So I'm sure I'm not the only one who's noticed this. Any thoughts?

Standard disclaimers apply.


"Reid, stay here and check in with Garcia as soon as possible," Hotch said. "Prentiss, you're with me; Morgan, you and Rossi head out with the lieutenant and see about that last crime scene in the warehouse…"

As the door slammed shut in the Bismarck field office, Reid heaved a gigantic sigh and flopped into a nearby chair. On the evidence board were all the earmarks of their latest unsub—narcissistic, overconfident, possibly seeking some tangible form of superiority over what the unsub would perceive as a 'lower class'. Next to the evidence board was a giant map of Bismarck proper, with geographic profile marks colored in at various points.

At least there's still something I can do, the agent thought as he waited for Garcia's call. Agent Todd was busy working the tiplines, and he wouldn't have traded her spots for all the coffee in the world at this point. "Someone called in and said that their next-door neighbor was the guy responsible," she had said just moments before.

"So…?"

"So the problem is the neighbor is a woman, and about ninety-six years old."

"Oh."

Sitting in the plush swivel chair, Reid wished he could be doing something just a little more useful right about then. Fortunately, the phone rang.

"Hey, you online?" Garcia asked. "Fresh new satellite images, hot and fast…"

Reid pulled up the laptop and connected. "Go ahead."

"Everything all right there, sunshine? I sense the force is not with you…"

"Garcia, there is no such thing as 'the force'."

"There's no tangible evidence of a space-time continuum either, not that we know of anyway, and yet you still hold out hope."

Reid sighed again. "Sorry. I'm just frustrated."

"Let me guess. Things are getting just a little too hot, and boss man is making you stay inside."

"Pretty much. Tell me, Garcia—was there something I did wrong?"

"Wrong?"

"Yeah. You know, recently?"

There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment. "Well, Morgan did say you were a little too eager to pin that cold case in Vegas on your dad…"

"I had my reasons. Wrong as they were."

"Touché. But then there's that time in Texas when you started yelling at the police officers and trying to become a human shield…"

"Owen Savage didn't deserve to die in the middle of the street and have it be called 'justice'."

"I'll grant you that one too," Garcia said. "Although, how do you explain the way you were acting after that case in California—the one where the unsub got his head blown off?"

Silence. "I'm…getting help for that."

"And the time Tobias Henkel decided to play Russian roulette with you strapped to a chair?"

"That too. Please don't remind me."

"See, all that is the reason you get picked to stay inside."

"Garcia, have you been taking the profiling classes…?"

"Who needs classes? I work with people who profile people all day long. It kinda rubs off after awhile. Remember, you were the one who told me it's just being able to notice behavior. I just…kinda picked it up a little."

"Still, why let me into the field if I'm always going to be left behind?"

"Reid. You get picked to stay behind because no one wants any more bad things to happen to you. And, before you tell me it's a risk that comes with the job, let me emphasize my point by saying that no one wants you to be a target any more."

"Me? A target?"

"Yeah. You've never noticed that you always seem to be the one the unsubs single out for mind games and torture?"

"I just…thought that was because I was, I don't know, unlucky or something."

"Genius Dr. Reid believes in luck?"

"Why not? People believe in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy…at least luck is something that can genuinely happen."

"Not making you feel better, is it?"

"Not really. I mean, I appreciate that the team's trying to keep me out of harm's way, but…it's going to happen, whether they look out for me or not. I just wish there was something I could do to prove that."

"My advice?"

"Of course."

"Let them do this, at least for a while. Seriously, you need something good to happen."

"Well, Austin called again…"

"Austin? And who is this 'Austin'?" Now Garcia's voice began to get playful.

"Later. You had some coordinates for us?"

"Oh, right…"

"And Garcia?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"No problem, good doctor. Now, those coordinates…"