A/N: Thank you all so much for the reviews and alerts! I appreciate them so much.
Chapter 3
The team all bounced ideas off of each other the rest of the trip to Topeka. Rossi made his usual scribbles in his black notebook, as Matt typed into his laptop that was on the table to do the same. When Garcia wasn't on the two LCD screens in the cabin, Chuck and Angie had put up their usual map of the jet's progress westward.
As the jet was crossing the Mississippi River, Garcia appeared. "OMG Cob, red hot alert. Don't expect a welcoming committee when you walk into the Topeka Field Office. The head agent there is none too pleased that you folks are showing up." Cruz looked at him.
"Well isn't that just too damn bad," Matt said. "How'd it end up?"
"Basically sir, I told him some of you were coming, that's it and buckle up his big boy pants."
Matt laughed. "Good work Garcia."
"Thank you my assistant liege; more to do gang; back at ya in a bit." Garcia disappeared.
Cruz shook his head. "You can run into that?"
Rossi eyed him. "Don't you know the big bad BAU is walking all over their toes? They don't need help." Cruz shook his head.
Hotch took over. "If they haven't invited us, that's what most of them think, whether it's a Bureau office or locals."
Ready to get away from the case details to take a bit of a break, the team reminisced about some of their encounters like that. Blake just shook her head at some of the stories.
"Hotch, remember the case in Kansas City, Kansas," JJ asked with a smile.
"The one with the OCD detective?" he smiled. JJ nodded with a smile as well. "I remember; Captain Wright really wanted us to fail."
"The case about the housecleaner killing the homeless and street people," Rossi said. Hotch looked at him. "Whatttt? When I came back I checked up on all of you," he smiled.
"Did we pass Big Dog?" Matt asked with a devilish smile.
"You did as a team; you my Irish lad still needed some work."
"That's why Strauss let you in the door mom," Matt snarked. "I was your homework assignment." Cruz roared along with the rest, enjoying the banter as Morgan reached across the aisle and lightly swatted Dave's forearm.
JJ shook her head. "What did Wright throw back at you Hotch in the alley? Something about homes…."
"I had challenged him in his office earlier that if they were from a different segment of society, he might be thinking differently."
"No, you think they all got jobs and homes," Reid quoted. Morgan pointed at him.
Cruz looked at Rossi. "How'd the kids do," he asked with a smile.
"The kids got a serial killer that had claimed the lives of 63 homeless and street people and put him in the hell he deserved," Rossi proudly smiled.
"From the flight deck," Angie said, interrupting their reminiscing. "We're on final into Topeka and it won't take us long to get down." The team began to feel the jet descending in altitude. "Everyone get buckled up."
Memory lane was done as they all found their places and seatbelts.
-00CM00-
Fifteen minutes later the jet rolled to a stop in front of a tiny building that obviously housed the terminal, if you could call it that, for private jets. Hotch shook Matt's hand and Cruz did as well as they waited for the jet engines to whine down so the three agents could safely debark. He, Emily and JJ gathered up their briefcases and they all put on their suit coats.
"Cob, we're ready to open the door," Chuck said over the intercom. The three made their way to the door, Matt being last.
"Keep in touch," Hotch said.
"You too dad," Matt said. Dave snickered. He turned to shake Chuck and Angie's hands in the cockpit and followed the ladies out the jet's hatch. Two of the luggage compartment doors whined open as Matt stepped on the ground.
A worker walked up to them as the three waited for the doors to completely open. He politely whistled. "A Gulf Stream 550; we don't see many of them around here," he drawled, pointing at a small row of prop planes. "We mostly get them."
Matt just smiled. "We need to grab our luggage and then it will be heading back out."
"Have you seen an FBI vehicle around here," Emily asked.
"FBI? No ma'am. Y'all with the FBI," he asked as he stuck his head into one of the compartments. He saw the Bureau logo on the go bags. "Never mind," he absently said. The three worked with him to get their go bags and luggage.
"Y'all out here on a case?"
Matt nodded. "We're here to assist the Topeka Field Office with a case they're investigating." He walked up the side of the jet and gave Chuck thumbs up through the side cockpit window. The luggage compartments doors began to shut and the stairs folded up into the fuselage.
Just then, a black SUV with government plates pulled up. "Yup, I guess y'all are," the kid said and moved off to put on his ear protection, getting ready to guide the jet back out.
A young, black agent got out of the vehicle. "Agent Taylor," he asked.
Matt stuck out his hand. "I'm Matt Taylor; this Agent Prentiss and Agent Jareau."
"Hello; I'm Mike Jordan; the agent that flagged the case." Matt eyed him. Jordan smiled. "Please don't start; I'm no relation to the MJ," he smiled. They all shared handshakes and small talk.
Jordan opened the back of the SUV and helped them get their luggage in. The three agents set their go bags in next, grabbing their weapons first and put them on.
When Matt attached his second to his ankle, Jordan looked at the two other agents. "You folks do not mess around," he noted.
Emily smiled. "We have to be like that."
"And that's part of Matt's job," JJ added. Ready to go to the office, Matt waved at the jet as the engines began to wind and the three got in the vehicle with the young agent.
As they drove to the Field Office, Jordan made small talk, asking about the weather in the DC area and how their flight was. "You all travel pretty well," he noted.
Matt smiled. "When cases like these come up we can't wait. We need to get to the case. The quicker we can assist helping which ever LEO get ahead of a serial killer, the quicker that unsub can be brought to justice."
"Agent Taylor; I'm a member of the choir. You don't have to preach to me. My boss," he shrugged, "that's another story. He's already written my reprimand about using a conference room and setting up the case board like your analyst wanted against his orders."
Matt smiled at him. "I'll put out that fire." Jordan pulled the SUV into the parking lot. He was shutting off the engine when Matt put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Agent Jordan, you reached out to us because you had what you thought was a possible serial case. We wouldn't be here if we didn't have that buy-in as well. You trusted us once; trust us once more," he said, giving Jordan's shoulder a squeeze. Jordan gave him a grateful smile back.
Emily got to the back first and grabbed her briefcase, handing JJ hers. She looked at Matt. "Go bags stay for now Cob?" Matt silently nodded his head in agreement. Jordan shut the hatch and locked the vehicle.
They entered into the public office building. "We don't have our own building; we're on the fifth floor. The three followed him to the elevators.
When they got off on the fifth floor, they took a left and entered through glass doors with the FBI emblem on them. A sticker type, JJ noted. Not engraved like ours at the BAU. An agent at the security desk stopped them and they all showed their credentials. Jordan swiped his through the security panel and opened another set of doors for the other three.
The members of the BAU weren't in the door three steps when they were met by a burly, 30ish man who held up his hand. "I'm Special Agent Frank Tortelli; I'm the agent in charge, oh excuse me, the AIC, of this office." All three profilers noted the heavy Brooklyn, New York accent. Prentiss and JJ looked at each other, thinking back to the conversation with Cruz on the jet. "Get the hell out of my office."
All three of the profilers noticed five other agents of the office at their desks in the adjacent area, looking up from their work. A woman, the only one, they all noted, and obviously the staff secretary at a desk to the right of the door, snuck a peek as well to the scene. Matt, who towered over the vertically challenged Italian, said, "Agent Tortelli, may I suggest we take this conversation to your office." He nodded a bit and Tortelli looked to see heads diving back into their files.
"The only place you're going is back out the door."
"That isn't happening Agent. I'm Supervisory Special Agent Matt Taylor, the Assistant Unit Chief of the BAU." He nodded to his left. "This is SSAs Jareau and Prentiss. The only place my colleagues and I are heading to is the conference room that Agent Jordan has set up for us. You, of course Agent Tortelli, are welcome to join us." The three blew by him, with Jordan leading the way. Prentiss and JJ knew Matt's Irish temper was starting to boil.
"Jordan, I'll have your career for this," Tortelli threatened.
Matt swiveled on Tortelli like a Marine following an about face order on the march. "You do Agent," Matt said calmly, "And I'll have yours and Jordan's career will go on in the Bureau. For the record Agent, the Section Chief of the BAU is along on this case. We think this case is that important; and Chief Cruz reports to the Director." Matt turned again and headed to the conference room that Jordan was leading Prentiss and JJ into. Tortelli stood with his mouth gaping open.
As Prentiss entered the conference room, she winked at Jordan. JJ gave him a reassuring smile. They dumped their briefcases into chairs in the room and looked at the pictures that Jordan had posted on a white board. "Wow," is all Emily got out of her mouth.
JJ looked at Jordan. "Have you digitized these and sent them to our Analyst in Quantico?"
"Garcia," he smiled with a question. "Yes ma'am."
"Don't ma'am us Jordan," Emily said. "We're here to help and you're a part of that."
Matt blew in and JJ looked at him. "How's that Irish temper," she fiendishly smiled.
"It's fine," Matt said, dumping his briefcase as well. "Just keep me away from glass or walls I can put my fist through for a minute." He smiled at her. Jordan stifled a snicker. JJ pointed at the board. Matt's reaction was the same as Emily's.
Tortelli appeared in the doorway. "Agent Taylor?"
Matt looked at him. "You in or out?"
"I'm in; sorry sir." Matt waved a hand at him and pulled out his cellphone, hitting a button.
"Sir Cob….."
Matt interrupted her. "Garcia you're on speaker and I'm not Morgan."
"Arrggghhhh," Garcia said. JJ and Prentiss shared a smile. "What do you need my assistant liege?"
"Two things Garcia; first off, where are we with the chopper?" Tortelli looked at the other agents with a question.
"Sir, I just got off the phone with the Kansas State Troopers; they're in. They want to know when you want to fly. I need to call them back with the info."
Matt looked at his watch. It read 1:10. He looked at Jordan. "How long to get there?"
"Ten minutes."
"Tell them we'll meet them and ready to fly at three."
"And how many sir?"
"If the chopper can hold us, the three of us and Jordan."
"Roger that; and the second?"
"There's a reprimand that's winging its way to the Dallas Field office about Agent Jordan. Make it disappear."
The three could hear Garcia smiling. "Magic is my specialty sir."
"Thanks Garcia." He ended the call.
"Can I ask," Tortelli said, "what makes you all so damn sure this is a serial nutcase?"
"What Jordan flagged," JJ said. "There've been three accidents in the region, all involving a semi driver that had the same poison in their system. That tells us that's a serial at work."
"What the hell is Compound 1080 anyway," Jordan asked.
"Some seriously bad shit," Matt said, looking more closely at the photos.
JJ pulled out her Tablet. She showed the two agents the scene of the last wreckage in Oklahoma City. She pointed at the demolished minivan. "A family of five; mom, dad and three kids died in that one along with the semi driver." Jordan and Tortelli shook their heads at the carnage. "Our unsub is up to eight victims."
"And he's hunting more," Prentiss added.
"Unsub," Tortelli asked.
"Unknown subject," Matt answered, still looking at the pictures, then turning to him. "A serial killer that is on the loose; it's our job to get ahead of this unsub and assist all of you to bring this unsub to justice."
"Excuse me Agent Taylor," Tortelli said, "but I thought the BAU team was larger than three agents?"
Matt looked at him. "The whole team is on the case; three others are on their way to Amarillo to investigate that accident. "Two more and Chief Cruz are setting up a centralized HQ for this investigation in Oklahoma City and investigating that one," he pointed at JJ's Tablet that Tortelli still held.
"Holy shit," Tortelli said.
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A/N: The MJ is Michael Jordan; in my world and age set, the best player of pro basketball to ever grace the hardwood of a court. There are some young men now playing the game that are challenging that.
The line Reid quoted is from the S2 episode Legacy, written by Edward Bernero.