Ineffable - S.REID

20

・゜゜・．A MONTH LATER .・゜゜・

"Clara, turn on the news," Toblerone instructed gently during their breakfast one morning, almost five weeks after the turn of events that led to their relocation. Clara hadn't had any physical lasting effects of the event, thankfully, but he could tell that change had been made within her mind that would take a lot of work to alter or even attempt to fix. He tried to get her to talk about it but never ended up getting very far as she would just shut down and refuse to answer any questions, not wanting to relive the terror.

"Why?" she frowned, bewildered as to why he would let her do the one thing she had wanted to do for eight months but was never able to since it went against the rules of her type of witness protection. No contact with the outside world meant no contact with any occurrences within that world, just incase she saw something that would lead to great negative effects.

"Come on, for once let's not question everything I say," Toblerone responded, shaking his head jokingly. Clara chuckled softly then did so, having to switch from the DVD channel to the regular tv shows. Her jaw slacked slightly as Hotch appeared on the screen, giving information about a case. Her case. In the background by the steps into the FBI unit, she could see a blurred figure being taken into custody by Rossi.

"Oh my god," she whispered as Hotch gave the news that they had caught the person that was trying to kill her. She was free, finally they were done with this form of torture. "Holy shit," she muttered as the news switched to some piece on animals that she paid absolutely no attention towards. Instead she turned to Toblerone, grinning as she asked, "Can you drive me to the BAU?"

-

She called her family and talked to her Ma for the entire car ride to the BAU, promising to ring her later in the evening with extra details. Clara practically ran through the FBI building and towards the elevators. She found the majority of her friends in the round table room with various pieces of paper in front of them. She tried to ignore the state of the room, how it was covered in papers and posits that all surrounded her case with her original drawings and map still pieced up on the board. She greeted them all with huge hugs and words of appreciation, not quite able to believe that she was back with the people that made her feel the safest. All but for JJ, Spencer and Garcia. She soon found out that JJ had given birth a few weeks ago so was at home with a newborn, eight months was a long time after all. A brief sadness shook the joy from her shoulders, she must have missed so much if a child could have been grown and birthed in the time she was away. Clara eventually left the group, after seeing many pictures of JJ with her baby and a rather tearful phone call (on both ends) and went in search of Garcia.

She knew the location of her best friend without even having to check, it was of course her cave and safe space. She figured that Garcia was probably knee deep in her own paperwork but also watching cat videos or something similar as she always did. She smiled brightly as she knocked on the door. "Come in!" the sunniest of voices responded and she let the door creak open.

"Hey Pen," Clara spoke as she opened the door, all attention focused towards the woman who gasped and turned in her chair at the voice behind her. She did not notice the man sitting in the shadows, nor did she notice how he froze as she rushed over to Penelope and fell into the most comforting of hugs. Garcia squeezed Clara so tightly as tears of relief slipped down her face. She did not like the look in her friends eyes, the pain behind them but she could not help but be extremely glad that she was okay. Garcia whispered something that made Clara laugh as they broke the hug but her laughters stopped the instant the man in the shadows stood. He swallowed nervously and she watched his adams apple bop in his throat, unable to look in his eyes just yet. He looked different from the last time she had seen him, not just because of the stick he leant on but just in general. He looked more... He looked more as if he was wearing his clothes and they weren't wearing him.