Flight to Lawton, Oklahoma
"So within the last eighteen months, there have been triple homicides popping up at random times and places in Lawton," Hotch stated. He looked up, wanting each team member to be engaged and focused, but deep down he knew better. After hearing that Strauss would be evaluating them within a few hours, Prentiss, Morgan, JJ, and Reid were each quietly freaking out. As usual when dealing with Strauss, Rossi was calm and relaxed, spending the time looking through his own case file.
"Are any of you listening?" the Unit Chief asked. Prentiss, who was staring at a spot in the wall, said faintly, "I wonder if the CIA is hiring…."
"No one will be fired."
JJ sighed, pushing her case file to the side. "This is Strauss, Hotch," the blonde profiler exclaimed, "Most serial killers would rather take the chair than deal with her!"
"See, this-"Hotch held up a finger, "is why Strauss is coming in the first place. This team is losing focus." Before he could continue, Garcia appeared on the plane's computer screen. Her hair was in a messy bun, a minor thing compared to her frazzled blue business jacket and her skewed glasses. After the gasps from Prentiss and JJ, Rossi raised a hand, sporting an innocent look on his face. Hotch growled in annoyance and called out, "Dave?"
With a touch of arrogance, Rossi said, "Here's what I think should happen. You all relax and let me take care of Strauss."
"What are you going to do?" Prentiss snorted, "Sleep with her?"
Rossi only looked over his shoulder towards Prentiss. The brunette agent rolled her eyes and added, "I'm sorry. Sleep with her again."
"You make it seem like it's a bad thing-"
Hotch slammed a hand down on the table to get the team's attention. Garcia let out a whimper while JJ, Reid, and Prentiss stared at the Unit Chief, each wide eyed. Morgan shot Hotch a glare and as usual, Rossi sat in his chair, impassive.
"While we are on this case, there are going to be rules," Hotch growled, "Rules that each and every one of you will follow. First off- Dave, you will not flirt, date, sleep with, or seduce any woman in Lawton. And if you so much as flirt with Erin, I swear to God…."
Rossi stood up with crossed arms. "Or what? I dare you to threaten me, Aaron. Scratch that, I double dare you to threaten me."
"Dave-"
"You asked for it. Listen up, little ones." Rossi walked down the aisle towards Prentiss, "January 21, 2012. It was the Twin Cities cannibal case that took us to a city of freezing temperatures. The temperature had just dropped like a rock to way below zero and our dear Unit Chief, "Rossi held out a hand towards Hotch, "and I were stuck in our dead SUV. If you all remember correctly, Aaron seemed to have a cold that day, but in fact it wasn't just a cold. I discovered that he actually had a high fever after he told me some interesting things about him and our very own Emily Prentiss-"
Hotch could see the intrigued looks on everyone's faces, especially Prentiss'. He needed to stop this now.
"Enough!" the Unit Chief yelled, instantly silencing the cabin. Rossi was taken aback and put two hands up in defense. With his glare still locked on Rossi, Hotch snapped, "Garcia?"
Eyes filled with fear, "Garcia stammered, "Yes, sir?"
"On this case," Hotch told her, "keep… your conversations…. professional."
Garcia opened her mouth, but Hotch cut her off by adding, "And I mean it. No nicknames-"
The technical analyst's bottom lip trembled.
"No flirting with Morgan anywhere and I mean anywhere between now and when we return to Quantico-"
Garcia dropped her fluffy pink pen and let out a whimper.
"Also while in Lawton, I want professional dress for this case."
Garcia let out a yelp and covered her mouth. On the jet, Morgan scooted towards the screen and said, "It'll be alright, Penelope."
"Derek, the last time I went all mortal dress, I nearly went crazy!"
Morgan flashed a charming smile. "Don't worry, we'll be home soon and I'll giving you a warm, bubble bath with chocolate covered straw-"
"What did I just say?" Hotch snapped. Morgan pointed to screen and exclaimed, "I'm just trying to calm her down!"
"Jeez, Hotch, it was one little thing. What the hell is the matter with you?" JJ yelled at Hotch. Next to her, Reid tried to whisper for her to calm down, but failed. JJ turned to him and angrily snapped, "Don't you dare tell me to calm down, Spencer."
Before Prentiss and Rossi could join in on the argument, the pilot came onto the overhead, "Please fasten your seatbelt and secure any loose items. We'll be approaching Lawton Fort Sill Regional Airport within thirty minutes. Unfortunately, it's a little stormy down there….."
Prentiss plopped down into her seat. It's not just down there that it's stormy, she thought, Aaron's pissed everyone off, Strauss is waiting at the station with ammo ready to fire us all, and the bloody weather is going to slow us down.
A wave of turbulence shook the plane as it prepared for descent. Prentiss closed her eyes and muttered to herself, "This is going to be just great."
Lawton Police Station
The team didn't even make it through the police station doors before they were spotted by Strauss. The Section Chief had looked relaxed before she saw the team. Now, she looked past irate and impatient. Strauss pointed to a small room labeled Conference 213.
"We all need to have a chat before the case," Strauss stated. The woman didn't wait for a response from the team before marching towards the conference room. It took a few minutes for the nervous agents and panicking technical analyst to enter and sit down in the room. After closing the door and circling the room, Strauss got down to business.
Strauss shot the Unit Chief a dark, murderous glare. "Agent Hotchner, when your seven year old son came up to me asking if half the squad was going to marry the other, I thought very little of it. 'He's only 7, he must be confused', I thought. But due to the large amount of chatter around the Bureau, I'm beginning to think Jack Hotchner was up to something. So let me ask you this once- are there inter-team relationships going on in this squad?"
Dead silence.
Everyone's eyes flickered over to Hotch, expecting him to send a calm, clear response to Strauss. The Unit Chief only sat quietly, hesitant to give an answer. The silence was broken by the conference room door opening and a police officer stepping in.
"Agent Hotchner," the officer called out, "We got another triple."
"Thank God!" Garcia let out a sigh of relief and stood up. Strauss raised an eyebrow, which sent Garcia into a panic. "I mean…..thank God that, um, there is another chance….to save the day and- I'll shut up now." She slid back to her seat and dropped her head on the table.
Hotch stared at Garcia for a moment before turning back to the officer. "We'll be there in a second. Actually, I'll send-"
Strauss cut him off. "I'll go with you all to do my evaluations. First, I'd like to see…..Agents Reid, Jareau, and Prentiss out in the field to make sure that they can do their job."