24.) Ability Loss

* ~ Melanie ~ *

As time passes, I've started seeing a trauma counselor, who has been helping me tremendously; along with my physical therapy that's starting to show a lot of progress. I still have good days and bad days, but mostly good days and I feel as if everything is slowly but surely going back to normal.

I have an amazing support system, not to mention the cutest emotional support dog, that Rossi ended up getting for me. I didn't think I needed one, but Stella has brought me so much comfort and I feel so much safer with her around.

"Okay...I can do this. I can do this..." I whisper to myself, as my hand hovers over my mom's necklace. With everything that has been going on, I recently started to notice that whenever someone touches my hand, I don't see or feel anything like I used to. "I can't do it!"

"Yes you can, you've got this!" My Dad said, his voice comes out calmly from my laptop. We've been in constant communication since he found out about the incident, not to mention that we've been getting to know one another as well. He wants to make up for not being there for me for all these years, even though I don't blame him for it. He didn't know about me and I didn't know who he was.

"What if it doesn't work? What if I lost the gift?"

"You didn't lose it, Mel, it's still there. I'm sure of it. Just take a deep breath and concentrate." I nod my head and take a deep breath, feeling Stella nudge me with her nose, letting me know that she's here. I scratch behind her ears, calming myself down, before I reach down and grab the necklace without hesitation. I braced myself for the horrifying images of my mother's murder, but...nothing happened. No visions, no...nothing. "Well?"

"Nothing happened." I whispered, as tears filled my eyes. "Nothing happened! It's gone! My ability is gone!" I shriek, not knowing if I was happy about this or sad. Maybe both? I'm not sure. "Wait, what does this mean? How could it just be gone?"

"I'm not sure. This is...unusual, but don't worry. You're still healing and maybe that's why nothing is happening yet." He says, trying to assure me. "Let me do some research and see if I can find any answers, because this is unusual indeed, but don't get discouraged. Everything is going to be okay." He sounds so sure of himself, but I'm not sure.

"Okay. Talk soon." We hang up and I grab the necklace again, in hopes that something would happen, but again...nothing did. "What the hell?" This has never happened before, but then again...I barely used my abilities beforehand, so how would I really know?

I get up and put away my mother's necklace, preparing to take Stella for a walk, until my phone starts to ring. It's Hotch, which can only mean one thing. He needs me for a case, but...how do I explain my situation? Especially when I don't even understand it.

"Hey Hotch, what's up?" I answer, trying to sound as normal as possible.

"Hello. We're working a case, that will require all hands on deck. Are you up for it?" He asked, sounding a lot more serious than usual.

"Um...yeah, of course, what's the case?"

"We'll discuss that when you get here. See you soon." And with that, he hangs up. I furrow my eyebrows and look at Stella, who is looking back at me, probably wondering what the hell is happening.

"Looks like we're headed to work, Stella girl." I say, petting her head again, before I get up and start getting ready.

*

I arrive at the BAU shortly after speaking with Hotch, and I am immediately greeted by everyone.

"Welcome back!" Emily smiles, hugging me tight. "Well, I know you're not officially back, but it is good to see you."

"It's good to see you too." I say, as Morgan wraps me in a huge bear hug. I groan and laugh a little, as he lets me go.

"There she is! How's your hand, kid?" Morgan asks me, as we all make our way into the briefing room.

"Still a work in progress, but it's getting better." I assure him, with a small smile. I don't want to tell him or anyone else that I've probably lost my ability, so for now...I'll fake a smile and pretend that everything is alright. It's worked so far for me anyways.

As we walk into the debriefing room, Hotch, Rossi, Reid, and JJ are already there as Hotch states at a video that's playing on the TV screen in front of him.

"Don't get comfortable. There'll be time to debrief on the plane." He says, his tone extremely serious.

"Where are we headed?" Reid asks, as I go to stand next to him.

"New York."

"Five shootings in two weeks, it's about time we got the call." Rossi voiced, looking almost as serious as Hotch does.

"I want to take Garcia with us. We need all hands on deck and hopefully they'll give us access to their surveillance systems."

"What do we know?" Prentiss asks.

"All the killings are mid-day. Single gunshot to the head with a .22." He says.

"Any witnesses?" I ask.

"No."

".22-Caliber pistol's only 152 decibels. New York streets and subways are routinely well over 100. It could be people aren't even registering the gunshot, until the unsub's already leaving the scene." Reid says, furrowing his eyebrows slightly.

"They sound like mob hits." Morgan adds.

"Except none of them have ties to organized crime." Hotch says.

"Do they have any connection to each other?" Prentiss asks.

"None they've found."

"How about communication with the police? Has the unsub tried to make contact?" I ask.

"Surveillance cameras have captured video of three of the murders. This is the latest." He says, showing us a video of a man standing in the subway, as a hooded figure comes up behind him and shoots him in the head. The unsub is bold indeed, but I'm confident that we can solve this case. Even without my ability, I'm confident that I don't need it to solve a case, otherwise...I may need to rethink my career choices.

Once the debriefing was over, Hotch made it clear that we had to leave ASAP, so I quickly go to my car so that I can retrieve my go bag. Everything was moving so fast and I barely had time to catch my breath.

"Hey." I hear someone say, as I jump and quickly turn around. It was just Spencer.

"Gosh, you scared me!" I say, as I close my trunk.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to sneak up on you. Is everything alright?" He asks, as I nod my head.

"Everything is fine." He gives me that look, which means he doesn't believe a word coming out of my mouth. "Don't look at me like that."

"Hey, are you sure you're up for this? You know you don't have to come if you aren't ready." He gently places his hand on my cheek and caresses it.

"I know. I'm fine to tag along and help out, but it's just...it's just that..." I sigh, as I take a deep breath. "I think I lost my ability."

"That's not possible. Why do you think that?" He asks me.

"I've been touching things for days now and nothing has happened. I even touched my Mom's necklace and nothing. I've been talking to Stanley about it, and we both believe it has to do with my injury."

"I agree. Usually when someone has a psychic ability, they'll never lose it, but when something traumatic happens in their life then the ability might soften."

"Soften?" I questioned, look at him.

"Yes. Psychic abilities soften, which is often because something personal is happening in your life that requires your full undivided attention or you've entered into another phase, the next level up and you won't need to perceive what you were previously perceiving there." He explains.

"Okay, you've lost me." He laughs a little and grabs my hand, which causes me to see a flash of...something. It's blurry, but I can hear someone yelling and screaming and a childlike voice. I quickly pull my hand away and gasp.

"What? What is it? Did you see something?"

"I...I heard something, but I couldn't see anything. It was all blurry, as if I had lost my sight or something." I explained to him. He opens his mouth to speak, but the entire team comes out and it's time to leave. "Please, don't tell anyone about this. Not until I can understand it better myself."

"You're secret is safe with me." He assures me.