Athena woke up the next morning to Morgan's strong arms snuggly wrapped around her waist and his body close pressed up behind hers.
She couldn't help freezing as she felt his warm hands on her skin, holding her, bringing her closer but not in the way they usually did where it was a need to have her body on his in a sexual way, this was different- they had never 'cuddled' before.
If she was honest, Athena really thought that Morgan was the type of guy to enjoy his own space especially when sharing a bed but there he was with his body wrapped around hers like it was made to be there as he slept deeply.
She couldn't help her body twisting slowly in his arms to face him and looking up at his face; he looked so peaceful, more peaceful than she had ever seen him before- finding herself almost taken aback by his strong features contrasted by his unusually calm expression that she just watched for a while, feeling kind of creepy as he slept soundly but she couldn't help it- she just wanted to look at him without feeling embarrassed of what she was trying to ignore, what had been festering inside her for months every time she looked at him even outside of that very bed.
Her eyes quickly snapped back shut when she heard Morgan's phone ring, feeling his body shift away from hers slowly as he himself woke up and realised how close his subconscious body had gone to hers.
He sat up and searched for his phone by the bed before getting up and starting to leave the room so that he wouldn't wake her up.
"Hey Hotch, everything okay?" He slightly whispered as he pulled the door close, Athena still being able to hear his side of the conversation through the door.
"Uh- yeah, she's in my... on my sofa, she's on my sofa. She got a little too drunk and got into some trouble so I let her crash on my couch- why?" Morgan partly lied to Hotch when he asked where Athena was.
"What? Are you serious?" Morgan asked with concern in his voice at what Hotch responded with which alerted Athena's attention.
"Okay, I'll wake her up and bring her in- does she need to bring anything?"
"Okay, see you soon" he hung up, walking back into the room and sitting Athena stood at the door as it slowly opened.
"Good morning" he couldn't help smiling at her as she yawned.
"Yo- what was that about?" She rubbed her eyes, head still throbbing from the night before.
"Hotch says he needs to talk to you- how are you doing by the way? Do you want some headache tablets?" He tried to brush past the conversation he had just had with Hotch, letting his concern for her take over.
"Oh okay, I'll just call him on your phone if that's cool" Athena took his phone from him before he could stop her.
"I don't think this is really a phone call conversation-" he tried to say but she had already called the number.
"Heyo boss man- what's up?" Athena spoke down the phone with another yawn, mentally scheduling in a much needed nap later in her day.
"Athena? Hi, are you on your way in?" Hotch asked, his tone different than usual.
"Morgan said you just needed to talk to me so I thought you could just tell me on the phone- saves you going all the way to work on a Saturday."
"I'm already here, I think we should talk about this in person."
"Hotch, what is happening? Why do you sound like that?" She tilted her head suspiciously, looking at Morgan who looked at the floor to avoid her eyes with a sigh.
"I really think I should tell you this in person Athena" Hotch responded.
"No, I 'really think' you should tell me now- what's going on?"
Hotch sighed, knowing she wasn't the type to let someone else win an argument; "the heads of the FBI have informed me that they are going to be having a meeting to discuss whether your assistance is required with the team anymore or if they should... send you back to prison to continue your sentence."
Athena froze.
"We will fight this Athena, I have more than enough evidence that you input and help with the team has helped us massively and saved lives. You've been key parts in huge cases and-" Hotch spoke to fill her unusual silence.
"Why?" She interrupted.
"Pardon?"
"Why are they discussing this now? I thought I was their property, I thought that was the whole reason they pulled me out of the system" she said softly, her expression was blank, her voice was numb and face void of any clear emotion.
Hotch paused.
"Hotch, what aren't you telling me?" She asked, knowing he was hiding something.
"It... it turns out that they didn't just want you to expand the team or help our profiling with a new perspective like they told me. They had planned on using you to capture your father and stop his cult from the start and didn't tell any of us. Now that he's dead and the mission is over, they... they want to send you back. They say it's not a valuable use of their recourses" Hotch said with a somber tone to his voice, knowing hearing that would hurt her.
"So... so they knew from the beginning who my father was? They knew who I was and they dragged me out of prison so that he could find me and expose where he was for them? They knew that he would find me, they fucking told him I was alive so he would find me, didn't they?!" She started to give into her anger, Morgan looked confused at what she had said since Hotch hadn't told him everything on the phone.
"Yes" Hotch answered with a sigh.
"Did you know?" Athena asked Hotch.
"What?"
"Did you fucking know Aaron?!" She asked, angrier than ever- the betrayal feeling growing stronger in her chest.
"No, no, I had no idea- I didn't even know that he was your father" he said honestly.
"Why did you think they were making you add me onto the team? Surely you were fucking confused about the criminal you just managed to put away being brought onto your stupid team without you having a say in the matter" she started pacing back and forth.
"I assumed it was a similar case to Penelope's where they thought you could be a valuable asset to the team. I swear we had no idea Athena, I had no idea" Hotch assured.
"When is it? When is the meeting and when are they sending me back?" She said, her expression going blank again.
"The meeting is Monday morning, I will be able to plead your defence in the morning and they will come up with a verdict that afternoon" he explained.
"They're... they're going to send me back, aren't they? They planned this from the beginning so no matter what you say... it's over, isn't it?" She said with an emptiness to her voice, Morgan watching and noticing the gloss come to her eyes as she fought tears.
"Athena, I'm so sorry-" Hotch went to talk
"I don't give a shit" she hung up the phone and stared at the wall blankly, quickly wiping her tears and acting like she didn't care.
But she did care, and she hated herself for caring, for letting herself care, for letting herself let down her walls slightly enough to care and be hurt.
She felt her world collapse. She had just gotten used to her new life, she was beginning to make friends, something she had never had before. She was helping people and doing good, she was becoming good. Her blood boiled when she thought of them planning this from the beginning, just waiting to use her to get close to her father and then risking her life and go through the mental pain of seeing him again so that she could kill him for them before they chucked her back in prison once they were done with her.
The thought of this whole thing being just another person in her life that used her and threw her to the side once they were done with her destroyed her, the hope she had made her feel stupid and want to scream at herself.
"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Morgan interrupted her thoughts.
She thought about Morgan.
She would be in prison for life; she didn't want to go that long without looking in his eyes no matter how much she pretended he annoyed her, she would never get to feel what she felt the night before with their strange kindness for each other.
She thought about the team, she thought she had become a sort of strange type of friends with them- she hadn't had friends before. She thought about how hard Hotch had worked for her to make it this far, how he had believed in her when she didn't think she could be anything more than a criminal. She thought about how she would be letting them all down and proving herself right by going back. She was furious, she was devastated, she wanted to scream but all she did was stare blankly.
"Athena, talk to me- are you okay?" Morgan said, walking towards her and holding her arms. She wanted to stay there forever, just letting him hold her but she had to put up her defences if she didn't want to hurt herself.
She didn't want to think about how much she secretly liked him, she didn't want to think about how she settled for the casual hook ups just to be close to him and started arguments and bickering with him just to talk to him, she didn't want to think about how he didn't feel anything towards her- about how John was right about him.
'You're nothing, he's only interested in you for what I was.'
"Guess I'm going back to prison" Athena snapped herself out of it and pretended to be fine, pulling herself from his arms and grabbing her clothes from the bathroom.
"Wait, what?" Morgan followed her.
"Yep, turns out the FBI only wanted to use me to find and kill my dad so now that their big plan is over I'm being sent back" she said, walking quickly back through the apartment and putting on her shoes to leave.
"We fight this- Hotch surely can pull some strings" Morgan said desperately.
"Nope, they've decided this from the beginning- if they want me back there, I'll be put back there" she looked up at him, feeling her soul crush as she looked in his hurt eyes.
"Sooo... guess this is goodbye then. We had a good time and whatever- have a great life and bye I guess" she spoke quickly and turned opening the door before she could let her bubbling feelings out but he pushed the door shut.
"Wait, just hold on for a minute- are you okay?" He asked, looking down at her.
"What do you care?" She tried not to cry but she could feel the tears welling up, "you hated me anyway, now you don't have to worry about me and whatever this mess of an arrangement was- it all worked out" she tried to say casually, Morgan looked down at her with confusion and hurt.
"Athena, of course I care about you- and I definitely don't hate you" Morgan said trying to meet her eyes which were now full of tears.
"Stop" she said softly trying to look away, he paused before placing his finger under her chin and lifting it up to look at him.
"I like you Athena Adams, more than I probably should- and I think we both knew it already."
She paused looking at him, her heart ached. That's all she had wanted to hear for months, but now it just hurt.
"Goodbye Derek Morgan" she gave him a weak smile, trying not to cry, before pulling the door open and leaving.
Athena spent the rest of the weekend avoiding opening the hotel room door, eventually Hotch got the concierge to manually open the lock she had broken shut on Monday morning at 6am.
"Athena?" He called out as he walked in.
"Leave me alone to die" she said with her face smothered into her pillow, still in the same clothes she had worn leaving Morgan's days before.
"Athena, you have to come to the hearing. We have a solid case and testimonies that will stop them putting you away" he said, pulling the duvet off her.
She turned her head to him "we both know that if they want me in prison then I'm going to prison. They set this up from the start. I know you used to be a lawyer and all but that's not gonna stop them" she said before lying back down "just tell them to arrest me here when it's time to go."
"Athena, stop it- stop giving up" Hotch said sternly as he pulled her out of bed.
"Hotch I'm a murderer- that's all they see me as so that's all I'm going to be in there, it is what it is" she said getting up and walking to the empty mini bar in search for something that she hadn't already drank.
"You can't drink before your hearing" he said, taking the one remaining mini bottle from her hand before she drank it.
"If I'm going to get roasted by a room of government men I'm sure as hell not going to be sober for it" she said trying to take it back from him.
"Athena, that's enough. I brought you a professional outfit to wear, get changed and get a better attitude- it's going to be okay" he said, handing her a hanger and leaving.
"What the fuck kind of ugly ass outfit is this?" She said looking at the boring outfit, it was a black blazer and pencil skirt with a tan button up shirt.
She rolled her eyes, taking the blazer out and throwing the rest onto the bed.
"You have 15 minutes" Hotch called back.
"Starting to sound like I'm back in prison again already" she sighed and started trying to put an outfit together. She grabbed a white, button up work shirt and put it under a short, black, loose square neck midi slip dress. She then pulled on the pair of smart heeled boots from her first case as she grabbed the black blazer and walked to the bathroom to quickly do her makeup and hair.
She saw how tired her face looked in the mirror and sighed as she started doing a full face of makeup.
The last few days had been rough, which was saying something given how many 'rough' days Athena had in her life.
She had closed herself off and let herself mourn the life she had started to have. Despite how much she originally protested it, she was starting to secretly enjoy this new life and the person she was becoming, and now it was going to be taken away from her.
She would have to go back to fighting in prison and cheating her way to survive this life, being her old arrogant self to deal with the guards, not to mention the lack of respect she would have from the other prisoners once they found out she helped the FBI.
She hated how she already started to think of how she would twist it to make it seem like they made her and she turned on them, she didn't like to think of lies like that anymore but she knew she was going to have to.
"Time to go" Hotch said, walking in as she pulled her hair back into a loose, low pony and added a plum, satin lip.
"That's not the outfit we brought" he said looking at her, she went to say something sassy back but he carried on speaking.
"It's nice, it's a nice combination of you and work- it's you" he smiled and turned around.
She paused in surprise, "t-thanks" she stammered as she followed him outside where Hotch went to walk to the car to drive to the courthouse which was only a 5 minute drive away.
"Is it alright if I walk? Once they sentence me again I won't be able to leave to feel the sun for a while since I'm going to have to get into a big fight to assert dominance again and will be sent to solitary for a long time" Athena looked up at the sky, feeling the warmth on her skin that brought little to no comfort.
"They're not going to sentence you to prison again, Athena, I'll make sure of it" he said, looking down at her before seeing the plea on her face, nodding and shutting the car door- putting his keys in his pocket and beginning to walk with her.
"You can drive if you want, I promise I won't run off" she chuckled.
"I'm not walking with you to make sure you don't run away" he said softly as they walked side by side through the streets.
"Hey Hotch-" she said after a while of walking in silence, he looked over at her.
"Thanks, for doing all this. It's nice to know not all government people are assholes" she smiled, he couldn't help but chuckle.
"Thank you" he smiled at her as they reached the federal courthouse steps.
"Home sweet home" Athena joked.
They sat on the bench outside the room, waiting to be called in as Athena's leg shook.
"It'll be okay" Hotch tried to assure her.
"I don't think-"
"Hey guys" Emily interrupted as the group walked over, Athena was surprised to see them all there.
She looked around at the group who were dressed in business clothes- even Garcia was there in a blazer.
"What are you all doing here?" She said in shock, her eyes spotting Morgan walking towards the group and catching her attention more than anyone else.
He had come to her hotel room multiple times over the weekend, begging for her to open the door and talk to him but she just ignored him- it was too painful to have to look in his eyes, it was too painful for her to admit that she liked him too, too painful to say goodbye.
"We're here to support you, silly" Penelope smiled, trying not to cry already.
"Why? I thought only people a part of the hearing were allowed in- that's why I thought it was just Hotch."
"We're a part of the testimonies" Emily smiled at her.
"And we're your friends" Reid added with a soft smile, his eyes were red and dark.
"Are you okay?" She looked up at him and asked softly.
"Hey- that's what I usually ask you" he chuckled, wiping away a loose tear.
"They are ready for you and your client Agent Hotchner" a man in a dark suit said coming out to the group, speaking only to Hotch.
Athena stood up with Hotch and let out a breath before turning to the group.
"Well, this has been fun guys."
"It's not over" Morgan said sincerely, catching her eye but she just smiled, forcing her eyes away from him and followed Hotch into the courtroom where she saw the row of council men who had been the ones to get her out of prison, wanting to punch each of them in the face- especially the one in the middle who she felt sick to her stomach as she recognised him from somewhere else a long time ago.
The trial began like usual; Athena tried her best to stay focused but her mind whirled thinking of how strange it would be adapting back to prison life. She cursed herself for starting to think that she could have a life of relative normalcy, no longer hiding or fighting to survive but living a life.
"Miss Adams, may you take the stand?" One of the council men interrupted, Hotch nodded in support at her.
"Uh, yeah sure" she said standing up and walking over, getting sworn in.
She wasn't sure if she believed in any kind of god after everything that had happened to her in her life but she still let them swear her in because it was the law, not that she cared about that much either.
"Miss Adams-" the lawyer began to speak.
"Athena, my name is Athena" she corrected, hating how the higher ups always tried to de-personalise her by calling her by her last name.
"Okay... Athena, how long was your original sentencing?" He asked.
"Do you really not know? Isn't that like your whole job to know?" She said sarcastically, he paused not knowing how to respond as Athena caught Hotch's eye who gave her a stern look.
She sighed "I was given a life sentence with no opportunity for parole."
"And how much of that sentence did you serve?" He asked.
"Uh I think it was about 5 months" she answered.
"Mam, are you unsure of how much time you spent in prison?" He slightly mocked.
"Well since it was a prison, I didn't really have a phone or fancy calendar to keep track of the days in-between fighting to not be murdered" she matched his tone.
The questioning continued before he signalled for the council to begin their questioning to her and Hotch as she took her seat next to him again.
"Miss Adams-" the main chairman said, blatantly ignoring her request to call her by her first name,"-would you say that you have adapted well as an agent?"
"I'm not an agent" she corrected "I would say I've adapted and performed extremely well as a consultant, which is what you pulled me in for."
"Right... Okay, have you engaged in any criminal activity since being brought onto this team?" The man continued.
"I am not on this team, like I said- you dragged me out of prison as a consultant so I'm not technically a part of the team therefor you can't bring out your rule book and pretend I broke some kind of oath that I didn't take" she stated which shocked the chairman.
Hotch couldn't help but smile at her ability to read through the councilman's tricks.
"Agent Hotchner, can you tell us how Miss Adam's input has impacted the team?" He said in frustration of her loopholes, turning to Hotch.
"Athena has been a crucial part of multiple cases since being brought to help us. She has the ability to add another level of knowledge to the profiling process and proven to execute full missions on her own within minutes of her planning it. She has an incredible ability to go undercover and use her previous skills and knowledge of the criminal world to our advantage which has cut our case time by a lot" Hotch explained.
"By 90.5% to be exact" Reid called out from the seats where him and the rest of the group sat, Athena turned and smiled at him.
"That's very well Mr Hotchner but I am talking about the impact that she has had on the team members themselves, has she or has she not had multiple run ins and been reported by all members of the team?" The council man said, Athena's expression changed as she looked back at the team again who sat awkwardly.
"You reported me? Tattle tales" She mouthed to them but they all tried to avoid eye contact.
"In the beginning there was some conflict of interest but-" Hotch tried to explain.
"A yes or no will suffice Mr Hotchner" the councilman said.
Hotch paused, "yes."
Athena shook her head; she knew they were going to use this against her.
"We have multiple reports from cases where your own agents reported feeling uncomfortable working with Miss Adams and her practices. I quote from an Agent Emily Prentiss: 'she has a blatant disrespect for the job which gets in the way of us doing our job. She cares for no one but herself.' I have another quote from David Rossi who said 'she's just a crooked kid with a bad attitude, there's no way we can expect her to be any good or anything than what she is- she's not going to change her ways' in an interview after Miss Adam's second case" he continued reading.
"I have a quote from Doctor Spencer Reid who despite bringing forward the longest, most positive testimony today had a lot of negative things to say about Miss Adams and her work ethic in his paper work after working with her for 3 weeks-" he went to read but Hotch interrupted.
"Like I said councilman, Athena and the group didn't get on at first which was to be expected given their past with her and you merging her so suddenly without giving her or us the time or proper reasoning why. If you read any reports or files from recent cases which I have presented to you for today you will see how highly my team speak of her and her impact on their work" he said reading off quotes from the team before the chairman could interrupt.
"She is a valuable asset and has an incredible mind and dedication- David Rossi. I've never seen anyone put as much effort into this team without being paid, even the people who are paid aren't as dedicated as her- Emily Prentiss. She makes our safety and the victims safety her number one priority- even putting the unsubs safety above her own- Doctor Spencer Reid. Her tactile ability and dedication to saving lives and becoming the good person that she is, is incredible and truly amazing to watch. She's more dedicated, skilled and caring than she likes to let on- Derek Morgan" Hotch spoke, Athena couldn't help but smile at Morgan's quote.
"That last one is from SSA Derek Morgan, correct?" The chairman spoke, Hotch nodded.
"Agent Morgan and Miss Smith have had the most conflict, have they not?" He asked.
"That is true, they are prone to arguments and aren't to fond of each other but always-" Hotch tried to speak.
"You said before that these negative quotes of Miss Adam's behaviour were from the beginning-" the chairman interrupted as he pulled out a file "-but I have a file here directly from Derek Morgan from just over a week ago requesting to transfer to New York, directly stating that Athena Adam's is the main reason for this request" he said, the room fell silent.
Athena slowly turned and looked at him with pain, confusion and anger in her eyes as he looked at her- wanting to run over and explain everything.
"What the hell, Morgan?" Reid whispered angrily to him.
"It's not how it seems-" Morgan tried to whisper back.
"Miss Adams-" the man spoke, bringing her attention back to the front of the room "-would you mind reading the extract of the file in front of you out loud to the room?"
She paused, turning away from Morgan.
"You don't have to do that" Hotch whispered to her but she took it and began reading with a blank expression- too hurt to decide on an expression of the overwhelming painful feelings inside her.
"Athena Adams... Athena acts like a child. She has a blatant disrespect for this job and everything it in tales. She spends her days defending and joking about the people we are trying to catch and that is because she was, and always will, be one of them. She is a criminal, always will be, she will never be anything more and it was ridiculous for the FBI to bring her out of prison where she belongs. I do not feel comfortable being on a team with someone who has no regard for the lives she has taken and the impact she has had. She constantly tries to make the team and I uncomfortable and takes unnecessary risks that put us and victims in danger to feed into her psychopathic ego. I formally request to be transferred away from the BAU because of the reasons stated and the overall idea of the FBI being comfortable with letting killers like Miss Adams out of the prison system when she had done nothing to prove she had changed other than torturing the very team that you now put her on for 3 years."
Athena finished reading, tears now fully formed in her eyes as her voice shook.
"There is another two pages" the councilman said into the silent room.
"No that's enough" Hotch ordered seeing her pain on her blank, frozen face.
"Mr Hotchner-"
"I said that's enough, move on councilman" he spoke sharply, placing a hand on Athena's shoulder.
"Athena, are you okay?" He whispered as the councilman talked, she didn't respond and just stared at the paper, reading the far harsher words on the next two pages that stabbed her in the chest.
"Miss Adams- do you have anything to say about Derek Morgan's comments?" The chairman said.
She looked up with a defeated smile and changed her expression to a fake smug one- she didn't care about not going to prison anymore. She didn't care about proving that she was 'good.' She didn't care about anything after reading that and thinking about the fact Morgan had been sleeping around with her when he wrote this, that she had been falling for him when he wrote that.
"Well he's not wrong" she smiled with her old hint of cockiness, now fully giving up on any chance of having the new life she wanted. She went back to pretending to be her arrogant, evil self, letting go of her hope for this new life that always seemed too good to be true.
"Athena-" Hotch said seeing this switch in her.
"What? You all know it, you all think it- it's true. Don't be so surprised that I tricked you this entire time, I did it to you before. I'm still the evil bitch you always thought I was and Agent Derek Morgan was the one who just spoke your words- nicely put by the way" she said mockingly as she turned to Morgan who sat in shame, Reid sat seething with rage next to him.
"Cool, you obviously have your verdict and as Mr Hotchner's 'client' I am going to deny any of his evidence or statements be shown so unless you council-pricks have anything else to add, I think it's time you sent me back where I belong" she smiled at the council.
"Athena!" Hotch turned in shock to her,
"What? You're denying that Mr Hotchner try and prove-" The councilman scoffed.
"You heard me old man" she mocked.
"We still have two hours of this trial" another councilman said in shock.
"Oh you guys can still provide whatever evidence you want to put me away, I know how much you idiots love to hear your own voices drone on for hours- I just won't be defending it, it's over" she said the last words to Hotch as she sat down.
"Councilman- we request a side bar" Hotch said urgently.
"Nope" Athena crossed her arms.
"Athena, please don't do this-" he pleaded.
"Agent Hotchner if Miss Adams doesn't agree to a side bar or break of any kind then we cannot give you one" the chairman said, feeling smug that it was going in their favour more than they could have hoped.
Hotch paused before sitting by her "fine, then I will just talk here."
"Agent Hotchner, you cannot use this trial's time to talk to your client-" the man tried to argue but Hotch wasn't listening, he was just staring at Athena.
"Athena, don't do this. Don't give up now, I have evidence that will work."
"Why won't you just accept that I belong in there?" She rolled her eyes.
"Because you don't" he said with certainty.
"Oh come on Hotch, you of all people know the manipulation and evil I am capable of- it's where I am meant to be and your team all seem to agree."
"They didn't mean any of that, Morgan didn't mean that" he defended.
"He said it, he meant it. They all did and they all do- just give up, I already have" she said, turning away to the front.
"I will not give up on you."
"Then I guess I'll have to do that job for you as well" she sighed and stood up.
"Council-douches, I would like to formally request that Aaron Hotchner and his team be removed from this hearing and all their evidence they provided be taken away and made void due to a conflict of interest."
"Athena- don't!" Hotch stood up next to her.
"And what is this conflict of interest Miss Adams?" The councilman with surprise at her request.
"A previous romantic one" she said, the room went quiet almost instantly.
"What?"
"3 years ago, Aaron Hotchner and I slept together. Although I was not a consultant, I was beginning my torments with the team, according to your law books this is still considered a conflict of interest and I formally request that both he and the rest of the team be removed from the building immediately" she explained, Hotch stared at her in disbelief.
"Oh my god" Rossi stared at Hotch, flabbergasted like the rest of the team.
The councilmen all sat in shock.
"You do understand that if you do this, you won't be able to defend your case and will be sentenced?" The man in the middle said with a smugness deserving of a slap.
"Despite what you all think, I'm not an idiot sir" she smiled "now please remove the BAU team."
"Athena- no! Please! Don't do this!" Morgan yelled as the security dragged them out.
"Why are you doing this?" Hotch said before he was also escorted out, she just stared at him apologetically.
"I'm sorry, I can't keep pretending this isn't who I am" she said quietly as he was moved out of the building.
"Athena!" Spencer yelled in distress, she turned and gave him a familiar sweet smile which broke his heart.
The team stood outside of the building in the sun.
"She has requested you leave the grounds, I'm afraid you can't wait on the steps" the security said as he usured them onto the street.
"What the hell was that?!" Morgan yelled in rage.
"Hotch! Do something! Get us back in there" Reid begged.
"Was what she said true?" Rossi asked Hotch who was just staring at the doors with a puzzled look.
"Hotch- did you sleep with Athena?" Emily asked.
"She said something before I left" he ignored her "she said 'I'm sorry, I can't keep pretending this isn't who I am."
"That makes sense for someone giving up on a life she was building" JJ shook her head but Spencer thought for a second.
"No- he's right. She said something similar when we were on our way to drop her off at her father's cult" Spencer said trying to think what it meant before realising and looking up at the building.
"I know why she wanted to get us out of there-" he said with fear in his eyes.
"Why?" JJ asked but before he could answer they heard a loud bang from the court room, followed by gunshots.
The team all looked at each other and ran into the building, the door to her courtroom locked with the locks broken.
"Athena! Stop! Please don't do this!" Spencer yelled through the doors as Morgan started kicking it down.
The gun sounds stopped and silence came from the room just as Morgan managed to kick down the door. They walked into the room where everyone was covering on the floor, some had bullet wounds in their legs and other non-life-threatening places except the head councilman who was bleeding out from his chest.
"What happened?!" Hotch said running over.
"We need a medic!" Emily yelled out the door.
"S-she got the securities gun and escaped" the main councilman said, trying to stay awake through the pain.
"Which way?" Morgan ran over, the man pointed to the door behind him which Morgan ran through hoping to catch up with her.
"Stay with me Councilman" Hotch said trying to keep him awake as Reid held the blood in.
"S-she made me promise to give you this or she said she'd come back and kill me" he coughed, handing him a piece of paper from the pad on the table.
'It's over. You all win, goodbye- for good this time.'
Hotch shook his head knowing that Morgan wouldn't find her, she was gone and they weren't going to find her unless she wanted to be found which she absolutely did not want after all she had heard.
Morgan ran out into the alleyway behind the building and looked around, seeing her discarded jacket on the floor. As he picked it up and felt a piece of paper in the pocket which she had been writing on as the councilmen spoke her verdict once the group had left.
Hello Derek,
It only seems right that we end the way I first contacted you, in a note.
Despite my attempts to stop myself, I liked you a lot Morgan- but I think you already knew that as well.
Thank you for letting me know how you really felt in that shitty report, it makes what I'm about to do a lot easier;
If you or the team try to find me, I will kill everyone you have ever saved, everyone you have ever loved, everyone you've even so much as talked to, everyone you have ever captivated with those stupid eyes of yours and make you live to see the pain.
You said that I was a murderous psychopath who would never change her ways? Then that's what I'll become if you don't let me leave.
Every story needs a villain, every hero needs a rival- I'll be the worst you've ever seen if you or those idiots even think about trying to find me. Let me go, leave me be or I will make you regret ever hearing my god damn name.
Goodbye Derek Morgan
-Athena
He let his head drop, tears forming as he finished the letter just before Spencer came running out.
"Did you find her?" He asked desperately as Morgan hid the letter in his own pocket, he shook his head and handed him her jacket before walking back into the building, defeated and furious at himself.
Spencer held the coat to his chest and tried not to cry as he thought about the fact that she was gone and she would never come back without them making her and even then, she wouldn't be the same after what she had heard in the trial.
She wouldn't be herself.