"Hiding how you really feel and trying to make everyone happy doesn't make you nice, it just makes you a liar." ― Jenny O'Connell
The Spy
We lay together, naked, a thin sheet covering us and our clothes shed around the room, watching each other sleepily and happily, both so content in the moment.
"What is this for?" I asked, reaching forward to pluck the chain from around his chest, observing the flat silver coin and wondering what it represented.
"Turn it over." He said softly and I obliged, realising that the coin was engraved to say 'never forget'.
"Never forget what?" I asked curiously, looking up to meet his eyes, to find him already watching me closely, a far and distant expression on his face.
"It's our wedding rings," He said softly. "I had them melted down into a coin," He explained and I realised that's why it was so odd looking. "I wear it so I never forget the dangers of dealing with love in this life."
I observed his face for a little longer in silence.
"You really are a dark soul, aren't you?" I asked rhetorically, placing a hand against his face and watching him carefully.
"I can't help it," He shrugged, avoiding my eyes suddenly. "I wish I wasn't like this, but I am."
"Hey," I said, tipping his chin so he would look at me. "There's nothing wrong with being dark," I said, shaking my head. "As long as you remember to come back to the light every now and again." I smiled and so did he, before he reached forward and pressed a gentle kiss to my lips.
It wasn't sudden, as I would have expected, it was more gradual and curious. But a noise began making it's way up to the loft where we lay, and I broke out of our kiss to pause and listen, focusing all of my energy into my ears.
Crying.
It wasn't wailing or sobbing or screaming, as I would have imagined, but constant cries, as if they'd always been crying and didn't know how to stop.
"Something's wrong." I said, my stomach dropping with dread as I threw the sheet back and reached for my t-shirt.
"What?" Jason blurted, sitting up and watching as I hurried around the room, gathering clean underwear and jeans.
"Emily!" Carter's voice came from outside the door. "Get down here real quick." She said, banging on the door.
"Coming!" I called, throwing Jason his t-shirt.
"What the fuck's going on?" He grumbled, staggering and tripping as he tried to get ready in a hurry.
I was unable to answer, nerves and adrenaline coursing through my veins.
I tucked my gun into the back of my pants, pulled on boots and grabbed my jacket, ready to leave at the drop of a hat.
I was aware of Jason following behind me quickly, less prepared than I was.
I couldn't have imagined what I was about to find and hear, but as soon as Jason and I entered the kitchen, we knew it was something dreadful.
Melanie was sat at the table, crying, her head in her hands as Hotch silently cried beside her, a hand on her back,
Spencer was crossing the room to the dining table, and a moment later, he'd picked up a dining chair and, yelling, threw it through the patio doors out into the back yard.
"What's going on?" I called over the chaos, the rest of the team gathered around the kitchen counters, sleepy and confused.
"Diana," Hotch choked as Melanie leapt to her feet and ran after Spencer who had fallen in amongst the glass, sobbing. "She's dead."
My mouth parted and I covered it as I gasped, staring at Melanie and Spencer, both sobbing on the floor.
"Was it the Cell?" Morgan demanded, his arms folded as he glared angrily.
"We don't know." Hotch whispered, shaking his head slightly as he quickly brushed at his tears.
"Of course it was!" Spencer yelled. "It has to have been!" He sobbed, rocking back and forth as Melanie tried so desperately to console him.
"How...?" I whispered.
"We don't know." Hotch repeated in another whisper.
"Do you want me to head over there?" I asked a little louder, clearing my throat and blinking tears out of my eyes.
Melanie turned to me, her face stained with tears as she nodded with the smallest of smiles.
"I'll take a team and give you a call when I have more news." I nodded and Melanie smiled again before turning back to Spencer.
Everyone left the kitchen with me and followed me into the front room.
"Okay, Diana is Spencer's mom who lives at the Sanitarium," I explained to all of the confused faces looking at me. "She lives with Schizophrenia and more recently that has deteriorated into Dementia. She contracted pneumonia and has been ventilated for the last ten months. If she's been killed, this has been a direct target to derail us. So, it's important we find out how she died and who was there."
"What if she just... died?" Black whispered, almost scared to make the suggestion.
"That's the best case scenario." I nodded.
"Call Darren," I said, turning to Jason. "Get him and Jack to meet us at the Sanitarium," Jason nodded and left the room, dialling a number on his cell phone. "We still need men here," I said. "But we need a team to establish what's gone on,"
I sighed.
"Morgan, Carter, Jackson and Black, you come with us to the Sanitarium. Garcia and the others, stay here, continue doing what we planned and make sure that Spencer and Melanie don't leave this house under any circumstances."
Jason's men nodded at me before everyone dispersed.
By the time I'd left the front room, Jason was in his leather jacket and holding both of our helmets.
"They're on their way." He said with a smile.
I glanced up the hallway and realised everyone was too busy, so I quickly leaned forward and swept our lips together, glad that in amongst all of this, I had a distraction.
The Comforter
I wasn't sure where Darren was going, but I was just thankful he'd finally decided to show.
It was getting dark and I knew Mel and Spencer would be wondering where we were. I wondered where Darren had been the whole day, and was definitely too terrified to ask.
I wasn't entirely sure where we were or where we were going, until we pulled into the parking lot of the Sanitarium where Spencer's mom lived.
"What's going on?" I asked as he abandoned the bike and climbed off.
We removed our helmets and he sighed.
"Spencer's mum's died." He explained in an apologetic tone.
"You what?" I choked, dread filling my body.
"Prentiss has put together a team to meet here." He explained and it took me a moment to realise he meant Emily.
A few moments later, a motorcycle purred into the parking lot, Emily riding it and Jason swiftly behind her.
"Oh my days," Darren whistled under his breath. "Ain't they a sight for sore eyes?" He smirked, clearly enjoying the fact Jason wasn't the one riding the bike.
I shook my head and rolled my eyes, frowning sadly as Emily removed her helmet and hurried over to us, closely followed by Jason.
"Is it true?" I asked Emily as she looked at me sadly.
"Yes," She nodded apologetically. "We don't know anymore at the moment, Jack." She explained, a hand on my shoulder.
"Poor Spencer. How's he taking it?" I asked, glancing at the Jones' brothers as Jason batted Darren away as he excitedly grinned at him, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet.
"Not well." Emily sighed.
"He's smashed up the patio doors." Jason explained and I looked at him in shock, my eyes widening even further as he nodded sadly.
"Fucking hell, that's just giving them an easier way in!" Darren gushed and we all glared at him irritatedly.
Thankfully, the conversation ended, as an SUV pulled into the parking lot and the team climbed out.
"We haven't gone inside yet," Emily explained. "I thought it's best if you lead." She explained to Derek.
"If you're happy with that?" I asked, reaching into the pocket of his pants to withdraw his wallet.
"I'm technically a ghost," She smirked. "A legitimate member of the Bureau is probably best to head this one up." She nodded.
"Are you sure you're up for this, kid four?" Morgan asked, glancing at me so that everyone then looked at me.
I huffed and rolled my eyes.
"What a way to patronise me, Derek, thanks."
He smirked and nodded his head.
"Yep, you're a Hotchner."
I was sick of people comparing me to Melanie and my dad, but let that one slide as we entered the brightly lit and stuffy Sanitarium.
I was almost cushioned in the centre of the group, the Jones' brothers at either side of me, Derek and Emily ahead of us, and the rest of the team behind us.
It was nice to belong to something so powerful and... kind of renegade? I mean, they were with the Bureau but for the time being were acting against protocol.
It was almost like we were apart of some kind of Suicide Squad. We had thugs and felons, agents and ghosts, and then even a couple of regular citizens thrown in for good measure.
My mind immediately went to Tilly, and how she was going to be able to understand what was going on. I'd brought her to see Diana with Beth a few times after she'd been told Melanie had died. But, it was a sad experience for everyone.
Tilly couldn't understand why Nana Di was so poorly, when she'd been so happy a few weeks before. Unfortunately, I couldn't handle Tilly being sad on any level, and so we'd mainly made scrap-books and videos for Nana Di and I'd brought them over myself.
Just now, as we were led along the hallway to Diana's room, I swallowed bile and shook the memories from my head.
Yes, I was my father's son.
Yes, I was Melanie's brother.
Of course I was a Hotchner.
But I was also human, and a lot of the time, our friends do not realise that we aren't machines. We really do feel things and they really do impact us.
For the time being though, I was representing the Hotchners.
My dad wasn't here, and neither was Melanie. But I was. And that represented something.
What though, I wasn't sure.
My head was all over the place as we entered her room. Normally I found her room to be the perfect size. Cosy, but without being cramped. Spacious but without being huge.
Now, however, it felt like a shoe-box.
There was nothing out of the ordinary, the room was still cosy and looked how I remembered it, except now there were cables and IV's and machines around Diana's bed.
As I looked over, I held my breath.
But there was no blood. No weapons. Nothing out of the ordinary.
She was just lying in the bed, a pale shade of grey, her eyes closed and her arms resting by her sides, looking peaceful as though she was simply sleeping.
There were no signs of a struggle, no bruises or cuts.
"Are we sure this is a murder?" I whispered, frightened to be the one to break the respectful silence.
"It's too much of a coincidence not to be." Emily whispered in response, standing directly by Diana's bedside, looking down at Spencer's mom with a sad expression and tearful eyes.
We were all silent for a few moments longer, drinking in the sorrow and grief.
"Okay," Darren clamped a hand down on my shoulder suddenly, making me jump. "The troops will be gathering at the house in the next few hours," He explained. "Which means we'd better get this cleared up before then," Emily and Jason nodded.
"Carter, Prentiss, Jackson, Black and I will stay here and figure out what's happened," Morgan explained. "You three, start questioning. When we can, we'll be along to join you."
"Question who? The residents?" Darren asked, perplexed, throwing a hand out towards the doorway. "They're either doped up or wired to the moon, we won't get owt' from 'em."
Morgan glared at Darren for a moment and I dipped my head.
"You're just worried in case one of them falls for ya," Jason said, glaring at Darren too as he approached us. "Move your arse and get to work." He said, shoving Darren out the door first.
"Good luck." Morgan said with a nod to me, which I of course returned.
The Fighter
Everything was a mess.
There was glass everywhere, blood too from Spencer's cut hands and feet, he just didn't care as he sat amongst his mess, rocking back and forth, sobbing.
My dad guided Beth, Tilly and Peters upstairs and Peters busied herself with Tilly whilst I calmed Spencer.
Garcia and Jason's men helped clear the mess as I cleaned Spencer's wounds, both of us still crying.
"Spence," I whispered gently, reaching up to put a hand on his cheek as he started off into the distance, sat on the edge of the sofa, rocking slightly.
I was crouched on the floor in front of him, but he didn't so much as blink as I touched him.
"Spencer, Tilly is home," I said a little clearer, sniffing. "Would you like to see her?" I asked and he immediately shook his head, unable to meet my eyes.
"Okay," I sighed. "I have to go and tell her the news." I said, getting to my feet.
"NO!" He exclaimed, reaching for my hand desperately. "She doesn't need to know, not yet, please."
"Spencer..." I sighed, glancing over at Garcia as she directed Jason's men towards the trash with the broken glass.
"We can't continue to keep things from her," I said, putting a hand against his face again. "She's a child, but she isn't stupid. She knows there's big things going on, and this we can't lie to her about."
He thought about it for a long moment before nodding and dropping my hand to rub his face.
"Well we'll tell her together." He sighed, rising to his feet.
"You don't h-"
"Yes I do." He said, meeting my eyes calmly, a small smile at the edges of his lips.
We looked at each other for a long moment before I hugged him tightly.
"I love you so much."
It was harder than I thought, telling Tilly.
At first she didn't understand, and then she was extremely sad. And then, she asked if Nana Di was going to come back like Momma did. And my heart completely shattered.
What had we done to her?
Had we damaged her irreparably?
Did she believe that everyone who died would come back to life the following year?
I couldn't think of that. I shook my head to clear the panic and focused on my daughter now.
She was devastated and confused, but she was still a child and she bounced back quickly, asking what was for dinner and where Jace and Dazz were.
I couldn't tell if Spencer was miffed or relieved that his daughter was bouncing back quickly.
"She doesn't fully understand it..." I heard Beth whispering to Spencer. "She doesn't mean any harm."
Beth comforted Spencer in a way that I couldn't, in a way that only a mother-figure could, and I realised then how close they were and how much Beth meant to Spencer.
At that moment, I missed Diana. I missed her flippant humour and naughty jokes. She was always straight-talking and could see through any lies or charade.
I found myself staring off into the distance at the dining table as everyone around me ate, Spencer sleeping upstairs.
I went through the motions of doing Tilly's homework with her, of bathing her and putting her to bed.
Later, I sat downstairs with the others, staring off into the distance, completely oblivious as to what to do next.
Jason's men had boarded up the door and were hoping to fit another one tomorrow, but for now, it meant more security was needed in case of an easy break-in.
"You should sleep..." Beth said, lowering herself onto the sofa next to me, putting a caring hand on my knee.
My dad was nodding, approaching with some tea for Beth.
"I don't think I'd be able to sleep." I admitted with a sigh.
"You should at least try, Mel," My dad said carefully. "It's been an emotional day."
"I feel as though I've hardly done anything." I complained and he smiled.
"You shouldn't be moaning about that," Beth said, smiling too. "You need the rest."
"No, I don't," I said, shaking my head. "I need to be out there, doing things!"
Beth opened her mouth to answer, but not before the doorbell rang and heavy knocks sounded at the door.
Immediately, the television in the front room was switched off, and all of Jason's men appeared in the hallway, guns prepped.
"Do you want me to answer it?" Frank called, nodding for the door.
"I've got it." I said, all eyes on me as I got to my feet.
"Mel..." My dad mumbled worriedly as I pulled my own gun out of the back of my trousers and clicked off the safety.
Jason's men prepared themselves behind me in the hallway as I walked to the door, my heart thudding.
I swallowed and closed my eyes for a moment, my hand on the handle, shaking.
Suddenly, Hart's voice came back to me,
"We will explode one every day that you do not return to us. We need you, Melanie. You are our end-game."
I shivered and unlocked and un-bolted the door before cracking it open, the chain still on.
"Can I help you?" I asked, without showing my face to who was there.
"I'm Marty Finch," An Irish voice announced, shoving a tattooed hand into the small gap. "Darren Jones sent us."
The Father
The entire hallway breathed a sigh of relief and Melanie chuckled, waving Frank forward.
He identified Darren's men and Melanie let them all inside, leading them along the hallway to the kitchen where Beth and I were waiting with baited breath.
I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I know it wasn't anything like what these men were.
There were at least twenty men, all piling inside, all different shapes sizes and colours, completely taking Beth and I by surprise at how different they were to Jason's men.
Some were tattooed and hairy-biker looking, and then some were just plain - like complete bystanders off the street. But, surprisingly enough, a few were dressed in three-piece-suits and looked as though they'd just fallen out of the court-room.
"Well as you can see, Darren isn't here right now." Melanie said, putting her gun town onto the counter top as everyone gathered around, Jason's men piling into the kitchen too.
"I love what you've done with the place." A soft English voice came from a tall and slim man, one of the suits, as he looked around the room behind small eye-glasses.
"This belongs to you?" Melanie asked, surprised.
"Yes," He smiled, glancing at the boarded door-frame. "What on earth happened there?" He gasped and Melanie smirked, rubbing the back of her head.
"We received some dreadful news today," She sighed. "My mother-in-law has been killed," She said and a gasp rippled throughout the room. "Hence why Darren isn't here," She explained. "A chair got into a fight with the door when my husband heard the news." Melanie joked and the man chuckled.
"My darling I'm surprised the house is still standing after such a tragedy."
"Don't speak too soon." I mumbled as I walked to Melanie's side.
"You are aware of what's at stake here?" Melanie asked the room.
Everyone was nodding, looking serious and braced for impact.
"We're talking bombs, terrorism, president rallies, guns, fighting dirty... Are you all fully de-briefed?"
Everyone nodded and she sighed, peering up at me curiously.
"Will we wait for Darren?" Another one of the suits asked.
"Mainly because I haven't the foggiest why he invited you all here tonight," Melanie chuckled. "Yes, I think waiting for him is probably best."
The Rainbow
It was late when the team got back from the Sanitarium. Some of Darren and Jason's men went over to travel with Diana's body to the mortuary.
Spencer was still asleep, or else, grieving alone with Tilly, and the rest of us gathered in the large open-plan kitchen-diner which really didn't feel so large with everyone packed inside.
Darren and Jason came back and caught up with the new arrivals, whilst Jack spoke with the family and Beth and Peters retired to bed.
"I looked into all of the staff, residents, families and neighbourhoods of every person inside the sanitarium," I explained, all eyes on me as Melanie requested a thorough debriefing.
"The only thing that struck me as unusual was Gina, and her proximity to the neighbours with the relative who recently died. But we followed that connection, and that led us to Caitlyn. Aside from that, there are no other commonalities."
"What about the staff who were working when Diana died?" Darren asked, scratching his jaw.
"They all check out, no records, no links to the Cells, nothing unusual." I said.
"What about debts? Financial trouble? Anything that would point to them being encouraged to accept money?" One of the men asked.
"Oh..." I hadn't actually thought of that.
I began furiously typing on my laptop, and within a minute I had two members of staff.
"We have a nurse Lynette Hastings, and a Doctor Barrie Cummings. Barrie likes to gamble, and Lynette looks to have been in a relationship with someone who loved to spend, spend, spend!" I shook my head as I looked through the files, seeing credit card after credit card of unpaid bills, all in Lynette's name, of which she'd claimed no responsibility for.
"Lynette...?" Melanie mused, walking over to me whilst tapping her chin. "That's familiar..."
"She was my mom's nurse." Spencer blurted from the doorway, and we all turned to see him standing there, with dark circles beneath his eyes, his hair messy and wild, hidden beneath a thick cardigan and sweater.
"Oh yeah!" Melanie gushed. "The one with the crush on you when we started dating!" Melanie rushed over to peer at the laptop. "That's her, that's her!" She gushed, pointing at the screen.
Spencer moved over to look too, and nodded.
"It looks like she was in a nasty relationship," I said, scrolling through the police reports. "Apparently her ex is on the inside and has left her with all of the debt."
Melanie shook her head and Carter kissed her teeth from the sofa beside me.
"So are you saying the Cell used Lynette and Barrie to gain access to Diana?" Jackson asked, looking between Melanie and I.
"It's possible." Melanie nodded, peering up at Spencer.
"How are you?" I asked quietly and he looked at me, nodding slightly.
"I've been better," He said in a quiet voice. "I keep thinking I'm dreaming," He laughed without humour and rubbed at his unshaven jaw. "But I'm no use to anyone moping around," He sighed shakily. "So what's happening?"
"Here mate," Darren said, walking forward suddenly with a mug in his hands. "Sweet tea always helps," Spencer looked at him apprehensively as he approached, but accepted the tea and inclined his head in thanks. "Don't worry about this lot," Darren continued, nodding to his men dotted around the room.
"We'll be out of your hair soon, we're just here for the debrief."
"No, please, stay," Spencer said, his voice a little louder so everybody could hear. "I really appreciate you all being here," He nodded sincerely. "What you're all doing for us," He shook his head emotionally. "We could never thank you all enough."
Darren smiled and put a caring hand on Spencer's shoulder for a moment.
"Well we've already been to check out your mum's place," He said, moving away again. "There was nothing strange, everything seemed pretty chill," We did some interviews," He said, elbowing Jason roughly in the side.
"But everyone seemed kosher."
"Did you talk with Lynette and Barrie?" I asked, swivelling my laptop around to show them the screens.
"I didn't." Darren said, shaking his head.
"Nope, me neither." Jack said.
"Uh..." Jason approached and squinted at the screen.
"C'mon grandpa, get your glasses on." Darren joked, rolling his eyes.
"Piss off," Jason snapped, smacking him in the stomach. "No, I definitely didn't see either of them there."
"Well... where were they?" Jack asked, looking down at me.
I spun the laptop back and furiously began typing.
"It's Lynette's day off today and...." More typing. "Barrie called in sick this morning."
"Do you know where they are now?" Melanie asked desperately as Jason and Darren hurried for their coats.
"Lynette's cell is pinging at her apartment, and Barrie's GPS in his car is at his home too." I explained hurriedly, sending the locations to their cells.
"Be careful, Mel!" Hotch called as Melanie and Spencer pulled on their jackets and reached for their helmets.
"Not you." Hotch said fiercely, grabbing Jack by the back of his jacket and pulling him to a stop.
"What?!" Jack groaned. "But dad-"
"No," Melanie and Hotch said simultaneously. "We don't know what we're walking into." Mel said seriously.
"Emily and Morgan, you too." Spencer said, nodding.
The six of them hurried from the house and the rest of us sat, speechless and silent.
The Fighter
Darren followed Spencer and I on his own motorcycle, whilst Morgan rode with Emily on hers.
Darren, Spencer and I were going to Lynette's, whilst the others were visiting Barrie.
I had no idea what to expect. Was it just a coincidence that Lynette was Diana's nurse again? And when did she transfer? Did the Cell get to her and force her to transfer?
I had so many questions and not enough time to have them answered, and wondered what would happen when we got to the apartment.
From outside the apartment block, it appeared as though all of the lights were turned off inside the apartment, and so the three of us crept upstairs to the apartment, our guns in hand.
Darren took out his lock-picking tool-kit (don't ask), whilst Spencer and I kept guard, and a moment later, Darren turned the door-handle and the front door opened.
"It was unlocked." He whispered as he slid his kit away and went back to yielding his gun.
He gave me a concerned look and I sighed, stepping forward.
Immediately, Spencer threw an arm out and shook his head, stepping in front of me and entering the apartment first.
As the three of us crept inside, the sound of tape ripping off a role could be heard along with low murmurs.
The three of us crept silently towards the noise, and Spencer moved to take one side of the hallway whilst I took to the other.
We flattened ourselves against the walls, preparing ourselves, and a moment later, Spencer sprung inside the room, me right behind him.
"Get your hands where I can see them, stop what you're doing!" He yelled, and I pointed my gun on two figures before us, one male and one female, both standing on plastic sheeting which had been laid down on the floor, a wooden chair covered in blood laid on it's side, a suspicious looking body-figure wrapped in more plastic sheeting at their feet.
The pair shuddered and the female dropped the role of tape, shaking as she put her hands in the air.
"Drop your weapon!" The man yelled instead, brandishing a gun clumsily.
"Where's Lynette? What's going on?" I demanded, Darren on my other side, his gun trained on the pair too.
"Stop talking, lower your gun!" The man yelled again.
"We're FBI, you lower your gun!" Spencer demanded.
"You're not FBI, I know who you are, you're Melanie, we're after you. Drop your guns or I'll put a bullet in your fucking skull." The man said smugly.
Darren and I looked at each other and nodded, slowly lowering our guns to the floor.
"What're you doing...?" Spencer mumbled his gun still trained on the man in front of us.
A moment later, Darren had sat his gun on the ground and reached forward, snatching the edge of the plastic sheeting and gave it a good hard tug, surprising the pair as they stood on the other side of the sheeting.
Surprisingly, the man lost his balance slightly and hit his head off a shelf behind him, giving me enough time to lurch forward and smack the gun out of his hand.
"Not so fast." I hissed, grabbing the woman by her hair and yanking her to a stop.
She cried out but I held her tight to me as Spencer and Darren restrained the man.
"Is that Lynette?" Darren winced, looking down at the body wrapped in plastic.
"I'm guessing so." I breathed as I dragged the woman into the bedroom. I brought out my old pair of handcuffs and secured her to the radiator before helping Spencer and Darren tape the man to the bloody wooden chair.
"You can be serious in saying you're working for the Cell?" Darren scoffed, standing back and admiring our work as the man was tied securely to the chair.
"Fuck you." He spat.
Darren jolted towards the man, who flinched at the sudden movement, but Darren wasn't going anywhere. He laughed and shook his head, walking over to the window to light up a cigarette.
"What do we do now?" Spencer whispered to me and I shrugged. I had no clue.
Instead, I pulled out my cell-phone and dropped a text to Morgan.
"All we can do is interrogate." I shrugged, turning back to the man.
"Ask me anything you want, I won't talk." He said adamantly and I rolled my eyes, lifting my gun off the floor.
"Okay then," I shrugged, reaching into my pocket to pull out the silencer. "If you're not going to speak then we have no use for you." I shrugged, twirling it onto the end of my gun.
"Where the hell did you get that from?" Spencer asked, glaring at the silencer.
"Finder's keepers." I whispered, shrugging.
"Whoa here Mel," Darren said, puffing out a cloud of smoke. "I don't think killing the guy is a good idea. Why don't we just give him a good kickin' and send him home as a message?"
"A message of what? We're soft? We'll let your men go even if they fuck with us?" I scoffed.
"No, he's useless," I pointed the gun at the man's forehead and he squirmed, licking his lips nervously. "There's no point in wasting our time with pointless questions he's either going to avoid answering or lie about. We don't have time for it."
He shifted nervously and the tape squeaked against the wood.
"Mel, you're not a murderer." Spencer said worriedly, his eyes wide.
"I'm also not a terrorist, but I'd bomb these bastards in a heart-beat, Spence." I said seriously and he gulped, looking away from my eyes.
"At least let me do it," Darren said, waving at the gun and stepping forwards. "I'm already a murderer, I don't give a shit."
"And you think I do?" I scoffed, pressing the edge of the silencer to the man's temple. "This piece of shit just killed the only link we had to who killed Diana. I'm not going to let him get away with that."
"We did," The man whimpered. "We killed the lady in the home," He squeaked. "She was already dying, it was just an air bubble in the tube, it was nothing, we were doing her a favour." He said.
I turned to Spencer to see his eyes go wide with shock and abhorrence.
I smashed the side of my gun against the man's head and he cried out.
"Who ordered it?" I demanded, returning the gun to where it was before.
"Mel..." Spencer whimpered, floating a hand out as if to stop me.
"Who ordered you to kill her?" I said through my teeth as blood trickled down the side of the man's head.
I barely even registered the blood.
I barely even registered that he was breathing, or that he was human.
"It was higher up... I-I-I don't know who it came from." The man winced.
"Well then you're no good to us." I said, and pulled the trigger.
The Protector
The gun went off and we all jerked, the bullet travelling through the man's head, blood splattering everywhere.
Melanie wiped the gun and unscrewed the silencer, putting it back into her pocket and walking away as if nothing happened.
"What the fuck has gotten into her?" Darren hissed to me as Melanie left the room.
I turned to him, dazed, and was totally unable to answer the question.
He shook his head in awe and threw his cigarette butt out the window before hurrying after Melnaie.
In a daze, I did the same, and found her crouched beside the woman in the bedroom, hissing to her.
I didn't know what she was saying, I couldn't make out the words and I'm not even sure if I wanted to.
But, I didn't have to, as my phone began vibrating in my back pocket.
Hurrying out of the room, I answered it to the sound of sirens blaring and alarms howling.
"Spencer?" It was Aaron, shouting over the chaos.
"What's happened? What's going on?" I asked, pushing a finger into my other ear to try and focus on his voice.
"Barrie's house," Aaron said down the phone. "It was rigged to blow."
The Fighter
Darren's men drove over to Lynette's apartment. Two were tasked with cleaning up the apartment, two were tasked with disposing of the bodies, and two were tasked with taking the female back to the house.
Apparently, there was an excellent basement we hadn't been using.
Meanwhile, Spencer, Darren and I went to Barrie's house, where Jason, Emily and Morgan had been booby-trapped.
"What the fuck happened?" I demanded, rushing to Morgan who was sitting on the edge of an ambulance, a cool-pack to his head.
"I opened the front door and the whole thing just exploded." He said, wincing as the paramedic pressed the wound on his forehead.
"But none of you were badly hurt?" I asked, looking over to the house that was now completely destroyed. I shuddered as I realised that this is probably what our home looked like after the Cell had bombed it.
"Nah," Morgan said, shaking his head and batting the paramedic out of the way. "There's no hope for Barrie though."
"Melanie," My dad was hurrying over to me from one of the other ambulances and bundled me into his arms. "Thank goodness you're okay."
"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked, looking up at him with concern.
"I wasn't sure if the apartment would have been rigged, too." He explained, rubbing my arms.
"No, we got there just in time," I explained. "We found a man and a woman, the man is no longer an issue," I explained, looking away from my dad towards the fire-brigade evacuating the house that was still burning even now.
"The woman is currently being taken back to the house," I explained. "Apparently there's a basement we weren't aware of."
"I knew it!" Jason said as he and Emily approached us, both looking dirty, but unscathed.
"I knew there was a basement in that big house, there had to have been!" He smiled.
"Jesus you look like shit." Darren whistled, appraising his brother.
"Whereas you just look like that all the time." Jason quipped, smacking the back of Darren's head lightly.
"Have they found anything?" I asked Emily, nodding towards the firemen.
"One charred body," She explained sadly. "Everything else has been destroyed, Mel. Sorry."
I smiled and shook my head.
"There's no need to apologise. As long as we're all okay, that's all that matters."
*
We thanked the emergency services and headed back off for home, ensuring we weren't being followed before we rested up and entered.
There was an excited hum around the house as everyone was awake, nobody taking shift-patterns to sleep or do stakeouts.
"I'm so sorry!" Garcia gushed as we pushed inside the kitchen, shrugging out of our jackets. "I had no idea there'd be bombs!" She explained.
"It's okay," I smiled, walking to her to kiss her forehead. "There was no way of knowing," I argued. "And besides, we're all okay."
She hurriedly sat her laptop aside and rushed towards Morgan who was hobbling in after the others', a bandage on his forehead.
He'd been the one to open the front door, which had then propelled him several feet backwards, causing him to collide with Barrie's car, resulting in back-pain, leg pain, and a nasty forehead gash.
He took the brunt of the blast, as Emily and Jason were just dirty from smoke but otherwise unscathed.
"What have you found?" I asked Darren's men as I approached the counter where they were working on the contents they'd found in a car outside Lynette's apartment. A car we presumed had belonged to the Cell members who had killed her.
"A simple bomb," One of them began explaining. "Sounds similar to the one rigged at Barrie's," He explained. "Wired to the front door so that as soon as it's open, it acts as a pressure mechanism and boom," We jumped slightly.
"Sorry," He smiled cheekily. "It's pretty simple to make, straightforward, doesn't take a genius."
"Yeah, coming from the IRA man." Darren quipped, walking to fill the pot with some water.
"Hey, that was never proven!" The man exclaimed, pointing a screwdriver at Darren defensively.
"Anyway, nothing else," The other man sitting next to him explained. "There was nothing identifiable. No wallet, phone, keys, nothing else. Just this bomb in a bag. Otherwise, the car was totally clean."
"Forensics?" A third of Darren's men asked.
"Nothing." The second said sadly.
"Who's downstairs with her?" I asked, and everybody turned to me.
"She's alone." The second man mumbled as he realised nobody else was prepared to answer.
"Okay..." I smiled, rolling up my sleeves.
"Melanie..." Spencer mumbled, catching my elbow as I tried to walk away.
"She killed your mum, Spencer," I said without looking at him, yanking my elbow back. "Let me do this."
The Spy
I was the only one brave enough to follow after Melanie, and done so with apprehensiveness but calm, deciding that I was in no place to judge; not after everything Melanie had been through.
I closed and locked the basement door behind us, clicked forward several feet and then planted myself, folding my hands in front of me and staring straight ahead, as if I were a statue.
"We know you're a part of the Cell, and we know you were ordered to kill the woman in the Sanitarium. What I want to know is who told you to do it?" Melanie demanded, standing in front of the woman who was strapped to a chair.
"I don't know who she was, we never get to know their names, everything is really secretive."
"How long have you been working with them?"
"For about three years. I've only recently started doing things like that, they wouldn't trust me at first."
"Why were you instructed to kill Lynette?"
"She was a trace back to what we'd done at the Sanitarium. We couldn't risk it being traced back to the Cell."
A moment later Melanie reached forward and pummelled her fist into the woman's stomach, sending her flying backwards and landing roughly on her back on the chair.
I bit my lip to prevent from wincing and kept staring straight ahead.
"So you admit you had to kill the woman in the Sanitarium?"
"Yes," The woman wheezed. "We were told to send a message."
"To who?" Melanie sneered, gripping the woman by the front of her jacket and lifting her off the ground slightly.
"To you." The woman spat.
Melanie then dragged the woman upwards so she was sitting back upright on the chair.
She then walked away, rubbing at her forehead, clearly wondering what her next question was going to be.
I chewed on my lip and looked down at my feet, wondering if Melanie really had any idea what she was doing.
"Who do you work for?" She asked eventually, rounding on the woman with a spark in her eye as though she'd just realised something.
"What do you mean?" The woman coughed.
"Your day-to-day life? What do you do for a living?"
"I..." The woman looked away, unable to meet Melanie's eyes.
"Come on... What do you do?"
When the woman was silent, Melanie smacked the back of her hand out and whipped the woman's face.
"I'm a beat cop!" The woman cried, spitting blood onto the floor.
"I work for Alberta PD."
Melanie shook her head in disgust and lunged forward, gripping the woman by her jacket.
A moment later, she leapt back, as though she'd been electrocuted or hurt.
I took a step forward, wondering what was going on, but then Melanie just fled from the room, up the stairs and back into the kitchen.
I glanced at the woman again before hurrying after her.
"What happened? What was all that about?" I asked, my voice overlapping others' as they crowded around Melanie whilst she vomited into the kitchen sink.
Spencer was rubbing her back gently and glanced up at me with sad eyes, shaking his head.
I sighed and rubbed at my forehead.
"I'm going to catch some sleep," I said, done with the situation. "Call me if anything changes."
I received some strange expressions as I pushed out of the kitchen, a bitter taste in the back of my throat.
The Fighter
Flashes of me being burned and water-boarded, salt stinging in my wounds, struck me like a whip and I suddenly awoke to what I was doing.
I couldn't bare the thought of me replicating the torture that was inflicted onto me.
I suddenly had no idea what I was doing and felt as though I wasn't only out of my depths, I was completely and utterly lost at sea.
It was early morning and we knew Tilly would be awaking soon for school, so we all decided to rest up for a few hours and reconvene once Beth, Peters and Tilly had gone for the day.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Spencer whispered as we both sat on the edge of the bed, watching Tilly sleeping a few feet from us, looking so peaceful and angelic in her slumber.
"Not really," I whispered in return. "The images in my head would terrify you half to death."
"As long as that death is with you, I wouldn't mind." He mumbled, lacing our fingers together.
I turned and placed a cool hand on the side of his face.
"I love you, you know that, don't you?" I whispered emotionally, searching his sad and tired eyes.
"I love you more than you will ever know, Melly," He smiled in return, covering my hand with his own so that he could turn his face into my palm and kiss it lovingly.
His eyes fluttered closed and we sat like that for a few silent moments.
"What now?" He whispered, lowering our hands and looking at me worriedly.
"That's my fear..." I heaved a shaky breath. "I have no idea."
*
It was nice to spend some time with Tilly, getting her ready for school and feeding her breakfast as though it were just a normal day.
I waved her goodbye from the front window, and wondered what type of damage we were inflicting on her.
I mean, it was a thought, wasn't it?
You bring children into this world with all of the love and goodness of your heart. You spent months carrying them, each day a secret battle with your mind as you fear doing something to damage them inside of you.
You go through the agony of birthing them and bringing them into the world. You watch them grow, you feed and nurture them, love them unconditionally and try your best to provide them with the most loving environment to blossom.
But then you wonder. Are you doing enough?
The shifts you put in throughout your career, the education and childcare you have to supply to support your child whilst you're working... Is it worth it? Does it damage them? What is the impact of your actions?
You read about attachment styles and a child's psychosocial development and you wonder how much you impact them by the selfish decisions you make. Work, a career, a lifestyle, a routine... How much of that damages them?
Will they be able to love another person securely? Will they be able to trust?
"Hey, what you thinking?" Carter's voice came up behind me and I jumped slightly, breaking my reverie. "Sorry boss, didn't mean to startle you." She smiled.
"That's okay, I was in another land," I laughed. "Just worrying about matilda, that's all." I sighed, folding my arms tightly.
"She's a great kid," Carter smiled. "Really, you have nothing to worry about there."
"I know, I just worry about what we're doing here, you know, moving from safe house to safe house, having agents around her all of the time... I wonder how damaging that is for a child."
"You're doing what you can to protect her, boss," Carter smiled reassuringly. "She knows how much you love her and it's clear she's your top priority. Everything else is irrelevant."
She smiled at me again before walking off and I sighed. Maybe she was right. But it didn't budge the dreadful feeling I had in the pit of my stomach.
The Protector
I felt hollow, like a shell. Totally empty and cold and echoing and I had no idea how to fill the void or at least attempt to pick myself up.
I felt better after spending some time with Tilly and Melly, but neither of us could sleep, not really, not whilst all of this was going on.
Melanie was distant, lost in her thoughts, and everyone was waiting with baited breath on what our next move was going to be.
We had no idea what had happened to the woman in the basement. But, Jason and Darren had 'taken care of it', so chances were, she was at the bottom of the ocean or ashes on a burn pile.
I felt sick and disgusted by all of the death and crime around us, and I felt as though I couldn't escape it.
Whilst trying to stop the bad guys, we had become the bad guys, and I didn't know if that was in our bid to prevent crime, or in our bid to stay alive.
"I've been thinking..." Melanie began, addressing the room filled with 'troops'.
"Oh? Was that the noise." Darren joked but Melanie didn't even acknowledge it. Darren's face fell, clearly realising the weight of the situation when even Melanie wouldn't acknowledge his humour.
"We need to get ahead of this," She explained. "The Cell warned us that they'd set off a bomb for each day that I didn't return to them. And whether that's true, or whether the bomb at Barrie's was just a coincidence, I cannot take that risk-"
"Melanie!"
"No!"
"You can't!"
"They'll kill you!"
"Not again!"
"Please!" Melanie gushed, silencing all of our protests. "I'm not planning on returning to the Cell," She sighed, rubbing at her forehead. "I'm going public," She said. "I'm going to alert the media to what is going on and beg the president to ban all rallies."
There was a thick silence as we all processed Melanie's words.
"But... If you go public they'll want you in their protection." I whispered.
"And I'm within my rights to refuse. If I go public, I'll have a route planned for my escape, and I'll keep driving and driving until I shake the tails."
"What if they put a helicopter on you?" Darren asked.
"Then I'll go underground."
"What if they have bikes on you?" Jason prodded.
"Then I'll ride faster," She huffed.
"Listen. We're running out of options. They bombed London without MI5 stopping them. They bombed a fucking hospital here, they killed your mum," She said, throwing her hand in my direction.
"They're unstoppable. They've been ahead of us all of the way and it has to stop. The only way to do that - is to blow their cover.
Tell people that they're out there, unstoppable and invincible. Create mass panic - get everyone off the streets and away from the rallies.
Blow the roof off of the CIA and Interpol and really get everyone to sit up and realise that we are serious - the Cell is serious."
The Comforter
We sat on the edge of her bed, her roommate sat on the edge of her bed too, the three of us staring at the laptop screen whilst my hand shook in Naomi's.
"Good afternoon everyone," Melanie was calm and clear, her face made up perfectly with the smallest amount of makeup, a brand-new fitting suit adorning her body as she stared right into the cameras outside of Quantico.
"Thank you all for coming so quickly," She continued confidently. "I wanted to speak with you all today for a number of reasons," She explained. "Firstly, to confirm that I am alive," She smiled. "Fifteen months ago I was abducted from this very building, transported to England and held captive by the New York Terrorist Cell.
"Whilst Quantico and Virginia grieved for my death and the death of my fellow officers who died that day within the Behavioural Analysis Unit, I was being tortured by our enemies, who believed I had inside information of our Presidency. This of course, was false, and I unfortunately paid the price.
"With the help of an undercover agent, I was able to escape and return home to my family. That undercover agent has since been murdered, along with my mother-in-law, and many others. The Cell will not stop until they have reached their end goal - domination and ultimate control of POTUS.
"This is an urgent appeal to stay at home. We cannot give these terrorists what they so greatly desire - power and death. We must avoid attending any Presidential rallies, no matter how difficult that may be. And of course, I know what our enemies will say.
"Some of you may believe that this is a greater conspiracy to warp the election. I can wholeheartedly promise you that, that is not the case. The wounds on my body and the scars left behind by the Cell, are testimony to our fight and our dedication to this country in stopping those who are trying to destroy it.
"You may believe that my scars and wounds are fake, that I am just a hologram created by the government to trick you into thinking you have to stay at home and not participate in any rallies. That isn't the case. I am very much real, and I am begging you to stay at home and avoid public or crowded spaces.
"The Cell has infiltrated all levels of government, law enforcement and intelligence agencies. They have spies conspiring everywhere, and I beg you to be wary and avoid trusting those you do not know.
"This country has a fight on its hands to weed out the spies and repair our services to their once stupendous status. Please. Believe me."
Melanie inclined her head in thanks and turned to walk away, the reporters beginning to bellow questions at her as she left, our dad, Spencer and the rest of the legitimate team hurrying after her; everyone dressed smartly in suits.
"What the Hell..." Naomi's roommate whispered, turning the volume down.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, rubbing my thumb across the back of Naomi's hand. "I couldn't tell you anything."
"It's okay," She sniffed, wiping at a tear beneath her eyes. "I understand why, now." She looked at me and smiled sadly.
"You can't leave here," I said, reaching out to put a hand against her face. "College campuses are prime targets for the bombers," I explained. "They'll want to cause as many casualties as possible, and students are the best option."
She smiled sadly and nodded her head, looking down at her lap causing more tears to fall.
"If you both stay here," I said, looking back at her roommate who was watching us carefully.
"That's the only way I can guarantee your safety."
"That's your sister?" The girl asked, pointing to the screen.
I nodded and she kissed her teeth.
"Badass babe for putting herself out there like that."
I smiled and nodded my head.
"You have no idea."