𝗗𝗢𝗡'𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗚𝗘𝗧 𝗠𝗘 | 𝘼. 𝙃𝙊𝙏𝘾𝙃𝙉𝙀𝙍

twelve

'Do you think she'll be okay?' Reid whispered to Morgan.

'I don't know, kid. For the foreseeable future, she'll have to be.'

Heading back into the briefing room, you stood in the entrance and looking at them all, you smiled instead of crying- you were determined to hold it in for a while.

'We've nicknamed the unsub 'Smiler' because of what you described and what he left you,' JJ looked as you entered- simultaneously, other heads turned. You nodded, swallowing tensely. Wanting to find comfort anywhere, somewhere, you fiddled with your hand- only wanting to remember how he held it the night before.

[ 'Hold my hand, Duckie, I've got you.' 'I'm so happy you're here.' 'Put the knife down.' ]

Memories were suffocating your mind but all you did was stare at the floor. There was nothing there, but you just kept looking.

'Beck. Beck?' Morgan asked, and asked again. Were you in there? You snapped from oblivion and looked at him.

'You need to pick somebody to do a cognitive memory test,' he said, flicking a pen towards the people around him.

You rolled your lips a little and answered in a split second, 'Spence,' and he got up from his seat.

'Close your eyes. I'm right here,' he said. Feeling like a suspect, you snapped.

'I know what to do,' you snarled, followed by, 'Sorry,' when Spencer looked demeaned.

'Go back to the moment he arrived to pick you up, is there anything off about him?' Reid questioned.

'No, he was obviously a little nervous and a lot happier than usual, but nothing that would suggest he was worried.'

'Good, now what about the walk to the restaurant or during the meal? What about then?' he probed.

'There was a loud noise on the way to the restaurant, but we dismissed it. That's when we held hands for the first time,' and you were plunged back into the moment, seeing yourself in the dress and how nice he looked in his outfit. Again, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, you watched the meal unfold and saw no issue with the wine, food or waiters. Nada.

'The theme park?' his final question was out.

'We walked along the pier, it was a little cold, but I didn't say anything,' you began, remembering how he would later wrap his arm around you as you watched the stars. Following the queue for the ride, you observed any person that looked out of place and met yourselves as memories at the front of the line. Wait, you'd seen this man before. It was then the penny dropped. Because you were so wrapped up in the night, you had also let your guard down and brushed off the fact the operator was smiling. Hotch was looking at the sky, but something about that man made you uncomfortable. You gasped; Reid was clutching you, 'I saw him'

'Who?'

'That man. It's him. He was right next to us,' you cried a little and Reid, in all honesty, didn't know what to do.

'Do you think you can describe him enough for a composite sketch?' he lightly asked.

'He ermm- he had square glasses and a moustache. White, his hair was white but as an operator he had a cap on...' you closed your eyes again, trying to see anything else. A scar? 'Spence there's a small round scar on his left temple, it could be from the car crash when I was a kid,' you spoke fast, moulding together the words.

'You did well,' Reid said, gripping a pad with a quick doodle on and rapidly getting up, nearly running to the team.

'We've got something,' he yelled, slamming the pad on the desk and reciting what you told him; you followed shortly behind.

'We have a sketch, but we need more than that. What else have we got to go off?' Morgan rationalised.

'If two of us go to the theme park, maybe his employer recognises the sketch?' Prentiss built it up.

'And even if he's using a fake alias, I can probably track down the real one with enough evidence and- and articles on collisions on that date,' Garcia added.

'We shouldn't get this out to the media. He might hide away,' JJ weighed it up.

Rossi leaned towards the table, 'Surely, he would've been injured in a head on collision. If we can determine his age around the time of the crash, we could cross that with any patients treated in hospitals in a 20-mile radius of the scene.'

You breathed and heard Hotch's voice echo through your system. He needed you now more than ever and you had to think in clarity.

'Morgan, Prentiss go to Hotch's apartment and just sweep it over a final time. We could've missed something yesterday. Reid and JJ you'll go to the park, question his employers- they can't be entirely useless. I'll be with Rossi,' you ordered, and nobody was left in the room but you, or so you thought.

'We'll find him, Beck. I promise,' Rossi spoke, resting a hand on your shoulder. You stared at his seat as the Italian walked away, wishing he'd never left you in the first place.