White Rabbit - A Criminal Minds Fic

Twenty Two

"So that's how I got away. I ran. I left Becca behind, I left everything I'd known for nearly five years behind and I ran. And instead of doing anything about the things I'd learnt there and helping the people who were still under his spell and doing his bidding, I hid. Because I'm a coward."

Spencer stood from his seat across the table from Alice and moved to her side, kneeling on the floor next to her.

"You are NOT a coward, Ally. It may have taken you five years but you did come forward. So many people in your position wouldn't have."

Alice shook her head and took a deep breath. "I am a coward, or at least I was. I've lived with this for five years and it's still affecting me in ways I'm not even realising half the time. Sleep walking, the other thing from last night, panic attacks. Not anymore though. I want Lewis and Marnie to pay for the things they've done. They need to be held responsible for brainwashing all those people and then killing and disposing of the ones who didn't fit their plans."

Ally pushed her chair back and stood up, shaking slightly as she spoke again. "They need to pay. I don't know how and I don't know when but they have too. And I need to be there when they do, I need to help make that happen."

Rossi leaned back in his chair, appraising the girl with his eyes. She switched so quickly between fragile and vulnerable, and strong and brave. This girl; this woman, needed closure. Closure that the BAU could help get for her. They just needed to figure out how. Rossi cleared his throat.

"Alice, we will do whatever we can to bring you in on this when we take them down, however we choose to do it. You have my word."

Alice locked eyes with Dave, her voice strong and clear "I need to tell him how much I hate him."

Rossi nodded at her and motioned for her to sit back down again, placing his notepad in front of Spencer and tapping at the list of questions Aaron had told them to get answered.

"Ally, we need to ask you some more questions okay?" Spencer didn't wait for her to respond "You mentioned that you are regularly had to give blood and you also mentioned blood buyers. What are they?"

"I'm not one hundred percent sure about this myself, it was only a throwaway comment I heard. But once I started to think about it I realised that the blood we were giving wouldn't last until Lewis's predicted 'falling of the world', even if they had state of the art refrigeration facilities. So I looked into it and there are plenty of clinics who will pay for donated blood, we all know that; it's how a lot of college students pay for their drinks. I think, and I've no proof here; but I think our blood was being sold to one of these clinics for a discounted price. Or maybe they were trading it for medical supplies, I don't know. But they had to have been getting money from somewhere other than the poppies because they weren't in flower the whole year around."

All of the adults at the compound had known what the poppies were for, but it was rarely actually discussed.

"Charlie also told me.... When he was a lot younger, he remembers a lot of the woman being pregnant, but that there wasn't that many babies. He didn't know for sure either but.... "

"Maybe they were selling the babies. There's a huge market for that even now, it's horrific." Rossi commented, making notes quickly. She was probably right about both the blood and the babies, there were some clinics that would break plenty of laws to get their supplies cheaply. They thought they were doing the right thing by cutting costs so they could help more people when in actual fact they were endangering so many more lives.

The next point on the list regarding the body dumping and why they weren't buried or hidden had already been answered so Spencer moved onto the next one.

"Alice, who's Abby? You've mentioned her a few times but never said who she is."

If Dr Reid detected the flicker on her face he didn't let on. She thought she'd been so careful to leave her out of this, they couldn't know about Abby, they'd say it was clouding her judgement. When it really wasn't.

"Abby was Becca and Eric's daughter, but Becca didn't bond with her that well so I ended up spending a lot of time with her. She was two when I left, if she's still there she'd be seven."

The lie rolled off her tongue so easily even she couldn't believe it. The two Agents seemed satisfied with her answer and Dr Reid moved on to the next point, something that wasn't written down.

"You said you copied a map to help find your way through the woods. Do you still have it?"

"No. I burnt it within days of being back. I didn't want my sister or Robert using it to find the place, and I didn't want to be able to find my own way back. If I'd have kept the map, I was scared I'd have tried to go back to save the kids that were there. And I couldn't go back, not then."

That map would have made all the difference to the BAU being able to find the compound easily and Spencer couldn't help but be disappointed. Just as he was opening his mouth to speak again, the door to the interview room opened and Agent Hotchner strode in, Morgan following him.

"Derek and JJ think they've found it. And Garcia has found the website. Alice, I need you to go and look at some aerial photos and maps with Agent Morgan please."

She stood up again and followed Derek out of the room, Hotch lingering behind with Dr Reid and Agent Rossi.

"Spencer, you do know what's going to happen don't you, if they've found it? We can't just storm the compound, not with that many people and weapons there. We'll need to get someone on the inside first."

Spencer had been pushing the thought to the back of his mind all morning, the same thought occurring to him yesterday. Hearing his supervisor voicing it though, made it horrifyingly real.

"Would they even accept her back? She ran away from them."

"If Lewis was as obsessed with her and the idea of her being the leader of the future as he sounds, then yes, I think they will. And she wants payback, she may seem like she'll break at times but you can hear the resolve in her voice. If we can work out how to do this, I think she'll easily consent to going back and going undercover. But she won't be able to go alone. That's the only thing...."

Rossi continued where Aaron had left off "She'll need an Agent to go with her, someone to act as her new husband perhaps, who's somehow helped her realise that Lewis's way of life was the correct way, and convinced her to go back. Kid, you've come through for us in a similar situation before, albeit you were already on the inside."

Reid looked between the two older Agents, realising what they were asking and knowing that it couldn't be anyone else on the team. He had the rapport with Alice, she seemed to trust him and she was the one who'd sought him out it in the first place.

"If we can figure out the details, are you up for this Dr Reid?"

Spencer nodded.