A/N: In my notes for A Tactical View, I mentioned that I had conferred with my Jedi Master (i.e. mentor) Thn0715 about writing a story inserting my OC Matt Taylor into a CM episode. This was the one I was envisioning at the time of our talk, but I decided to do Tactical first because I knew that "Minimal Loss" was one of her favorite episodes. *Knightly head bow to Master*
Yet, as I said, this is one I had in mind when I sought out her advice. Yet, I know Reid fans. You're proud and loud. I get that. And very honestly, I will shake deeply in my author's boots when I post this. If you have read any of my other stories, most involving the team, you know that I've always included Reid. But since they were team stories, I was still in my comfort zone.
But having Reid at the forefront of this FF, is for me, facing a challenge from my mentor in a previous discussion. "Rockie, you've got to confront the character you have trouble writing. You can't expand as an FF writer if you don't." With this, I'm attempting to do that. However, I know that I'm cheating a bit, hiding behind the blanket of my OC that I love and trust. I hope all of you Reid fans understand.
Like "Minimal Loss", once again, Andrew Wilder wrote just a fantastic episode that I'm going to play with CM canon. And I will use some of his words. All rights to those words along with the characters belong to Andrew, the Mark Gordon Company, CBS and ABC Studios.
My Jedi Master still, always, gets the first shout out. Luvs ya babe!
Aftermath
The team got on the jet, and settled in. Matt, always the last to get on the jet, stormed on, going to the back two seats facing each other. Hotch was waiting for him. He knew his partner was pissed. Rossi, in the four top of seats with JJ, Prentiss and Morgan just looked at each other. David Rossi just shook his head. Reid settled into the front two top seats by himself.
After the jet took off and they had reached cruising altitude and Rossi pretended to snooze, Hotch and Matt talked in the galley of the jet, away from the last two seats. The other three in the four top of seats, like Rossi, silently strained to hear the words. They all knew Reid was in big trouble with the two of them. Deep trouble.
They heard Matt plop down into the two seats behind them forty minutes later, as Hotch made his way up to the two top, climbing into the seat to face Dr. Spencer Reid. He pulled his right suit coat side into place and burrowed an eye into Reid.
"You knowingly jeopardized your life and the lives of others," he silently said. "I should fire you." Reid was astonished at his statement. "You're the smartest man in the room, but you are not the only man in that room. What we're you thinking?"
"I was thinking that was the second kid that died in front of me."
"You're keeping score; just like Owen."
"It was my turn to save one."
"It doesn't work like that."
"It should."
"I know it's painful when the person you identify with is the bad guy."
"What does that make me?"
"Good at the job. However, that doesn't get you away from a 9 am appointment with me tomorrow morning, concerning AUC Taylor's assessment of your actions. And Agent Reid, I will tell you, he's not happy."
"I know sir."
"And Reid, I know this is none of my business, but I suggest you see the rest of that movie." Hotch burrowed a look into Reid's eye and returned to his seat across from Matt.
-00CM00-
Whether a sign of support or not, which Reid really couldn't read, Morgan and Prentiss were at their desks when he walked in the door at 8:45. He noticed that Rossi was already in as well. And the final profile: Matt's usually open office door was shut.
He said his usual "Good mornings" to Morgan and Prentiss, which were answered and pulled off his briefcase, hung over his shoulder. He went through his normal routine. Yet glancing around the bullpen, he felt like all their eyes were on him. He moved to the break room and got a cup of coffee. To not have Morgan or Prentiss join him, along with JJ and Garcia sent volumes of messages to him. The gang always got together at the usual time. He moved back to his desk, checked his emails and at the appointed hour, knocked on Hotch's closed door.
"Come in," he heard. He entered the office and re-shut the door.
Hotch waved him into a seat in front of his desk. Reid sat down. He handed an official FBI folder across his desk to Reid.
"This is Assistant Unit Chief Taylor's assessment of your actions yesterday. Please read it and note that it is on official Bureau stationary."
Dr. Spencer Reid, who could read at nearly the speed of lightning, took his time, noting that it was short and concise. Just like a Marine.
TO: SAC Aaron Hotchner
FROM: AUC Matthew Taylor
With all due respect, SAC Hotchner, I find that SSA Spencer Reid's actions of yesterday, 04 November, concerning our latest case in West Bune, Texas, were a total deterrent to the safety of this team. Reid gulped.
Agent's Reid's actions showed no forethought and regard to his fellow team members in no way shape or form. He refused to notify you, the SAC, of his assessment of the unsub. And his actions from there on in, put every, I mean every, member of the rest of this team that he is supposedly part of, in potential jeopardy. Reid just blinked.
His actions were not one of a team player. They were solely the actions an FBI Agent that clearly was on his own agenda, with no thought to the safety and well-being of his fellow team members. And I cannot ignore the fact that Agent Reid approached an unsub we positively ID'd without wearing a protective vest.
I find that I cannot trust this agent with this team, having absolute disregard for the safety of his fellow Agents and himself, and recommended that SSA Reid be released from this team immediately.
Reid looked at Aaron Hotchner.
"Sir?"
"That's pretty much going to get you fired by the Bureau." Reid looked at Hotch again. Hotch paused, letting that message settle into Reid's brain. And then sprung the surprise. "And some profiler you are; while AUC Taylor sent it up to me, look at the bottom."
Reid looked at the bottom of the official Bureau form and noticed that Matt had not signed it. He looked at Hotch.
"I chewed your butt out on the jet last night. You knew Savage's end game, and refused to inform me. You've got a bigger one waiting for you, and with consequences. And Agent Reid, AUC Taylor did sign those ones." He handed a copy of the file to Reid. "They were already on my desk when I walked; and I have signed off on them. The only question is: when you walk into AUC's Taylor's office to accept them. You're dismissed." Hotch nodded to his door, telling Reid the meeting was over.
"Yes sir." He rose out of the chair and left Hotch's office, gently shutting the door. He moved down the steps to his desk and sat down, the file folder in his hand. Prentiss looked at Morgan. He just shrugged. The longer Reid, still in a fog, sat at his desk, told them both that he was still on the team. But they both knew Hotch and Matt as well; he was barely hanging on. Prentiss shot a look at Morgan and shook her head. He nodded in agreement.
Reid put the file on his desk and left to use the restroom. After using the facilities, he splashed cold water onto his face and looked into the mirror. I'm facing my demons; again. I've made the steps; but I have to answer for my actions. Step 8; accountability. He looked into the sink for a second and then back into the mirror.
Spencer Reid walked out of the restroom and back into the BAU. He picked the file up from his desk, ascended the steps and knocked on Matt Taylor's unusually closed door.
Expecting the short Marine rely of "Enter", Reid was slightly taken aback for a second by Matt's soft voice of "Come in."
He waved Reid into a seat in front his desk. "Please sit down Agent Reid. We have things to talk about." As always, Reid noted, Matt was precise, and on point. There was going to be no fooling this man.
What deeply threw the genius was Matt coming out from behind his desk and sitting down in the chair next to him. His piercing blue eyes burrowed into him. "Agent Reid, did you look around your surroundings before you confronted Owen Savage?"
Reid swallowed hard at Matt's bluntness, and very honestly answered, "Sir, I don't know what you are talking about."
"My point exactly; what was down the block from that police station?"
"Sir?"
"Agent Reid, you have an IQ of 187. What was down the block?"
Reid looked at his miss-matched socks and then at Matt. "I don't know sir."
Matt shook his head at him. "A Hardware store; with a bin out front full of propane tanks for gas grills. And you approached an unsub, with an assault rifle, exposing Agents Hotchner, Rossi and Morgan, with absolute no disregard of your surroundings and the team's and with no heads up. Oh, SAC Hotchner figured it out rather quickly in the cemetery. That's why we got there so quick. That part of your actions, he addressed to you last night on the jet. That's his to deal with not mine. And Agents Prentiss and Jareau were two buildings up the block; you put their lives at risk as well. And I won't even mention the locals or the fact that you approached a man with an assault weapon without your Kevlar." Matt looked the young agent in the eye, and knew he had his attention. "Agent Reid, look me in the eye and tell me how I'm supposed to walk away from that fact. Plus the fact I had to absolutely haul ass to get around a square city block so I could cover your ass."
"Sir, statistically, the odds of …"
"Agent Reid, when you're dealing with an automatic weapon and unsub with Savage's issues, you can throw the flippin' statistics out the window."
His total misread of situation thundered down on him. He now understood Matt's anger over his actions, nearly costing him his job. If Owen Savage used that assault rifle on him before Matt got there to back him, a bullet could have punctured one of those propane tanks. That would have triggered a massive explosion; with Hotch, Rossi and Morgan standing next to them. And JJ and Prentiss two doors up. Jayje: the mother of his godson.
He thought for a second at that scenario and shook inside. Yet, after what he witnessed just a couple of weeks ago, and identifying with what their latest unsub went through, he opened his mouth to speak.
Matt quickly shut it. "I don't give a damn how much you related to Owen Savage. And I make no apologies. I can relate to your feelings." He looked Reid deeply in the eye. "I can: but that does not take away from the fact that you put every member of your team in harm's way, including yourself. And by SAC Hotchner's assessment last night, you didn't give a damn. That bothers me. Deeply."
"But sir, I do care."
"Quoting SAC Hotchner, 'it was my turn to save one' and when he told that doesn't happen you said 'it should'. That tells me about an agent that doesn't care about the rest of his team members. A team member of this unit that went out, solely on his own agenda, that didn't think, or care for the rest of his team members. And a team member I can't live with; far less trust. You are a genius Doctor Reid. And this team does need you. But right now, as brilliant as you are, you don't know how to spell the rudimentary words of 'we' and 'team'. Does 'we' or 'team" either have an 'I' in that spelling?"
Reid just blinked at him. Matt shrugged. "Yes or no Agent Reid; you don't have to be genius to answer that question."
"No sir; neither words have an 'I' in them." Matt stared at him.
Reid looked at his shoes and started to look up, opening his mouth. Matt beat him to the punch. Again. "Doc, speaking as your friend," he paused, looking off for a second to collect his thoughts. He looked at Reid, put his forearms on his thighs, leaning in and gripped his hands together. He looked Reid in the eye. "I know what happened to you with Tobias Hankle; and the aftermath. Gideon wasn't the only one that covered your butt and kept you around here. Hotch and I did as well. Hotch can't say anything to you about it, but I can get away with it. Hell, we all knew Doc. But it almost cost Hotch his career and that is shit I will not put up with." Matt pulled up to sit back in the chair.
That caught Reid by surprise. Matt smiled gently at him. "The Milwaukee case? With Strauss along? Emily resigning? Strauss planted her into the BAU to get dirt on Hotch. Em knew your secret." Matt smiled at Reid. "Rather than give up that dirt on you, and Hotch covering it, she offered her resignation. She wasn't going to play Strauss' game." He smiled softly at Reid again.
"That's my point. This team has backed your ass." Matt said those three words slowly with an emphasis on each. "My job is to protect every member of this team; with my life if I have to. I don't blink at that. But Reid, that starts with my partner when we are not in the field. I will cover Hotch's ass because I respect him that much," he said, pointing. Reid didn't need the emphasis. Matt and Hotch's working relationship was founded on deep and mutual trust. It was legendary in the Unit.
"With Rossi on board, I've got a whole helluva lot of back up on that point." Reid knew that as well. "And I don't doubt all the rest of you feel the same about each other. We all do; we back each other out there," Matt waved a finger. "And we back each other in this building." Reid noticed Matt's gold wedding band on his left ringer glistening in the sunlight coming through his blinds from the east side of the building along the catwalk to the Round Table room. The ring was his public display of a bond that wasn't broken in Matt Taylor's world.
"But I expect every team member to do the same in the field. You failed on this latest case. That's why I'm calling you out; and I make no apologies. Absolutely none Reid. You failed this team and put them in harm's way and yourself, by your actions. My job is to see that doesn't happen."
Reid took in the words and took a few seconds to arrange his many thoughts. "Cob, that wasn't what I wanted," he said, blazing his own eye into Matt Taylor. "And I can assure you that was not my intention."
Matt smiled. "I know that Doc. But your actions were totally out of line for a field agent. The file you received from SAC Hotchner about my recommendations is official. It's signed. But Doc, please know I do, in every way, understand. But Doc, you have to understand my position."
"Matt, honestly, I never noticed that hardware store or the propane tanks out front. When you said that, it blew me out of the water. And by my actions, I could have very easily blown Hotch, Morgan and Rossi off the street. Far less you, trying to cover my butt. And Jayje and Emily. I get it Matt." He looked Matt in the eye. "And Cob, I haven't opened this file that Hotch gave me. Please just know I'll accept it all. I just hope I can earn back your trust."
"Doc, you really want to earn back my trust?" Matt gently asked.
Spencer Reid smiled, and nodded.
"I give you the same advice Hotch did about the movie," Matt gently smiled.
Spencer Reid broadly smiled back. "I promise Matt."
"That's good enough for me Doc." He gave the young Agent his broad Irish smile. "Get out of here and get back to work" he said as he nodded at his door. "We've got paperwork up the wazoo to finish," Matt smiled. Reid rose out his chair, moved to the door and opened it. "And Doc," he said interrupting Reid going out the door, smiling, "You can leave the door open."
Reid smiled back at him, nodded and left.
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A/N: To all Reid fans, I hope you understand this, given my OC. I just wanted to work Matt into this story.
My usual shout outs to the CM Rev gang, my Twitter pals, a teacher and hxchick. Thank you all.
*Knightly head bow to Jedi Master* If y'all haven't noticed, I'm pretty damn proud of this Knighthood thing! It means the world to me. And from a wonderful and special mentor, but more importantly, special friend I'm blessed to have in my life.