Spencer Reid was fuming as he walked out of the Beltway Clean Cops meeting. How DARE she he thought to himself. How dare she split up the BAU? He didn't wanna teach. He wanted to be in the field catching unsubs—and Rossi sure as hell didn't wanna retired. Garcia wouldn't survive anywhere else BUT the BAU and JJ was gonna have a hard time getting anything done with only Alvez and Simmons. Reid sat on a nearby bench and an older man plopped down next to him.
"Cut the bullshit John," Reid snapped, "I know you had something to do with this." The man called John looked at Reid bewildered.
"What are you talking about Spencer?" John asked.
"The dismantlement of my team at the hands of Linda Barnes?" Reid spat angrily.
"What?" John asked.
"You're the fucking director John. You should know better."
"Spencer, Spencer, calm down. If you tell me what happened, I'm sure we can fix it." The poor man had been through so much—the Dilaudid, Maeve, and his recent stint in prison made him more aggressive.
So Spencer told him everything that happened in the past few weeks.
"She said she showed the video to you and that you gave her permission to reassign everyone."
"What? I didn't see any video!" the Director exclaimed.
The Justin Franco case went viral and Reid had the video on his phone.
"She did WHAT?!" John Carrol fumed.
"She disregarded an order than JJ gave and almost got Corrine, a woman we previously saved killed."
"Let me guess," John finished, "JJ called her out on that STUPID move."
Reid nodded and proceeded to tell him what she did next.
"No," John shook his head, "No. I did NOT authorize that." He hung his head in shame.
"I'm sorry. I should've paid more attention. Unfortunately, with this "Russia" business and our current state of affairs…"
"John, this isn't your fault," Reid assured, "that's why you have many assistant directors. Unfortunately, Barnes has decided that she wants to be the FBI's director at all costs."
"This just proved that she won't BE my successor. Actually, she'll never have a position in the FBI again. I will personally call Emily and tell the team to be at the round table like always and then I will deal with Linda Barnes myself."
The divided BAU team got together at the conference room on the orders of the Director.
"I wonder how Spencer and Director Carroll managed to restore the BAU?" Tara asked.
"John and Spencer go way back," Rossi answered.
"How?" Alvez asked.
"That's a story best left for another day," Prentiss answered. Only she and Rossi knew the true nature of John Carrol and Spencer Reid's friendship.
"Ok, well let's talk about New York because that's where we're going to next," Garcia cut in, "two teenagers have been found with—"
Just then, the Wicked Witch—Assistant Director Linda Barnes strode in.
"Agents Jareau and Prentiss!" she hollered, "why aren't you at your assignments? Dr. Reid, you have a class of thirty students waiting for you. Consider yourself—"
Just then, John Carroll walked in.
"No, they won't be going anywhere, Linda," Carrol confronted.
"But I said—"
"I don't care what you did or said," Carroll retorted, "I'M the Director. Not you."
"Good, then you should know that this is a rogue Unit."
"ENOUGH!" Carroll bellowed, "I've seen the video in question. You overstepped your boundaries big time. You almost got an innocent woman killed. You've undermined Agent Prentiss's leadership, throwing everything that's happened in her face. And you tried to dismantle a team without my authorization."
Barnes looked down—like a kicked dog.
"Director if I may add," Prentiss cut in, "Assistant Director Barnes also accused me of a crime while we were investigating Reid's case in Mexico"
"She also demanded that I withhold critical information from a victim's family," Lewis added.
"And said that our new cases should be selected based on optics," Rossi finished.
"Linda Barnes, consider yourself fired," Director Carrol snarled, "I want your gun and badge right now."
Like a defeated dog, Linda Barnes handed in her credentials.
"There will be an internal investigation into this," Carroll continued, "and you'll have to testify before a Senate Committee. The BAU team will testify against you. There will also be an investigation into the dismantlement of Agent Simmons's old IRT unit. I'm only sorry that I didn't catch that sooner."
"Now leave," Reid said, "do not threaten us again or there will be more severe consequences for you. I suggest you get out of our sights."
The power grabbing former Assistant Director turned and walked away.
"Agent Prentiss, I am so sorry about this. If I had known, I would've stopped this yesterday. Your team is the best of the best and you are filling his shoes damn well."
"Thank you sir," Prentiss smiled.
"I mean it. Spencer is lucky to have you all in his life. I think of him as my own son. Now, go get 'em."
Prentiss smiled and walked away and she turned to her team and said, "Wheels up in 20."