Tangled Up in You (The Story of Us Book 2)

Chapter 23- Ben's Believers

Amanda had always been really close to her friends. She never became friends with someone she didn't feel a connection with so it was easy to always want to hang out with them. She spent time with Derek working out together, she talked computer code with Garcia who was beginning to be better than Amanda would ever be due to her finding computer coding and hacking interesting, she spent hours talking to JJ more now than ever since she's pregnant. But Emily was different. Emily knew what Amanda had gone through with her work at the CIA.

Of course, she didn't know that Amanda was basically a government assassin because that was classified but she did understand the toll a job like that takes on a person. Emily felt like she lost a part of herself in the Ian Doyle case and Amanda can't help but wonder sometimes if her ability to not feel guilty for killing people because they were drug dealers or mob associates makes her just as bad as an unsub or maybe even worse.

This is why the two of them make a point to get coffee together at least once a week which is where the two currently are now. "Why send in you and Reid, though?" Amanda can't help but wonder. "I mean I think that sending in two women would be more effective in talking to young girls that may be being molested by their cult leader."

Emily shrugs, taking a bite out of her banana nut muffin. "I think that Hotch wanted to send JJ with me but she's pregnant."

"So Reid is our replacement JJ?" Amanda asks in confusion and Emily laughs at the look on her face before Amanda shakes off the confusion. "I hate cults. I don't even know why Aaron's sending you in. All that's going to happen is the girls are going to A) lie so as not to betray their messiah, aka their cult leader, or B) make up some reason that none of us will be able to understand how they are using it to justify his actions to make what he's doing okay. You won't actually be able to do anything because there are channels that you'll have to go through and it will all get caught in the red tape."

"The girls might admit it. Someone called," she points out and Amanda gives her a look.

"Right, but it's easy to go against the crowd when no one knows you're going against them but no one will say anything once you're there because if they go against the cult, the cult will retaliate. Besides, most cults work because the members are brainwashed in one way or another. Don't get me wrong, I wish you both the best of luck because it's sick what he's doing to them but I just don't think you're going to be able to do anything. It's just how anything involving cults goes. Until somebody gets killed, we can't touch them."

Emily frowns, knowing that Amanda has a point before finally finishing her muffin as the two girls stand and head to their cars to go to work. As soon as they get there, Emily goes to meet with Reid and the children's service worker to make their way to the airport to head to Colorado. Amanda, however, heads to her office, ignoring the fact that Aaron is also there at the ungodly time of 4:30 in the morning because she's still pissed.

Frank's funeral had been two days prior to this one and Kristen wasn't doing so well. Despite that fact, both she and Kelsey had told Amanda that she couldn't put her job on hold for them and that they would be there for each other. The two women had always been close, almost as close as Amanda and her mom, so Amy trusted that they would be okay. As much as she hated to admit it, no matter how boring paperwork was, with the load a unit chief got, it was easy to get lost in it.

This is why Amanda is so shocked when she hears Morgan screech, "Hotch!" From the bullpen. Both Hotchners leave their offices to see the headline on the news. The Colorado State police sanctioned a raid on the compound where the cult is housed, leaving Reid and Prentiss inside. As soon as the team gets the news, they head to the jet and get over to Colorado and help out.

On the plane, they learn from JJ that she had the ATF call the state police and they lied and said there were no outstanding warrants on the cult because the attorney general of the state was planning to run for governor and thought the ATF was going to steal his big gun bust he planned for the cult, leaving Amanda livid. Not to say that Hotch was much calmer. Both of them hated politics more than anything and this man was willing to risk people's lives just so he could further his own career.