Red Letter Year

_nextboldmove_ @ 2010-10-19T10:19:00

2010-10-19T15:19:08Z

Title: Crossfire 9/?

Rating: FRT (series overall FRAO)

Pairing: Morgan/Reid

Summary: Derek is weary of Gideon, while Spencer is welcoming. But with Gideon comes more mystery, and another visit from The Nightmare Killer.

ConCrit: Better than Reid’s boy band haircut. Wait, nothing’s better than that :)

SPOILERS: Some canon from all seasons, but not always in the way it happened on the show.

*I may have injected some of my criticisms of how criminal risk assessment and profiling is used by the FBI into this story (via Garcia). Just a head’s up :)

*I know I keep saying that I will be turning out more chapters, and I want to finish this story because I’ve had the outline (and conclusion of the saga) lined up since before AJ got fired (spoiler???) and I want to wrap it up. Just...grad school is hard. Behavior Analysis is hard...they only make it look easy on TV cuz they are doing it wrong ;)

~~~

Disclaimer: I don’t own any rights or trademarks to Criminal Minds, the FBI, CBS or any of the characters within. No infringements of these copyrights are intended. Any similarities between original characters therein are a coincidence. I make no profit from the following fictional story. (Fictional, maybe, but I swear this happened all in my head).

~~~

The following afternoon, BAU offices at Quantico, WV

Agent Derek Morgan

I don’t like the way my skin crawls. It’s been crawling since I left Chicago. It feels like tiny little spiders are running races over my body, pausing only to laugh at me. This unsub is purposely playing with us, and its working. I turn around to see Spencer standing awkwardly in the elevator behind me. There’s a few other agents and employees in this elevator, or I’d say something. I feel like, since I got the call from my family, that I’ve completely ignored his support and care. It makes my skin crawl all the worse.

We get off on our floor and make a beeline to the round table room, where the team is gathered. They look tired. While Spencer and I were on the plane on the way to Chicago, they were having their families put into protective custody. Garcia is chewing on her lip, barely focused on her laptop computer screen as she types away.

“Hey momma,” I approach her calmly, putting my hands on her shoulders.

“I swear I’m going to kick this Nightmare Killer’s ass...I have no idea where my daughter OR my husband are!”

“I know Garcia, I’m sorry, we’ll catch him.”

“At least they are safe,” Reid says. “The safest they can be. And together.”

“My girl still needs her momma.”

I turn to look at Hotch. “We’ve got nothing from Chicago.”

“That’s not a surprise,” Gideon interjects.

I look him up and down. He’s dressed the way he used to dress, I guess some things never change. He doesn’t seem to have changed much at all. He’s still taking command, when he isn’t the leader of the team. I suppose it’s only been a few years, expecting him to have changed that much is unrealistic. That’s when I notice...

“Why does Gideon have a weapon?” I ask.

“He’s certified to carry, and Strauss gave him clearance, considering our unsub is targeting us he needs to be armed,” Hotch says.

I look to Gideon. “I suppose next you’ll be telling us what to do.”

“I’m only here to help.” He says, with that familiar smug grin on his face. I want to smack it off.

“I’m not so sure.”

“Derek, come on, when is the last time you ate anything?” Garcia touches my arm. “You’ve had a very long day.”

“I’m fine.”

“Agent Morgan, go with her,” Hotch says with authority.

“We have a case,” I retort. But the look on his face tells me that I better listen to him. With a huff and an eye roll, I follow Garcia out of the room and to her office.

Once inside the safety of her technological den, she hands me a wrapped muffin from her desk and huffs. “Dammit Morgan why are you trying to pick fights with Gideon? We need all the help we can get. My baby is in some safe house somewhere in danger, and if you decide to have a pissing contest with him and something happens to her I will fucking kill you.”

“Uhm...okay Penelope. I understand.”

She hugs me. “I’m sorry I threatened to kill you, but dammit Derek you best not stand between a mother and her kid.”

I kiss the top of her head. “Got it Mamma.”

She moves to her desk. “I’ve been doing just about every matrix, database, program I can think of to find any potential link in these cases. I’ve compiled all the data I possibly can and I just can’t seem to crack it.”

“It’s not a code,” I reply, taking a big bite of muffin.

“But maybe it is.” She beings to feverishly type on one of her many keyboards. “You guys look at the behavior, the scenes, and you totally make inferences based on other cases, right? Let’s face it, what you do is an art, not a science. Just because other serial killers wet their beds and tortured little kittens doesn’t mean this one did, or that those behaviors caused them to be serial killers. You can infer all you want to, but at the end of the day it’s just a guess, there’s no science behind it. And there are plenty of bed wetters that don’t grow up to gut women and hunt FBI agents.”

“True, but...”

“So, if you are looking at the art of it and getting nowhere, I’ve gotta come in and look at the science of it. Somewhere there is a connection, there is something concrete that can help us nail the bastard. I gotta find it.”

I pat her on the shoulder. “I hope you’re right.”

“Me too cupcake. Now get back in there and if you fight with Gideon I’ll cut your nuts off and Reid will have nothing to play with.”

Not that he’s playing with them at all, I want to retort, but now is not the time to get into that discussion. “Garcia, did you know where Gideon was this whole time?”

“What? Why?” She stops typing.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t try to track him down.” I give her a puppy dog eyes look. “Right after he left.”

“I couldn’t find him for almost six months,” she says quietly. “When I did find him, I didn’t want to tell anyone, I didn’t want it to get back to Reid. I thought it was just best to let him go and move on.”

“Good choice. Do you think Reid would have gone to try to find him?”

She shrugs. “He was messed up after Tobias Hankel. Who knows what he would have done. I was just trying to protect my genius.”

“Would you do me a favor? Don’t tell Hotch?”

“Geez Derek now is not the time...”

“Can you look into what Gideon’s been up to? It’s related to the case, he was targeted by our unsub for a reason, right? Maybe you can plug his information into your databases...”

“Why am I keeping this from Hotch?”

“Because he’ll think I’m just on a witch hunt.”

“Are you?”

I stand up and toss the muffin wrapper in the trash can. “I’m trying to find a serial killer and if dissecting Gideon’s time away from us is what I have to do, I’m going to do it.”

~~~

That evening at Dr. Reid’s home

Dr. Spencer Reid

“I don’t have much variety to drink, I’m sorry,” I walk into my kitchen, leaving Gideon to be stared down by Taffy and Sally.

“Tea?” He calls out.

“Sure,” I fill the kettle and put it on the stove. I walk back into the living room to see the cats sitting on the armchair, staring at Gideon like he’s not to be trusted. I wonder if they know something I don’t. Or do. I’m not sure. “Taffy and Sally.”

“When did you get cats?”

“I wanted cats, I just liked the idea of someone to come home to.”

“You could starting dating. Find yourself a good woman.” He settles onto the couch. “You are capable of it.”

“I’m...well, I’m sort of involved with someone.” I sit next to him. “I mean, it’s overly complicated is all.” I want to bite my tongue, wishing I hadn’t given him that much information.

“It’s only complicated because you make it that way. How’s your mother?”

“She was okay before she got taken into protective custody, I had to spend the whole flight on the phone with her, but then Derek talked to her and she seems okay.”

“Derek?”

I bite my lip. “I think I’m going to get some sleep. You need to call a cab to the hotel?”

“Actually, I don’t think it’s a good idea for any of us to be alone. I don’t mind taking the couch,” Gideon smiles at me. “I know Morgan is staying with Prentiss, JJ and Garcia are sharing a hotel room nearby and Hotch is no doubt pulling an all-nighter with Rossi.”

I stand up. “There are plenty of linens and towels for you in the hallway closet, please help yourself. I’m going to sleep.”

“Spencer, you know why I left right?”

I look him straight in the eye. “Yeah, I didn’t really figure it out for a long time, not until recently, but I get it. I don’t blame you.”

“Tough case?”

“I was kidnapped, raped, nearly killed. I watched...” I swallow. “It seems like a repeating cycle, just when I think I can do this, and one more bad guy is gone, ten more pop up in their place and they all have a gun pointed straight at me.”

“I read about the case in Deep Lake, where several federal agents were ambushed by rouge environmentalists that had been murdering and stealing from local campers. Was that the team?”

“Yes, it was us. JJ got shot, Prentiss was practically gutted, they slashed her throat and it’s only a miracle she can talk as well as she can now.” And you were high and thought you shot someone but you didn’t, not like you will let yourself absorb that and move on. “I was in the middle of the woods in a snow storm, I almost died. Rossi and Morgan came out there and found me. But we got them.”

“Is that all that matters though?” Gideon stands up. “I used to believe that too, that the outcome was worth the pain and suffering we took. That our sacrifices only had meaning if we got the right person to pay for what they did, if we took someone off the streets and gave a grieving family some closure. But what about you Spencer? What good can you be to anyone if you are just a shell of who you should be? That’s a lesson I learned. I’m nothing if I’m not Jason Gideon. This job took me away from myself and turned me into a machine. It wasn’t fair to anyone, especially to me. Anyway, I think it’s time to get some sleep.”

“Or at least try,” I manage to smirk.

“It shouldn’t have to be that way.”

I disappear down the hall into my bedroom and close the door behind the cats. I’m starting to think Gideon is right, that maybe pulling myself too thin is doing more harm to the people I’m helping than good. I was so broken that I got high on a case and cost a man his life. For what? Because I was using drugs to try to hold myself together?

I change and slide into my bed, instantly joined by Taffy and Sally. I haven’t slept well in a few days, not that I ever really slept well anymore. Not since I joined the FBI. Is this the reason Elle left too? She started to realize that she couldn’t only be SSA Elle Greenaway? I’ve thought about quitting, but I’ve decided to come back. I felt empty, somehow lost when I was teaching in Las Vegas, because I was so used to this job. Maybe if I really did leave the FBI, I could have enough time to adjust.

Or perhaps it’s too late. I either crack or die. Which one is worse?

I don’t get a chance to think about it, my phone rings. Derek. “Hello?”

“You okay? Prentiss and I could come get you.”

“I’m fine, Gideon is here. He insisted on staying on my couch.”

I hear a loud sigh on the other end. “At least he’s armed.”

“Why does Gideon bother you?”

“Because he only bothers to show up when the unsub targets him. Are feeling okay? We could come over anyway.”

“No, get some sleep. Did you contact the Marshal’s?”

“See, there you go with that big brain of yours reading my mind, yeah, I did and of course they gave me nothing. Like they are trained. But they did say that they only report to the lead on each case when there is a problem, and I called Hotch and he said he heard nothing.”

“It’s nights like these that I do miss you,” I mutter, laying back down. “It was nice not to be alone in this bed.”

“You know, if we figure this out, you never have to be alone again Spencer.”

We. He didn’t place blame nor take the entire burden. He said we. “Derek, I think Gideon was right. I need to put down this job and be myself. And I can be with you, and be happy, because I’ll be me. Do you know how many times I’ve nearly quit? I wasn’t going to come back after I was done with the undercover job. I was going to move back to Vegas and be with mom and I was scared of only one thing...leaving you.”

“Spencer, I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Then get some sleep, so I can see your bright smile in the morning. Okay? Tomorrow night Gideon stays at the hotel. I’m coming home.”

“Good.”

We say goodbye and a close my eyes.

Five hours later

“Reid?”

I wake up to my name being whispered, it’s coming from my doorway. It’s Gideon. “Yeah, did I sleep through my alarm?”

“No, I uhm, I was going to head downstairs and see if I left something in my rental car when I saw something taped to the outside of your door.” He hands it to me, a piece of paper already in a Ziploc bag. “Hotch and forensics are on the way.”

It’s a copy of the painting, just like at the crime scenes. Except a picture of a face has been cut out and glued over the face of the woman.

Elle.

_nextboldmove_ @ 2010-09-12T15:32:00

2010-09-12T20:32:20Z

Title: Crossfire 8/?

Rating: FRT (series overall FRAO)

Pairing: Morgan/Reid

Summary: The Nightmare Killer changes his MO and makes it personal...

ConCrit: Better than Reid’s boy band haircut. Wait, nothing’s better than that :)

SPOILERS: Some canon from all seasons, but not always in the way it happened on the show.

I know this was a LONG TIME coming, and I hope to turn out chapters faster now. Grad school was so much harder than I thought. But I do get to write the story in a notebook longhand during work, I just gotta find time to type it up :) Thanks for baring with me!

~~~

8:19 that night at Prentiss’s apartment

Agent Derek Morgan

“Do you think Reid is onto something?” Emily asks me before putting another fork of pasta in her mouth. We managed to make an actual meal. Fettuccine Alfredo with sauce out of a jar, and some frozen broccoli and chicken we cooked up. It’s been so long since I had a hot home-cooked meal that I forgot food could actually taste good.

“With what?” I reply, taking a sip of milk.

“The constellation, the arbitrary points. What if our unsub sees himself as an artist? His victims are just arbitrary points.”

“That would explain the fact that only two of the victims in any way are similar, and even that can be chalked up to chance.”

“Did you call Reid?”

“No. He’ll be mad if I do.”

“What happened last night? You didn’t come back, I checked my security system log.”

“I stayed the night.”

“Did you bang?”

“Emily!”

“What?” She smiles. “Okay, sorry. Did you have sex?”

“No. It’s, strange. He’s still unsure about himself and his undercover experience. Part of me wonders if something happened out there, something he may have not even debriefed.”

“He may have changed, but the two of you have a bond so tight that it would take God moving the planets and shaking you off the face of the earth to break that bond.”

“That doesn’t really make sense Emily.”

“You sound like him.”

“Take that back.”

She finishes her last bite and stands up. “I cooked, you do the dishes.”

“Take it back!” I call after her as she leaves the room. Smiling to myself, I finish my last few bites and grab the dishes.

There isn’t much, just a pan, a pot and our dishes. I run the hot water and think about what Emily said. Is our relationship that strong? It must be, because he recognizes that he still has feelings for me. They are driving him enough to attempt to fix himself. If he didn’t love me, he wouldn’t care enough. Unless he feels like he owes me something. I hope he doesn’t.

I’m just about to wash the first dish when my cell rings. It’s my mother. I better answer. “Hi Ma.”

“Derek, baby, it’s been too long since I last heard from you. Are you working?”

“No, I’m at Emily Prentiss’s house cleaning up after dinner.”

“You and Emily?”

“No, just dinner. We have a local case and we were working on it.”

“Oh. I thought maybe you decided to dip your pen in the company ink.”

“Ma, that’s not the kinda thing your baby boy wants to hear out of your mouth,” I smile, nearly dropping the plate I’m washing.

“I’m sorry. Your sisters and I are wondering when you’ll get to visit again. We miss you. Oh! Maybe we could come to DC for Christmas. I hear it’s very beautiful, they light up stuff and it would be really neat to finally see where you live.”

“Trust me, you think Chicago winters are brutal? Come in the spring when everything is really nice and warm.”

I hear some mumbling in the background and the sound of my sisters talking. “Speak of the she-devils!”

I hear my scuffling and Sarah comes on the phone. “You shut your mouth Derek! Butthead.”

“Did you hit your head? Did you forget I carry a gun? Don’t mess with me, turd muncher.”

“You’re gonna get it!” She laughs back. “Hold on,” I can tell she partially puts her hand over the receiver but I can still hear her talking. “What? What flyer? Creepy as hell...okay Derek I’m back.”

“Wait, what are you talking about?” I ask, setting a plate in the drying rack where chances are it’ll collect dust and have to be washed again before it’s used next.

“Ma just got a creepy looking flyer in the mail is all. Anyway Derek, when are you coming out here?”

I stop washing dishes and my stomach feels like it fell out of my body and plopped on the floor. “Sarah, what did the flyer look like?”

“Oh, it was just this paper folded and taped up. It was like one of those old paintings, but creepy, it had a lady on it with this ghoul thing and a horse...anyway I told Des to toss it. No more changing the sub...”

“Sarah, listen to me very carefully,” I take a deep breath. “Lock up the house right now. I will call 911 and have police and local agents sent to the house until I get there.”

“What? What’s going on?” She sounds scared.

~~~

Two hours and fifteen minutes later in Chicago, IL

Dr. Spencer Reid

I straighten my tie as I climb in the back of the local FBI SUV. Hotch sent me with Derek to check on his family. Derek told me what happened on the short flight out here, and his mother and sisters have been in protective custody since he got the call they got the photocopy.

I keep staring at a fax of the photocopy that all three women received in the mail. The locals faxed it to us while we were in the air. Printed address labels, the originals only dusted for prints, but so far the prints run check out with all known postal employees and the Morgan’s. Most likely wore gloves. Or he’s a member of the postal service. Highly doubtful. But what we already know is that the letter must have originated in Washington DC, because one of the fingerprinted employees works there. Garcia already determined, in her sleepy voice, that the office where she traced it back too would include the route that our latest victim’s apartment is on. He probably dumped these in the nearest mailbox.

“How are they?” Derek asks the local agent who picked us up.

“The home is surrounded by undercover agents, and there are two plain-clothes agents inside, posing as dates for your sisters if the unsub is watching,” the agent says. We are riding in an unmarked SUV with no lights. The field office listened to Hotch. I’m rather impressed. “We are in constant contact, your family is safe Agent Morgan.”

“You understand why we can’t tell you the details of the case?” I ask.

“Agent Hotchner explained to me that I was to take orders directly from you and Agent Morgan and to not let Agent Morgan’s family come to any harm. That’s all I need to know to complete my objective sir.”

I want to put my hand on Derek’s shoulder to reassure him, but even if we were alone I don’t think it would be such a good idea. He just spent the last two days looking at some horrific crime scenes and reading autopsy reports. There’s nothing that can take that image out of your head. Nothing.

We get to his mother’s house but pull down two blocks. Derek nearly jumps out of the car. “Wait,” I call out. “You’re jacket and hat!” I remind him. He grabs puts them on and casually walks out of the door and towards his mother’s home. Each step he takes makes me want to cry, and through the earpiece communication he and I set up, I can hear his breathing. He’s terrified, even though he knows they are safe right now, he’s still upset. I am too.

I lean back and close my eyes, attempting to remember what the home looks like. It’s been a long time since I was here. I can picture the wallpaper, the furniture, the clocks and pictures on the walls. The way the carpet and the tile felt under my shoes. My memory works best with what I read, and even with what I hear and see, but those tactile sensations are different. I don’t remember those any better than anyone else. I couldn’t tell anyone the texture of the carpet in my childhood home, but I can recall the way I sink into the carpet in the hallway of Derek’s childhood home.

I hear Derek knock on the door and his mother answer and usher him inside. “Oh Derek,” she says. “Are your sisters going to be safe?”

“I won’t let anyone hurt any of you, I swear,” he replies in a stern voice. “Ma, we’re putting all of you into a safe house.”

I hear a big sigh from her. “This is serious then?”

“I’m so sorry,” he manages to whisper. “So sorry.”

“I’ll just pack my things.”

“No, Ma, if you are seen with luggage...okay. Tonight Reid and I are going to stay here and hopefully whoever is doing this will come here tonight looking for you. We’ll be there to get him. The agents will get you anything you need, so please don’t hesitate to ask. No phone calls, not even to me. Please?”

“Okay Derek.” I hear some rustling, they must be hugging. “Your father would be so proud of you sweetheart.”

Fifteen minutes later, his family is gone. Whisked away by undercover agents to a safe house that not even we are allowed to know the location. At least Hotch knows. I take off my shoes at the door, as Ms. Morgan would prefer, and take my back into the living room. Derek is standing at the mantle over the fireplace, staring a picture of the family taken years ago. His father is standing proud, smiling, with his arm around a young Derek.

“They’ll be okay,” I say quietly. “The unsub isn’t going to hurt them.”

“You don’t know that,” he says quietly yet firmly.

“He’s testing us. Chances are he’s still in DC, perhaps even with another victim right now,” I suppress the urge to get up and put my hand on his back. We are in a holding pattern in terms of our relationship, if we even have one, and now is not the time to test that pattern. “That’s why the rest of the team stayed behind. We can’t even be certain he didn’t just pay some kid to deliver it.”

“So what do I do?”

“Your job.”

He turns around. “Are you hungry? Ma said there’s leftovers in the fridge and we should help ourselves.”

“I’m fine.”

“I’ll get you a pillow and a blanket, you should get some rest,” he moves down the hall and quickly returns with both, setting them on the couch next to me.

I consider telling him to do the same but I know that he won’t. Since the house is under surveillence, I don’t even bother asking Derek to sit with me on the ouch. I adjust the pillow against the arm in an attempt to get comfortable while I think about the case.

“MOONSHINE!” Strawberry twirls before falling onto the sleeping bags in our tent. We are in Colorado. I can smell the woods, and the river nearby. Up in the mountains, protesting mountaintop removal. I remember that I used to be scared of the woods. Not me, Dr. Reid. But I don’t remember why. I hope he forgets too. It’s only been three months since Autryville. The last mining protest we did.

“Goooood stuff,” I slur, laying next to her. “I like this. Just sssimple protest. No hidden agendas.”

“I should have KNOWN Barry was fucked up,” she says, “he was fucking ROUGH.”

“Did he hit you?”

She laughs. “Nah, but he was hard in bed. Angry like. Half the time he couldn’t get it up!” She sniffles. “I can’t believe what he did. Hank told me. I didn’t know...he blew up Persephone. He was the one killing those girls.”

“I’m glad the feds stopped him.” I yawn big. I am. Barry was bad news.

“Yeah, but now they are WATCHING us. Every time we show up somewhere, there are men in suits. Big Brother, Loki, Big Fucking Brother. You know, that’s why Hank gets us new cars and shit all the time, because they bug the cars. GPS. BUG THE CARS!”

I roll over to face her, feeling woozy from the alcohol. Of course the main car, the one we travel in with Hank, is GPS bugged. So Ringer can find me. He’s following me. Following Dr. Reid. “You’re beautiful. Why would you even fuck Barry?”

“I believed,” she rolls over, her face mere inches away from mine. “I believe in you. You wouldn’t be rough.”

She leans in to kiss me. She’s soft, warm, and the moonshine on her lips is sharp. She puts her hand on the back of my next and pulls me closer. I kiss her back. A good kiss is a good kiss. But this is crossing a line that I can’t cross. That Loki can’t cross.

I pull away. “I’m gay, Ber.”

She fake-pouts. “Of course. Ya know...Conor is gay.”

“I think it’s a BADDDD idea to get involved right now.” I roll onto my back. “If we get raided and split up again...if something happens...”

“Well, if it matters Loki, you kiss gooooooood...”

My eyes shoot open in a panic. I fell asleep? Not good, not now. I turn my head to see Derek sitting in the arm chair across the room. He’s bent over, his face hidden in his hands.

“Derek, sorry, I fell asleep,” I sit up and stretch.

“It’s okay,” he replies, not looking up. “You know, I saw my Dad get murdered.”

“Yeah,” I reply softly.

“I thought it was ketchup,” he looks up at me, puffy eyes and a sad face. Even at his worst, I have never seen him this vulnerable. It scares me. “The blood. I went to get a candy bar...I haven’t thought about that night for years. It’s funny, I can’t remember what happened between the time I saw him shot and the funeral. I never was able to tell the cops a thing. I couldn’t even catch the man who killed him.”

He’s expecting me to tell him it’s not his fault and that he was just a kid. Both things he’s heard before. “You’ve taken such good care of your family.”

He furrows his brow just a little. “Not enough.”

“I know you feel responsible for this, but you can’t change that now and as hard as you try, you can never absolutely prevent harm from coming to them. Strawberry used to say that things happen, its the cost for the privilege of life. But its up to us to live it.”

He lets a small smirk sneak out of the corner of his mouth. “That is kinda circular for your taste.”

“I guess so,” I let out another yawn.

“What was it like? I mean, in your life you are free to let your smarts show...”

“You tease me.”

“Because I love you.”

I smile. “It was hard at first. I bit a hole in my cheek in the first week. Strawberry noticed and gave me some oil on a rag to tuck in there at night.”

“Have you tried to contact her since the case ended?”

I shake my head. “The case is done. And the look on her face when the raid...”

“You two obviously had something, I think you should try.”

“I didn’t have sex with her,” I retort.

“Did she want to?”

I laugh. I know it’s just a coincidence, the dream and all. “She tried, I said I was gay.”

He laughs. “You know, I get it. I mean, going from one life to another.” He gets up and sits next to me on the couch. “That’s what I feel like. When I joined the BAU, I left this life behind.”

“You didn’t leave...”

“Not my family, myself. I became a new person, but that old Derek is still there. No matter what I do.”

“Maybe we should both try to stop separating the two and combine them. I think my therapist had it wrong.”

He laughs. “You should get your PhD in psych.”

“I’m not personable enough.” I smile again, feeling warm. “You know that they are going to be okay.”

“So are you,” he puts his hand on my shoulder. “So, should we talk about the Gideon-sized elephant in the room?”

“I’m done being angry,” I sit up, warm feeling gone instantly. “I’m starting to realize that he left to spare us. Spare me. He knew he was having a breakdown and didn’t want to put me through that. It was the best option.”

“Major depressive episode,” Derek corrects.

_nextboldmove_ @ 2010-08-23T11:24:00

2010-08-23T16:24:47Z

Title: Crossfire 7/?

Rating: FRT (series overall FRAO)

Pairing: Morgan/Reid

Summary: An unexpected guest comes to the BAU and the investigation gets more interesting.

ConCrit: Better than Reid’s boy band haircut. Wait, nothing’s better than that :)

SPOILERS: Some canon from all seasons, but not always in the way it happened on the show.

~~~

The next morning at Reid’s apartment

Dr. Spencer Reid

I’m standing over my kitchen counter, sipping my first cup of terrible coffee while listening to Taffy and Sally crunch on their morning meal. Derek’s still asleep in the bedroom, and that’s fine, I woke up nearly an hour before I needed to.

There’s a part of me that knew even if I did quit the FBI, I could never really leave him behind. Not at all. There have only ever been two people in my life that have never willingly abandoned me, my mother and Derek. Even though my mother was sick, she never meant to hurt me and she never willingly left. Even on the days when she would make me wear a tinfoil hat and keep me home from school, she was still there.

Derek? Even in the beginning, when I annoyed the living hell out of him, he was someone I could trust with my life and he could trust me with his. Of course, its an element of the job, but ours always ran deeper. He was supportive, ready and strong. All the things that I needed, and still need, to find in myself. I take a deep breath and another sip of coffee as I hear bare feet padding from the bedroom to the bathroom. I want to be with Derek, but I don’t know how.

But I’m finally getting to a place where I realize I’m never going to be the same Dr. Spencer Reid I used to be and that it’s okay. Maybe I can learn how to love Derek, and myself. Hell, perhaps I’ll even wear a sweater vest and a tie today. Perhaps.

After several minutes, Derek emerges from the hallway. He’s wearing a different shirt than yesterday. He walks past me to pour himself a cup of coffee. The cats, who have noticed his presence, stop eating and start circling our feet.

“Where did you get the shirt?” I ask him softly.

“I was checking your drawers to see if I had left anything here and I found this.” He rubs a hand down his chest swiftly. “Good coffee.”

“Thanks. It was kinda funny, we made coffee with either a press or by those campfire coffee pots. The first time I made coffee when I got home I nearly forgot how.”

He gives me an odd look. “You forgot?”

“Nearly forgot,” I smile.

I feel like I’m suppose to move closer to him, let our arms wrap around each other and our lips touch, like that’s the only thing I should be doing. But yet, it’s not uncomfortable not to. I almost feel uncomfortable because of that reason. I take another deep sip off my coffee. “We have plenty of time before Hotch expects us. You could go home and change.”

He shrugs. “I’m fine. I’m thinking about going in early to catch up on some of the files.”

“I’m certainly not going back to sleep. How about you go ahead, I’ll find up some real coffee and breakfast and see you there?”

He smiles. “I can do that.” He pulls his wallet out and hands me a twenty. “But it’s on me.”

I take it. “Fine. Now get the hell out of here before Taffy and Sally lay their claws in and not let you leave.”

He sets his coffee mug in the sink and makes his way to the kitchen table where he set his gun and badge the night before. A few moments later I hear the door open and close and the cats meowing at Derek’s departure. I walk to my bedroom and search for a sweater vest to wear before grabbing Derek’s twenty off the kitchen counter and leaving the apartment.

When I get to the BAU I notice that Rossi and Hotch are in their own offices, and JJ is tucked in hers on her phone. I’m sure Garcia is here, she’s...no. She has a daughter now, chances are she doesn’t come in early anymore unless she’s ordered. I make my way towards the round table room where Derek and Prentiss are reading files.

I set down the cardboard cup holder and hand Derek the paper bag. “It’s a breakfast sandwich from that coffee shop down from my apartment.”

He reaches into the bag enthusiastically. “That place just opened a few months ago, they have great dinners. I’ll take you sometime.”

I turn to Prentiss. “I’m sorry, if I would have known everyone was here early...”

“That’s fine, I’m on a strict yogurt for breakfast diet anyway,” she stretches in her chair. “As if we get time to eat real meals anyway.”

“I’m going to heat up these coffees, I’ll be right back.”

Running through the case in my head, I make it to the break room and heat our morning drinks. Placing the cups back in the paper tray to avoid burning my hands, I leave the kitchen and head across the bullpen towards the round table room when I see someone standing at my desk. I know who it is before he turns around to face me.

“Hi Reid.” His smile is tight, as it used to be.

“Gideon?” I manage to say. I’m not even trying to hide my confusion. “What are you doing here?”

He holds up a piece of paper. “I need to talk to Hotch. Is he still leading the team?”

I swallow. “Yeah.” I notice the paper in his hand. “Wait, The Nightmare Killer?”

Gideon looks surprised. “I got this two days ago. Taped to my front door. A photocopy of the painting, but there were no murders. I suspect he may be coming back.”

“I’m sorry, the FBI has no comment,” I spit. “If you’d like to file a Freedom of Information Act request, you can go to the first floor clerk’s office and get the necessary paperwork.”

“Hotch signed for my Visitor’s pass, he requested I go to his office,” Gideon says, much colder than earlier. He moves past me and to Hotch’s office. I watch him disappear before I go back to the round table room.

I hand Morgan his coffee and sit in my chair, biting my lip so hard I know if I don’t stop it’ll will begin to bleed. I know Prentiss and Derek can tell I’m upset, and I am.

“You okay Reid?” Derek asks me. “If you need a moment...”

“Gideon is in Hotch’s office,” I whisper. Almost a minute of heavy silence goes by before I dare to speak. “The unsub sent him a photograph of the painting two days ago. I just saw him in the bullpen.”

Derek instantly reaches for me, but stops short and pulls his arm back. He looks at Prentiss for a moment before turning to me. “This changes the profile. He never reached out to law enforcement before...”

“In fact he pretty much ignored them,” Prentiss finishes. “Doesn’t make any sense.”

“So that would indicate that either this is someone who is angry with the BAU, and may be trying to recreate past open cases...” Derek starts.

“Or it’s the original unsub,” Hotch says as he walks into the room, with JJ, Rossi and Gideon following behind.

Prentiss and Derek both stand in offensive positions, square jawed. Like they are protecting me. Or themselves. I stay seated, because I’m trying to show that I don’t care that Gideon is here. Despite the fact that I do. I listen to Gideon brief the team about the photocopy that showed up at his home in West Virginia two days ago. He’s wearing an outfit like he would have when he was still working here. Everything about him is the same as it used to be. He’s still confident to the point of being cocky. He still thinks he’s the best person in the room, and we are all here to make him look like an effective leader even though technically he isn’t. But what’s bothering me the most of all is how unapologetic he is.

“Let me guess, Hotch,” I stand up. “Gideon’s being given civilization consult clearance.”

Hotch nods. “I’ve already spoken to Strauss. We think it’s crucial he be allowed to work this case in an official capacity. This way we can also protect him should our unsub come after him.”

“He could always run away, he’s pretty good at that,” I reply simply. “From what we could tell, our latest victim has no ties to the previous victims or investigators.”

Glossing over my remark, Derek clears his throat. “I think at this point our only hope is that he either reaches out to the press or he contacts us again.”

“Or, he leaves more clues at the next crime scene,” Gideon says. “We might be waiting for another body.”

“What do we do until then?” JJ asks.

“JJ, keep the media in the dark,” Hotch says. “Reid, I want you to work the angle of the painting. Find any possible correlation with any victim to any meaning or historical reference to the painting. Gideon and Rossi are going to continue to go over the original case and brief the rest of us at the end of the day. Our unsub is brutal, the chance of another body showing up today is very low.”

I’m the first one to leave the room.

~~~

5:54pm at the BAU office in Quantico

Agent Derek Morgan

“God damned case with no new leads,” Rossi says as he enters the round table room.

“The only new things we’ve got is the crime scene and the photocopy to Gideon,” Prentiss says. “This new murder, other than being more brutal than the rest, doesn’t really tell us much anyway.”

“No prints, other than mine,” Gideon walks back in, after having visited Garcia’s office.

JJ slams her pen on the table, having just hung up one in a long line of phone calls. “Apparently a neighbor told the press that our victim was in Witness Protection and wasn’t protected enough,” she rolls her eyes.

“The only thing we know is that we know everything we have on the murders.” Hotch rubs the back of his neck.

“This most recent murder was brutal, and couple with the unsub reaching out to Gideon it’s possible he’s escalated. There could be another body as we speak that just hasn’t been discovered yet,” I add.

“So what, we go public and put every woman on high alert? We create public panic and feed our unsub,” JJ says.

“He never fed from the media before, but now he wants attention. Maybe we should give it to him, go public,” Gideon says.

“I’m still not so sure,” Hotch says. “If this is a copycat we’re just feeding his ego and he’ll kill again.”

“It’s not a copycat,” Gideon asserts, almost angrily.

Reid walks into the room, the dark under his eyes very thick. “I went to the Smithsonian and spoke with an art historian.” He stands near the door, arms crossed over himself. “We video conference with a historian in Italy who told me everything they know about the paintings. There are some interesting things with the painting, but nothing I could tie to our victims. It’s possible the painting has significant meaning to our unsub however.”

“Such as?” Rossi asks.

Reid comes into the room and stands before the board containing all the information about the cases. “The painter, Fuseli, was the 2^nd of 18 children. His father, who was a painter, encouraged him to go into the church. He left the church after helping his friend, Johann Kaspar, expose an unjust magistrate. He then became the mentee of a portrait painter, Sir Joshua Reynolds, who encouraged him to go back to painting. He married a model, Sophie Rawlins, much to the disappointment of his lover Mary Wollstonecraft, a well known feminist of the time.”

“So we are looking for someone who identifies with Fuseli?” I ask.

“Perhaps, but it could be his work that our unsub identifies with. Fuseli favored the supernatural in his work. He’s an idealist who painted over 200 paintings but showed only a few. He had a technique for drawing of placing random points on a sheet of paper. He’d later use those points for extremities of his subjects. He likened it to creating a constellation from unconnected stars.” Reid takes a deep breath. He spoke a bit slower that he used to. Must be out of practice.

“You think he’s picking his victims at random and trying to make a pattern?” Prentiss asks.

“If he is, I can’t see it,” Reid replies. “But I’m going to keep looking. It’s very possible that even the unsub can’t see a pattern yet, or that whatever it is, it’s so specific that we won’t know until we catch him...”

“Or he makes a huge mistake.” I finish.

Hotch takes a deep breath. “Go home, get some food and sleep, we’ll keep working in the morning.”

“Hotch, why aren’t you going to the press? You could push him into panicking, making a mistake. He might hurry a crime scene and then you’d have something.”

“And create panic and distrust? We are supposed to protect the public, not put them in danger.” Hotch turns to the rest of us. “Go home.”

Gideon follows Hotch out the door, arguing the whole way to Hotch’s office.

~~~

Meanwhile, in Binghamton, NY

She’s asleep. Or at least she’s trying to convince me she’s asleep. I think she’s finally given up on trying to talk me down. She was one of the best at what she did, but I’m better at what I do. The best.

I pick her up and lay her on the bed. I already changed her into her final dress. I would have liked to spend more time with the former SSA Elle Greenaway, but they will be coming for her. They’ll want to see if she got a photocopy of the painting. Because Jason Gideon got one. That smart woman will track her down, and I’ve got to finish my job before they get here.

This is far from over.

They are going to come here, looking for former SSA Elle Greenaway, and I’ll be long gone. Somewhere else. I have eyes, I can see. They cannot. Still as clueless as they were before. Only even more so, because I’ve changed. Evolved is the word they would use.

Adapted is more like it.

_nextboldmove_ @ 2010-08-13T22:21:00

2010-08-14T03:21:49Z

Title: Crossfire 6/?

Rating: FRT (series overall FRAO)

Pairing: Morgan/Reid

Summary: While working on The Nightmare Killer case, JJ challenges Derek’s way of thinking. Spencer reaches out.

ConCrit: Better than Reid’s boy band haircut. Wait, nothing’s better than that :)

SPOILERS: Some canon from all seasons, but not always in the way it happened on the show.

~~~

6:47pm at the BAU offices in Quantico

Agent Derek Morgan

I return to the round table room with a fresh cup of coffee to see JJ sitting on the far side of the table with a laptop and headphones, intently watching something on the screen. She sees me and takes the headphones off. “Hi, uhm, do you mind? I was feeling a little claustrophobic in my office.”

“I don’t mind one bit,” I reply honestly, sitting back down in my seat. Prentiss had gone to the DC Police station to pick up the physical evidence that was collected in 1996. I heard that Hotch and Reid were still at the crime scene while Rossi went with the coroner to the morgue. Garcia is sifting through electronic files, tracking down current whereabouts of people interviewed in the original investigation. JJ is going through media reports. “What are you working on JJ?”

“I’m putting together a profile based solely on the media reports about the original case,” she scribbles on a notepad in front of her. “Hotch suggested it, I’ve never actually done it before. But if I can narrow down exactly what the media reported, it will help you determine if this is a copycat and better profile him.”

“I know you are a media liaison genius, but I’m sure if you went to a few more courses and lectures, Hotch would help you become a profiler. Hell, you practically do it already.”

She smiles. “I’ve been thinking about it. I know it’s something I can do well, but its so frustrating to dance around the laws and the amendment and...I’m starting to get bitter about the US Constitution. The very one I work to protect.” She shrugs and slips on her headphones. “I think it’s time for a change.”

I settle back into a victim’s file. Change. I could really use a change. I know Reid needs one. I saw him earlier, with the Visitor’s badge in his hand. He said he left his badge, but he was wearing it. Did he mean he left his badge at the office? The last time he was at the BAU office he had his badge, he needed it to leave the building. I’ve had this tumbling around my head all day while reading these files and I know Reid is leaving the FBI. It’s my intuition, he was planning on resigning today. Question is, would he be leaving not just the job, but the rest of us?

“Do you ever think about leaving the FBI?”

“All the time.”

I’m taken aback by her response. “Really?”

JJ sets down her pen and headphones and looks at me directly. “I felt so stupid for coming back after nearly being killed at Deep Lake. I really did hate myself for not quitting. It felt so stupid to go back. I kept thinking in my head that it was a woman who would get beaten by her husband. But she keeps going back because she needs to keep her family together.”

“It’s not like that,” I interject.

“In a way it is. We spend our time catching these people. This job is like that abusive husband.” She shrugs. “Yea, I supposed it’s a terrible analogy, but that’s how I felt for a long time. That I wasn’t seeing enough of a pay out for all the hard word and personal turmoil I was putting myself through day after day. It’s hard. But I came back. I still wonder why, and now why I’m eager to become a profiler. I know that I can’t really leave this job. I’m in too deep.”

“We are all,” I reply, looking back down at my file.

9:14pm at the BAU Offices

I set down my nearly empty carton of fried rice and stretch my arms above my head. Prentiss long ago came back with more things to read. Garcia printed off enough lists and files to kill a forest. JJ is still pouring over media coverage and doing an amazing job of juggling the current media blackout. Rossi and Hotch are pouring through the hand scribbled notes and making phone calls to agents who worked on the original case in their offices.

Everyone except Gideon. The one person who knows this case inside out. Reid comes back into the room with the charger for his laptop and an open mason jar with some strange green liquid in it. He sits down and takes a long sip of the substance.

“What the fuck is that?” Prentiss pips up from the small couch in the corner of the room, where she’s reading and trying to make herself comfortable.

“It’s a health drink. Spinach, lemon, apples, watermelon...whatever else. I add agave nectar. Blend and enjoy.” He smiles.

“Why?” I ask.

“We used to drink this a lot back at the camp,” he replies very smoothly. “We would get a lot of produce and sometimes we didn’t have enough room in the fridge so we’d blend it into drinks. Saved room. Strawberry and I would gather dandelion...” he stops mid-sentence. “Oh.”

“Reid, it’s okay if you want to drink it,” I say. “It’s not a bad thing.”

“No, I’m supposed to forget everything about Loki,” he grabs the jar and leaves the room in a huff.

“You shouldn’t have brought it up Emily,” I huff, suddenly feeling angry.

“What? If I hadn’t, you would.” She buries her nose in her file.

“He’s having a hard time, quit acting like a bitch.”

“Derek Morgan, I’m acting the way I always act. The best thing is for him to get back to normal.” She scoffs. “You better go after him.”

“Why? He doesn’t need that right now.”

“Yes he does,” JJ interjects. “It’s what you would always do. So go do it.”

Just as I get up, Hotch, Rossi and Reid come back into the room. Hotch stands, while Rossi and Reid find chairs. “What do we have so far?”

“January 3^rd, 1996, our first victim was found,” I point to the correlating ID on the board. “Last seen at a New Year’s party, she was beaten and raped, found posed on her back. She was wearing a white nightgown that, according to her family, she normally wouldn’t have worn. She was cut open, but her organs were otherwise undisturbed. She was brunette, 23 years old, a graduate student in psych at Georgetown.”

Prentiss stands. “January 29^th, 30 year old blonde retail clerk found in her apartment across town, same thing.”

“February 10^th, a 28 year old brunette. Valentine’s Day, 38 year old brunette,” Reid stands. “By March 22^nd, there were a total of ten women murdered. Same position, but all the victimology was different. Different body types, hair, careers, and ages ranging from 18 to 46. The original investigators were unable to piece together any correlation with victimology, other than they all lived in Washington DC, and they all worked or had main offices within walking distance from their homes.”

“Which means they were most likely targeted when they were walking on the streets. None of them lived or worked near each other, but with the exception of two women,” Rossi points to the February 10^th and 14^th victims. “They both walked to work, and the common paths they took intersected near a park. Gideon’s notes suggest the Valentine’s Day victim was one of opportunity.”

“He was dubbed The Nightmare Killer by the media after the third body showed up and an overzealous cop leaked the information about the photocopy,” JJ adds.

“There was evidence with the others that he may of stalked them for an unknown length of time,” I reply. “He always seemed to take them when they had gaps in their schedule, days off, no laid out social plans. He beat them and murdered them in their own apartments.”

“But none of the crime scenes were nearly as brutal as the latest,” Hotch pins some new pictures up. “Our victim was completely gutted, blood and organs found around the room, which was tossed. CSI is still trying to determine if the unsub did it alone or if it was collateral damage from a struggle with the victim.”

“She was raped with a hunting knife,” Reid winces.

“She had taken a few days off to use up her sick time before it expired,” Rossi adds. “Her last appointment was two days ago. She had made no concrete plans to see any of her friends or local family.”

“Is there anything on her victimology that correlates to the others?” Hotch asks.

“Not that we can find,” Prentiss says.

“I’ve been working on the media profile,” JJ says. “So far it looks like the detail of the nail was left out of the press, as well the fact the victims were beaten for any length of time. The extent of the beatings and murders wasn’t specified, but it doesn’t make it out to look as brutal as the latest. He didn’t leave DNA at the first ten scenes, and most likely didn’t at this one. He rapes either with a condom or a foreign object.”

“It’s possible he could be a copycat and the nail is just a coincidence,” I add. “We know that unsubs make the best profilers.”

“If it is the same unsub, we need to find out why the absence and why the escalation,” Rossi says. “The first time around, they couldn’t predict the next victim. We still can’t. He could be stalking his next victim. Anywhere in the city. Any woman who commutes to work by foot.”

“Even if we weren’t in a media blackout, we wouldn’t be able to warn the public without creating panic,” JJ says with a tired and frustrated sigh.

“This attack was very brutal, it could mean one of two things,” Prentiss says. “Either our unsub worked off some built-up steam from not killing for so long, or he’s escalated. We can’t predict if he’s going to kill again right away for wait another month, like the first time.”

“I’ve poured over the dates and locations, I can’t find any specific or meaningful patterns to the dates or the location or the victims. They could have meaning to the unsub,” Reid says.

Hotch sighs. “Go home, get some sleep. Stay safe, high alert. Be here at eight ready to go.”

A few of us gather some files, knowing the last person out will lock the room so that not even the cleaning crew comes in. It’ll take too much time to put everything away only to pull it out again in the morning. I’m cleaning up some empty cups and food containers as everyone leaves. Except Reid.

“Derek?”

I pause. “Yeah Spencer?”

He bites his lip and I can’t tell if he’s nervous or if it’s sexual. “I’m leaving the FBI after this case.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. “I figured.”

He looks shocked for a moment before shrugging. “I know I’m supposed to get back to being Spencer Reid, but I’m not that guy anymore.”

“I completely understand. You know I’m here for you, whether or not your are on the team.”

“Do you want to come over?” He asks. “I’m not going to sleep tonight and I thought maybe we could talk. I know this is a bad time, we should have talked sooner.”

“No, that’s alright. Let me pack up and we’ll go.”

Thirty minutes later

We get inside the door and the cats are pawing at my legs and meowing loudly. I don’t get a chance to pick them up because Spencer wraps his arms around my waist and rests his head on my chest. “I miss you.”

“I’m right here,” I hold him back, meowing cats be damned.

“I miss the people we used to be. Before Sticks, before Davenport, before everything.”

“This is going to sound terrible,” I breathe in his hair. “But I wish we could travel back in time. Even if we never knew what it was like to be together, you’d be safe and happy.”

He sighs deeply. “I’m so torn. I want to leave the FBI, but part of me wonders if I can.”

“Don’t think about it now, focus on the case.”

After several minutes of holding each other in the living room of his apartment, we slowly make our way to his bedroom. He changes into his sleeping clothes, in front of me, and slides into bed. Without my go-bag, I strip to my boxers and crawl into bed. We don’t touch, and it’s surprisingly comfortable. The cats are curling up around our legs and the sound of his breathing makes me feel like I’m home. For a moment, none of the bad is here.

“I didn’t kill Toby,” he whispers.

“No you didn’t.”

“I might as well have.”

“No.”

“Seems like it.”

“I wish you didn’t feel that way.”

“Me too.” He rolls over to face me. I can see his silhouette created by the dim streetlight peeking through the window. “Before everything. Maybe we would have fallen in love better.”

“We fell,” I smile, turning on my side to face him. “We didn’t have a choice.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Nope, not one bit. But we fell. The only thing that would make me give it up is to make you happy.”

He moves close to me. “Is it possible to love someone despite all the baggage?”

“I don’t think it’s despite of, I think it’s all inclusive.”

Spencer nuzzles close to me. “I want to be with you, but I don’t know how.”

I hold him close, feeling myself drift into sleep. “Neither do I.”

~~~

Meanwhile on an Amtrak train towards Washington DC

He knew that someday he would go back. Deep down he knew that it would be because of a case. One of those open ones. They had more open cases than they ever let on, and luckily most of them died out of public interest so fast that only the few obsessed crime junkies were the only ones that cared that they were still open. Even the families and victims chose to believe the unsub was identified, They chose to move on.

He chose to move on. Until he had nowhere else to move to. Then he ran away. Now he’s being pulled back, just like a yoyo that got to the end of it’s string. He had almost let himself think the string had broken, but he was just being walked. Some sort of cosmic amusement.

Just another chess game.

“Excuse me sir, the observation car is closing,” a young woman in uniform says gently. “You should return to your seat or your room.”

He looks up from the paper in his hands and smiles. “Yes, thank you.”

Gently folding the piece of paper and putting it in his pocket, he stands and moves towards the door, the employee following him to lock it behind them. Once he is in his seat he settles into the dark. Lets his eyes close.

The demons have a funny way of saying hello. Last night they came back the first time since he left. The nightmares assaulted him like children chasing after an ice cream truck. They were giddy, torturing him with all the ones that got away, all the faces of those who couldn’t.

But it the faces of the ones he left to deal with the demons that haunt the darkness the most.

_nextboldmove_ @ 2010-08-06T20:34:00

2010-08-07T01:34:13Z

Title: Crossfire 5/?

Rating: FRT (series overall FRAO)

Pairing: Morgan/Reid

Summary: Reid makes his choice.

ConCrit: Better than Reid’s boy band haircut. Wait, nothing’s better than that :)

SPOILERS: Some canon from all seasons, but not always in the way it happened on the show.

~~~

Two weeks later, 9:35am at the BAU offices in Quantico

Dr. Spencer Reid

I feel strange wearing jeans, a red plaid shirt and my FBI badge. I have a Visitor’s badge in my hand, because I’ll need it to leave. I’m resigning from the FBI today.

My therapist said I was ready to go back. She insisted I go back early. She thinks I’ve having ‘adjustment disorder.’ Isn’t that the understatement? I still haven’t thrown away Loki’s things, what little of them I have. I’ve only seen and talked to Derek the night he told me about Toby Bell, and I’ve seen Garcia and Jane just last night. I have been writing to my mother, but I’m afraid she’ll start to worry when she notices I’m not writing the same way I used to. My sentences are nothing like Spencer’s.

I bite the inside of my cheek as punishment for thinking that way.

I get to my desk safely, since nobody else is around. Did they take a case today? Maybe this will be easier than I thought. Meet with Strauss, give her my badge, leave a note for Hotch and walk away. A quick glance to the round table room reveals it’s empty. The lights in Hotch’s and Rossi’s offices are on, and through the partially opened blinds I can see they are both at their desks. JJ isn’t in her office, but the door is open and the lights are on. Upon further inspection I see Derek’s car keys on his desk near his computer monitor. They must be in Garcia’s office.

It’s just then when I see JJ rush into the bullpen, folders in hand, with an older man in a suit and a Visitor’s pass on his lapel. He looks a bit overwhelmed. When JJ sees me, she stops. “Reid, I didn’t know you were back already.”

“Oh, I have a meeting with Strauss.”

She nods and quickly moves towards the steps leading up to Hotch’s office. I swallow the lump forming in my throat. I have half an hour until my meeting, so I decide to start cleaning up my desk. Most of these things I can put into a pile to be filed by the clerks. A few things can be thrown out. I find a magazine in the bottom on my desk drawer. A tabloid featuring me and Lila. It makes me smile now, thinking about her. I knew I was gay, even then. But something about her wanting me was so...charming?...that it didn’t really matter. As inappropriate as it was, it was something that I secretly wanted to pursue, if only to feel wanted again.

I don’t notice how much time has gone by until I see Morgan and Garcia rushing out of the round table room with files in their hands. They stop when they see me. “Reid!” Garcia says. “Hi honey.”

I wave nervously. “Got a case?”

Derek nods. “Yes, are you back?”

I shake my head. “Nope.”

“Wait,” Garcia touches the Visitor’s badge on my chest. “What is this for?”

I bite my lip and take a deep breath. “I just didn’t remember to bring my badge.” Now is not the time to tell them.

Just then Hotch and Rossi storm through the bullpen, Hotch stopping in his tracks next to Garcia. “Work with JJ to cross-reference anything the media printed about The Nightmare Killer. If this is a copycat, we’ll be able to tell by what he doesn’t do more than he does.”

“The Nightmare Killer?” I ask, noticing Morgan running off wordlessly with Prentiss to work on a task already assigned.

“Are you familiar with the case?” Rossi questions, looking more upset than I’m used to seeing him.

“Serial killer, murdered ten women. Tortured and raped them for up to three days before posing them to mimic a pose in a particular painting. His signature was leaving a photocopy of the painting,” I finish his sentence, my memory flooding back to me. “When I was in the academy, Gideon took me under his wing and would have me consult on a case,” I turn to Hotch. “It was like a test or an exercise, I never thought it was a real case.”

“Reid, I know you’re on leave but if there is anything you can remember...” Hotch asks me.

“I can come back. I’m technically cleared for duty whenever I feel it’s appropriate.”

Hotch nods. “I know, I was forwarded your paperwork. Are you sure?”

I nod, feeling a sudden rush of adrenaline. “I’m sure, I know this case very well I could help.”

“Fine, then you are coming with me, Rossi and Detective Nelson.”

Once I’m settled in the backseat of the car (now wearing a new shirt, thanks to my go-bag strangely being at the office. They must have brought my things back from Autryville and they just never made it home), I check my sidearm for ammunition and the safety. I sit next to Detective Nelson, who is nervously looking out the window.

“Can you brief me?” I ask, since Hotch never had a chance to hand me a file.

“This is Detective Jason Nelson with DC Metro Homicide,” Rossi starts.

“I contacted your liaison here this morning as soon as soon as I arrived at a homicide this morning.” He clears his throat. “I still don’t have pictures, the crime scene techs are still there. Got a call from a landlord. She had an appointment to pain the walls of a tenant’s apartment and when she used her key to get in she found 32-year-old Diane Walters dead. She was laid out on the couch, head and arms hanging to the floor. She was wearing a long white nightgown that wasn’t zipped up in the back, indicating it was forced on her or put on post-mortem. She was gutted, her organs all over the room. And in the mess we found the painting.”

“In 1996 there were a series of murders in the area,” Rossi begins. “Ten women were murdered. All found wearing a white nightgown, all showed signs of being tortured and sexually assaulted before being eviscerated and posed in a fashion similar to the painting. I read about it when I joined the BAU.”

“I remember reading about that in the papers,” Detective Nelson says. “That’s why I came here. I figured I had a copycat and who better to catch a copycat than the people who caught the bastard in the first place?”

“The BAU never caught the original killer,” Hotch frowns, making a harsh right turn. “Gideon profiled that he got arrested or perhaps passed away.”

“At every scene he left a photocopy of the second version of Henry Fuseli’s famous painting ‘The Nightmare.’ First painted in 1781, it was his most popular work. Due to it’s popularity he made three versions of the painting, but only 2 are really known. Each depicts a woman in white with her head and arms hanging off a bed. There is a demon and a horse looking upon her with frightening expressions,” I supply.

“I have JJ doing a media blackout,” Hotch says. “We are saying nothing. If there are leaks, deny them at all. Lie if you have to.”

“Hotch?” I’m surprised. “Do you really think The Nightmare Killer is back?”

I get no answer.

We arrive at the apartment building fifteen minutes later. The scene is nothing like I expected. I’m used to vehicles everywhere, yellow tape, authorities bustling about and on-lookers. Instead there is an un-marked black cargo van and now two unmarked SUV’s. Have things changed that much in the past year?

“Where is everyone?” I ask Detective Nelson as we walk into the building.

“The moment I recognized this case, I ordered low profile. Then when Agent Hotchner mentioned a black out, I ordered everyone away but my partner, one crime scene tech and the coroner.”

“You have excellent instincts,” Rossi says. I can tell he’s already but Detective Jason Nelson on his suspect list. It does seem a bit strange that someone would remember this case, I will admit that to myself. Then again, it was local. The case that I studied mentioned that the lead profiler ordered the media go public with part of the signature and the condition of the bodies when they were found in order to draw him out.

“Were you a detective when The Nightmare Killer was active?” I ask as we acsend the stairs.

“I was a beat cop in Bethesda.” We reach the third door on the second floor. “I was gunning for a promotion, which took me a year later, and so I was researching open cases like a fiend. The signature struck a strange chord with me.” He takes keys out of his pocket and begins to unlock the door.

“How long were you a beat cop?” Hotch asks.

“Only three years. I was a high school teacher and needed a life change and when I was a kid I always wanted to be a cop. I taught math to kids who didn’t care. This way I feel like I can actually make a difference.”

The door opens to a scene right out of a horror movie. Blood spatter everywhere, it almost looks like too much blood for one body. There is a crime scene tech taking pictures of spatter along the far right wall of the main room. The coroner is kneeling next to the body, which is laid out on the couch. The room was tossed, and it’s not clear if there was a robbery. There isn’t one of course. The unsub probably did it either in rage while he was torturing the victim or afterwards to confuse the police.

I kneel next to the coroner. “What do you have?”

“Extreme bruising to her inner thighs, back and shoulders. The rate of healing suggests this all started at least twenty-four hours ago, maybe even forty-eight.” He points to her face to show me what he’s talking about. “She was alive when she was eviscerated and raped. Liver temp and the lack of fully dried blood in the deepest of the blood pools indicates she was killed around 2am.”

“Rape? You were able to determine rape already?” I ask.

“I lifted the dress to examine the body. The fucking bastard...” he clears his throat. “He left the knife inside of her. The bruising tells me she was raped repeatedly over perhaps a whole day. The blood present indicates that he sexually assaulted her with the knife immediately before or after she was gutted. All while she was still alive. But I’ll know more after the autopsy.”

“Thank you,” I stand, feeling weak in the knees. Of all the cases to come back to, it had to be this. I don’t remember the case I studied to be this brutal. I can’t trust my memory anymore. I walk over to Rossi, who is examining a day planner splayed out on the floor.

“Her last appointment was two days ago,” he says. “We’ll have to find out if that was the last time anyone saw her.”

“I’ll call Garcia,” Hotch offers. “I need her to crosscheck prison records too, find a correlation.”

I feel myself trembling. This is weird. I don’t react this way on the scene. I’m composed, focused. I don’t get scared. I don’t get scared. “He was very brutal with her,” I reply quietly.

“How so?” Rossi asks.

“He raped her with the blade of his hunting knife,” I swallow, surprised that I can. Hotch hangs his head and moves towards the door with his phone in his hand. I turn to Rossi. “I don’t remember it being this hard.”

“Hard?”

“To be at a crime scene. I feel like I’m on my first case but different. I know what to expect, yet I’m still having that first-time reaction.” I cross my arms in front of my chest. “I don’t know if it’s because I’m coming back or it’s this case in particular.”

“It will get easier, at least I’d like to think it would,” Rossi says.

I lower my voice. “I was at the office today to give Strauss my resignation.”

He doesn’t even bat an eye, which is exactly why I told him. “And?”

“I’m not leaving the team during this case.” I turn around to look at the dead body. “I’m not leaving her.”

What the hell is wrong with me?

~~~

Meanwhile at a house in Binghamton, New York

She wakes up in darkness. She feels heavy, and when she goes to move her arms she can’t. She remembers being ambushed when she came home from walking the dog and the dog...why didn’t he bark? Did her attacker hurt him? Does her attacker know her? Did he rob her and leave? She starts to run through the possibilities.

“Good morning,” a deep voice cuts through the still air. He’s watching her.

“What do you want?” She screams, realizing the darkness is because there is dark fabric over her head.

The voice chuckles. “You have no idea who I am, do you?”

“Just take what you want, I never saw you so I can’t turn you it. Please.” She suddenly remembers her training from a job so long ago. “I have two parents, a brother. My name is Stephanie...”

“Why must you lie to me? I know who you really are. The name on your licsence doesn’t fool me.” His voice is closer.

She starts to tremble as her captor drags a cool metal item against her thigh. She can only guess it’s the blade of a knife, teasing over her with just enough force so that she can feel it, but not so that it will rip through her jeans. “I don’t know who you are.”

“Don’t you?”

She bites her lip hard and stifles the urge to scream when the knife cuts into her leg. She attempts to recall all of her former training, her guts, and her smarts. It’s been a long time, but she’s been through much worse and came out in the end. Right?

“I was a little sad that you didn’t try to fight me harder.”

The knife cuts into her other thigh. Deeper.

“Why aren’t you screaming?”

“B...because that’s what you want,” she manages to pant out.

“You think I’m a sadist? That I get off on the pain?” He cuts her thigh again. “Answer me.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re torturing me. You want to see me suffer.”

“Oh I want you to suffer alright. But it’s not because I want to see the pain on your face.” He pulls the knife away from her and lifts the fabric off her head.

She’s stunned and who she sees in the room with her. “But, but...”

“I want to see the pain in theirs.”

_nextboldmove_ @ 2010-07-30T07:56:00

2010-07-30T12:56:01Z

Title: Crossfire 4/?

Rating: FRT (series overall FRAO)

Pairing: Morgan/Reid

Summary: Spencer reaches out to Derek, but things don’t go as planned.

ConCrit: Better than Reid’s boy band haircut. Wait, nothing’s better than that :)

SPOILERS: Some canon from all seasons, but not always in the way it happened on the show.

~~~

A week later at the BAU offices in Quantico

Agent Derek Morgan

“In heaven, they haven’t even heard of paper,” Prentiss groans from her desk as she closes another file and puts it in a box to her left. That’s her ‘Done’ box. It’s paperwork day after almost 5 days in Mississippi trying to track down a group of alleged KKK members who went rogue and thought gutting white people who associated with people of color was a good idea.

“Well, too bad there ain’t a heaven,” I reply, taking a sip of now cold coffee.

“Derek Morgan doesn’t believe in heaven?” Garcia comes up behind me. I don’t hear her anymore, she doesn’t wear heels that clatter. She’s also stopped wearing accessories because Jane is fascinated with pulling them off and putting them in her mouth. Yet she still so beautiful and full of character. It’s like she never needed all those colors and baubles in the first place. She’s still my God-given solace in any package. If there ever was a god.

“There’s no proof,” I reply, stand and grabbing my cold coffee.

“The proof is in your heart,” she says, pressing her palm against my chest.

I shrug. “I need more than that baby-girl. I’ve lived on faith for too long without results.”

As I turn and head towards the break room I hear her say to Prentiss “I really miss that man.”

Yeah, I miss him too.

~~~

Meanwhile, at his psychologist’s office in Washington DC

Dr. Spencer Reid

I hate this room.

She’s meant well, keeping the colors neutral. There are throw pillows on the very comfortable couch, boxes of tissues readily available, and she has a ‘no shoes’ policy for her office. She’s warming in an honest way, and there is part of me that wants to push her to see just how honest she can be. I’m willing to bet completely. She outright admitted she was intimidated by my credentials and job experience, but that she knows it doesn’t qualify me to handle this.

We’ve had three sessions since I got back. This is my fourth.

“How was your visit with Jane?” She asks, setting her digital recorder on the table between us. Dave Tango gave me a recorder. I still have it in the bottom of a box in the hallway closet.

“Not as overwhelming as I thought it would be,” I reply honestly. I haven’t been dishonest with her at all. “She’s so beautiful.”

“You said last time that you felt guilty for missing her birth.”

“I do, but I realize that I was doing something to protect them. I wouldn’t have been much help in the beginning anyway, I don’t have luck around kids.”

“Have you seen Derek?”

I told her all about Derek and I and everything we’ve been through, except for me killing Toby Bell and being high on the job. That I have to hold back. “No.”

“Called him? Sent him a text or email?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“I still don’t know what to say.”

“He knows you are going through a hard time. I think you’d be surprised at how helpful talking to him could be. He knows you better than anyone else.”

“As good as anyone could know me.”

“I want to do an experiment,” she reaches over and shuts off the recorder. “I want you to profile him.”

“We don’t do that, we have a rule about profiling each other...” I begin to detest. But in reality, we have had to profile Derek before. During the Carl Buford case. It was the most confusing case I’ve ever worked, because it challenged my assumptions in a way I didn’t think they could be challenged.

“Not an entire profile, just a relationship profile. I want to know how you see his gears turning.” She settles back into her chair. “I want to see you at work.”

I clear my throat and get equally comfortable on the couch, letting myself sink into it like a child in a chair too big for him. It feels like a hug. “Derek is warm and personable. He likes to project that he’s honest and supportive. But it’s a partial mask, his honesty comes when he’s forced by extrinsic factors. He’s guarded, after a life peppered with tragedy and a job that pits him against the worst of the worst. He is trusting, but will always hold a part of himself back.”

“How does he treat his friends?”

“He’s loyal to the point of forgetting himself.”

“To you?”

“To everyone.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“He’s always been there for me.”

“Above and beyond anyone else?”

“He flew out to Las Vegas when I left to teach. But I don’t blame him, I didn’t tell him.”

“To try to bring you home?”

“To make sure I was okay. He came back to take care of me after a surgery too.” I swallow. “He wrote home to my mother while I was gone, he took care of the cats. So yes. Above and beyond anyone else.”

“You know what I’m going to say, right?”

“Of course. I know, rationally, that I should not feel the way I feel and yet I still feel that way. That’s what has been the most confusing to me.”

“In criminal profiling, you have to not only rely on your knowledge and past experiences, but also trust your instinct, right?” She reaches to turn on the recorder again. “That’s what I’ve read anyway. In David Rossi’s books.”

I smile. “Yes. But I can’t treat Derek like an unsub, or the relationship like a case.”

“I suppose not. In cases you are looking to solve them, close them, and move on. So no, you can’t. But what I’m trying to get you to see for yourself is that your instinct and emotions are not a betraying weakness, but rather a valuable asset. Use them.”

I look her straight in the eye. “So none of this ‘learn to love yourself’ crap?”

“Is that what you were expecting? Once you figure out how to best utilize your assets, the rest will just fall into place.”

~~~

That night at Prentiss’s apartment

Agent Derek Morgan

Emily and I walk through the door of her apartment, kicking off our shoes at the door. She quickly makes her way to her counter-top wine fridge to pick out a bottle of white while I slide into one of her armchairs in the living room. We were only in Philadelphia for a few hours consulting on a bomb-threat case, but sometimes it’s those quick-and-easy cases that can really wear a person out.

My phone starts vibrating in my pocket and I answer quickly, fearing it’s the Philadelphia PD calling to say they have the wrong guy. “Morgan.”

“Derek?” It’s Spencer. He sounds flustered. “I think I need your help?”

I spring to my feet. “What’s wrong Spence?” Emily comes into the room and looks at me with worry.

“Taffy has an ear infection and...well...I can’t seem to hold her down to give her the medicine and I thought since she likes you and all that maybe you could help me? Whenever, if you are free.”

“I’m free right now, of course I’ll be right over. Have you eaten yet?”

“Yeah, but there is still half a pizza here if you’re hungry.”

“Be there soon.” I hang up. “One of the cats needs meds.”

“Don’t forget to take your go-bag and put it in your car,” Prentiss says.

I roll my eyes. “Not going to happen. I have your spare key in case you’re asleep when I get back.”

When I arrive I knock before letting myself in. There’s a few things out of place, some of the pillows from the couch are on the floor. Two towels are strewn about the living room. I picture Spencer trying to ‘net’ Taffy in a towel and being extremely unsuccessful. The visual brings a smile to my face. “I’M HERE!”

“WE ARE IN THE BATHROOM!” I hear him yell back. Setting down my keys, I go to find Spencer sitting in the tub, one leg hanging out, with a blanket in his lap. “I’ve got her wrapped up in here, but I can’t free her head.”

“What does she need?” I kneel next to him.

“I got the pill down her throat earlier, but I can’t hold her and put the ear drops in at the same time.” He exhales loudly. “Three doctorates and I’m outsmarted by a housecat.”

I take the bundle from his arms and gently uncover Taffy’s head. I instantly scratch being her ears in the favorite spot until she’s purring. “I hate to say this, but she hasn’t seen you in a long time. Perhaps she has to relearn to trust you again.”

He reaches into his pocket and prepares the dropper with medicine, managing to get the dosage into her ear and rub it in before she hisses and I let her go. “Sally didn’t sleep in bed with me for four days after I came back.”

I help him out of the tub and we make our way back into the living room, cleaning up the mess as we go. “You said you had pizza?”

“In the fridge, but I think it’s still warm.”

Too hungry to care, I open the fridge and pull out a cool slice. When I return to the living room, I take a long look at Spencer. He’s wearing jeans with one knee blown out. Mismatched socks. One red, the other yellow with black stripes. His brown long-sleeve shirt is big on him. “Nice outfit,” I reply, sitting next to him.

“Oh, I got this shirt during our trip to Salt Lake City.” He sits up, seemingly more animated. “We took a road trip with seven RV’s to do a sit-in at a nuclear waste site and on the way we stopped at this amazing flea market. I got Strawberry a Strawberry Shortcake doll and this shirt.”

“So it wasn’t all miserable being Nathan Villisca?”

He sighs. “Sorry, my therapist says I have to stop talking about that life. Apparently it’s good for me to force myself to move on. I really should throw these clothes out, but I feel really comfortable in them. I look in my closet and wonder why the fuck I was so into sweater vests.”

I burst out laughing. “Spencer Reid, if Garcia could hear you right now...”

He looks at me and begins to laugh along. Its good to see his face light up and his smile return. For just a moment, he’s happy and perfectly content. If only I could make sure he stays that way forever.

“It was good for me.”

“What was? Buying jeans?”

He shakes his head. “It was good for me to get out of Dr. Spencer Reid. I’m so miserable, Loki isn’t.”

“Spencer, you aren’t Loki anymore. There is no more Loki, he’s not real. You are real. You might be miserable right now...”

“I don’t remember the last time Spencer was happy.” He looks at me painfully. “Even when we were together, I was still carrying that secret about Deep Lake. I never let myself be happy with you.”

Then I remember...he doesn’t know. “You didn’t kill Toby Bell.”

“We’ve been over this...”

“No. I told Prentiss. We were undercover, hiking in the mountains and I told her because I couldn’t hold it back anymore. She called Garcia and Garcia pulled the file. Toby was killed by a bullet out of a rifle that shot him in the back. You had fired a round but they recovered it from a nearby tree. You didn’t kill him.”

I have never felt stillness like this before. I think even the cats were holding their breaths. The whole world just stopped. I can’t even breathe, afraid that something will break.

“I think you should go.”

I’m stunned. “Why?”

“I’m...I don’t know but I think you should.”

“Spencer?”

“Please?”

I stand up and head to the door. “I’ll do whatever you need me to do.”

The whole drive back to Emily’s feels wrong, but I fight the instinct to go back anyway.

_nextboldmove_ @ 2010-07-26T23:48:00

2010-07-27T04:48:28Z

Title: Crossfire 3/?

Rating: FRT (series overall FRAO)

Pairing: Morgan/Reid

Summary: Spencer goes to the BAU for the first time in a year. Derek dares to profile Spencer and comes to a scary conclusion.

ConCrit: Better than Reid’s boy band haircut. Wait, nothing’s better than that :)

SPOILERS: Some canon from all seasons, but not always in the way it happened on the show.

*Formatting errors with LJ, so I couldn’t italic/bold stuff. Flashbacks are marked by // marks. Sorry about that!

~~~

9:48am at the BAU office in Quantico

Dr. Spencer Reid

I catch my reflection in the shiny elevator door just before it opens. I look terrible. I’m at the thinnest I think I’ve ever been (but my medical examination yesterday showed I was okay, just lost weight because of stress), I didn’t sleep so the rings under my eyes are darker than they have ever been, and I feel weak. I was so tense during my early morning phone call to my mother than I felt like I had run a marathon by the time I hung up the phone. I felt guilty she talked about every single one of Derek’s letters and how she hopes he won’t stop writing just because I am home and how happy she is that I am safe again.

I step off the elevator and cautiously follow a mail room attendant into the bullpen. From a distance I see Prentiss at her desk. She’s pretending to be reading the file in front of her but her eyes aren’t following the words and she’s nervously tapping her fingertips on the paper. I don’t even see Derek. Anderson has a box sitting on my desk and is placing a few things inside. He must have been using my desk while I was away. Team cohesion, I can practically hear Hotch explaining it. It shouldn’t bother me, and it really doesn’t, but it does make me feel out of place.

I take a deep breath and walk up to Prentiss. “Hey.” I hold up my hand in a wave.

She looks up from her file and drops it on the desk. The look of surprise mingles with tears in her eyes and she stands and pulls me in for a hug. “Oh I know you hate hugs but fucking shit I missed you.”

I hug her back, trying to convince myself it’s okay. It’s more awkward than hugs from people I care about. When we finally part I nod to Anderson. “Hey Nick.”

“Hi, it’s good to see you. I hope you don’t mind,” he gestures to his box. “Morgan went to get your things from Garcia’s office. He was hoping to have it set up by the time you came in.”

I smile and nod. “Oh, it’s perfectly fine.”

“I know Hotch, Rossi and JJ are in their offices,” Prentiss says. “Do you want to go see Garcia? She has about a million pictures of Jane to show you. She thought about bringing Jane in today but I talked her out of it.”

“Oh thank you,” I smile in honest relief. “It’s just...”

“Overwhelming?” She laughs. “I thought so. I mean, I don’t know what it’s like to be gone for a year, but I know what you are like.”

I wave again to Anderson and walk towards Garcia’s office. The door is open. I see Garcia and Derek sitting in front of her terminal. Garcia has a worried look on her face and Derek’s head is in his hands. Just seeing Derek again makes me feel like I have to turn around and run for my life. I’m not looking forward to this. I don’t know how. I’m not the Spencer he remembers from a year ago.

Garcia notices me first. She gently taps Derek on the shoulder before standing and approaching me, slowly. “Spencer Reid...” I expect her to say something, but instead she starts to cry and pulls me into an uncharacteristically gentle hug. “Honey it is such a relief to see you. I feel like I’ve been holding my breath for a year.”

We part and I find myself somewhat relieved by her calmness. Comforted even. “It’s good to see you too.” I look past her shoulder to see Derek standing, hands in his pockets, looking just as confused as I am.

“I’ll let you two be alone for a few minutes.” She grabs a box with my name on it. “I’ve got some surprises for you.”

I wait until she closes the door behind her before I take a breath. “She looks good.”

“There are about a million pictures of Jane in furry pink frames in that box,” Derek says warmly.

“Jane, that’s a pretty name,” I say, reaching up to itch my cheek.

“You look hungry,” Derek says, inching closer. “Did you have breakfast?”

I nod. “I did, I just...the past few months in particular were really stressful and I just lost weight worrying I guess.”

I let Derek approach me. He puts his arms around me and pulls me into a hug. I return the hug, feeling less awkward than I expected, but still awkward. He whispers in my ear, “Are you okay?”

“No,” I reply quietly as we part. “It’s just...I don’t feel like Spencer anymore. Right now. Uhm, this is all so weird to me.”

He nods. “I’m not going to lie and say I understand, because I guess I didn’t go through it the way you did. But I’ll try. Prentiss told me you saw me in the hospital, after the explosion.”

Suddenly my stomach feels like it falls out of my body again. The very thought of seeing that bomb shakes me.

///Barry takes a cell phone out of the glove box, a different one. A cheap one, most likely pre-paid. “I just want you to trust me, why can’t you trust me?”

“Barry...what’s that for?”

He dials a number and hits ‘send’ without holding the phone up to his ear. A second later I hear an explosion from nearby. I look up to see dust and smoke come from a few blocks ahead. Near the police station. Instantly I get out of the car and stand there, hoping for a better look. It was just a car bomb, just a car bomb, right? He didn’t blow up the...///

“Spencer?”

I open my eyes to see Derek, worried before me, hands on my shoulders. “I was standing several blocks away when Barry set it off. I had no idea he was going to blow up the station...I only knew about the mine.”

“It’s okay. See? I’m alive. Hotch is alive. I can take you to his office and prove it.” His eyes are welling up. “Dammit. I missed you.”

“Uhm, Derek, I’m...I’m not quite okay yet. I mean, I don’t feel comfortable being back so I’m sorry,” I bite my lip. “I don’t know what you’re expecting.”

“I moved my stuff out of your place this morning. I’m staying with Prentiss until I find my own place. I realize it wasn’t a good idea for me to just move myself in...”

“No Derek, I understand why you did. I’m glad you did. And, you don’t have to look for your own place. I just need some time.” I’m not sure if that’s a lie or not, but I’m not about to figure that out now. “Thanks.”

“Say, why don’t you go see JJ and Rossi and Hotch? I’ll go make sure Garcia doesn’t paint your desk pink.” He pats my shoulder.

“Thanks,” I reply, waiting for him to leave the room before I let myself cry again. Why is this so hard?

~~~

That evening at Prentiss’s apartment

Agent Derek Morgan

I settle into the couch, hoping to convince Emily that yes, I really am comfortable. She offered to share her indulgent king sized bed with me tonight. Even though I would be more comfortable, I feel like I need the distance. If it wasn’t for Emily’s insistence, I’d be in a hotel. But Spencer needs space. He spent the last year being someone else, so all those issues he was dealing with, all that self loathing and fear, has just come right back as strong as it was before. He should have never taken that assignment, and Hotch should never have let him. Spencer would have been better off if he sat in a cell in federal custody while Hotch fought the DHS. Fucking Patriot Act.

Emily didn’t want me alone, but since I arrived she hasn’t said a word to me. She brought me pillows and blankets and disappeared to her room. I think she knows I want space. She needed to have me here so she could feel peace of mind. Sometimes I hate this profiling thing.

I turn off the lamp and let the first floor of her apartment slip into darkness. When I was a kid, I was scared of the boogeyman. After my father was shot, I was scared of men with guns hiding in the shadows. When I joined the BAU, I thought I wasn’t scared of what would hide in the dark. I know just how evil evil can get. I’m not afraid of it anymore, because fear is lack of knowledge. I know. Or at least I did. Love is absolutely terrifying. Falling in love with Spencer is uncertainty. It’s something unknown hiding in the showers. Its something I have to chase, I have no choice. It’s my job. But I’m scared again. Scared because my love for Spencer has hurt me more than I could have ever imagined, and I fear that it can hurt me even worse.

I close my eyes, as if its going to be some sort of respite from the darkness. Or my thoughts. Never was, never will be. Is this what Spencer was trying to escape with Dilaudid? What Tobias Hankel did to him put those monsters back in the shadows? All new ones, ones he never anticipated. The Dilaudid may have helped for a while, but maybe it was too costly. Or maybe it brought on more shadows, more monsters in the darkness. More that he didn’t feel he was strong enough to deal withm

The Dave Tango came into his life. Maybe he thought Dave Tango would chase the darkness away. But it didn’t happen. He did Tango in the darkness along with his own sexuality. More things that scared him, things he turned into monsters. Richard Felix came along with a shadow that was darker than dark, taking up all that space that pushes some of Spencer’s monsters into the light. His sexuality mainly. Deep Lake scared him back into those shadows. It scared all of us. It nearly killed us. Arizona nearly killed him. All over again.

He’ll come back to the BAU. I can tell he doesn’t want to, there was something in his eyes before Autryville. He’s been thinking about leaving for a while. He’ll come back, but he won’t stay. Spencer will leave in the middle of the night, asking us not to chase after him. I’ll want to, I’ll always want to follow him to the edges of the earth just to make sure he’s okay.

I’ll want to, but maybe I won’t this time. Maybe it’s better to let him slip into my darkness.

//”Derek, why don’t you go with your father to the store?” Mom smiles at me. “Take a trip. You can help your dad carry the milk.”

“Mom, Dad’s a police officer!” I roll my eyes. At ten I’ve already gotten over calling him ‘Daddy’. “He can carry a gallon of milk.”

“I wanna go! I wanna go!” Sarah cries out. “I can carry it!”

“This is just a boy’s trip,” Mom says. “You and Dessy can come with me to the salon tomorrow.”

That seems to keep Sarah quiet, and she crawls into Mom’s lap and watches TV with her. I turn to Dad, who is standing in the doorway. “I’ll help you old man.”

“Old man?” He laughs. “I don’t think so.”

I follow him out to the car, and he won’t even start the engine until my seatbelt is on. “See Dad? It’s on.”

“Good,” he backs out of the driveway. “How’s school going Derek?”

“I aced my math test,” I reply happily. “I always ace my tests. Even spelling.”

“That’s my boy,” Dad reaches over and ruffles my head.

“DAD! Hands on the wheel!” I joke. “Or I’ll place you under Citizen’s Arrest!”

He rolls his eyes. “I should have never told you about Citizen’s Arrest, you are abusing your power.”

“Someday I want to break down doors and catch the bad guys just like you,” I say proudly as Dad pulls up in front of the store.

“Derek, you already make me so proud,” he smiles as we get out of the car and walk into the store.

There are cars in the parking lot, but I don’t see anybody. Not even Miss Ginny is behind the counter, and she’s always here. Or her brother Mr. Herbert. When it’s daylight, I bike down here a lot and get ice cream bars with change I earn by bringing my neighbor her mail every day after school. She has a cane and can’t walk to the mailbox anymore. She’s nice.

“I’ll get the milk!” I offer, turning to my right and going down the aisle with the car stuff to the back of the store where they keep all the cold stuff. I open the glass door and grab a gallon of milk. It’s heavy, but I’m tough. I can carry it all the way home if I have to.

I turn around and go to the candy aisle, because Dad always gets me a small bit of candy when I go on trips with him to the store. I have to be shy about it, like I’m ‘just looking’ and waiting for him. Then he’ll tell me to pick one and I have to eat it in the car before we get home so Dessy and Sarah don’t see. I know he gets them candy when they take trips with Dad, they are stupid girls and they tell me so.

When I look up to find the chocolate, I see red stuff on the floor. Someone spilled ketchup. Miss Ginny must have gone into the back to find a mop. I step over it very carefully. I get to the candy bars when I hear loud yelling from the front of the store. Then my Dad’s voice.

I turn around and see a man wearing all black, facing away from me. He’s holding a gun in his hands and aiming it at Dad. That’s dangerous, Dad always told me if I saw a gun to get a grown up and never touch it no matter what. They are dangerous.

Dad’s holding his hands up. Like people on TV when robbers come in.

This guy is a robber.

But Daddy’s a cop.

Daddy.

Real guns sound nothing like they do on TV.

And real blood doesn’t look like ketchup.

*This has been one of my favorite chapters to write in the whole series, as angsty as it is.

_nextboldmove_ @ 2010-07-21T17:45:00

2010-07-21T22:45:16Z

Title: Crossfire 2/?

Rating: FRT (series overall FRAO)

Pairing: Morgan/Reid

Summary: When Joe shows up at the BAU, Morgan thinks the worst. Reid finds himself feeling more out of place than ever before.

ConCrit: Better than Reid’s boy band haircut. Wait, nothing’s better than that :)

SPOILERS: Some canon from all seasons, but not always in the way it happened on the show.

~~~

3:42pm, two days later at the BAU offices in Quantico

Agent Derek Morgan

I roll and crack my neck as the elevator door opens up. Hotch told us to go home, but we all decided to come back and try to finish the paperwork this afternoon. At least I don’t have to fill out an incident report. I questioned Hotch’s decision in front of the local PD, called him a fool and nearly destroyed a coffee maker. I thought I could do this. I thought I could be professional. But I guess that even though I’m not consciously thinking about Spencer, the thoughts are always there. The resentment towards Hotch for allowing him to go is still very much on the surface. Sometimes I wonder why I still work for the man, considering I can’t trust him.

I slide into my chair at my desk and turn on my computer, eager to type up the report and get it on Hotch’s desk by six. Anderson sits at Spencer’s desk--a change ordered by Hotch for convenience. Of course Spencer gets his desk back, but Hotch thought it would be easier for us to work if Anderson wasn’t all the way across the bullpen. Prentiss told me she went to him to ask for the switch because she hated watching me stare at his empty chair all day.

I’m pulling out my scribbled notes from the jet ride home and attempting to translate my own handwriting but I can’t focus. I hear Anderson typing away at Spencer’s keyboard and I want to clock him across the face with it. I wonder, if I hit him hard enough, if the keys will make an outline on his face.

“Derek, Derek...”

I look up to see Emily standing over me. “What do you want? I’m just going to finish this and then I’ll go home I promise.”

“Derek, Joe is in Hotch’s office.”

I turn around and see through the blinds Joe talking to Hotch. I can’t...there’s...Hotch isn’t smiling. That means Spencer...

“Derek, breathe, breathe.” Emily has her hands on my shoulders. “Look at me, you need to inhale and exhale. No matter what, there is nothing you can do right now okay? Please, just breathe okay?”

My eyes are glued to Hotch’s office. Now Hotch’s back it turned, and I can’t see Joe’s face. I make a move to stand up but Emily’s hands are strong on my shoulders.

“Derek I will shoot you,” I hear JJ’s voice behind me.

I don’t care. If Spencer is...if he’s....I’ll fucking shoot myself. Then I see Hotch turn. His face is still, but not stern or upset. Is he trying to remain calm? I can’t tell. I don’t want to wait anymore. I push out of my chair and out of the clutches of Emily and JJ and jump up the steps towards Hotch’s office. I don’t knock, I just burst in. “Joe, what happened to Spencer?”

He takes a deep breath and a small smile creeps over his face. “He’s safe. We raided the camp two nights ago, his job is done.”

“Two nights ago? Why didn’t you fucking tell us?”

“We spent nearly ten hours cataloguing evidence and booking the members of The Gaia, then he had to be debriefed and immediately seen by a federal psychiatrist,” Joe puts his hands in his pockets. “He asked me to get him a hotel room for tonight and he was going to come back to the office tomorrow to show you he’s back before he goes on leave.”

“Leave?”

Hotch clears his throat. “He’s been working for a year, he’s entitled to a leave as long as ten weeks.”

“Why does he want a hotel Joe?” I ask, completely failing at holding back tears of both relief and confusion.

“He doesn’t want to be bombarded, he was afraid if he went home that is exactly what would happen.” Joe approaches me. “I’ll tell him to call you, but I can’t make any promises. He’s had a long year, he’ll need some time to adjust. But he’s a fucking genius, he’ll be fine. Don’t worry about him, just give him some space over the next week or so. Let him get used to running water and processed foods again.”

I watch Joe walk out of the room before slumping into one of the chairs in Hotch’s office. “Why didn’t he call us himself?”

“You understand, you were undercover for eighteen months,” Hotch says calmly.

“And I couldn’t wait to call my sisters and my Ma. I was practically sprinting back to Chicago.”

“Go home, worry about your paperwork later. You really need to calm down,” Hotch sits behind his desk. “That’s an order.”

Not responding, I leave his office and go back to my desk, where Emily, JJ, Anderson, Rossi and Garcia are all standing and waiting. I swallow. “It’s over, he’s safe.”

I watch relief swim over their faces. “Where is he?” Garcia asks.

“Still being debriefed, we should get to talk to him tomorrow morning,” I lie, hoping that I can believe my own lie enough to keep me from going insane tonight. I begin to gather my things. “Hotch is sending me home. I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

“I’ll go with you,” Prentiss offers.

“No, please. I mean it, I just need some sleep.” I put on a fake smile. “This might be the first night of good sleep I’ve had in a year, knowing that kid is gonna be safe now.”

I manage to leave without much protest from the rest of the team, and I make it all the way home and to meowing cats before I start to tremble. Why doesn’t he want to see me? Is he really afraid that I’m going to...I don’t know what. I’m not going to scare him, I just want to hold him forever and never let him go. He had to have missed me too, right? And when I tell him about what really happened with Toby Bell.

I kick off my shoes and shuck out of my clothes, pouring some food into the bowl for the cats before instantly curling up in Spencer’s bed, on my side. Why could he possibly not want to see me right away? Did he sleep with someone while he was undercover? I don’t care about that. He’s safe, he’s alive and he’s safe and he’s just upset. Maybe Joe is right, he just needs to calm down. He’s probably expecting walking into the bullpen tomorrow to be a terrifying experience. I wouldn’t blame him. That’s it. Gotta be it.

Just as I close my eyes the house phone rings. I roll over to grab the set on the nightstand. “Hello?”

“Derek?”

~~~

Holiday Inn in Annapolis, MD

Dr. Spencer Reid

“Derek?” I swallow. “It’s Reid.”

“Spencer, holy shit. When I saw Joe in Hotch’s office today...I’m just glad you’re safe.” His voice is shaky, I can tell he’s upset.

“Joe told me you were upset, that I should call you. Reassure you that I’m fine. I just...I need to sleep.” I stretch out on the hotel bed. “Before I see everyone. I haven’t slept since the raid.” I lie.

“How did you know to call here? You called your home line?”

“When I called your home line it was disconnected. Your cell was too.”

“Oh, we had to change our numbers after you went undercover, protocol Joe said.” I hear him take a deep breath. “I can’t wait to see you.”

“I know,” I sigh. “Uhm, my hair is longer. I didn’t cut it at all. How are the cats?”

“Cats are great. I think they are eating right now, but they’ll be joining me in bed soon.”

“You’re in my bed?” I ask. I don’t know why, but the thought of Derek being in my place while I’m not there is unsettling. I don’t know why. It doesn’t make any logical sense.

“I uhm...well I’ve been living here right now. I figured it was best for the cats for me to move in than to disrupt them by moving them.” I hear his voice getting less shaky, like he’s okay now that he knows I’m okay. I should feel better about that.

“I’ll be going home tomorrow. I uhm...” suddenly I find it hard to talk. “Can you leave your keys at the office? I think mine got left with Hotch and I’m not sure where he put them.”

“Spencer, I uhm...my lease expired. I sorta moved in here. I’m sorry and all...I’ll go get more keys made first thing in the morning.” He sounds nervous, like he got caught in a lie.

He’s been living in my place? Sleeping in my bed without me there for a whole year? I just can’t...I shouldn’t have called him. “Okay, uhm, I’ll be at the office tomorrow. I just wanted to let you know that I’m okay.”

He takes a deep breath. “I guess I understand, you feel a bit overwhelmed. It’s been a whole year Spencer, a whole year. I’ve just missed you. When I saw Joe in Hotch’s office I nearly lost it.”

“You thought the worst?” I manage to release a sincere laugh. “For such a macho man, you really do wear your emotions on your shirt.”

“It’s heart on my sleeve Spence,” he laughs back. “Oh, and I’ve been writing to your mother, she’s doing really well. She only had one bad spell since you were gone, she’s been very lucid. She can’t wait to talk to you.”

“Thanks. Right, I should call her tomorrow.” Spencer’s mother. My mother. I’m sure she’s been worried, even with Derek writing to her and everything.

“Thanks for calling me Spence. I missed you.”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll see you tomorrow?” I hold my breath, feeling terrified again.

“Yeah. I’ll bring you coffee and muffins. Good night Spencer.”

“Good night.” I hang up the phone.

I let myself cry. I haven’t been this scared since Barry blew up the police station in Autryville and I found out Derek was inside. It seems more than a year ago. No, it doesn’t even seem like my life. It’s like I have all these memories of Spencer Reid and his life and things he’s done but I don’t feel like I’m really him. It’s almost like I’m really Nathan Villisca, Loki, and Spencer is my cover.

Everyone is going to be so happy to see me. They’ll hug and cry and who knows what else. Garcia’s had her baby by now, I’m sure there will be pictures. Everyone will want to know how the case went, what I went through. They will be telling me stories, events over the past year. I’ll have so many case files to read through, just so I can stay caught up on the work the team has been doing. I’m sure it won’t take me long to read like I used to again, but a year of pretending I read at a normal pace has become so first-nature to me that it might be hard.

I reach across the bed for my bag. I was able to grab my things before we left The Gaia camp. The psychiatrist said I needed to throw the clothes away and buy something I would normally wear. I didn’t tell her about the box of items, because I know I should get rid of it. I should take my time off, get back into my life and then I’ll be okay. Right now I’m transitioning and it’s very terrifying. The psychiatrist said that. I know that.

I’m still feeling very alienated. I wonder if this is what it’s like for people who are abducted very young and found again. They have to relearn who they really are, and deal not only with their own confusion, but with everyone else’s confusion. One year isn’t a whole lifetime, I know that. The very thought of going back to my apartment, seeing my cats, wearing my clothes is scary. Not seeing Strawberry again. Or Hank. I know they were criminals, but Hank didn’t hurt people. He never knew that Barry was killing women, he surely would have stopped it if he did. Strawberry is my best friend and when I tried to visit her at the jail before I left for DC she didn’t want to speak with me. I feel terrible about it, but I know that I shouldn’t contact her ever again.

I get up and go to the bathroom, turning on the harsh flourescent light and taking a good look at myself. Dark circles are there, brown eyes, I guess save for not having shaved in almost a week I look like me. Spencer Reid. I’m not Loki, I never was. I just pretended to be him. I turn on the sink and reach for the toiletry bag Joe bought for me. Inside I find a razor, some shaving cream, and a few other essentials. I start to run the water and lather my face.

Sharp jaw. Derek kisses this jaw once. Ran his tongue along it. Cupped these cheeks in his hand. He bumped his nose into my small pointed one. He looked into my eyes. Spencer’s eyes. Kissed my lips. Held me close. Who told Prentiss to tell me that he loves me. I love him too, or at least I should. I told myself for the first few weeks that I was going to go home to him, that we could be okay together again. We could be a good thing for a very long time, and everything in the past didn’t have to matter. Me getting high and killing Toby, his being overprotective. I thought I wanted to go home.

But I just feel like a stranger now. Maybe I shouldn’t go back at all. I was going to leave before I went undercover with The Gaia, I still could leave. It would make total sense, the genius profiler burning out at 31. They were all expecting me to burn out before then. I once overheard Hotch telling Rossi he thought I’d leave the BAU before Gideon did.

After shaving and washing my face, I run my damp hands through my hair and take another look at myself. I could leave. I could put my resignation, badge and gun (not my weapon, but the Glock Joe gave me) on the desk and be gone by morning. I could drain my accounts before Garcia even woke up.

I think I finally understand Gideon.

~~~

Meanwhile at a house in Binghamton, New York

She drops her keys into the dish near the door, letting her golden retriever Dolly inside before turning around and securing three deadbolts. She quickly hits five numbers on the keypad of her home alarm system before kicking off her walking shoes and heading into her kitchen.

She checks that Dolly’s water dish is full. Satisfied, she pulls a bottle of water from her fridge and leans against the counter. Today she took a much longer walk that usual, because she was feeling a bit un-nerved.

Hang-up calls are common every once in a while. Even if she’s unlisted, someone that has a number one digit differently from her...she doesn’t want to think about it. It’s not that she fears it was someone who was after her for nefarious purposes. She knew how to deal with them. It was trying to stay hidden from people she once considered friends.

Sighing, she heads into the living room to watch some TV.

_nextboldmove_ @ 2010-07-18T18:33:00

2010-07-18T23:33:23Z

Title: Crossfire 1/?

Rating: FRT (series overall FRAO)

Pairing: Morgan/Reid

Summary: It’s been a year since Spencer Reid went undercover. For Morgan, it seems like his time stalled the moment Reid left.

ConCrit: Better than Reid’s boy band haircut. Wait, nothing’s better than that :)

SPOILERS: Some canon from all seasons, but not always in the way it happened on the show.

*This is the 8^th, and last, installment in the ‘Least Expected’ series. I might do a one-shot in a few months to follow up with the team, but after this this ‘verse is done.

~~~

8:12pm, Spencer’s apartment in Washington DC

Agent Derek Morgan

I open the door and throw my keys on the table, getting all the way into the kitchen before Taffy and Sally assault me with meowing and leg-rubs. I lean down and scoop them both up in my hands, snuggling them close. Sally crawls onto my shoulder before hopping on the counter, while Taffy purrs loudly in my ear.

“I’m happy to see you too,” I whisper.

It isn’t until both cats are eating their dinner on the kitchen counter and I’m sitting on the couch with a glass of water that I remember. It’s Spencer’s birthday today. Here I am on the verge of tears for the millionth time since he left when I should be laughing at him as JJ lights thirty-one trick-candles on his ice cream cake.

I go to the bedroom and change into my pajamas, slinking back to the couch and turning on the TV. The lease on my apartment ended two months ago and I just moved in here. He’s been gone for a year. We knew that there was never a timeline for this assignment, but I wake up every morning hoping that when I go into the office he’s back at his desk, smiling, saying that he’s all debriefed and ready to stay. Stay in the BAU, stay in my life.

Disgusted with myself, I go back to the kitchen and grab half a pan of cake and a fork, sitting back in front of the TV with my dinner. Lizzie comes over at least once a week and brings me food, makes sure I have clean clothes, takes care of me. Prentiss and JJ tried to do the same in the beginning, but I won’t let them. Garcia is too busy with her daughter, and Hotch and Rossi just don’t know what to do or say to me. Better off.

There’s a soft knock at the door. “Come in,” I say, knowing I forgot to lock it. I used to be so vigilant, but I’ve been distracted.

Prentiss walks in, locking the door behind her. She sits down next to me on the couch. “Nice dinner,” she points to the cake.

“It’s carrot cake, I’m getting my veggies.” I reply. “How are things?”

“Rossi’s still smarting, but other than that we can’t wait to have you back tomorrow. As if we haven’t been unbalanced enough, your time off has really shaken things up.”

“Just how hard did the unsub punch him?” I ask, referring to what I heard about the team’s last case. The team. Not me.

“Hard enough to hurt his ego.”

I’ve been on ‘psychiatric leave’ for the past six weeks. Ordered by Hotch. We were on a case in Maine when I passed out during an interview with a witness. I hadn’t eaten in almost a week. Every time I had a full stomach it made me want to throw up. The first few weeks after I got out of the hospital, after being blown up by Barry back in Autryville, I was fine. I just kept thinking he’d be home any minute so why worry? Then after a few months, I realized I could go a whole day without thinking about it. If we were in the field, I could slink into my hotel bed and not have a single reminder of Spencer Reid.

That’s when I felt ill. Guilty, all over again. The moment I forget him he might as well be dead. I moved in here four months ago, let my lease expire. I boxed up most of my things, only bringing the essentials to Spencer’s apartment. It just kept getting worse and worse, distracting me from my job. I found myself writing ten-page letters to Diana, telling her all the little things that make Spencer great. I told her that I loved him, and would die to protect him, and that he was safe. That was the first, and so far only, time she wrote me back. Happy. Lucid. She was very congratulatory and seemed very happy that, even though her son is working a dangerous assignment, that he has ‘your love to guide him’. I even told my sisters about my feelings for him.

“Derek? You’re spacing out on me here,” Emily taps my cheek.

“Sorry, I was thinking.”

“I’d stay, but I’m exhausted and I have to take a shower and repack my go-bag,” she stands up. “We didn’t get back from North Dakota until an hour ago.”

“I understand.”

“Everybody’s excited that you’re coming back tomorrow, but they promise to act cool about it. Oh, and PG is having Kevin bring Jane and donuts in the morning.”

I smile. “Nothing like that little baby to cheer up Morgan, right?”

“No no, Jane will be there to put a rare smile on Hotch’s face. The donuts are for you,” she jokes. “Get some sleep Derek.”

I watch her leave, locking the door from the outside with her key behind her. She’s right, I need my sleep. I need to eat a real meal and get some sleep. I grab my phone and dial the Thai place that delivers. While I wait, I look at the picture of Jane sitting in a glittery frame on the coffee table. I can’t believe she’s six months old already. She smiles just like Garcia, and the way they dress her...I swear Garcia is hell bent on breeding her own army of cloned techno-hacker savvy minions.

After my meal and cleaning up after the cats, I slide into Spencer’s bed. On my side. His side I leave well enough alone until he gets back. I set the alarm and turn off the lamp, waiting for the cats to jump onto the foot of the bed. I won’t cry myself to sleep. I can’t. I am supposed to be better, good enough go back to work. I need to remain focused. Calm. Crying doesn’t do any good. Spencer would have something to say about how my actions here would not affect him where he is now. I don’t even know where he is. Joe said that the only time we’d hear from him is if something went wrong.

That’s what scares me the most, that I don’t even know where in the world he is.

8:42am at the BAU offices in Quantico

I get off the elevator to see nobody from the team in the bullpen. Looking up, I see them in the conference room, smiling and talking. I see baby Jane in JJ’s arms. I set my things down and go to meet them.

“There’s your Uncle Derek,” JJ says, handing Jane to me. “She’s too big, I can barely hold her.”

I take Jane and hold her close. “Just how much pink did mommy dress you in today sweetie?”

“Kevin dressed her today,” Garcia says, coming over and giving me a kiss on the cheek. “Welcome back. We missed you.”

“You’ve been over every other day momma,” I reply, smiling at Jane.

“It’s just not the same without you around,” Rossi says.

“Getting all sentimental on us now?” Prentiss says. “Who are you and what have you done with David Rossi?”

Rossi scoffs, grabs a cruller from the box on the table and leaves the room. I turn my attention back to Jane, who is now reaching for my nose. “No no Jane, that’s my nose. Where is your nose?” Of course that doesn’t stop her from taking a firm hold on mine and smiling.

“Guys, I’d hate to break up the fun, but we have a consult,” JJ says.

“Glad I brought my go-bag,” I reply, handing Jane to Kevin.

~~~

The following morning in northern Minnesota at The Gaia compound
Loki

It’s still cold. Springtime hits northern Minnesota late I’m learning. At least the snow is gone. I pull my clothes off the line and carry the messy pile back to the main cabin. The cabin where I sleep, along with Hank, Strawberry, and Peck. There are a few RV’s and other cabins and trailer homes on the compound, but the main house is the nicest. Hank is pretty fair to everyone, but he does have the nicer things. I get to sleep in a real bed. My own room, as small as it is. Our cabin has generators, and hot water.

“Loki, come on, coffee is ready!” Strawberry calls from the door of the cabin.

Last week she asked me to chop off all her hair, she looks like I did a few years back. It suits her. “I’m coming,” I reply, walking up the stairs and wincing a bit at the pain in my knee. Living off the land most of the time requires a lot of work. I help with caring for the animals when we are in between projects. That and the cold weather isn’t helping. “Pour me a cup, I’ll fold my clothing and be right out.”

I go towards my room and set the clothes on the bed. I begin to fold my plain shirts, denim jeans and solid-color boxer shorts. I don’t have much, I don’t need much. Hank is surprisingly generous, moreso than Barry was from all accounts. As his second in command I get to live in the main house, eat some of the best food we get, and I don’t have much in the way of chores around the camp. My job is mostly to travel, do research and recon for Hank and The Gaia. Strawberry is pretty much my co-worker and my best friend.

I’m about to set my few items on the shelf I built when the phone in my pocket begins to vibrate. For the past two months I’ve been carrying my phone on my person. Hank allows his members to have more privacy than Barry ever did. Hank’s Gaia is non-violent. I’m proud to be a part of this group.

Wait, no, my phone. Someone is calling Spencer. SSA Dr. Spencer Reid. Not Loki. I’m Spencer.

For the past two months Joe has been talking about a raid. Ever since Hank started planning on breaking into several government-contracted testing facilities to not only free animals, but gain information that belongs to the US government that would be leaked to the press. Information not just about animal testing, but about military operations and secret service intelligence.

Making sure my door is closed, I answer. “Loki.”

“3 hours. We’re coming,” Joe’s voice is calm over the phone. “All our agents know who you are and what you look like. We’re not keeping your cover. I’ve got your badge, a gun and a Kevlar vest for you. Has anything changed?”

“No, plans are still set to go forward.”

“We apprehended Marcus Klidell down in St. Paul, just like you said. He’s under lock and key, so he wouldn’t call and check in. Listen, we are not coming in with guns blazing but we will be armed.”

“I understand,” I mentioned that there are very few firearms and explosives on the camp site. The little bomb making gear in the possession of Hank or The Gaia is kept in a storage facility in a town four hours away. “Three hours.”

“Right.” Joe hangs up.

I pocket the phone and take a deep breath. It’s going to be over. It’s been a year of trying not to think about Spencer. Of succeeding. Of becoming Loki. Being a best friend to Strawberry. Trying not to correct Hank when it comes to statistics and facts. Going to sit-ins and marches, participating in mild breaking and entering, graffiti. Of being someone else.

Now I’m going to be Spencer again. I don’t know how to feel about that.

I grab a backpack from under my bed. I throw in a change of clothes, because who knows how long it could be before I get back to DC and get to wear Spencer’s clothes again. I toss inside my journal, which is mostly just drawings and sketches and tic-tac-toe games I played with Strawberry in long car rides to protests. I grab a small wooden box from my home made nightstand and toss it inside. There are things in there that I know Loki can’t be without. An extra jacket and a picture of Strawberry and Loki taken in a photobooth in Salt Lake City three months ago.

Stashing the backpack near the bedroom door, I quickly compose myself and go into the living area for some fresh coffee.

I’m at the table, looking over schematics for the first facility on our list, when the SUV’s begin to pull up in droves. Hank grabs my arm but I resist. “COME ON LOKI!” he yells.

I stand up slowly, putting my hands out. “Hank, it’s done. You need to stop. Lay down on your stomach, hands on the back of your head. You need to go with them.”

“What the fuck Loki? There’s too much evidence here, we have to go out the back. We’ve got the dirt bikes. Come on!”

Strawberry gets up off the couch and starts to cry. “Loki...”

“I suggest you do the same Strawberry, it will only help you.”

There’s a loud knock at the door. “DHS OPEN UP!” I recognize Joe’s voice.

He doesn’t give us time to open before kicking down the unlocked door. The moment I see Joe and Agent Ringer, I approach them. Joe hands me the badge, vest and gun while Ringer and three other agents secure the house and apprehend Hank and Strawberry.

“Loki....you’re FBI?” Hank says as he’s stood back up.

Putting the vest on, I turn around. Strawberry is crying, staring at me in disbelief. “Loki?”

“Strawberry...” I stutter. “I’m Supervisory Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid with the Behavioral Analysis Unit.” I watch her face fall as I say my title and name. It’s alien coming off of my tongue. It makes me feel wrong, almost like I don’t believe it either.

“Agent Reid, any more rooms to check?”

Joe’s voice cuts through my foggy brain. Agent Reid? Who is that? “Uhm, there’s no one else left in here. No explosives. Fire arms are loaded, but safety is on. One in Strawberry’s room, a few in Hank’s in the loft. One in mine at the end of the hall, in a metal box by the door. It’s unloaded and secure.”

I follow everyone out of the cabin, trying to avoid looking at my best friend directly as she’s loaded into the back of a black SUV.

_nextboldmove_ @ 2010-06-25T14:29:00

2010-06-25T19:29:26Z

Title: Rock Paper Scissors 22/22

Rating: FRT

Pairing: Morgan/Reid, but mentions of Garcia/Kevin & Hotch/JJ

Summary: Barry is in custody, but there is still work to be done. Reid says goodbye.

Beta: None. Ah well. All mistakes are mine.

ConCrit: Better than Reid’s boy band haircut. Wait, nothing’s better than that :)

SPOILERS: Some canon from all seasons, but not always in the way it happened on the show.

*Remember that thing Prentiss knows about Toby Bell’s death that she didn’t get to tell Morgan? Yeah, she finally tells him :):):):):):):):)

~~~

Hospital in Miracle King, WV

Dr. Spencer Reid

I wake up on a gurney in a private hospital room. Cuffs are off my hands. Rossi, JJ, Ringer, Joe and Hotch are all standing at my side. I sit up, dizzy. “Rossi did you have to hit me that hard?”

“You didn’t seem to want to break your cover, and it just occurred to me we needed an excuse to bring you to the hospital.” He smiles. “And I may have some pent up frustration for you kid.”

“You did good kid,” Joe says.

“Hotch, are you okay?” I ask, noticing the bandage on his head.

“I’ll be fine.”

“Where’s Derek? Is he?” I can’t bring myself to say it.

“He just got out of surgery, he’ll be fine. Prentiss is in his room now, but I don’t think he’s awake yet,” JJ comes over and puts her arm on my shoulder. “It’s so good to see you.”

“We have a problem,” Joe says, looking to Hotch, who nods in understanding. Obviously something they’ve already discussed. “Word has come down that we have finally infiltrated The Gaia. Even with Barry gone, Hank is calling himself the new leader.”

“Strauss got a call from the director of DHS and the Secret Service, they’re ordering you to stay in your cover,” Hotch says.

“They can’t make me.” I shake my head. “I have to see Derek. I can’t leave.” Just days ago I wanted to leave and never look back and now all I want is to stay.

“I’ve been ordered to issue you an ultimatum,” Joe says. “Either you complete this assignment or I have to place you under arrest for interfering with a federal investigation. I’m sorry Dr. Reid. I shouldn’t have let it get this far.”

“So arrest me.”

“Spencer,” Hotch approaches me and puts a hand on my shoulder. “It’s federal custody. They’ll throw you in high security prison without a trial until The Gaia is taken down. Could be years.”

“You’re a genius, you’ll be able to get us Hank. See, he’s in custody right now but we can’t hold him on anything since we saw him trying to stop Barry Garrison.” JJ says.

“Won’t his fingerprints be all over the bombs?” I ask.

“We had to detonate them,” Rossi adds. “Any fingerprint evidence is gone. I’m sorry Reid.”

I take a deep breath. JJ’s right, I can do this. I’ll be able to get Hank and the rest of The Gaia done. “Only if I get to see Derek.”

“We can take him up the private elevator, nobody would see him,” JJ offers.

“We’ll have to take you back to the jail before we release you, we’ll get you another weapon and cell phone, go over your contact and protocol information,” Joe says. “We have to cut you and Hank loose soon, we don’t have enough to hold you. We can hold Strawberry longer for ID fraud, for working under a fake name but that’s all we have.”

“I just want to see Derek.”

After a silent and awkward ride in the elevator, JJ takes me to Derek’s room. I see Prentiss sitting in a chair at his side, holding his hand. “Spencer, thank God you’re alright,” she says quietly.

“Can you give us a minute?” I ask her.

She stands up and comes to me, putting her hand on my arm. “He wanted me to tell you that he loves you.”

I wait for her and JJ to close the door behind them before I go over to Derek’s side. I sit down and gently take his hand.

“Hey Derek, we got the bad guy. He blew you up,” I feel tears running down my face and I don’t even bother to wipe them away. “JJ shot him before he could blow up the mine full of people. Emily gave me your message. I love you too. I know that now. When I get back, I’ll tell you in person. I...I’m staying undercover. Orders from the Director of DHS. I don’t know when I’ll be back, but I’ll be back. I’m coming back. So you better let everyone take good care of you while I’m gone, okay?”

I lean in and kiss his cheek. “I love you Derek.”

I sit back down and Prentiss comes back in the room. “Good to see you two made up,” she smiles.

“Well, at least I did,” I manage to smile back.

“Joe said you can stay for about an hour or so before it looks suspicious. He’s claiming that an injury to a non-violent protestor needs to be investigated to cover the department’s ass.” She pulls up another chair next to me. “If you don’t want to finish the assignment we can find you a way out of it. It might take some time...”

“I got to do it. I understand.” I settle back in my chair, still holding Derek’s hand. “You know, before this case I was going to leave the FBI. There’s a resignation letter in my desk at Quantico and everything. I was going to pack my bags and try to put everything and everyone behind me. Now, I want to stay more than ever but I can’t.”

“At least you’re leaving for the right reason now and not the wrong one.” She takes my other hand. “You better come back, all in one piece, and to the team. We all need you.”

“Will you take care of him for me? My mom, make sure...uhm, Garcia has all my account info and...”

“We’ll take care of everything. Just...” her voice cracks and tears fall down her cheeks. “Just come back to us.”

~~~

That evening in the hospital in Miracle King, WV

Agent Derek Morgan

“You need to eat something, you heard the doctor,” Prentiss says, poking a spoonful of Jello in my face.

“I can’t. And I don’t need to be fed like a baby,” I mumble, refusing the food. “Besides, swallowing hurts.”

“You should still try,” she sets the cup down on the tray, giving up for now.

“Why did Hotch let him go?” I ask. After I woke up, Prentiss filled me in on what happened with Spencer.

“He didn’t have much choice. For all we know, Reid will be gone for a week or two.”

“Bullshit. From what JJ said, this Hank guy is non-violent and there is no way the Director of DHS is going to let them collar this guy for some minor graffiti. They’ll assume as the new leader that he’s planning something, and they’ll make Spencer get as much Intel as possible.” I put a hand on my wound as I shift my weight in the bed. “If I knew he’d be safe, I’d blow his cover right now.”

“And get thrown in federal prison without a trial? That would just make things worse,” Prentiss shifts in her own seat. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to tell you this, but he was here. In your room, holding your hand for about an hour. See, during the arrest he made Rossi punch him in the face and we used it as a guise to bring him to the hospital.”

I force myself not to laugh, putting the pain into consideration. “Rossi must have liked that a little too much.”

“I think so,” she smiles. “As much as I love Reid there’s a part of me that would really like to punch him in the face for making me feel stupid all the time. You know, when I first joined the team, I resented him.”

“Really?”

“He shot up through the FBI on his brains. I could have used my name to do the same thing, but I chose not to. I worked hard to get where I am. It wasn’t until I got to know him that I realized not only did he not intend to do it, but that he was worth breaking the rules for.” She takes my hand. “He’s worth it.”

“I know.” I reach for the Jello and take a few spoonfuls. “Not bad.”

“Gelatenous sugar, what’s not to love? You know, Garcia insisted on sending you flowers and teddy bears until Hotch threatened to fire her.”

“She’ll just send them to my apartment when I get home,” I reply, polishing off the Jello. “I had some strange dreams while I was under. One where Spencer and I were happy and home and together. But...I just shouldn’t get my hopes up. I still don’t know if I could really forgive him.”

“Wait, about Deep Lake?” Prentiss takes my hand. “I never did get to tell you what Garcia found out on the report.”

My whole body tenses almost to the point of pain. “It doesn’t matter, I already know. Spencer has an eidetic memory, he wouldn’t forget.”

“I think you need to know the truth.” She scoots her chair a bit closer to my bed. “Spencer was high on morphine, which can effect perception. He didn’t shoot Toby Bell.”

“What?”

“Toby Bell was killed by a gunshot wound that entered his back. One that matched a gun found several yards away in the snow about a week later. Reid’s gun was fired during that night, but he didn’t shoot Toby. The unsub did, perhaps at the same moment Reid was intending to fire. His reflexes were affected by the morphine. As was his memory. The unsub shot Toby Bell. The same unsub Reid killed not long after when he found them.” Prentiss takes a deep breath. “Reid is innocent.”

“Did you tell him?” I grab the button to make the bed sit up, wincing at the pain of my bending torso. “We have to tell him.”

“I completely forgot about it until just now,” Prentiss says. “Just calm down, you need to stay calm and relaxed.”

“He doesn’t know! He’s out there, thinking he’s a horrible person who killed an innocent man, and doing something reckless. He’ll get himself killed out of guilt!” I let myself cry, because I don’t care anymore. “You have to tell him. Who is his contact, Joe? Joe can tell him.”

She shakes her head. “No, you tell him when he comes home.”

“I know I should have looked at the report myself when he told me,” I wipe my face with my hand. “I just believed him.”

“We always believe him. He thinks he killed Toby Bell, so he’s not lying. He’s just wrong.” She laughs. “Spencer’s going to be so mad that he’s wrong.”

I know that’s funny, but I just can’t bring myself to laugh. All this pain and suffering for nothing. The horrible things I’ve said to him, the horrible things he thinks about himself. He’s going to be killed and he’ll never know the truth.

It’s all so hopeless.

~~~

That night in Charleston, WV

Dr. Spencer Reid

“We can stay here, I have a fake credit card,” Hank pulls the car up to the office of a Holiday Inn. “You wake up Strawberry.”

I turn around and gently nudge the sleeping woman in the backseat. Joe and Hotch decided to let her go, because they thought it would help the case. They gave her some legal garbage about not having any proof and the guilty party in custody. “Strawberry, we’re at the hotel.”

She yawns and stretches. “Okay.”

A few silent minutes later, Hank comes out to the car and takes us inside to our one shared room. “We’ll stay here tonight, leave for Minnesota tomorrow. Could take us a few days to get there.”

“Why Minnesota?” I ask, guiding a very tired Strawberry to the nearest bed.

“Gaia members are meeting at the ranch in northern Minnesota. It was a safe house Barry set up. There are already several there. Not all the members where in Autryville.” Hank grabs the phone book. “Do you eat meat Loki?”

I nod. “Yeah, sure.”

“I’ll order a couple of pizzas.”

“We don’t have any clothes,” Strawberry says.

Hank sighs. “Okay, I’ll go out and bring back food and a change of clothes. I have to make some calls anyway and I don’t want them traceable to this line. Loki, can I trust you to watch Strawberry?”

“Of course, I’m you right hand man,” I reply. Earlier, Hank told me he’s taking over The Gaia and wants me to be his second in command.

“Right.”

“Why don’t you take a shower while he’s gone?” I suggest. “Then you can eat and get some real sleep.”

“Will you share a bed with me?” She asks, getting up and moving towards the bathroom.

“Wouldn’t it be more appropriate for me to sleep on the floor?”

She smiles. “Okay then.”

I wait until I hear the shower running before I reach into my backpack and into a secret pocket JJ sewed for me to keep a PDA and GPS device. No new messages. I’m supposed to check in with Agent Joe Helman every Friday between 10am and 2pm eastern time. Unless there is an emergency, I won’t hear from them and they won’t hear from me. I should only have to charge the phone once a week.

I hide the phone and slump into the chair, feeling my eyes fill with hot tears. Derek’s hurt and I should be there. He should wake up to my face and we should be together. Why did I do this? I miss him, I need him. I can only hope he’d take me back.

He did tell Prentiss to tell me that he loves me. That’s got to account for something.

FIN

Perhaps a one-shot here or there before a trailer vid for the final installment in the saga! Thanks everyone for reading!

_nextboldmove_ @ 2010-06-25T00:07:00

2010-06-25T05:07:38Z

Title: Rock Paper Scissors 21/?

Rating: FRT

Pairing: Morgan/Reid, but mentions of Garcia/Kevin & Hotch/JJ

Summary: With Morgan is in surgery, the team rethinks a profile and makes a tough call. Reid risks it all.

Beta: None. Ah well. All mistakes are mine.

ConCrit: Better than Reid’s boy band haircut. Wait, nothing’s better than that :)

SPOILERS: Some canon from all seasons, but not always in the way it happened on the show.

~~~

Dr. Spencer Reid

Control yourself Spencer. Derek is going to be okay. Hotch is going to be okay. I’m going to be okay.

“You okay?” Barry asks, handing me a bottle of water.

“I didn’t think you’d blow up the place with people still in it,” I take a long drink.

“You told me to step it up, or are you forgetting?” He parks the car on the side of the road behind the motel. “No wonder you hide behind your fucking computer and screen name, you’re too chicken shit to take the real work that needs to be done.”

“You do realize that protocol in these situations is to shut everything down? They are going to evacuate the mine now, and every other public building. I wouldn’t be surprised if the bomb squad isn’t being flown in to search the mine, since it’s now a prime target.” I put my hands on my knees to stop them from shaking.

“They’ll think a local did it, since the jail was full of protestors.” Barry’s voice is calm, calculated, but I can see the uneasiness in his eyes. He’s worried.

“Or they will suspect that it was a ruse to throw them off. They’ll still search the mine. Do you really underestimate the FBI?” I know I’m walking on thin ice now, but I’m so angry and hurt I can’t stop.

“They are so busy with the explosion at the station they won’t think straight. I didn’t see that black agent, the one that came to town undercover with that sexy brunette cunt. I think he was in the station, the way she was acting.” He gets out of the car and I follow. “I almost took her. He was around her the whole time, but I nearly took her.”

“Took her?” I ask, following swiftly behind.

“Took her. Raped her, killed her. She looks like a good fuck too.” He stops and turns around. “You said I had to lure the media here. Get the feds involved. Get attention. A terrorist act would have got too much attention. So what brings on media interest like a good old-fashioned serial killer?”

I use every ounce of my being to keep myself from falling down. He’s flat-out admitting that he’s the killer, something I didn’t expect. “So you killed those women I read about? To get media attention, that’s clever.”

“Turns out I fucking liked it. I mean, I’ve had more than one woman that I’ve had to prove a thing or two to. Rape they call it. But man, that first one. Blood smells like metal. It’s hot and sticky and just so good.” He finds a bush and starts to urinate. “Fucking shit.”

“You have to be careful, they’ll use that CSI shit to catch you,” I reply.

“Nah, I cover my tracks just fine,” Barry coughs, shakes, then zips up his pants. “Here’s the deal. I’m sure some of the agents are distracted either at the hospital or at the morgue. I’m going to Miracle King to take care of some business. You’ll meet Hank at the motel parking lot. Strawberry’s bike should be just ahead in the brush. Take that.”

“What are you going to do in Miracle King?” I ask.

“Since my members are all incarcerated, I gotta go disable the fucking fire trucks and ambulances myself.” He sounds annoyed. “Can’t have any survivors now can we?”

“Right,” I nod, sickened at the thought.

He gets in his car and takes off, leaving me standing in the road. He’s not going to wait until the mine is closed, he’s going to blow it up sooner, while it’s still operational and full of people. He could kill hundreds. I quickly find the bicycle and peddle into town. It feels like it takes forever and my knee is on fire with pain, but I have to get to a phone. Or the team.

When I get back to town try to avoid the area around the station. If I saw even one body bag, all bets are off. Rationally I need to find the team, break my cover and have them arrest Barry. But if he gets pulled over, he’ll detonate the bombs at ACC by the time the cops get to his car. Its too much of a risk. I have to get people out of ACC first.

I find a payphone but I realize that I don’t have any change. Instead, I make a collect call to the one person I know can help me out.

“This is Tech Analyst Penelope Garcia-Lynch.”

“It’s me.”

“Oh Reid, oh honey...are you at the hospital? What’s the news?”

“News?”

“Dear, are you still undercover? Did you know about...”

“I know about the bomb at the station, but that’s all.”

I hear her swallow. “Hotch is going to be okay. Derek was impaled, that’s all I know. I’ve been monitoring the emergency radios out there and I do know that he was airlifted not too long ago, but...”

I take a deep breath, trying to hold back my tears. “I need you to call in a bomb threat to ACC.”

“What? Why?”

“Barry is our unsub, he’s been killing women to attract media attention to Autryville. He’s planted bombs at ACC and at first he said he’d blow them tonight once it shut down but he’s going to blow them soon, in the middle of the day, with everyone inside. I can’t get to the team, because Barry has the remote and the first sniff of trouble he’ll blow it. He just left for Miracle King, we have to get everyone out of the mines right now.”

“Call in a bomb threat...not a crime if it’s true. You got it. You better find the team then, they need you.”

“Bye Garcia,” I hang up quickly, hopping on my bike back to the motel.

~~~

Agent Derek Morgan

“DEREK!” Spencer shouts at me from the kitchen. “WHERE DID YOU PUT MY FRENCH PRESS?”

“IN THE CUPBOARD ABOVE THE STOVE,” I reply, settling down further into the couch and turning up the volume on the TV. My alma mater is playing, and they are winning. “Real men don’t drink pressed coffee while watching football.”

“What was that?” Spencer says, walking into the room.

“I said real men don’t drink coffee while watching football,” I laugh. Taffy makes her way into my lap and I scratch behind her ears, making her purr. “Come on, I’d much rather be scratching behind your ears.”

“Or?” Spencer takes the remote from me, sets it on the coffee table, and sits in my lap. He wraps his long slender arms around my neck and leans in to kiss me. When he’s done he rests his forehead against mine. “I love you.”

“I love you too. I’m never letting you go ever again.”

“CLEAR”! The doctor shouts before administering an electric jolt through is patients chest. He looks to the monitor as it begins a rhythmic blip. “We got him back. 2 more units of O-neg before we send him up!”

“Sir, the feds are demanding anything taken off him is bagged for evidence,” a nurse says. “He’s a federal agent and the explosion was a bomb, not accidental.”

The doctor nods. “Alright, bag and tag his clothes and those nails we pulled out of him.

Another doctor in scrubs shows up. “Whadda we got here?”

“39-year-old male, FBI, was in the Autryville Police Station when a bomb went off.” The doctor scribbles on the chart and sets it over his patients legs. “Lost a lot of blood, he coded in the airlift and again here on the table.”

Another nurse turns around. “I just got word, another DOA, an Autryville cop. That makes seven dead out of thirteen. This guy’s boss, who is in triage right now, wants to know how he’s doing.”

“Go tell him,” the ER doctor says.

The surgeon grabs the patients’ bed. “We gotta get this rebar out of him. I’ve already had a room prepped.”

The rhythmic blip on the monitor turns to a flat monotone beep.

~~~

Back in Autryville

Dr. Spencer Reid

By the time I get back to the motel, I hear sirens heading towards ACC. Garcia is incredible. I find Hank sitting in a car, so I go around the passenger side and get in. “Hank, do you know Barry’s plans?”

“I thought he told you everything,” Hank asks me.

“You’re his right hand, right? What did he tell you?”

“Tonight we detonate the bombs at the mines, as we all leave town. I just hope we can get everyone out of custody in time. I can’t believe they didn’t get away in time.”

“Hank, nobody warned them. I heard on the radio, they didn’t know there was a raid.” I turn to face him, taking my gaze off the motel room Derek had been staying in just the other night. “I told him to get people’s attention, but I didn’t expect him to kill anybody. He just blew up the police station.”

“What, that’s what happened?” His tone changes. “We had Gaia in there!”

“I know, he said they are expendable. People died in that blast, that’s all I know. Hank, he’s lost it. He’s taking things way too far.”

He shakes his head. “No, we do property damage, we scare people, we don’t kill or hurt them. We don’t do that. Why?” He looks to me, lost.

“Hank, he’s the one who has been raping and killing women in the area. It started as a way to garner media attention, to get the FBI here in town. I don’t know how to tell you this, but he killed your sister. Wendy.”

“How do you know about Wendy?” He starts to choke up. “She left before...”

“Strawberry told me about her, then he admitted it,” I fib. He didn’t cop to her murder, but I don’t doubt he did it. “Hank, he planted the bomb in the station before the march. He planned on killing those people. He’s going to blow up the mine while everyone is still inside. He just went to Miracle King to disable emergency vehicles. He’s going to kill hundreds.”

“We have to stop him!” Hank turns on the car.

“I already called in a bomb threat, they’re going to evacuate. He won’t find out until he gets to Miracle King, they should have some time to clear the place.”

“I’m the only one who can detonate those bombs Loki,” Hanks speeds out of the parking lot and towards the mines. “I built them.”

When we get to the road leading to ACC there is an impromptu road block set up of civilian vehicles. I see them wearing stick-on name badges that say ‘DEPUTIZED’ on them. Considering the station was blown up, of course that’s the best they could do. Hank pulls off the road and parks the car. “Come on, we gotta cut through the woods. Tucker and I broke in a few weeks ago using a hole in the fence near the office building.”

My knee burning with pain, I run through the woods after him. We squeeze through a hole in the fence and behind a parked pickup truck. I see Sheriff Remmick escorting people out of the office building and towards the exit. People are being yanked out of the mines, but considering how deep they are and how slow the trolley moves, it could take another twenty minutes.

Hank moves around the pickup and quickly runs around the back of the small office building. Following him, we find an open door and make our way inside. “You know where the bombs are?”

“There’s one in the building, in the conference room on the first floor. There’s a supporting beam there, its going to level the place.” He pulls me into a closet when we hear voices. Once they pass we leave and move down the hall. He opens the door to a conference room. “Here, it’s going to be in the coffee cabinet, that’s where she said she’d put it.”

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

We both turn around to see Barry, holding onto Strawberry, with a gun to her head. She’s holding a cell phone in the other. “Barry, we just didn’t want anyone else to get hurt,” I say calmly.

“You told me this is what I had to do!” He screams. “You told me Loki.”

“I didn’t tell you to kill hundreds of people.” I look to Hank. “How many bombs total?”

“This one in here, one on the rail lines, and two in the main mine.” He clears his throat. “The ones in the mines are the biggest, they’ll blow the whole thing in.”

“And take how many people with them?” I turn back to Barry. “You killed your own followers. You were going to kill her.”

Strawberry is crying. “I’ll break this phone Barry, I don’t care if you shoot me.”

“You break the phone the bomb goes,” Hank says hurried. “If the signal from the phone dies the bomb goes, safety measure Barry asked me to build in.”

“Strawberry, I need you to be strong for me, okay?”

“Don’t you fucking talk to her!” Barry presses the gun to her temple. “I had to do this! It’s the only way!”

I know I can’t reason with him now. He’s always been a sociopath, and the protests and murders were his tipping point. He’s had a psychotic break and I can’t stop him. We’re not going to make it out of here alive. But, if I can stall him long enough to get as many people out of the mines as possible, I’m going to try. “Barry, there’s got to be another way to get your point across.”

“There is no other way!”

“Barry, man, my sister...” Hank’s voice cracks. “You didn’t have to kill Wendy.”

“She was leaving me! She didn’t believe!”

“She was frustrated, she would have stuck with us. She believed in the cause, we all do.” Hank moves closer towards Barry. “What good is saving Gaia if there are no people around to enjoy her?”

“No Hank, no. She made a sacrifice.” He takes the phone from Strawberry and pushes her to the floor. “I’m going to walk out of here, go to the woods, and blow this place to high fucking hell.”

I look at the door over Barry’s shoulder and see JJ and Rossi, guns raised, aimed at Barry. They’ll shoot him and he could detonate the bombs. “Barry, we can all walk out of here together. Put the phone down so you don’t accidentally set them off, and we’ll go. It’s too late, everyone’s evacuated. You’re only going to kill us, and we are on your side.”

“No you’re not.”

“We just don’t want anyone else to die,” Hank says, helping Strawberry to her feet.

She pushes Hank away. “Barry, I want to do it. Give me the phone, I want to do it.”

“What?” He asks, confused.

“I want to set it off.” Strawberry reaches her hand out. “Please? I’m willing to die for her, for you Barry.”

He cocks his head. “You have to give me three minutes to get out. Hide in a closet if you have to baby. Then let it go.”

She nods. “Okay. Okay, I can do this.”

I look to Barry. “We gotta go.”

That’s when Barry turns around and sees JJ and Rossi. He raises his gun but JJ gets a round off before he can and he hits the ground. I put my hands up, because Strawberry still has the phone and I can’t break my cover just yet. “Strawberry, put the phone down,” I say.

She moves to the table and sets the phone down before putting her hands up. “I saw the agents in the door, I just had to get the phone from him.”

Rossi approaches me with a smile. I take a swing at him. “FUCKING PIGS! WE WERE TRYING TO HELP YOU DAMMIT!”

I’m slammed to the floor and cuffed. When I try to fight back, Rossi punches me in the face.

~~~

*I said I was going to post the last tonight, but one more chapter needs editing and I need my beauty sleep. Perhaps tomorrow? Yes.

Rock Paper Scissors 20

2010-06-22T15:35:26Z

Title: Rock Paper Scissors 20/?

Rating: FRT

Pairing: Morgan/Reid, but mentions of Garcia/Kevin & Hotch/JJ

Summary: Barry puts Loki to the test, and Reid is too late to save the team.

Beta: None. Ah well. All mistakes are mine.

ConCrit: Better than Reid’s boy band haircut. Wait, nothing’s better than that :)

SPOILERS: Some canon from all seasons, but not always in the way it happened on the show.

~~~

An hour later at The Autryville Police Station

Agent Derek Morgan

“You don’t understand, we have EVERY RIGHT! YOU CAN’T TAKE OUR RIGHTS AWAY YOU FUCKING NAZI PIGS!”

I grab Seraphina Simmons by her shoulders and force her back into her chair. “When you break the law, you have to pay the consequences. Now, what can you tell me about The Gaia?”

I’ve already established that she’s a member, based on her earlier actions when I brought up the group. She’s had some practice keeping her cool at the mention. “Gaia is the greek term...”

“Tell me about your little friend Loki.”

I watch her hold her breath and look to the ground. “Who?”

“Loki. Barry’s mentor, his little friend. Tell me about him. Agent Rossi saw you talking to him at the march, so don’t play stupid with me.” I sit down across from her, catching a glimpse of Hotch interviewing another protestor across the room.

I see her breathing change. She’s looking around nervously. “What time is it?”

“Answer my question.”

“WHAT FUCKING TIME IS IT?”

“Miss Simmons...”

She gets out of her chair and lunges at me, clawing a bit at my face. I manage to grab her and lead her back to the cell. “Now you’re under arrest for assaulting a federal agent. Hope you like the accommodations.”

“Fuck you, won’t be here long anyway,” she laughs.

“Oh you’re right, we’ll transfer you to a federal facility in the next few days.” I shove her in, still cuffed, and lock the metal bar door behind her.

“Neither will you, Agent Morgan.”

I shake my head and walk across the room, back towards Hotch, shaking my head as I pass by. We’re getting nothing, nothing to lead us to Barry and Spencer. And obviously, nothing to lead Barry back to us...

“Hotch, can I talk to you for a minute?” I interrupt.

Hotch hands his protestor off to Ted and follows me to the far side of the station. “What is it Morgan?”

“We need to bait Barry back to us. Have JJ go public, say we caught the killer. Get him back into town. I’m guessing he’s keeping Spencer close to him, probably not letting him out of his sight. He’ll be right beside him.”

Hotch nods. “Good idea, I’ll call JJ and see if we can stage...”

I feel it before I hear or see it. The air gets heavy and thick, then concussive, all in a matter of a second. I know I’m going to hear a blast in that split moment before it actually happens. I feel my feet leave the ground and then...

Nothing.

~~~

A few blocks away from the Autryville Police Station

Dr. Spencer Reid

Barry parks the car and takes a big breath. “Loki, I’m starting to wonder just how dedicated you are to The Gaia.”

“I refuse to be in the dark, Barry. I thought you learned better than that,” I reply, feeling nervous that I am this close to the team and I can’t warn them about the mine attack.

I took on this undercover assignment to prove to the team, to Derek, that I could do this. To prove to myself that I can work on my own, that I can be my own person. That I can leave the FBI and land on my feet. Or maybe I subconsciously took this assignment because in the back of my head I knew it would be dangerous, that I could be killed. Maybe I wanted to be. I’ve been wavering in my decision to leave the FBI that perhaps I asked Hotch for this task so that my choice would be taken out of my hands. It’s perfectly plausible.

“You wanted part of this, you said you liked what I was doing. I did all this based on YOUR ideas, your suggestions, you wanted to be a part of this. I’m about to prove to you everything.” Barry takes a cell phone out of the glove box, a different one. A cheap one, most likely pre-paid. “I just want you to trust me, why can’t you trust me?”

“Barry...what’s that for?”

“What are you doing?” He asks, getting out of the car.

“I have to look, if I didn’t it would seem suspicious. You know how people all come out of their houses when there’s a fire or an ambulance or an accident, right?”

“Good point. I wouldn’t mind seeing the handiwork.”

“We...we should go...” I start walking, feeling an overwhelming pit in my stomach.

“I’m going to stop at the gas station, get us something to eat. Meet me here at the car, we’ve got some more work to do. Don’t get too close though, they’ll recognize you from the march.”

Feds. Station. He blew up the police station.

I don’t have a weapon, I can’t arrest him right now. I have to get to the scene, I have to tell them what happened. I have to make sure there are no causalities, or major injuries. What could he have blown up? And why? To get media attention? No, it’s a distraction. It’s meant to distract and confuse the team. Make them look one way and get away with murder in the other.

Murder? That’s it. Barry killed these women, he’s the unsub. It was about confusing us the whole time. No doubt he had the drive, the need to control. There’s got to be a string of rapes in his past, perhaps even murders. I’m sure Garcia has already found other reported rapes and murders that correlate to environmental protests and places The Gaia have been reported to camp or travel through. I wonder if the team has checked if any other former Gaia members never returned home. After the raid, they’d have a better idea of the current members and can cross-check reports.

I round the corner of the post office and see the blast. The police station is a mess. The police station. He blew up the police station. He had Gaia members there! He’s willing to kill his own members, this isn’t making any sense. If he wanted media attention, he should have blown the place up yesterday while all the media was here. All the agents were at the march. He could have gotten away with it. Why did he do this?

I stand back, where several people are already starting to gather. There is a fire, I can smell the smoke before I see the flames. I glance over to the diner, where I see Prentiss, Rossi and JJ coming out of the door. I watch them run towards the station, Prentiss reaching it first.

“DEREK! HOTCH!” She starts screaming, pushing Sheriff Remmick away when he grabs her. “THERE ARE TWO FEDERAL AGENTS IN THAT BUILDING!”

Derek and Hotch. No no no no no. Not them. Not him. They weren’t in the building, they must have left. I remind myself to breath, to make the appearance of holding it together. Barry’s not at the gas station, he’s watching me. I can’t see him, but he’s watching me. He needs to see my response. I have to hold it together. If only to get justice for Derek.

Three men wearing fire gear come up in a red pick up. I see the ACC logos on the yellow jackets and remember that Autryville doesn’t have it’s own fire department, the city pays a monthly fee to the ACC Fire Response Team, since it’s cheaper and works out best for both parties. One of the men shouts something about a truck coming, and more called in from Miracle King. The largest man grabs Prentiss by the waist and pulls her away from the building, forcing her across the street nearer to me.

She’s on her phone instantly, without a doubt dialing Hotch or Morgan. I see her get frustrated when nobody answers. Rossi and JJ both approach her. JJ puts her hand on Prentiss’s arm and Rossi forcibly takes the cell phone from her. She swears and grabs for it before collapsing into his chest trembling. He holds her tight. JJ has silent tears rolling down her face. I watch as the Sheriff starts coordinating people to set up a barrier. Agents Helman and Ringer pull up, Ringer out of the vehicle before it’s even at a complete stop.

I can’t hear much now, there’s so much noise as people chatter, the ACC FRT starts to gear up to go inside. I hear them yell ‘Federal Agents and Civilians, local cops’ as they go in. I tear my eyes away to look around for Barry. Or Hank. Someone is watching me, I know it. I scan the fringes of the crowd and confirm my suspicions, Barry is barely noticeable nearly two blocks away, but it’s him. He’s too far away to see his facial expression, so I’m sure he can’t see mine.

I watch the first firefighter comes out with a woman in his arms, one of the protestors. He hands her off to Sheriff Remmick and goes back inside the burning building. Breathe Spencer, just breathe. The air is getting thick with smoke, I can taste it on my tongue. I wonder if this bomb had nails taped to it too. When did he plant it? Is this what he was doing yesterday when I was late to the protest?

I look back to the team. Prentiss has started to pull herself together, but I see her fingers gently touching the scar on her neck. She looks around for a moment and catches my eye. I feel mine well up with tears but I try very hard to hold it together. I quickly glance towards the ground, but she already saw me.

“We need to talk to everyone in this crowd right now,” I hear her say. “They won’t let us in there, we have to find the fucker who did this. That’s what they’d want us to be doing right now.”

“Alright, she’s right,” Ringer says.

The team parts and Prentiss almost instantly approaches me. I see tears in her eyes and I want to hold her. Instead I puff myself up at the indignation of being approached by an authority figure. “What do you want?”

“Excuse me sir, have you seen anything out of the ordinary today?” She reaches for her badge, her hand trembling.

I shake my head. “I was on my way to the gas station for some food when I heard the blast.” I lower my voice, knowing amidst everything nobody can hear me. “Barry’s the unsub. They are planning on blowing up the mines after the shift ends and it’s empty. Rail line too. I had no idea there was a bomb here until he detonated it with a pre-paid cell.”

She nods, putting her badge back in its pocket. “Are you sure you didn’t see anything?”

“Where is Garcia?”

Prentiss looks down and lowers her voice. “She’s on her way back to DC with Anderson, Hotch’s orders.”

“There are two men, Tucker and Jared, who are the plants. There’s a woman who is planted in the office, but I don’t know the name she’s going by with ACC. Emily, I have to stay undercover, Barry’s watching. He’s got more plans and I don’t know what they are and I can’t let him slip away. My cell was destroyed, I don‘t have my gun.”

“Sir, here is my card,” Prentiss hands me her business card. “Don’t hesitate to call if you remember anything.”

“Emily, Derek and Hotch were in that building?”

She bites her lip. “Spencer...”

“I gotta go.” I pocket the business card. “Barry’s watching.”

I slip away from the crowd and walk back towards Barry’s car before she can say anything. I’m walking away from the team, from Derek. Is catching Barry really worth it?

~~~

The Autryville Police Station

Agent Derek Morgan

Pressure on my chest. My ears are ringing, but I hear what sounds like screaming on top of the constant tone. Someone blew up the station. I’ve been in an explosion. Hotch. I open my eyes and feel some grit on my eyelashes. It’s dark, dusty, smoky. “Hotch,” I try to say, my throat dry and sore. My ears hurt when I move my jaw. I feel blood on my head, trickling into my face.

“HOTCH!” I cry out again, unsure if he’s calling back to me.

My eyes focus enough so that I can see a huge beam on my chest. I move my arms to push the thing off of me. My body is sore but I’m sure that nothing is broken. I try to sit up but I can’t move. “HOTCH?” It’s dark, hazy, one of the exterior walls is half gone, letting in some light, but there’s smoke.

Now I start to feel pain. I look down and see three nails sticking into my left arm, one in my right, and I feel lacerations all over my chest, no doubt from other nails or schrapnel. They aren’t deep, suggesting the frag part of the bomb wasn’t properly attached. Or it was only attached on one side of the bomb, the side facing away from Hotch and me. The side facing the holding cells. Shit. This was a local who wanted to get revenge. What the fuck am I thinking about this for?

“HOTCH! HOTCH! Hotch, Aaron, wake the fuck up man. Come on man, don’t do this to us. Come on Hotch.”

I feel someone approach, but I can’t even turn to see. It’s a firefighter or something. “Take him,” I gesture towards the pile. “He’s injured.”

I try again to sit up, but I can’t move. Then everything goes black.

Ten minutes later

I wake up to a hand on my shoulder. I open my eyes to see Prentiss and two other men kneeling near me. I see my hand in Prentiss’s hand. She’s been crying. “Emily, Emily...I can’t hear anything. Where’s Hotch?”

She swallows, and I see her talking to one of the other men, the EMT. I notice his white glove has blood on it. My blood? “Emily, what’s going on?”

Prentiss lets my hand go and turns around, coming back with some piece of cardboard, most likely from the debris. She grabs a pen from the EMT, scribbles and then shows me.

DON’T MOVE.

“Why? WHY? Where is Hotch?”

HOTCH IS OUTSIDE. DON’T MOVE OK?

“Tell me Em, please, what’s wrong?”

YOU ARE IMPALED ON REBAR. She sighs, I can see she’s trying to hold back tears. THEY ARE GOING TO GET YOU OUT. TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED?

“I don’t know. Just happened. Listen to me, Hotch was about to call JJ,” I wince at the pain in my back, “to go public with a fake suspect in custody. It’ll draw Barry out and get Spencer back. We have to do that now.”

Prentiss talks to an EMT, then she writes something else. REID WAS HERE. SAID BARRY IS BLOWING UP THE ACC TONIGHT. HE’S GOING TO TRY TO STOP IT.

“Spencer was here? When?”

HE SAW THE BLAST. HE KNOWS YOU WERE INSIDE.

“Get JJ, you have to go public, you have to get Spencer back. Close the mine, close the mine right now.”

CALM. BREATHE. YOU ARE GOING TO THE HOSPITAL.

“Emily, Em, you have to get Spencer back and tell him I love him. Tell him, please.”

She looks at me and nods, touching her hand to my cheek. I watch her mouth the words ‘I love you’ before I hear a terrible noise.

_nextboldmove_ @ 2010-06-20T19:19:00

2010-06-21T00:19:45Z

Title: Rock Paper Scissors 19/?

Rating: FRT

Pairing: Morgan/Reid, but mentions of Garcia/Kevin & Hotch/JJ

Summary: Morgan gives Hotch an ultimatum. Reid starts to see what Barry is really up to.

Beta: None. Ah well. All mistakes are mine.

ConCrit: Better than Reid’s boy band haircut. Wait, nothing’s better than that :)

SPOILERS: Some canon from all seasons, but not always in the way it happened on the show.

~~~

The Gaia Camp

Agent Derek Morgan

“Derek? Derek wake up.”

I hear Emily’s voice, I smell the smoke from campfires. Prentiss and Hotch are standing over me, obviously worried. I’m on the ground, outside. “What happened?”

“You fainted in the RV,” Hotch says quietly.

“RV?” I sit up, maybe a bit too fast. Shit, I’m at The Gaia camp. We were doing a raid... “Spencer. Where’s Spencer?”

Prentiss kneels down next to me. “He’s not here, he must have gotten away with Barry. From what Rossi could gather maybe a few others, including the man he was with at the march.”

I feel sick and I quickly lean to my side to throw up, but nothing comes out. Tears sting my eyes, and I’m not sure if its from the bile in my throat or the horrible feeling of not knowing where Spencer is. I feel a hand on my back and soon Prentiss is pouring water into my mouth from a bottle. “Thanks,” I mutter.

“Hotch?” Prentiss turns to him. Hotch leaves quietly and she waits until we are alone before turning back to me. “When’s the last time you ate anything?”

“Ate?”

“You might be having a low blood sugar episode brought on by stress and physical exertion,” Prentiss rubs her hand on my back. “When did you eat?”

“This morning, back at the hotel in Miracle King,” I rub my forehead. “I may have had some coffee here or there, I don’t remember.”

“You’re dehydrated, sit here and drink this, please.” She stands up. “I should get back to helping JJ with the kids.”

“Em, we have to find him. I can’t...I don’t know what I’ll do if we don’t.” I swallow more water. “Have to.”

“I know, Derek, I know.”

I watch her turn and walk away and I suppress the urge to follow her like a lost puppy. I’m so uncertain, so terrified. I’m angry at Hotch for not doing this raid earlier, for letting Spencer do this in the first place. What if Barry knows Spencer is FBI? What if he’s already dead?

“Morgan,” Hotch appears, handing me a cardboard box. “Eat these.”

I take the box from him, which turns out to be a pack of granola bars. I open one, but I’m afraid to eat it and throw up again. “Hotch, we gotta find Reid.”

“I know.”

“No, Aaron, I don’t think you do. If anything happens to him, I’ll never forgive you.”

“That makes two of us. Now come on, we’re going to transport everyone back into town. The Sheriff got us permission to use the diner to detain them. We have a lot of interviews to do.”

~~~

Snicker’s cabin

Dr. Spencer Reid

“We follow the plans tomorrow,” Barry says, yawning. “I’ve stashed a change of clothes here for you Strawberry. We can’t take the same route, because of the feds. But Snickers and I have mapped out an alternate. Strawberry, Jared, Tucker, you’ll leave an hour earlier,” Barry waves them over to the table where a map is laid out. “Take the horses, leave them here,” he points. “There’s three bicycles there for you to ride into town for your vehicles. Hank is going to stand watch in town, keep an eye on the feds. Loki and I are taking a trip in the morning.” He looks over to me. “We’ve got some things to do before we leave Autryville, a few more loose knots to tie up. Now everyone, let’s get some sleep. You’re no good to me tired. Might as well be dead.”

Strawberry takes my hand and leads me to a sleeping bag next to hers. I close my eyes and attempt to get some sleep because Barry is right, I need my rest. But I need my rest in order to stop him, not to help him. If the bombs are going to be detonated after everyone has left for the day, I have all day to either convince him not to do it, convince the others not to do it, or to contact the team. My best shot is Strawberry, but I don’t know if I’ll have enough alone time with her before she goes. I could call the mine, but then again I’ll be with Barry the whole time and a private phone call is going to look rather suspicious. My only shot is to somehow get in contact with the team.

Kevin. I can call Kevin. I can make the excuse to Barry that Kevin is taking care of something for me unrelated and that I have to contact him. Not a lie, Kevin is watching Taffy and Sally. I can tell him something cryptic enough that he’ll know he has to call Garcia and the team. He was in the FBI, he’ll know. Derek is smart enough to understand what I’m already thinking to tell him.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be safe.”
Derek puts his hand on my shoulder and I want to hold him so terribly bad. “I’m going to worry anyway. If Barry is our unsub and he smells that you’re not the real Loki, or that you’re not true, I wouldn’t doubt for a second he’d kill you.”
“I understand. But I am right for this. Hotch wouldn’t let me if I wasn’t. I need to do this.”
“I’m sorry. About everything...” Derek’s voice wavers a little.
“Me too.”

I open my eyes at the plinking sound of metal across the cabin. I turn my head to see Barry pouring nails into a sock. I watch him as he ties the sock off and grabs a strip of duct tape hanging from the wall next to him. He gently begins to tape the sock onto the side of one of the bombs. Why would he do that? That type of shrapnel wouldn’t do much structural harm, especially to a mine with rock walls. That’s the type of thing you put on a bomb...

When you’re trying to kill people.

~~~

5:15 in the morning at The Diner in Autryville

Agent Derek Morgan

“Closing down the breakfast joint in this town to house a bunch of environmentalists is going to piss off the locals,” I comment, taking another bite of an apple Prentiss gave me after she forced a bowl of cereal down my throat.

“Where else are we going to house them all? The jail is already at double capacity,” she says, sitting across from me in one of the few booths not occupied by cuffed Gaia members. “At least they are all processed and interviewed.”

“Ha,” JJ slips in next to me. “Nobody said anything.”

“Who is watching the children?” Prentiss asks.

“Hotch ordered them back with their parents.” JJ says, reaching across the table for a banana. “Once everyone is ticketed we’ll release them.”

“Ticketed?”

“Joe wanted to issue them all warning citations to make sure they are in the system. He’s already cross-checked, one threat about Guantanamo Bay made sure they coughed up their real names.” JJ laughs. “Of course they didn’t know we can’t actually send them there.”

“No wonder people are terrified of the Patriot Act, the way we use it to scare people into cooperation,” I mutter. “Has Hotch said anything about getting Spencer back?”

“None of The Gaia knows anything. But earlier Ringer did overhear some of them whispering about how someone saw Hank take Loki and a woman out of the camp not too long before we showed up.” JJ remarks.

“Which could indicate they had lookouts,” Prentiss says. “I think the three men we caught outside of camp weren’t on the run, they were the look outs.”

“Which would explain how they were able to get a jump on us, but why wouldn’t they all try to leave? They had to know we didn’t have enough man power, they were at the march,” JJ says.

“Because they weren’t warned,” I say. “Think about this for a minute. We are dealing with a cult leader who obviously knows how to cultivate his flock. Nobody said anything incriminating, if anything they gave us the same speech. They all have plausible deniability.”

“Why would you say that?” JJ asks me.

“They know something is going on, because Loki showed up, and Barry took him and some others away before we raided the camp. They just don’t know the details. That’s how Barry wants it. Maintaining complete control, not giving anyone the ability to question his behavior. If Barry isn’t the one who has been raping and slaughtering these women I would be surprised. He needs to maintain control, he’s aggressive, we’ve seen that from past Gaia activity.”

“Maybe the murders and the activism aren’t totally separate,” Prentiss ponders aloud. “What if he’s always had these urges to rape and kill, and what if he has raped before. But then he uses these killings to bring in the media?”

“As if the march wasn’t enough?” JJ asks.

“Except you going on national news and warning people not to come here had the opposite effect, and we all knew it would,” I add. “Where are most of the media right now?”

“Some are still here in Autryville, some went to Miracle King to wait and see what happens next, but quite a few went home,” JJ taps the table top with her short fingernails.

“Our latest victim was specifically planted at the station to taunt us. He’s telling us he’s still in control and that this isn’t over.” I take another bite of my apple and swallow. “But what this is has yet to be seen.”

“If Reid knows anything, you know he’s going to find a way to tell us,” JJ says quietly. “We need to be alert. He could make a phone call to someone on the force, or Anderson, he could try to set something up for us, leave us a note or package or something. But he will contact us.”

“If...” Prentiss begins before shutting her mouth. She looks to me with apology in her eyes.

“He’s alive, he has to be. Spencer is alive, and he’ll be safely back with us by the end of the day.” I motion for JJ that I want to stand and she slides out of the booth to let me do so. “Don’t even THINK otherwise, no matter how high the probability may be.”

“Derek,” Prentiss starts.

“Shut the fuck up.” I spit as I turn to walk away.

My hands are trembling. I knew it wasn’t the lack of food that made me faint, its the fear. I’ve never felt fear on this job, not this way. I remember when Reid went on that train to save Elle, I was scared for the kid, and I was beyond furious when he took his Kevlar vest off, but I wasn’t attached to him then like I am now. I didn’t love him. I do now. I can’t believe how irrational I feel.

“Morgan?”

I turn around to Hotch’s voice. “Yeah?”

“I’m sorry.”

He bows his head and I know why. “What’s the next step?”

“Well, we are letting them go. Sheriff Remmick is going to escort them back to the camp to gather personal belongs and basically see them out of town, otherwise they get an illegal camping charge. They got the RV off the mountain and it’s on it’s way to Autryville. What we need to do is go back to the police station and see if we can get anything else out of those protestors before the 24 hour hold is up. I’m having the others stay here to see if they can overhear anything else, come with me to the station.”

“Hotch, if we get a lead on where Reid is...”

“I’m not going to try to stop you, but I’m not going to support you doing something reckless. And we both know he wouldn’t either.”

~~~

Slatyville, West Virginia

Dr. Spencer Reid

“What are we doing here?” I ask, tucking my hair behind my ears before sliding off the horse in my usual awkward way.

“Leave her loose, we don’t need her anymore,” Barry says. “We need another car.”

“Another car?”

“I left mine at the police station yesterday,” he laughs, walking across the county road and towards a parking lot outside a small apartment building.

I follow closely behind, silently acting as the lookout as he slips into an open 4-door Ford. He pulls a huge ring of keys out of his pocket. “Old tow trick. In the early 90’s, Ford only made 8 ignitions. So, if you worked at a junkyard and collected all 8, you could open and start any Ford made between 1990 and 1992. Now by the time we get to Miracle King we pick up my hidden car that’s clean and we’re off to Autryville.”

“I coulda saved us a step if I hadn’t left my cell behind, fixed the plates and make the car ours,” I get into the passenger’s side just as Barry gets the car started.

“Can you do it from a payphone?”

“Can I use yours?”

“This is the prepaid to set off the bombs. Can’t use it for anything else. Besides, I have some things in my car I need to have.”

“Like what?” I ask.

“You’ll see.”

“I suppose going to watch ACC blow is out of the question,” I muse. “It would be beautiful to see it happen.”

“I’ve got a surprise for you then, when we get to Autryville.” Barry turns the car and gets it on the county road to Miracle King. “You’re going to love what we have planned.”

Something tells me that I’m not so sure.

_nextboldmove_ @ 2010-06-13T22:59:00

2010-06-14T03:59:53Z

Title: Rock Paper Scissors 18/?

Rating: FRT

Pairing: Morgan/Reid, but mentions of Garcia/Kevin & Hotch/JJ

Summary: New information has Hotch ordering a raid on The Gaia camp and bringing Reid home...but Barry has another idea.

Beta: None. Ah well. All mistakes are mine.

ConCrit: Better than Reid’s boy band haircut. Wait, nothing’s better than that :)

SPOILERS: Some canon from all seasons, but not always in the way it happened on the show.

*Just in case, the last like, I dunno, six chapters? Have all taken place over the course of one day. Yep.

~~~

Just outside of Slatyville

Agent Derek Morgan

“This is a huge amount of blood, it’s gotta be our primary crime scene,” I say, crouching down to get a better look. “There’s spray on these bushes and tree trunks. She was alive when he made the first deep cuts.”

The young officer, who just finished throwing up, clears his throat. “Uhm, yeah. Sure. Why would he go through all the trouble to kill her here and take her down to Autryville?”

“Because he wanted us to see her, he wanted to plant her right under our noses while we were focused on the march,” I shake my head, feeling so stupid. We thought he’d take his pick from one of the protestors. We had our resources centered on that and it left him a big opening to take someone else. How could we be so stupid?

“MORGAN I GOT SOMETHING OVER HERE,” Rossi yells from further into the woods.

Armed with my flashlight, I make my way through the brush to were Rossi is standing. I look down to see him shining his light on a black plastic bag. “Similar to the ones lining the trunk of the car,” I note.

“It’s been chewed open by some kind of animal,” Rossi turns to the young cop. “Bloody clothes. Most likely what our killer was wearing.”

“I could understand why he didn’t burn them, he didn’t want to run the risk of someone seeing the smoke from the fire,” I take my hand, clad in a rubber glove, and start pulling items out of the bag. “But why not bury them or at least hide them better?”

“Because he knew the blood would attract animals,” Rossi said. “He either wanted us to find this, or he didn’t care if we did or not.”

“Probably because he’s not going to stick around much longer.”

I rip off my gloves and dial Hotch’s number. I explain what we’ve found. “Hotch, if Barry is our unsub, that means The Gaia is leaving soon, if they haven’t started to already.”

I hear a moment of silence on the other end and what sounds like muffled talking. “Morgan, you and Rossi get back here as fast as you can. We’re going to raid The Gaia camp tonight. Garcia lost the signal on Reid’s phone.”

“Fuck Hotch, when?”

“About an hour ago. She and Anderson stopped at the PD in Winchester the moment it went dead, she’s working on it there with him.”

“Hotch, we are on our way.” I hang up. “Rossi, we have to get back. We’re raiding the camp, getting Reid.”

While I wouldn’t admit it out loud to Rossi, I’m fucking terrified.

~~~

The Gaia Camp

Dr. Spencer Reid

“What are you looking for?” Strawberry asks me.

“My phone, I was going to check something. I can’t find it.” I keep pawing through my backpack. No, it’s gone.

“Hank took it. He took it to the RV to charge it overnight. At least that’s what he told me when I saw him with it. Anyway, I should go to my tent. I need to sleep.”

“Thanks for everything,” I reach for my pants.

“Of course, we’re Gaia. That’s what we do.”

“Strawberry, if for some reason you get caught by authorities, just stay calm. Don’t fight back.” I give her a smile. “Promise me?”

“I promise,” she bites her lip. “Goodnight Loki.”

I wait a full five minutes after she leaves before I let myself panic. Barry had Hank take my phone not to charge it, but to maintain full control over everyone and everything. I might be able to get to my phone, considering Barry is still trying to impress me. But if I press our working relationship, I run the risk of alienating him and having him leave me out of the rest of the plans. I won’t learn anything and this whole undercover operation will be a bust.

Climbing out of my tent, I slip into my boots. There is a fire nearby, still burning, but everyone has gone to sleep. They are all expecting a big day tomorrow. I walk quietly through the maze of tents, my way lit only by the smoldering fires. There’s children here, children who could be at danger. Let alone the idea that many of them are not receiving proper health care.

I make my way towards the RV, and I notice it’s dark. Barry must be asleep inside. I gently walk around the other side, walking into the woods to urinate. After relieving myself against a tree, which is just odd to me, I turn to go back and fall. Pain shoots through my left hand when I catch myself on a rock. Grunting a bit in pain and frustration, I manage to sit up and check my hand. Sore, but not broken. Then I look down to see what I tripped over in the moonlight.

Cell phones.

There’s about ten or so of them, smashed and broken, in a small pile. I can’t tell if mine is in the pile or not, but I’m willing to guess it is. Still sitting on the ground, I instinctively pull me knees to my chest and wrap my arms around myself. I want to go home. I’m in over my head, I should have never offered to do this. The one person who can save me doesn’t even know I’m in trouble. At this point, I wouldn’t put it past Barry to kill me, just like he did with Wendy. What am I going to do?

The horses. I could just take one of the horses and ride back into town, they are all asleep, they’ll never know. Fuck, when I was getting into the tent with Strawberry, I used some slight of hand to take the gun strapped to my leg and slip it off and hide it in my bag of clothes, well, Loki’s clothes. Going without a weapon could be a really bad idea, but I can’t risk going back to my tent and being seen trying to leave.

I stand up, dust off my hands and turn around to a harsh light in my face.

“Loki.” Hank’s voice is deep but quiet. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“I had to piss, man. I fucking tripped.” I approach him with confidence. “Why?”

He eyes me suspiciously. “Okay, I heard a noise, thought it was a fed or something.”

“Just me,” I smirk. “I’m off to bed.”

“I got a flashlight, I’ll walk you back.”

~~~

Back in Autryville, WV Police Department

Agent Derek Morgan

Rossi and I storm is as everyone is strapping on Kevlar vests and loading thier firearms. Prentiss hands me a vest and I put it on, while Hotch, Ringer and Joe go to the front of the room.

“Here’s the deal,” Joe starts. “There’s about fifty or so members of The Gaia up there, a lot of women and children. We are going to take as many into custody as we possibly can. Agents Prentiss and Jareau will be in charge of taking the children. Agent Prentiss filled us in on the layout. Now, we know they managed to get a small RV into camp, and the pictures show a trail to the north. I want one team to go to the trail and cut it off, there’s a chance they have more motor vehicles to escape in. Agents Hotchner, Morgan and myself will take the RV. Ringer will lead a team to the south, Sheriff Remmick to the west, and Ted will lead the east side. I found some riot cuffs, so use them. Everyone is to be detained, we’ll read Miranda and officially arrest everyone when we have them in custody. Let’s go, sirens off.”

I hope into the backseat of an SUV with Prentiss, while Hotch and JJ sit up front. I take the moment to slide the earpiece in, check my weapon and breathe. If something happens to Reid...

“He’ll be fine,” Prentiss whispers.

“You read my mind.” I look over at her. Her face is pale, she’s biting her lip, and her hand is shaking. “You okay?”

“It’s just, the last time we were in the woods on a case...” she reaches to her neck to drag her fingertips over the pink scar. “I know we’re going to be okay, that this isn’t the same situation, but I’m still scared.

I take her hand in mine. “Everything is going to be okay, I promise. JJ will have your back.”

“Prentiss, Morgan,” Hotch asks from the backseat. “When we go up this road how far until we stop?”

“According to your odometer, about twelve miles. But we are zigzagging like crazy, so as the crow flies it’s only about seven anyway. Then we’ll have to park and hoof it for about a half mile until we get to the camp.”

“If someone gets away, we’ll never find them,” JJ comments.

“Then don’t let anyone get away,” Hotch adds with a smile. “Our focus is to detain all the members, arrest Barry and recover Reid. Got it?”

“Got it.”

~~~

The Gaia Camp

Dr. Spencer Reid

“Loki, LOKI!”

I wake up to Strawberry opening my tent. “What’s wrong?”

“Feds are coming, it’s a raid we have to get out of here.” Strawberry shines a flashlight on my face. “Quick, grab your pack and your boots.”

Thankfully, it’s cold enough that I slept in my clothes. “Are you sure we should leave? It might be safer if we go peacefully with them.”

“No...Barry says we have to go, finish the plan no matter what. We have a rendevous. Hank is taking the two of us to the hideout, we’re meeting Barry, Tucker, and Jared there. It’s all planned,” she grabs my hand. “COME ON!”

Grabbing my backpack, I crawl out of the tent. I expected to see chaos, but instead it looks like most everyone is sleeping. “Why aren’t they running?”

“Giving us a head start, the lookout said it’s going to take another five minutes until they can reach camp. We can slip away in silence.” Strawberry takes a sock from her jacket pocket and slips it over he flashlight, resulting in a glow that’s enough to see the ground, but also dim enough that it won’t serve as a beacon announcing our direction.

“Hey,” Hank quickly approaches us with a pack slung over his shoulder. “We’re taking two of the horses. Barry and Jared are taking the other one.”

“What about Tucker?” Strawberry asks, grabbing my hand as we follow Hank into the tree line.

“He’s there already, he’s been working on the bombs all night.”

Hank leads us to the horses, who look surprisingly calm. Getting on one, Strawberry and I climb onto the white one and follow him. We don’t gallop them, because it’s dark, but the trotting is very jostling. In the dark, with the moon light and the glow of Strawberry’s flashlight, I try to memorize the trees and the path. It’s not much good, I can’t see much. I feel Strawberry’s hand snake around my waste and her chin resting on my shoulder. It feels more like a gesture JJ would make. I wish I could see her right now. I need her.

It seems like we are riding for hours, even though it’s only about thirty minutes, when I see a glowing come from a shack ahead. When we approach, I see a rudimentary house and a separate shack. We get down and tie the horses next to the other one, indicating Barry and Jared have already arrived. Strawberry clutches my hand, and I can feel her breath shaky. She’s never been here before, and she’s scared. I am too.

When we follow Hank in the front door, I see Tucker and who I assume is Jared packing up bombs and the building equipment. Barry’s sitting at a table with a very old, frail looking man wearing denim coveralls. His beard and hair are equally long and white, and his one front tooth sticks out of from between his lips. He’s drinking clear liquid from a jar, moon shine, and laughing.

“Good, you’re here,” Barry says.

I take an offered seat on a wooden box as Barry introduces us to the man named Snickers. “This is his place,” Barry says. “He’s been allowing us to work on the bombs and store them here.”

“Mush saffer den dat derr camp,” Snickers slurs with his nearly toothless mouth.

“We’ve got some sleeping bags and blankets to sleep on,” Hank says. “I brought some stuff up last week, thinking that we might need to hide out here. Get some sleep, we leave in the morning.”

Once we’re settled on the floor, Hank’s radio starts to crackle and a frantic voice comes over. “FEDS ARE HERE, FEDS ARE HERE! RUN!”

It hits me, nobody told The Gaia members at all, it was just us.

~~~

Back at The Gaia camp

Agent Derek Morgan

I hear people yelling and screaming, agents ordering people to the ground. Mothers are screaming as Prentiss and JJ take their children to a safe area just inside the forest, away from the chaos. I exchange looks with Hotch and Joe before we enter the RV. Reid could be in here, Reid could be safe.

We climb in, it’s dark. There are scattered papers all over the table. I clear the kitchen, the bathroom, the bedroom. Nobody. “CLEAR!”

“CLEAR IN THE FRONT,” Joe says, walking back towards the table with Hotch. “What the fuck is this?”

“Looks like...here,” Hotch grabs one. “These are from the ACC, internal memos about schedules. Shift changes.”

“They have someone on the inside?” Joe asks. “What for, to get blackmail information?”

I hear a tap at the door frame and Rossi climbs inside. “We’ve got 27 adults and 6 children in custody. Only one was violent, punched Ringer in the nose.”

“We have to take very single one to the station, or wherever. Get someone from ACC to identify which one of these people work on the inside,” Hotch says.

“Reid?” I ask Rossi. “Reid okay?”

“We haven’t found him,” Rossi says. “There’s a tent where we found a police issue weapon stowed away, I already called Garcia and she said the serial matches the serial on the gun that was issued to Reid.”

“So he’s out there without a weapon?” I ask. “Fuck.”

“And without a phone,” Sheriff Remmick climbs into the RV. “There’s a pile of broken and mangled cell phones just outside in the woods.”

“Which means Barry could be on to Reid,” Hotch says.

My knees give out and I actually fall to the floor. Everything goes dark.

SFR Chat

2010-06-09T19:17:38Z

Hey everyone, some friends of mine do this GREAT internet radio show, Strange Frequencies Radio. While they go live for 3 hours every Sunday. TOMORROW is going to be an exclusive web chat on the SFR site. I'll be there, loyal listeners will be there and the hosts too.

Tomorrow night at 9pm EST: Is there middle ground between science and the paranormal? Skeptics and ghost hunters? Join us for a chat room discussion by clicking "Go Live" on the Strange Frequencies Radio website!

www.strangefrequenciesradio.com GO LIVE is located on the top of the screen. Once in chat, click on your name to change it so we know who you are! No experience in the paranormal is needed! You don't have to be an expert, no question is too ridiculous AND we will not bite your head off like other chat rooms and you don't get banned for disagreeing with someone. We ENCOURAGE disagreement!

Hit up SFR on Twitter @strangefreq and let them know if you are interested, otherwise just show up! SEE YOU THERE!

_nextboldmove_ @ 2010-06-08T09:39:00

2010-06-08T14:39:01Z

Title: Rock Paper Scissors 17/?

Rating: FRM

Pairing: Morgan/Reid, but mentions of Garcia/Kevin & Hotch/JJ

Summary: The team works another murder. Reid gets into an uncomfortable situation, but is rewarded with information and a revelation.

Beta: None. Ah well. All mistakes are mine.

ConCrit: Better than Reid’s boy band haircut. Wait, nothing’s better than that :)

SPOILERS: Some canon from all seasons, but not always in the way it happened on the show.

~~~

37 minutes later outside the Autryville Police Station

Agent Derek Morgan

“She’s been brutalized, raped, and humiliated,” Hotch says, standing away from the trunk. “In the car that fits the description.”

“So our unsub killed this woman what, earlier this morning?” Ringer says. “Then he dumps the car here and goes to the march? Didn’t Jack the Ripper double up on murders at one point? Are we gonna find another body in the morning?”

“He wanted us to find her, he put the car here on purpose,” Rossi says. “He’s throwing it in our face. The only people here were Garcia and Mrs. Remmick, and they were inside. I doubt Garcia would have noticed, and I would think Mrs. Remmick wouldn‘t have been looking.”

“Barry didn’t show until after Reid did, you think he’s our unsub?” Prentiss asks.

“All the more reason to bring Reid home,” I reply.

I see Anderson pull up and hop out of the SUV. He approaches us. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes, Garcia is inside with her things, waiting for you.” Hotch says. “You’ll have to stop frequently for her, make sure she’s comfortable and tries to get some sleep, it’s a long trip. No matter what she says, I am not ordering her back under any circumstances, don’t let her convince you to turn around.”

“Yes Hotch,” Anderson says, going inside the station.

“Did anyone actually ask Garcia or Mrs. Remmick if they saw anyone today?” Prentiss asks.

“I heard the Sheriff ask Mrs. Remmick,” JJ says.

“Morgan, Rossi, go talk to her.” Hotch takes a deep breath. “We have to wait for the ME to get here from Miracle King anyway.”

Without a word, I walk around the yellow tape and into the station, Rossi on my heels. Garcia is packing up the last of her things, her lips moving as she goes over a list in her head. Anderson is standing next to her holding two of her many bags.

“Hey there baby girl, you got everything?” I ask her.

“Almost God-pappa. I called Kevin and he was ready to drive down here and pick me up himself,” she smiles. “But Hotch said I had to have an agent take me home.”

“You know the rules, never a team member alone,” I put my hand on her shoulder. “Penelope did you see anyone come around today? Perhaps come up to the door?”

“I’ve been going to the bathroom every ten minutes. I’m supposed to drink all this water and these protein things because I still get nauseous and so I’m up and down all day...” she stops. “The only person who came in here was someone looking for the Sheriff.”

“Really?” Rossi says, exchanging looks with me before looking back to Garcia. “What happened?”

“He said his name was Officer Harmon, that he was late meeting the Sheriff. I gave him the CB before I went to the bathroom.”

“I’ll go talk to Sheriff Remmick,” Rossi says, stepping outside.

“Do you think, oh no Derek!” She starts to cry.

I pull her into my arms. “It’s okay, even if it was the unsub he wasn’t going to hurt you, he just wanted to plant the body. It’s okay baby girl.” I’m not so sure. Maybe her being pregnant saved her life. He may very well have tried to target her if she was alone, but for some reason we’ve seen unsubs do horrible things to people, but leave visibly pregnant women alone. I’m sure Reid would say it was Freudian or Jungian or whatever. I find myself laughing just a little.

“What’s got you laughing?” She says, parting to look at me. She’s got this great little smirk on her face that, if I would have met her outside of the job I would have fallen in love with her.

“I was just thinking of something Reid would say,” I cup her face in my jaw. “Don’t you worry about him, get home safe. Let that man of yours hold you tight and never let go.”

“He’s going to be okay,” Garcia assures me. “He’ll come back and you two and be happily ever after. Oh come on, Prentiss told me that you knew that I knew. And it doesn’t take a profiler to figure out you two have been on the outs.”

“It’s much more than that, but don’t you worry that pretty little head over it,” I pull her close for a kiss to the forehead. “I love you Penelope.”

“I love you too Derek.”

Hotch, Sheriff Remmick and Rossi walk into the station. “Garcia, we need you to schedule a video conference with an FBI sketch artist before you leave,” Hotch requests.

“I know no Officer Harmon,” Remmick says. “I never told anyone to meet me at the station.”

Garcia nods nervously, unpacking a laptop. “I’ll call Simon, we’ll work on this.”

“Good, the moment you have a sketch have him send it and then Anderson will drive you back.” Hotch turns to me. “Morgan, you and Rossi need to go to Slatyville. Some local teens found blood. Could be where our vic was killed.”

Three minutes later Rossi and I are in a car headed for the hour-long drive around the Yew Mountain to Slatyville. I let Rossi drive, I’m afraid I’ll be too tempted to turn around and go after Reid. I’m going to kick his ass for staying undercover. For putting himself in danger and for making me weak.

“You’re right,” Rossi says.

“About what?”

“You’re right, I pushed for this case. I knew Joe needed some help and I’m not fucking stupid. I knew from the get-go he was going to use us to break this Gaia case. I’m sorry.” I don’t respond, I don’t know what to say that won’t fuck things up between him and me. “Derek, I know that kid means a lot to you.”

“You have no idea.”

“You’ve developed a co-dependent relationship. You feel the need to protect him, even though you know he’s able to take care of himself. And he knows that you need to, so he lets you. The truth is you both respect each other, and you’re lives are now so intertwined that you can’t even manage without each other.” Rossi laughs. “Hotch and I are like that. Having a close friend who knows the shit you see day after day. We’re all co-dependent on each other.”

“It’s a safety mechanism, a psychological one,” I answer. “We’re a pack.”

“Look, I owe that kid my life. Lizzie’s life. If it wasn’t for him I might not have my niece. My daughter,” he takes a deep breath. “I talked to Hotch earlier, about raiding The Gaia camp and getting Reid back. He’s struggling, because he feels that swooping in to safe Reid will only serve as an insult to the kid. But at the same time, not is only insulting you. He’s risking hurting you to save innocent lives.”

“I understand, and it’s a risk worth taking. I really shouldn’t have reacted the way I did, it was unprofessional.”

Rossi smirks. “If you hadn’t acted that way, I would have recommended you get a psych evaluation.”

~~~

Meanwhile, at The Gaia Camp

Dr. Spencer Reid

I don’t remember the last time I ate a meal that big. Everyone kept bringing me food and I kept eating it and it was all really good. The mood was light, happy and celebratory. Once the majority of The Gaia members had finished eating and cleaning up, they left to another fire on the other side of the camp, leaving me with Strawberry, a young man named Tucker, Hank and Barry. Barry and Hank both sit in folding chairs, Tucker on a log and Strawberry and I sit on a blanket. I took off my boots to warm my feet by the fire.

Hank pulls out a few mason jars of clear liquid and hands one to me, one to Barry and keeps one for himself. “Best moonshine I’ve ever found,” he says, raising his jar in a toast.

Strawberry opens her jar and hands it to me. “Hank gets it from this guy Snickers just west of here. Real hillbilly. Distills his own stuff.”

I take a long drink of the strong liquid, enjoying the instant warmth running through my body. I ate so much that I can afford to drink a little and not be intoxicated. “Nice.”

“Tucker, you ready for tomorrow?” Barry asks, taking a long drink from his jar.

“Uhm, yeah, got everything. We’re set. Just wish we had a run-through.” The kid looks nervous, like he has a big test in the morning and didn’t bother to study.

“Don’t worry, we have the plan. Besides, the cops and feds are going to be a little distracted.” Barry smiles.

“You think they’ll keep the protestors overnight?” I ask.

“We’ve got a plan,” Hank says. “But tonight we have to have fun! I fucking hate going back on the road Barry, fucking hate it.”

“It’s part of the work,” Strawberry says, taking the jar from me, having a drink and handing it back.

“Uhm, I’m going to pack my things for work,” Tucker gets up. “Good night.”

“I have to help Carey with the packages,” Hank gets up.

I take a drink from the jar, and Strawberry takes it back. After she takes another long drink she rests her head on my shoulder. “Loki, are you going with us?”

“We don’t know yet,” Barry answers for me. “Tomorrow is a test for a us all.” Barry stands up. “I’m going to sleep. You know have a good time.”

As he disappears into the RV I realize I have a chance to talk to Strawberry about what’s supposed to happen tomorrow. She’s drinking and may be more willing to share details. “Hey, is Strawberry your real name?”

“YEP!” She smiles. “Strawberry Sunshine Maddox. Great, isn’t it? My folks were total hippies. What about you Loki? What is your real name?”

I bite my lip and let myself blush. “I’m not telling.”

“Oh, mysterious,” she slips into my lap. “I like that.”

“Isn’t Barry going to be upset?” I ask as Strawberry drags her fingers through my hair.

“He asked me to do this,” she says before leaning in for a deep and wet kiss. It’s not a bad kiss, but it’s not Derek.

Strawberry’s hands find my waist and the back my neck at the same time, keeping me close. I let myself kiss her, fearful of making anyone upset and distrustful of me. She tastes like apple and moonshine. I feel her press her breasts against my chest and try to focus on the fact that I don’t have to have sex with her. That I’m just here, making out with Derek. If I pretend she’s Derek, I could make it through a few more minutes of this. Barry’s using Strawberry to pacify me, it’s part of the cultivation process. He obviously sees her a tool, and his relationship with her is about power rather than genuine emotions.

She’s softer than Derek, and I don’t like it. She reaches a hand up into my hair and I reciprocate, feeling awkward. Derek doesn’t have hair, just this fine coat of what almost feels like the fuzz on a peach. Derek’s gentle, but passionate. I can feel his thoughts when he kisses me. Kissed me, anyway. She’s not a particularly bad kisser though. She’s a woman, and I’m gay, and I’m still in love with Derek, even if he can’t be with me because of what I did.

I’m in love with Derek.

I gently push her away. “Strawberry, I can’t. I’m, getting over a bad break up...” That’s what people say, right? Getting over a bad breakup? I guess it’s true, it just sounds so immature and trite to say it that way.

“Oh honey, did some pretty little bitch break your heart?” She cups my face with both her hands. “You’re sexy, who the fuck would leave you?”

“It’s a very long story, but this,” I gesture to the camp, “had something to do with it.”

“She didn’t feel the same way about this work that you do. I can understand that. We’ve had a few leave us over the past few months. Wendy, Barry’s last girlfriend, Hank’s sister, she just left in the middle of the night and didn’t come back. Left all her stuff.”

“Just took off in the middle of the night?” I run my hands through my own hair.

Strawberry slides off my lap and crawls over to a small burlap bag that she’s been carrying with her since we met, a purse of some kind. She digs through and finds a small book, turning pages until a piece of paper falls out. “This is Wendy. She and I used to do laundry together and talk about all those little things on the outside that we missed.” She hands me the photograph. “She was always a vegetarian, but on the outside she would occasionally get a fast food burger and eat it in her car when nobody was watching. We missed showers, most of the time The Gaia is off the grid. We missed real beds, houses that didn’t move on wheels and...our old friends and family.”

I look at Wendy, and I can tell from her hair, clothing style and the bone structure that this was the Jane Doe found not too far from here. The one that got Agents Helman and Ringer out here in the first place. “Wendy, what was her last name?”

“Wendy Keller.” Strawberry takes the photographic back and puts it in the book. “She was only with us for a short time. Hank joined first, before I did, and then he brought her is about a week after I came on board.”

“What’s it like to join The Gaia?”

Strawberry looks around, stands up and reaches out her hand to me. “Let’s go talk in your tent.”

Taking her hand, I manage to get up and limp my way, my knee sore from all the running earlier. We get to my tent, kick off our shoes and climb inside. I sit and rub my sore knee, wishing I could have an ice pack.

“You okay? Did you get hurt at the march?”

“No, this is an old injury, it just gets aggravated when I do too much.”

“Oh, here,” she digs her burlap bag and pulls out a small jar. “This is some holistic salve that works for everything from sprains to aches. It’s amazing stuff, really. Take off your pants.”

I give her a look. “Is this a ruse to get me naked so I’ll let you fuck me?”

“Yes,” she laughs. “Or I just need better access to your knee Loki.”

I smile and gently scoot out of my pants, my plain grey boxers keeping me modestly covered. Strawberry puts some salve on my knee and begins to rub it in. “It smells like mint,” I say, lying on my back and enjoying the almost instant relief. “And it’s good.”

“Mother Earth is...” she stops rubbing my knee and begins to cry. “I’m scared.”

I sit up and pull her into my arms. “Why Strawberry? If you want to go home, maybe you should.”

“I can’t, we can’t just leave! Tomorrow is a big day, and I believe in what I’m doing but...the chances that I won’t be leaving with you are so big that it scares me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Barry told us if we get caught, we die. We’re supposed to kill ourselves.”

I sit her up to look at me. “What is Barry planning?”

“What you told him to.”

“I told him to save the world, not to kill it’s children. Strawberry, you have to tell me.”

She takes in a deep breath. “Tomorrow Tucker and the rest of the undercover miners are planting bombs. In the mines, on the railroad about a mile outside of the mine. And I’m suppose to set a bomb in the office building. Once it’s closed for the night, Barry hits a button on his PDA and blows the whole place. But, if I get caught setting that bomb...and Barry told me to commit suicide if I get in custody, I’m just scared. But I’m being selfish. This is for Gaia. The Mother. That’s what we are here for, to protect and honor her.”

This all makes sense. Barry killed Wendy. I’m guessing she started to question him, not believe the way she once did. If she was having any doubt, chances are that Barry picked up on it. He killed her rather than have her leave and risk telling authorities, or outsiders, what he was up to. He’s psychopathic, as most cult leaders are. What he does to his victims demonstrates that he’s always had a need for control. The rape is about control, his brutality is anger-reassurance.

I turn around and search my backpack for my cell phone, knowing I have to text Hotch. He has to close ACC in the morning, to prevent them from planting the bombs. He has to raid this camp, arrest Barry, and get these innocent people home safe. Get me back to Derek.

But my phone is gone. Fuck.

~~~

AN: I’m wicked behind on reading fic, but I plan to catch up on your posts this weekend. It’s been a very hard week for me and my family and while I enjoy the distraction of fanfic, I just haven’t had the time.

_nextboldmove_ @ 2010-06-04T00:49:00

2010-06-04T05:49:44Z

Title: Rock Paper Scissors 16/?

Rating: FRT

Pairing: Morgan/Reid, but mentions of Garcia/Kevin & Hotch/JJ

Summary: The march turns into a riot and the team loses track of Reid. Up in The Gaia Camp, Reid makes a terrifying discovery.

Beta: None. Ah well. All mistakes are mine.

ConCrit: Better than Reid’s boy band haircut. Wait, nothing’s better than that :)

SPOILERS: Some canon from all seasons, but not always in the way it happened on the show.

~~~

During ‘Loki‘s‘ speech, at the march outside ACC in Autryville

Agent Derek Morgan

I make my way through the crowd, trying to get to the front. Rossi reported he saw Reid, and then that Reid was with someone who fit the description of Barry and our unsub. Parting this crowd is like trying to part the Red Sea when you’re not Moses. Impossible. I attempt to maneuver towards the edge of the crowd so I can walk behind the locals. But I just can’t get through.

“Blow it,” I hear a voice behind me. I turn around and look into the crowd. About twenty feet away from me I see a man with a radio tossing it to the ground and reaching into his vest.

I pull out my gun and start yelling at people to get out the area, running towards the suspect. I was as he pulls out some fireworks and lights them, throwing them into the crowd. The snap and crackle has people screaming and running away. I lose track of the perpetrator. I get on my radio. “HOTCH HOTCH...”

The radio crackles and I hear more fireworks in the distance. I look up to see smoke coming from ahead. More screaming and chaos, more crackling and shouting over the radio. Then I hear gun shots. My heart sinks into my gut and I quickly make a choice. Leave the man who set off the fire crackers here, go towards the gunfire.

I push my way through the edge of the crowd, pushed up against the woods. I run several feet into the woods, enough so that I can still see the action, and I start running towards the head of the protest. Being hidden like this could provide me with an advantage to take someone else if I should need to, and it’s easier to dodge still trees than moving people. Please let Reid be okay, please let Reid be okay.

I hear movement ahead and I still. Who would be here? I quickly duck behind a tree, feeling my whole body on fire from adrenaline. I attempt to catch my breath silently as I hear hurried footsteps in the woods. Then I see two figures running close together, further into the woods. One of them is Reid. Spencer, with a man fitting the description. Must be Barry. They seem to be running together, Reid completely willing. Should I follow them? Make sure he’s safe? Or do I go help the team. Either way, I’m putting someone I care about at risk. Which one do I chose?

I know who Spencer would want me to chose.

I wait until they are clearly out of sight before I continue running towards the front of the march. As I approach the edge of the trees, I see more smoke. A lot of smoke. Rossi’s bleeding from his nose and mouth, but he’s up and leading a handcuffed man towards the Sheriff. I see Hotch handling his own perp while JJ dusts herself off. I see more smoke and sparks, and the local law enforcement is running around trying to cuff protestors. Some of the locals break free in an attempt to help them. I grab my phone and speed dial Garcia from my safe spot behind the tree.

“Derek, all the comes on the radio is wicked crazy!” She exclaims nervously. “What’s going on?”

“We are going to need more help down here, we have a riot on our hands,” I say quickly. “Now Garcia, now.”

“I’m on it Derek, I’m...”

She’s interrupted by another loud bang of fireworks. I see the locals getting out of control, attempting to ‘apprehend’ any protestor they see. The media is having a fucking field-day, capturing all of the action. We’re going to look like fools. We have maybe 40 law enforcement out here to cover a thousand protestors and counter-protestors.

I step out from behind the tree, weapon aimed, and go into the crowd. A woman is reaching into her pocket for something to light the firework in her hand. “DROP IT RIGHT NOW!” She doesn’t, she lights it and throws it into the crowd. I run and tackle her, can’t shoot a civilian for throwing a firework in front of all this press. I get her in cuffs and notice Prentiss at my side.

“Get them all over the by the barrier,” she says. “God-damned Sheriff deputized a couple of his pals to watch over them while we cuff them.”

“I only have one pair of cuffs!” I say, standing the woman up.

“We don‘t have enough cuffs for all this,” Prentiss says, getting up. “EVERYONE CLEAR OUT NOW! LEAVE THE AREA OR YOU WILL BE ARRESTED! EVERYONE LEAVE IN AN ORDERLY FASHION!”

I take my prisoner to the barrier and notice JJ now sitting on the ground, wincing in pain and holding her side. There are maybe ten people cuffed and sitting on the ground under the watchful eye of what looks like three deputized men. The crowd is dispersing, people are leaving calmly. Some of the media crews follow the protestors, some stick around to watch what we do with our prisoners.

I go to JJ’s side. “You okay?”

“I hurt my ribs when I fell, I’m sure they bruised but I’ll be fine,” she looks up at me. “We have to treat all these detainees by the book, only handled by agents or cops from now on, all put into cars with the utmost respect. Everything by the book.”

I reach out my hands and help her to her feet. “We need to get you an ambulance.”

“No, just a car is fine. I don’t want the media to see me hauled away, it’s too dramatic. Too encouraging to the protestors.” She starts to run her fingers through her hair and fix herself up, hissing in pain. “Go get them in cars. We have so few people to arrest and book we can just take them to the station.”

Hotch approaches us, putting his arm on JJ’s shoulder. “You okay?”

“I will be, I’ll go take care of the media,” she smiles and walks away.

“She has bruised ribs, she should see a doctor,” I reply.

“Rossi might have a busted nose, come on, help me get everyone in the cars. Have you seen Reid?” he asks.

“He ran into the woods with someone.”

“That’s Barry. He wasn’t supposed to leave this protest undercover,” Hotch lowers his voice. “We didn’t come up with a plan if we lose contact.”

“He’s a genius, he’ll figure out something,” I say, feeling my whole body go limp. What if Barry figures out he is a fed and kills him?

I can’t think about that now.

~~~

The Gaia Camp

Dr. Spencer Reid

I manage to slide off my horse without looking too stupid. One of the members of the group runs up to take the reigns from the horses and lead them away while Barry invites me into a small RV. “Sit,” he gestures at the small table and bench. “Are you hungry? Thirsty?”

“I’m thirsty, if you have anything,” I reply, glancing at the notes on the table before me. Drawings of the ACC mine. Numbers, statistics, schedules. Some copies of official memos. I don’t see anything that seems to help with the march that happened today.

He sets a mason jar in front of me with clear liquid and when I take a swig I’m relieved to find that it’s just water. “Thanks.”

“I see you’re admiring our plans,” Barry says, sitting across from me. “Strawberry should be home soon, she’ll have more to report.”

“Report?”

“She’s on the inside, an office job. See, I did my research. If we are going to learn how those fuckers operate, we have to become those fuckers, if only for a little while,” he laughs. “You know what I mean.”

“Yes, yes of course I do. I just didn’t know how much you had planned outside of the march.”

Barry laughs again, another laugh straight from a horror movie that chills me to my core. “Every time I mentioned my plans you told me to shut up so there’d be plausible deniability, of course you don’t know what I was planning.”

There’s commotion outside. Barry opens the curtain beside us to reveal people arriving back at the camp, armed with signs. “Things must be over,” I supply.

“The march is, like our little distraction?” He starts sorting some of the papers between us. “Throw fire works into the crowd and slip away. Not only do the cops and feds over react to what they think is gun fire in front of the media, but they are so distracted that nobody follows the rest of the protestors up here.”

There’s a knock at the door and then Hank walks up into the RV. “Seraphina, Nino, Blake, Corrine, Marsala and Victoria were taken in. There were some others not with us that got arrested too.”

“Are they at the station yet?” Barry asks calmly.

“We left they were still arresting people. Seraphina clocked this one guy, it was amazing. Marsala made good work out of on of the feds too, knocked her down.”

“Good, good, got some attention now didn’t we?” Barry turns back to me and laughs. “There’s not much room for you here in the RV, sadly, but Hank and Heather set up a private tent for you.”

“Thank you.” I notice Barry plugging his phone into a charger. “What is your power supply?”

“Rigged car batteries, mostly for just charging the walkies and phones.” Barry takes out a second phone, seeming comfortable with it’s battery power he doesn’t plug it in. “Hank, get ready for tomorrow morning, we’re moving up the plan. Everything happens tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Hank asks.

“Don’t question me, we have to act. I changed what’s going on and I want them to happen at the same time. Go to town, get some supplies. We’re going to leave tomorrow afternoon.”

“Yes sir,” he takes a charged walkie.

“Take my bike, you don’t want to take a horse.”

“What happened to your car?” Hank asks.

“It’s gone,“ Barry says, waiting until Hank leaves before continuing. “The march is over, but the plan isn’t.”

“Are you staging a protest at the jail?” I ask.

“Something like that.”

Just then a young woman with strawberry red hair comes into the trailer. She’s wearing black pants and a white blouse, holding high heels in her hand and boots on her feet. She approaches Barry and gives him a kiss. “They shut down the mine early, due to the protests. They were worried that the fire crackers were guns.”

“A welcome side effect,” Barry turns to me. “This is Strawberry, she’s one of our plants in the ACC. Strawberry, this is Loki.”

“Loki? Hi,” she shakes my hand. “None of us would be here if it wasn’t for you.”

“Strawberry, sweetheart, why don’t you go get yourself changed? We have one more thing to do this afternoon before we celebrate.” Barry stands. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to go see my members. Feel free to make yourself at home.”

Barry leaves and Strawberry moves to the back, where the bedroom is. “Are you excited for the plan?”

“Yes, yes I am,” I start perusing through all the papers on the table without looking obvious. Blueprints. Circles at different sketches from within the mine. Numbers of shift changes. A drawn map of the railroad. They are going to break into the mine and stage a protest? A sit-in? Everyone’s going to get arrested, it’s just going to cause chaos. The locals can’t deal with that many people.

“I am, this is finally our chance to change things, make them listen.” She emerges wearing denim jeans, a white undershirt with black bra straps peeking out, and her hair down cascading around her neck and shoulders. She reaches across from me to grab a blue plaid jacket. “Some of the members have been working hard this week, we’re going to celebrate tonight I guess. Tomorrow we’ll be on the road.”

“This RV is going to hold all those people?” I ask.

She laughs. “No, a few members have gone to get the RV’s and buses parked in Slatyville. In the morning we’ll walk down the north side to the road outside that town and the vehicles will be waiting.” She bites her lip in a flirty way. “You’re handsome Loki. Very.”

“Thanks. Uhm, aren’t you with Barry?” I ask.

She shrugs. “Sorta. He likes that I chose him, but on the nights he leaves to do work he says he doesn’t care. We’re not like, committed, or anything.”

I stand. “I need to stretch my legs, I’m going to find the tent they set up for me.”

“Oh, yes, it’s the green one to the left. Do you have any bags or anything?”

“I do, back in my car in town,” I reply.

“I’ll radio Hank, I saw him leave for town. He’ll bring your things.”

“Shit, my car keys,” I dig through my backpack.

“Hank doesn’t need keys to get into your car Loki,” she replies.

I excuse myself and quickly find my designated tent. I take off my boots and climb inside. I’m pleasantly surprised as the clean sheets, sleeping bag and two pillows. They look nice, some of them even new. I wonder if Barry made anyone in the group sacrifice the nicest things for me. It would make sense. It seems like there is mentor-mentee relationship. He wants to please me and at the same time assert his dominance and prove something to me.

I grab my sattelite cell phone and prepare to send a text to Garcia. If I delete my messages when I’m done, nobody here would have the ability to check who I contacted.

‘At Gaia camp. Going to have to stay the night.’

Moments later I get a text back. ‘This is Hotch. Why are you staying?’

‘Big plan at the ACC 2morrow, but I don’t know what it is yet.’

‘Are you safe?’

‘Yes. But I have to stay until morning. Is the team ok? I heard some were hurt.’

‘Team is ok. 11 people arrested. We are questioning them.’

‘Seraphina, Nino, Blake, Corrine, Marsala, Victoria are Gaia members. Seraphina told me the arrests were planned ahead.’

“Loki?”

‘Got to go.’ I quickly send the text and delete my inbox and outbox. “Coming!” I reply.

When I open the flap to my tent and slip into my boots, Strawberry is standing before me with a bottle of some sort of fruit juice. “Here, Liberty made some just for you.”

I take it and drink, the warm fruit pulp sweetly sliding down my throat. “This is good.”

Strawberry smiles. “Good. Come, the rest are back with the supplies for the celebration. We’re going to finish the last pig.”

“Excuse me, but isn’t...”

“Vegetarians? Yes, some of us are, but Barry isn’t. He’s about buying locally and organically. Did you know that buying local is far better for the environment, and for our physical bodies, than to stay vegetarian. Besides, up here this time of the year we don’t have the most options for fresh produce.

“Where did you get the pig then?”

“I’m sure Hank and Tucker stole it from one of those horrible locals.” Strawberry yawns. “Come on.”

Strawberry takes me by the hand and walks me through the camp. I miss Derek.

~~~

Meanwhile, at the Autryville Police Station

Agent Derek Morgan

“That was Reid,” Hotch comes marching back into the bull pen area of the station. “He said he’s staying. Apparently there’s supposed to be a protest of some kind at the mine tomorrow, but he doesn’t know anything yet.”

“Stay? He can’t stay Hotch, tell him to come back,” I stand up. “We’ll raid the camp right now.”

“And risk losing members?” Ringer says. “What if our unsub is one of the members of The Gaia?”

“Spencer is not a pawn in your fucking game, he’s a profiler.” I approach Ringer and Joe, who are standing next to each other. “Quit fucking around! We know why you brought us in, you wanted help getting to The Gaia you could give a shit about these victims!”

“Derek,” Rossi approaches. “You need to slow your roll.”

“FUCK YOU ROSSI! You’re the one who pushed for this bullshit case.”

“Agent Morgan take a walk now.” Hotch says. “I can’t afford to have to send you back when I’m an agent down.”

“Fuck this, Hotch. You get Reid back in the morning or I quit.” I grab my phone and storm out the door.

The late afternoon air is crisp, and perhaps it’s just my imagination but it clings to me. It carries with me a thousand regrets and fears and it just won’t let me go. I can’t believe Hotch would let Spencer do something that stupid, that insane. He should have told Reid we were coming, set up a raid, and gotten him back safe. I look down to see my knuckles white from clenching my fists.

“Derek?”

I turn around to see Garcia coming out of the station and approaching me. “What, they need me in there?”

“No sweetheart, we need you in here,” she points to my chest. “He’s gone and it’s tearing you apart. You need to trust him, and Hotch and Rossi.”

“You know this all bullshit.”

“Swearing Derek!” She touches her belly. “You are the worst Godfather at this very moment.”

“We shouldn’t be here. You shouldn’t be here. It’s not safe.”

“I know,” she rests her head on my shoulder. “Hotch is sending me back. Agent Anderson should be here within the hour and he’s driving me back.”

“You go home and take care of my God-daughter,” I rest my hand on her belly. “Maybe you should leave the BAU and take care of her.”

“As much as I’m gonna love this little cupcake, I can’t leave you. The BAU is family. It would break my heart to not be helping you catch the bad-guys. And I barely travel, half the time if I get a midnight call I work from home...I can do it.” She stands up straight. “Oh, someone forgot to close the trunk of their car.”

Ever the good Samaritan, I watch Garcia walk over to the car. “You know Penelope Garcia Lynch, you are too good for your own good. I love you.”

“Derek...” the worry and fear in her voice thick and shaky.

I go to her side. “What is it baby girl?”

She points to the trunk of the mystery car. A blue sedan. There’s a small drop of blood on the trunk, which is propped open. I see an expanse of pale skin with dark flecks on it. Dried blood. I open the trunk lid all the way.

“I’m...I’ll go get Hotch,” Garcia offers, running back into the building.

Our fucking unsub dumped a body while we were looking for him at the march. Shit. “Not today,” I mutter to myself. “Not today.”

_nextboldmove_ @ 2010-06-01T00:00:00

2010-06-01T05:00:18Z

Title: Rock Paper Scissors 15/?

Rating: FRT

Pairing: Morgan/Reid, but mentions of Garcia/Kevin & Hotch/JJ

Summary: Reid goes undercover as Loki and meets Barry. The march goes terribly wrong.

Beta: None. Ah well. All mistakes are mine.

ConCrit: Better than watching Reid suck on a lollipop (and that was pretty darned good)

SPOILERS: Some canon from all seasons, but not always in the way it happened on the show.

~~~

AN: The reason I posted it might be a while before the next chapter is because at the time, my grandmother was dying in the hospital. Now, I’m using writing as an outlet, and honestly my method of coping with things is to try to stick to my normal routine. I didn’t want to make it public on the last post because I didn’t want ‘I’m so sorry’ and things like that, and please don’t worry---I didn’t take any offense to those who made comments about the torture of making you wait :)

~~~

Just outside the Autryville Coal Company mines

Dr. Spencer Reid

There’s maybe two dozen activists already at the end of the march. A flatbed pickup truck is decorated with signs. There’s a microphone stand and an amplifier. A blonde man wearing jeans and a long-sleeve green t-shirt is working on setting up the wires and electricity to a car battery. Two men are tuning a banjo and a guitar about twenty feet to the left. A woman is standing with the back drop of the mountains, a camera man and sound tech filming her. Her shirt says ‘I Love Mountains.org’. Others are getting signs mounted on sticks and staring down the Sherrif’s and ACC guards at the barrier to the private drive to the mine.

I see Rossi talking to Joe, and behind my sunglasses my direct gaze is hidden. He sees me but doesn’t acknowledge me. I feel a bit safer knowing that he sees me. A few moments later he’s on his radio, I’m sure informing the rest of the team that I’ve been spotted by using a code. That’s how this sort of thing works.

“Hi there, where are you from love?”

I turn around to a thick southern accent and see a tall brunette wearing denim jeans, a lilac jacket covered with pins, and her dreadlocked hair tied together at the base of her neck. “I just got into town, I’m a bit late.”

“Oh you’re up here early, they are still marchin’ I believe.” She puts her hand on my shoulder, right where Morgan did. “I guess you’re just so eager to be here.”

“I was supposed to meet someone earlier, but I was running late and thought I’d meet up here.” I adjust the backpack on my shoulder. I need to maintain some confidence, I know that, but at the same time Villisca has been hiding being ‘Loki’ for a reason. A certain level of awkward and shyness would be completely acceptable.

She bites her lip and her face goes from a smile to awe. “You’re Loki? Barry’s been waiting for you.”

I nod. “I got in a car accident in Charleston last night, I was supposed to meet everyone at the camp early this morning.”

She breaks into a smile. “Loki, please please if you need anything. HANK! HANK!” She yells.

The man from the truck jumps down and approaches us. “What Seraphina?”

“This is Loki.”

Hank looks around, eyeing the officials at the barricade, before shaking my hand. “I’m Hank, Barry’s second in command. We were expecting you earlier.”

“Car accident, I was stuck in Charleston trying to rent a new car. My PDA was trashed. Where is Barry?”

“He’s taking care of something in town, he’ll be here very soon,” Hank grabs my elbow. “Are you going to speak?”

Shit, they want me to give a speech when everyone gets here. It does give me a good vantage point for a little while, but I don’t know what to say. Villisca said that Barry’s group is becoming serious, almost militant, but that he was worried it was going too far. “We’ll see.”

“Seraphina, get on the radio and tell Barry his package has arrived. Also, you know what you’re going to do?”

She nods. “We sure do. I’m going to see if I can get away with slapping that somewhat attractive Italian guy up there before I get cuffed.”

“You should,” I laugh. “Seems like the kind of guy who’d secretly get off on it.”

“Loki, I think I’m going to have a hard time not falling in love with you,” she says, making her way towards a small gathering of people.

I follow Hank as he goes back to setting up the PA system on the back of the flatbed. “My PDA was wrecked, so I couldn’t contact Barry.”

“He’s fucking nervous as hell,” Hank says casually.

“He’s on his way?”

“He’s taking care of the finale,” Hank says. “Barry has everything under control, as always.”

“Of course he does, that’s why I’m here.” I reach into my bag for an aluminum canteen and take a long drink of water. I take the opportunity to think about what I’m going to say, since I’m expected to speak. There must be over a thousand people who will hear me. Now is not the time to get nervous. I’m Loki, some sort of internet secret sensai who might be here to mentor a serial killer. I hold back the urge to look to Rossi for some sort of non-verbal guidance.

With Hank busy setting up, and others talking around me, I take the chance to sit on the curb alone. This would fit in Loki’s behavioral patterns, as someone who traditionally doesn’t protest in public, he would be stand off a bit, be uncomfortable with diving into a heavy social situation. He is so willing, so much more than I am. I get out here and while Rossi has seen me and knows I’m safe, I won’t feel safe until Morgan sees me. Last night, just being so close to him, it made me feel a little bit of hope. I thought about it on the drive down here, that maybe I could leave the FBI without having to leave him. I could at least try.

I look up and notice a man walking towards me. He’s about Morgan’s height, grey hair in a pony-tail at the base of his neck. He’s wearing clean wrinkled clothes and dirty boots. His ball cap and sunglasses cover most of his face. He’s walking towards me and I feel threatened. Uneasy. Like I just know there is tension here. It’s the same feeling I get when I visit my mother at Bennington. The feeling that at any moment, someone can just snap.

“Loki?”

I stand up. “Excuse me?”

“I’m Barry, it’s nice to finally meet you,” he reaches out a hand, which I shake. “Hank told me why you are late, understandable. But I was hoping you’d help me set up the surprise.”

“Yes, I apologize.”

There’s the sound of people yelling, talking, marching in the distance. “They are almost here, let’s get ready. Do you have your gun?”

Fuck, Villisca never mentioned anything about a gun. Maybe he didn’t know Barry expected him to have one. But luckily I do. “I have a Glock on my leg.”

Barry smiles. “The way you were talking I wasn’t sure that you were in this.”

“I’m here,” I assure him.

“I thought you backed out when you didn’t show this morning, I was going to take you with me and show you the plan,” his voice lowers and over the impending noise nobody near us could hear if they tried. “Seraphina and Nino are going to get arrested, on my cue. Hopefully this will cause more people to follow.”

“Is that wise? To chose them I mean.”

“I have to sacrifice someone important to make a point,” Barry looks at the crowd coming down the road towards us. “I left a present for the FBI.”

“FBI?’

“There were two agents from the DHS here for a while, then after the killings started a whole team of them showed up. I’ve noticed a few of them. But this evening things will change.”

“When the protestors leave,” I add.

Barry just smirks. I have always tried to keep my emotions in check while working, I’ve always been successful, for the most part, at seeing things through a profiler’s eyes. But the way Barry talks, the way he smiles, I’m picking up a something that feels creepy. As if I’m watching a horror film. It’s unsettling, and I’m holding back the urge to arrest him here and now. I understand now why Elle did what she did. There’s a level of terror in this uncertainty, the realization that I can’t hide behind profiling. Being undercover is the most exposing thing I’ve experienced so far, and it’s only hours into my second time.

“You’ve doubted me before, but I’ll show you that I’m serious,” he replies, smiling out at the crowd closing in. “We’ll move forward.”

He’s using terms about himself, and him and I. He’s not talking about The Gaia or the planet, which is all indicating a psychopathic behavior. Most cult leaders are very good at controlling their words and language around followers. I’m questioning his motives for starting The Gaia, and what his plans are. Nathan Villisca was right, there is something about Barry worthy of concern. Whether he is our unsub remains to be seen. But maybe someone in The Gaia is, and getting close to him will get me close to them.

“Do you want me to call you Carson Knight in front of the others or is Loki okay?” Barry asks.

“Loki is fine.”

Everything becomes a blur, but I stick to Barry’s side like glue, I feel like it’s the safest bet I have. If I’m near Barry, then the team can watch him. Every time I’m a few feet away from him, he turns and grabs my arm to pull me back close. He greets people, shakes their hands, congratulates them on work well done. He’s using this to show me something, and he’s using me to show them something. Assertion of power dynamic and control. It’s almost as if he’s read a book on how to do this. And those that identify verbally as being The Gaia are hooked to him like leeches. They nearly worship him like a prophet.

I hear bongo drums, there are several people with guitars and banjos, all striking similar chords. After a few moments of cacophony, a group of about ten people gather together and begin to play and sing the 1931 protest song ‘Which Side Are You On?’ This song was written by Florence Reece in this region about the miners on strike against the mines for better pay and working conditions. As they sing, I notice the verses are changed, but the chorus remains the same. By the third time around nearly the whole crowd is singing.

I notice the state troopers and some local law enforcement standing around, keeping the counter-protestors from coming into physical contact with the protestors. I spot Prentiss, but I don’t think she sees me. Just the sight of her is comforting. A few minutes later I see JJ and Hotch walking towards where the ‘stage’ area is, with plenty of protestors holding up cameras and a few media personnel who have been allowed to participate from within the crowd.

Hank gets on the back of the truck to applause. The music ends and he begins to speak about the evil of mining and mountain top removal. The crowd cheers at all the appropriate parts. I can’t find Morgan in the crowd. Hank stands down and a woman emerges from the crowd. She has waist-length brown hair down her back and is wearing jeans, boots and a knitted sweater. She begins talking about the potential flooding issues and how the town of Autryville could be destroyed and people could be killed when the valley’s get filled in.

I notice Barry has tried to hide behind Hank and a few others, still close but trying to avoid being too public. His name hasn’t been mentioned once, neither has The Gaia. I’m sure Barry is nervous that the FBI agents are eager to arrest him on suspicion alone and I have a feeling that could put a dent in his plans. I keep searching the crowd for Morgan, for Derek. I’ve never missed him so much.

“Loki?” Hank puts a hand on my shoulder. “Ready?”

I swallow and nod, following him onto the back of the flat bed truck. The crowd cheers when Hank says ‘Loki’ and there’s an energy in the air. I glance around as I take the microphone, hiding my eyes behind my glasses I can look at Joe and Agent Ringer and Hotch, Prentiss, JJ and Rossi. Garcia is at the station I know, and I can’t see Morgan. I can’t see Morgan at all.

I take the microphone in my hand. “The Preamble to the United States Constitution beings with ‘We the People.’ We, the people, will make the change that needs to be made.”

The crowd cheers and I find myself caught between wanting to laugh at the, what would Garcia call it, cheesiness?, of my words, the fact that this crowd seems to agree with me. “We, the people, will preserve the world that we wish to live in. We, the people, will stop greed and corruption from taking away the rights to the most valuable citizen of this country--the planet Earth. To see all of you out here today, supporting our very Mother, gives me hope. I see children, babies, in the crowd. As parents, you should be proud that your children will have a future of hope because of your actions today. I’d like to end with the famous words of Mario Savio, as he spoke them on December 2, 1964. ‘There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious—makes you so sick at heart—that you can't take part. You can't even passively take part. And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all.”

I hand the microphone to Hank and as I step off the truck to a booming sound of applause and cheering, I hear several loud cracks and see some smoke and sparks in the crowd. Fire crackers. It puts the police on edge, who start whistling and moving into the crowd to find the person who lit them. I turn around just in time to see Seraphina punch Rossi in the face. Hotch tackles her to the ground and slaps cuffs on her instantly as Rossi spits blood onto the street. I notice a tall man with shaggy hair approach JJ and push her hard to the ground while trying to jump over the barrier. Prentiss and Joe grab him. A smoke bomb gets thrown into the crowd--by a cop or an anti-protester I don’t quite know.

I see others being cuffed by police, another person tries to pry Hotch off of Seraphina. Morgan is nowhere to be found. I feel someone grab my shoulder and spin around to see Barry. “We have to go, now.”

Barry drags me into the woods off the side of the road. I follow him as we jog through the woods for a good five minutes with no explanation. We arrive in a small clearing with three horses with reigns tied to a tree. “Horses?”

“Tucker got them at auction not too long ago. It’s going to be so much easier to move from town to camp on them instead of cars and bikes. We’re going to need them for the final plan anyway.” He unties the brown one and hands me the reigns. “You ride?”

I shake my head. “Never.”

“It’s okay, I never did either until we got these. They are trained good, I’ll lead the way.” Barry gets on the black one, leaving the white one. I assume for Hank.

After a few failed attempts and several laughs from Barry, I manage to get on the horse. It’s awkward and bizarre and I’m nervous as we begin to move through the woods. “How long will it take us to get there?”

“We’re going around, crossing the rail tracks and the low spot in the Blue Yew River, on the horses it’s about two hours, maybe a bit more.”

He planned the fire crackers, the protestors starting chaos. He knew it was the only way he could get away, and that I could get back to the camp with him. He mentioned a sacrifice, but I can’t help but wonder if there isn’t something more to what he meant. Does he expect the members that get arrested to be unable to come back to camp for fear of being followed? I’m going to have way too long of a ride to think about this.

So instead I memorize every rock, boulder and tree in the hopes that, if and when I need to, I can find my way back to town.

_nextboldmove_ @ 2010-05-26T03:50:00

2010-05-26T08:50:55Z

Title: Rock Paper Scissors 14/?

Rating: FRM

Pairing: Morgan/Reid, but mentions of Garcia/Kevin & Hotch/JJ

Summary: Reid makes a decision that Morgan can’t deal with. The march starts in Autryville.

Beta: None. Ah well. All mistakes are mine.

ConCrit: Better than watching Reid suck on a lollipop (and that was pretty darned good)

SPOILERS: Some canon from all seasons, but not always in the way it happened on the show.

With Hotch talking to Joe, Prentiss comes closer to me. “You should at least pretend to be okay with this, your jaw is clenched so tight you’re going to crack your teeth.”

~~~

AN: Since the last like, three chapters have all taken place in the span of 3 hours, I wanted to clarify. Barry killed his fifth victim while Reid, Morgan and Joe were driving back to Autryville. Because the drive time from where Barry hides his car is 40 minutes from Miracle King, and MK is 20 minutes from Autryville, that’s where some of the drive time overlap comes in.

~~~

9:13am in Charleston, WV

Agent Derek Morgan

“Thanks Detective Duggard,” Joe says, approaching Reid and myself standing near the SUV outside the hospital. “Dr. Reid, how did you know he was Loki?”

“His behavior added up, the confidence he had.” He tucks a bit of hair behind his ear as we all climb into the SUV. “First, he was confident, like he was throwing something in our faces. He said he liked to keep his eye on what’s going on, that he likes to help. Loki, in mythology, was a helper to the Gods. Although he also ended sometimes causing them problems. He was considered an asset. The things he was saying were convincing me. Then, when Garcia gave me his background, I was sure.”

“We’ve got his phone blocked, uniformed officers sitting on him, and as soon as he’s healthy enough to be released we are taking him into federal custody with a complete silence order. He’s not allowed to talk to anyone.” Joe starts the SUV. “Did you call Agent Hotchner?”

“We are now,” Morgan says, pulling out the phone and put it on speaker.

Hotch answers quickly. “You on your way back?”

“Hotch, we found Loki,” Morgan says. “And it looks like our unsub is Barry, leader of The Gaia.”

“Explain.”

“Loki, or Nathan Villisca, never met Barry in person. Apparently, Barry’s been really interested in learning about environmental protection, activism, things like that. Villisca said that Barry runs the group like a cult. He likes to be in charge, he makes people leave their families and homes to travel with the group.” I take a deep breath. “Apparently Barry is done with your typical activism, he’s getting serious.”

“Which translates into violent,” Hotch finishes. “Do we have anything on him? Do we know his last name or even what he looks like?”

“We could follow Robin’s description...” Joe starts.

“Every man who has come into Autryville this morning seems to fit that description,” Hotch finishes. “We are going to go into the crowds in plain clothes, but with our badges and firearms. We want to be able to keep an eye on things.”

“Agent Hotchner, I think I have an idea.” Joe clears his throat. “We got Loki on lockdown, he can’t talk to anyone. Now, I called Marie and asked him to send me an undercover agent, but he can’t get me anyone until tomorrow and that might be too late. Barry could be killing these women as a demonstration of power to members of The Gaia and today could be seen as a test to their loyalty. I can call Marie again, try to push for an agent sooner...”

“I’ll do it.” Reid says. “They don’t know what I look like. I have an eidetic memory, so I’m perfect for undercover work. I’ll remember everything that happens. I remember the entire conversation, every detail of the case files, everything.” He looks to the phone in the palm of my hand. “Hotch, I can do this.”

I hear Hotch sigh over the phone. “We’ll be able to identify Barry by the end of the day, bring him in for questioning. Joe, do you and Ringer have enough to hold him?”

“We have more than enough to keep him behind bars for a while, and if all else fails we throw the Patriot Act in his face,” Joe says. “We’ll stop and get Dr. Reid some clothes and supplies fitting to be Nathan Villisca. We‘ll rent him a vehicle too. Tell your analyst to re-open all of Carson Knight’s accounts, he can just use the same identity. It’s all set up and we can swing by the station and pick up his effects.”

“Only for the day Joe, only for the day,” Hotch warns. “I’ll let the rest of the team know the plan. Let me know when you get to Autryville.”

Thirty minutes later

Reid comes out of the fast food joint dressed in jeans, hiking boots, a plaid shirt and brown jacket. His hair is slicked back with water and the short length is tied in a pony tail stub on the back of his head. His pre-paid cell sits snuggly in his pocket and the small back-up weapon Joe requisitioned from the local PD isn’t even detectible on his leg. He slings Villisca’s backpack, filled with a canteen and some organic snack foods onto his shoulder.

“Look good to me,” Joe says, handing Reid the keys. “We put his luggage in the car, just in case you need to look more plausible.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. “Joe, can you give us a minute?”

Joe nods and goes to sit in our SUV. I turn back to Reid. “Spencer...”

“I’m the best choice for this. Joe and Ringer may have enough to charge him with terrorism, but if he’s our unsub, the families of our victims deserve to know. Murder will guarantee he never gets out of prison.” Spencer bites his lip nervously. “I’ll be safe. We’re going to be in public today, you’ll be watching. I really am the best person for the job. I was in the station all day yesterday. Don’t worry, I’ll be safe.”

I reach out and put my hand on his shoulder, wanting more than anything to hug him close. This isn’t a goodbye, he’s right. He’ll be just fine. I wonder if I‘ll manage to convince myself of that before this is all said and done. “I’m going to worry anyway. If Barry is our unsub and he smells that you’re not the real Loki, or that you’re not true, I wouldn’t doubt for a second he’d kill you.”

“I understand. But I am right for this. Hotch wouldn’t let me if I wasn’t.” He looks me in the eyes. It’s so intense, I feel like he’s trying to tell me so much in his look but I couldn’t even begin to translate it. “I need to do this.”

“I’m sorry. About everything...” I start, finding myself unable to keep talking.

“Me too.”

Desperate to not start crying, I squeeze his shoulder before letting go. “The road map is in the front seat.”

“See you in Autryville,” he says, turning around and walking towards the rental car.

I have a terrible pit in my stomach that something is going to go wrong.

~~~

12:06pm a mile outside ACC in West Virginia

I’m almost out of the SUV before Joe comes to a complete stop. I see Hotch and Prentiss standing on one side of a barrier of yellow crime scene tape that the locals have used to remind the crowds to stick to certain areas only. “There must be a thousand people out here,” Joe comments.

“At least,” Prentiss says. She makes eye contact with me. “How did it go?”

I know she’s really asking me ‘are you okay?’. “He should be here by now.”

With Hotch talking to Joe, Prentiss comes closer to me. “You should at least pretend to be okay with this, your jaw is clenched so tight you’re going to crack your teeth.”

“How is everyone else?”

“Garcia’s at the station with the Sheriff’s wife, she’s monitoring Twitter and Facebook feeds she’s already connected to the protest. Everyone on the force who knows of Reid knows he’s undercover, and the others haven’t been told at all. JJ’s standing near the media barrier just barely treading water. Rossi is out watching the protestors as they gather to march up ahead. We were waiting for you before going out there to watch the crowds. They start marching soon.”

“Morgan, I want you to work with the locals, they are the mine supporters. Make sure to keep your eye on the edges of the crowds. We’re not undercover, but we should be careful to not draw attention to ourselves. Do you have your radio on?”

I show him the piece in my ear. “Check.”

“Here, Kevlar without the FBI logo,” he hands me my own vest. “Prentiss will be walking with the protestors in the march to the ACC. Joe and Ringer are going ahead to the mine. I’ll be working with JJ to monitor the press. Rossi will be marching with Prentiss. If any of you see Reid, the code is Einstein.”

“Reid has a small firearm on his leg, and we’ve figured it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility for him to have one, most everyone here does,” I add. “Keep your eyes on him, because he’s going to find Barry. If he has Barry, he’ll make direct eye contact with one of us, that’s our cue.”

“Alright everyone, stay safe,” Hotch says.

We disperse into the crowd. I’m trying very hard to stay calm, to breathe, to focus on the job. But my knees are shaking. I won’t be okay until I see him, and I won’t be safe until he is. I don’t know if I can remain professional, if I can do my job. I grab my satellite cell phone and dial Garcia.

“Temporary Office of Awesome.”

“I need your help love.”

“Anything Derek.”

“Tell me he’s going to be okay.”

I hear her take in a breath. “He’s going to be okay.”

“I love you Penelope Garcia.”

“I love you too Derek Morgan.”

I hang up and while I feel a bit less hopeless, I still can’t stop that shaking in my knees. I make my way through to the edge of the crowd, past some faces I recognized from the diner and the bar as they hold up signs saying ‘COAL FEEDS MY CHILDREN’ and ‘YOU USED COAL ENERGY TO GET HERE’. I scan the edge of the crowd, try to memorize every single face. I wish I could. The one face I do have memorized I don’t see.

There is some shouting, some bongo drums are pounding and the protestors start to move.

~~~

Just before Morgan and Joe arrive in Autryville

Barry sits in his car not far from the police station. He watches as the Sheriff’s wife steps out and walks towards the diner, presumably to get some coffee. First, he’ll sneak into the station and plant the bomb. Then he’ll make sure to open the trunk, just unlatching it, before he takes off, grabbing an old bike that Seraphina left him on a bike rack down the street. He’ll make his way to the protest and when the time is right, once the cops and feds start arresting people and bringing them back to the station, he’ll use the disposable cell phone detonator, which he already tested and works in this valley, and the whole place will go up in smoke and flames. And take some agents with it, hopefully.

He grabs the backpack and gets out of the car, strolling casually into the front door of the station. He thinks he’ll plant the backpack under some table or desk, where it won’t get noticed. It’s almost too easy.

“Hi, can I help you?”

Fuck.

Barry looks up at a blonde woman wearing glasses. She’s holding a bottle of water in one hand while the other sets on her stomach in that way women do when they are expecting. She’s wearing a lavender blouse cut a bit too low and a black shirt that frills around her knees, with a pair of white sneakers and green socks.

“I’m looking for the Sheriff, I was supposed to meet him here.” Barry smiles. “I just got into town. I’m Officer Harmon from upstate.”

“Oh, he’s up near the mines, working security for the marches going on. I could radio him for you,” she reaches for the CB. “Here, he’s on channel 4. Excuse me. This pregnancy stuff, I swear I should just take my computers into the bathroom with me.”

“My first wife, when she was pregnant, she had to use the ladies room every ten minutes ‘swear to God,” Barry smiles. He the handle from her and watch her disappear into the bathroom.

Barry works quickly, finding a desk in the middle of the room. He opens the bottom drawer on the left, able to fit the backpack inside of the empty drawer. Unzips the front flap, activates the cell phone receiver inside, and closes the drawer. He’s hard just thinking about what’s going to happen.

When the blonde comes out of the bathroom, Barry nods. “I’m off to meet them. Thanks so much for your help Miss?”

“Agent Garcia. Technical Analyst for the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI,” she smiles. “Nice to meet you Officer Harmon.”

He turns and leaves. Shame for a pregnant woman to die, but then again she’s a fed. Not that sad when he thinks about it.

~~~

Back at the march to the ACC Mines

Agent Derek Morgan

Nobody has said ‘Einstein’ over the radios yet. I don’t know how long I can take it, not knowing where he is or if he’s okay. Garcia would have told us if he got in a car accident on the way here, if she found out about it. She has anything related to Carson Knight, Nathan Villisca and Loki flagged on her computers.

I see a woman I swear I recognize from when Prentiss and I saw The Gaia camp. Then gain we were so far away that details would have been difficult. Maybe I’m grasping for straws. My desperation is terrifying.

“At the head of the march, up here,” Rossi’s voice comes into my ear. “Einstein.”

~~~

AN: I don’t know when I’ll get to post again, it could be a week or two. Just a heads up.

_nextboldmove_ @ 2010-05-24T14:13:00

2010-05-24T19:13:50Z

Title: Rock Paper Scissors 13/?

Rating: FRAO for violent rape and murder scene

Pairing: Morgan/Reid, but mentions of Garcia/Kevin & Hotch/JJ

Summary: Morgan, Reid and Joe make a shocking discovery. Barry takes another victim.

Beta: None. Ah well. All mistakes are mine.

ConCrit: Better than watching Reid suck on a lollipop (and that was pretty darned good)

SPOILERS: Some canon from all seasons, but not always in the way it happened on the show.

~~~

7:04am in Charleston, West Virginia

Dr. Spencer Reid

The entire drive to Charleston I feel Morgan’s cynicism. It’s not towards me, it’s for Joe. Not really for him specifically, more for the predicament. Joe and Agent Ringer are trying to work an open case they’ve been tracking for years, it must be frustrating for them. We’re trying to find a serial killer who has killed someone we suspect is a member of The Gaia. It’s a series of intersections that have worked to complicate our individual cases and made it impossible to work one without working the other. But still, Morgan feels like we are being used by Joe to get to The Gaia.

I’ve been working with Morgan long enough to figure out his attitudes towards cases.

I feel guilty for our conversation last night. He willingly laid everything out on the line, said he’d help me no matter what. He also said he’d stay with me after I first told him about Toby Bell. I still plan to leave the FBI after this case, I plan to leave DC. I plan to leave Derek behind. But I didn’t have the heart to tell him that, and maybe that’s because I feel myself wanting to stay. That maybe, just maybe, things will be okay. That we can be happy and together and safe and free of worry.

Joe stops the SUV in front of the hospital and flashes his badge at the attendant. We get out of the car and are met by a detective wearing a brown suit with his shield pinned to his chest. “You must be the FBI. Agent Hotchner called me and told me you’d be coming. I’m Detective Cillian Duggard.”

Joe introduces us. “What can you tell us about the car crash victim, Carson Knight?”

“I can’t tell you much about him, because our meager background check came up with Mr. Knight being dead since 1997 from a heart attack. I was informed that you have someone on your team in Autryville looking into this further.”

“Stolen identity,” I look to Morgan and back at the detective. “We were told there were items in the vehicle relating to the protests happening today in Autryville?”

He nods. “Fliers, that’s pretty much it. The backseat had two suitcases for us, and we found a train ticket stub. He came from Minnesota, but that could have just been a transfer point. But there’s something else you should know. We found this in his wallet.”

Joe takes a small piece of paper from the detective and reads aloud. “Meet on Yew Mountain, Barry. Three down.” He hands the paper back. “Yew Mountain is where we suspect The Gaia are camping out. Barry is the leader.”

“We saw them,” Morgan interjects. “Prentiss and I. They are definitely living up there.”

“Three down, we have four murders. But this could have been written before,” I add.

“If they have anything to do with the murders at all. This guy knows something about The Gaia.” Joe takes a deep breath. “We’d like to talk to him.”

“Sure, he’s in room 248. He’s awake, I was just up there take his statement. Cuts and bruises, broken ribs, and a broken femur on the left side. He ain’t going anywhere. I have to get back to the station,” he hands Joe a card. “Please keep in touch.”

“Thank you.” As we walk into the hospital, Joe begins ordering us. “Don’t tell him that we know about the murders or mention The Gaia by name. Just ask him his whereabouts, where he’s from, what he’s doing.”

“With all due respect Agent Helman,” Morgan says, “we know how to do our job. And you are not our Unit Chief.”

I privately smirk at Morgan’s remark as we are directed to Carson Knight’s room on the second floor. When we arrive, he’s awake, staring at CNN news coverage of the protests in Autryville on the television in the corner of the room. “Mr. Knight?” Joe asks.

He sits up. “You aren’t the police.”

Morgan shakes his head, taking a step in front of Joe to show his alpha status. There’s something so sensual away about the Morgan works, how he dances with gestures and looks and questions when talking with a witness or questioning an unsub. I never really noticed the intimacy of the way he works before, but now I’m almost distracted by it. I’m starting to notice all sorts of things about the people I work with. I think I’m more conscious of it, now that I know it’s all coming to an end soon.

“Mr. Knight, My name is Supervisory Special Agent Derek Morgan. This is Agent Helman and Dr. Reid. We need to talk to you.”

“I could deny that I don‘t know what this is about, but you would know I was lying now wouldn‘t you?” He grabs the remote from his lap and turns off the TV. I notice bandages on his left side from his neck down.

“What’s your name?”

“Carson Knight.”

“What’s your real name?”

Mr. Knight rolls his eyes. “My name is Carson Knight. I was in a car accident on my way to an environmental protest.”

“How did you find out about the protests?” I ask. “Watching the news?”

“The internet. I like to keep my eye on what’s going on. I never know when I‘ll be able to help.”

“So you saw that there was a protest over one little mining company and you hopped a train from Minnesota and then rented a car to drive out there?” Joe asks. “Who are you meeting?”

Carson Knight squints just a little, perhaps from the pain. “I’m there to meet others who believe in the cause of saving our planet. I’m told that they won’t let me leave today, but I’ll check out AMA, rent another car and go down there. I’m not under arrest, and even if I have to be wheeled around, I’ll be there to assist.”

“You’re obviously in pain, what’s the rush?” Morgan asks. “Barry waiting for you?”

I see Joe is upset at Morgan playing our cards so quickly. But what I don’t think Joe has picked up on is that ‘Carson Knight’ knows we aren’t stupid, he knows we know something. If we feed him something, we can gauge his reaction and he’ll let us know more than he thinks. Besides, he’s not going anywhere. We aren’t disappointed. Carson Knight tenses at the mention of Barry’s name. Perhaps he’s under the influence of pain medication, which could work to our favor.

“I have never met Barry, I was just told when I get there that he might be someone I’d want to meet.”

“He’s a very interesting person, Barry,” Joe says. “Right now our other agents are talking to him at the Autryville Police Station.”

Mr. Knight lays his head back and closes his eyes. “He wouldn’t say anything about me, because he and I haven’t met. Not officially.”

“That’s not what he said,” Morgan says. “He says you’ve been helping him.”

Carson Knight opens his eyes and smiles. “I do help people, I help this cause. I want to get involved. Maybe that’s all he meant.”

“You are so devoted to helping that you are going to check out of here, right?” Morgan rolls his eyes. “Maybe your little boyfriend really wants your help with his little group. But see, you getting in this car accident just causes him a slew of problems now doesn’t it? You still need to get to Autryville come hell or high water.”

The satellite phone buzzes in my pocket, and I see it’s Garcia. Excusing myself into the hallway where I can safely talk. “Garcia, what did you find?”

“Well, he isn’t Carson Knight boy wonder. His real name is Nathan Villisca, age 27. He’s currently unemployed, living off his father’s life insurance. His father was killed in a car accident two years ago in Minneapolis.”

“So he plucked Carson Knight’s identity right out of the air, there’s no connection?”

“Oh but there is. See, Carson Knight is the father of Gregory Knight, who just so happens to run Knight Testing Systems just outside Seattle, which is a private company that contracts out to others to test their products. Everything from medication trials on humans to poking cute little bunny foo foo’s in the eye with mascara wands.”

“Let me guess, Nathan Villisca worked for Knight Testing Systems.”

“Dr. Reid, you aren’t just a genius, you’re clairvoyant,” Garcia laughs. “Not only did Villisca work for Knight, but he worked in the public relations department. He had interned during college and got a permanent job doing administration. His job was to filter through hate mail and keep tabs on websites and groups who directly mentioned Knight Testing Systems. He had his fingers on the pulse of eco-activism.”

“When did he leave the company?” I ask, Morgan coming outside into the hall to join me.

“This is where things get interesting. Villisca must have seen one too many blogs about the evils of the company he was working for. He went online and orchestrated a break-in the unit where all the animals used for makeup testing were kept. Freed everything that was healthy, and they used veterinary-grade euthanasia to put down the ones that were suffering. Villisca was ID’d by a security guard on the video feed, but since the ID was based on his shoes because they were all wearing masks, no charges were ever filed. But Villisca never came back to work. This all went down about three years ago. From what I can tell, he moved in with daddy dearest and after he died, has been living in his father’s home and off the insurance settlement. I’m tracing anything related to his father...ping.” Garcia’s flurried typing is in the background. “He’s been keeping all his utility bills under dear dead dad’s name, internet, phone, cell phone, utilities...you name it. Not even a bank account in his name since the Knight break-in.”

“Can you do me one more favor? Check to see if he’s used the phone from his hospital room. Also, as soon as you get that information from the PDA...”

“Will do. Stay safe.”

“Thanks Garcia.” I hang up and look at Morgan. “Let me handle this.”

We walk back into the room to see Joe standing next to Villisca’s bed. “You want immunity? You give up Barry Mr. Knight.”

I clear my throat and approach the other side of the bed. “He’s right, you need immunity Mr. Villisca. Wait, you’d prefer to be called Loki.”

Nathan Villisca looks at me with a sense of wonderment, and so do Morgan and Joe. “That was quick. I had no idea you’d figure it out.”

“You tell us about Barry. Everything. See, while you were on the lamb living under your assumed identity, the feds got more evidence against you. You’re wanted for domestic terrorism. Some of those animals you released and put down where test subjects in a government program. The Patriot Act, see, Agent Helman here is getting a little itchy to take down The Gaia. He’ll throw you in Guantanamo Bay so fast you won’t realize it’s happened until it’s too late. You’ll never get a trial, never get out. Unless, of course, you want to cut a deal. Lesser charge for information. So, you ready to cooperate?”

I sit down in the chair next to Nathan Villisca’s bed feeling like a cop in a movie. I just played all my cards, so to speak, but I’m confident that he’ll talk. I have no idea if he’s still wanted, and I doubt he’ll serve any real time, but he doesn’t know that. At least the look on his face is telling me that he’s worried.

“Barry is the leader of The Gaia. I was supposed to meet him at his camp on the mountain this morning. I don’t really know much about him or the group other than that they are done pussy-footing around.” Mr. Villisca sighs in pain. “Barry’s serious. Sometimes I wonder how far he’d go.”

“Far enough to hurt someone?” Morgan asks.

“I don’t know. They are camping on the Yew Mountain. I was supposed to park ten miles outside of Slatyville and hike about two miles up into the camp and meet them. Last time I talked to him, he was serious about upping the ante.”

“Meaning what?” I ask.

“This Barry guy, there’s something about him. He’s angry. He comes out of nowhere a while back and just puts this group together. They leave their homes, go on the road, leave everyone behind. It’s like a fucking cult. Don’t get me wrong, the group has done some great things, but...”

“But?” Joe asks.

“I just don’t know what he’s going to do next.” Mr. Villisca hits the button to receive more pain medication. “So, what about that deal?”

~~~

Meanwhile, back in Autryville

Barry is downright giddy at the number of people who have already shown up, and more are coming. He’s nervous that Loki hasn’t so much as called yet, but he has a bit of faith. Loki will be here. Maybe he’ll be waiting up near the mines. He’ll meet him when he’s done.

There’s a thump coming from the trunk. Damn, she must have woken up. Barry finds a nice, quiet place. It’s a little ‘lovers lane’ area that he’s noticed on his drives between Slatyville and Miracle King. Right now it’s empty. Nobody comes here during the day. All the environmentalists are at the march, and the locals are also protesting against the protestors, hoping that the media will show both sides of the story. Who knows?

Barry puts on a pair of latex gloves and gets out of the car. He drags his hand along the length of the car as if it were a woman. He’s got a little time to enjoy this, and he plans on it. The waitress from the diner was more about getting the job done. This one will too...but he has to wait until the march is fully underway before he can take her back to town.

The trunk opens with a satisfying ‘ka-clunk’ sound. She’s awake, her big brown eyes pleading up at him. The duct tape around her mouth is holding fast, the rope around her wrists and ankles digging into her flesh and making it red, swollen, angry. It’s poetic, the way a human body changes under force. The way it responds, the noises that come out of someone’s mouth when they are in pain. It’s a lot like when the members of his group do whatever he says. He feels power in the manipulation. He is the creator. It makes him happy.

He pulls her out of the trunk and lets her body thud into the dirt. She moans through her duct-tape and rag gag in pain. Something he did. He laughs and drags her through the dirt and into the woods. Her muffled cries only make him drag her faster over the twigs and rocks. He sees a place he likes and stops.

Barry flips her onto her back so she can look at him. “Fucking whore.”

He unzips his pants and pulls them and his boxers down to his knees. Her eyes shut, as if not looking will somehow make it not happen. She’s the first one who has ever refused to look. Most of them stare at him with wide glossy eyes pleading for him to stop and let her go. Not this one. She knows what’s going to happen, she’s just trying to get through it. That makes him want to hurt her even more.

Using his bowie knife, he cuts her denim jeans off. Each rip and pull jostles her body, but she keeps her eyes firmly shut. He cuts off her shirt and grabs her tits hard. When she doesn’t moan into her gag he grabs them harder, so hard that if she lived long enough it would leave beautiful bruises. Deep purple ones. When the edge of his knife sinks into the flesh on her thigh, that’s when her eyes open. A good palm full of blood serves as an impromptu lubricant, because he doubts this is turning her on and much as it turns him on.

Her struggling just works his cock faster, and he knows it won’t take long. It’s a good thing he put on a condom before he even found her, because he knows that he always gets so carried away that he forgets important things like that. When he comes, he plunges the knife into her stomach at the same time. With his other hand, he pulls her duct tape gag off and the rag out of her mouth. She instantly screams.

Barry pulls the knife out of her stomach and into her face, watching her blood drip off the blade and onto her cheeks, her nose, her lips. Bringing it back down, he stabs her again. And again. He loses track after five, because he’s just watching her eyes roll back in her head, her breaths getting more desperate, and then finally she’s still.

He drags her back to the car, where he makes sure his plastic-lined trunk is empty before dumping her body inside. He goes into the backseat and pulls out an empty trash bag. He strips naked, putting everything in the bag. He grabs the bottle of hydrogen peroxide and the towels, cleaning himself off. After he grabs his clean change of clothes, Barry takes the trash bag of his bloody ones into the woods and hides them. Animals will smell the blood and tear the bag apart, but by the time anyone finds the pieces The Gaia will be long gone.

Taking several deep breaths, he gets behind the wheel and heads towards Autryville. The near-hour drive gives him time to plan out exactly what he’s going to do. It’s beautiful, how he’s going to pull this off. He’ll have to be careful, but he knows that Nino and Seraphina are planning on distracting the cops and feds, pulling them away from the station just long enough for him to do this. Then when they arrest them and take them back to the station...Barry is almost sad. Nino and Seraphina think it’s fake. A deterrent. A scare.

The bomb is real.

_nextboldmove_ @ 2010-05-22T16:34:00

2010-05-22T21:34:05Z

Title: Rock Paper Scissors 12/?

Rating: FRT

Pairing: Morgan/Reid, but mentions of Garcia/Kevin & Hotch/JJ

Summary: Barry gets nervous that his plans are being foiled. Reid opens up to Morgan. Morgan admits the truth to himself.

Beta: None. Ah well. All mistakes are mine.

ConCrit: Better than watching Reid suck on a lollipop (and that was pretty darned good)

SPOILERS: Some canon from all seasons, but not always in the way it happened on the show.

This melancholy that I carry makes me feel so grown up. At my kitchen table doing shots of resignation...

~~~

8:28pm at The Gaia camp in Autryville, WV

“So what are we going to do?”

Barry looks at Hank, wanting to slap him across the face for asking him that. “We continue with the march as planned. But I think we need to move up our plans for the ACC.”

“Don’t you think it’ll be tough to pull it off sooner? We just barely got the supplies in,” Tucker adds. “There’s talk that they are going to shut down the mines tomorrow anyway.”

“Rumors, they won’t. None of these coal companies do, it costs too much.” Barry leans back in his lawn chair in front of the fire. “Tomorrow we all go into town.”

“Did you hear from that contact of yours?” Hank asks.

“Not for a while, but I think he’s trying to stay low because of the feds. He doesn’t want them to know who he really is.”

“I need four more days before I can arrange things on my end at the mine,” Strawberry says. “Four more days.”

“Tucker?”

The younger man sighs with frustration. “Yeah, four days. We could do it.”

“It’s perfect, the march is over, the protestors will be gone, ACC will suspect the worst is over,” Barry yawns. “Perfect.”

“What about the feds?” Strawberry crawls over to lean her head into Barry’s lap. “Becki at ACC said they are in Autryville investigating a series of murders.”

Barry wants to smile, jump up and down and dance. “Everyone will be watching.”

Strawberry sighs. “They’ll learn.”

Barry listens to everyone talk about a myriad of topics, sipping moonshine Hank brought him from Snickers. His plan worked. He gets to have a little fun with some whores, something he’s always wanted to do before, and it brings more FBI agents in. The DHS didn’t think they were important enough to send more than two agents, it was almost insulting. This way, The Gaia can claim responsibility for the bombing of the police station tomorrow, but only after they blow up the mines and leave Autryville. From there on out no more sit ins and peaceful marches. They are going to be obvious, show everyone the pain they have caused.

At least that’s what The Gaia believe. That’s what Barry wanted them to believe. This way, when he’s caught, he’ll be seen as a hero instead of just another psychopathic serial killer. Loki may be the mysterious one who lives behind a keyboard, preaching down upon the rest of them, but Barry will be the one that gets remembered. Barry will be the one that gets to have all the fun.

Of course, killing those FBI agents will just be icing on the cake.

~~~~~

10:13pm at The Miracle King Hotel in WV

Agent Derek Morgan

Reid and I spent the afternoon going from car to RV to school bus, attempting to warn people about the serial killer on the loose. Of course, Reid was right, and some of them flat-out accused us of working for ACC in an attempt to stop the march. After calling Hotch and briefing him on our work and another bacon cheeseburger at the Truck Stop, Reid and I are making our way to our room at the hotel. Of course the protestors had nearly all the rooms filled up by the time JJ called to get us a place. At least there are two beds.

There have been dozens of scenarios over the years where Reid and I shared a room on cases, and even one when we were together. But somehow this feels different. There’s a heaviness to the air. Ever since I saw him show up to the motel in Autryville early this morning, things have felt different. He seems different. I could let myself think that Prentiss’s words are starting to change my mind, that in reality I belong to him and he belongs to me. All our lives we each have been looking for that person who can save us. This might be it. Can I really so easily throw this away?

“I’m sure you’re very tired, you can have the shower first,” Reid says, sitting on the foot of the bed furthest from the door.

I set my bag down. “I’ll wait until morning, it’ll help wake me up. Besides, I showered while you were on your way into Autryville.”

Reid stares at his hands in his lap, making the air in the room thicker than I can stand. I watch him alternate between biting his lip and slowly closing and opening his eyes. He’s obviously trying to say something and thinking of how to say it. I grab my sleeping clothes and go to the bathroom to change, leaving the door open so I can talk to him. Maybe me not being in his direct vision will help. “Reid, what’s up?”

“What?”

“There’s something bothering you, you can talk to me about it. As friends.”

“They’re investigating Toby Bell’s death.” His voice is so small and quiet that at first I’m not sure I heard him correctly.

“They?”

“Yesterday I saw the autopsy report on Garcia’s computer.”

With only my pants changed, I go back into the bedroom. Reid’s eyes are red and glossy, but he’s not crying yet. This is what Prentiss was going to tell me? That Garcia found out there’s an investigation into Toby Bell’s death? I take a deep breath, my whole body feeling shaky. Spencer won’t make it in jail. He’ll be beaten and raped and he might even...he might even snap. The news will kill his mother. “Spencer...”

“No, I did something wrong. I should pay. Just, don’t tell them I told you. You’ll lose your job. The team needs you. The victims need you.”

The tears start falling down his face and I instinctively reach over to wipe them away. “No matter what happens I will be right here.”

“You can’t do that,” he pushes my hand away. “I’ll be fine. I deserve whatever happens.”

“No, I’ll be here. You’ll need the best lawyer we can find, we’ll have to put your affairs into order so Diana will have everything she needs, we’ll hire the best forensics experts. Everything.”

I watch Spencer break in front of my eyes. Suddenly we’re back in that police station in Davenport. His body shakes with sobs, his face floods with tears and I wish I could make all that pain go away. But unlike Davenport, this time I pull him into my arms and hold him. Maybe if I’m holding onto him tight enough, he won’t fall apart. I wonder if anyone will hold me together.

“I’m only going to hurt you,” he chokes out between sobs. “I’ve only ever made things worse.”

“But you’re worth fighting for,” I reply.

After what seems like forever, Reid pardons himself to go to the bathroom. I hear the water running and take the chance to get into my own bed. He is worth fighting for, and I know that now. Now is not the time to ‘get back together’ but he needs to know he can count on me. It’s all just so unfair.

I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I know Spencer is shaking my arm. “Derek?”

I open my eyes. “Yeah? What’s wrong?”

He bites his lip. “Can...never mind.”

“You want to sleep in my bed?” I pull back the covers and let him crawl in. He doesn’t snuggle up next to me, but he’s close. He’s safe here. I would die to keep him safe. I have to. If he’s not safe, I’m not safe. As strange as that realization is, at least I’ve figured that out.

I resist the urge to pull him close to me, afraid to spook him. But for the first time since he told me about what happened in Deep Lake, I feel like no matter what else happens, at least I’m not lying to myself anymore. If that doesn’t mean something then nothing does.

~~~

I hear pounding. Loud, obnoxious pounding. I open my eyes and realize it’s not a dream. The clock says 5:10am Fuck, I was going to try to sleep until at least seven. I roll over to see Spencer stirring, but refusing to open his eyes and acknowledge the world.

“Agent Morgan, it’s Joe,” a voice calls through from the other side of the door.

Shit. I jump out of bed, grab the gym shirt on the desk I never got to putting on last night, ruffle the sheets on the other bed to make it look like I didn’t just share a bed with Spencer, and answer the door. “Good morning Joe.”

“That computer whiz of yours, Penelope Garcia? Came pounding on my door an hour ago wearing a bright pink nightgown that said ‘Mommy to Be’ and slippers that looked like skinned muppets.“ He comes into the room, in one hand a paper tray with three coffee’s on it. There’s a paper bag hanging from between his fingers. He sets the items on the table. “I hate to wake you, but she found someone we have to talk to.”

“Garcia found Loki?” Spencer’s voice is soft, sweet. He rubs his eye with his fist akin to a sleepy child and I just want to curl him up in the covers and tell him a bed time story, make the case wait. Stop time so he can have something. Just for a little while. Tell the clock to fuck off.

“No, she found someone driving a car that matches the description Robin Klinger gave you yesterday. Carson Knight was hit by a drunk driver a few hours ago about twelve miles out of Slatyville. He was choppered to the hospital in Charleston. I told Agent Hotchner that I’d go with you, but he’ll be calling you shortly.”

I watch Joe sip on his coffee. “Does Carson Knight have anything tying him to The Gaia?”

“I don’t know yet, your analyst is still trying to get information on him. But the cops on the scene noticed he had several suitcases in the back seat and flyers having to do with the protest starting today down in Autryville.”

Spencer finally crawls out of bed and grabs a coffee and a bagel from the paper bag. “Thanks for breakfast.”

“I’m going to take a shower, then Reid can get dressed and we’ll head out to Charleston.” I grab my things, dreading a two-hour drive with Joe. I’m growing more and more cynical of his motivations for calling Rossi in the first place. I’ll admit that we should check out this lead, but I’m sure everyone is thinking that this has more to do with The Gaia and the DTAU investigation than it does with the murders. And we don’t have much time, because there is the potential that this killer might leave Autryville with the exodus of activists and then we’d be screwed until he popped up and started killing somewhere else.

When I get out of the bathroom dressed and nearly ready to go, Spencer is sitting at the desk across from Joe, pushing his glasses up his nose and laughing. He sees me and smiles. “I was just telling Joe about how Kevin giving Rossi a talk after he started seeing Garcia.”

“I can just imagine Dave trying to keep a straight face while getting a talking-to from some computer tech,” Joe snickers. “See, Dave’s a great guy, but you just know that on the inside he’s thinking obnoxious things about you.”

“Part of his charm,” I reply. “Bathroom is yours Reid.”

“Let me know if you see my contact lenses case around here, will you? I can’t find them.” He grabs his things and disappears into the bathroom to change and shave.

“So how long have you two been fraternizing?” Joe asks me casually, pushing a napkin with a bagel and packet of cream cheese across the desk.

“What makes you think that?” I sit down and resume drinking my coffee. “We’ve been working together for years, we’re good friends outside the job.”

“Because one bed looks slept in on both sides and the other one is hastily messed up to make it look slept in,” Joe yawns. “I’m FBI Agent Morgan, I’m trained just like you.”

“Look, I know it sounds strange, but he basically had to raise himself and, well, the last case wasn’t easy for him. The last year or two have been tough. He’s been kidnapped, raped, beaten...he has nightmares and sometimes it’s easier for him to sleep in a bed with me than not.”

“That’s a long story. When people lie, they tell long stories with unnecessary details to attempt to make a lie look solid.” Joe stands up. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell, even though the look on Dave’s face would be priceless. I’ll go wait in the car while you check out.”

I pick at my bagel and wait for Reid and wonder. Prentiss knows, Garcia figured something is up, and even though Reid and I are not a ‘couple’ anymore, everyone else on the team must have figured out by now that at least something was going on. Of course, they are FBI agents, just like Joe said, trained to pick up on stuff like this.

The phone rings and I go across the room to answer it. “Morgan.”

“Did Agent Helman arrive yet?” Hotch’s serious voice comes into my ear, devoid of any lack of sleep.

“Yes sir, we are heading to Charleston.”

“Hurry back to Autryville when you are done, we are going to need eyes in the crowds. Most of the protestors are setting up marches and public demonstrations closer to the mines, so head straight out there when you get back.”

“Yes sir. But Hotch, do you really think this Carlson Knight is our unsub?”

“No, but Joe is insistent on talking to him and if there is the off-chance he is the one who tried to kidnap Robin Klinger I think it’s worth a visit from you and Reid.”

“Alright, we’ll call when we are on our way to Autryville.”

I hang up the phone just as Reid comes out of the bathroom, clean shaven and still wearing his glasses. “Did you find my contact case?”

“Nope, I was talking to Hotch. He wants us back in Autryville after we visit this Knight guy to help work the crowds, try to see if our unsub is hunting a new victim.”

“I set it on the bed,” he points to the bed I messed up this morning.

I go over and search and sure enough, I find the case. Open, the contents having spilled out. “Shit Reid, I’m sorry.”

“That’s fine, I have my glasses so I’ll be fine. Just don’t break them either.” He smiles, proud at his own sarcasm. “Let’s go.”

“Spencer?” I grab his elbow. “It’s going to be okay. I meant what I said about doing everything I can to help you. I promise.”

He looks me square in the eye. “I still haven’t decided what to do yet. Don’t commit to me until I commit to myself, please?”

He pulls away, grabs his bag and leaves the room and my heart breaks.

~~~

6:32am The Gaia camp just outside Autryville

Strawberry checks and re-checks her over-sized purse. Last night Barry decided to cancel the trial run, because the likelihood of ACC shutting down due to the protests. But she’ll still see just how much she can get away with. A trial-run for the trial-run. She knows she must repress her urge to join in the marches, to support them in anyway. Everyone at the camp knows she’s working undercover at the mines--her and the rest of them who are working at the mine.

It’s going to be so hard for her to walk past marchers, to not grab a sign and join along. But she has a task. She has to sacrifice to save The Mother. Barry told her, and Barry has never steered them wrong.

“Well,” Barry comes back into the RV. “Loki must be running late. He’s not answering any of my calls or messages.”

“It’s okay, I’m sure traffic is backed up or something,” Strawberry kisses his cheek. “He’ll probably meet you at the march.”

“I hope so,” Barry looks shaken. Barry feels shaken. This Loki guy has been like a mentor to him, someone he looked up to in a sense, and yet he’s never met him. Now, he was supposed to be at Autryville last night and has yet to show up or answer his fucking phone. Maybe he didn’t count on the lack of decent cellular service and doesn’t have a satellite phone. Nah, something’s wrong. Barry can just feel it. And with his ‘spy’ in Autryville telling him about the feds warning people there’s a serial killer around and to stay away, everything is starting to unravel.

Perhaps today would be a good day for the feds to find another body.

~~~

*I stupidly realized that in the beginning of this story, Slatyville was really Slatyfork. I’m sorry. See kids? Get a beta! Someday I’ll go back and fix it all, but until then I’m sticking to Slatyville. So there.

_nextboldmove_ @ 2010-05-19T08:12:00

2010-05-19T13:12:08Z

Title: Rock Paper Scissors 11/?

Rating: FRT

Pairing: Morgan/Reid, but mentions of Garcia/Kevin & Hotch/JJ

Summary: Reid begins to reconsider leaving the BAU. Hotch sends him and Morgan to Miracle King to work another angle of the case.

Beta: None. Ah well. All mistakes are mine.

ConCrit: Better than watching Reid suck on a lollipop (and that was pretty darned good)

SPOILERS: Some canon from all seasons, but not always in the way it happened on the show.

~~~

8:42am at the diner in Autryville, WV

Dr. Spencer Reid

The watered-down coffee is burnt, and all the sugar and cream I poured into it hasn’t made it better. It could be just me, I feel very detached. I’m sitting at a desk in the Autryville Sheriff’s Department across from Garcia. She’s typing feverishly and attempting to warn people on social networking sites not to come to Autryville. I’ve already read what little case files there are in regards to evolutionary crimes that fit the rough profile.

Deputy Marx, he goes by Ted, was giving Garcia and I a glaring look until Sheriff Remmick asked him to take Rossi and Prentiss up to Glenda Warren’s home on the mountain to talk to her about her barn being broken into. Joe--and now Hotch--are convinced that someone in The Gaia may have seen our unsub at one point, and that someone from the group may be another victim. I think Joe is using our assistance to get to The Gaia. Either Hotch doesn’t seem to notice, or he doesn’t seem to care. I’m not sure.

“This case doesn’t sit right with me,” I say, sitting up. I see Eleanor Remmick, the Sheriff’s wife, walk in and sit at her desk across the room, trying not to obviously stare at us. “The unsub put Coral Fuller’s body in the car, but why?”

“That’s not my job cupcake,” Garcia says, standing up. “I need the little girl’s room.”

I watch her disappear into the restroom next to Joe and Ringer’s office. If she knows something, she’s doing a really good job at hiding it. Usually if Garcia is upset or stressed it shows. She’s not trained to keep her emotions hidden on the job like the rest of us. Maybe she was asked to pull the file and she didn’t read it. Or, most likely, she believes in me. Garcia loves her co-workers like family so much that no matter what the paperwork says, or when it comes out that I did in fact kill Toby Bell while under the influence of morphine on the job, she’ll deny it to herself. It’ll be too hard for her to cope with. Maybe her daughter will suffer as a result--Garcia lost her parents and she almost never has contact with her brothers. She’ll never let that girl learn lessons for herself, she’ll shelter her and perhaps even smother her out of fear of being left behind by yet another person. The complete opposite of the way I adapted to repeated abandonment.

I’m interrupted from my thoughts by Hotch and Morgan coming into the station. They come right up to me. “Where’s Garcia?”

“Restroom,” I straighten my posture. “How are the interviews going?”

“We’ve been made aware that there are some people filtering into Miracle King,” Hotch begins.

“GOD DAMNED HIPPIES!” A tall man wearing jeans, a brown jacket with a Sheriff’s patch on the arm and a plain blue ball cap comes into the office. “Jesus fucking a kite string Eleanor.”

“What’s happening now Brewster?” Mrs. Remmick doesn’t even look up from her paperwork, indicating this style of entry is common behavior from Brewster.

“There’s one of those school buses painted up like some damned hippies live in it.” Brewster puts his hands on his hips and looks over at me. “You more of the FBI?”

Hotch introduces Morgan, himself and me. “We are with a different department than Agents Ringer and Helman,” he states.

When I see a confused look on Brewster‘s face, I chime in. “We are with the Behavioral Analysis Unit, not the Department of Homeland Security’s Domestic Terrorism Assessment Unit like Agents Ringer and Helman.”

“Fuck string bean, you always walk around talking like a fucking encyclopedia?” Brewster looks back to Mrs. Remmick. “I called up to Daughtry in Miracle King, there’s more there. God damned hippies.”

“They must be here for the protests,” I reply, just as Garcia is coming out of the bathroom. “Garcia, it looks like protestors are arriving.”

“A day early?” She sits down and begins to type furiously and for some strange reason, I find it slightly erotic. The fact that I do, at this particular moment, is a bit scary.

“This is your analyst?” Brewster looks her up and down. “That’s not all, Daughtry says that a woman, a maid at the hotel, came into the station crying about an hour ago that some older guy tried to give her a ride home to Slatyville and when she refused he grabbed her. She fought him off and got away. This is the kinda shit Ricky, uhm, Sheriff Remmick, told us to look out for.”

Hotch nods. “That’s right, thank you. Reid, you and Morgan secure a vehicle and head to Miracle King. Interview the victim, work the case from there. Take your go-bags, I’ll have JJ secure you rooms at the hotel. It’s possible with such an influx of people not familiar with the area our unsub could start picking his victims there.”

“Sounds like the bastard already did,” Morgan says.

Eleanor walks towards us with a set of keys. “Take my car Agents, it’s a Sheriff’s department sedan, but I don’t have much use for it.”

Morgan takes them. “Thank you Mrs. Remmick. Alright Reid, let’s get our stuff and head out.”

After stopping at the motel to pick up our things (once the rest of the team arrived in Autryville we left our go-bags in Morgan and Prentiss’s room) we leave for Miracle King. I sit with a case file in my lap while Morgan drives, a case file I don’t need since I long ago read it. “These mountains are beautiful,” I comment, feeling stupid.

“Even though it was still cold up there, the hiking was beautiful,” Morgan adds. “That’s how I twisted my ankle, we came across a ravine and I was admiring the view and bam, tripped over a log.”

“I noticed in your pictures how beautiful it was up there. It is a shame that a mining company is planning on destroying this.”

“Prentiss said she understood why someone could be so passionate about a cause like this.”

“It’s a very difficult thing to reconcile,” I turn around and set the file in the backseat. “ACC employs people from all around the area, people that might not otherwise be able to find work. 45 percent of our nation’s electricity is generated from coal. In 1997 it was almost 53 percent. Despite the increase in nuclear and alternative energy sources, almost two hundred new coal plants were in production. The biggest downfall to coal generated power creates a large amount of toxic air pollution.”

“So you’re saying that people like The Gaia are worried that we are destroying the earth, while people in these communities are worried about putting food on the table?”

“Yes.”

“But neither of those have anything to do with murder,” Morgan sighs.

“Not according to our victimology,” I reply. “Our unsub seemed to have something personal against the woman found in the mountain and the woman he left in your car last night. Those were the most brutal murders, and the SAE post-mortems so far indicate brutal sexual assault peri-mortem. It’s very possible he’s local, and if he is the same person who attempted to abduct the main from the hotel, he might be upset by all these new people coming into town.”

“Like a kid let loose in a candy shop, he just can’t control himself. Do you think he’s aware of the rift between The Gaia and the Autryville residents?”

“I don’t think he cares, it doesn’t matter to him. I don’t think he’s organized enough.”

“What do you mean Reid?”

“If our unsub was calculated, he’d pick a very specific group to go after. I think he’s new to acting on his impulses, that he’s young and that he’s local to the area.”

“Hey Reid, what did you mean by what you said? Before Prentiss and I left DC?”

I feel blindsided by his question, almost tricked at how well he slipped that into the conversation. “I just wanted to tell you that.”

“With Garcia on this case with us, who’s taking care of Taffy and Sally?”

“Kevin offered. Uhm, can we not talk about personal business?”

I see hurt in his face but he doesn’t respond. He just continues to stare straight ahead at the road. I look out the window to my side, watching things pass me by. Despite the fact that I’m so desperate to leave the BAU behind and move on, I can’t bring myself to look ahead. I don’t want to miss my last moments with them. Except this one. It’s too hard to be around him. I’m caught between wanting to crawl into his lap and hold on forever and jumping out of this moving car and disappearing into the woods. I feel stupid.

An hour later in Miracle King, WV

“Shoulder length grey hair, and a red baseball cap,” Robin Klinger says, wringing her purse strap in her hands. Allen Daughtry, the local department Chief, got the call from Hotch and picked her up so we could talk to her.

“What kind of car was he driving?” Morgan asks her, leading our cognitive interview.

I see her eyes flutter under her closed eyelids. “Grey, older, like, early 90’s I think. Rusty door on the bottom.”

“What happened next?” Morgan asks.

“I recognized him from the hotel, he came up to me and asked me directions. I gave him a smile and asked if he was lost. He said ‘how about I give you a ride?’ I walked up to his window and said no. That’s when he grabbed my arm and pulled me. He was trying to pull me into the window. I started to scream but he pulled out a knife and told me to shut up. I don’t remember how, but I managed to slip away. I ran all the way to the station.” She opens her eyes. “Is this the guy who killed those girls?”

I exchange looks with Morgan before speaking. “It’s possible. Either way, we want to make sure he is held accountable for assaulting you.”

She smiles. “Thank you.”

After getting her information, Daughtry leaves to give her a ride home. “We should go to the Truck Stop, do some questioning.”

“Good idea, I’m starving. Can we eat?” Morgan stands up.

I shrug, not really too hungry. I’m nervous being around him, and a full stomach might make me feel physically ill. I follow him out of the station and nearly run into him in the door. “Morgan?”

“Shit Reid, look at this.”

He moves aside and I see just what Brewster was talking about. A good two-dozen vehicles, many loaded with bicycles on the hoods and trunks, are parking at the hotel and various places around town. One car pulls up and a woman with dreadlocks leans out the window. “Hey, are there campgrounds around here?”

“I would go to the gas station and get a map, we’re not from around here.” Morgan replies. As the car leaves he turns to me. “At least JJ got us rooms before these protestors showed up.”

“Activists, they are activists,” I correct, following him to the car.

The Miracle King Truck Stop Diner is full of locals, but there is a booth for us. When a waitress comes by with two glasses of water, we get a distasteful look.

“I’m Supervisory Special Agent Derek Morgan and this is Agent Dr. Spencer Reid with the FBI,” Morgan introduces us. “We are investigating the murders around here.”

“Poor women, heard about them on TV this morning,” our server, wearing a nametag that says ‘Betty’, looks about thirty, with long brown hair down her back. “Such a shame. I know Nathan is demanding all us get escorts all the way home after our shifts no matter what.”

“Have you noticed anyone out of place the past few weeks?” I ask.

“Other than all the protesters filtering through today? They on the way to the mines, no matter what that pretty girl on TV said.” She sighs and sets a hand on her hip. “No, not really. We get a lot of truckers passing through, but they mostly fit a type, you know? But other than not, nobody that gives me the creeps or nothing.”

I hand her my card. “Please call if you see or hear anything?”

She takes it and tucks it in her pocket. “Sure. What’ll you G-men have?”

“Burger, extra fries. Cheese and bacon,” Morgan says. “And anything to drink with caffeine in it.”

She takes the order on her notepad. “And you doctor?”

“The tomato soup and grilled cheese, and the same to drink,” I reply, glancing at the menu. “Thank you.”

Once our server leaves I drum my fingers on the table. “So the locals seem to take this seriously.”

“I wonder if our visitors have even seen the broadcasts,” Morgan adds. “After this we should grab the local cops, hit the pavement. Once we talk to a bunch of them it’ll spread like wildfire.”

“But what if they think we are just trying to stop the march?”

Morgan reaches over and grabs my hand, stilling my fingers. I can’t breathe, my whole body tightens. His touch is intoxicating, and it reminds me of that brief time where we’d share a bed, where I’d curl up against him in our sleep. Or that awkward time when he tried to give me oral sex and he failed miserably. But he tried so hard, he wanted to please me, and that meant something. Or the next morning in the shower. The way he stayed with me in that interrogation room in Davenport. How he flew out to Las Vegas and begged me to come back. When he came back again to nurse me after my surgery. How much he loves my cats.

How much I really do love him. How much I’m going to hurt him when I leave.

“I...” I bite my lip. “Morgan, your hand.”

He looks down and removes it a moment later, visibly shaken. “I’ll call Hotch and get him up to speed. They might have to do the same thing in Autryville as people start going out there.”

When our food comes I try to eat, and I manage to eat my sandwich after dipping each bite in the rather good tomato soup. My whole body is fluttering and I feel stupid. He doesn’t love me back anymore. Maybe he never really did. Maybe I never really loved him in the first place. If I did, I wouldn’t have been so stupid back in Deep Lake. I wouldn’t have made that mistake. What’s he going to do when Strauss tells the team about what happened?

I’m truly, honestly scared.

~~~~~

AN: chapters are going to have to come quicker because I really gotta finish this series before grad school starts in the fall. I’ll try to finish. I know what is going to happen and everything, I just let myself get distracted with other things.

_nextboldmove_ @ 2010-05-13T14:58:00

2010-05-13T19:58:28Z

Title: Rock Paper Scissors 10/?

Rating: FRM for violence mostly

Pairing: Morgan/Reid, but mentions of Garcia/Kevin & Hotch/JJ

Summary: Morgan and Prentiss snoop deeper into Autryville, while Prentiss snoops deeper into Morgan and Reid’s breakup. The unsub makes a move.

Beta: None. Ah well. All mistakes are mine.

ConCrit: Better than watching Reid suck on a lollipop (and that was pretty darned good)

SPOILERS: Some canon from all seasons, but not always in the way it happened on the show. Many illusions to season 2 and season 4, mostly.

*This chapter is very Morgan-heavy, but don’t worry. The next one is almost entirely from Reid’s perspective (I’m setting up the case and what happens the rest of the story).

~~~

8:16pm at Beaudreaux’s Bar in Autryville, WV

Agent Derek Morgan

The first thing I notice when we walk into the bar is a large memorial with a picture of Michelle Ryan surrounded by flowers. Cards, teddy bears, and flowers adorn a table pushed against the wall specifically for the purpose. Emily and I walk hand in hand up to the bar, briefly scouting the display as any curious outsider would.

“Hi there,” a kid who looks maybe 25, with blonde shaggy hair and decked out in jeans and a tight solid blue gym tee showing off his muscles, plops two cardboard coasters in front of us. “You’re not from around here, so I actually have to ask you what you want.”

“You know everyone’s order in this place?” Emily asks, taking her spot next to me at the bar.

The kid shrugs. “Pretty much. Bet I can guess. You’re a pretty lady, I bet from somewhere fancy like New York. A martini?”

Emily smiles at me and then the bartender. “I am from New York, but I’m not a martini girl. I’ll take whatever’s on tap.”

“Make that two,” I put a twenty on the counter and reach for the bowl of pretzels.

“That’s five even,” he says as he starts to pour our drinks. I notice a jar next to the till filled with bills that says ‘Michelle.’

“That’s fine, keep the rest for the collection.”

He sets our beers in front of us and takes the bill. “Collection?”

“For that poor young woman,” I point to Michelle Ryan’s display. “I saw the jar next to the till with her name on it.”

The kid eyeballs me for a moment before going to the till to break the bill, shoving a five and a ten in a plastic jar. “That’s really kind of you folks, her brother will really appreciate it.”

“My father died last year, I know how expensive those costs can be,” Emily says solemly, sipping her beer. “This is a beautiful town you have here. We’ve been hiking for the past two days.”

“We meant to go to the national park, but we...”

“You,” Emily interrupts me.

I roll my eyes. “I made a wrong turn off an exit and we ended up in Miracle King. They said there was good hiking here on Yew Mountain and boy oh boy were they right.” I take another gulp. “And good beer too.”

“When I was a kid, you used to be able to swim in the river on the edge of town, lots of folks from all around would drive down during the fourth of July to swim. Sheriff’s department would have the fireworks shot off the Yew and over the river.”

“Used to?” Emily asks.

“The past five years or so the mine’s polluted the water. Can’t so much as dip your feet in it. Whatever chemicals they use, and all that...hey Rog--” he calls out to a middle-aged man on the other side of the bar. “Whadda they call that stuff?”

“Slurry,” Rog grumbles, going back to his drink.

“Yeah, slurry. Although now that they are doing that mountaintop removal, the stream will just dry up.” The kid turns around and starts preparing beers for other patrons at the bar.

“That’s because they take all the dirt and rock from the top and put it in the valleys, right?” Emily asks.

“The faster we get to the seams, the more coal we ship outta here, the more money we rake in,” Rog says, turning to face her. “If it weren’t for the ACC we’d be fucked, no money, nothing’.”

Sensing some hostility, I touch Emily on the arm. “It’s all pretty basic stuff sweetheart.” I pick up a paper menu. “Excuse me, can we order two burgers?”

The bartender nods. “Sure, I’ll put the order in.”

I get up and lead Emily to a booth on the other side of the bar, close to the memorial display. I watch her eyes scanning the display, which is exactly what I would do. I’m at the advantage of seeing most of the bar and the patrons. The place is mostly filled with miners--men in jeans who obviously changed before coming in but that dirt under the fingernails and behind the ears is permanent coal stain. I recognize two people that I saw at the diner this morning at one of three pool tables, joined by a few others. Two women who look about Michelle Ryan’s age walk into the bar with stuffed unicorns, setting them on the table tearfully before going to the bar for drinks.

“I don’t know how much we’re going to get here,” Emily whispers lowly. “And we have to leave tomorrow afternoon at the latest or it’s going to raise suspicion.”

“Maybe we could fake car trouble and get stuck in Miracle King for a day, see what we can see there,” I swig my beer, just as the bartender shows up with our burgers.

“Here you folks go, I’ll have your tab at the bar when you’re done,” he smiles.

I take a huge bite. “Shit man, that guy at the gas station said this place has good food, and he wasn’t lying.”

The bartender laughs. “Netro? Yeah, that’s my uncle. My dad is the cook, so he’s a bit biased.” He turns and goes back to the bar.

After Emily and I devour our burgers, we grab an empty pool table. “Girl I’m gonna school you,” I threaten her.

“Let’s make it interesting,” she grabs the chalk and rubs it against the tip of her cue. “If you win, I’ll do your laundry for a month. All that nasty gym stuff, even your boxers.”

“And if you win?”

“You go back to Reid.”

“No.” I set up the balls in the frame. “Look, I’m thinking about things, you can’t force me. That’s not fair. Anything between us isn’t something I’m going to gamble.”

Emily smiles big. “I’m glad to hear it. Okay then, you have to kiss me.”

“Kiss you?” I laugh, point to her to break. “You want a kiss from me?”

“I’m curious. I have to know what a good passionate kiss with you like.” She breaks. “Solids.”

I roll my eyes. “Be careful what you wish for doll.”

After losing, Emily and I walk arm-in-arm back to our motel. It’s only a ten-minute walk, but it’s cold outside. “Look, you can see the stars out here,” I comment.

“Morgan, you’re delaying the inevitable,” Emily stops. “I want what I won fair and square.”

I grab Emily’s face and plant my lips against hers. Her mouth is warm and soft, her tongue sweet. Almost like she’s been drinking Reid’s coffee. Her tongue teases into my mouth and her cheeks provide just the right amount of suction. I move one hand to his neck. His throaty moan vibrates under my palm. I put the other hand on his waist, pulling him closer and deepening the kiss

Him? I stop the kiss, panting. “Uhm, you good?”

She smirks. “You were thinking about him weren’t you?”

“I...” I scoff and start walking. “No, I was trying to give you what you won fair and square.”

“And you did.”

I turn around. “How?”

“I’m a profiler. I knew you’d think about him during the kiss.”

“Bitch,” I retort, resuming the walk back to the motel.

“Call me names, but I was still right,” she calls back.

When we get back to the motel, Emily grabs the phone. “Hey, PG, talk to me.”

She sits on the edge of the bed and kicks off her shoes. I go to the bathroom to brush my teeth and change into sleeping clothes. Staring at myself in the mirror, toothbrush half hanging out of my mouth. I was thinking about Reid during that kiss. Of course a kiss between Prentiss and I wasn’t sexual, and I really should have figured she’d have other motivations than her curiosity. Emily Prentiss knew I’d compare her kiss to his, she’s smart. Aggravating and way too trusting of him, but smart.

When I go back into the bedroom, Emily is changed into her own sleeping clothes and nervously tapping her fingernails on her knee, seated on the edge of the bed. “Morgan, that was Garcia.”

“What’s wrong?”

“One, the team is coming here tomorrow. There’s a huge protest happening in a few days and JJ has gone public about the murders to keep people from coming here.”

“Do you really think that will stop a protest?” I pad over to my side of the bed and crawl in.

“Don’t get mad at me, but I had Garcia pull Toby Bell’s autopsy report.” She turns around to face me. “There’s something you should know.”

She opens her mouth to speak but we’re interrupted by a knock at the door. She gets up to answer, while I reach under the mattress to put my hand on my gun. “Can I help you?”

Joe comes walking into the room. “Don’t worry about your cover, it’s blown anyway.”

“What?” I stand up. “How the fuck did that happen?”

“The bartender pegged you as a cop, Ringer and I overheard him talking some of the locals at the bar, we overheard him talking to Walter Netro. We saw you walking back from there when we were on our way in.”

“Where is Ringer?” Prentiss asks, reaching for the phone.

“Outside, standing next to your car.” Joe rubs the back of his neck, reminding me of Rossi. “I think you could call your Unit Chief. We have a problem.”

~~~

Almost five hours later, at the motel in Autryville, WV

Dr. Spencer Reid

I feel a hand shake me. “Reid, kid, we’re here.”

“Thanks,” I mutter to Rossi. We briefed for the first hour of the drive, but then it was decided we should try to get some sleep before we arrived. “When did you switch?” I ask him, knowing Rossi was driving before I fell asleep.

“When we stopped an hour ago to let me pee,” Garcia yawns from the front seat. Hotch asked her to come with so she could have access to the local’s data, which isn’t online.

I look to my other side to see JJ quickly checking herself in a pocket mirror as Hotch pulls us up in front of the motel. I see two police vehicles, at least ten years old, one a pickup and the other a Jeep. There’s yellow caution tape blocking off the undercover SUV vehicle that Morgan and Prentiss left DC with. There’s a uniformed officer leaning against his vehicle talking to a woman wearing a jacket with the local Sheriff’s badge on the sleeve. They are both drinking coffee and talking, visibly avoiding looking into the SUV. I see two rooms next to each other, doors open, with lights on. I catch a glimpse of Joe in the window of one talking to what looks to be the Sheriff and Morgan.

We climb out of the SUV. “Garcia, go ask Morgan where you can set up. JJ, I want you to interview that officer and the woman he’s standing with. Rossi, have Joe, Ringer and Prentiss give you a run-down. Reid, let’s check out the scene.”

I follow Hotch to the SUV, taking the latex gloves he offers me and putting them on. “Look at the smears and trails of blood,” I point to the ground near the driver’s side door of the vehicle, feeling myself tense at being alone with Hotch. He knows there’s an internal investigation into Toby Bell’s death, he has to. “But not a lot. It indicates she was killed somewhere else and the blood is from transfer.”

“If she was alive and bleeding out there would be significantly more,” Hotch opens the car door, “judging by these wounds.”

I look inside. “Stabbed repeatedly, I’m willing to guess she was raped,” I gesture to her unzipped pants. “Missing one shoe, her fingernails are either chipped or cracked.”

“She fought her attacker, we’ll have to bag her hands and make sure samples are taken right away,” Hotch notes.

“The victims name is Coral Fuller,” Morgan approaches Hotch and I. He’s dressed in jeans and a sweater, sans his typical sunglasses due to the fact that it’s almost four in the morning. “She’s a waitress at the local diner. She served Prentiss and I this morning, well, yesterday morning technically.”

“Tell me what happened,” Hotch asks.

“Prentiss and I decided to walk to the bar, scope the place, get some dinner, talk a bit with the local bartender. We come back to the room and get changed and start talking about the case when Joe knocks on our door, tells us we’ve been made. Then he has us come out here,” Morgan crosses his arms. “The car’s in the shadows, we didn’t look to see if someone dumped a body in it on the way to the room. Ringer saw it when they came back from dinner.”

“Who figured out you were undercover?” I ask, avoiding eye contact.

“Joe says it was the bartender. He also recommended that we wait until morning to start talking to people,” Morgan rolls his neck.

“Alright, soon as we brief on the scene you and Prentiss get some sleep,” Hotch turns back to me. “Not only did the locals peg Morgan and Prentiss, but the unsub did too.”

“Are we sure about that? What if the unsub saw this as an opportunity?”

“What do you mean Reid?” Morgan asks.

“He’s not secretive about hiding the bodies anymore, maybe he wants more of a reaction from people.”

“Planting a body in an outsider’s car would do that,” Morgan finishes.

“Or plant suspicion on the outsiders. You’ve been hiking in the woods for several days now,” Hotch says.

“There’s a memorial to Michelle Ryan at the bar with a donation jar, both Prentiss and I asked about it and gave. Shit, you think the unsub is trying to frame us?”

“It’s a possibility, but lucky for us we know you’re innocent and can focus on the real unsub.”

I try not to let Hotch’s words sting, so I bite my lip. “Has everything been catalogued?”

“Photographed, the whole nine yards. The coroner should be here by dawn,” Morgan says.

I reach in and search the victims’ pockets, which is not only difficult because of the blood, but in the manner her body is carefully propped up in the seat. “She’s not in full rigor, but she’s close. Putting time of death within the last twelve hours roughly, closer to six.”

“She was most likely killed within the few hours before the unsub put her here, otherwise he’d have trouble manipulating her body into position,“ Hotch says. “What’s the wire around her wrists?”

“We found her hands wired to the steering wheel, we documented and photographed everything before cutting the wire to better examine the scene, don’t worry Hotch.”

Hotch turns to Morgan. “I trust you did.”

“Guys,” I pull a small folded piece of paper out of the woman’s left pants pocket. “I found something.” Unfolding it, I read the black block handwriting aloud. “You will all pay.”

“Is the note for her, Morgan and Emily or us?” Morgan asks.

“You will all pay. I think it’s meant for us,” I add, still perplexed at the message.

Hotch frowns, which is hard to do considering he seems to always be frowning on the job. “This is very fast escalation. He goes from killing someone who is considered an outsider all the way to posing bodies and leaving messages?”

“Just what are we dealing with here?” Morgan asks.

~~~

*I realize the reason Garcia is traveling with the team is almost IDENTICAL to last night’s episode, but I’ve used the same excuse in previous installments, and she does need to be there, but that will end the similarities. I was going to post this before the episode aired, but I didn’t get around to it.

_nextboldmove_ @ 2010-05-10T09:37:00

2010-05-10T14:37:44Z

Title: Rock Paper Scissors 9/?

Rating: FRT

Pairing: Morgan/Reid, but mentions of Garcia/Kevin & Hotch/JJ

Summary: Morgan opens up to Prentiss. Rossi and Reid believe they are onto the profile. Garcia finds out something shocking.

Beta: None. Ah well. All mistakes are mine.

ConCrit: Better than watching Reid suck on a lollipop (and that was pretty darned good)

SPOILERS: Some canon from all seasons, but not always in the way it happened on the show. Many illusions to season 2 and season 4, mostly.

~~~

After lunch, on the Yew Mountain outside of Slatyville

Agent Derek Morgan

“Morgan!” Emily waves me over. “I can see a camp. An RV, a shit load of tents...”

I hobble up the hill to her side. There is a clearing several yards ahead and there seems to be a camp set up. “How did they get an RV up here?”

“See that dirt road?” Emily points. “This must have been a campground, or maybe someone lived up here at one point and made the road.”

I start snapping pictures. “Maybe they cut the path themselves.”

There’s at least two dozen people, children included, that I can see. There are tents everywhere. Clothing is hanging from lines tied between trees. Three women are standing over a big metal basin washing clothing. A man carries buckets of water over to a small fire, hanging them from a rig over the flames, presumably to boil it. “It looks like group campsite.”

“Notice how they are all doing things together? Preparing food, laundry, firewood...”

“Its almost like a cult,” I whisper. “We’ll have to call Joe and Ringer.”

“If they have cult mentality, they wouldn’t kill unless the leader tells them to,” she steadies herself on my shoulder. “They are an environmental group, they wouldn’t rape and kill women, doesn’t make any sense.”

I shake my head. “We should really warn them, think of how many of these women could be vulnerable. If someone goes missing they won’t go to the police. Maybe there are already more victims.”

“We can’t, not yet, but now that we know where they are we can be prepared.” Emily pats my shoulder. “Do what we can do to protect them and find this unsub. Come on, let’s go. We still have another scene to hike to and then we need to scope out that bar in Autryville.”

I snap a few more pictures and take note of the GPS coordinates of the camp before joining her. “It really is pretty up here.”

“Yeah. You know, I can understand why someone would be so desperate to save something they felt was worth fighting for.” She clears her throat. “That connection that’s almost unbreakable, someone trying to break it. That fight, that desperation to keep it all together. I get it.”

“Now I know you’re not talking about a bunch of hippies trying to save the earth,” I retort.

“Isn’t Reid worth fighting for?”

“Sure. But when he’s the one who broke it, then it’s obvious he doesn’t want me to fight for him.”

“What the fuck could he have possibly done D...Morgan?” She turns around and stops. “We are not leaving this fucking spot until you tell me. No more ‘privacy’ shit. I want to know. You owe me.”

She glares at me with demand and concern, her arms crossed. I gently motion for her to sit on the nearest downed tree before I set beside her, thankful to take the pressure off my sore ankle. “How much do you know about what happened at Deep Lake? After the cabin caught fire and we all split up?”

She shakes her head. “I really don’t remember much. I do have flashing memories of him over me, stabbing me. I remember seeing the blade go into my throat and watching the flames from the cabin reflect...” she swallows. “I didn’t read everyone’s statements. I know you guys went out back, JJ got shot and hid in the shed, Reid ended in the woods with Toby Bell, Toby got shot...and you and Rossi went to save him.”

“That’s pretty much it. But, what I didn’t know until later was that when Reid had found that morphine to give me...”

She looks at me with downright fear. “He got high?”

I nod. “He was high, I interrupted him making out with Toby before the cabin was on fire. Later, in the woods...he didn’t tell me this until after what happened in Tucson. But,” I try to control myself but I can feel the lump in my throat and my voice is cracking. “He and Toby got separated, Reid was high and scared and heard a noise. When he went to fire...”

“He shot Toby?” Emily grips my hand tight. “Reid killed Toby?”

“He said that he reacted before checking to see who it was, the unsub showed up and he managed to kill him, and he made up the story about the unsub wrestling his gun away and killing Toby.” I feel one large, hot tear fall down my face. “That’s why I can’t.”

Emily is silent. I can hear her breathing in and out, feel her clutching my hand, see her eyes scanning every bit of tree bark on the trees around us. She chews on her lip, her free hand goes to her throat and I watch her fingers delicately trace the pink scars that she doesn’t bother covering up anymore. After what seems like an eternity she turns to me. “You can’t trust him, that’s why you left him.”

“Yes.”

“But you still love him.”

“More than anything,” I say, shocked that I’ve finally admitted it to myself, let alone her. “Its all I can do to trust him at work. Honestly? I don’t want to work with him anymore.”

“Is he clean now?”

“He says so, he says that what happened in Tucson, watching what Lizzie has gone through, has really helped him. But fuck Em, I was there before Lizzie. Why couldn’t I be enough?” I start crying. Fuck it, we’re in the woods.

“Wait a minute, you two weren’t involved until after Deep Lake, maybe you are more than enough. He was getting better and...”

“Why didn’t he tell me right away then?”

“He was ashamed. Can you imagine what he’s going through, knowing that he killed an innocent man? Then he lied about it to protect us.”

“US? He’s covering his own ass.”

“You don’t think Strauss would seriously look into Hotch’s position and consider transferring people out? After what I heard happened with Elle Greenaway, and everything with Deep Lake, Reid was looking out for us too.” Emily stands up. “Come on, let’s go back to the motel, take some long hot showers and get ready to check out that bar. Okay?”

She holds out her hand for me and I take it, partly because we know there are people in these hills to keep our cover, but also as a friend. “I just don’t know.”

“Now I understand, I really do. Just please don’t forget that you love him. And if you ask me, knowing what I know now, I still say it’s worth fighting for.”

When we get back to the motel Emily lets me have the shower first. I stand under the cool water, mostly for the benefit of my ankle, and wonder if she’s right. Is he still worth fighting for? Wouldn’t I just be fighting for myself too? The fact that even after I told her what really happened and she still thinks I should take him back speaks volumes. She almost died at Deep Lake, and now that she knows what he was doing while she was being butchered and she still cares about him? How heartless does that make me feel? The truth is that I still care about Spencer, I know that. But I also know that following your heart can get you hurt.

~~~

Meanwhile at the BAU offices in Quantico

Dr. Spencer Reid

“Why isn’t this making any sense?” I mutter, looking through yet another box of unsolved cases in the region, none of which I believe are linked to these murders.

“Talk to me Spence,” JJ says, looking exhausted.

“Three dead women, no clear victimology other than they were all repeatedly stabbed and raped, no fluids present. Different ages, backgrounds, nothing more than a geographic link, and that’s hazy at best. I can’t help think that somehow this is linked to The Gaia. Could a member of the group just so happen to be a rapist and serial killer? Statistically it’s not possible. Nothing about these attacks suggest power-assertive or power-reassurance behavior. Anger-retaliatory. Not quite anger-excitation, because most of the wounds on the victims were lethal or near lethal and they all bled out rather quickly.”

“Meaning that our killer is killing for the sake of the acts. He’s either really young and is so turned on by the thought of the rape and murder that he hasn’t settled into a type yet,” Rossi says.

“Or he’s finally acting out fantasies,” JJ adds. “Right?”

“I’m not finding much in the way of unsolved rapes and sexual assaults in the region. I also compiled a list of places where miners who work for ACC have been from and included those towns in my search,” I reach for my map. “I’ve also taken into account the major roads and efficient routes the unsub would have to take. But still...I don’t have any data or evidence, but I...JJ what’s it called?”

“What?”

“When you just think you know...?”

“A hunch?”

“Yes, right right. I have a hunch that our unsub isn’t from the area, but he’s there now. Most likely knew. I’ll call Garcia and see if she can get me any information on new employees at the mines going back six months.”

“Don’t bother,” Garcia comes into the room with Hotch. “I’ve got some breaking news.”

“I already called Joe to let him know,” Hotch says, “but it’s gone public that The Gaia are staging a huge march in Autryville to protest ACC’s mining and mountaintop stripping policies.”

“Yes kiddies, its on the AP and being picked up by news outlets all over the region,” Garcia sits, hand on her stomach, setting her laptop down. “We finally have a symbol for them, it’s an icon of the earth with a purple ‘G’ in the middle.”

“What are they planning?”

“It just went on the net within the last hour, but every eco-activist message board, website, Facebook and Twitter feed has it now. A march, speeches by anyone who wants to talk, and basically a call to go to Autryville and the ACC mine and get in the way and force a shut-down of everything.”

“With an active unsub who has to no real preference for victims this a virtual smorgasbord,” Rossi says. “How are we going to shut it down?”

“We can’t, Strauss wants us to work the murders,” Hotch sits down. “So we work the murders and anything we find out about The Gaia along the way we pass to Joe and Ringer.”

“We’re going to Autryville, right Hotch?” JJ asks.

“Garcia, when is this march?”

“Two days sir.”

Hotch looks to JJ. “I’m going to call them. We can’t go and break up the march, risk The Gaia knowing the FBI is onto them, but we can’t let a serial killer have his choice of victims. We need to go public about the murders. Scare people away from the march.”

“I’ll start crafting a statement, you want me to go public about all three victims?” JJ stands.

“Just the two we’ve identified, mention a third victim but state you’re withholding her information until the family is identified.” Hotch stands as well. “We’ll go to Autryville tomorrow.”

“We have to drive Hotch, there’s no place near to fly in and it’ll take the same amount of time to fly near and drive,” JJ says.

“No books on tape,” Rossi looks to me.

“Your loss,” I reply. “Garcia, any word on Loki?”

“Not yet babe,” Garcia stands, a bit clumsily. “I’ve got my little feelers out, don’t worry.”

I turn back to the files scattered on the table as Garcia, JJ and Hotch leave the room. “So he’s young, scattered, impulsive.”

“But so far he hasn’t made a mistake, no DNA left on the bodies, which means he’s planning out his kills.” Rossi taps his pen on the table.

“Or just lucky, committing his crimes in an area that isn’t used to dealing with this. They might not have the forensics skills or tools to accurately collect evidence,” I supply. “If that’s the case, the media attention and the arrival of the FBI could spook him into hiding.”

“Or doing something really stupid that leads us right to him,” Rossi sets his pen down. “What’s his motivation?”

“Intrinsic drive, the impulse got so strong that he finally had to try it out. Wait a minute...” I grab the file on Michelle Ryan. “What if our unsub had a particular victim in mind and the others were just practice?”

“What do you mean?”

“Michelle Ryan, she’s an older woman. We know that suggests a younger unsub...”

“...the older the victim the younger the unsub...” Rossi nods.

“According to Garcia, Ryan has been filing taxes with W2 forms from that bar for ten years. She’s a local fixture in the community.”

“Someone everybody knew, Joe said the whole town shut down for the funeral service. Perhaps our unsub had a fixation on Michelle Ryan, but she had turned down his advances or otherwise made him feel worthless.”

“So he practices on one of The Gaia, perhaps by accident, and feels like he needs more, so he kills again.” Rossi starts scribble notes on the legal pad in front of him. “We’re looking for a younger male in Autryville.”

I stand up. “I’ll go tell Garcia to narrow the search.”

When I get to Garcia’s office, she’s not there. I slip into her chair and look at her desk. Pink-haired troll dolls and pens with miniature snow globe toppers. I see a picture frame with her ultrasound photograph. There’s a picture of her with JJ smiling taped to the right of the frame. One of her mouse pads is custom, a picture of the whole team taken shortly after Rossi joined. We are all smiling and we look happy. I’m going to miss them. Garcia’s going to be hurt when I go, especially without a goodbye. She’ll spend every waking minute trying to track me down. I really should write them all letters, I think I owe them at least a personal letter. I’ll write them tonight.

I look up at the computer screen to see a window open for a case file search. Did she find something? I click the file open.

Case number HR50695-150

Location: Deep Lake, Colorado

Initiating Institution: Ranger’s Office, Colorado

Institution Officer: Ran. Joshua Bell

Case File Search: Autopsy, Bell, Toby

Hearing Garcia’s shoes coming down the hall, I quickly close the file. Why would she be looking up Toby Bell’s autopsy report for this case? Unless...unless Hotch’s meeting with Strauss had less to do with the case and more to do with me.

“Boy wonder, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Garcia comes in, cup of tea in hand.

I get up and let her have her chair back. “We need to narrow our search, Rossi and I believe he may be a younger man from Autryville, between sixteen and twenty-two.”

“Alright sweetheart,” she starts clicking away.

“Penelope?”

She stops and looks up at me. “Honey, what’s wrong? You almost never call me Penelope.”

I stand there for a moment, struggling with the right words to say, before leaning down and giving her a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks.”

She instantly blushes, and I can feel my cheeks get hot too. “Spencer Reid, kissing me on the cheek? I’m touched.”

I suddenly feel awkward and the urge to run away is strong, but I keep my feet planted to the ground. This is for her, not for me. I do owe her a kiss on the cheek and my blushing face and her smile at ‘oh how innocent is he’. “You know, Kevin suggested Spencer for a name.”

“Spencer?”

“Yes, he really likes it. It’s not that common for a girl, but it’s making a comeback. Ducky, you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes, Garcia, I’m good.” I give her a tight-lipped smile before I turn and leave the room.

Thinking back to the file...obviously someone found something that isn’t adding up, or questions have been raised about the cause of Toby Bell’s death. I’m going to be charged with murder. I think I have to change my plans. Find a way to get my mother money to pay her bills at Bennington. Because suddenly suicide is seeming like the only way out. If I’m gone, then the team will always believe that I was in the right. The truth is just going to hurt them. It hurt Morgan. I can’t do that to anyone else. I can’t let my mother think her son is a murderer.

I tremble all the way to the rest room. I hide in the last stall, biting my lip to the point of bleeding. I’m scared terrified that I’m even thinking about this, let alone planning it all out in my head. Dialudid overdose. If I take enough fast enough I’ll stop breathing and die quickly. It’s really the most viable, the most believable option. I can get some, maybe start using for a few days so that when they test my hair post-mortem it looks like a relapse. Tragic.

Stupid
I think. This whole plan is stupid. You’re not going to kill yourself, you’re going to stop saying goodbye. You’re going to keep going and what happens will happen. I take a few deep breaths and go back into the bullpen.

Murder at The Profiler 3

2010-05-07T20:21:28Z

Title: Murder at The Profiler 3/?
Author: _nextboldmove_
Rating: FRAO for language, talk about sexuality
Pairing: Rossi/Reid, Hotch/Prentiss, and more along the way
Warnings: Spoilers for all eps, but out of context. CHARACTER DEATH
Beta: None. Ah well. All mistakes are mine.

ConCrit:
Better than watching Reid suck on a lollipop (and that was pretty darned good)
Summary
*This is totally a WIP, and while I know who the killer is and how they all figure it out, I’m having the worst writers block in getting there so bear with me. I’m spending a lot of time researching my other series which isn’t helping too much either.
The BAU briefs on the case. Spencer and Morgan start to think something is not what it seems. The staff of The Profiler being to turn on each other.
~~~
Disclaimer
~~~
It’s been two hours since Aaron got out of surgery, but he hadn’t woken up yet. Spence, David and Morgan drove back home in silence. It’s a terrifying thought, that one friend was murdered and the other was barely clinging to life. Morgan is making fattening comfort food while David swirls Scotch in a glass in his right hand and Spence curls up on the couch and stares at the blank TV.
When JJ and Diana come bursting through the door, he doesn’t even register their presence. It isn’t until Diana grabs her son and pulls him into her arms that he allows himself to react. “Mom, it’s so terrible.”
“I know baby, I know,” she whispers into his hair. “JJ’s already called Elle’s cousin, he’s coming up. She’s offered to help make the arraignments.”
Spencer looks over at his sister, who is hugging and comforting Morgan. “She’s great.”
“Damn right, both my babies are.” Diana stands up. “Dave, I talked to Jack at the station. When I told him I was coming here he wanted me to tell you that he’s doing okay and he’ll be here as soon as his mother lets him.”
Dave smiles at his her. “Thanks Diana.”
“There’s already a shrine out front,” JJ says. “Patrons of the club have already started laying out flowers, gifts and candles in honor of Elle. Miss Garcia and Kevin Lynch have planned a candlelight vigil out front this evening for Aar.”
“That’s a good idea,” Dave says, sitting next to Spencer. “We should consider staying at a hotel, not here. It’s too dangerous.”
“I don’t want to leave, this is home.” Spencer buries his face in Dave’s shoulder. “I am not going to let this monster, whoever it is, drive me away from our home.”
“Don’t you worry Spence, Dave, I’m not going nowhere. I’ll stay up and guard you both.” Morgan says, tiptoeing across the room in his pink flip flops.
“I’m worried,” JJ says. “I think SSA Brooks believes that one of us did this. Someone who works here at The Profiler.”
“Why would you say that?” Spence asks.
“The questions the team is asking, they think that there’s more to Aaron than what meets the eye. I’m pretty sure they think he was the target and Elle was…just in the wrong place at the wrong time.” JJ starts to tear up again.
A sudden knock at the door paused the conversation. Morgan answers it. “Miss Garcia, oh girl.” He pulls her into a warm hug.
“This is all just so terrible! Have you heard about Aar yet?”
Spence shakes his head. “Emily is there, Jack should be too.”
He takes in the sight that is Miss Penelope Garcia. She’s dressed head to toe in black: shiny black heels, black tights just a tad bit sheer, a knee-length pencil skirt (that Spence saw in a catalogue the other day and nearly bought), A tastefully cut black blouse under a black blazer, and a head adorned with a hat made of black feathers. “Those FBI guys, wow, they sure are RUDE! Interviewing us so soon like this. We’re mourning!”
“But there is still a murderer out there,” Morgan says.
“Listen,” Garcia comes further into the apartment. “I didn’t tell Agent Buford this because I thought it was none of his business, and really, Emily shouldn’t find out this way…”
“What are you talking about Garcia?” Dave asks wearily.
“The other day I was in the kitchen talking to Kevin…” she clears her throat. Making out with him is more like it Spence thinks to himself. “And I overheard Elle and Aar talking in the supply closet.”
“What?” JJ has a look of shock on her face. “Why didn’t you tell the FBI?”
“Because they were, it was all so very cryptic.” Garcia pulls a black hanky out of her cleavage and wipes her nose. “From what little I heard…I mean…maybe you shouldn’t tell Emily…but they were talking about some sort of secret.”
Dave and Spence exchange worried looks with hints of sadness underneath. Dave clears his throat. “What did they say Penelope?”
“Elle said something like ‘I think he knows’ or ‘I think she knows.’ I couldn’t quite tell the pronoun. But then I heard Aar say ‘this changes everything.’ Then Elle said ‘so what are we going to do? We can’t come clean yet.’ Then I heard Aar muffle a reply and then he left out the back door of the kitchen and Elle went back to the bar.”
“Aaron didn’t even tell me he was here,” Dave says. “He always says hello, even if he just stops to do some work in the office and can’t watch the show.”
“What time was this Penny?” JJ asks.
“Uhm, around 9ish.” Garcia sets down on the armchair and takes the glass of water offered to her by Morgan.
JJ shakes her head. “I was working coat check then, for almost two whole hours. Jack had a night study group and he couldn’t come in so…but I never saw Aaron come in. I would have known if I saw him.”
Diana Reid sighs. “So Aaron came here just to talk to Elle?”
“Elle must have let him in the back door,” Spence says.
“No, Aaron has full keys to every room, including your apartment,” JJ adds. “Remember Spence? He had keys to the place, and you gave Aaron and Emily a set to the apartment when you remodeled and had the new locks put in.”
“I have the worst memory, hell sis. I can barely remember what I had to eat for breakfast,” Spence sighs against Dave’s chest. “Honey, I just can’t believe Aaron would cheat on Emily. I know that some of us don’t particularly like her, but I don’t think…”
“You know Haley’s going to ask her,” Dave says. “She won’t be tactful, that’s not her style. Not when it’s personal.”
“I feel bad for her son,” Diana says, rolling up her sleeves. “He nearly lost his father and now he has to deal with his mother being a total bitch.” She turns to Morgan. “Speaking of mothers, I am one. You know what mothers do in situations like this?”
Morgan looks around at everyone in the room with a shocked look on his face, being directly addressed by the tall and somewhat opposing blonde. “No m’am I don’t.”
“We cook. Now, you know this kitchen better than my Spencer and my Dave, so I’ll need your help.” She grabs him by the arm and drags him out of the room, verbally spewing recipe ideas to a clearly intimidated Morgan.
Spence and JJ share a smile. They know their mother always means well, and she really does like Morgan, but he’s anything but an alpha male and easily submits to others, especially strong and capable women like Diana Reid. Spence turns to Dave. “But if Elle and Aar were having an affair, then what would it have to do with the attack?”
“It would make Emily Hotchner suspect number one,” Garcia pipes up. “Or Jack.”
“Jack wouldn’t attack his father, no way.” Dave’s voice gets loud and angry.
“Unless Aaron’s wounds are defensive ones,” JJ says. “I saw that documentary show on that smart channel once about a serial killer and they talked about defensive wounds. What if Aar saw Elle being attacked and tried to stop it?”
“You think maybe this had nothing to do with Aaron?” Spencer asks. “He may have gone back there to meet Elle and stumbled across someone killing her?”
“It’s possible, I guess,” JJ stands up. “I should go help Mom in the kitchen, save poor Morgan.”
Garcia stands. “Kevin and I have some planning to do.”

“We appreciate it,” Dave says. “We’ll make sure to have water and snacks available, depending on how long people planning on staying.” He gets up and walks Garcia to the door, giving her a hug and a kiss. Once she’s gone, he turns back to Spence. “I love you, you know that right?”
Spence nods. “I know.”
As Dave walks downstairs, presumably to work at the club, Spence wonders why Dave would make such a serious declaration at a very odd time. Does Dave know something? Suddenly Spencer is weary of the man he loves more than anything, and it scares him.
TBC
: I don’t own any rights or trademarks to Criminal Minds, the FBI, CBS, FOX, Bones, The Birdcage, or any of the characters within. No infringements of these copyrights are intended. Any similarities between original characters therein are a coincidence. I make no profit from the following fictional story. (but come on, I needed an excuse to put Spencer Reid in drag!). : David Rossi, his partner Spencer Reid, and their friend Aaron Hotchner own The Profiler, a drag club in Washington DC. When someone is murdered at the club, the FBI comes to investigate. But will ‘The Profiler’s’ get to the bottom of the mystery before the FBI does?