She's Yours

Chap 31 "Leaving The BAU"

Alee's POV
"I tried and so did Gibbs," Dad sighed.
"When do I leave?" I asked.
"The end of the week," Dad sighed.
"What?" I asked.
"They wanted you to start tomorrow," Dad nodded.
"No, I can't," I replied. "I need to train someone."
"I'm taking your spot," Dad sighed. "But it's only temporary. We're not replacing you."
"No, Dad, you can't take this on yourself," I stated. "Your hands are full. You have Natalya, Genie, and Bryant."
"We'll figure it out," Dad walked up to me. "I'm hoping I can get you back." I sighed and nodded. Dad handed me a packet. "Strauss wanted you to fill this out."
"Exit interview," I sighed. "Are you kidding me?"
"She's big on procedure," Dad nodded. "Just be honest. I was hoping I could do something about this. Gibbs too. And I speak on behalf of the both of us and say I'm sorry we couldn't."
"I know," I nodded. I looked out the window at the team as they were sitting at their desks just talking. "How am I supposed to tell them I'm leaving when I don't want to go?"
"The brass is really, really good at taking power away," Dad sighed. "It makes them feel like they're in charge."
"That sounds like a profile," I replied.
"You're going to be much better off than any of us, you know that?" Dad asked, trying to lighten the mood. "I'll miss you here."
"Yeah," I sighed as Dad left the conference room and went to my office, which I know now that it's his again. I sat in the conference room and started filling out the packet. After I did, I walked out to the team with my packet. I sent them a slight smile. "Hmm."
"No," Prentiss stood up. Everyone else did as well. "No."
"Wait a minute," Morgan stated. "I thought Hotch and Gibbs was supposed to ---"
"It's above his pay grade," I sighed. "Gibbs' as well. Even Strauss'."
"They can't just take you away?" Reid responded.
"So, we do nothing?" Prentiss asked.
"It's done," I nodded.
"It can't be that simple," Morgan responded.
"It is," I replied.
"This job is hard enough," Morgan looked at me. "What are they trying to do, bury us?"
"You're too good," Prentiss slightly laughed. "That's the problem."
"It's true. You're on everybody's wish list," Rossi replied. "Our loss is somebody else's gain."
"They can't just take you away," Reid stated again.
"I'm sorry guys," I sighed. I walked to Garcia's tech hub and she was turning off her screens. "You're still here?"
"I figured you'd get to me eventually," Garcia nodded. "You're leaving?" I dropped my head and looked at her. "You could have told me. I would have done something. I would have made it impossible for them to let you go." I slightly smiled. "I would've put something in your file."
"It's not up to me," I stopped her. "Or Hotch, or Strauss, or Gibbs."
"Don't they understand that we're a family?" Garcia asked. "That that's why this works, is because we're a family. Do they even care?"
"I don't know," I crossed my arms.
"I can't believe...okay, no, that's ---" Garcia took a breath. "I'm supposed to say that this is a great opportunity, which it is." I nodded. "I don't know the way this place works without you. You're like the glue around here who's gonna make us feel safe."
"There's plenty of big, strong men around," I replied.
"See that, right there?" Garcia pointed. "Your total ignorance of how awesome you are is one of the 5,000 things I love about you."
"I'm still going to be around in the city, okay?" I assured. "More than normal, probably."
"Sure, and we'll make a plan," Garcia smiled. "Breakfast every Tuesday. And life gets in the way. And what if I only see you on birthdays and holidays?"
"I won't let that happen," I replied.
"Okay," Garcia nodded. "You better not, because I know where to find you."
"Yeah," I sighed. I looked at her and we both nodded. "Okay."
"You wanna walk out together?" Garcia asked.
"There's one more thing I need to do before I go," I replied. I gave her a hug. I gave her one last smile and left. I walked to Strauss' office and put the packet on her desk. ON my walk through the building, my memories at the BAU and with the team. I went home and Morgan was still sitting on the couch. "Morgan."
"So, this is it, huh?" Morgan asked. "Our life planned out at the BAU spirals out of control." I sat next to him. "Is this why you were so hesitant about a inter-office relationship?"
"Part of it," I sighed. "I'm thankful for my years spent with this family. For everything we shared, every chance we had to grow. I'll take the best of them with me and lead by their example wherever I go." Morgan held my hand. "A friend told me to be honest with you. So, here it goes." I looked at Morgan, directly in his eyes. "This isn't what I want, but I'll take the high road. Maybe it's because I look at everything as a lesson. Or because I don't want to walk around angry. Or maybe it's because I finally understand. There are things we don't want to happen, but have to accept." Morgan gave me hand a small squeeze. "Things we don't want to know but have to learn. And people we can't live without, but have to let go." Morgan let go of my hand and hugged me. "The team isn't changing much. Dad's taking over, temporarily. I'll be back."
"Alee, the team changed when you came around," Morgan let me go and looked at me. "And now they're changing now that you're leaving."
"It doesn't mean that our relationship has to," I replied. I gave him a kiss. "I love you and I always will. It's a nine to five job, I'm going to be home with Bryant and Natalya. I'll be able to drop her off at school." I looked at Morgan. "Look, I even have a babysitter."
"I hope you did a deep background check on them," Morgan replied.
"Garcia did," I smiled. "Tyra Fane, 23, graduated college with a child care major, record is squeaky clean." I looked at Morgan. "She can take care of Bryant and pick up the girls from school."
"Where's is Genie going to sleep?" Morgan asked.
"Well, with Dad working and she's supposedly under my care, we're looking for a family," I replied. "Seeing if she has any blood relatives around the states. As for right now, she's sleeping on a blow up in Natalya's room. As far as I know, they've become best friends."
"Her best friend just happened to be here aunt by marriage," Morgan sighed. "If they can't find a home for her, could we adopt her?"
"If we can't find one, we will," I nodded. "If she does have family out there, I'll get her a phone. She can text me every morning when she wakes up and every night before going to bed." I looked at Morgan. "An event like that, she's going to be living with it all her life and she can't sleep without talking to me. We, as agents, learn to block those out. She's young and she has to live with it without the training that we have." Morgan and I went up to our bedroom. I sat in front of the vanity mirror. I took off my contacts and put on my glasses. "Morgan, I want to be there for Genie, I really do. But if we take on another kid on top of the two that we already have, are we really going to have enough time for all three?"
"Yeah," Morgan replied as he kneeled down in front of me. "What is this with the glasses?"
"Morgan, I'm not near or far sighted," I replied. "I think I may be blind." I smiled. Morgan just looked that me. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Because, I think you gave your dad a game plan to make all this work," Morgan replied. He took off my glasses and put them on the dresser. "So, tell me. What's your plan?"
"Well, my dad is not taking over the team. He's going to be watching Natalya and Bryant while we go to work. You're taking over the BAU," I looked at Morgan. "JJ will be juggling the field and the media. She said she could handle it so I'm going to trust her with that." I smiled. "Genie's been gone for awhile. We found a family in LA. She texts us every morning and night. You know that."
"You have all this worked out," Morgan smiled. The next couple of months pass by. I decided to drop Morgan off at work. We went to my office which is basically now his office. "This is a new change."
"Yeah," I smiled. "It's been months." I looked at the calendar. "Bryant is now six months old." I looked out the window and saw Genie with an agent. "Hey, Morgan." I pointed as Morgan looked. She waved at us and Morgan left the office. "Wait, Morgan." We took her to a waiting room. "Okay."
"Genie, how did you get past airport security?" Morgan asked.
"I stayed real close to this family," Genie nodded. "Nobody asked. If they had, I would have said I was twelve, 'cause you can fly by yourself."
"This is not alright," Morgan replied. "You can't just run away like this." I sent a text to Garcia. "Alee, you wanna say anything?"
"But that house is awful," Genie replied, her eyes tearing up. "This older boy tries to watch me in the shower." She let a tear go. "Please."
"Hey, it's way early in LA," Garcia stated as she walked in. "I left a message with child protective services, but I haven't heard ---"
"You can't send me back there," Genie nodded.
"Genevieve, you're a missing child," I stated. "We have to let them know you're safe."
"I didn't know where else to go," Genie replied.
"I know," Morgan replied. She let a couple more tears go and Morgan wiped them away. "Listen, this is one of my very good friends, Penelope. She's going to look after you while I'm gone." She looked at Garcia and Garcia smiled and waved. "Genie." She looked at Morgan. "I'll come back as soon as I can."
"Come on, Genie," Garcia nodded.
"Go ahead," Morgan nodded. Garcia left with Genie. "Great."
"What are you gonna do?" I asked.
"I don't know," Morgan sighed. "Can you keep her at the house?"
"Morgan, I can't," I sighed. "Just take care of it. We gotta get her back to LA."
"I'll find a way to fix it," Morgan nodded. We went to his office and he picked up a file. He looked at it. "I'm going to Iowa."
"Well, I'll be here," I nodded. "Taking care of our kids." I sat down on the couch. "Morgan, as soon as Genie crossed state lines, it became a federal case."
"Oh, you're not making her a case, are you?" Morgan asked.
"Yes, I am, which is why it's okay for her to remain in federal custody," I nodded. "And the chances are great getting her transferred to Virginia. One of the child acts defines this as neglect. It's in her best interest that she be removed immediately."
"Well, that's good," Morgan replied. "That's great."
"Tell Garcia to tell her to keep her head up, alright?" I smiled. Morgan nodded. I gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I have to go." I walked out of Morgan's office and Genie ran up to me. "Genie."
"Sorry," Garcia walked up to us. "She's fast."
"You're part of the FBI," Genie replied. "Can't you do something."
"Genie, I'm not in the FBI, anymore," I replied as I got on my knee to look at her. "I don't work here anymore. I'm just here to drop Morgan off." I stood up. "Look, stay with Penelope. Derek and I will figure something out, okay? It's going to take some time but I have to go." Two days later, Morgan told me he was on his way home. It was that night and Garcia had managed to find her mom. I met Morgan at the BAU with Natalya and Bryant and we walked in together. "Do you think this is a good idea? She thinks her mom died."
"Her mom was a foster mom too," Morgan sighed. "This lady is the real deal."
We walked inside. "Agent Morgan?" the lady asked. "Agent Hotchner?"
"Ma'am," Morgan nodded. He put his bag down. Natalya got behind Morgan. I put Bryant's car seat down. "You weren't easy to find."
"I just got back to the states," she replied.
"So you didn't know about Matt?" Morgan asked.
"I had no idea," she nodded. She patted on Genie. "I'm so sorry."
"I got this," I sighed. I squat down and took out her earphones. I hit the pause button on her iPod. "Hey, you."
"Look, I get it," Morgan stated. "You and your ex-husband had your share of problems, so you separated. But how could you not be in Genie's life?"
"I tried," she replied. "Matt pushed me away. Said they were better without me."
"Were they?" Morgan asked.
"I wasn't happy," she nodded. "Matt and I...Genie use to walk around with the biggest frown." I looked at the Mom as I stood up. "And I thought I had done that to her. She's angry because that's how she sees me."
"So what are you saying?" I asked. "You're better now?"
"I've wondered if you'd like the places I've been," she looked at Genie. "If you still took ballet. If tulips are still your favorite." She got a book out of her bag and put it in front of Genie. She pushed it across the table, away from her. "Go ahead. Look at it."
I picked up the book and skimmed through it. "You wrote to her every day," I replied.
"So what?" Genie asked.
"Genie," Morgan stated.
"She wrote to me every day," Genie looked at us. "Who cares?"
"Genie," I sighed as I squat down. "This book means that your mom never stopped thinking about you."
"Genie, you know I lost my father the same way that you did," Morgan stated. Genie started tearing up again. "And it's really hard growing up without your dad." She let tears slip. "I miss my dad every day. But my mom, she means everything to me. I gave your dad my word that I would keep you safe." She leaned into me and I held her close. I wiped her tears away. "Genie, you have a chance to have a really good life with your mom. Just give it a try."
"Please," I replied as I held the book towards her. She looked through the book. "Genie."
"I remember that we used to read stories all together all the time," Genie smiled as she looked at her mom. I watch as they bonded. Morgan picked up Bryant's car seat. "Thank you."
"Your welcome," Morgan nodded.
"Natalya," I sighed. She walked up to me. "Give Genie a hug and promise to keep in touch." They did. Natalya walked up to me and I picked her up. "Genie, you can always call or text me when you need to."
"Who is Natalya to do?" the lady asked.
"Our daughter," I nodded. Morgan walked up to me. "And that's our son, Bryant, who's asleep."
"So you understand, separation," she nodded.
"We're not separated," I smiled. "We're married. We're coming up to three years of our marriage." I looked at the Mom. "Natalya's going to be nine in a couple months, and I'll be twenty five."
"Let's go, baby girl," Morgan stated.
"Thank you for coming," I smiled. We went home and got the kids to bed. We put Bryant in his crib. "I'm glad Garcia found her."
"Yeah," Morgan nodded as we got into our bed. "Are you going to miss her?"
"Of course I am," I nodded. "But we can't keep her from her real mom."