"I can't believe we went a whole six months without me knowing you you got suspended from school."
"A girl's gotta keep something to herself." Lia shot back with a laugh. "Plus it's not quite been six months yet."
"That might be the most like your brother you've ever sounded." Derek commented.
Lia simply raised her eyebrow as if to say 'you bet?' and took a sip of her drink. "You can take the girl out of New Orleans but you can't take the New Orleans out of the girl."
"I don't like it." Derek grimaced.
"Hey!" Lia said, reaching across her dining room table to smack his arm. "I did speak like that for the majority of my life!"
"Sorry, I'm just not used to it!" Derek laughed.
His laughter was cut off by the all too familiar ding of his phone.
"I'm so sorry." He said, his brain barely having time to process the text from Garcia before he apologised.
"It's okay, go save some live's. I'll still be here when you get back."
"I'm gonna call you as often as I can okay?" Derek said, pressing a kiss to her forehead as he read the text.
"Why? Is everything okay?" Lia asked, instantly fearing the worst, someone they knew was in danger.
"Arsonist in New Orleans." Derek said reluctantly. Lia froze for a second, her eyes glazing over as she built her protective walls up. "You've got your brother and I'll ask Garcia to check in every so often so you know we're all good."
"Just stay safe okay?" She said, standing up from her seat to wrap her arms around his torso, the sound of his heart beat and the rise and fall of his chest reassuring her that right now, everything was okay. "And make sure someone's always with JJ."
----------
"I have ran background checks on all the first responders from the first three fires and other than a few drunk and disorderly's and one or two dropped assault's, there's nothing that stands out." Garcia informed the team once the jet had hit the sky.
"First responder's often use their position to make charges disappear." Reid commented.
"He's right Garcia, dig a bit deeper." Hotch ordered.
"Yes boss!" Garcia jokingly saluted.
"Which firehouses responded?" JJ asked.
"The 136 responded to the first and last and the 153 responded to the second." Garcia read.
"Let me guess, at least one of the D&D's and assaults was for a firefighter Justin Richards at the 136." JJ said, looking up from the file in her hand and refusing to meet Morgan's eyes.
"You know him?" Prentiss asked.
"He's Lia's ex." Derek answered for the blonde agent.
"You think it's possible he did this?" Hotch asked. The whole team knew about Lia's past, some significantly more than others but this question didn't shock them as much as it probably should've.
"I doubt it. He was an egotistical, sociopathic, control freak; fire wouldn't give him the control he needs." JJ said.
The team continued discussing the case for a while longer before Garcia left to dig deeper into the background of all first responders but mainly Justin Richards. Eventually, it was just JJ, Morgan and Hotch left around the laptop as everyone else had moved away to do their own thing.
"Are you two going to be okay working this case?" Hotch asked.
"I'm all good." Derek said, inside he knew if he was in the same room as Justin someone might have to hold him back despite not currently knowing what he looks like.
"I'm okay to work the case, I'd just prefer to not have to see him."
"You two can take the second scene then, if either of you need to step out at any point, I can guarantee there will be no repercussions."
----------
That night, Lia couldn't even remember falling asleep just tossing and turning for hours upon hours.
But she must've eventually as the memories began to crowd her subconscious.
"Why isn't breakfast ready?"
"I overslept, it'll only be a few more minutes."
She heard his heavy footsteps get closer then she felt his hand tangle in her ponytail and pull her head back. "That's not good enough." He hissed, grabbing the knife that she had been using to cut the mushrooms and holding it to her neck.
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry's not going to change anything!" Justin shouted, lowering the knife to her stomach. "Sorry's not going to make you a better housewife."
Lia instinctively hissed in pain as the knife cut through her shirt and her skin.
"I would apologise for that, but it doesn't matter. It's not like anyone else is ever going to want you anyway."
Lia jolted awake, her hand tracing the lines on her toned stomach through Derek's t-shirt. The tears were rolling down her cheeks and her skin was coated in sweat.
It took her a few minutes to regain her senses but once she did she reached for her phone and hovered over the call button before turning the device off and putting it back on her bedside table.
Instead of calling Derek, she had a quick shower and at 5am she was out of the door and on her way to the gym, wanting to get on a treadmill and run until her legs ached.
----------
"Hi, I'm Agent Jareau and this is Agent Morgan." JJ said, holding her hand out for the detective to shake.
"It's nice to meet you Agent's, I'm Detective Callahan." He said, beginning to lead them towards the ignition point. "You guys came down here for the Jones' case right?" Once he got a nod in response he continued. "Detective LaMontagne moved to D.C. a few years after that otherwise you probably would be dealing with him again."
"Is this the point of ignition?" Morgan asked before JJ burst out laughing.
"Yep, I was first on scene after the firefighters obviously and we took photo's of the crowd like you guys recommend." Callahan rambled.
"Can you send them to our technical analyst at Quantico so she can run them through facial recognition?" JJ asked.
"I'll give her a call, let her know they're coming." Derek said, leaving JJ with Callahan.
"Office of Unfettered Omniscience. Penelope Garcia is in. Speak, oh fortunate one."
"We're having some photo's from the second scene sent your way, can you run them through facial recognition and look for anyone who stands out?" Morgan asked.
"I can do anything you wish, well not everything... and theres a few things I probably shouldn't do now you've got Miss Lia."
"Speaking of Lia, can you check up on her if we get busy? She's worried about JJ running into her ex."
"Any excuse to talk to your beautiful southern belle is one I will gladly take."
"Thanks Baby Girl." Derek said, putting his phone back into his pocket as JJ walked over. "Everything good with Will's buddy."
"He wouldn't stop going on about him." JJ laughed. "Mentioned Lia a few times too."
"Any good stories?" Derek asked.
"Just about how she used to walk around the precinct like she owned the place but no one complained because she would cook for them sometimes." JJ explained.
"I can see her doing that."
YOU ARE READING
A Little Too Much | CM
Fanfiction*UPDATED 18/05/23* Amelia LaMontagne was born and raised in New Orleans alongside her older brother Will by their single father after the death of their mother. Will became a detective and fell in love with a federal agent. Lia became a teacher and...
