A/N: A question was asked in a review and I figured I'd answer it for any who is wondering. Yes, I am the football fanatic in my house. Born and raised in the DC area, I bleed maroon and gold every fall, when my poor wife becomes a football widow. Had we had our commitment ceremony in the fall, it just might have had a Redskin's colour scheme. :o)
At the police station, Garcia is sitting in an office alone, her own computers hooked to two of the ones the BATF had found at the farmhouse. She is impressed by the skill of the operator who had set up the systems. They have more backdoors, hidden drives, and Trojan horses ready to launch than she has ever seen before. Their online histories are set to erase every 2 hours.
"You think you're so smart," she says to the mystery hacker. "But you're not as smart as me and you don't have access to what I have. We'll find your asses and make you pay. And we'll do it before Saturday so my Beautiful JJ can marry her Princess Charming in the wedding of her dreams."
Garcia sets up some traps of her own design to capture any information that might relate to bombs, guns, terrorism, and anything else she can think of that could lead to the unsubs and their target. Satisfied she has done as much as she can without more information from Reid and Emily, she heads out of the office. She locks the door behind her.
"Sir, I've got two of the computers hooked up to my deprogramming programs. Hopefully by morning, which is really just a few hours from now, we'll have something to look at. If the Dynamic Decoders email me anything I can feed that into the programs in the morning and refine any findings."
Hotch nods. "Very good."
"Who is that?" a woman asks, obviously disgusted by Garcia's less than FBI-standard outfit.
Garcia slowly turns and glares at the woman with the attitude. Hotch sees his analyst is tired and just might give the woman a piece of her mind. He steps between them.
"Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia meet Sophia Peterson, unit chief of the BATF team we're assisting. Sophia, I want you to meet our teams secret weapon. If there is information in cyberspace to be found, Garcia will find it."
Garcia smiles at Hotch, his praise tickling her "be-speckled heart." Sophia looks at Hotch as if he has lost his mind then shrugs. "If you say so."
"Well, thank you so much for the vote of confidence," Garcia remarks dryly. "Is JJ ready to head to the hotel?"
"I think so. You two go ahead. I'll be there later."
Garcia raises an eyebrow. "Really? You mean we won't come in tomorrow to find you in the same suit and tie, hair casually tousled from sleeping on a couch somewhere?"
Hotch chuckles. "Sorry, Mom, I promise to try to be there later. Better?"
"Not really but at least it's honest. Sir, try to get some rest. We need you at the top of your game," she says with care.
"Thank you, Garcia. I appreciate the concern."
The analyst nods and heads off to find JJ. Sophia looks at Hotch.
"You let a subordinate speak to you like that?" she says in surprise.
"We're a team. We look out for each other."
"If one of my team members spoke to me like that they'd be off my team," she mutters.
Hotch considers arguing the point but knows they don't have time for pissing contests between the unit chiefs. He likes how his team works together and that's all that matters to him.
"Why did you split your team up?" he asks as he looks over another report on the informant they will be interviewing in the morning.
"McClean and Traina have things handled here. The rest can follow up on some chatter that we were alerted to. It covers more bases."
Hotch looks up sharply. "You didn't think to tell us about any 'chatter' that could be pertinent to this case."
"It's just chatter, Hotchner. It's not important," she says dismissively.
He leans on the desk. "This is a joint investigation at this point, Peterson. It's not up to you to decide what my team knows and doesn't know. If you keep information from us and someone gets hurt or killed because of it I'll have your badge."
She leans towards him. "Don't threaten me, Hotchner. This is my case and you're only here because my bosses think your mind games might help us get more information. I'm not so convinced. I'll give you what I deem necessary. Until then, stay out of my way."
The two agents stare each other down. JJ is on her way to let Hotch know she is leaving and walks into the tense situation. She pauses, thinking that Hotch looks like he's about to deck the woman in front of him. She had met Peterson earlier and had taken an instant dislike to her. After talking with Garcia and seeing this stand-off it appears the BATF chief is not winning favor with anyone on the team.
"Um, Hotch? I'm heading out. Anything you need before I go?" JJ asks, as she thinks to herself. "Boxing gloves, baseball bat, knightstick…"
"I'm good, JJ. See you in the morning."
JJ nods and heads out. As she crosses the squad room she glances back once to see Sophia close the door. JJ hopes no blood is spilled.
Morgan and Rossi leave the farmhouse around midnight. Reid and Emily stay behind, knowing they have little time to find the information that is needed to break the case. As Morgan drives, his mind keeps straying to the things they didn'tfind at the farmhouse. Suddenly one thing jumps out at him.
"Rossi, if you lived in the middle of tornado alley, would you let your storm shelter go to the snakes?"
Rossi looks at Morgan, light dawning in his eyes. "No way. At least, not without building another one."
"That first one is kinda far from the house. Maybe you'd build one closer," Morgan suggests.
Rossi nods, seeing where Morgan is going with this. "And if you're an unsub with something to hide maybe, just maybe, you hide it in that storm cellar and then hide the storm cellar."
"Farm has a tractor with a front loader. Wouldn't take long to move some dirt onto the door and bury it to keep prying eyes from finding anything useful."
Rossi nods. He thinks about this some but then shakes his head. "But there are agents crawling all over the farm now. How do you get your stuff back?"
"Terrorists are incredibly patient. Look how long they planned 9/11. Maybe they know they're going to get busted, they bury their stuff, and they come back for it later," Morgan theorizes.
"Don't you think Traina may have thought of that?"
"Maybe. Maybe not. Sometimes you need someone to bounce theories off of. This unit we're working with doesn't seem all that cohesive. I mean, she never once called her partner and he never called her. No contact with her boss at all."
"True. But not all teams are ourteam. It's not our job to question their methods."
"It is if it can get us killed," Morgan points out. "How about we aim to be back there at first light and check out all the grounds."
Rossi nods. "Sounds good. I'll meet you in the lobby at 6."
Morgan nods and they make the rest of the trip in silence. As they reach the hotel, they see JJ and Garcia just walking in the doors. They catch up to the two women at check in. JJ looks beyond them expectantly.
"Emily? Reid?"
"They stayed behind," Morgan tells her. "There was a lot of stuff to go through."
"But, geez, they can't work all night," Garcia whines. "They need sleep or they could miss something."
"Easy, Baby Girl, we told them that, too. They promised to get some sleep."
"Here or there?" JJ asks.
"They didn't specify," Morgan admits.
The four agents head upstairs, each knowing the two at the farm will work themselves into the ground if they feel they are close to an answer. As she gets into the room she is supposed to share with Emily, JJ fires off a text to her.
"Please get some rest, baby. I love you."
She is about to step into the shower when she gets a text back. She grabs her phone.
"I'll try. There are more stacks of papers here than in 2 of your offices put together. Sleep well, sweetheart. I love you."
JJ smiles at the text then goes into the shower.
It is nearly 4 a.m. Emily is getting so cross-eyed she's not sure she can even read English anymore. She stands and stretches before heading into the room Reid has taken over.
"Reid? You doing okay?"
The lanky man sighs, rubbing his eyes. "Not really. I feel like the answer is right there and I'm missing it."
"We both need sleep. I don't think either of us is safe to drive. I'm going to crash on the couch for a couple hours," she tells him, moving into the living room.
"There are 3 bedrooms, Emily. Why not take one of the beds?"
She thinks about it a moment, then shakes her head. "Just can't. Not knowing one of those bastards probably slept in it."
Reid raises his eyebrows as he contemplates that. "I think I'll take the other couch."
Emily just grins and goes to lie down. She sends a quick text to JJ.
"Hope you aren't awake to read this. Reid and I are getting some sleep here at the farm. Love you."
