Gideon walked into the bullpen greeted by the familiar sound of humming computers and beeping faxes. Morgan, Reid, and Prentiss were sitting at their desks sipping coffee and from their facial expressions he could tell they were discussing something humorous. He missed those days. He sighed as he walked toward his office.
"Mornin' Gideon," Morgan said with a smile as he saw him coming near.
"Hello," he responded in his normal gruffness.
"Uh, Hotch said we're meeting in the conference room in a few minutes," said Reid with a weak smile. Gideon always wondered whether along with his genius he had the ability to read minds. Whenever something was wrong Reid could tell. This was mutual between them.
"New case?" he asked even though he knew the answer.
"Probably… he didn't go into much detail." Prentiss noted.
"Well come on then," he said as he headed towards the room.
They all exchanged glances and waited until Gideon was far enough away for them to say anything. Everyone knew Gideon could be a grumpy old man sometimes, but now he just seemed downright cold.
"What has been up with him lately?" Morgan asked looking quite flustered and little angry.
"Maybe he's just tired. We've been traveling a lot lately, could be jetlag." Prentiss suggested. She hoped his mood would improve since she felt as though she was always walking on eggshells around him anyway.
"No, I don't think so…" said Reid distantly. He was obviously deep in thought. Gideon had always been like a father for him and he wanted to return the favor by being there for him.
"You know something?" Morgan asked raising an eyebrow.
"Well, I went into his office yesterday and he was really out of it. I noticed he was looking at a picture."
"A picture of what?" asked Morgan starting to get impatient about being kept in the dark. Prentiss remained silent, but also wanted to hear what Reid had to say.
"I think it was your old team…"
"Not this again," Morgan sighed. "I thought he was over this."
"You mean the six who were killed in Boston," asked Prentiss.
"Yeah…" Morgan said nodding his head. He hadn't thought about them in awhile. He was the type of person to block those thoughts out. Morgan still cared about them, but he had already gone through the whole cycle and it was in the past.
"Do you think we'll have to tell Hotch?" Reid inquired. He kind of regretted saying anything. What if Gideon thought this as a type of betrayal?
"I don't know yet," he said trying to think about what to do.
"Look, we have a new case coming up. I think we should just let it be for now. I mean if we notice anything else then yes we should say something. But for now let's just focus on what's important," Prentiss said laying a hand on Morgan's tense shoulder.
"Alright, let's go." Reid said cocking his head towards the conference room.
BAU Conference Room
Reid, Morgan, and Prentiss filed into the room quietly. Hotch and Gideon huddled over a few files while JJ was setting up the projector. They were happy to see Gideon was acting pretty normal and that his troubles were not flowing into his work. Reid still felt a tinge of guilt.
"You better sit down," JJ said with an intense look upon her face. This was usually a sign of a pretty gruesome case. They all sat.
She turned on the projector. As the first slide came on they all thought it had to be a mistake. A familiar sight greeted them. A woman lay in an alley way. It was obvious she had been stabbed. But their hearts all froze as they noticed her hair was cut off. They had all seen murders like this a few months ago, but the killer had been caught and apprehended.
"Is this a mistake?" asked Reid not knowing what to think.
"No, and it gets worse," Hotch said more grim than ever before. "Next slide…"
The next slide was equally shocking. A black boy was also in an alley way. But he had been shot. Morgan's fists clenched as he suddenly realized the similarities between this and the case in Chicago.
"But these murders, we've seen them before. Both these murders were apprehended," said Prentiss.
"These aren't just coincidences," said Hotch. "We found notes at both crime scenes." He said holding up two evidence bags.
They all passed them around studying them. "They are addressed to the BAU. Someone has obviously been copying past murders we've investigated," Gideon said softly.
"But how could they get this information?" Reid asked finally speaking up.
"We know it must be personal since each of the notes are addressed to us," said Hotch. "My only guess is that it's someone inside the bureau." He looked at the note again.
Dear BAU,
Look familiar? Expect more in the next few days. I will not be ignored. Profile me if you can.
A/C Fast update, I know. I just started to get really into it. Please enjoy. And remember comments happy, inspired writer )
