Mick and Gina were still at the crime scene when Mick got a call from Cooper. He put it on speaker so Gina could hear.
Coopers voice sounded over the speaker "Hey, you two better get back here. There is something you need to see."
Mick and Gina exchanged glances between each other and then back to the phone that Mick was holding in his hand.
"Is something the matter?" Gina asked with worry ringing through in her voice.
"No, just get back here soon. We had some new information brought to our attention." Cooper responded.
"Were on our way Coop." Mick replied and hung up the phone, then he placed it in his jacket pocket. He turned to face Gina, placing both hands on his hips and said "Let's go" as he jerked his head in the direction of the door. He turned to start for the door.
Gina reached out and grabbed his arm. "Wait, we still haven't figured out how he knew she would be alone."
Mick turned back to face Gina, releasing himself from her touch. He placed both hands on her arms, one on each side and looked her in the eyes and said with a reassuring tone "We have time Gina, we can come back if we have to. You heard what Coop said. And maybe Penelope can work her magic and find something."
"Time? That's exactly what we don't have. We have no idea when he is going to kill again. We need to find some kind of connection between him and the victim, the sooner the better." Gina replied angrily.
"We will, I promise."Mick said getting closer to her face, never taking his eyes off hers.
"Fine" Gina replied, anger still present in her voice. "But if someone else gets hurt, it's on you."
This stung Mick. Instead of responding he simply jerked his head toward the door while at the same time releasing the grip he had on Gina. He didn't want to say anything he might regret. So he walked away.
Gina followed his lead back to the SUV they had arrived in.
The ride back was a very quiet and awkward one.
Back at the RED Cell Headquarters Prophet and Beth were sitting at the table in the office with all of the newspaper clippings they had found earlier at the prison spread out in front of them. Cooper was pacing back and forth in front of the screen with one hand up to his mouth as if he were thinking very hard about something.
The three agents had been doing the same thing for the last half hour. They were waiting for the rest of their team to arrive so that they could get started. As Cooper started pacing back towards the door, he glanced up and saw that Gina and Mick had arrived downstairs. Mick was almost at the office and Gina was much further behind. The agents both walked with tense postures. Gina had a very aggravated expression on her face. Whatever had happened at the crime scene, this certainly wasn't going to help.
Gina and Mick had still not spoken since they left the scene. When they arrived at headquarters, Mick immediately got out of the SUV and headed inside without bothering to wait on Gina. This aggravated her even more. She hoped he realized she didn't mean to release her frustration on him intentionally. She was just having a bad day and was ready for it to be over with. Something told her that he didn't realize this though. She thought to herself that she would pull him aside later whenever they have some down time and apologize for being so snappy towards him earlier. She couldn't stand the thought of one of her team members being mad at her, especially not Mick. But right now, there were much more important things to worry about. Gina took a breath to calm herself, exited the vehicle and headed for the front doors of the large office space. When Gina entered the building, Mick was already heading up the stairs to the main office. She figured the rest of the team were waiting on them two to begin but Gina took her time. Whatever was so important that they had to get back so fast for, it probably wasn't good.
Mick entered the office to find the other three agents standing around the large conference table. They all had anxious and uneasy looks on their faces. "What's going on?" is all Mick said looking directly at Cooper for the answer. He could tell something was up.
Without saying anything, Cooper's eyes dropped to the table in front of him and all of the newspaper clippings that were now covering it.
Mick rounded the table to see what Cooper was looking at. When he reached the other side to get a better view, he placed his hands on his hips and began looking over the clippings. After a brief pause, a look of comprehension now on his face, Mick muttered "oh no".
Meanwhile, Gina took her time climbing each step to the office. When she reached the door, she took another breath to prepare herself for what was coming. She opened the door and entered the room where her colleagues were waiting.
When Gina entered the room, all eyes were on her. She looked around at the faces that were concentrating on her. They all seemed troubled about something. Their postures were very stiff like. They were really scaring her. "What?" Gina asked in a sigh.
The eyes in the room never left Gina's face when Prophet uttered "We found these in Bryan Jones's cell." as he pointed towards the table containing the clippings.
Gina glanced down to see exactly what the agent was talking about. She rounded the table like Mick had done to get a better look, never taking her eyes off of the table. She could already somewhat tell what she was looking at before she got to the other side. She recognized them.
Spread out across the table were clippings upon clippings of newspaper articles all having do with her. Being an FBI agent, you tend to have your name and sometimes even picture in the paper when working on cases. There were articles from before she had begun working on his case years ago. Some of the articles looked as though they had been printed out while others looked like they had been cut out from an actual newspaper. Any part of the article that somewhat mentioned or hinted at her was highlighted. The clippings containing her picture, whether she was in a crowd of people or by herself, had pen mark circling her face. He had been following her career. Her life.
The rest of the team stepped back to give Gina some room to look over the articles. She spent a few minutes looking over all of the clippings. The worried eyes of the rest of the team still concentrated on Gina, waiting for some kind of response from her. She could feel the eyes on her, waiting in silence.
In a whispered tone, "He's obsessed" was all Gina was able to get out.
"With you." Cooper replied in a discouraged tone.
With that, Gina spun around to face her team. Immediately she could feel the tension in the room. She saw the concerned faces that were intently watching her. She wondered what they saw on her face right then when they were looking at her. Deep down inside she was in shock and terrified. She didn't want the rest of the team to see that though. She hoped they hadn't already. She didn't want Cooper to think she wasn't able handle this case or that she was in too deep. Otherwise, he would take her off it. She couldn't let that happen. Not now. Because she was in too deep. And there was no turning back.
The room was silent. Mostly because the other agents didn't know how to approach this for Gina's sake. They all knew this type of unsub. That's what scared them the most. This wasn't just some random person at the center of an unsubs obsession. This was one of their team members. This was their family. It was personal.
After a few minutes of silence, Cooper finally chimed in "Gina, you can go home and take some time, clear your head. We need to profile this guy and it's not going to be easy for..."
Gina interrupted Cooper before he could finish "I'm fine Coop. I can do this. I need to be here. Please." Gina's voice and eyes were both pleading with Cooper.
Mick started towards Gina and in a calm voice said "Gina, I don't think it's wise for you…" but was cut off before he could finish.
"I said I'm fine." Gina interrupted in a very abrupt tone.
Mick threw up his hands like he was saying 'I give up' and walked out the door. Gently slamming it behind him.
'Damn it' Gina thought to herself. That was the second time today she had done that to him. She really felt bad now. It wasn't right for her to take it out on him or anyone else for that matter. She really needed to talk to him now. But before she could turn around to go after Mick, Prophet, who had been silent this whole time, finally spoke up.
"He's just worried about you, you know? We all are."
"I know that. But I am fine. I can handle myself. Plus, I can't have you all worrying about me and going after this guy too." Gina said looking to each of her team members.
"Hey, as long as you are on this team, were going to worry about you. Got it?" Beth questioned, looking Gina dead in the eyes.
"I got it." Gina replied with a slight smile on her face.
"Good." Beth replied in a monotone voice.
With that, all of the agents were now smiling. It felt good to smile, Gina thought to herself. Today had been a rough day so far and that was exactly what she needed to loosen up a bit.
"I guess I had better go talk to him." Gina declared as she turned to face the office window.
Cooper walked across the room to stand next to Gina and said "I think that's a good idea. When you finish, get back here. We have a criminal to catch."
Gina once again flashed a smile at Cooper and replied "Yes sir." and started walking toward the door.
As Gina was walking out of the door, Cooper said with a smirk on his face "And Don't ever call me sir again."
With that, the smile on Gina's face grew.
As soon as Gina left the office, the smile that was on her face disappeared. She had to concentrate on finding Mick. As she was coming down the stairs she began scanning the large downstairs gym area for any sign of him. It didn't take long. Gina spotted him taking his frustration out on a punching bag. She walked over to stand on the opposite side of the bag. She placed one hand on each side of the bag to hold it steady for Mick. His eyes never faltered from his target.
"Imagining this is me?" Gina questioned in a serious but teasing tone.
That got Mick's attention. His eyes lifted to glare at Gina. Apparently he didn't think that was too funny.
"No, of course not." Is all Mick replied before refocusing his attention back on the bag.
"Are you sure? Because I wouldn't blame you if you were." Gina responded.
Instead of responding, Mick continued to punch his target. Never letting up.
"Can you stop for a minute so we can talk?" Gina questioned.
"We are talking, darling." Mick replied trying to be a smart ass.
"Please Mick." Gina said, overlooking his smart ass response. Normally she would have thrown one back his way but she probably deserved it today.
Mick stopped punching the bag and placed his hands on his hips. Instead of saying anything, he simply raised both of his eyebrows while looking at Gina as if saying to her 'I'm listening'.
Gina grabbed Mick by the arm and led him over towards the wall where there was a stack of mats folded up. Gina sat down and patted the space next to her with her hand. Mick took the hint and sat down next to her. In a very somber tone, Gina began "Look Mick, I'm really sorry about before. For the way I treated you back at the crime scene and just now in the office. I keep letting my emotions get the best of me and I'm taking it out on the people who mean the most. I know you are just worried about me. I'm worried too, that's why I'm so on edge. Today has just been…" Gina paused searching for the right word to use.
"Bad" Mick interjected.
"I was going to say long, but yea that works too." Gina said with a smile on her face that matched the one that was now on Mick's.
"I can't stand knowing you're mad at me." Gina said.
"I'm not mad at you. I'm just..." Mick began.
"Frustrated" Gina finished.
"I was going to say Worried, but that one sums it up too" Mick replied.
Both Mick and Gina began to laugh with one another.
After a minute or so, Gina's face returned to its more serious composure. "I really am sorry. I promise you, it won't happen again. Are we okay now?"
"Were okay." Mick replied with a smirk on his face.
Both Mick and Gina stood up, almost in perfect synchronization. Gina reached out to give Mick a hug, wrapping one hand around the back of his neck and the other around his upper arm. He returned the embrace, placing both arms around Gina's small waist. Gina squeezed tightly, reaffirming her apology. Mick squeezed back with equally the same pressure.
This probably should have been awkward, Gina thought to herself. In all of the time they had been working together, this was their first real contact. They had shaken hands or playfully nudged one another sure, but never hugged. Not like this.
Mick and Gina pulled away from each other, to find a smile on each of their faces. Both dropped their hands by their sides.
"We should probably get back before they start wondering about us." Gina said.
"I think it's too late for that." Mick replied as he cocked his head toward the office windows.
Gina spun around to see what Mick was talking about only to find Prophet and Beth peeping through the blinds of the office, both with a sheepish grin on their face.
Gina and Mick both laughed and began walking back towards the office.
They had work to do.
Note-Sorry it took me so long to post Chapter 4. I was trying to make it a little longer for you all. Let me know what you think! I didnt get many reviews for Chapter 3 (only 2 I think) so please review if you want me to keep going with this story! I dont want to write for myself! Also, if you have any suggestions or comments please feel free to leave them in the review! I would really appreciate it.