First thing in the morning, Spencer Reid goes to the hospital. He asks the doctors for an update and they tell him Nathalie should recover, after he convinces them that telling a patient's status to an FBI agent isn't breaking confidentiality too much.
He sits in her room, staring down at her lovely face.
Knowing he shouldn't, he holds her hand. Both wrists are bulging with bandages, but he manages to ignore them.
"Spence?" Her voice says, bringing him to attention.
"Your awake." He says, a sad smile on his face.
"Why are you here? Am I under arrest or something?"
"Should you be?" He asks, trying to relax the atmosphere.
She doesn't answer, though she carefully pulls her hand from his.
"Leave." She says. The strength in her voice startles him.
"I want us to talk."
"No, Spencer. Leave." She says, her voice never wavering.
Being an agent at the BAU, studying human behavior, he realizes she's serious and this isn't some rash request.
Without a word, he stands, embarrassed.
She really does hate me,
he says to himself.
"Agent Hotchner?" The sheriff says, entering the room where the team had just got set up for the morning.
"Yes?"
"There's another body."
Those are the words Agent Hotchner and the rest of the team had been fearing, yet hoping for. Another kill, yet another opportunity to catch the UnSub.
Everything comes at a price.
The new body is in an alley, cause of death is a gun shot to the head, kiss on the cheek. No doubt the same killer.
"I know him." Sheriff Grant says, looking down at the body. Hotch, Rossi, Morgan, and Prentiss all search for anything left behind around them.
"Liam." He says finally. "Yeah, this is Liam Brooks."
"You're sure?" Morgan asks, pulling out his cell phone.
"Absolutely."
Morgan speed dials Garcia who answers with her usual bravado.
"Don't fret, unfortunate soul, Garcia is here to solve all your problems."
"Baby girl, I need you to dig up everything you can on Liam Brooks." Morgan says, staring down at the body.
"Ok. Liam Brooks, twenty five years old, lovely blue eyes by the looks of it. He works at The Paris Hotel, beautiful place. Hasn't used his credit card since Monday night, when he got gas for his Ford pickup."
"Nothing else?"
"I just sent you his address." Garcia says smugly.
"Thank you, Penelope." Morgan says with a smile.
Because Nathalie had asked him to leave, doesn't mean he does. He resulted to going to get coffee from the cafeteria.
A text message makes his phone beep, and he pulls it out with a sigh.
'New vic: Liam Brooks.' from J.J.
That voice rings some kind of bell in his head. With a jolt, he realizes why.
Nathalie's boyfriend. The one she broke up with Friday night.
Spencer calls Hotch and lets him know.
"You need to talk to Nathalie. He was killed yesterday, around the time we released her." Hotch said.
"She slit her wrists. She didn't have time to murder someone." Spencer argues.
"He's an ex. Easy trust, easy access in a short amount of time. She may have done it to throw us off." Hotch explains irritated. "Look, Reid, I know you don't like to hear this, but she may be the UnSub. And it's our job to think like her."
With that, he snaps the phone closed, ending the conversation before Spencer could argue anymore.
Unsatisfied, Spencer heads to Nathalie's room.
"I told you to leave." She says sourly when she sees him.
"I'm here as an FBI agent. What did you do when we released you?"
"I went home and tried to kill myself." Nathalie says, avoiding eye contact.
"Are you sure you didn't call Liam Brooks and ask him to meet you in an alley?" Spencer says. Her reaction was pure surprise, or at least it was good enough to fool a profiler.
"Why would I call my ex?"
"So you could kill him. You realized you were running out of time, so you killed him, then slit your wrists, knowing I'd find you before you died. You killed him to lead us away from you." Spencer says seriously.
Instead of reacting how he thought she would, she bursts into laughter.
"You're crazy." She cries. "You're just a crazed schizophrenic."
Spencer takes in a sharp breath, surprised by her cruel words. That being the end of his control, he leaves abruptly, heading to the station. As far away from Nathalie as he could.
"I told her all the theories I could think of, hoping to trigger something." Spencer says. Hotch, J.J., Morgan, and Prentiss listen to his every word.
"And?" Emily says.
"She called me a crazed schizophrenic." Spencer says, avoiding their eyes.
The room grows silent. They all look down at Spencer, pitying him.
"You know she was just angry, right?" J.J. says. She puts a hand on his shoulder, trying to offer support. He moves from her hand and goes to the board that contains the victims' pictures.
"Damn shame." Sheriff Grant says, entering the room. "Matt and Liam used to be friends."
The five profilers stare at the old sheriff.
"You just remembered that?" Hotch asks, his voice irritated.
"I didn't think it was relevant."
"Reid, go back to the hospital. Ask Nathalie about Liam's friends and enemy. This person must be important, so he'd have mentioned the UnSub." Hotch orders.
"Why me?" He asks, frustrated.
"She'll reveal more to you."
Spencer goes, very unhappy with it.
"Look, I need you to tell me about anyone Liam may have mentioned." Spencer says, standing in Nathalie's doorway. She sighs and motions him in.
"He was friends with some guy named Matt. He mentioned a few times how mean Matt was to his girlfriend, Shelby. He talked about…a cousin, named Rachel. His aunt Michelle. His adopted brother Isaac. That's all I know." She said. "I'm sorry, Spencer. About what I said."
"Thanks for your time." Spencer says professionally, turning to leave.
"Wait! I mean it, I'm sorry for what I did."
Ignoring her, he leaves. Pulling the door shut behind him, he feels someone's eyes on him. As he looks around for the source, he finds a girl, standing only a few feet from him. A beautiful girl, as beautiful as Nathalie. Her hair is wispy and brown, her eyes crystal clear.
"Guys. You're all the same. You hurt girls' feelings, not caring. You disgust me." She says. Spencer is taken back by her words.
The hand in her coat pocket comes out. The gun in her hand now points directly at Dr. Spencer Reid's chest.
