February Night

Chapter 20

"Lucy? Oh, my god, it's three in the morning", Luke groaned after Lucy had stormed into his bedroom and woken him up. He was everything but pleasured by that disruption. But Lucy didn't listen. She was way too excited.

"I know how we could prove that I'm telling the truth!", she exclaimed and let herself fall on the edge of Luke's bed. He sat up now, rubbing his eyes and then looked at his sister frowning.

"Oookay...tell me", he demanded and a slight smile had now found its way on his lips. Lucy took a deep breath. Her heart was racing in her chest. The thought had come to her out of the blue and she didn't even know if it would work, but...it was a chance. The only chance. She pushed a strand of her dark hair behind her ear before she finally started to speak.

"When I came to D.C., I also brought a plastic bag with the clothes I wore that night. I...I barely remember getting home and putting my clothes into a bag just in case...but they are there. And...maybe there's something on them that could prove that I k-killed that man in self-defense?" Lucy could see Luke's eyes widen at her words.

"That's a good idea! A really good one!", he then said excitedly before he pulled Lucy into a hug. "Let's get those clothes and then we'll drive to the bureau tomorrow morning", he suggested and Lucy nodded. It had been clear to her that Luke's team will be informed about what had happened back in New York City and she was okay with that. She couldn't go back anymore, once she had told her brother. She could just hope that it had been the right thing to do.

~

After the night – in which Lucy had finally gotten some hours of proper sleep – she and Luke had hurried to grab the plastic bag in her apartment and then drove to the BAU. The rest of the team was already there and Luke explained them Lucy's case straightforwardly. There was no time to lose, everyone knew that, although they couldn't hide that they were shocked by what had happened. But they had to find the guy that was still walking around D.C. and was a threat to Lucy and possibly to others as well.

Eyes laid on Lucy after Luke had finished. With slightly shaking hands she rummaged for the plastic bag and held it up. "Maybe...this can prove what happened", she quietly said and did her best to not let her voice shake as well. She was nervous. What if the team didn't believe her? It wasn't enough if just Luke and Spencer believed her. But with a slight smile, JJ took the bag from Lucy's hand.

"We'll let your clothes being checked. Maybe the labor will find something we can use. Don't worry, we got your back." JJ squeezed Lucy's shoulder before she walked away. Lucy let out a sigh of relief.

"How long will this take until we've got results?", she asked, looking from her brother to Spencer. The genius boy would know that for sure. "Might take one or two days. It depends on if there's enough DNA on your clothes." He gave her an encouraging smile and Lucy smiled back. Well, she didn't have any other choice than waiting then.

Nervousness crawled up her body one day later. Lucy hated it to wait and she was afraid that the labor wouldn't find any DNA that could help the FBI or police to find the man who was threatening her. She hadn't found any sleep the night before because it drove her crazy to wait for any results. What if she'd end up in prison for what she had done? What if the BAU and the labor couldn't do anything to prove her words? Those thoughts kept returning, no matter how much she tried to get rid of them. Biting her nails and whipping up and down with her right leg, she was sitting on the couch in one of the rooms at the bureau. The team had disappeared in one of the other rooms to discuss Lucy's case just right after she had arrived at the BAU. And Lucy felt everything but good right now. What if they couldn't help her? She bit her bottom lip and then stood up. She would go insane if she'd keep sitting around.