Third Person's POV

It was a bad night for Sydney as she hadn't gotten sleep the entire night and until they got to the BAU. But thank the fucking gods that today was a Saturday, which means the weekend. That part she's grateful to say the least. It wouldn't have been so bad if her and her Dad didn't watch a four hour long movie. It wasn't technically a 'bad' night, just one of those nights where she couldn't sleep and kept tossing and turning.

It wasn't all that terrible to say the least but she'd appreciate sleeping in until three in the afternoon. But atlas, her father wouldn't let her sleep that late, noon at the latest. But definitely not three in the afternoon. He's the party pooper of situations, which is what she calls him everytime he's a party pooper. Or a Debbie Downer.

But thank the gods she did manage to fall asleep and it was the best fucking sleep that she's ever had. At least it feels like it. But sadly, she was woken up by her father as he had gotten an email from Hotch telling him about the case that they have.

"Syd! Gotta get up!" Spencer says as his daughter was in the middle of the bed, completely covered, and in a fetal position. She was knocked the fuck out, as her snoring was the only way to give off that she was knocked out.

She snores but only when she's knocked out. Or when she fell asleep four hours ago. But she's not gonna mention that to him. He walked to her bed and had a small smile on his face before he went into her bed. He took off the covers, which made her not flinch at all. He thought that she would flinch.

"Syd." He says to her which made her moan in her sleep. "Get dressed, we have a case."

"On a S-saturday?" She asks as she lifts her head up to her dad who is giving her a look. "Fine." She says as before she can comprehend articles of clothing being thrown at her face. "What the hell, man!"

"Just get dressed." He tells her as he walks out of her bedroom to get his own stuff for the day. Moments later Sydney walked out of her room, glaring at her father as they walked down the stairs, and when he wasn't looking she stuck out her tongue at him, making him chuckle to himself.

"You love me."

"No, I do not." He tells her as they walk to his car and she grumpily gets into it as they head to the BAU, so Spencer can go on this case, and then get back to Syd, all before hopefully dinner.

Key word: hopefully.

༶•┈┈⛧┈♛

The team had a case down in Atlantic City, home of poker players and gamblers. Sydney noticed that Penelope wasn't presenting the case as she was late this morning. She's never late.

"Danny Savino, the floor manager at Sapphire Lady Casino in Atlantic City was found dead in his office this morning." Hotch presented.

"Blunt force trauma to the head. An empty wallet and money clip left next to the body." Rossi tells them as Sydney and her dad shared some coffee that they got on the way here. She noticed a disheveled Penelope walking into the room.

She apologizes for being late as Reid is rubbing Sydney's back as she had one of her bad nights. "Sorry, sorry." She takes a spot in between Sydney and JJ.

"How's the head?" JJ whispers to Penelope. "Not all the aspirins in all the pharmacies..." Penelope whispers as Derek waves at Penelope as she avoids eye contact with him.

Sydney didn't waste anytime getting her phone out of her pocket. She texts Morgan as he sees his phone flashing, and looked at Sydney's message, before responding: I'll tell you later. He sent back to her question as she pouted at him.

"It looks like a robbery gone bad. Why was the BAU called in?" Emily asks.

"Eight one-dollar bills surrounding an 8 card. That's highly ritualistic." Reid points out. "And because Savino has ties to organized crime, agents in New Jersey are worried about things escalating." Hotch explains as Sydney struggles to stay asleep as she got zero sleep for the past two nights.

"Well, it doesn't take much to ignite a mob war." Morgan adds. "And collateral damage means nothing to these guys." Rossi adds.

"If we don't get a handful on this soon, innocent people are gonna die."

Not too long after that there was snoring that was heard as it only came from one person. Reid said that Syd is gonna hang out with Penelope today, but let her sleep, which Penelope did. She brought her computer too the room so that she can keep the girl company for a while.

✧༝┉˚*❋ ❋*˚┉༝✧

Third Person's POV

The team are headed onto the jet as they are engaging about their favorite gangster flicks. "No question. Godfather II, hands down." Emily tells them.

"No, no, gotta be Scarface." Morgan voices.

"For me, The Untouchable, Spence?" JJ asks.

"Mm, probably Le Cercle Rouge, the 1970s French classic. But Den Tradje Vaagan is definitely a close second." Reid says.

"Yeah, that was my runner-up too." Emily chuckles.

"Does Syd watch gangster movies?"

"Hers is Goodfellas." Derek says before Spencer had the chance of responding.

"She has taste, that was my second." JJ says with a smile that Syd and her like the same gangster movie.

"What about you, Rossi? Best ever gangster flick." JJ asks him.

"I've had too much of the real thing to be a fan of mob movies." Rossi answers.

"Garcia, did we get the crime scene surveillance video yet?" Hotch asks Garcia who is on the laptop screen.

"No, sir, because there wasn't any." Penelope says as there was movement in the background which was Sydney who woke up.

"That's not possible. Every inch of the casino is surveilled every minute of the day." Reid tells.

"Yeah, apparently the footage was tampered with, so..." Penelope says.

"Alright, Reid and Prentiss, go to the crime scene. Dave, you and JJ find out if Savino was involved in anything like local authorities don't know about." Rossi nods at JJ. "Morgan and I will contact the local FBI office and arrange a ceasefire with the families."

Not too long after that

Sydney was in Penelope's cave as she was reading a book when her phone was vibrating. Without looking to see who it was she put her phone on her cheek as she went back to reading her book. "What?"

"Nice to see you too." The person said as her one brain cell clicked as it was her Dad.

"Sorry, didn't pay attention, leave me alone."

"Nah, it's fine. Whatcha doin?" He asks her.

"Well before you rudely interrupted me, I was reading a book that I found in Pen's cave. It's reaaallly interesting." Sydney says as Derek chuckles at her as she over heard what she said.

"What book is it?" Her Dad asks.

"A Russian Mafia book." Sydney says as Derek looked at Spencer with a confused look on his face, before he awkwardly looked away, as he knows exactly what book she's talking about now.

"A little more specific, please, because the look Morgan gave me was highly concerning as a father." Spencer says as Sydney takes her eyes from her book before she puts the phone on speaker and she texted Derek: thanks, stupid.

Derek felt his phone vibrating as he had an inkling that it was Sydney, and when he saw who texted him he was right. He opened up his phone and responded with a thumbs up emoji.

"Search up, Kovalyov Bratva, if you're so concerned." Sydney tells her father as he did that and then a book called: Gilded Cage: A Russian Mafia Romance popped up as he read the description as he wished he hadn't read it.

"Damn." Spencer curses as JJ tries not to smile when he said that.

"It's just a book Reid." Rossi says as Spencer gave him a look.

"Yeah, Dad it's just a book, lighten up."

"You know what, you're gonna get it later."

"Shit."

"Language." Hotch intervened as he himself was trying not to laugh.

"It's official Rossi is bumped down and Hotch is officially the old one. He just corrected a teenager." Sydney says as Hotch looked at Spencer, but in reality Sydney.

"I am not old, thank you very much." Hotch says as Derek smirked as he looked on his phone trying to act innocent.

"Good job, Syd. You're making Derek innocent."

"That's because he is, and I'm his sidekick, genius." She says to her father as she gave her phone a 'duh' look.

"Thank you."

"I meant Einstein."

"Oh ha-ha." Spencer mocks her.

"You're welcome." Sydney says with a cheeky grin on her face.

"Well, I gotta go, we just landed."

"K, bye." Sydney said as she didn't waste anytime of hanging up on her father as he shook his head at her, before putting his phone in his pocket.

JJ and Rossi went to chat with a man named Vince Repeti since he cooperated with the BAU before. They found out new information that they were going to deliver to their team.

"Savino purposely bypassed the standard casino security." JJ said as soon as the two walked into an office with the rest of the team.

"And I think we know why." Rossi says.

"Danny Savino supplemented his income by loaning money to casino patrons." JJ explains.

"It explains why he changed the camera in his office. He didn't want his bosses to know he was freelancing." Spencer stated.

"So we're looking for a gambler." Hotch says.

"A gambler in Atlantic City." Emily says semi-sarcastically.

༶•┈┈⛧┈♛

A day later a prostitute was found murdered in a parking lot. And lucky for them a day later another body was found, and then a day later another body. Eight dollars and an 8 card found on all bodies.

They discovered a private gambling establishment right around the corner from where the last body was found. It would be happening later in the afternoon. Agent Goslin walked into the room with the others. "Forensics got a fingerprint match on the last victim. Eddie Langdon. We're looking for him."

"Hey, any luck?" JJ asks Hotch as he walked into the room.

"No, they don't want to allocate agency funds for the buy-in. I'm still working on it." Hotch says as he shook his head.

"Well, I can't imagine, why not. We're only looking for 50k bucks of taxpayer money so that FBI agents can play Texas Hold 'Em." Rossi states.

"Hey, what about you." Emily asks.

"What about me what?" Rossi asked.

"You can stake us the buy-in." Emily tells.

"Yeah, you're a best-selling author." Spencer joins into the conversation.

"No." Rossi answers, as just then Rossi's phone vibrated as it was Sydney as Morgan told her the current predicament, and she too wanted to join.

Sydney: just do it Rossi so I can get my dad back! Or else!

"What does she mean by 'or else', is my question."

"It's Syds, you never know."

"Morgan, don't insult my daughter." Reid says not looking up from his book that he was reading.

"You got more money than any of us, spare some." JJ butts into the conversation with a grin on her face.

"One, it's against regulations, and I'd like to hold on to this job for a little while longer."

"It's a minor administrative violation." JJ tells him.

"And two, I prefer to spend my money on actual things like single-malt scotch and a fine cigar, beautiful artwork." Rossi finishes.

"Poker chips are things." Reid nods along at Emily.

"Maybe just think of it as like a new experience. I mean at your age, how often does that happen?"

Rossi turns his head and furrows his eyebrows. "At my what?" Rossi asks as Spencer turns his head from Rossi, avoiding eye contact.

"Rossi, this may be our only chance to get this guy." JJ continues to convince Rossi as he gives in and sighs.

"All right. Fine. I'm a decent poker player, but I can't promise that I can stay in the game long enough to---" Derek thinks of an idea almost immediately.

"You know what? I bet you're a great poker player, really Dave, I bet. But what if we sent in pretty boy? I mean, no offense but he's got twice the brains and none of us have." Morgan says hoping that his idea would work.

"I am banned from casinos in Las Vegas, Laughlin, and Parump, because of my card-counting ability." Reid says as he thinking over Derek's idea.

"Look, I know I'm not a genius like the boy wonder here, but poker is not Blackjack. It's about bluffing, reading human nature, head games. It's not math." Rossi tells them.

"That's not entirely accurate." Spencer says standing up and walking over to the board. "There actually is a mathematical equation for knowing when to raise and when to fold. If 'P' represents the size of the pot at the time of play, then 'P' times 'N' minus one, with 'N' representing, the estimated number of players in the final round of betting--"

Rossi interrupts Spencer. "Okay, fine I surrender." He gives in and looks at Reid. "Just try not to lose all my money."

"It's pretty boy we're talking about, he's gonna double it." Morgan says as he's keeping Sydney updated of the situations.

Dare-bear: if you don't hear from me in two hours-ish, it's because we're trying to catch this dude.

Sydster: k

Dare-bear: love you kiddo

Sydster: let me watch my movie in peace, stop sending me messages

Dare-bear: okay, no need to get feisty

Sydster: stop it

After the message debate between Derek and Sydney, dare was with Hotch and Emily. "Some of these guys have records, but they don't fit the profile." Emily points out.

"Keep looking, he's gotta be there." Hotch says. "The last victim, Eddie Langdon, was wearing a watch that was much too big for his wrist." Hotch remembered.

"Could it be stolen?" Emily asks.

"Or it was a gift from the unsub." Hotch says.

"Okay, the link is set. As soon as Reid triggers the alarm, we can move in." Emily says.

Soon later Reid triggers the alarm walking in and Garcia had called up Morgan, along with Sydney. "Okay, we got something for you." Sydney says to him as he holds up the phone.

"Alright, talk to me, Syds."

"Okay, Eddie Langdon, high school dropout, lots of odd jobs, never married, lived in a transient-type hotels in and around Atlantic City. Started his own plumbing supply business that went bankrupt. Was in jail for six months in 2005 for forgery, and that's why were were able to get a match on his prints so fast." Sydney explained.

"Thanks, Syds. Hey is Pen with you?"

"No, why? Derek what did you do to her?" Sydney asks him as he has an offended look on his face.

"Don't start jumping to conclusions, Syds."

"She's not with me, why?"

"Has she been acting weird lately?"

"Yeah she has actually, and quite frankly it's annoying." Sydney says.

"Why do you say that? Where is she?" Derek asks the teenage girl.

"I'm not qualified of answering that question." She says before she hangs up leaving Derek confused.

Derek watched over the cameras at every move Reid was making. He could honestly say that his poker skills were on point. Then again they had to be for the sake of this case. Spencer had triggered the alarm and they knew that it was go time. "That's Reid, let's go." They exited the van that they were staking out in.

They walked into the private establishment and Hotch points at a guard heading Spencer out. "He's an FBI agent." The guard lets go of him as Spencer points ahead. "There he goes. Plaid shirt, baseball hat." He tells them.

The unsub is rushing out to get to there in the back as the team follows him. "Morgan, he's a white male, baseball cap, he's headed towards the back door. He's on the move." Emily orders but unfortunately the unsub had made a quick getaway.

༶•┈┈⛧┈♛

Fortunately a man by the name of Curtis Banks had been caught as their unsub. He was a friend of Eddie Langdon. Also Banks' father was a compulsive gambler and the father abandoned the family and ended up dead six months later in a Las Vegas hotel room. Drank himself to death. They had gotten an address and they were close to being successful, until Curtis killed himself right in front of the team.

How ironic isn't it. He kills himself to get out of the situation. Tempting.

(Why the fuck did that sound depressing? Oh, wait. This book is depressing. Ha. Oh wait, I'm depressed. Makes sense).

Sydney was pacing around as she hasn't heard anything in hours, as she was getting antsy. That and she hadn't eaten all day, but she hasn't told Penelope, who promisingly hadn't told anyone else. *Spencer*.

Sydney was enjoying a nap when she heard voices coming towards Rossi's office where she is currently napping. More precisely on the floor. She's one of those people who actually enjoy sleeping on the floor.

"What are your plans, Spence?"

"Not much, probably gonna read or something. What about you?"

"I girls night, with Pen and Emily."

"Sounds fun." Spencer says with a small smile as his phone vibrated in his pocket and he looked at his message. It was from a woman named Maeve Donovan.

Maeve: wanna hang out tomorrow?

by that i mean help me rearrange my kitchen?if you want?

Spencer: sure thing!

Maeve: okay good

"Who was that?" JJ asks as she looked at him.

"A friend."

But little does JJ know is that Maeve is more than just a friend. He's just been keeping it under the radar, especially that of Derek Morgan. If Derek found out, he wouldn't hear the end of it. So for the time being Derek and anyone doesn't know. Even Sydney.

༶•┈┈⛧┈♛

Hannah speaks!
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