Alex’s P.O.V

“Hey Alexandra, My name is Hennery Stedler, I umm... I’m your father, I know I haven’t been around very much, I guess I am calling to ask you to beg you to let me back into your life, I would love to get to know you. Umm call me on this number or text me or whatever, umm say hi to your mother for me, goodbye, I hope we get into contact with one another.”   That was the voice message that was on my phone

It had been a year since I had given birth to my beautiful baby girl Anastasia. I threw my phone across the room it hit the wall above my desk and fell to the floor with a crack. I collapsed and lent against the side of my bed. I pulled at my knotted hair and let the tears flow freely from my eyes David had spent last night at a conference some cigar aficionado event or something. Anna came tottering into my room followed closely by Josie. Anna took her first steps a few months ago. She really is a crowd pleaser David had invited the team over to have a cooking lesson and she was crawling around near me as I played with her everyone was watching as they admired her cuteness.  She pulled herself up using one of the dining room chairs I was a little way away and she took one step and then another before falling into my arms so far it has been one of my proudest moments and everyone saw it. Now days she can walk around the house the only thing she has trouble with is climbing up stairs, it is funny to watch her she goes up them sideways placing her bum on the step above her.

“What’s the matter? Lexie?” asked Josie asked slumping down beside me, as I pulled Anna into my lap, “it’s nothing,” I lied, “guess it’s just that time, we still going shopping today? I have the day off, And ten bucks says David will be either extremely tired because he met a girl last night or hung over,” I added trying to distract her,
“you’re on, so is the shopping,” she smiled “do we need anything in particular, no wait let me guess, you need new conies,”
“no, I actually need a new phone,”
“ what happen to your old one?” she asked confused
I shifted Anna of my lap and crawled over to my desk, “I kind of dropped it,” I threw the phone to her.
“Down the stairs,” Josie exclaimed with a laugh. Running her fingers over the smashed screen “you really are uncoordinated.”
“Ha-ha, now scat so I can get ready,” I replied sarcastically shoving her.

I got ready fairly quickly and gave Anna a bottle of formula, before putting her into the car seat. Josie climbed into the front seat beside me. “I need to go to the bank first but after that the day is ours,” I said, she nodded and I started the engine. A few moments later I pulled up at the front of the Colonial Liberty Bank. I grabbed my purse from the backseat before grabbing Anna I was only going to be a few minutes so I didn’t grab the stroller from the trunk. Josie opened the door of the bank as we both entered. The metal detector did not go off for Josie but did go off for me.  The security waved a metal detecting wand over me. It beeped when it reached my pockets I pulled my car keys out and he allowed me to enter the rest of the bank. The metal detector beeped a couple more times, “looks like everyone is setting that thing off today,” joked the teller

“Yeah,” I said glancing behind me as Josie was dancing with Anna in her arms. The teller handed me my money as I shoved it into my purse. I had only just got the sip closed when a shot rang out. My hand instantly reached for my belt but I wasn’t armed I was only ever armed when I was going into the field. I was not in the field I was in a bank with my daughter and my sister.

“I want to see hands in the sky if you try to trigger any alarms or give me any die packs your dead you hear me, cash in here, cash in here,” a man yelled pulling on a mask a woman and a similar looking man pulled on masks as well. The woman was in a white mask, the man who spoke wore a red mask the other a clear mask with a club on it.

“Yes ladies and gentlemen, we are the face cards,” spoke the woman my hands were in the air I was still clinging onto to my purse.
a couple were speaking in a language that sounded Arabic, but I didn’t know enough of the language to understand it.
“Time?” yelled the man who ordered us around
“1:45,” replied the woman before speaking to the couple in the same language “put your faces on the floor I see eyes, you see bullets, get it,”
“get down on the ground,” yelled the other man.

I laid on my stomach gripping onto Josie’s hand Anna, snuggled into my side she didn’t understand what was going on she was only a baby after all. The man who was keeping charge of the money started yelling at one of the tellers who had tried to give them a dry pack.
 “Oh no, we got trouble,”   said the man in the clear mask
“what do you mean,” replied the man in the red
“black and white, replied clear mask
“side door lets go down, down,” shouted red
“get on the ground and count to a hundred, don’t even think of moving,” yelled the woman weaving her way between everyone’s feet, “I said count.”
They all left and 5 shots rang out.  Soon they were all back. The man in the red mask was dragging the man in the clear mask. He had two bullet wounds in his chest. The woman lined us up in front of the windows and doors as a human barricade. Anna was in my arms. She was crying quietly into my chest. Three people away from me were a woman and a child about 6 months older than Emma who wasn’t as quiet. “Shut that stupid kid up,” yelled the woman wearing the mask.
“He’s a baby what do expect it to do,’ snapped the man beside the woman and child.

The phone rang and the man in the red mask answered. “who the hell are you, I want a medic and then I want a way out of here, “ he said before addressing  his female partner “he’s trying to negotiate.
“Then negotiate, we are not playing games,” she grabbed a small African American girl and pulled her away from her father.
“Daddy!” screamed the girl.
“Either we get what we want or everyone in this room dies,” the woman spoke loud enough for the person  on the other end of the phone line to hear.

“please, I’m begging you, kill, me not her, “ pleaded the girl’s father “it’s okay baby,” he reassured. The woman pulled the trigger and a bullet went flying into the man’s stomach. The woman made the teller who served me drag the man over to where the security guard lied only difference is this man was still alive. She shoved the girl towards me. And moved me so that I was standing next to the other woman with a baby. Josie didn’t care what the people thought or said but moved with me. now all the mothers and children were standing right outside the front doors I could see into the street I could catch glimpses of Hotch, Morgan, and David.  At one point David caught my eye he mouthed the words ‘I’m sorry,’ before turning away Strauss was out in the street as well she was not the person I wanted to see.

I was scared and my arms were going dead form holding Anna for so long. “Jose, can you take Anna?” she nodded and extended her arms, it was only now that I realized she had been crying silent tears this entire time.  She had never been in a situation like this before. I on the other hand had been in situations like this only too many times.

A medic came in and tended to the man in the clear masks I could tell from the reflections in the glass that it wasn’t going very well, the medic reached into his bag and the man in the red mask, who seemed to be in charge, shot the medic three times. One shot to the head and two to the chest. They forced two members of the staff to drag the bodies over with the others whilst the woman and man removed their masks.

“Why did you have to make it so quick,” asked the woman nudging the medic with her toe, “its better, when they suffer,”
“I don’t get off on it like you do,” replied the male.
“Because he isn’t as sick as you,” I snarled to myself as she walked past.
“What was that smart-arse,” she asked pulling me by my hair.
“I said he isn’t as sick as you,” I replied, Josie reached out and touched my hand.
“Alex don’t it is not worth it,” she whispered.

The phone rang and the man how kept getting called Chris answered the only words I could catch were “I want the cop who shot my brother,” every minute he pushed someone toward the phone first one he shot the second he didn’t because he had found someone else to scare and then will came through the doors my eyes widened with fear as he glanced toward me. Josie stiffened beside me. Chris shoved me in the back of the head along with the woman beside me, “as promised take the kids.” I took Anna and rushed for the door. Josie and the other woman followed. Josie was now clinging onto the little girl’s hand. We rushed forward. A group of S.W.A.T agents led us to some ambulances. The paramedics sat me down on the steps leading into the back they had a small basinet for children they placed Anna there.  She quickly fell asleep David rushed over to me and Josie. “Alexandra, I’m so sorry,”
“David, you’ve got to stop blaming yourself, you never hurt me, nothing you do causes me any harm,” I sounded exhausted. But I knew my message would get into him sooner or later.

“The rest of the hostages are coming out, I heard Hotch yell.
“Josie, can you stay here with Anna?” David asked she nodded and climbed into the back of the ambulance to make way for the other hostages. I rushed to the truck where I knew Garcia would be. I could hear Reid talking over something to do with the gas lines
“Garcia, Rossi get them out of there!” Reid yelled through the phones line. I rushed to the doors of the truck to see Morgan and JJ accompanying a team of swat agents into the bank. I was about to call out to them when a low grumble came from the bank. David pulled me back into the truck closing the door behind me. I fell on top of him. I was scrambling to me feet when an explosion rang out. I fell –face- first into his chest as the entire truck shook I was scared that it was going to roll. I could barely breath the air had been knocked clear out of my chest. We both rushed out stairs as soon as we stopped shaking. Morgan and JJ still rushed forward into the burning remains of the bank I had not seen Emily even before the explosion.
“Hotch,” I called rushing towards him “I have seen JJ and Morgan but I haven’t seen Emily,”
“okay,”  he replied before looking me over, I had matted hair and blood coming out of my lip, I had bit it when I fell into David for the second time, “listen in the back of my car there is a bullet proof vest and under the passenger side seat there is a gun strap It to your belt you are only supposed to be armed in the field and this is close enough to it,” he explained handing me the car keys. I had just got the vest fastened properly when another black SUV pulled up. Reid and Kevin climbed out of the SUV. Kevin went over to Garcia and Reid over to Hotch. I walked over to David who was answering questions from the press.  They finished asking the questions.

David turned to walk back to the truck but I grabbed his arm. “Dave, it’s my fault, everything, Josie and Anna being in there it’s my fault,” I muttered.
“What about all that, you can’t blame yourself jargon you gave me a minute ago,” he replied not convinced
“if I hadn’t been freaking out so much we would have been out of the bank before they even arrived,” I replied tears flowed from my eyes.
David wiped away the tears and asked, “Freaking out, about what?”
I sighed deeply “my father called, he said he wanted to get back in contact,” I hung my head
“oh,” he whispered, “but that’s not all that’s bothering you is it,”
“say hi to your mom for me, that’s the last thing he said in the voice mail, say hi to your mom,” I admitted angrily, “she was murdered 12 frigging years ago,”
 I ran towards the truck. Tears streaming down my face I collapsed onto the ground behind Kevin
“Alex, what’s wrong,” asked Garcia
“listen to the last voice mail,” I almost yelled before throwing my phone at her. She held the phone to her ear and I watched her facial expression change from normal to surprise then to completely angry.
“Asshole,” she muttered,   “I guess that’s why the screen is shattered?”
I nodded before wiping the tears away as the others joined us I gave Emily an I-will-tell-you-later look when she shot a worried glance my way.
JJ and Morgan entered; JJ was clutching a wallet in her hand and held a tissue to her ear. “Will is with them I found his wallet,” she looked painstakingly tired as she held up will’s wallet.

We were just discussing our next move as Garcia broke through the conversation, “a paramedic was just found in front of the station.”
“Shot in the stomach?”  I asked glancing over at her monitors
“you bet ya,” she replied
“let’s go,” David said grabbing both my arm and JJ.

David drove as I directed JJ was in too much of trance to do much.  We pulled up to the ambulance station; JJ and I were directed inside to watch the surveillance video.
“Oh thank the lord,” I sighed as will appear on the screen able to walk.  The paramedic patched him up before the female Unsub shot him in the gut and drove away.
“They shot him why did they get him medical assistance?” JJ asked
it pained me to say it but I knew she needed hear it. “They still need him. It benefits them to keep him alive, but it also benefits us it gives us more of the time we need to save him. We will save him JJ I promise,” I stretched my hand out and squeezed hers reassuringly.

She explained what we saw on the video to David who had been looking over the body.  We were on our way back to the bank when JJ exclaimed “oh know,”
“what is it,”
“will’s license is missing, they know where we live,”
David yanked on the wheel and the entire car did a 180 spin almost causing a traffic accident.

“She wouldn’t take her eyes of Henry like this,” JJ announced as we sat out the front of her house, “they must have him,” she reached for the handle but David and I both stopped her.
“You need a distraction,” he warned. The way he had said it gave me the idea, I grabbed my phone out of my bag that had been hurriedly shoved onto the floor
I dialed the number for JJ’s home phone it rang twice before the Unsub picked up. “hello?”
“umm, hello is this Kate,” I asked referring to JJ’s neighbor
“no my name is Izzy,”
“oh umm well Izzy, I was rather confused because JJ called me this morning and asked me to take care of Henry after 2:30 but I just got a text message from Will saying that I didn’t have to worry,”
“and so your question is?”
“I was wondering if I still needed to look after Henry?”
“no I only flew in from Colorado today and JJ wasn’t sure what time I would land so she must have called you just to make sure there was someone to stay with Henry,”
as the conversation was running I had given JJ the chance to sneak into her house through the back door without trouble David’s phone beeped meaning JJ was safely inside and Henry was safe
“oh okay thanks,”
“sorry about the confusion.”
“that’s okay if there’s anything you need don’t hesitate to call my number is in the phone book under Alex Stedler,”
“okay I will,”
she hung up the phone and David and I went through to the house we made sure that Kate and her daughter were safely inside before advancing into JJ’s house. We found JJ in the middle of a  hand on hand fight with the Unsub she kicked ‘Izzy,’ in the face and ‘Izzy,’ fell to the ground and Dave handcuffed her she was officially arrested.

I drove back to the bank by myself as JJ, David and Henry went to the hospital to greet Will. I scooped Anastasia into my arms she was asleep and I could tell that I was going to go the same way as soon as I got home.

David was late getting home and I was asleep on the couch he slammed the front door and I woke with a start. “will proposed so we got a wedding to plan before tomorrow night,” he announced a gleaming smile. He pulled out a phone book and started calling different catering companies and florists it was amazing to see how much people will  do for their favorite authors.

Emily’s P.O.V

I got ready for JJ’s wedding. But in the back of my mind I couldn’t get past the fact that I was actually considering moving back to Europe.

Clyde Easter had offered me a job running the London office of Liverpool. I did not want to leave the team. I loved them. They were the closest thing to family. Yet ever since I had returned to DC I didn’t feel whole I missed the weather of Europe. Tonight was goodbye . maybe not forever but least a short time at least I was able to say goodbye this time. I would miss JJ’s big sister attitude. Garcia flamboyant style. Alex’s sarcasm. Rossi’s ability to see straight through anyone. Hotch’s no nonsense way and even Morgan’s need to always be the hero but most of all I would miss those people and the way they would care for me more than any other family would.

This is goodbye to my family.