Psychopathy

Chapter 30- Close To Heaven

Who was she?

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Reid sat in Garcia's office, gripping the tablet tightly, hands shaking with fear. It was the ninth of August, the day that the new livestream was supposed to start. But nobody knew if the livestream was even going to start. The last time Reid had seen Ciara, she told him she was giving up. None of them knew what had happened between then and now. For all they knew, the livestream wouldn't start because Ciara might no longer keep the Unsub accountable.

After everything that had happened in the last month, Reid wasn't sure he wanted to know what had become of Ciara. They thought they would get somewhere when they found Ciara's brother and sister, but everything they had learned led to another dead end. Hotch and Rossi had revealed that Ciara had made a deal with the Director, exchanging information and a favor for the chance to get into the FBI Academy and to have her information redacted. But what she had information on, the Director wouldn't tell them.

JJ had also revealed what Ty Byrne had to say, and none of them had known what to make of it. Ty had painted a rather unpleasant picture of Ciara, painting her as a violent problem child. Reid had wanted to ask Teresa about what her brother had said just to see if there was any truth in it. But so far, the two hadn't had a chance to meet. Every time Teresa had been free, the BAU had been on a case. And every time Reid had been free, Teresa had several children under her care. Reid had emailed the details of Ty's call to her, but Teresa had sent a very brief reply.

Ty is a liar. Never forget that.

Reid wasn't sure what to make of the statement. He had assumed Ty was a liar, or at least had a grave misunderstanding of who Ciara was, but why had Teresa's reply been so short? Why hadn't she felt the need to elaborate on what exactly he had been lying about, or what the truth really was? Reid was beginning to realize that Teresa had some secrets of her own, but what they were and how much relevance they carried, Reid couldn't be sure about.

"It's going to be okay," Akilah whispered to him. Reid nodded slowly, but he wasn't sure if he believed her. How could anything be okay? There were two possibilities of how the day was going to go. Either the livestream wouldn't start, and that would mean one of two things. Either the Unsub had killed Ciara after finally getting what he wanted, or he just didn't feel the need to put on the livestreams anymore. Either way, the livestream not starting would prove that they had lost Ciara forever.

On the other hand, if it did start, Reid would have to face what had become of Ciara. He would have to see what she had been doing in the last three months and face how far she had fallen. But, then again, if the livestream did start, they'd have a chance to bring her back. They'd have a chance to remind her what she had to fight for. The last time, it had just been Reid trying to remind her. But maybe if everyone was trying to remind her, it would go over better.

And everyone was there. The whole of the BAU was once again cramped in Garcia's office, trying to come up with a plan to help Ciara if the livestream came on. When Reid had finally told them of the devastating end to the last livestream, they had all banded together. Normally, it was only Reid, Akilah, and Garcia who attended to the livestreams. But this time, they'd all be watching, and they'd all try and get Ciara back.

Ping!

Reid looked down at the tablet, eyes wide. The livestream was starting. It was actually starting. Reid handed the tablet to Garcia, who propped it up in front of her computer so that everyone could watch. Garcia waited for a few seconds, giving everyone a chance to take a deep breath before she nervously hit the "accept" button. And there, standing in the middle of the room, was the Unsub. But Ciara was nowhere to be seen.