from eden - criminal minds

01- dark red

tw: child abuse, child marriages, mentions of death, guns, explosives

Season 4, Episode 3: minimal loss

Hey banks, it's your dad... just calling to say i love you and be safe. Give gracie a hug from me... bye

The line then went dead at the message's end and the faint essence of a smile broke free onto her face. Hearing her dad's voice brought the sense of home that she craved but not the one she dreaded; the sense of comfort without having the issues that come with it. Whenever he left voicemails, banks always felt terrible not answering his calls in the first place. She replayed the message a couple of times, to simply hear his voice. He had called her the night before while she had been asleep after a long day of paperwork at the Bureau.

She shoves her phone into her purse which had stayed on the passenger seat of her car for the duration of her drive to work and then grabbed the straps and began to exit her car. The parking garage was muggier than it had been all week and it suddenly took her back to her hometown for a moment.

Banks hated thinking about that place. The only good people she knew now that lived there were her father and her younger brother, Kai. She never wanted to go back and she knew her sister had promised herself that she would never step foot in that town again.

The woman shook the thought from her mind, taking the elevator up to the BAU and then quickly walking into the bullpen, finding her sister's desk still empty. Her sister, Gracie, had gotten back from an undercover job in Atlanta the night before and had told her that she would be coming in.

"Anyone seen Gracie?" Banks questioned, turning to Emily who sat near her at her own desk.

She takes a minute to look around the semi empty office and then back at Banks before shaking her head, "I didn't expect her to be coming in today... Didn't she get in late last night from Atlanta?" She asks in a confused voice and Banks nodded.

"She called me when she got back and told me that she would be in, but I would understand if she changed her mind..." She says as she drops her purse on her desk and then starts towards the breakroom where the coffee maker was.

Emily nodded as Banks walked away, returning to the file that previously had her attention. Banks grabbed a mug from the cabinet, waiting for the coffee to brew. Once she had gotten her coffee, she headed back for her desk, hearing Derek Morgan speaking behind her to someone, but she didn't turn around to look at who.

She takes a sip of the piping hot liquid in the ceramic mug before setting it down on the knitted coaster Garcia had made for her a couple months back. Once her coffee was situated she turned to see who Derek had been talking to and laid eyes on her sister who looked completely wiped out.

Before she could engage with her younger sister the rough voice that belonged to their boss- Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner- called out to Gracie asking her to make her way up to his office.

Gracie turned to look at Derek and Banks. "Did I do something wrong that I don't know anything about?" she asked.

Banks shrugged her shoulders, wanting to tease her baby sister after being away from her for a week and a half. "I'm sure you didn't do anything wrong. Hotch can't be mad at you anyway."

Her sister cocked her head at Banks. "Haha, so funny," she replied with a playful roll of the eyes as she turned to walk into Hotch's office.

"What do you think that's about?" Banks asked Derek, sipping her coffee again.