SSA Scottley - A collection - S.R.

To bear witness

Episode: 9x04

"Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too was a gift" - Mary Oliver

That day, when Claire got off from the school bus, she didn't imagine her life would change so much. She stopped in front of her house's door and reached for the keys in her back pocket. As she unlocked the door and opened it, she stepped inside the house.

"Mom! I'm home!"

She climbed upstairs and threw her bad aside. She picked up her phone, but frowned when she got no response from Stacey.

"Mom? Where are you?" She called, as she went downstairs once more, turning right so she could get to the kitchen.

That was when she found them. Stacey and Ian were lying motionless on the kitchen's floor, their own blood spilling over their clothes. She let out a strangled sob and fell to her knees, crying.

"No, no, no..." She cried out. "Please, mom! Dad! Please, don't leave me..."

***

As soon as she finished presenting the case, there was a knock on the conference's room door. The whole team turned around just to see one of the secretaries standing there.

"I'm really sorry to interrupt." She said. "But there's someone on the phone for you, Agent Scottley. They say it is important."

"Who is it, Molly?" She asked.

"A deputy from San José."

At mention of the city Claire lived in, Lily's posture stiffened. Hotch, noticing the change in her behavior, nodded, as the woman placed the remote she was using down.

"Go ahead." He said. "We'll be waiting in the jet for you."

"Thanks." She smiled, as she left the room with Molly toward her desk, where the phone was off the hanger.

With a nod from the secretary, Lily picked up the phone.

"Agent Scottley." She answered.

"Good afternoon, Agent Scottley, this is Deputy Bryan Quill. I'm a deputy from San José's P.D." He introduced, as Lily nodded.

"Nice to meet you, Deputy. Do you have a case for us?" She asked.

"No, not really. See... Do you happen to know a Claire Todd?"

"Yes, I do." She answered, biting her lip. Did Claire get herself in trouble?

"What is the nature of your relationship with Ms. Todd?"

"She's my... She's my biological daughter."

"I see. Agent Scottley, I'm sorry to tell you this but the Todd's were found dead in their home earlier today. Ms. Todd found them once she came back from school and called the police. Since she has no relatives around, she's staying with the family of a friend of hers, but she asked me to call you as her responsible."

"They are... They are dead?" She asked, trying hard not to cry, especially because she was in the middle of her working place and Molly was already sending her looks of pity. By now, she should be used to it, really.

"I'm really sorry, Agent."

"But... But Claire..."

"Ms. Todd is alright." The deputy assured. "She just wants to know if you will be able to make it here."

"Yes." She answered without blinking. "Tell her I'll be there in a few hours."

Before Bryan could say anything else, Lily hung up the phone and ran to her office to grab her to-go bag, only to be met with a note of Spencer's telling her he had already taken it and they were waiting for her. In other circumstances that would've make her smiled, but right now, all she cared about was getting in the jet so she could talk to Hotch.