,</p><p>which he had hung by the entrance door.</p><p>"I'm really not good at this, Amélia," he whispered when he came back,</p><p>placing the rectangular package on her lap, and crouching beside her. "But,</p><p>please, how can you think this? How can you say that you could be just a</p><p>placeholder for someone else?"</p><p>"Because that was what I always was!" She said, her voice two octaves</p><p>higher than normal. "People think they like me at first glance. They think I</p><p>can be something… But I'm not. I always disappoint everyone. My papers</p><p>are always less than ideal, my presentations are always filled with</p><p>ramblings... And I'm a mess, Spencer, in case you still haven't noticed, in</p><p>my personal life. I lived for two years with a woman who would say she</p><p>loved me while she fucked one of the men I despise most in my life. She</p><p>would say she loved me and kiss me when I was vulnerable and, always,</p><p>always, in the morning she would run away. And she was the only one who</p><p>stayed. The others just run for the hills when they can see me up close and</p><p>you don't say anything to make me feel safe and stop counting the minutes</p><p>until you wake up and leave too."</p><p>"Please… Open your birthday gift. I couldn't give it to you yesterday, but</p><p>please… Please, don't cry, Amélia."</p><p>Spencer pulled a chair to sit beside her and rested his hand on her knee.</p><p>"I'm sorry," she sobbed. "Now you know the truth. I'm actually very</p><p>insecure. It's not a very dignified trait to have." She cleaned her face with a</p><p>napkin before carefully opening his gift.</p><p>It was a book. The first edition to "Uma Aprendizagem, ou O livro dos</p><p>Prazeres", by Clarice Lispector. She had talked about it with him before, of</p><p>how this book shaped a huge part of her beliefs in love. She also had told</p><p>him that she had lost her copy, many years ago, when she moved to New</p><p>York, and could never find another available in the U.S. Inside it, he had</p><p>placed a page marker he had made for her, with a picture of a yellow ipe</p><p>and a field of Californian poppies. He had placed it strategically.</p><p>She hadn't said a word yet.</p><p>"Read for me," he asked. "Because I'll butcher the words."</p><p>She didn't answer him, but she started reading, doing voices for the</p><p>characters and all.</p><p>“―Um dia eu fui de madrugada ao mar sozinha, não tinha mais ninguém na</p><p>praia, eu entrei na água, só tinha um cachorro preto mas longe de mim!</p><p>Ele olhou-a com atenção, a princípio como se não entendesse que</p><p>significado invulgar poderia haver naquela declaração emocionada. Afinal</p><p>como se tivesse compreendido, perguntou devagar:</p><p>―Gostou?</p><p>―Gostei, respondeu com humildade, e de vergonha seus olhos se encheram</p><p>de lágrimas que não caíam, só faziam com que parecessem duas poças</p><p>plenas. Não, corrigiu-se depois, procurando o termo exato, não é que tenha</p><p>gostado. É outra coisa.</p><p>―Melhor ou pior que gostar?</p><p>―Foi tão diferente que não posso comparar.</p><p>Ele examinou-a por um instante:</p><p>―Sei, disse depois.</p><p>E acrescentou simples..." [6]</p><p>"Eu te amo," Spencer interrupted her, knowing his accent was horrible, but</p><p>Amélia raised her eyes from the page and he touched her face, brushing off</p><p>a single tear that insisted on falling. "I can't say the rest in Portuguese. But</p><p>in the English translation I bought, Ulisses says 'Your eyes, he said, entirely</p><p>changing his tone, are confusing but your mouth has all the passion that</p><p>exists in you and that you fear. Your face, Lóri, has a sphinx-like mystery:</p><p>decipher me or I’ll devour you' [7]."</p><p>"Ela se surpreendeu de que também ele tivesse notado o que ela via de si</p><p>mesma no espelho.</p><p>―Meu mistério é simples: eu não sei como estar viva," [8] Amélia</p><p>answered, without needing to look at the page.</p><p>"That’s because you only know, or only knew, to be alive through the pain."</p><p>"É." [9]</p><p>"And you don’t know how to be alive through pleasure?"</p><p>"Quase que já. Era isso o que eu queria te dizer,” [10] she exhaled the last</p><p>sentences in a barely audible whisper.</p><p>Spencer could feel his face burning at that moment. He had never said this</p><p>to anyone, much less in a horrible attempt at Portuguese. He leaned in and</p><p>kissed her lips softly, feeling his heart beating fast in his ears when she</p><p>relaxed against his touch. He could feel her smile.</p><p>"My boss knows about us. I told her yesterday," he said.</p><p>Amélia let out another heavy sigh and her smile got bigger.</p><p>"I'm sorry for being so happy. Are you ok? Will they punish you?"</p><p>"No, not for now. But she asked us to wait a little longer before going</p><p>public. Can you do that?"</p><p>She held the book against her chest, still smiling, and kissed him again.</p><p>"Anything."</p><p>Chapter End Notes</p><p>[1] "Thank you, Selena"</p><p>"You speak Spanish?"</p><p>"What do you mean? You didn't think I was a gringa, for sure!"</p><p>"I'm sorry! Of course you aren't a gringa, with your tanned skin! No, of</p><p>course not. Where are you from, beautiful?"</p><p>"Brazil."</p><p>"Brazil? I thought you guys spoke Portuguese. Do you mind if I</p><p>change here?"</p><p>"Not a problem. Yes, we speak Portuguese, but I studied Spanish</p><p>besides English."</p><p>"I understand. I'm from Venezuela. I came to America two years ago, I</p><p>wanted to marry with a rich gringo, but..."</p><p>[2] "I'm</p><p>sorry, but I can't tell you. Listen, I wrote my number on this</p><p>paper. If you need anything or you notice that some girl is missing, call</p><p>me or text me, ok?"</p><p>[3] Selena is calling Mia "caballero", which is a masculine word that</p><p>can be translated as "gentleman" or "knight". Here she said "A</p><p>gentleman/knight, indeed."</p><p>[4] "Don't you worry, gentleman/knight."</p><p>[5] “I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the</p><p>story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful</p><p>future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home</p><p>and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a</p><p>brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and</p><p>another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig</p><p>was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with</p><p>queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic</p><p>lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many</p><p>more figs I couldn’t quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch</p><p>of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn’t make up my</p><p>mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of</p><p>them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there,</p><p>unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by</p><p>one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.” The Bell Jar</p><p>[6] The Book of Pleasures In this scene, Lóri is telling Ulisses that she</p><p>bravely went to the ocean in the middle of the night, just for the kicks</p><p>of it. And how she felt alive. They are the main characters, who are</p><p>learning together how to be each other's lover.</p><p>[7] I have no fucking clue if that's how the book was translated. The</p><p>translated editions are super rare and expensive and I did my own</p><p>translation for this lol</p><p>[8] She was surprised with the fact that he also had noticed what she</p><p>saw of herself in the mirror.</p><p>―My mystery is simple: I don't know how to be alive.</p><p>[9] Yes.</p><p>[10] Almost. That was what I wanted to tell you.</p><p>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bell_Jar</p><p>https://www.amazon.com/Apprenticeship-Book-Pleasures-Clarice-Lispector/dp/0811230619/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+book+of+pleasure+clarice+lispector&qid=1615670206&sr=8-1</p><p>bury a friend</p><p>Chapter Summary</p><p>“It is the dead, not the living, who make the longest demands.”</p><p>― Sophocles, Antigone</p><p>Chapter Notes</p><p>The tags for this story have been updated, check them out and make</p><p>sure that you're ok with the contents before going forward (they all</p><p>refer to consensual sex acts performed between adults, tho).</p><p>See the end of the chapter for more notes</p><p>During the past week, they had advanced their investigation. As much as</p><p>someone can advance while walking in the dark. With no physical evidence,</p><p>they were working with just their profile and reviewing all "older men" in</p><p>Emma's life.</p><p>They had profiled Emma's killer as a highly intelligent individual, with</p><p>extensive resources, who blended well with the other people in her life. He</p><p>probably knew her already, since she was being so secretive with her</p><p>friends about their relationship, and could be married, thus having a bigger</p><p>need to keep their relationship a secret. Emma definitely wasn't his first kill,</p><p>although he had never killed with this exact MO before. She could be his</p><p>Debut under the spotlight or La Pièce de Résistance, the greatest triumph of</p><p>his career. Choosing to leave her at Georgetown reinforced the theory that</p><p>he knew her personally. The way he placed her ― lying naked on the</p><p>ground with her tied hands joined on her chest as a mockery of prayer ―</p><p>showed just how much he despised her and the people in her life. If Spencer</p><p>was right and this was the same man who had killed ― or helped Joshua</p><p>Marino kill ― Charlotte Bradford and Natalya Petrovna, targeting Emma</p><p>Sweeney could be a personal vendetta against the FBI for not catching him</p><p>before. For thinking that someone so dense like Marino could be</p><p>responsible for his delicate work.</p><p>Marino had told Luke and JJ that he saw Amélia for the first time at</p><p>Charlotte's funeral. However, they had reviewed all footage and pictures</p><p>taken by paparazzi that day and Marino didn't appear a single time ―</p><p>neither at the Cathedral nor at Amélia's old house. One hypothesis was that</p><p>he misspoke and he meant he had seen pictures of her, later, in the</p><p>newspapers. Another, and a stronger one, was that his Master was there at</p><p>the funeral and he had been the one to see Amélia and target her.</p><p>He had also said that Amélia seemed lonely and fragile, and he wanted to</p><p>talk to her to see what he could find out about the FBI's findings through</p><p>her. Why he had thought that Amélia, a civilian, could help him with that,</p><p>he didn't want to say. He had trashed her house because his plan was to</p><p>stage a robbery gone wrong. It didn't even occur to him that Amélia could</p><p>wake up and call the cops while he was at it. He had been drunk when he</p><p>broke into her house. According to him, Marino needed to drink before</p><p>getting violent, to "psych himself up." There was no way that Marino could</p><p>have kidnapped, tied up, and tortured Natalya and Charlotte by himself,</p><p>especially if he could only hurt women when he was drunk. Nevertheless,</p><p>this wasn't enough to convince the ADA to void his confession and reopen</p><p>the case.</p><p>With his slip up that Lucca was being taken care of, Penelope had taken a</p><p>look at Camilla Russo's finances. Not only did she not live in Portsmouth</p><p>anymore, having moved to a nice house in a nice suburb in Virginia and</p><p>having a fresh 200,000 dollars in her accounts, but Lucca now had a trust in</p><p>his name, with enough money to put him through whatever college he chose</p><p>to go to. Penelope had been able to trace the money back to the same</p><p>account in the Cayman Islands that paid Jack Walsh, but no further than</p><p>that.</p><p>On Wednesday, Spencer paired up with Tara again and they drove to the</p><p>suburbs to pay Camilla Russo another visit. Her house had a manicured</p><p>lawn in front of it and, when Tara pressed the doorbell, the woman who</p><p>opened the door looked nothing like the version of Camilla they had met at</p><p>her trailer, all those months ago.</p><p>Not only had the dark circles under her eyes disappeared, but Camilla also</p><p>had a new haircut and new clothes that made her look just like another</p><p>suburban soccer mom. Penelope had informed them that she was back at</p><p>school, studying for her GED, and working part-time at her son's school as</p><p>an administrative assistant.</p><p>"Doctor Lewis, Doctor Reid, I wasn't expecting you." Her smile vanished</p><p>when she opened the door for them.</p><p>"Hello, Camilla," Tara greeted her, gently. "We were hoping to have a talk</p><p>with you today. It's my understanding that regular school hours are over and</p><p>you won't have classes until 7 p.m., right?"</p><p>She checked her wristwatch. It was only 4:30, she had no reason to not talk</p><p>to them.</p><p>"Fine. Please, get inside. I don't want my neighbors wondering why there</p><p>are g-men at my doorstep."</p><p>Camilla's living room was now clean and neat, lit up by big windows. She</p><p>signaled for Spencer and Tara to sit on the couch while she would get them</p><p>some fresh coffee. Spencer heard steps coming down the stairs and, when</p><p>he turned to look, he saw Lucca peeking at them from between the gaps in</p><p>the wooden handrail. He had grown a few inches and gained some pounds</p><p>since October.</p><p>"Hey Lucca," he said, with a small smile.</p><p>"Why are you here?" The boy asked, suspiciously.</p><p>"We came to check in on you and your mom." Spencer got up from the</p><p>couch and walked toward the boy. His clothes also seemed new. "You seem</p><p>to be doing a lot better now."</p><p>From the corner of his eye, Spencer saw Tara getting up and walking to the</p><p>kitchen. Lucca gave him a happy smile.</p><p>"Yeah. Now I have my own bedroom and mom even gave me a magic kit</p><p>for Christmas!"</p><p>"A magic kit?" Spencer leaned in closer to Lucca. "Oh, it seems like you</p><p>have something stuck in your ear..."</p><p>With a quick flourish of his fingers, he made a quarter appear</p><p>from behind</p><p>Lucca's ear. The boy's face lit up and he let out a laugh.</p><p>"Wanna see my kit?!" Lucca asked, already getting up and running up the</p><p>stairs.</p><p>Spencer went after him, hoping he could make the boy share things his</p><p>mother would try to hide from Tara. Lucca's room had a window turned to</p><p>the backyard's swing. His room looked like a typical 10-year-old boy's, with</p><p>superhero posters and action figures. Lucca had run to his closet and came</p><p>back with the magic kit, wearing a top hat and a cape.</p><p>"I'm Magic Boy, Doctor Strange's sidekick!" He said, gleefully. "Did you</p><p>know that there will be a movie about him? He's my favorite superhero."</p><p>"Yeah? And why is that?" Spencer asked, leaning against the threshold.</p><p>"Because, with his magic powers, he can change reality," Lucca answered,</p><p>fumbling with his kit. "I have no magic powers, but I can make a dove</p><p>appear!" He shook his wand and an inflatable dove showed up on the end.</p><p>Spencer let out a laugh and clapped, as to which Lucca bowed to his captive</p><p>audience.</p><p>"What would you do, if you could change reality?"</p><p>"Right now, I don't know. Everything I've always wanted is happening.</p><p>He isn't around anymore and mom is happy now. I have my own room and I</p><p>don't wear clothes found in some donation boxes." The boy shrugged while</p><p>he pulled several colorful tissues from his sleeve. "I guess I would give</p><p>myself a nice dad."</p><p>Spencer understood his dreams in a way that Lucca would never know.</p><p>"Do you know what happened? How did you guys come to live here all of a</p><p>sudden?" He asked, trying to sound nonchalant.</p><p>"A guy in a suit showed up with Jack and they gave me a 20-dollar bill to</p><p>go buy pizza. When I came back, they were gone and mom was crying on</p><p>the couch and said we had won the lottery and everything would be fine.</p><p>That was it." He finished with the tissues on his sleeve and made a fake rose</p><p>appear in his hand. "Ta-da!"</p><p>"You're very good at this, Lucca!" Spencer cheered and clapped. "When</p><p>you say 'Jack', you mean Jack Walsh?"</p><p>"Who else?" He asked, starting to collect his things. "Show me how you did</p><p>the thing with the quarter!"</p><p>"Now, Lucca, from one magician to the other," Spencer started saying,</p><p>walking into the bedroom. "Before I reveal my secrets, tell me more about</p><p>Jack. Did he ever come to see you guys again?"</p><p>Lucca opened his mouth to speak, but then they heard steps in the hallway</p><p>and Camilla was barging into the room.</p><p>"What the hell do you think you're doing in my son's bedroom?!" She</p><p>asked, with her face flushed in anger.</p><p>Tara was just behind her.</p><p>"I was just showing him my magic kit, mom!" Lucca pleaded with her.</p><p>She walked towards the boy and grabbed him by his arm.</p><p>"I already told you a million times, boy! You don't bring strange men to</p><p>your bedroom, ever!" Camilla's voice was high as a shrill.</p><p>"Camilla, Doctor Reid was just talking with your son..." Tara tried to</p><p>placate her.</p><p>"Are you a mom?!" Camilla snarled, turning to look at Spencer and Tara.</p><p>There were tears welling up in her eyes. "Do you know what kind of</p><p>disgusting things men do to little kids who show their bedrooms to them?"</p><p>"I'm… so sorry," Spencer muttered, raising his hands at the sides of his</p><p>body, to show her he wasn't a threat. "I didn't mean to make you worry</p><p>about your son's safety. We're just checking in on you two..."</p><p>"I know exactly what the two of you want here." She had put herself</p><p>between Lucca and Spencer as if the boy needed to be physically protected</p><p>from them. "Get out! You're not welcome in my house anymore! I don't</p><p>wanna talk to either of you!"</p><p>"Camilla..." Tara tried to reason with her.</p><p>"Get out or I will report you two! Get out!"</p><p>"Jack Walsh is a part of this somehow," Spencer told Tara as they drove</p><p>away.</p><p>"Did Lucca tell you this? Because Camilla dodged all my questions until</p><p>she finally confessed she had signed an NDA when she got the money and</p><p>she couldn't tell me where it had come from." She asked, looking at him</p><p>from the corner of her eye. "I think we should consult with a forensic</p><p>accountant on this before anyone tries to approach Walsh."</p><p>"If Walsh is the middle man between our unsub and Marino as he appears to</p><p>be, I think that we need to cover all of our bases before getting in touch</p><p>with him. And find another way to connect them, so Camilla and Lucca</p><p>aren't endangered."</p><p>"I just don't know how fast we will be able to do any of this, Reid, because,</p><p>so far, we haven't found anything proving that this is in any way connected</p><p>to an open case. And even less to the case we should be investigating at the</p><p>moment," she said, sounding tired.</p><p>"Charlotte's list proved to be useful," he said, defensively.</p><p>"Was it? Because, so far, we have met men who knew her with different</p><p>degrees of intimacy and they all have alibis or have closed off behind their</p><p>lawyers and none of them seems to have even an ounce of motive to have</p><p>gone after Emma." They stayed in silence for a few minutes until Tara</p><p>added, "I don't know, Reid. Perhaps we should take a closer look at Emma's</p><p>professors. We could be missing another older man in her circle."</p><p>The wind howled outside the Sweeney's home and Mia could almost feel</p><p>sorry for the reporters camping outside. Almost, in the moments when she</p><p>forgot they were vultures hounding someone's wake.</p><p>She had decided to go to Emma's service, after the smaller burial ceremony,</p><p>to pay her respects to her parents and say some kind words to them, as her</p><p>former teacher. It had been a spur-of-the-moment thing. Rachel had texted</p><p>Mia asking if she was planning to go and, before she knew it, she was</p><p>dressing a long black wool dress and was driving to their house. The</p><p>Sweeneys had invited Georgetown faculty members and students who had</p><p>met Emma.</p><p>She wasn't a vulture, she told herself, crossing the street and walking to</p><p>their house. She had been invited and she could provide some support to her</p><p>students who happened to be there.</p><p>The house's living room was already filled with people when she arrived.</p><p>Mia had decided that going to the burial ceremony would be too much and</p><p>she planned just to find Emma's parents, share some adorable stories about</p><p>her, pay her respects, and leave.</p><p>Mia was crossing the crowd towards Peter Sweeney ― she had already</p><p>been informed by Professor MacLeish, who was also there, that Ava had</p><p>gone straight to her bedroom after the burial ― when she saw Spencer</p><p>across the room. He raised his eyebrows, surprised, and Mia realized she</p><p>had forgotten to tell him she was going to the wake and he was on the case.</p><p>Before she could think of anything, he vanished into the crowd again.</p><p>"Professor Ferreira, what a surprise to meet you here," a familiar voice</p><p>came from behind her.</p><p>"Senator Hawthorne, good morning," she greeted him as she saw who it</p><p>was. "Emma was my student last year. I thought it would be proper to show</p><p>up."</p><p>"Naturally," he agreed absentmindedly.</p><p>"And what brings you here, Senator? In an election year, I thought you</p><p>would have things scheduled for your Friday already." Hawthorne was now</p><p>using his broad frame to help her cross the crowd of people.</p><p>"I'm actually friends with the family. I couldn't not be here in this moment</p><p>of despair for them," Hawthorne said, stoically.</p><p>"You knew her too?" She asked.</p><p>"Grief is a weird thing, Professor. When someone we care about passes, we</p><p>feel like, somehow, we should be blamed for it."</p><p>"I know what you mean. I lost my best friend five months ago and</p><p>sometimes I feel guilty for moving on," she confessed.</p><p>"If you're talking about Charlotte Bradford, I'm sure, from our brief</p><p>acquaintance and my friendship with her brother, that she would want you</p><p>to live out your full potential, Professor." His face was very serious when he</p><p>said these words.</p><p>"I didn't know you knew Charlotte," she said, surprised.</p><p>"Barely. Like ships in the night," he answered, dismissive. "I must leave</p><p>you now, Professor. Election year and</p><p>all that."</p><p>When Mia looked ahead again, she noticed that Peter Sweeney was just a</p><p>few steps ahead of her. Beside him was agent Prentiss.</p><p>"Professor Ferreira," agent Prentiss greeted her.</p><p>"Agent Prentiss," Mia nodded back. She turned to Emma's father, in front of</p><p>her. "Mr. Sweeney, I am Professor Amélia Ferreira, I was your daughter's</p><p>teacher during last year's Spring semester. She was a lovely girl, I'm so</p><p>sorry for your loss."</p><p>Peter Sweeney had dark circles under his blue eyes and his voice was</p><p>hoarse when he spoke.</p><p>"Thank you very much for your sentiments, Professor Ferreira."</p><p>Mia told a small anecdote of a day Emma had helped her fix some slides</p><p>during class and Sweeney let out a sad laugh. She shook his hand and</p><p>decided it was time to go back home and hug Salem.</p><p>"Did you know that she would be here today?" Emily asked him while she</p><p>drove them to the Ambassador's official residence.</p><p>"No. I slept at home last night and she didn't mention this to me the last</p><p>time we talked. She probably decided this morning to come here," Spencer</p><p>told her, playing with his keychain and drawing the patterns of the keys to</p><p>Amélia's house with his fingers to soothe himself.</p><p>The UNSUB was probably at the wake. If he was right, if Emma's death</p><p>had something to do with Amélia, seeing her there could have been a</p><p>moment of glory and exhilaration to him. She had come to witness his</p><p>work. If he was the same man who saw her for the first time at Charlotte's</p><p>funeral and sent Joshua Marino to torture her, if he had been obsessed with</p><p>her for months, he could interpret this as her accepting his "birthday gift."</p><p>He couldn't tell Emily this. His theory that both cases were connected got</p><p>slimmer with each passing day and she had already assigned Tara and Rossi</p><p>to look into Emma's professors, as Tara had suggested. They were still</p><p>going through Charlotte's suspect list because Penelope had found that New</p><p>Year's Eve footage and Emma's friends were adamant in saying Emma's</p><p>secret boyfriend was older.</p><p>Doctor White had gone to the BAU on Tuesday accompanied by his lawyer.</p><p>He played golf with Peter Sweeney occasionally and claimed to barely</p><p>know Emma. Above all, he had been on call Friday night and couldn't have</p><p>left the hospital long enough to torture her for four hours and store her body</p><p>in a freezer. As to providing a DNA sample, his lawyer refused for him.</p><p>Justin Miller was still out of the country, so they would have to wait for his</p><p>return. The security footage from Judge Larsen and Senator Hawthorne's</p><p>houses had shown exactly what they had informed the FBI: no cars going in</p><p>or out during Friday night and Monday morning. Erik Stein also wasn't a</p><p>viable suspect for Emma's murder. He had been in California since</p><p>November, working on some new gadget his company would launch.</p><p>Ambassador Duvivier was their last hope of a breakthrough in that line of</p><p>investigation. He had gone to Emma's burial and the wake, but he had</p><p>priorly agreed with Emily that they would only interview him at his official</p><p>residence.</p><p>Besides the Ambassador, Spencer had seen Representative Bradford and his</p><p>wife, Senator Hawthorne, the Larsen couple, Chief Newlands, and Doctor</p><p>White at some point that day. He tried not to keep looking at Amélia all the</p><p>time, so Emily wouldn't regret her decision of letting him stay on the case,</p><p>but he had seen her chatting with Senator Hawthorne, and Matthew and</p><p>Rebecca Bradford, who had introduced her to Ambassador Duvivier.</p><p>He should keep his head cool and not think of how low on Amélia's back</p><p>the Ambassador's hand had been when he met her or how he lingered</p><p>against her cheek when kissing her, very European. He definitely shouldn't</p><p>think about the fact that the Ambassador came from an old rich family in</p><p>France, owned a castle and a vineyard, and could, very well, pay Jack</p><p>Walsh and Camilla Russo and anyone else to get what he wanted. He</p><p>shouldn't focus too much on the memory that Duvivier seemed to</p><p>have smelled her when they were talking.</p><p>He was a professional. A trained agent. And not every creep who hired</p><p>escorts and borderline sexually harassed women they barely knew was a</p><p>serial killer. About only 1% of the murders committed every year are the</p><p>responsibility of serial killers and the percentage of sleazy men walking the</p><p>Earth was definitely way higher than this.</p><p>Therefore, he took a deep breath and got his mind back into the game ― all</p><p>fears and wild theories involving Amélia were pushed to the dark anxious</p><p>corners of his mind, where they should reside ― as Duvivier's personal</p><p>assistant opened the door to his personal library. The Ambassador was even</p><p>taller than Spencer, with a long nose, and green mischievous eyes on his</p><p>oddly shaped face.</p><p>"Ah, Emily!" He said, putting off the cigarette he was smoking and walking</p><p>towards her to kiss her face. "Il y a longtemps qu'on ne s'est pas vus!</p><p>Comment tu vas? Et ta mère, elle va bien?" [1]</p><p>She flinched at his touch, almost imperceptibly.</p><p>"Hello, Louis, yes, it's been a minute," Emily said, in English, taking a step</p><p>back away from him. "My mother is fine, as she always is. I hope you don't</p><p>mind us talking in English today, as my colleague doesn't speak French."</p><p>"No, not at all." His English was as flawless as his smile. "It's a pleasure to</p><p>meet you, Doctor Reid."</p><p>Duvivier offered his cigarette-smelling hand for Spencer to shake, which he</p><p>painstakingly took. At least the Ambassador seemed to reserve his kisses</p><p>for women.</p><p>"You said on the phone that you wanted to talk to me about Emma</p><p>Sweeney," Duvivier said, getting another cigarette from his carton.</p><p>Spencer made no effort to conceal his cough when the Ambassador lit it up.</p><p>With an eyebrow raised in mockery, Duvivier walked to the library window</p><p>and opened it. The Ambassador sat on the windowsill and blew his smoke</p><p>outside, ignoring the freezing wind that now ravaged the room.</p><p>"If you want, I can lend you one, Emily," he said, pointing at the carton</p><p>with his lightened-up cigarette.</p><p>"No, thank you, I stopped years ago," she answered, moving away from the</p><p>window.</p><p>"C'est dommage. Je ne comprends pas pourquoi on se prive de ces petits</p><p>plaisirs de la vie," [2] he muttered with a sly smile on his lips.</p><p>"Emma Sweeney. Did you know her?" Spencer asked, feeling impatient</p><p>around that man.</p><p>Duvivier's eyes left Emily for a moment and studied Spencer for a minute,</p><p>smoking his cigarette, before answering his question.</p><p>"Yes. Her grandmother, Ava's mom, was friends with my mother in France,</p><p>before she emigrated to America, and Ava has always been a friend of the</p><p>French community. She was fun, Emma." He littered his ashes outside the</p><p>window and his eyes were back at Emily when he spoke again. "Elle m'a</p><p>fait penser à toi, ma petite sauvage." [3]</p><p>In contrast to the tenderness on Duvivier's face and tone, a shiver ran</p><p>through Emily's body and Spencer supposed that it had nothing to do with</p><p>the cold room.</p><p>"How would you describe your relationship with Emma, Excellency?"</p><p>Spencer tried to draw Duvivier's attention back to him.</p><p>He looked almost bored at Spencer.</p><p>"Pleasant," he said, before taking in another drag.</p><p>"At Jim Ellison's New Year's Eve party, did you two talk?" Spencer asked.</p><p>His face was going numb with the wind.</p><p>"We talked very little. We danced very much, though," Duvivier had a</p><p>predatory smile on his lips. "Comme toi, elle a toujours aimé s'amuser," [4]</p><p>he turned to look at Emily once more.</p><p>Impulsively, Spencer took one step between Emily and the Ambassador. He</p><p>had no idea what had happened between them or what he was saying, but</p><p>Emily was never stumped around suspects and it had been minutes since</p><p>she had said anything.</p><p>"Did Emma mention to you any men in her life? Any boyfriends?" Spencer</p><p>said.</p><p>Duvivier let out a raspy laugh.</p><p>"She was more elegant than that."</p><p>"How come?" Spencer asked.</p><p>"Why would she advertise the competition to me?"</p><p>This sentence shifted the air</p><p>around them, charging with electricity.</p><p>Duvivier knew he had diplomatic immunity to protect him against almost</p><p>every possible thing and he was toying with them. Baiting them.</p><p>"Where were you between the hours of 1 and 6 a.m. on Friday, the 15th, and</p><p>4 and 6 a.m. on Monday, the 18th?" Emily finally spoke, harsh.</p><p>"Ma petite sauvage, tu sais que je n'ai pas besoin de répondre à ça." [5] He</p><p>put out his second cigarette and got up from the windowsill, closing the</p><p>window behind him and letting the stub fall at his feet. "I think that's</p><p>enough for today, agents." He walked towards Emily and spoke very quietly</p><p>at her: "Se revoir dans une bibliothèque ça rappelle de bons souvenirs, n'est-</p><p>ce pas? [6] Come. Let me escort you out, Emily."</p><p>Spencer took the chance on Duvivier being too disgustingly distracted with</p><p>Emily's presence and pretended to stay behind to tie up his Converse. When</p><p>they were down the hall, he took an evidence bag from his inner pocket and</p><p>stole the cigarette stub the Ambassador had littered on the floor.</p><p>He reached her as she was getting into her car. Emily didn't even buckle up</p><p>her seatbelt when she let her head fall on the steering wheel, almost</p><p>hyperventilating.</p><p>"Em, hey, Em, what happened?" He didn't want to touch her, didn't want to</p><p>make her feel even more violated than whatever memories Duvivier had</p><p>conjured up. "Emily?"</p><p>"He hurt her," she said, between her teeth. "He hurt Emma."</p><p>She made an angry sound and punched the wheel, straightening herself up.</p><p>Then she turned to look at the window, chewing on her thumbnail. Spencer</p><p>stayed in silence with her for a while.</p><p>"Do you want me to drive?" He asked, at last.</p><p>She ran a hand over her face and buckled up. Her hands were shaking.</p><p>"No. Driving will do me good. Especially because now we have to build a</p><p>case against a fucking Ambassador with nothing to start on." She started up</p><p>the car.</p><p>After the official residence was just a small shadow in the rearview mirror,</p><p>Spencer pulled the sealed evidence bag from his pocket and waved it in</p><p>front of Emily's eyes.</p><p>"I wouldn't say 'nothing', since we got his DNA."</p><p>Emily was sitting by herself in her darkened office when Spencer's head</p><p>peeked up through her half-closed door.</p><p>"Hey, got a minute?" He asked.</p><p>She let out a deep sigh but signaled him to get inside. Instead of looking at</p><p>him, Emily thought that the way the ice moved on her vodka glass was a</p><p>more interesting object of contemplation. She heard the sounds of the door</p><p>closing after him and Spencer's lean body plopping on her couch.</p><p>"This one is probably the worst we've had in a while," he said,</p><p>contemplative.</p><p>"Yeah?" She chuckled. "Tell me about it."</p><p>"What are you going to do?"</p><p>"About what?" She asked him back, defensive.</p><p>"About your personal connection to our prime suspect." Upon hearing his</p><p>words, she raised her eyes to shoot daggers at him. Spencer took a quick</p><p>look at her face and went back to stare at the ceiling.</p><p>"I have no personal connection to the French Ambassador." This sentence</p><p>sounded weak even to her ears.</p><p>"Emily, come on. I'm not in a position to judge you. I'm not judging you. I</p><p>have spent the rest of the day with our team scouring every nook and</p><p>cranny of Duvivier's life, trying to find a shred of evidence to connect him</p><p>to Emma's death, or Charlotte and Natalya. I will keep working tomorrow,</p><p>we all are." He straightened himself to look straight at her. "But I can't</p><p>pretend that I wasn't there earlier today."</p><p>Emily had already made a mess of her fingernails since that afternoon, so</p><p>she chewed on her cuticle to avoid saying anything. She was a 45-year-old</p><p>FBI agent, the Chief Unit to the BAU. She had faced terrorists, serial</p><p>killers, the most horrible people to walk this Earth. She had faked her own</p><p>death, worked with Interpol and survived every possible obstacle. Emily</p><p>Prentiss was a strong woman, this had always been a defining trait of</p><p>herself.</p><p>That was why she had refused to show any reaction in front of her team</p><p>when Louis' name appeared on that list. Why she had pushed down the bile</p><p>that came up her throat when she called his assistant to schedule a meeting.</p><p>Why she took deep breaths when the smell of his French cigarettes, that she</p><p>could never ever forget, assaulted her nose. She had no personal</p><p>relationship with Louis Duvivier. He was a ghost, someone who had stayed</p><p>thirty years in her past.</p><p>"Every cell in the human body is renewed after seven years," she started</p><p>saying some generic platitude she had once read somewhere on the internet.</p><p>"I have had four entire bodies that he has never touched… So why am I still</p><p>shaking?"</p><p>"I don't know where you got that data, but that's imprecise. Brain cells don't</p><p>get 'changed' periodically..." Spencer started saying.</p><p>Emily raised a hand to stop him.</p><p>"Spencer, please, I'm really not interested in the science behind this</p><p>metaphor," she groaned, exhausted.</p><p>He frowned.</p><p>"No, but I have a point in my disagreement. If we work with the hypothesis</p><p>that we can find the precise cells of a given trauma on someone's body, why</p><p>would we assume that the part of you that was hurt twenty-eight years ago</p><p>isn't still alive inside you?" He was speaking in his usual Socratical tone,</p><p>but Emily couldn't deny the tenderness in his words.</p><p>"It was thirty years ago, but thanks. Yeah, you have a point." She reclined</p><p>on the chair, feeling the tears prickling in the corners of her eyes. And then</p><p>she laughed. "You probably think that I'm some sorry victim. I'm making</p><p>this a way bigger deal than it actually was, to be honest."</p><p>"I highly doubt it, Emily. But you really don't have to tell me. You should</p><p>talk to someone, but it doesn't have to be me."</p><p>"I don't think that he killed Natalya or Charlotte," she said.</p><p>"And why is that?" Spencer asked, softly.</p><p>There was a bitter taste on her tongue and Emily chewed on one of her ice</p><p>cubes to make the nausea go away.</p><p>"They were… too old, for him." She got up to refill her glass, even though</p><p>she knew it wasn't advised. "Emma, on the other hand… Emma was 21, but</p><p>she didn't look older than 17 in her pictures."</p><p>She heard Spencer let out a long breath, but she didn't turn to look at him.</p><p>"She probably thought she had the world all figured out. He told her she</p><p>was mature for her age, treated her like the adult she craved so hard to be."</p><p>Perhaps she used too much force to rest the bottle again on the cabinet. It</p><p>didn't break, though. Just made a loud sound. "He was her friend for a</p><p>while. Listened to her, seemed interested in her dilemmas… And perhaps</p><p>she fought him too hard last Friday, perhaps he forced himself on her, and</p><p>then she threatened to tell someone… La petite sauvage," Emily almost spat</p><p>the last words that left her mouth. "Do you know what his pet name</p><p>means?"</p><p>"No," Spencer said.</p><p>"The little wild girl, the little savage girl. Untamed and provocative." She</p><p>laughed again because her eyes stung too much. The vodka was velvety in</p><p>her mouth and smelled almost like ether. She could pretend it would cleanse</p><p>her memory.</p><p>When she turned to finally look at him, Spencer's usually gentle face was</p><p>contracted in angry lines and he breathed hard through his nose. He had his</p><p>closed fist pressed against his mouth while he tried to keep his cool. She</p><p>drank the rest of her drink and, encouraged by the alcohol, decided that it</p><p>was better to rip off that old band-aid barely covering a necrotic wound and</p><p>tell it, after all. If there was a man in her life that could listen to it, this man</p><p>was Spencer.</p><p>"My mother was stationed in France when I was thirteen. I liked it, as much</p><p>as I could like being anywhere back then. I started smoking cigarettes and</p><p>would barely try to disguise it, desperate to see what it would take ‘til</p><p>someone finally caught me. I would leave ashes on the windowsills and</p><p>used clothes with cigarette burns. I would walk around smelling like an</p><p>ashtray and no one would say a thing. Then I started</p>