The Intern

The Truth Comes Out

       Monday morning I'm feeling good. Garcia, JJ, Tara, and I grabbed drinks this weekend to unwind. It was a good time definitely what we all needed. There was also a family dinner at Rossi's which Hotch, Morgan, and Elle all attended. While Spencer was teaching at the academy, he got in touch with Elle, and they've been together ever since. Derek brought Hank so everyone could see him. Hotch had arrived with Beth and Jack apparently her job assignment ended and they're back together. He was happy with her so I'm glad for him.

       Trying not to let the dread of work ruin my mood the day actually goes smoothly. All of our conversations are related nothing more. One smooth day turns into a smooth week. Things started off rocky but have gotten considerably better since being back. She does what I ask, gives me input, and is always on my side against the Director's little minion who thinks he's better than everyone else. She also defended me to the Director himself when Bailey tried to twist my words.

       The energy bleeds into the next week and then the several following. It's around the two-month mark of her internship that everything crashes and burns. One day she's late, I call her several times without an answer. All of the memories from those first couple of days come back and begin to worry. Without cause though I can't just go to her house. Sitting at my desk around two p.m. she quickly steps into my office. On her arm is a car seat. Jumping up I round the desk to help her as she looks terrified, stressed, and close to passing out.

       The baby in the seat is thankfully asleep so I can focus on her right now. "I-I can't stay with her anymore! She's insane and I refuse to let her hurt Nepenthes." Pacing my office, I tell her I need her to explain. "Diane Sherman... God I hate that woman she- she ruined my life!" Calling Garcia, I tell her I need to expedite a search on Diane Sherman. The one thing we never had was a last name so we could never find her until now.

       Telling me she'll bring it to me pronto the line goes dead. "I'm going to do everything I can I just need you to try to tell me what's she done to you." Slowly approaching her she stops moving when I get close. Choking back a sob in that moment she breaks down. Catching her in my arms I take us both to the floor holding her against me. "It's okay sweetheart I've got you." Trying to calm her down I want to put that woman under the state prison myself.

       Giving her time to cry it out a bit the baby coos and she instantly begins to try to pull it together. Checking over my shoulder it seems like the baby fell right back to sleep. "When I was sixteen and a sophomore my English teacher took maternity leave. For the entire second semester, Diane was the substitute. She had a 'daughter' Chloe who was a year older than me and preparing to graduate early. Chloe was in a wheelchair. She was worried about her being in public school but when we became quick friends Diane took a quick liking to me. Becoming friends with Chloe was the biggest mistake I ever made. Diane pushed for us to go from school friends to best friends. She'd invite me to her house to do homework and for dinner. My parents... they weren't good people. She never liked them and after I called her one night while my father was drunk, she tried to have me stay at her house all of the time. One day my parents found notes in my room. They were signed with a lipstick stain so they thought they were love notes from Chloe. By that point, she was the only person I was hanging out with. They kicked me out for being a 'dirty dyke' after beating me. That was the last time I ever saw them. That summer she convinced me they signed their rights away to her even showing me the documents. I didn't know then they were fake, and she had killed my parents. I didn't find out until much later. I was broken and she said she wanted to give us a fresh start once Chloe went away to college. Three weeks before any college started, she just disappeared. She never even said goodbye. Diane told me she was late accepted into a pre-college program, and they had to leave that morning, so she'd make it on time. I don't know how she killed her, but I know she dumped her body rolled in the rug from her cabin in a field not far from our neighborhood. I had seen the newspaper articles but by then we were long gone. The same year we moved she homeschooled me with I'm assuming forged documents she made. Things didn't start becoming sexual between us until after Chloe was gone. I started getting sick out of nowhere one day and was wheelchair-bound. She had been micro-dosing me with Ridocain which caused muscle paralysis. Diane is intersex... she got me pregnant for the first time when I was seventeen. Due to what she had done to me I miscarried." It's all so much worse than I could have ever imagined. "She broke down and told me the truth about everything she had done. She lost her daughter at birth; Chloe was never her child. She had taken her from the hospital and raised her as her own. At that point I was so trauma bonded to her all I wanted was for things to change." She was a child who had been manipulated and isolated. Being in love with Diane was how she was coping with what she was doing to her. It's textbook Stockholm's. "We start living like a 'normal' couple. I finished high school and went to physical therapy. She stopped drugging me and went back to having a job. She connected with some old friends and once I turned eighteen, we went to the police to clear my missing persons. It was after that I met Lucifer and the others. I began to realize there's more to life. I reconnected with my old friend and since people knew about me, she could no longer just disappear with me. I applied for college and once I was accepted, I began to fight back. There was now a line she couldn't cross, and we both knew it. Well at least I thought she wouldn't cross it Nowadays, I don't know anymore. She paid for my education, and I started saving back the money I made from the security jobs I did so I could leave. I think she caught on to what I was doing because she switched out my birth control. I didn't realize until it was too late. Nephy turned ten months last week. It was one thing when it was just me but it's not just me I have to think about anymore. Today was too much... she slapped me while I was holding her." She just said a whole lot and it's taking everything in me to stay composed.