One True Father Figure

Chap 22 "Wedding Postponed"

Natalya's POV
It was finally the day of my wedding. I was in the bride's room with Caitlyn as she stood up. "Caitlyn," I sighed as I looked at her. She looked at me. "Thank you."
"What for?" Caitlyn asked.
"Standing up with me," I nodded.
"Girl, you got four other girls in the other room standing up with you too," Caitlyn smiled. "You got Iris, JJ, Penelope, and Kara."
"Right," I smiled. Dad walked into the room. "Hey Dad. Is it time?"
"Yeah," Dad smiled. "Let's go."
"I'll go get in place," Caitlyn smiled. "You'll do great."
"Thanks," I smiled. Dad held out his arm. "Seriously?"
"Come on," Dad nodded. I held onto Dad's arm as I grabbed the bouquet of red roses. We walked to the doors. "You know, your mom and I didn't have a reception."
"And we aren't either," I sighed. "With me being and agent and with Barry being an agent and Flash, it'll be too much of a hassle trying to deal with a reception."
"Well, we only had the agent part to worry about," Dad replied.
"It's kind of a given," I replied. The doors opened. Dad started walking me down the aisle. Phone's started going off. Mine started vibrating in the strap that I had on my right calf. Dad stopped and I sighed. I dropped my arms to my side and sighed. "I'm seriously not enjoying this." I bent down and got my phone from my calf. I stood up and every agent in the room was looking at their phone. I looked at mine and groaned. "The wedding is postponed, everyone." Everyone started murmuring. "Sorry. I'll meet the team at headquarters." No one moved. "BAU, let's take the limo." I handed my bouquet to Dad. "You know what to do, Dad. Let's go, team." We got into the limo and we went to the conference room. "Okay, what's the debrief?"
"Before we start," Prentiss walked in, "Natalya, can I speak with you?"
"Yeah," I nodded. We walked outside of the conference room and I closed the door. "What's up, Emily?"
"Garcia gave me her resignation letter," Prentiss sighed. "If Reid dies, she quits."
"It's not going to come to that," I replied. "She won't have to resign or quit. We're going to get him out."
"Well, go bring him home," Prentiss smiled as she took the skirt off my dress to reveal the white pants I was wearing under the dress. "Go, I'll hold off the team as much as I can."
"Luke goes with me," I nodded. Prentiss nodded. We walked back into the conference room. "Luke Alvez, let's go." We got into the SUV and I drove us to the correctional facility. "We get to bring Reid home." We walked inside. I followed a guard and he walked me to a door. He opened the door. I stood in the doorway and looked at Reid. I smiled and sighed. "Hey."
"Did you run out of your wedding?" Reid asked. "I told you to get married and then worry about the case."
"Reid, stop," I smiled as I walked into the room. "We're taking you home." I walked up to him and hugged him. He hugged me back. "We finally can take you home."
"Thank you," Reid nodded. We let go of each other. "Let's get out of here now." We got Reid in a suit and we walked out of the facility. Garcia was there and she hugged Reid. "Let's get my mom back."
"Yeah," Garcia nodded. It was nearly night by the time we got Reid sped up on the case. Barry and I had changed out of our wedding clothes. "We have a lot.'
"This is the debrief," I nodded. "Okay."
"So, we know Lindsey convinced Scratch to run drugs across the border," Luke sighed.
"And that Lindsey's been operating from two locations," Rossi added. "An apartment next to Reid and a house in southeast DC."
"And that's where we think she's keeping your mom," Barry replied.
"Scratch isn't afraid to plot an elaborate trap," I sighed. "I want a full breakdown of that house before we set one foot inside." The team left but JJ, Reid, and I. I closed the door. "Uhm, Spencer, you can't officially go until you're reinstated."
"So, that includes going to my apartment, since it's a crime scene," Reid looked at me.
"That's right," I nodded. "It's sealed and guarded by Metro PD. But you are the resident, you got it?"
"Got it," Reid nodded.
"Great," I smiled. I left the conference room to catch up with the rest of the team. We got into the SUV and went to the house. We turned the lights off and got out of the SUV. We got our vests on. I saw a light on and two shadows inside. "Alvez, Prentiss, take the back. Barry and Rossi with me at the front." We approached the house. Barry picked the locked. We walked inside, carefully. "Shhh."
"Alright, we're in," Luke stated. "Give us a five count."
We went in. "FBI, show me your hands!" Rossi stated.
"Hands up, now!" I restated.
"Put it down," Barry added.
"It's for you," said the male, she put the envelope down.
"Get up, turn around, slowly," Luke nodded.
They did and I holstered my weapon. "Get down," Barry looked at them.
"This is for you," the female stated. I put on gloves and opened the envelope. "She said it was for you, for the FBI."
I got out the tablet and turned it on. Luke was next to me. "You know what that is?" Luke asked.
"Cat Adams?" I asked. We went back to the Bureau with the video. Luke, Rossi, Garcia, and I went to the conference room. "Great."
"Really?" Garcia asked. "We have to deal with Cat Adam again?"
"Yes. She was pulling the strings all along," I sighed.
"And, wait, Mr. Scratch's involvement was?" Garcia asked.
"Never part of it," I nodded. "Cat and Lindsey were behind the murder of Nadie Ramos, and framing Spencer."
"Why does she have it out so bad for Reid?" Luke asked.
"She was loosely affiliated with a group of hitmen," Garcia replied. Barry and Prentiss were sitting in the room. "About a year and a half ago, Reid outsmarted her when he pretended to be a potential customer."
"She figured out she was walking into a trap," Prentiss nodded. "But Reid was able to convince her to surrender by telling her he would take her to see her father."
"Did he?" Barry asked.
"No, it was all a lie to get her to drop the gun," Rossi added. "She's been in prison ever since."
"She's been nursing a grudge for a long time," Luke nodded. "Setting up Reid. Making us and him believe it was Mr. Scratch this whole time, and now kidnapping his mother."
"Where is she now?" Barry asked.
"Mount Pleasant Women's correctional facility," I sighed.
"Wait, hold up," Barry sat up. "Reid has to go back to prison?"
"He just landed," I nodded.
"Do you think that he can handle it?" Garcia asked. "I mean, all that he's been through. Do you really think he has the brain capacity to do this right now?"
"She's right," Prentiss nodded. "He's walking into one of the most unstable situations anyone could face." I sighed. "She's been in solitary confinement for six months. We all know what that could do to the psyche of an inmate. At best, they suffer from delusions. At worst, they're psychotic."
"I took all of that into account," I replied. "That's why I didn't send Reid in there alone."
"So, what's the play here?" Rossi asked. "We hope that Reid can profile his mom's location out of Cat, and we just wait until he does?"
"That's part one," I nodded. "Part two is we refocus and rebuild based on what we know, and search for any leads we missed because of our faulty assumptions." I looked at all of us. "Now, other than Barry and I, you all should know the case."
"Well, since we're on that topic, Reid shouldn't be in there at all," Barry looked at me. "He's as compromised as it gets. He hasn't even been reinstated. If we send him into the lion's den, we're giving her exactly what she wants." I crossed my arms. "Now, if I'm the only one thinking this, I apologize, but..."
"No, you're not the only one thinking it," Rossi nodded. "We could send in JJ instead."
"Yeah, JJ would have a cooler head," Prentiss replied. "She'd be better able to assess Cat's ground game."
"And we'd be more likely to force a mistake if we throw Cat off from her plan," Luke added.
"Nobody's changing the plan," I replied, frustrated. "Am I clear? If we change the plan, Diana's dead." Garcia looked at me. "If we lose Diana, we lose Reid from this team forever."
"After everything that's happened to him, after everything that's happened to us, we've made too many sacrifices for that," Mom walked in. We looked at her. "So, whatever Natalya says, do it. Let's bring our kid back home safely."
"This is what we're going to do," I smiled. "We're going to take one moment, one moment of quiet, one moment of despair, one moment of doubt, one moment of hope that Reid is strong enough for this." I looked at everyone. "Did everyone take a moment?" They nodded. "Now shut it all out because nothing else matters, except for her." I looked at her picture. "Let's finish this."