Escaping to the Genius

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Even with an underaged girl around, the women on the team had a bit too much to drink.

Celeste was glad that they weren't too strange when they were drunk, instead just laughing and dancing a lot. The next morning was interesting though, since they had work.

Like the Thursday before, Celeste went to the office to take her class, but this time it was in the afternoon, so she attended the briefing.

Spencer didn't want her to listen in, but she said that she would one day be on an FBI team like him, and she didn't have anything else to do, so why not?

Spencer pulled out a seat and sat down. "I want you to close your eyes when the photos start coming up."

She sat behind him, in reference to where the screen was. "Uncle Spencer-"

"You may be here one day, but for now, you're still a kid, okay?"

Seeing the concern for her in his eyes, she nodded. "Okay."

Everyone else seemed to file in at once, probably having been called in from their desks, Celeste thought. Hotch stood at the front of the room for a moment, looking between Spencer and Celeste.

Finally he sat, and JJ stood up, pulling up a picture of a young girl. "Tracy Wess, twenty-two year old college student at home for the weekend. She went missing five days ago; police found her body dumped in the middle of the street. Apart from sexual assault and cause of death, there was no bodily trauma."

"If there's only been one victim, why are the police calling us?" Rossi asked.

"They think that this is an anomaly. In the past few weeks, almost ten girls have reported sexual assault and attempted kidnap. Most of them won't say anymore than that, but local police thinks it's the same UnSub."

Spencer looked back at Celeste, who had narrowed eyes and was looking at the table, deep in thought.

"Who are the rape victims?" Spencer asked.

"There are several, but we don't have files on all of them because they called into the station anonymously. The last victim was twenty-five-year-old Elli Richards; she came into the station yesterday and won't leave. She's refusing to see her fiancé or the male officers. The chief thinks she knows something that she isn't saying. He wants us to come down and interview her, and try to find who's raping these women."

Hotch nodded. "Wheels up in twenty."

As everyone started to leave again, Celeste looked up and grabbed her uncle's arm. "Can I come?"

"What?" He looked appalled. "Celeste-"

"Just to help Elli. I'll stay back at the hotel or something for the rest of the time. But I know how to help her."

"I'm sure JJ or Prentiss does too." He looked confused. Why would she want to go?

She shook her head. "Not like I do. Please, Uncle Spencer. They can try, but then I can be there just in case."

For a long moment he stared at her. "Sweetheart, I know you want to help, but-"

"Please." She almost clasped her hands together to beg. "Uncle Spencer, please. Trust me on this. She isn't going to talk to them."

After another few minutes of silence, Spencer slowly nodded. "Okay. Stay close to me though, okay? And if you see Strauss, hide. She'd never let you come."

She nodded immediately. "I will."

"I'll tell Hotch and we can run back to the apartment for you to pack a bag."

~

When Celeste got on the jet behind Spencer, silence fell. Even Garcia, in the screen behind them, was silent. It made Celeste self-conscious.

"She can help us," Hotch said. "She's more qualified for this than some of our agents."

"She's sixteen!" Prentiss exclaimed. "Reid, she's just a kid!"

Spencer quickly came to her defense. "A kid who has three degrees-"

"Four," she interjected.

"Four degrees, and is now working on getting one for criminal justice. Field work isn't that far ahead of her, and I'd rather have her with me working a case that doesn't involve teenage girls as her first case than have her alone." Then he paused and turned back to her. "Four degrees?"

She nodded. "On the ride back to the apartment and on our way here, I took the final exam. It was easy."

He smiled and hugged her. "That's fantastic, Celeste!"

She was surprised. "Really?"

JJ smiled, laughing a bit. "Celeste, you took a final exam in a twenty minute car ride."

Gesturing silently, Garcia directed everyone's attention to Spencer. He was smiling proudly down at Celeste-the girl who was his daughter in his heart. He couldn't imagine anyone not being proud of her.