Title: Great Minds
By: truegenius13
Pairing: gen
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own CBS, Criminal Minds or NUMB3RS. I merely wrote this story for my own amusement and I am not making any profit from it.
A/N: this isn't the kind of fic that I typically write but my best friend and I recently began watching NUMB3RS and Criminal Minds (along with NCIS and CSI and a whole bunch of other acronyms) and I had the burning desire to write a fic where Charlie and Reid become friends. So here it is. Please read and review but be kind because this story involves a lot of things that I have limited knowledge about. This said, I hope you enjoy the story.
Summary: A simple lecture engagement leads Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid to Los Angeles California where he and the rest of the BAU become involved in a murder investigation headed by Agent Don Eppes. While there the young genius meets one Charlie Eppes and, as they say, great minds think alike. Criminal Minds
***
BAU Headquarters - Quantico, Virginia
It was approaching ten a.m. and the FBI building was typically buzzing with activity. Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner, head of the Behavioral Analysis Unit, or BAU as it was more commonly referred to, was just leaving his office on his way to the conference room. On his way there he met Special Agent Jennifer Jareau, who was the BAU's local police and media liaison.
"Good morning Hotch," Jareau, affectionately known as JJ, called out as she and Hotchner approached one another.
"Morning JJ," Hotchner said with a nod. "Could you tell the team to assemble in the conference room please? I have something that I need to discuss with them."
Slightly confused, since she usually handled new cases, Jareau simply nodded, deciding that she'd find out what was going on soon enough. As Hotchner continued on his way toward the conference room Jareau headed toward the bullpen area where the majority of the BAU team had their desks.
Special Agent Derek Morgan sat at his desk thumbing through a file folder, not really working on much of anything, and he glanced up as Jareau walked toward him. He offered the blue eyed blonde a charming smile as she came to a stop in front of his desk. "Hey what's up?"
Special Agent Emily Prentiss glanced up from her desk also curious as to what Jareau was up to.
"Hotch wants us all in the conference room," Jareau told the two agents. "He has something to tell us but as to what it is I haven't a clue."
Morgan thought it was odd that Jareau was out of the loop however he merely shrugged and got to his feet.
Jareau glanced over to the vacant desk next to Prentiss. "Where's Spence?"
"I think our boy genius went in search of coffee," Morgan replied. "I got the impression from his behavior that he pulled another all nighter. Anyway he said he needed a caffeine fix in the worst kind of way."
"I'll find him," Jareau said with a smile as Morgan and Prentiss made their way out of the bullpen area and up the small flight of stairs to the upper landing where the conference room was located. Jareau left the bullpen as well and made her way to the small kitchen area where she found the youngest member of the BAU team pouring a large amount of sugar into a coffee mug.
"Hey Spence!" she called out brightly as she approached the young man.
Reid jumped slightly before he turned to face Jareau, a slightly annoyed expression on his face.
"Sorry," Jareau said, holding up her hands. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"You didn't scare me," Reid said in his own defense. "You merely startled me."
Jareau nodded, deciding not to argue the fact that the two were pretty much the same thing. "Hotch wants us all to meet in the conference room."
Reid nodded, grabbed his coffee mug and headed off in the direction of the conference room.
Jareau had no idea whether or not Hotchner wanted their computer tech to attend the meeting however she decided to summon the whole team, just to cover all of the bases. She made her way down to the small office where the BAU's computer tech made her base of operations. Jareau knocked on the door and then, after receiving an invitation to enter, pushed the door open and stepped inside the small room.
"Ooh." The BAU's perky computer tech, Penelope Garcia, smiled as she swiveled around in her chair to face JJ. "A face to face meeting. I'm not used to this. The only thing that would make this moment more perfect would be if my hunky friend Derek Morgan were standing beside you."
"Well then you're in luck," Jareau said with a smile. "Hotch summoned the team to the conference room, which includes you, which means you'll get to see Morgan."
"Yay!" Garcia exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "Let's go."
Jareau nodded and together the two of them left the computer lab and made their way to the conference room. When the two of them arrived they saw that the rest of the team were seated around the round table that occupied the center of the room.
"Thanks JJ," Hotchner said, giving her a small nod. The leader of the BAU stood up to face his team at the same time that Jareau and Garcia took seats at the table. "You're probably wondering why I've asked you all to assemble here," Hotchner said, glancing around at the group.
"I know I am," Jareau thought to herself as she stared up into the stoic face of her superior.
"Well," Hotchner said. "I called this meeting to inform you that we're taking a trip. And we're leaving tomorrow."
"So where exactly are we going?" Morgan asked, his curiosity aroused further by the fact that when the BAU's help was requested, their fearless leader normally started out meetings by giving out details of the crime and this time Hotchner simply said they were going on a trip. "And why?"
"We're going to California," Hotchner told them. "Los Angeles to be exact. As to why, we've been invited to give lectures on profiling at the L.A field office as well as at several local police departments."
That statement caused a small amount of confusion throughout the group. It was highly unusual for the whole team to travel to another state just to give a lecture. Not that being requested to give a lecture was anything out of the unusual but usually when they were asked to give lectures Hotchner simply picked a couple of team members for the job however apparently this time he'd decided that they would all participate.
"Why the whole team?" Reid asked, voicing the question that was on everyone's mind.
"I thought you could all use a break," Hotchner replied. "But if you don't want to go. . ."
"No! Wait!" Morgan exclaimed, thinking that their chances of going to California had just been shot down.
"I thought you'd feel that way," Hotchner said, his facial muscles twitching as though he were attempting to force himself not to smile. "Wheel's are up at nine a.m. tomorrow morning. You should probably go home and pack. Dismissed."
"All right, field trip," Morgan said, getting to his feet and playfully slapping Reid on the shoulder. "Aren't you excited boy genius?"
"Very," Reid said quietly, rolling his eyes and walking away from Morgan.
"Was it something I said?" Morgan asked, an innocent look plastered all over his handsome face.
"Gee I wonder," Garcia said, walking up to Morgan and wrapping her arm around his waist. She was in no way fooled by his feigned look of innocence. "Could have something to do with that whole boy genius thing. Just a thought."
"Hmm," Morgan said thoughtfully. Then his mood lightened once more. "We're going to sunny California."
"I know," Garcia said with a smile.
"Go pack," a voice called out from across the room, interrupting the conversation before it had the chance to escalate to the usual flirty banter that passed between Morgan and Garcia on a regular basis. Both Morgan and Garcia turned to stare at Jason Gideon, whom neither had noticed still sitting at the conference table. The senior agent eyed the two younger agents, one eyebrow raised.
"We're going," Morgan said.
Garcia nodded and the two agents quickly left the conference room. Gideon smiled as he watched their retreat, shaking his head ever so slightly. Everyone met briefly back in the bullpen area before they split up to go their separate ways, each bound for home where they would pack for their upcoming trip.
The next morning the BAU team assembled at the airport and quickly boarded the private Learjet that would take them to Los Angeles California. The last to arrive, a mere fifteen minutes before the scheduled departure time, was Dr. Spencer Reid. Reid rushed toward the jet, his luggage slung over his shoulder, and climbed on board the Learjet, slightly out of breath.
"Running a little late boy genius?" Morgan called out from his spot at the back of the jet.
Reid chose not to comment about Morgan's continued use of this particular, annoying nickname, and shoved his luggage into one of the overhead compartments. Then he sat down and pulled a thick book from his messenger bag, flipping it open to the first page.
"So what are you going to do in ten minutes when you finish that book kid?" Gideon asked from his spot across from Reid.
The young profiler didn't reply verbally to the question however he did reach back into his messenger bag and pull out a portable chess board, which he placed on the small table that was situated between him and Gideon. Glancing toward the older profiler he twitched a smile.
Gideon returned the young man's smile and nodded.
FBI Field Office- Los Angeles, California
Special Agent Don Eppes strolled through the bullpen area and as he walked he pointed toward the three members of his team; Agents Megan Reeves, David Sinclair and Colby Granger. Taking that as their cue to follow the three agents stood up simultaneously and followed their leader into the conference room.
"What's up boss?" Colby asked once the four of them were situated in the conference room.
"We're expecting company," Don told his team. "And I thought that I should give you guys a head's up."
"Company?" David said, a questioning tone in his voice.
Don nodded. "The Behavioral Analysis Unit from Quantico."
"The BAU?" Megan said, confused. She knew all about the profiling team from Quantico, having studied under Jason Gideon during her own training there.
Don nodded once again. "They should be here in a couple of hours and they're going to be giving a lecture on profiling."
"That sounds fun," Colby said in a slightly sarcastic tone of voice, which to the rest of the team translated into that sounds mind numbingly boring.
"Glad you think so," Don said with a smirk, choosing to ignore the sarcasm that had been barely concealed within his subordinate's tone. "Because everyone in this unit is required to attend."
Colby groaned under his breath, causing Megan to arch an eyebrow and stare at her teammate. "Come on Granger, it won't be that bad. Profiling is actually kind of interesting."
"Hmm."
Colby didn't sound the remotest bit convinced and Megan opened her mouth to further argue her point with him however Don interrupted her before the two of them had the chance to begin an argument.
"You guys can go back to what you were doing," Don told them. "I'll call a meeting when the guys from the BAU get here."
Reeves, Sinclair and Granger all nodded once and then trooped single file out of the conference room, back out into the bullpen. Once they were gone, Don leaned up against one of the tables and sighed. He'd known that his team, or more to the point, Colby wouldn't be happy about having to attend the lecture and he also knew that the agent would be moaning under his breath throughout the entire thing. He sighed again, not looking forward to this lecture.
"This is going to be a nightmare," he thought to himself, shaking his head and running a hand through his closely cropped hair.
"You okay?" a voice called out from the doorway.
Don turned toward the sound of the voice and offered his younger brother a smile as a way of greeting. "Hey Charlie, what's up?"
The Cal Sci professor held up a manila envelope and said, "I've worked out a couple of equations that should help the murder investigation you've been working on. They're not one hundred percent yet but I wanted to run through what I have just in case it helps."
"Way to go Charlie!" Don said, gesturing toward the white, dry-erase board. "Teach away professor."
Charlie picked up a dry erase marker and began to write.
The two brothers stood in front of the white board, Charlie writing out equations and explaining their significance, while Don stood beside him watching and listening. Both Eppes men were completely absorbed in their work however they were jarred from their thoughts by a loud knock on the frame of the open door. Don and Charlie quickly turned and their gazes fell upon the man in charge of the L.A field office, Assistant Director Merrick.
"Sorry to interrupt Don," Merrick said with a nod in Charlie's direction. "But the team from Quantico is here."
Don nodded at his boss to show that he'd heard and understood and then he turned his attention back to Charlie. "Sorry buddy. I would like nothing more than to stand here and listen to you talk about math that is way over my head but I have a lecture that I have to attend. We'll have to continue this later."
"Okay," Charlie said with a nod. "You go ahead. I'm just gonna hang out here and finish. . ."
Charlie didn't have a chance to finish his sentence however as Don suddenly grabbed him by the arm. "You know what, you can come too. Hell you might find it more interesting than most of the people who have to attend."
This said, Don proceeded to pull his brother from the small conference room and down the hall toward the elevator that would take them upstairs to the larger briefing room where the lecture would be held, giving the younger man no chance to protest.
When Don and Charlie arrived at the briefing room the first thing they noticed was that the place was packed. Don scanned the room for a couple of vacant seats and that's when he noticed Megan waving to him from the front row.
"Come on buddy," Don said to his younger brother, leading the way toward the front row where Megan had saved not one, but two chairs. "Thanks," Don said as he and Charlie sat down in the seats that Megan had saved. "But how did you know to save two seats?"
"Because I knew that Charlie was with you," Megan replied. "And I know that you only leave him behind when the situation is dangerous. Seeing as this lecture isn't likely to be dangerous, although Colby would most likely argue to the contrary, I was fairly certain that he'd tag along to this thing."
The guys looked slightly impressed and Megan shook her head. "Come on guys, it says behavioralist on my resume too, you know."
Colby opened his mouth to comment however he never got the chance. Assistant Director Merrick chose that moment to enter the briefing room, followed by a group of seven people. "Good morning," Merrick said to the group assembled in front of him. "This lecture is all about behavioral analysis, more commonly known as profiling. Our guest lecturers today are the members of the Behavioral Analysis Unit based out of Quantico." At this point the Assistant Director motioned toward a tall, broad shouldered man with dark hair. "This is Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner, the leader of the BAU. At this time I'm going to turn the floor over to him. He can introduce his team and then they can get started. Agent Hotchner."
"Thank you Assistant Director Merrick," Hotchner said as he stepped toward a podium that was positioned in the center of the room. One by one Hotchner motioned toward the members of his team, introducing them to the group.
Charlie's attention had been going back and forth between the BAU team and the members of Don's team and he was immensely enjoying watching Colby's growing annoyance with the situation as well as his vain attempts to hide said annoyance. However his attention was brought back to the front of the room when Hotchner introduced the last member of his team, Dr. Spencer Reid.
The first thing Charlie noticed about Dr. Reid was the fact that he looked as though he were in his mid to late teens. Then, when it came time for Reid's portion of the lecture, Charlie instantly picked up on the fact that the young profiler seemed nervous in front of the crowd of other FBI agents. Never the less, despite his obvious discomfort, Dr. Reid obviously knew what he was talking about and the young man provided an impressive amount of statistics to support his claims.
"This guy's brilliant," Charlie thought to himself.
When the lecture was over most of the room's occupants quickly filed out of the briefing room however Don, Charlie and Megan hung back to speak to the group from Quantico. "Jason Gideon," Don called out as he stepped toward the senior profiler.
"Agent Eppes," Gideon said, offering the younger agent a smile.
Megan turned to face her superior, a confused expression on her face. "You know Jason Gideon? YOU?"
Don nodded, a smirk on his face. "Yea. Agent Gideon has helped me out on a couple of tough cases, before we got our own personal profiler of course."
"Of course," Megan said, matching Don's smirk perfectly. "Hey why don't you see if Agent Gideon can lend you a hand with your current case."
"Not a bad idea," Don said, even though he was fully aware that Megan was only joking with the suggestion. "Would you mind taking a look Agent Gideon?"
"Of course not," Gideon said.
Don led the way out of the briefing room, followed by Charlie and the BAU team. The group took the elevator down to the floor that housed Don's unit and then entered the room that Don and Charlie had vacated earlier. Most of the BAU team members remained close to the door however Gideon followed Don Eppes over to a bulletin board where the evidence of his case was pinned up. The senior profiler studied the photographs of the victims intently.
Charlie's gaze shifted from the spot where his brother stood with Agent Gideon over to the board that held his equations. That's when he noticed Dr. Reid studying the math, an intense look in his eyes. "Are you familiar with these equations?" Charlie asked as he stepped forward and came to stand beside Reid.
The young profiler nodded, his eyes rapidly scanning the board.
After Gideon had finished examining the crime scene photographs he turned back to face Don. "This isn't enough in and of itself to form an adequate profile however if you'd like our help we'll be more than happy to give it."
Don nodded. "That'd be great. Between my team, you guys and Charlie surely we can come up with something."
"Charlie?" Hotchner asked.
Don gestured toward his younger brother, who was still standing in front of the white board with Reid. "My brother Charlie. He's a professor of applied mathematics at Cal Sci and works with us on certain cases, this one among them."
"A math consultant?" Prentiss said, confused. "Is that really helpful in a murder investigation?"
Don nodded and Charlie stepped forward and began to explain to the BAU how his math equations could help solve the murder case that his brother was currently working on. Most of the profilers held puzzled expressions on their faces and, with a sigh, Charlie prepared to use one of the analogies that he often used for Don and his team however Dr. Reid beat him to it. Reid turned to face the members of his team, as well as Don's subordinates, and quickly simplified Charlie's math equation using an analogy that everyone could identify with.
Charlie couldn't help but grin as looks of enlightenment appeared on the faces throughout the room.
"Oh no," Colby said with a groan, his gaze shifting back and forth between Charlie and Reid. "There's another one? You have got to be kidding me. I mean honestly what are the odds of that?"
"Well statistically speaking. . ." both Charlie and Reid spoke up however they were halted mid sentence when Don and Morgan both turned on them and said, "Don't answer that!"
Don was at a loss for words after hearing Dr. Reid's analogy explaining Charlie's equation. Charlie's friends Larry and Amita were the only ones he'd ever met that could make sense of Charlie's equations, at least until now. Don gaped at the young profiler. "You mean you actually get this stuff?"
Reid nodded once again, running a hand through his medium length, brown hair. "I don't really get much use out of it but I do have a PhD in mathematics from Cal Tech."
It was Charlie's turn to gape however his look of incredulity was for a completely different reason. "What do you mean you don't get much use out of it? How could you not get use out of it?"
Reid shrugged.
"You should come over to my place," Charlie said. "I can teach you some things that might prove useful, even for a profiler."
"You should definitely go," Don told the young agent. "It isn't often that Charlie finds a new friend who's actually on the same level as he is."
"Um," Reid stammered. "I uh. . . I don't think. . ."
"Go ahead and accept the offer Reid," Gideon said, picking up on the fact that Reid was torn between wanting to accept the young professor's offer of friendship and his own feelings of insecurity. "We're going to be here for awhile anyway. Maybe you really can learn something useful."
"Um. . . okay," Reid said finally, once again running his hand through his hair in a nervous gesture.
"Great," Charlie said, a broad smile spreading across his face. "You can come over for dinner tonight and then we'll go over some equations."
Reid nodded.
Don turned his attention back to Gideon. "And if you'll tell me where you guys are staying I'll give Dr. Reid a ride back home tonight after the math lesson."
Gideon nodded and gave Don the name of the hotel where he and the rest of the BAU team would be staying while they were in LA. Then he turned the topic of conversation back to Don's murder case. "We're still obligated to give lectures to the LAPD, as well as a couple of smaller departments, but I don't think those lectures will require the whole team. We'll focus the majority of our efforts on your case."
"Thanks," Don said. "Let's split for lunch and then we'll come back and get to work on the case." He gazed around the room at the BAU team members. "Sound like a plan?"
Hotchner nodded and then addressed his team. "Morgan and I are going to go and give a lecture to the LAPD after lunch. The rest of you should return here and start work on the case."
Hotchner's team nodded and then the FBI agents all scattered. Morgan made a move to ask Reid if he wanted to join him and Garcia for lunch however he stopped when he saw Charlie Eppes turn to the young profiler. Morgan grinned and then made his way across the room to the spot where Garcia was standing against the wall. "Wanna go and grab a bite gorgeous?"
Garcia smiled broadly. "I'd love to."
Morgan offered her his arm, which she immediately took, and together the two of them left the conference room.
"Why don't the two of us go and grab something to eat?" Charlie suggested to Reid, who was still one hundred percent focused on the equations that were written on the white board. "We can further discuss the math if you want."
Reid hesitated, having always felt awkward and uncomfortable around people he didn't know, however one glance across the room to Gideon made the young man's mind up for him. Reid nodded once and he and Charlie left the conference room. The two young geniuses went to a local sandwich shop and bought their lunches and then sat in the courtyard outside the FBI building to eat. For awhile the discussion was centered around Charlie's equations and their uses in crime solving but then Charlie abruptly asked, "So how old were you when you graduated high school Dr. Reid?"
Reid glanced up at Charlie, a strange look in his eyes.
"I was thirteen," Charlie informed the startled profiler. "My older brother Don and I graduated high school on the same day."
"I was twelve," Reid told the mathematics professor, relaxing a small degree with the knowledge that he'd found a kindred spirit.
"I knew it," Charlie said.
"Excuse me?"
"I just got this feeling that you and I were a lot alike," Charlie explained. "You seemed really uncomfortable during the lecture, even though you obviously knew what you were talking about, and when I heard how brilliant you are it all fit. Feelings of awkwardness due in part to isolation and feelings of rejection during the formative years.
Reid raised an eyebrow and one corner of his mouth twitched into a half smile. "Are you going to take up profiling now Professor Eppes?"
Charlie shook his head. "No Dr. Reid, that was pretty much a one time thing. So was I wrong?"
"You weren't wrong," Reid said quietly. "And you don't have to keep calling me Dr. Reid. Spencer is fine."
"Okay Spencer," Charlie said. "And you can call me Charlie, just don't ever call me Chuck."
"I'll keep that in mind," Reid said.
Meanwhile Don Eppes and Jason Gideon were sitting in a small Italian restaurant, focusing on something other than the grisly murders that they would be examining in great detail when they arrived back at the FBI field office.
"Charlie seems to have quite a bit in common with Dr. Reid," Don said. "Is he new? He wasn't on your team the last time you were here."
"Reid's been a member of the BAU for three years," Gideon replied. "And I hope he and your brother can become friends. He has a hard time forming bonds with people because of an underlying fear that they'll leave him once he begins to care for them."
"Well he at least has one thing going for him," Don said with a grin. "He understands the math."
Gideon chuckled at Don's tone. "I take it you don't understand the math."
"Not even on my best day," Don told him honestly. "But then again my kid brother's always been somewhat over my head. We graduated high school on the same day and his grades were way above mine. Always. In everything." Don paused for a minute and then said, "Except for spelling. Charlie can not spell. I guess even geniuses have to have some flaw that makes them human."
Gideon nodded.
After lunch Don's team and the BAU team reassembled in the conference room, minus Hotchner and Morgan, and began to go over the details of the murders. "So far there are four victims," Don told the group of profilers. This briefing was, after all, solely for their benefit since his team already knew every detail of the crimes. "All women, all in their late teens to early twenties. Similar features, each one had light brown hair and brown eyes. The victims were stabbed multiple times and then dumped, out in the open, on the side of the highway."
"The victims were stabbed," Gideon said softly, stepping to the front of the room to stand beside Don. "This tells us that the UnSub is a power seeker. He wanted to feel the life drain from their bodies."
"The UnSub is also arrogant," Reid added from his spot in the back. "He dumped them along the highway making no attempt to hide the bodies. This tells us that the UnSub thinks he's smarter than the police, smarter than the FBI."
"Of course he does," Don said, his voice filled with contempt. "They all do."
"Not all," Reid said. "Although a lot of them do. Were there any drugs found in their systems? Rohypnol maybe?"
"No," Don informed the young profiler. "All of their tox screens came back negative."
"This supports the theory that they were lured away rather than abducted," Reid said, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Were there any sexual aspects involved in the crimes?" Prentiss asked from her spot beside Megan.
Don shook his head. "There were no signs of sexual assault on any of the victims."
"That's unusual," Gideon said, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Serial killers, especially those who specifically target women, are quite frequently sexual sadists. They like to torture and demean their victims before the actual killing. It's the ultimate show of power."
"Our victims were all thoroughly examined by the ME," Don told the profilers. "There weren't even any signs of a struggle. None of these women fought back."
"Our UnSub is very confident and outgoing," Prentiss said thoughtfully. "He was able to talk these women into going with him willingly. The fact that there were no signs of a struggle tells us that the women went with him of their own volition. They didn't fight back because they didn't realize they were in danger until it was too late."
"Alright," Gideon said, turning to face Don. "Do you think we should split up into groups and get started?"
Don nodded. "Sounds like a plan."
"Prentiss I want you to work on victimology," Gideon told the BAU's newest agent. "Garcia, you can help. Search the system and find out if our victims are connected in any way."
"Right," the two agents said in unison.
"Megan," Don said. "You should work with them. Give them all of the information we gathered from the victims' families and help out in any other way possible."
Megan nodded, showing that she understood.
"JJ you know what's expected of you. Control media coverage on this, keep it as low key as possible to avoid causing a panic. If the media gets wind of this investigation they're going to blow it way out of proportion."
Jareau nodded.
Gideon turned to face Don. "I think you and I should work closely together to coordinate the efforts between our two teams."
"Good idea," Don said with a nod. Then he turned to Colby and David. "You two continue to do field investigations. And make sure you share any new information you gather with the BAU."
"Got it," Colby said as David nodded.
"Hotch and Morgan are going to take care of our lecture engagements," Gideon informed Don. "They'll rejoin the investigation when they've finished."
"Okay guys," Don said, addressing both teams. "Let's get to work."
"Um. . ." a voice spoke up. "What about me?"
The gazes of both agents in charge shifted and came to rest on Reid, who was standing in the back of the room beside Charlie. Don's gaze then shifted to Gideon, who said, "You stay with Professor Eppes and work with him."
Reid's face held a confused expression for a few moments before he finally nodded. He hadn't expected to be pawned off on the FBI's mathematics consultant however he respected Gideon too much to argue about the order. "I guess I'll just have to deal with it. How bad could it be?"
The young profiler was jarred from his thoughts by a light slap on his arm. "Come on Spencer. I have a class to get too and then after that you and I can get to work. Mathematics meets profiling."
"Okay," Reid said, turning to follow Charlie out of the conference room.
Charlie and Reid traveled across town to Cal Sci, the university where Charlie taught. The two of them briefly stopped by Charlie's office, so that the professor could drop off some things, and then they continued on their way to the classroom where Charlie's next class was being held.
"You don't have to come if you think this will be too boring," Charlie told the young profiler as they walked toward the classroom. "You can just hang out in the courtyard or somewhere and then I can find you when I'm finished."
Reid shook his head. "That's okay. I'll just sit in on the class, unless you don't want me to."
"No, it's cool," Charlie said quickly, not wanting Reid to get the impression that he was trying to get rid of him. "Whatever you wanna do is fine by me."
When they reached the classroom, barely on time for class, Charlie opened the door and the two young men stepped inside a classroom that was halfway filled with students. Reid took a seat in the back of the room while Charlie quickly made his way to the front.
"Running a little late today Professor Eppes?" a student in the front asked with a smirk.
Charlie glanced down at the watch that he was wearing. "I'm on time by my watch."
The young woman pointed toward a clock that was hanging on the wall. "Well you're five minutes late by that clock."
Charlie shrugged. "Well at least I showed up today. Now let's get started. Can anyone tell me. . ."
As soon as Charlie dismissed his students he ran up the aisle to the spot where Reid was sitting. "Come on Spencer, let's get to work."
Reid nodded as he got to his feet and slung the strap of his messenger bag across his shoulder. The two young men left the classroom and made their way back across campus toward Charlie's office and as they were walking a voice suddenly called out, "Hey Charlie!"
Both men turned and watched as a young woman walked toward them. She smiled as her eyes fell on Charlie. "I was looking for you this morning. You were late for work."
"I had Larry take care of my first class," Charlie told her. "I had some things to show Don."
"I see," the young woman said with a nod. Then her gaze fell upon Reid, who was standing a couple of steps behind Charlie, attempting not to eavesdrop on the conversation. "So who's your friend? One of your students?"
Charlie smirked as he saw the embarrassed expression that had appeared on Reid's face upon being referred to as a student. "Hardly. Amita meet Dr. Spencer Reid, a behavioral analyst with the FBI. Spencer this is Dr. Amita Romanajan, a colleague and close friend of mine."
Reid held up his hand by way of greeting and Amita said, "I'm so sorry Dr. Reid. It's just. . ."
"It's okay," Reid said, interrupting her attempted apology. "Don't worry about it."
"Amita," Charlie said. "We were just on our way to my office to work on that case I was telling you about yesterday. Would you like to join us?"
"Sure," Amita said with a nod, falling into step with the two men.
Garcia stared at the screen of her borrowed computer as her fingers danced across the keyboard. She had spent the last couple of hours tracing the lives of the four young victims, while Prentiss and Megan took notes on her meager findings. As far as she could tell from witness and family statements as well as the background searches she had performed, none of their victims had known one another. At least not directly although there was still the possibility that they had either a friend or an acquaintance in common.
Garcia sighed as she swiveled in her chair to face Prentiss. "I can't find any connection between our victims. Nothing."
"Keep searching," Prentiss said, offering Garcia an encouraging smile. "If there's anything to find then you're the one who can find it."
"I know," Garcia said, her tone slightly arrogant as she turned back to face the computer. The computer tech resumed her typing, her fingers once again dancing across the keyboard. Prentiss and Megan once again focused their attention on the computer screen while Garcia worked through more of the information on the victims' lives.
"Any luck?" a voice called out from the doorway.
Garcia, Prentiss and Megan all turned to see Hotchner and Morgan walking toward them from the doorway. "Luck's got nothing to do with it babe. It's skill and if there's anything to find make no mistake I WILL find it."
"That's my girl," Morgan said. "Work me a little magic."
Garcia nodded.
"Where's Gideon?" Hotchner asked, his gaze shifting to Prentiss.
Prentiss pointed toward the conference room. "He's in the conference room with Agent Eppes."
"Thanks," Hotchner said, turning away from the girls and walking toward the conference room. The Agent in Charge pulled the door open and stepped inside the room, where he found Gideon and Don sitting at a table going over notes on the case. "You got anything?"
"Bits and pieces," Gideon replied. "But not enough for an adequate profile. We need more information."
"We'll help," Hotchner said as he and Morgan pulled out chairs and sat down across from Gideon and Don. Don pushed the files toward Hotchner, who pulled them toward him and Morgan. Each agent flipped open a folder and scanned the contents. Gideon and Don waited patiently while Hotchner and Morgan got up to speed on the case.
"So we have four known victims," Hotchner said, closing the folder that was in front of him. "All female, all in their late teens to early twenties, all stabbed multiple times. This tells us that our UnSub is most likely a young male between the ages of seventeen and thirty. Those subjects are the most likely perpetrators of serial crimes."
Don nodded. He and Gideon had come to the same conclusion when they'd reviewed the data.
"Garcia said that she hasn't been able to find any connections between our victims," Morgan said. "But she's still working on it and if there's anything to find then she's the one to do it."
"That's what she said," a new voice said from the doorway.
Don and Gideon both glanced up while Hotchner and Morgan turned to face the new arrival. Prentiss stood in the doorway, a couple of pieces of paper held in her hand.
"You got something?" Morgan asked.
Prentiss nodded. "None of the victims ever met however they did all have memberships at a local gym, just not at the same time. A place called Endless Summer Gym and Health Club."
"That's something," Don said, happy to have a straw to grasp at. "I'll get Colby and David to go check it out."
Gideon nodded. "Prentiss, tell Garcia to go over the gym's employment records, as well as the membership records, keeping in mind that she's looking for a male seventeen to twenty-five."
Prentiss nodded and left the conference room. She made her way back out to the desk where Garcia was sitting. "Gideon wants you to look into the employment and membership records of one Endless Summer Gym and Health Club. You're looking for males between the ages of seventeen and twenty-five who either worked or had memberships to the club at the same time as our victims."
"I'm on it," Garcia said, typing the name of the gym into a search engine.
Charlie and Reid were standing at the chalkboard in Charlie's office when the phone on the desk began to ring. Charlie walked across the room and grabbed the phone. "This is Charles Eppes."
"Hey Charlie. I have some info on the case for you and Reid."
"Call me back on my cell phone so I can put you on speaker." And without waiting for a response from his brother Charlie hung up the phone. Seconds later his cell phone began to ring. Charlie pulled the phone from his pocket, flipped it open, pushed a button, and then said, "Go ahead Don."
"Well one Miss. Penelope Garcia found out that all of our victims held memberships at a gym called Endless Summer. Now none of their memberships overlapped but they were all members at one point or another. Garcia's now searching the employment and membership records of said gym, looking for our suspect."
"Anything else?" Charlie asked.
"That's it. I'll keep in touch and let you guys know if anything else comes up. Later."
The phone line went dead at this point and Charlie flipped it closed and placed it back in his pocket. Then he turned to face Reid. "Did that tell you anything?"
"Well," Reid said. "Based solely on the information that we have I would say that our UnSub is a young male with some connection to the gym where the victims had memberships. But I don't think it can be that simple."
"Why not?" Charlie asked.
"I'm not sure," Reid said, running a hand through his hair. "But it all seems too easy. The UnSub didn't make any attempts to hide the bodies which suggests that he's not afraid of being caught. He thinks he's smarter than us and is out to prove it. I just don't think we should be able to find a link this easily."
Charlie nodded. The young profiler did have a very valid point. He pointed toward the chalkboard. "Shall we continue?"
Reid nodded.
"I have good news and bad news," Garcia said as she walked into the conference room where Don, Gideon, Hotchner and Morgan were working together. She passed each of them a piece of paper containing a long list of names. "The good news is I only found two employees matching your profile who were at the gym when all of the victims were members. The bad news is I found over a hundred members who fit the profile."
"That's a lot of potential suspects," Don said as he gazed down at the piece of paper that Garcia had given him.
"Is there anything else Garcia?" Hotchner asked, gazing down at his own copy of the list.
"Maybe," Garcia said with a nod. "This gym isn't exactly equal opportunity. It seems management, as well as their clientele, aren't exactly friendly toward women. There are no female employees and only three women who currently hold memberships to the gym."
"This could point to a possible motive," Don said. "Maybe this is an attempt to get rid of the female clients, either directly or by the panic factor caused by the murders."
"There's more," Garcia said, ready to reveal the piece of information she'd been saving for last. "One of our victims, Crissie Sumner, had filed a complaint against one of the trainers, a Kyle Jenkins, citing sexual harassment a mere two weeks before she was found dead on the side of the highway."
"And that boys and girls gives us motive," Morgan said.
"But only for one of the murders," Gideon reminded him.
"True," Morgan said. "But I'd still like to go talk to this guy, see if I can rattle him enough to make him talk."
"Okay," Hotchner said, turning to face Don.
"I'll give Colby and David a call," Don said. "and the three of you can go together. It might be easier to lean on your suspect in a group."
Morgan nodded and Don pulled out his cell phone. He spoke to his agent for a couple of minutes and then turned back to Morgan. "They'll meet you out front in twenty minutes."
Morgan nodded once again and left the conference room.
"Ugh," Charlie said, putting his chalk down on his desk and running his hand through his dark curls. "No matter what I do I can't get this equation to lead back to that gym."
Reid stared at the equation, an intense expression on his face. "We're still missing something. The profile doesn't fit."
At that moment there was a knock on the door. "Come in," Charlie called out, a slight edge to his voice.
The door opened slowly and a nervous looking young woman stepped hesitantly into the office. The girl looked more like a high school student than a college student, short and slender with long brown hair and large brown eyes. Doe eyes. There was a fearful expression in those big, brown eyes as she gazed over at Charlie. "I'm sorry Professor Eppes, is this a bad time?"
"No Melody," Charlie told his student, his voice now apologetic. He hadn't meant to be short with her and now he felt bad about it. "What can I help you with?"
Melody offered Charlie a small, forced smile and pulled out a text book. "I just had a question about. . ."
Deciding to give Charlie and his student some privacy Reid quietly left the office and wandered down the hallway. Not knowing the campus the young profiler didn't really have a destination in mind so he simply walked. Reid's aimless wandering soon led him to the lobby of the building and he was just about to turn around and go the other way when a small bulletin board caught his eye. He took a few steps toward it, his gaze focused intently on a small piece of paper however his attention was diverted when he heard someone call out from behind him. "Hey Spencer!"
Reid turned around and watched as Charlie walked toward him.
"There you are," Charlie said as he walked up to Reid. "Was I so boring that you had to run away?"
Reid shook his head. "It was nothing like that. Your student seemed nervous so I thought I'd give you guys some privacy."
Charlie nodded. "Melody's a brilliant young woman but she's painfully shy. She's only seventeen and already a sophomore here at Cal Sci. I think she's having a bit of trouble adjusting."
Reid nodded. He could definitely identify with that. After all his people skills were far from spectacular and he was a hundred times better now than when he'd been in college.
"Well come on," Charlie said. "I'm finished with classes for the day and I'm not making any progress with my math so we may as well head back to the FBI and see if they've learned anything new."
"Okay," Reid said. "But can we go back to your office so I can get my things first?"
Charlie nodded, chuckling softly to himself, and together he and Reid made their way back down the hall to his office. The young profiler dashed back into the office, grabbed his messenger bag, slung it over his shoulder and then hurried back out into the hallway, where Charlie was waiting for him.
"Ready to go Spencer?" Charlie asked once Reid rejoined him out in the hallway.
"Yea," Reid replied.
It was approaching late afternoon when a black Chevy Tahoe pulled up to a building above which a sign proclaimed it Endless Summer Gym and Health Club. Three men climbed out of the truck and walked toward the front entrance. David opened the door, allowed Colby and Morgan to enter the building and then followed them inside.
As soon as the three agents entered the gym they were approached by a tall, muscular Caucasian male. The man had short cropped blonde hair and was wearing sweat pants and a tank top. "Is there something I can help you gentlemen with?"
"Could we speak with the manager?" Morgan asked.
"I'm the manager. My name's Jason McMahan." the man said, offering Morgan his hand, which the FBI agent accepted. "Is there a problem?"
"We're looking for one of your employees," Morgan replied as he shook the manager's hand. "Kyle Jenkins."
"What do you want with Kyle?" McMahan asked, his tone losing some of it's friendliness.
Morgan pulled out his badge and held it up for the manager's inspection. Colby and David quickly followed suit. "FBI. We just have some questions for him. Now I'm going to ask you again, where is Kyle Jenkins?"
"I have no idea," McMahan said. "Today's his day off."
"Can you give us his home address?" Colby asked.
McMahan debated the situation for a few seconds before finally nodding his head. "Wait here for just a minute." With that McMahan walked away from the three FBI agents and over to his desk. He returned a few minutes later with a piece of paper in his hand. He handed the piece of paper to Morgan, a strange look in his eyes. "Look man, whatever Kyle's involved in I'm not a part of it and neither is my business."
"We'll decide that for ourselves," Colby said as the three FBI agents turned to leave the gym.
Morgan, Colby and David climbed back into the Tahoe, on their way to question one Kyle Jenkins. "So," Colby said, as he drove in the direction of Jenkins' house. "Do you think the manager knows more than he's telling us?"
Morgan shook his head. "No. His reaction when he saw our badges was genuine surprise. He has no idea why he was just questioned by the FBI."
"Hmm," David said thoughtfully.
"Well," Colby said, parking the Tahoe in front of a small house. "Let's find out what Kyle Jenkins knows about our murders."
Morgan and David both nodded as the three agents once again climbed out of the Tahoe. Colby led the way across the lawn to the front door of the house. He banged on the door and called out, "Kyle Jenkins, this is the FBI. Open up, we have some questions to ask you."
The three agents paused to wait for a reply and while they were waiting they heard some loud thumping noises coming from inside the house. David turned to the other two men. "He's gonna bolt."
"You really think so?" Colby asked his partner.
"He's right," Morgan said as a blur of gray raced across the lawn from the back of the house. The three agents took off after their suspect, bemoaning the fact that they once again had to run around in suits chasing after some loser. Morgan and Colby caught up with the suspect at the same time and both tackled him, knocking the man roughly to the ground. Jenkins quickly reached for his pocket however he froze instantly when Morgan pulled his weapon. "I wouldn't if I were you."
Jenkins held up his hands. "Okay man, take it easy."
"What exactly were you planning to do with this?" Colby demanded as he pulled a small pistol from the suspect's pocket. Jenkins said nothing and Colby growled low in his throat as he pulled the suspect's hands behind his back and cuffed them together. "For that matter, why did you run? You got something to hide?"
"I. . . uh. . ."
"That's not an answer," Morgan said as Colby pulled Jenkins to his feet. The BAU agent turned to David. "Why don't you see if you can get a warrant to search his house? Running from federal agents, plus carrying a concealed weapon. That has to count as probable cause, right?"
"Good thinking," Colby said with a smile. Then he turned back to the suspect and grinned evilly. "If you're hiding something from us now would be the time to spill it."
The suspect averted his gaze from the agents, refusing to speak, although beads of sweat had instantly appeared on his forehead. He was nervous, downright scared out of his mind, however he still seemed determined not to talk to the agents.
"All right," Colby said. "If that's the way you wanna play it. Let's take this guy downtown."
The other two agents nodded and together they all walked back over to the Tahoe and climbed inside. Together the agents and the suspect drove to the FBI field office where Jenkins was placed in an interrogation room.
"So what have we got?" Don asked the three agents who'd picked up Kyle Jenkins.
"Kyle Jenkins," Colby informed his boss. "He's the one Crissie Sumner had filed a sexual harassment claim against two weeks before she was murdered. And when we went to question him about the murders he bolted on us."
"All right," Don said, getting to his feet. "Let's go see what our boy's trying to hide." With that Don left the conference room and made his way to the interrogation room where their suspect was being held while the other agents entered the observation room that adjoined it.
When Charlie and Reid arrived at the FBI field office they quickly made their way up to the floor where Don and his team had their desks. As they stepped off the elevator the two young geniuses saw that Garcia, Megan and Prentiss were still sitting together at Megan's desk.
"Have you found out anything new?" Reid asked as he and Charlie walked up to the three women.
"Well we comprised a list of possible suspects," Garcia told him. "A LONG list. And the most likely candidate on that list is currently in Interrogation Room One being questioned by Agent Eppes."
"They have a suspect in custody?" Charlie exclaimed, stunned.
Not waiting around to hear anything further Reid and Charlie quickly made their way to the room where Jenkins was being held. Both men knew that it was never a good idea to interrupt an interrogation so they chose instead to enter the observation room.
"Hey guys," Morgan said as the two young men joined the group that was already assembled in the observation room.
"So this is your suspect?" Charlie asked as he gazed through the one way glass at Kyle Jenkins.
"That's him," Morgan said. "He's the one who had a sexual harassment claim filed against him by one of our victims. Then, when we went to question him, the man bolted. He definitely has something to hide and as soon as we get the search warrant for his house, we're going to find out what it is."
Charlie and Reid listened intently, along with the rest of the group, while Don questioned the employee from Endless Summer. The Agent in Charge was pushing the suspect hard and yet was getting absolutely nowhere. Jenkins did finally admit to touching Crissie Sumner, although he alleged that it was purely in a professional capacity, however he flat out denied having anything to do with the murders and was adamant that he didn't even remember any of the other victims.
"This isn't our guy," Reid said quietly.
Gideon, Hotchner, Morgan, Colby and David all turned to stare at the young profiler, identical looks of disbelief on their faces. Hotchner took a couple of steps toward Reid. "How can you be so sure of that? This guy fits our profile, plus he had access to all of the victims. Look at him now, he's obviously nervous and he ran. He has something to hide."
Reid nervously ran a hand through his hair, his gaze downcast. "I can't explain it Hotch but the pieces of the profile don't fit. There's something that we're missing, something important. I just can't figure out what it is."
Reid glanced up at this point and he saw the looks of skepticism on the faces of those around him. It didn't take a profiler to figure out that they didn't believe him.
"I think Spencer's right," Charlie spoke up, clearing his throat. "My equation has yet to lead back to the vicinity of that gym no matter how many times I rework the math. There's a variable out there somewhere that we're missing."
"Look we appreciate the work you've been doing on this," Hotchner said, addressing both of the young geniuses. "But we're going to stick with this and see where it takes us."
During this conversation Don had completed his interview and he soon joined them in the observation room. "As I'm sure you guys noticed, I got nothing out of that. We'll hold him until the search warrant is executed, see if that turns anything up. If it doesn't then I'm afraid I'm gonna have to cut him loose. As it is now I have nothing on him. I had Ms. Garcia do a background check on our friend and I found out that he actually has a permit to carry the weapon that you found on him and since he didn't actually pull it on you. . ."
"He's definitely hiding something," Morgan said. "He seriously panicked when Colby mentioned the search warrant. We're going to find something in that house."
At that moment the door opened and Megan stuck her head in the room. "We've got our warrant."
"Colby," Don said, turning to his subordinate. "You and David go search the house. It's time to find out what Jenkins has to hide."
"I'd like to come as well," Hotchner said, while Morgan said, "I want a piece of this action too."
"Alright," Don said. "Call me as soon as you know something."
Colby nodded and the four agents left the observation room to prepare for their raid.
"You know guys we can't do much until we find out what, if anything, Jenkins is hiding," Don said. "I think we should pick up tomorrow."
Gideon nodded. "We'll meet you back here in the morning."
"Come on Spencer," Charlie said. "You're still coming over to my place right?"
Reid glanced over at Gideon and, seeing that nothing had changed, nodded. Charlie smiled and hit Reid lightly on the bicep. "Come on then." With a final glance toward Gideon Reid fell into step behind Charlie, who led the way out of the small room.
"They don't believe me," Reid mused quietly to himself as he and Charlie left the FBI building. "I can't believe that they didn't believe me."
"I know how you feel," Charlie said as he led the way out to the parking lot and over to his car. "I've helped to solve numerous cases with my math and yet I still get dubious looks from a lot of people."
Reid sighed. They were missing something, something important. He just couldn't figure out what it was and it was driving him absolutely crazy.
"Don't worry about it Spencer," Charlie said as they got into his car. "We'll figure this out."
Together the two young men traveled to Charlie's house, where Charlie led the way inside, followed a few steps back by Reid.
"Welcome home Charlie," a voice called out as the front door opened and Charlie stepped inside. "And who's your friend?"
"Hey dad," Charlie said, leading the way into the living room. "This is Dr. Spencer Reid, a behavioral analyst with the FBI. Spencer, this is my dad Alan Eppes."
"Hello Spencer," Alan said, offering the young agent a friendly smile.
"Pleased to meet you Mr. Eppes," Reid said in a quiet voice, offering the older man a wave as a way of greeting.
"So, a doctor at your age," Alan said, gazing at Reid in an appraising sort of way. "You must be like Charlie."
"Yes he is," Charlie said quickly, picking up on the fact that Reid seemed slightly uncomfortable under his dad's scrutiny. "Spencer's team is helping Don's with a murder investigation, the one I was telling you about a couple of days ago. Spencer's been working with me all day and I've been showing him some of the equations that I use."
"I see," Alan said. "Well are you boys hungry by any chance? I ordered pizza and I'm pretty sure there's enough for the three of us."
"Make that four," Don called out as he stepped through the front door.
"Donnie," Alan said as his oldest joined them in the living room. "Guess I should have known you'd show up sooner or later."
"Hey I didn't have a choice in the matter," Don said in his own defense. "I'm Dr. Reid's ride back to his hotel."
"You didn't have to come here just for that," Charlie said with a smirk. "I could have given Spencer a ride back to his hotel. You just came because you were hoping to get a free meal."
"Maybe," Don said with a roguish grin.
"I knew it!" Charlie exclaimed as he turned and punched his brother on the arm. "I knew that was the real reason you came."
"Hey, easy there Chuck," Don said, holding up his hands in a submissive gesture. "I might need that arm later."
Charlie scowled and pointed his index finger at his older brother. "If you call me Chuck one more time. . ."
Alan shook his head and turned to Reid. "You have to excuse my sons Spencer. Sometimes I think they're stuck permanently in their teenage years."
Reid couldn't help but grin as he listened to the two brothers arguing. This was something that he'd never experienced, having grown up as an only child.
"Guys," Alan called out, attempting to interrupt the argument between his two sons. "HEY GUYS!"
Charlie and Don immediately ceased their arguing and their gazes shifted to their father.
"Thank you," Alan said, lowering his voice back down to a normal speaking volume. "Come on boys. I'm starving and the pizza's getting cold. Let's eat."
"I'll get the plates," Charlie called out, quickly heading in the direction of the kitchen.
"And I'll grab the beers," Don said. He turned to Reid. "You want one Dr. Reid?"
Reid shook his head. "No thanks. Water will be fine."
"Have it your way," Don said.
After dinner, which involved much joking around by the three Eppes men, Charlie and Reid retired to the garage where the two soon became engrossed in Charlie's equations. Don and Alan stood in the doorway, watching as the two young men worked.
"They're so much alike," Alan commented to his oldest son in a quiet voice.
Don nodded and was on the verge of making a comment however his phone chose that exact moment to ring. Don pulled the phone from his belt and flipped it open. "Eppes." Don's face fell. "Are you sure? Dammit. Turn him over to the LAPD." Don flipped the phone closed and clipped it back to his belt.
"What is it Don?" Charlie asked, pausing his work and turning to face his brother.
"They just finished searching Kyle Jenkins' house," Don told his brother. "And all they found was a stash of cocaine. Nothing at all linking him to any of the murders."
"So the guy ran because he had drugs," Charlie said. "That's why he refused to talk to you guys?"
"Yea," Don said, sounding dejected. "And that was our best lead."
Charlie walked over to his brother and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry Donnie, we'll get this guy."
"Sure," Don said, with a sigh. "Guess it's back to square one."
The next morning all those involved in the investigation met briefly at FBI headquarters before splitting up to pursue various avenues of the case. Charlie and Reid were once again paired together and as soon as the briefing was over the two young men departed for Cal Sci.
"You don't have to go to class with me today," Charlie said to Reid as they walked down the hall toward his office. "It'll be pretty much the same as yesterday, so unless you really want to. . ."
"If it's okay I'd like to hang out in your office," Reid said. "There are some details of the case that I'd like to go over again."
Charlie nodded his approval as he opened the door of his office.
"Charles."
"Larry," Charlie said in a surprised voice as he stared at the man who was sitting behind his desk. "What are you doing here?"
Larry shrugged. "It was just somewhere to be. Charles, don't you have a class you're supposed to be teaching?"
Charlie glanced down at his watch and his eyes widened. He hadn't even realized that he was running late. "You're right, I've gotta go. Larry this is Dr. Spencer Reid with the FBI. Spencer, Dr. Lawrence Fleinhardt, physics professor."
And with that hurried introduction Charlie dashed off and left the two alone together.
"So you're with the FBI," Larry said as he studied the young man who stood in the doorway.
Reid nodded. "Behavioral analysis."
"Ahh," Larry said with a nod. "Well I'm sure you have work to do and I have classes to teach so I'm going to take my leave. Nice meeting you Dr. Reid."
Reid nodded as Larry walked past him and left the office. Then the young profiler sat down at Charlie's desk and pulled out his notes on the case. Reid worked intently for awhile and then he had a sudden urge to stretch his legs. Getting to his feet Reid left the office and made his way down the hall to the lobby.
When he arrived at the bulletin board that he'd briefly examined the day before he saw a young woman standing in front of it. The woman turned when she heard Reid approaching and Reid recognized her as the student who'd paid Charlie a visit the previous day.
Melody offered Reid a tentative smile. "Hi," the young girl said softly. "You're the guy I saw with Professor Eppes yesterday right?"
Reid nodded. "Dr. Spencer Reid."
"Doctor?" Melody repeated, her eyes wide. "At your age? Come on, you can't be much older than me."
"I'm twenty-three," Reid informed her.
"Wow," Melody said in awe, forgetting the fact that she usually felt awkward around strangers. "So are you going to teach here at Cal Sci or something?"
Reid shook his head and, despite his discomfort in social situations, managed to get out a response. "No. I'm actually with the FBI and Professor Eppes is helping with a case that we're currently working on."
"Wow," Melody said again. "The FBI. That's really cool."
Reid started to say something in response to her statement but the alarm on her watch began to sound. Melody glanced down to check the time, a horrified expression on her face. "Sorry Dr. Reid but I've gotta go. I'm late for an appointment. Hope I see you around again."
Blushing profusely, due to her last statement, Melody turned and dashed off.
"You know this is the second time I've found you here," Charlie called out as he walked toward Reid. "Do you have something against my office Spencer?"
"Of course not," Reid said. "I needed to stretch my legs and since I don't know the campus that well I didn't think it would be wise to leave the building."
"Alright, I can see your point," Charlie said. "So did anything exciting happen while I was in class?"
"Not really," Reid said. "I ran into that student of yours from yesterday, Melody. We spoke briefly but then her watch alarm went off. She told me she was late for a meeting and then ran off." Reid conspicuously left out the part about Melody telling him that she hoped she'd see him again.
Charlie thought that was unusual, since Melody didn't really talk to anyone except for her teachers, however he chose not to pursue the matter. "Well, shall we get back to work?"
Reid nodded and turned to follow Charlie back to his office however he stopped dead in his tracks when his cell phone began to ring. The young profiler pulled the phone from his pocket and flipped it open. "Reid."
Reid listened to the voice on the other end of the phone for a few minutes. "I understand. We'll be there as soon as possible." Reid flipped his phone closed and turned back to Charlie. "That was Hotch. He and Agent Eppes want both of us back at the FBI field office immediately."
"Have they uncovered something new about the cases?" Charlie asked as the two young men made their way out to the parking lot.
"He didn't say," Reid said with a shrug. "He just told us to come back."
"Guess we'll find out when we get there," Charlie said.
Reid nodded.
When the two young men arrived back at the FBI field office, they quickly made their way upstairs and entered the conference room where the rest of the group was already assembled. As soon as Charlie and Reid sat down, Hotchner and Don got to their feet and walked to the front of the room.
"Garcia uncovered some new information on our victims," Hotchner told the group, getting right to the point. "Apparently all four of them were scholarship students, attending various colleges throughout the state."
"That's right," Garcia said. "None of the girls attended the same school so it didn't immediately ring a bell. That changed when I learned that all of them had full ride academic scholarships."
"We're going to send teams around to all of the campuses," Don said. "To question people who knew the victims, teachers and classmates, see if we can get any new leads."
"This is great," Charlie said. "With this new data I can use the universities as points of origin and rework my equation around them. Then maybe I can finally find a point in common to all of the victims."
"Great Charlie, you do that," Don said. "Okay everyone, let's split up and get this case solved."
Everyone nodded and the sound of chairs scraping the floor echoed throughout the room as they all got to their feet. "Come on Spencer," Charlie said. "We may finally have what we need to crack this case."
Reid gathered up his things and followed Charlie out of the conference room. It seemed to the young profiler that he and the young professor were doing a lot of running back and forth between the FBI field office and the campus of Cal Sci.
"I really hope this is the link we've been missing," Reid thought to himself as Charlie drove toward Cal Sci.
As soon as the two young men arrived back at Charlie's office, the professor erased the equations on one of his many chalk boards and started over. With Reid standing beside him, Charlie began a new equation. "Now we're getting somewhere," Charlie said, his eyes quickly scanning the new equations.
Reid nodded and pulled out his laptop, placing it down on Charlie's desk and flipping it open. He pulled up a map of LA and then quickly inputted Charlie's data. When he finished a section of the map had been highlighted. Charlie walked over and gazed down at the computer screen. "We're looking for a serial killer in the suburbs." The Cal Sci professor looked slightly stunned.
"Don't look so surprised," Reid said quietly. "Part of the profile of a serial killer is blending in to their surroundings, not standing out. Finding one in the suburbs isn't really that odd."
"And that's scary," Charlie said. "Now let's go and give this information to Don and your team."
Reid nodded, not really surprised that the two of them were once again on their way back to the FBI. They seemed to be doing a lot of traveling back and forth here lately.
"I just have to get someone to take over my classes and then we can go," Charlie said. This said Charlie led the way out of his office and down the hall to another office. Charlie knocked on the door a couple of times, to announce his arrival, and then he thrust open the door. "Larry," Charlie called out as he and Reid stepped inside the office.
"Charles," Larry said as the two young men walked into his office. "You look like you're on a mission. Is there something I can help you with?"
"I need you to cover my classes Larry," Charlie said. "Spencer and I have to go to the FBI. We have something that they really need to see."
"Very well," Larry said, gazing at his colleague. "But I will expect for you to return the favor at some point Charles."
"I tell you what Larry," Charlie said with a grin. "When this is all over Dr. Reid will guest lecture for your class. You can pick a topic. He has PhDs in Mathematics, Chemistry and Engineering from Cal Tech."
"What?!" Reid exclaimed, his eyes widening.
"That will be sufficient," Larry said, causing Reid to whirl around to face the physics professor.
"Come on Spencer," Charlie said, grabbing Reid by his shirt sleeve. "We have to go. Now."
Reid allowed Charlie to pull him from the office but as soon as they were out in the hallway he pulled his shirt free and glared at the mathematics professor. "I can't believe you just volunteered me for that."
"Calm down Spencer," Charlie said, holding up his hands. "All you have to do is speak to his class."
"I'm horrible at public speaking," Reid complained. "You saw the lecture we gave to the LA FBI agents."
"It'll be fine," Charlie assured him.
Reid groaned under his breath but chose not to comment further. Things just kept going from bad to worse.
Anxious to share his findings with his brother and the other agents Charlie practically ran from his car to the FBI building, Reid following along behind him. "Don," he called out as soon as they got off the elevator, having spotted his brother walking past.
"What is it buddy?" Don asked. "Have you guys got something?"
Charlie nodded as Reid pulled out his laptop. "We have a new area for you guys to concentrate on."
"Great," Don said, leading the way into the conference room, where Gideon was sitting alone at one of the tables. "Show us what you've got."
Reid nodded and set up his laptop. He pulled up the map, which showed up on the large screen in the front of the room. Charlie pointed out the highlighted area and turned to Don and Gideon. "This is the area we were able to isolate."
Don gazed up at the screen, a frown on his face. "That's a pretty big area Charlie."
"I'd be able to narrow it down further if I had more data," Charlie said in his own defense. "But this is what I have so far."
Sensing that he'd inadvertently hurt his brother's feelings, Don's look softened. "I'm sorry Charlie, it's not you. It's just that I'm under a lot of pressure to solve this case."
Charlie nodded, accepting his brother's apology and silently telling him that it was no big deal.
"I'll give this area to the others," Don said, writing down the boundaries of the search area. "They can begin surveillance, see if they can come up with anyone who fits the profile."
Reid opened his mouth, to reiterate the fact that he thought the profile was wrong, but then abruptly changed his mind. They wouldn't listen to him so what was the point? "We'll keep working with Garcia," he said instead. "See if we can come up with anything that might narrow the search further."
Don and Gideon both nodded their approval and Reid grabbed his laptop and led the way out to Megan's desk, where Garcia was sitting alone.
"Hey Junior G-man," Garcia said as Reid pulled a chair up beside her. "And what can I do for you today?"
"Garcia I need for you to see if you can find any acquaintances the victims had in common," Reid said, opening his laptop and pulling up the map. "Focus on the Sunnydale neighborhood. That's the area that Charlie's equation led back to. Someone who knew all the victims lives in this area."
"I'm on it," Garcia said, her hands dancing across the keyboard.
Cal Sci Campus- Two Days Later
The FBI had been completely focused on the serial murder investigation for four days and still hadn't come up with any new leads. Everyone in the Sunnydale neighborhood who even remotely fit the profile had been interviewed and yet they still didn't have a viable suspect. Larry had been taking care of Charlie's classes for the last couple of days while the younger professor had concentrated on the case but on this particular day the mathematics professor felt that he should probably take care of that himself.
Reid was still hanging out with Charlie and together the two young men were walking down the hall toward Charlie's office, discussing the case as they walked.
"Hey Charlie!"
Charlie turned around and saw Amita hurrying toward him. "What is it Amita?"
"Have you seen Melody Lawson lately?" Amita asked.
Charlie thought for a moment, trying to remember the last time he'd seen the under grad. "Spencer saw her a couple of days ago and I spoke to her the day before that. Why?"
"She was supposed to help me with some research last night and she never showed up." Amita told him. "And she hasn't been to class in two days. Charlie, she hasn't missed a day of class since she's been at Cal Sci. This is not normal for her."
"Calm down Amita," Charlie said. "Maybe she's just sick or something."
Reid's thoughts flashed to the young woman whom he'd briefly spoken to. Brown hair, brown eyes, late teens. . . "Oh hell."
The young agent was so absorbed in his thoughts that he jumped slightly when his cell phone began to ring. Instantly filled with a sense of dread Reid grabbed his phone, flipped it open and placed it to his ear. "Reid."
"We have another victim."
"Where?" Reid asked. Then he said, "We're on our way."
Reid closed his phone and turned to Charlie. "They've found another victim that fits our UnSub's MO."
"Let's go," Charlie said. Then he turned to Amita. "Sorry but we've gotta go."
"I understand," Amita said as the two young men dashed off. "Could you get someone to cover my classes?" Charlie called out over his shoulder as he ran. "Sure," Amita said, more to herself than to him since he was long gone by this point.
When the two young men arrived at the crime scene Reid took the lead for once walking over to the spot where Don and Hotchner stood beside a white coroner's van. "Same as the others," Hotchner said to the two young men. "Young girl, stabbed multiple times and dumped on the side of the highway."
Reid nodded and walked the few steps over to the spot where a prone form lay covered by a white sheet. Kneeling at the victim's side the young profiler pulled back the sheet. Reid's eyes widened as he saw her face and immediately allowed the sheet to fall back over her and then quickly walked back over to the coroner's van, where Hotchner and Charlie were still standing. "It's Melody Lawson."
"Are you sure?" Charlie asked in a quiet voice.
Reid nodded.
"Dammit!" Charlie turned and pounded the coroner's van with his fist.
"Wait a minute," Hotchner said, gazing intently at the two young men. "You guys knew the victim?"
Reid nodded and Charlie said, "She was a student at Cal Sci."
A sympathetic expression appeared instantly on Hotchner's face, his gaze going back and forth between the two young men. "You guys go back to the FBI. We'll finish up here."
Recognizing this order, vaguely disguised as a request, Reid nodded and turned to face Charlie. "Come on."
Charlie briefly glanced back over to the spot where Melody's body lay covered by the sheet and then he followed Reid back over to the spot where they'd left his car. The trip back to the FBI field office was silent and when they arrived the two young men made their way up to the floor where Don and his team had their desks. Entering the conference room Charlie and Reid sat down, each leaning against the table and gripping their heads in their hands.
Charlie ran his hand through his hair. "Melody never hurt anyone. She didn't even talk to anyone. Who would do something like that to her?"
Reid shook his head. That was a question he could not answer.
Charlie and Reid spent about an hour by themselves and then they were joined by the other FBI agents, all of whom looked thoroughly annoyed. "I can't believe there's another one," Colby said as the group all trooped inside the conference room.
Seeing the look on Charlie's face Megan smacked Colby on the arm. "Granger," she hissed, nodding in Charlie's direction.
Colby's gaze shifted in the direction of the young professor and he winced.
"Sorry Charlie," Colby said. "I heard that you knew the latest victim."
"It's okay," Charlie said quietly, waving off Colby's apology. "Let's just get to work so that we can find the person who did this to Melody and those other girls."
"Don't worry Charlie, we'll find him," Don said to his younger brother as he once again took his position at the front of the room. "We're going to interview Ms. Lawson's professors, roommate, anyone else who may have been close to her, see if they can tell me anything that may help our investigation."
"I'd like to do that," Charlie spoke up, gazing at his brother.
"Sorry pal but you're not trained to. . ."
Don's refusal was interrupted when Reid spoke up. "I can handle the questioning sir."
Don studied the young profiler for a few minutes before finally nodding his consent. "Report anything you find back to us immediately."
Reid nodded and together he and Charlie once again left the conference room. As soon as they were out of earshot of the others, Charlie turned to face Reid. "Thanks for that Spencer."
Reid nodded.
"So," Charlie said, attempting to break the tension. "Back to Cal Sci. You know Spencer, I hope you weren't planning on seeing any of the sights while you were here in California. All you seem to be seeing is the route between Cal Sci and FBI headquarters."
Reid shrugged. "I went to college in California. I've seen all the sights and to be completely honest with you they're not that great."
Charlie grinned.
"So," Reid said. "Do you have a list of all of the people that Melody Lawson knew at Cal Sci?"
"Not exactly," Charlie said. "But I think Amita can help us out with that. She was Melody's student advisor. . ." Charlie paused at this point as he came to the realization that he was going to have to tell Amita that one of her students had been murdered. Charlie groaned under his breath. "I really don't wanna do that."
When Charlie and Reid arrived at Cal Sci they made their way to Amita's office. Charlie took a deep breath and then knocked lightly on the door.
"Come in," a soft voice called out.
Charlie pushed the door open and he and Reid stepped inside the office. Reid gazed around the office, which was much neater than both Charlie's and Larry's.
"Hey," Amita said, looking up at them from some papers that she was grading. "I wasn't sure if you'd come back or not Charlie. You left in such a hurry earlier."
"Amita I have some bad news."
"What is it?" Amita asked, gazing at Charlie intently.
Charlie opened his mouth to answer her however the words wouldn't come. Sensing the professor's hesitancy, Reid stepped up and took responsibility. "Professor Romanajan, I'm sorry to have to tell you this but your student, Melody Lawson, was found dead this morning."
Amita gasped, her eyes widening in disbelief. "What happened?"
"Her murder fits the pattern of the other murders that we've been investigating," Reid told her. "Listen Professor Romanajan. . ."
"Amita."
Reid tried again. "Alright Amita. We need to talk to all of the people who knew Ms. Lawson. Friends, professors. . ."
"Well professors will be easy enough," Amita said. "But as far as friends go I'm not sure she had any. Not real ones anyway."
Reid nodded, not really surprised by that news. It was sad but it pretty much fit with the profiles of the other victims.
Amita pulled a piece of paper toward her and quickly scribbled down a list of names. Then she handed the piece of paper to Reid.
"Thank you," Reid said quietly, his eyes scanning the names that Amita had written down. "Well I can safely assume that Professor Eppes has already shared all that he knows so I guess we can start with you Professor Romanajan."
"Alright," Amita said.
"So what can you tell me about Ms. Lawson?" Reid asked.
"Well," Amita said. "I became her advisor this year and she was a brilliant student, full academic scholarship. Unfortunately she was also horribly shy and didn't have a lot of friends. Actually she didn't have any friends. I never saw her with anyone who wasn't her teacher."
Charlie and Reid spent most of the day interviewing the people who'd known Melody Lawson, most of whom were Cal Sci professors, however the last person they spoke to was the deceased girl's roommate. After getting the room number the two young men made their way to the dorm room that, until two days ago, Melody Lawson had called home.
"I hope she's home," Charlie said as they came to a stop in front of room 304.
Reid nodded as he knocked lightly on the door. "Ms. Kramer, this is Dr. Spencer Reid from the FBI. I need to speak to you."
A couple of minutes passed and then the door opened and a tall, heavy-set woman stepped out. "Can I help you?" Then her gaze fell on Charlie. "Professor Eppes, did you join the FBI?"
"May as well have," Charlie said quietly, inwardly thinking that he spent just as much time working for the FBI as he spent doing his real job.
"Can we speak with you about your roommate Ms. Kramer?" Reid asked.
"You can," Joyce Kramer said. "But I haven't seen her in a couple of days."
"That's because she was found dead this morning," Reid told the victim's roommate. "Were you and your roommate close?"
Kramer shrugged. "Not really. I mean we talked but. . ."
"Did you notice anything unusual about Ms. Lawson's behavior recently?" Reid asked.
"Well now that you mention it, she seemed depressed lately," Kramer said. "I mean more depressed than normal. In fact I think she was actually thinking about seeing a therapist. But that's all I know."
"Thank you Ms. Kramer," Reid said, stepping back so that the young woman could close her door. Reid then turned to Charlie. "Come on, let's go."
Charlie nodded and the two young men left the dorm. As they walked across the campus they discussed Melody Lawson. "I had no idea that Melody was thinking about seeing a therapist."
Reid stopped dead in his tracks, his mind flashing back to something that he'd seen a couple of days ago. "Sunnydale. . . therapist. . . I don't believe this!"
Not bothering to explain to Charlie what was going on Reid dashed across the Cal Sci campus.
"What the. . . Spencer, where are you going?" Receiving no answer from his temporary partner Charlie sighed and ran after him.
Reid ran all the way to the building where Charlie had his office and he quickly made his way to the lobby where he'd spoken to Melody Lawson. Stopping in front of the bulletin board the young profiler pulled a piece of paper from it.
"What are you doing Spencer?" Charlie asked as he came to a stop beside Reid.
"It's been here the whole time," Reid said, holding up the piece of paper. "I saw it but it didn't register. Ms. Lawson said she was late for an appointment on the day that I spoke to her and she was looking at this flyer at the time. I can't believe I didn't realize this sooner."
Charlie took the piece of paper from Reid and examined it. Then his gaze shifted back to Reid. "It's an add for a psychologist. I don't get it Spencer. What's strange about that?"
"This person is advertising for in home therapy," Reid said quietly, a far away look in his eyes. "How many psychologists do you know who do that? Plus there's no name given on this flyer and the address is in Sunnydale. We have to tell the others."
Charlie nodded and the two young men quickly made their way out to Charlie's car. Charlie quickly drove to the FBI building, breaking several speed limit laws along the way, and when they arrived both young men ran up to the building. They made their way up to Don's floor as quickly as possible and then dashed across the bullpen area.
"Whoa Charlie," Don called out as the two young men came to a stop in front of him. "Where's the fire?"
"We found something important," Charlie told his brother. Charlie and Reid quickly filled Don in on what they had found. Don's eyes widened as the two young men finished their story. "I'll get everyone together. Meet in the conference room."
Charlie and Reid nodded.
In a matter of minutes both teams had assembled in the conference room. Everyone sat down and Reid briefed them on what he had learned at Cal Sci.
"Morgan," Gideon said, his gaze going to his subordinate. "Call the other campuses, see if they had anything like this on their bulletin boards."
"I'm on it," Morgan said, jumping to his feet. Morgan pulled out his cell phone and quickly left the room. The agent returned fifteen minutes later and he had a grim expression on his face. "Every campus had one of those flyers hanging on a bulletin board in their mathematics departments."
"This is the link we've been missing," Prentiss said.
"Garcia," Hotchner called out. "Run this address and find out what we're dealing with."
"Yes sir," Garcia said, jumping to her feet and dashing from the room. She returned in a matter of minutes. "The occupant of 318 West Sunnydale is one Amanda McRay, a clinical psychologist."
"Alright," Don said. "Let's pay Ms. McRay a visit and see what she has to say."
A team was quickly formed, comprised of Don, Hotchner, Megan, Colby, Morgan and Reid, and the FBI agents left for Sunnydale. When they pulled up at 318 they piled out of the Tahoe, made their way across the lawn and assembled at the front door.
The team positioned themselves to react in case McRay tried something and then Hotchner knocked on the door. "Federal Agents. Ms. McRay we need to have a word with you."
Several tense moments passed and then the door slowly opened and a woman stepped out onto the front porch. She gazed around at the agents. "Can I help you?"
"Can we come inside?" Hotchner asked.
McRay debated the question for a few minutes and then nodded. "Sure, come on in." This said, McRay turned and led the way into her house. The FBI agents followed McRay into her living room, where we gestured for them to sit down. Don and Hotchner sat down on a sofa across from McRay and both senior agents stared at the woman intently.
"So," Don said. "Can you tell us about this little psych operation you've been running out of your home?"
"What's there to tell?" McRay said with a shrug. "I'm a clinical psychologist and therefore qualified to offer the services that I provide. Does it really matter if I run it out of my house or out of a fancy office?"
"Yes," Hotchner said. "It matters a great deal. We're investigating the murders of five young women, all college students, and we found your flyers at all of their campuses. They were all hanging on bulletin boards in the mathematics departments."
"That means nothing," McRay said. "I posted those flyers at most of the colleges in California. I've gotta make a living you know."
Don gazed around at the home's furnishings, which didn't say much for exactly what kind of living she was making this way. "That you do." The senior agent pulled a stack of photos from his pocket and placed them on the table in front of McRay. "Can you tell me if you recognize any of these girls?"
McRay briefly looked down at the photos and then shook her head. "I've never seen any of them."
"Are you sure about that?" Hotchner pressed.
McRay glanced back down at the photos and once again shook her head. "Nothing."
At that moment the room was filled with the sound of a phone ringing. Reid quickly pulled out his cell phone and glanced down at it. "Excuse me." Reid stepped into the other room and flipped open his cell phone. "Reid."
"Any luck with your suspect?"
"Afraid not Garcia," Reid said. "Do you have something that can help?"
"I might," Garcia said. "I was doing a routine background check on Joyce McRay and I came across an interesting piece of information. It seems that she had an older sister, Katelyn, who was murdered when she was nineteen. The sister was a scholarship student at Cal Tech and physically very similar to the victims."
"Thanks Garcia."
Reid flipped his phone closed and placed it back in his pocket. Then he rejoined the others in the living room. He could tell from the other agents' expressions that the interview wasn't going well. Reid sat down and gazed at McRay. "Um Ms. McRay. . . could you tell me about Katelyn?"
That question got the first reaction out of McRay that the agents had seen since their arrival. "Who told you about Katie?" she demanded.
Hotchner and Don both turned to stare at Reid, questioning looks in their eyes.
"It doesn't matter who told me about her," Reid said in a quiet voice. "Why don't you tell me about her?"
"She. . . she was. . ." McRay seemed to be unable to complete this sentence and she paused.
"Murdered is the word you're looking for," Reid said quietly, gesturing toward the photos on the table. "Just like these girls. And that's not the only thing Katelyn had in common with our victims. They were all scholarship students, with brown hair, brown eyes and limited social skills. I'm guessing the latter of these is the reason you were able to get them to come to your house. You offer to counsel them and help them overcome their discomfort with social situations."
"Katie was the perfect one," McRay said in a quiet voice that was laced with venom. "Our parents' favorite, the one who could do no wrong. She got a full scholarship to college, had boys coming after her by the dozens but she still wasn't happy. She was to nervous to talk to any of the boys and she complained about it constantly."
"So you killed her?" Reid said quietly. "And now you're killing young college students who remind you of her."
McRay scowled. "They all deserved it. The perfect little girls who had everything and didn't know it."
Don's eyes widened when he realized what he was hearing.
"Just like Katie," McRay continued. "Smart, pretty and constantly whining about something. No one likes me, I can't talk to boys, I'm doomed to live my life alone. . ."
"You know what I think we're done here," Hotchner said getting to his feet. "Amanda McRay, you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say. . ."
"I can't believe our serial killer was a woman," Colby said as he walked across the bullpen.
"I take it you got a confession?" Don said.
Colby nodded. "Oh yea. She confessed to everything, even the murder of her sister which for the record happened seventeen years ago."
"Reid," Hotchner said, turning to face the youngest member of his team, an apologetic look on his normally stoic face. "I think we owe you an apology."
Don nodded. "We should have listened to you before."
"You know, I think you guys owe him way more than an apology," Charlie said, his gaze shifting back and forth between Reid and the other FBI agents. "I think dinner should be on you guys tonight."
"Alright," Gideon said quietly from his spot across the room. "Dinner's on us."
Reid's gaze shifted to Charlie who grinned. "Pick somewhere expensive Spencer. It's the least they can do."
"How about steak?" Don suggested.
"Sure," Reid said with a shrug.
'You know I think we should go out and have some fun," Colby said. "You know, to relieve some of the stress from this case." Morgan nodded his approval and made a suggestion. "Have any of you guys ever played laser tag?"
"You're kidding right?" Prentiss asked, her gaze shifting back and forth between the two agents.
"No," Morgan and Colby both said at the same time.
"Well I think it'll be fun," Garcia said, coming to stand beside Morgan.
Hotchner glanced over at Don, to gauge his reaction to the proposition, and Don nodded. "Alright. If that's what you guys want to do then laser tag it is. We can even form teams and make a little competition out of it."
"You're on," Megan said, knowing that there was a challenge hidden in there somewhere.
So, after dinner, the group of FBI agents, plus Charlie, all gathered at an arcade. Don turned to face the group, a smirk on his face. "Alright. I'm leader of Team One, Gideon can lead Team Two and Reid can lead Team Three. Now we're not going to pick teams in the traditional sense. Choose which team you want to be in, keeping in mind that there can only be four to a team."
When all was said and done Don's team consisted of him, Hotchner, Morgan and Colby. Gideon's team was made up of him, Prentiss, Megan and David. And that left Reid, Charlie, Jareau and Garcia.
"This is not going to go well," Reid said as he held up his laser gun and stared down at the vest he was wearing. "I'm a lousy shot."
"You?" Charlie said, groaning slightly under his breath. "At least you're a trained FBI agent. I've only shot a gun once in my life and that was a sniper rifle."
"You boys didn't have much of a childhood did you?" Garcia said, her gaze shifting back and forth between the two young men. "It's not really like firing a real gun. In fact it's kinda like using a computer mouse, you just point and click."
Reid and Charlie still looked skeptical and Garcia leaned closer to them and whispered, "You know I bet I could rig these vests so that they won't register the laser beam."
"Oh no," Morgan said, having walked up to the group just in time to hear that statement. "Don't you even think about it Garcia. I'm afraid you're going to have to lose this competition fair and square." With that Morgan walked away, a smirk on his handsome face.
"Don't worry boys," Garcia said with a smile. "We're not going to lose."
Neither young man looked convinced however they didn't get any further chance to protect the unfairness their current situation.
"Let's do this," Don called out.
Reid shook his head as they entered the arena. This was not going to be pretty, of that he was sure.
"I can't believe we lost," Colby said as the group left the arcade.
"I can't believe we lost to THEM," Morgan said, gesturing toward the group of four that was leading the way out to the parking lot. Garcia turned around and offered Morgan a smile. "So how does it feel to get your butt kicked by a bunch of nerds?"
"Hey!" Reid and Charlie both exclaimed, whirling to face her.
"I mean that in the nicest possible way guys," Garcia said. "And I included myself."
Reid and Charlie both rolled their eyes but chose not to further comment.
"Alright guys," Hotchner said when the group reached the Tahoes. "Wheels are up at noon tomorrow. Until then you guys are free to do whatever you want. Enjoy the sights of LA, whatever you want, but make sure you're packed and ready to leave on time."
The members of the BAU all nodded and then turned to face Don's team. The FBI agents all exchanged handshakes and thanks then Charlie turned to Reid. "So I guess I'll pick you up in the morning Spencer."
Reid eyed Charlie suspiciously. "Why?"
"You have a guest lecture to give at Cal Sci before you return to Virginia," Charlie reminded him.
"I never agreed to that," Reid said.
"Come on," Charlie said. "How bad could it be?"
Reid's mind flashed back to every public speaking class he'd ever taken and he quickly shook his head to get rid of the memories. "You have no idea but I don't suppose I have much choice in the matter. What time is Larry's class?"
"Nine in the morning," Charlie informed him. "So I figured that I'd pick you up around eight."
Reid nodded. "See you then."
So, the next morning, Reid dressed in a pair of khaki slacks, a white button down shirt and a blue pullover sweater and then went out to the front of the hotel to wait for Charlie. The car pulled up at around eight and Reid quickly climbed inside.
"Good morning," Charlie said. "Are you ready for class?"
"No," Reid replied honestly.
"It'll be okay," Charlie said. "And I've decided to sit in on the class, for moral support you know."
"Somehow that doesn't make me feel any better," Reid said quietly.
Despite all of Reid's concerns the lecture wasn't that bad and when it was over Charlie drove the young profiler back to the hotel where he and his team had been staying. Charlie parked the car in front and the two young men got out.
"Thanks for the math lessons," Reid said as he slung the strap of his messenger bag across his shoulder.
"No problem," Charlie said. "Hey if you ever want to go into teaching you're welcome to guest lecture in my classes any time you want."
Reid twitched a smile at that. "I'll keep that in mind Charlie." Then he abruptly reached into his messenger bag and pulled out a small notebook. He quickly scribbled something on one of the pages, tore it from the book and offered it to the Cal Sci professor. "Here's my email address. You can write to me if you want to."
Charlie grinned as he accepted the piece of paper. "Can I borrow a piece of paper and a pencil?"
Reid nodded and handed Charlie the notebook and his pencil. Charlie quickly wrote down his own email address and then handed the notebook back to Reid. "Same goes for you Spence."
"Take care Professor Eppes."
Charlie nodded. "See you around Spencer."
Reid nodded and then walked toward the hotel, where the rest of his team had gathered out front. Another case had been solved and the BAU team was ready to return to Quantico and wait for the next one that required their assistance. It was a never ending cycle.
A/N- Hope you enjoyed my little foray into the world of the FBI and profiling. It was kinda fun to write, even though it was difficult, and I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading.
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