F I F T Y E I G H T

SPENCER STOOD SHELLSHOCKED, his mouth slightly parted and his wide eyes locked onto the dead body that laid at the end of his hallway.

He swallowed the hard lump that had formed in his throat, almost threatening to clench like he was suffocating. Blood was already seeping from the corpse and pooling around as if it hadn't been pumping through the veins of a stranger. The copper smell burned his nostril hairs.

However, it wasn't the dead body that shook him to his core. Spencer was used to sight and the smell.

It was the fact that Scout Wiley, an untrained and seemingly novice BAU agent that had only shot a gun once, was able to deliver a single kill shot.

The doctor bit down on his bottom lip, letting whatever emotion he had get washed away, and walked towards the body. There was always a possibility that perhaps she hadn't been as precise with the gun as he thought she did. But he stopped in his tracks a few feet away.

"Right between the eyes - not a even a centimeter off." Spencer whispered, shutting his eyes and pinching his brow.

He wouldn't even have to check for a pulse. The man was, without a doubt, dead.

When the bullet entered the skull, it struck perpendicular to the skull between the eyes. In addition to shock wave-caused concussion, the trajectory had completely caused structural disruption of the midbrain and brainstem, deep within the brain. A bullet hitting anywhere near a brain's reticular activating system will literally "put out the lights" and kill nearly instantly by shutting down breathing and effective cardiac activity.

Spencer shook his head in disgust as he walked back into his apartment, hitting himself on the temple with his hand, "Stop. Spouting. Fact. Dumbass."

He changed into his usual work ensemble and slipped on his bulletproof vest that had the FBI insignia on front. As he strapped on his pistol to his waist, his pulled out his cellphone.

"Hotch, we've got - something's going on." Spencer stuttered.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm at my apartment. Scout - she came over earlier to talk. Someone knocked on the door when I went to take a shower and she answered it. He said that there was an emergency and that he needed her. She kept rambling about how I needed to stay safe, to not get involved and -"

He paused, still not believing what had happened and how he directly experienced it. It still didn't feel real.

"Reid?"

"Sorry - uh, someone came out of the elevator when she was saying goodbye. He pulled out a gun and pointed it at me. Before he even pulled the trigger, Scout shot him in the head. Hotch, he's dead."

"Do you recognize him?"

Spencer pushed his hair out of his face, "No."

"Where's Scout?"

"She ran out with the other guy. She didn't say anything, she just - left."

Hotch shuffled on the other side of the line, as if he too was getting ready, "I'm on my way and sending forensics to get the body. And I'll call the team now. We'll find her, Reid."

Spencer nodded, forgetting the fact that his boss couldn't see him but not caring enough to realize it.

"I promise, Reid. We'll find Scout."

Xander gripped the steering wheel of his van tightly, almost losing whatever color he had in his hands. The tingling sensation from the lack blood streaming had passed and only left his fingers dangerously cold.

He wanted to only focus on the numb feeling, but the look on his niece's face said otherwise.

"Answer me, Xander!" Scout demanded, "Who the fuck are you talking about? Who took my mother?"

"My boss -"

"You already fucking said that! I want to know who this asshole is!"

The blonde male sneered, "I will if you stop interrupting me!"

She growled silently and crossed his arms over her chest, slumping into the passenger seat even further. It wasn't the fact that Harper was kidnapped that pushed her over the edge so much. It was that her duffel bag - her emergency bag - was laying at her feet.

It was an unspoken truth that if she ever needed to runaway or get lost, that that bag would have everything she needed to do so.

"Look," Xander exhaled sharply, "I'm sorry for yelling but - this isn't easy. Everything is going to become harder from now on and it's all my fault. I should have never dragged you into this. I should've done something. But I had no choice, he was going to kill you."

Scout bit her bottom lip to stop herself from screaming in frustration.

"Clarke, your dad, he's still alive. He faked his death and has been hiding all these years. He's the one who's been calling all the shots."

"You're lying."

Xander shook his head, "It would be nice if I was, kid. But I'm afraid I'm not.Your dad's still alive."

"No, that's not true cause then - cause then that would mean - he's your boss. The same man that hurt my mom and put her in a wheelchair. The same man that's been assigning me on his missions and risking my life. He would be the one that ratted my location to the BAU where Morgan almost caught me. And sent another assassin to kill me and Spencer."

Her uncle's frown tightened, signaling that he was well aware of the pain and disbelief she was going through.

"I know, I'm sorry."

Looking out the van window, Scout grit her teeth, "How?"

"What?"

"How did this all happen?"

"Clarke - he's always been the kind of man that was too angry at the world, always felt like he was unfairly dealt the life that he had. Your grandparents - our parents, they were killed when we were very young. It was a hit and run, probably a drunk driver but the police never dig too deep into it. Our parents were already dead and we were too young to fully know what was going on, so they never had any pressure to figure out what happened. So, the three of us went into the system -"

"Three?" She interrupted, "I thought it was only you and Dad, who's the third person?"

"That would've been your aunt, Amelia. Our younger sister."

"What - What happened to her?"

Xander pursed his lips and ignored her question, "While we were in the foster system, we had our fair share of - difficult houses. But, Clarke always tried to protect us, especially Amelia. I like to think it was because he was the oldest and felt like he had some responsibility over us. He made sure that we were never separated, that the three of us stayed together, which was nice but poor decision. It made sense to no one wanted to adopt three kids and Clarke never gave them a chance to even try. He would lash out at everyone, even me sometimes. Amelia was the only one who could calm him down."

"So when he came of age, he left and took us with him without telling. I only had another 2 years before I could but Amelia was 5 years young than Clarke and he didn't have the patience to wait. We didn't have any money so we stole everything we could until it wasn't enough. Clarke - he started becoming angrier and more fed up. Again, he felt like life was unfair and started to take out his anger on whatever injustice he saw. He killed the police that never solved our parents' death."

"You didn't try and stop him?"

"No, I helped him. Amelia did too. He motivated us, filled us with some lies and some truths - things I think I still believe to this day. Soon, we killed whoever got away with breaking the law, whoever the police would let slice out of their greasy little fingers. But soon enough the FBI got wind of us and I met an amazing woman."

"Mom."

"Yeah, Harper was the only woman I ever found intimidating and she scared the shit out of me. I wanted to settle down and become a better person for her. When I told Clarke this, he accused me of backing out because the FBI was closing in on us and abandoning our family. I said that I would help one last time and then I was out."

"And Amelia?"

"She was on Clarke's side. She always was. They were very close with each other, like he had brainwashed her into thinking the same way he did."

Xander glanced at his niece, taking in the sight of her and the pained look she had on while he talked.

"We lived in an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city and at one point when I was getting ready to leave, Clarke tipped the FBI on where we were. They came in and I instinctively grabbed Amelia so she was behind me. Clarke had two guns, one pointed at a FBI agent and the other on me. The agent shot at Clarke first because he had a weapon, but the recoil caused the other gun in his hand to pull the trigger."

"He shot her, didn't he? He shot Amelia."

The male nodded, "Yeah, he was aiming for me but killed her instead. I ran out while Clarke continued to shoot at the FBI but since he was already expecting them to come, he got away too."

"What about Amelia?"

"Her body was left for death. We couldn't get her without getting captured ourselves. I tried to get to Harper but Clarke got to her before I did. He told her everything that I've done, all the killings and the murders, and said that the FBI shot both me and Amelia. He told her I was dead. I didn't have anywhere I could go after that."

"So, you went to the Marines?"

"Yeah, I didn't know what to do or what to believe in anymore. I'm guessing that Clarke told Harp the truth at some point because she called me to come back after he faked his death."

"But why? Why did he have to fake his death? Why did he have to pretend he died of lung cancer? I remember what it was like before it happened. We - we were happy. Sure, Mom lost her ability to walk - which I'm just now realizing he's to blame - but still."

Xander hummed in agreement, "But where did he work, kid?"

"At - at the FBI, in the mailroom."

"He worked there to try and get revenge, to figure out who exactly was apart of the team that was there the night Amelia died. Which was working until the BAU rehired the same agent that shot him and caused the reaction that killed Amelia."

"Rehired? The BAU doesn't -" Scout frowned and glanced back at her uncle, the realization written all over her face.

"It was Rossi, wasn't it? He retired back in 1997 and came back to the BAU in 2007, the same year Dad faked his death."

Xander nodded, "He didn't want to risk getting recognized and not get his revenge like he always planned."

"It still doesn't make sense, why would he kidnap Mom? She's never done anything wrong."

"He wants to get to you. Clarke's been listening in on our conversations and overheard that you were going to tell your little boyfriend the truth. It wouldn't be long before they traced it back to him, you know?"

"But - he wouldn't hurt her, right?"

Straightening his back, Xander gripped the steering wheel tighter, "It wouldn't be the first time if he did."

Scout's face hardened at his response, realizing the gravity of the situation. She glanced out the window once more and noticed how the lights of the city were far gone and the openness of the outskirts was the only thing she could see.

"Where are we going?"

"To the old warehouse we used to live in. I have a gut feeling that Clarke is going to try and make things go in his favor this time around."

"I have a bad feeling about this," Scout confessed, pulling on the sleeves of Spencer's red cardigan that she took. "He's going to have the upper hand. He's got Mom. He could be trapping us for all we know."

Xander stared at her with a look of confusion as she pulled out her pistol and counted the bullets that she had.

"What?" Scout muttered.

"Nothing. Just - this is usually the moment when you'd look at me and ask, 'What are we going to do?'. I'm surprised you aren't."

The brunette shook her head, "No, I know what I'm going to do. I've been trained for these kinds of situations, remember?"

The male watched her slyly as he continued to drive. She looked so confident, so independent and strong, like she could do anything in the world. Her head was held high, she looked straight to where she was going, and it would appear she had made up her mind as to what was going to happen tonight.

"How much longer until we get there?"

The van turned onto a backroad made of dirt and the headlights clearly illuminated an old timber lodge looking building, which she could only assume to be the warehouse.

"Spoke too soon, didn't I?"

Xander sorrowfully nodded, putting the vehicle into park and turning off the engine. There was nothing around them for miles to come, which worked in their favor to have a clean getaway. But also didn't if things didn't go as Scout planned.

She tucked the pistol into the back waistband of her jeans and for good measure, strapped a hunting knife to her forearm and covered it with the cardigan.

"He'll be expecting us, we lose the advantage of surprise."

"Go park the van behind the warehouse."

The blonde frowned at his niece, "What? Why?"

"We need to make it look like this place is still abandoned, I don't want any unwelcome strangers to drop by. We get Mom and then we leave. After that, we'll - we'll figure something out."

"Still regretting your decision to tell the truth to that pretty boy of yours?" The male asked, after clearing his throat in a soft manner and looked to the brunette haired woman once more, after hearing her scoff.

"He's smart, I have no doubt that he's already figured it out on his own."

Xander shrugged and got back into the van, "Who knows? Love can make anyone really dumb. He never realized before. What makes now any different?"

"Uh," She cocked her eyebrow, "I shot and killed a man in front of him, with the kind of accurate precision that only sniper could manage."

"Yeah, there is that. But if you take that out of the equation then I'm sure he wouldn't."

Scout rolled her eyes and smirked as he drove the van towards the back of the warehouse. Walking towards the entrance, she pulled the pistol from her waistband and held it out in front of her. It was the same kind of motion that the BAU used when searching a new perimeter.

She kicked the door open, letting it swing back and forth before inching in, her eyes darting back and forth while scanning. The lighting was faint but still well enough that she could see the familiar figure that sat in the middle of the open room.

"Mom," Scout said in a gasp, jogging towards her but still having her gun out.

Harper Wiley sat limply with her eyes blindfolded and her mouth gagged, tied to a chair by her wrists and ankles. Scout pursed her lips as she tucked the gun back and reached for her mother.

With a sigh of relief, the pulse in Harper's wrist was still there but faint nonetheless. Finding her unconscious was far better than finding her dead. Scout started to tug at the fabric that gagged her mother, pulling it off as well as the blindfold.

Suddenly, whatever poorly dim lighting that surrounded the warehouse was taken over by a bright and artificial spotlight, pointed directly at her. Scout grimaced, standing back from Harper in surprise.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

She squinted as she turned back towards the entrance, seeing Xander fighting against being held tightly by a bulky looking man. Quickly, Scout reached her hand around for the gun in her waistband but was met with a forceful tug. She peered over her shoulder, already recognizing the voice that spoke to her and the hands that held her arm behind her back.

"And I wouldn't do that either, my little mockingbird."

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AUTHOR'S NOTE:
I apologize for my leave of absence, but I really just could not find the motivation to write Criminal Minds. All I've been doing this past month is watch Avatar: The Last Airbender, watch The Legend of Korra, and read Zuko fanfiction. Sooooo, it was justified, I think.

QUICK LIFE UPDATE;
• I'm in the process of moving right now
• I literally failed all my classes this semester cause of covid-19 and my adhd doesn't understand online classes
• say hi to my boyfriend if you're reading this cause he literally reads every chapter
• doing work for postmates since i can't work my retail job

a special thanks to readers who comment:
( i literally type out all your usernames by hand every chapter.
do i regret it? no.
is it tedious as hell? yes. )
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