or what, sir? |a. hotchner| ✔️

twenty four

I sat on Garcia's desk next to her, watching her type into her computer. I poked the corner of my mouth, and she spoke up.

"Gale Mercer, 31. Martha Finestein, 48. Albert franks, 52. What next?" I glanced at Hotch and JJ, who were standing behind her. They were both peaking over her head, 

"See if they visited the same place on May 8th" JJ suggested, and added something to her search. It took her a few seconds, 

"Gale Mercer made a credit card purchase at the book front, owned by Albert Franks" PG revealed, and Aaron started to rush out,  

"We need to find General Whitworth, he needs to sent a team out there" JJ followed him quickly, and I sighed. As I stood, I put my hand on PG's shoulder. 

I smiled faintly at her, "Good work, sweetie" I told her, walking out of the room as well. 

I hated when Hotch would get too caught up on a case. I knew the case was important, I knew we needed to work fast. It gave him no right to be rude and ignore people. He did it even when he wasn't stressed, it was like talking to a wall sometimes. 

Next thing I knew, we were standing in front of the entire defense community. I stood straighter, because even though I was nervous and tired, I needed to show dominance. Just like the rest of my team was so good at. 

Sure, I could be aggressive, and I could snap someone in half if I really wanted to. Just like Spencer, we were seen as the nerds. The dynamic duo that outsmarted most of the team when it  came to it. 

I stood closer to Derek as Hotch spoke, "Because the locations that were hit are not symbolically significant, we believe that these attacks are personal" He started. 

"Understanding the significance ff these locations will be the key to identifying him. This personal element strongly indicates a home-grown terrorist" 

"Like the Amerithrax case, we believe this is someone from the science or defense community. 

I spoke up, "We called you in here today because we think he may be one of us. You could know him"

I was exhausted, giving a profile was not on my list of things to do today. Usually, I would be spitting facts about the unsub. And I knew how important this case was, it was probably one of the most important ones we had to deal with in a very long time. But I couldn't see straight, never mind think straight. 

"This guy has his on work space where he makes his product in privacy. He also has access to large, expensive, industrial-grade equipment at work" Morgan's deep voice helped me snap out of it. 

"He's written about the threats of anthrax attacks, published papers. Yet he feels no one is listening. And that angers him" 

"This man has probably recently experienced some sort of humiliation, most likely professional. He could have been demoted or fired" I finally chimed in, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear. "He's going rouge," 

"And he may have betrayed his loved ones to his cause. He may be recently separated or divorced" I wanted to chuckle at Hotch's words. 

Ironic. 

I then narrowed my eyes at my nasty thought. 

What the hell as wrong with me today? 

"This is somebody who knows every detail of the 2001 anthrax attack and has talked about what that suspect did right or wrong. He's watching the news very closely to see how the country reacts." Morgan nodded at Emily's statement,

"Please share this with your departments. Thank you" 

000

I walked alongside Spencer and Derek, nearing the home in question. 

It belonged to one of our suspects, and Hotch had sent us to go check it out. I scratched my head, and Derek looked down at me. 

"You doing okay, Giggles?" he sounded worried, and I nodded. I hummed to signal I was fine, and his phone started to ring. As he picked it up, Reid started to wonder off. I however, stayed with Derek. "Yeah, princess, what's up?" He asked as he pressed the flip phone to his ear. He nodded, "Uh-huh. Yeah, we're here now" He then jumped at the sprinklers turning in, and I chuckled. He stuck his tongue out at me, "Sorry... what? The lab is clean?" He narrowed his eyes,  and I was surprised. 

I shook my head, there was no way. "You're sure?" He asked, and then he sighed."All right," He then hung up. "They got nothin'--" He paused, looking around us. "Reid" he spoke, and I examined the scene. "Reid!" Derek called, 

"Spencer?" We exchanged looks, knowing that something was wrong. 

"Reid! Reid?" We started to rush towards the open door, but it slammed shut. Spencer was behind it, 

"Stay back, guys get out of here!" He yelled, and my eyes went wide. I looked through the window, and I saw it. 

The broken anthrax test tube. I shook my head, and Morgan tapped my shoulder. It took me a moment to look at him, and then to look at what his eyes were on. He was staring at the air vent above Spencer's head, revealing it was blasting cold air. I let out a shaky breath, and I looked at my best friend. 

He looked noticeably nervous, like he was trying to catch his breath. 

"Call Aaron" I ordered Morgan, but he didn't listen for a moment. "Derek, call Aaron NOW!" I yelled, and it made him jump. He pulled his phone out of his pocket. He walked away, but I stayed with Spencer.  

I should have been in there with him. "V," he started, "Nichols is dead, tell Derek" I bit my lip, and I didn't move from my spot. 

"Derek, Nichols is dead!" I called so he could hear me. "You'll be fine, Pen. We'll fix this" I honestly wasn't just trying to convince him, but myself too. 

I was so scared. I know it wasn't me in there, but this is the second time Spencer's life was in danger in the past two weeks. "Go look around" I told him, "Try and find something, go. I'll be right outside this door" He nodded, rushing off to look around the place. I leaned up against the wall, looking down. 

We really fucked up this time, I thought.