[CM] THE CASE

Everything in the world must be in place according to certain rules and order ---- Lemont

Griffith walked outside the police station just in time to see an SUV flash by.

He was restless all the way, always feeling that Elle was too restless today, and it was just time to go downstairs. He planned no less than ten plans to talk to Elle in his mind, so as to prevent her from doing something irreversible.

At this moment, this very familiar SUV was like a bucket of ice water, which made him shiver.Before he had time to think about it, he reached out to stop a taxi, patted his identity card in front of the driver, and said at the fastest speed in his life: "Follow that SUV in front."

Seeing his serious face and the police station behind him, the driver had no choice but to swallow the words on the tip of his tongue, kicked the accelerator and rushed out.

Griffith's mind was in a mess, one moment he was guessing where Elle was going, the next second he was hesitating whether to notify Hotch, and he had no time to think about how to persuade the hijacked driver to relax a bit.As a result, he didn't say anything, didn't do anything, he just felt the wind make his throat a little itchy, so he coughed crazily.

The driver glanced at him, closed the window silently, and cut off the back road that he called "Help".

"Sorry," Griffith said hoarsely, "This is an emergency, ahem, please."

The driver was an uncle in his forties, and he forced a forced smile: "It's okay, I... I'm here to assist the FBI, and I can give my son three months of bragging when I go back."

"Thank you for your understanding." Griffith said absently. "Turn left."

The driver drove for a while and asked in confusion, "Why do I feel that the car in front is making a detour?"

Griffith was stunned for a moment, and quickly reacted: "Don't follow, I... I'll tell you an address. Can you take a small road?"

"No problem, I'm familiar with the way here."

Griffith nodded, staring at the phone's address book for a while, and finally didn't dial Hotch's number.He scrolled down, found Elle's number, and dialed.

The first time, no one answered, and it hung up automatically.

There are fewer and fewer street lights outside the window, and the night is thick.

The second time, still no one answered.

The driver may feel that the atmosphere is too depressing, so he turned on the car radio and listened to the female announcer broadcast the road conditions.

The third time, shut down.

Griffith took a deep breath and put away the phone: "Are you there?"

"Hurry up, go straight this way."

"How long has it been?"

"3 minutes."

"Well, thank you, I'm here." Griffith unbuckled his seat belt and tried to find his wallet, but the driver refused.With one hand on the steering wheel and the other on Griffith's wrist, the driver said, "Go ahead, I won't charge you, it's a civic duty."

Time was running out, Griffith didn't make excuses, got out of the car and ran.

He saw an SUV parked by the side of the road, with a familiar license plate, the one Elle drove—even though the SUV they were assigned to looked the same, the keys were different—Elle had arrived.

Griffith ran and risked being choked by the night wind, cursed in a low voice, in his mother tongue.

Ohio nights are still cold, if unbearably cold.

Elle stood in the shadows, letting her mind fly wildly, over the broken walls of reason, and control her body.

She didn't lose control.However, at this moment, lurking in the shadows, she suddenly found that her hands were shaking.

It's not that she hasn't been lurking before. She used to subdue criminals alone in the endless darkness, and then her companions would take over and conduct interrogation, conviction, and trial in an orderly manner.Those vicious people will be punished as they should, except this time.She is truly alone, without backup, without a partner, and all the evidence collection tonight is not counted because the methods are not formal.

She didn't know why she came here, and the laws and regulations she once believed in began to waver.Rules and regulations restrict the righteous party. They cannot break the door to rescue the victim who was tied to the bed by the gangster. They watched the criminal walk out of the police station, and they waited helplessly for the next victim to appear.

If so, why obey the law?

"Vigilante police," Elle thought sarcastically, "seems like a good idea."

So, when she raised the gun, her heart was calm and peaceful, as if she was lying on the operating table in doubt about her life and death, and had a happy meeting with her father in the distant memory.

Too bad she couldn't pull the trigger.

"Elle!"

Griffith saw the scene where Elle was confronting the suspect from a distance, and shouted loudly, scaring the suspect to run away. Elle paused, showing a not-so-friendly smile: "Don't move."

The man stood timidly.

"Elle!" Griffith finally rushed to her side and said out of breath, "Why are you walking so fast? The regulations say that you are not allowed to go alone, so I, I went to buy a pack of cigarettes..."

With a heartbeat, Elle lowered the gun - Griffith was apologizing.

I heard their new colleague explain to the suspect intermittently: "I'm sorry, Mr. Lee, my partner and I still have something to check with you. Are you... is it convenient now?"

Lee's eyes were evasive: "I said it all in the interrogation room...you have no right to detain me..."

"Yes, this conversation is not about interrogation." Griffith gasped, "It's about talking, you can refuse."

"I have nothing to say." Lee took a few steps back, seeing that Elle hadn't moved, he quickly fled upstairs.

After the suspect had disappeared, Elle said briefly, "Get in the car." After speaking, she ignored Griffith's reaction and left on her own.

Griffith was a few steps behind, following her at his leisure.

After getting in the car, Elle didn't rush to start the engine.She stared darkly at Griffith, "Why are you here?"

Griffith heard her suppressed anger, and explained carefully: "I saw that your car was not going to the hotel, and I was worried that you would not think about it."

"Is that the taxi that followed me on the road?"

Griffith nodded honestly.

Elle said with a half-smile: "Can't you think about it?"

The engine let out a hoarse roar, and before Griffith could buckle up, he was slapped hard on the back of the seat, blacking out his eyes and nearly passing out.

"I can't let him go," Elle said murderously. "He has to pay for what he did."

"Elle!" Griffith held her hand ready to shift gears, "Calm down!"

"You told me to calm down?" Elle said frantically, "You don't know anything!"

"You don't know their fear, you don't know their despair! You say you want to believe you, but what happened? He, that scum just went home like this? Why is he safe and sound? Why do those women want to Bear the consequences? Why should I trust you?"

"And you, Griffith! You appear so strange. I—Morgan must have suspected—what the hell are you here for?" Elle said maliciously, "I thought you were an undercover agent, and the higher-ups were hiding in the BAU A pair of eyes, especially after this incident, how do you plan to report to them? Huh?"

Griffith was caught off guard by such doubts, and his face turned pale: "No, I'm not...I understand how you feel."

As everyone knows, this sentence is like a taboo, and it is the last thing to say in this situation—even if it is the truth.

Elle exploded on the spot: "You understand? What do you understand?!" She slammed Griffith's hand away, forgetting to step on the gas pedal, the car body shook violently, and Griffith grabbed the armrest nervously.

Elle was shouting, illogical, chaotic shouting.She didn't want to express anything, but simply vented.Anger, sadness, anxiety, loneliness...everything that has haunted her since the morning she opened her eyes again, everything that made her unbearable.

Griffith listened pale.

This cry usually appeared in his nightmares and hallucinations.

"I know." He retorted slowly in a normal tone, "I know."

——It’s like talking to someone who doesn’t exist.

"I can see, I don't know why, what the victim sees, hears, and feels, I can understand everything." Griffith lowered his head and fiddled with the bracelet, "Nelson thinks it's talent, I think it's torture."

"He asked me to come to BAU, hoping that I can exercise myself, but I don't want to exercise this, I want to lose it. I am not strong, I can't bear it, I..."

He was in a trance and couldn't tell the truth from reality. He didn't know when Elle's hysteria stopped, and the dizzying shouts were still in his ears.He remembered the last woman who had yelled at him, Sally.That beautiful girl has a gentle fiancé, a strict father, and a... cold sister.

Twins have inductions that cannot be explained by science. After Sally's sister Anne had an accident, Sally asked him out of control.The first time he confided his sincerity was to save his ears.

"Since you want to escape, why did you do this?" Elle asked.

Griffith didn't look at her.

Elle doesn't know she's asking the same thing as Sally, but Griffith does.He seemed to think it was a dream, so he answered without hesitation: "Because I want to find someone."

The author has something to say: Elle's departure has always made me regretful. An excellent police detective has completely degenerated into a criminal, just like seeing an angel fall into hell.I want to give her a better ending.

Thank you for the landmine of honey-soaked cherry blossoms and milk cakes (^__^)