DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter or Criminal Minds.
CHAPTER 8: HP'S POV
Back at ASIO headquarters, a sombre meeting between the BAU and Harry, Ron and Hermione was interrupted by Penelope Garcia.
Ron had been examining the white framed object, wondering what Muggle secrets were hiding behind its opaque glass screen. Suddenly, it clicked on, and an image of the cherubic American tech analyst appeared. With a yell, Ron threw himself backwards, his chair falling to the floor, leaving him flailing on the carpeted surface as the BAU watched him in surprise. A laugh emerged from the rectangular object, and Hermione recognised it as the new touch screen technology Muggles' had taken to using. She picked Ron up of the floor, and quietly whispered to him what it was. Garcia's voice finally rose from the screen;
"I have an identification on your new victim, my precious people. His name is William Orson, he's a first year nurse and has nothing in common with our previous victims. I searched Australian records and something interesting came up though. Before they went to university or got jobs, none of these victims were on record since their birth."
JJ shook her head.
"Are you sure Garcia? I know Australia doesn't have the extensive records that we have, maybe they just didn't do anything of note during those years."
Garcia grimaced and slowly moved her head from side to side.
"I wish it were true my dear JJ, but it is. These kids were born, then they completely went off the record from about age 11, and then mysteriously appear again at eighteen – getting amazing jobs and attending some pretty prestigious universities."
The team all looked confused. Morgan asked the question everyone was wondering;
"Where did they go?"
Garcia smiled sadly.
"That is exactly what I cannot discern. These kids must have gone to school somewhere, but there's no record anywhere!"
"Don't worry baby girl,' Morgan soothed. 'You'll figure it out soon enough."
Garcia nodded;
"I hope so,' she said."
The screen went black and there was a second of silence. The members of the BAU looked at each other, silently making a decision on their next move. Hotch stood and addressed the room.
"We will continue as we were, looking for inaccuracies in the case files. Keep in mind the male unsub is probably involved in medicine in some way, since he has access to some restricted acids. The female unsub remains a mystery, but keep an eye out for a woman possibly connected to the victims, maybe a fellow student with a grudge."
The case files were still lying as they had been left that morning, opened to pictures and personal information, littering the table top in abandon. Reid, Morgan and Hermione took a seat up against the wall. Morgan stretched his legs out in front of him, placing his folders in a precarious pile on his right side. He slipped lower down the floor and used his stomach to prop up the case file. Hermione watched the process in fascination. She loved to sit curled up with her book, so seeing how other people sat was always interesting. She turned her attention to Reid. He leant lightly against the wall, pulling his knees up almost to his chest. He stacked the files neatly in front of his tucked up legs, opened a file and began to read.
Hermione watched in shock as he took less than 10 seconds to read one page. Surely he's not actually reading! Hermione thought doubtfully. He scanned the pages quickly, flipping page after page before Morgan had completely read two. She looked around for Harry and Ron, needing confirmation that what she was seeing was real. Unfortunately, Harry was involved in his victim's crime scene photographs and Ron was scowling at his pile of folders in resentment. Hermione leaned over to talk to Morgan.
"Is he actually reading that?" She whispered.
Morgan smirked, and Reid sighed resignedly.
"Yes, I am actually reading. My brain can process the information faster than normal due to my IQ."
Morgan leaned across Reid, so he and Hermione were face to face.
"He's too modest to tell you anything,' he grinned. 'He can read 20 000 words a minute and he has an IQ of 187. The kid's our genius."
Hermione felt her eyes widen in surprise. She hadn't done a Muggle intelligence test in a long time, though according to the Ministry of Magic, Hermione was in possession of a 'brilliant mind.' It wasn't the same thing as being a genius though. She didn't know exactly how to respond to Reid's comment, so she smiled vaguely and went back to her own pile of folders.
BAU'S POV:
Reid smiled to himself at Hermione's reaction.
Not many people knew how to take the knowledge of his intelligence. They generally reacted one of two ways. Either they started fawning over him and treating him like a God, or they became scared and daunted, wary of being in his presence.
He tried to hide it, but it still hurt him deeply when that happened.
Reid wasn't sure how Hermione was going to act. She had looked surprised, but she hadn't looked awestruck – instead she had looked impressed. He hoped she and her friends would accept him as the team had come to, but he had realized long ago that you couldn't control people's reactions.
He finished reading his files, feeling slightly preoccupied. He stood and stretched out, pushing his hair out of the way. He felt the phone in his pocket vibrate, and he tensed. Then he reprimanded himself – it was obviously Garcia. Who else had his mobile phone number?
He pulled out his phone and looked at the I.D. It wasn't a number he recognised. Then he remembered she was probably using one of the ASIO phones.
"Hello?"
There was silence on the other end of the phone, and Reid became slightly worried.
"Garcia? Is that you? Are you okay?"
By this time, Morgan had risen from his seated position and was leaning close to Reid so he could hear the reply.
Or lack of.
The silence continued on the other side of the phone. Morgan gestured to Reid that he wanted the phone, and Reid willingly surrendered it. Everyone in the room was watching the exchange now, files again abandoned throughout the room. Morgan put the phone on loud speaker and held it out.
"Hello? Who's there?"
Again, continuous silence on the other side and Prentiss gestured at the door, mouthing the words;
'I'll go and check on Garcia.'
As she walked down the corridor, an eerie silence overwhelmed Prentiss. She knocked on the door Ms Port had told Garcia was hers and when she heard no reply, wrenched open the door.
Prentiss collapsed on the floor, tears etching their way down her cheeks, silently crying at the scene before her.
A/N DUM DUM DUM! Am I cruel to leave you like that? Maybe :D Anyways I want to say a huge, HUGE thank you to fictionfanatic1234! I got your review and it made my day! 3 And thank you very much for pointing out the inaccuracies - because I don't have a beta, my brain is moving so fast with the story that it sometimes misses these things. Thank you very, very much! :D Again, if you want to review, it would be much appreciated! bye xx
