Chapter 9 - Raid

Hotch was watching him closely, Spencer knew. He glanced up from his desk for the third time that day to see Hotch standing in the doorway of his office, openly studying him. He kept his face blank, nodded once at him, and went back to the file he had open on the screen.

That morning, Spencer had called a meeting first thing, saying he'd been reading some articles about science prodigies, and stumbled across that photo. He'd been able to play it off as a lucky find, and no one had openly questioned it. While Hotch hadn't actually said anything, Spencer knew the agent was still suspicious that Cat had contacted him. It made sense, though, that no one was going to check up on Spencer's when they had a fresh lead to follow. Hotch may have been wary of Spencer's contact with Cat, but the photo spoke for itself and he wasn't about to pass up an opening the network had left.

Now that they had a name, the BAU had a group digging into anyone associated with it. There were a remarkable number of Zachary Chen's who had recently gotten apartments on the east coast. Hotch had them start to search within 200 miles from the safe house where they'd "rescued" the Snowman. Even if the Snowman wasn't being held against his will, the real hitmen wouldn't have gone that far away from him.

It was ten days after he'd gotten Cat's clue when the BAU team found something useful. There was a townhouse outside of the city that had recently been leased to a new tenant Z. Chen. The team had been able to pull utility reports from the property that showed a dramatic spike in both electric and water usage from previous owners. It wouldn't be noticeable if you weren't looking for it, but the usage matched utility reports for drug houses. A large influx of people or a large amount of product being created would cause a spike like that. Well, that or Z. Chen took 10 showers a day.

"Agent Reid, do you foresee any issues with this course of action?"

Hotch's voice cut into his thoughts and Spencer's head shot up, looking around the room. Fourteen of the BAU team members were huddled around the table in the dark room, staring at a projected image of a map. His eyes met Lewis's as she frowned slightly and turned back to Hotch.

"Let's proceed then. We move at 0900 tomorrow. Please be on time. I'm talking to you, Agent Ballard." The tension in the room broke as the younger agent held up his hands in joking defeat and several people laughed.

"Jesus, you're late to one interdepartmental meeting, and you never hear the end of it." He chuckled as another agent threw a pen at him. The lights came on and the team began to filter out of the room, but Ballard stayed seated and looked at Spencer. "Agent Reid, can I talk to you for a moment?" Spencer nodded and began to restack the papers in front of him as the young man spoke. "We never were properly introduced, since my first days with the BAU were… dramatic. Anyways, I just wanted to say, and I know you've probably heard this before, but I am a huge fan of your work. It's the reason I studied psychology to begin with." He paused. "I know you probably don't hold me in the highest regard since I'm so young to be on this team, but—"

Spencer cut him off. "I was young when I started here too. You're a good agent, Ballard. I heard from Lewis that you dug through the utility reports that may have isolated Chen. Don't carry a chip on your shoulder about your age." He stood, scooping up the papers. "And don't look at me as your role model here. Just focus on what you can do best to help the team." He turned and left the room quickly, leaving the young agent staring after him.

"Okay. Well. I'll see you tomorrow Agent Reid!" Ballard's cheery voice chased after Spencer. Spencer wasn't sure why, but there was something about Ballard that made him uneasy.

He was headed back to his desk when he saw Lewis leaning against the wall outside the conference room. "That boy has potential," she said softly. "But he feels like a young prodigy who has to prove his worth. Now where have I heard that story before? If only he had a mentor…."

Spencer shook his head and gave her a shaky smile. "He's a good agent. He saw the Snowman before I did that day, you know? He'll be fine." He paused. "Is he paired up with Smith for tomorrow?" She nodded. "Good. That's a good fit. Maybe he'll temper Smith's impulses to run into a situation head on."

Lewis took the papers he was holding and motioned her head towards the door. "You heading out? I'll see you tomorrow morning." Her tone didn't leave room for argument, so she didn't wait for his reply before walking away.

Spencer chuckled softly and headed to his desk.


It was a rainy morning, one where fog still clung to the road as the sun rose. Spencer was in the passenger seat of one of the black vans heading out of town. The driver of the van was someone Spencer recognized, but not as a member of BAU. He'd come into the office to speak with Rossi on occasion, and was primarily a field agent.

"You okay?" The man's raspy voice broke the silence they'd been driving in. He'd noticed Spencer's gaze out of the corner of his eye.

Spencer nodded and looked out the windshield. They were approaching the exit they needed. "Take the next right."

A radio from the van behind them echoed Spencer's directions and the caravan moved off the interstate into a quiet suburb. Eventually the van stopped a block away from the row of townhouses they would be approaching. "Swat team first, then field agents. Subdue anyone in the domicile. We have four BAU agents here who will be giving directives as needed."

The sharp voice of the squadron leader was answered by dozens of boots hitting the pavement as they exited the van. "As a reminder to your briefing, these targets are highly dangerous. Do not touch any liquids or powders on site." A pause, and then, "Let's move. Gamma hold the back. All other teams, with me."

Spencer shifted in his seat as he heard the men move. In two minutes they would be in position. Another two, and they would have fully swept the house. Add another minute to report back… In five minutes, they would know if this was correct, and if the man and Cat were inside the building.

He tapped his fingers on his thigh impatiently. There was something about this that didn't seem right. Was it just paranoia from the lack of sleep lately? He hadn't been home in two days. He was regretting it now, because his normal focus was hazy, barely in his reach.

Suddenly, several gunshots and yells echoed around the corner. Without hesitation, the agent who had been driving was out of the car, his weapon pulled, heading towards the house. Spencer double-checked that his vest was fully fastened, then followed the agent, moving carefully. Across the street, he could see agents Ballard and Smith mirroring them, guns drawn.

The house, Spencer was sure, had been nice at one point. The door was smashed in, but the hallway had several paintings and a rich, burgundy rug. Another gun shot brought Spencer out of his daze, and he looked at the agent ahead of him, holding up a hand signaling Spencer stay still.

"Don't touch me! No! My Zhoufeng!" A heavily accented woman's voice Spencer didn't recognize echoed throughout the building. As soon as Spencer was about to take another step forward, the walls of the building shook as an explosion went off at the back of the building. Spencer stumbled back from the wave of heat that pushed its way through the house. He pulled the agent with him and moved quickly out of the building.

"Reid!" Ballard's scream from across the street drew Spencer's gaze. Ballard was pointing to a middle-aged white man who was carrying an elderly woman over his shoulder in a full out sprint away from the building towards an alleyway.

Spencer nodded and took off after them, but when he turned the corner, they were gone. "Fuck." He hissed out, raising his gun and scanning the alley. Ballard, Smith, and the field agent were there seconds later.

"Where'd they go?" Smith's voice whispered over Spencer's shoulder.

Spencer frowned and moved slowly through the alley before reaching a dead end.

"Where'd they go?" Ballard repeated Smith's query. "What the hell? I saw them run this way."

Spencer frowned, lowering his gun slightly, still facing the back of the alley. "Who were they?"

"No idea. They were from the townhouse though. The woman was screaming about a baby, I think, and the man pulled her out of the window onto a balcony right as the bomb went off. The balcony fell from the building and then…" He motioned to the alley. "Apparently they vanished."

Spencer rubbed his temples. "I'm guessing that was the Bomber, then. Shit."


The debriefing had been tedious.

Two agents had managed to find Zachary and back him into a corner. Unfortunately, he had thrown acid onto one of the agents, blinding him instantly. The agent fired his weapon, catching Zachary in the neck, killing him almost instantly. An elderly Asian woman had leapt from the closet and injected the other agent with a syringe, screaming for Zhoufeng in Chinese. A man estimated to be in his late forties grabbed her and blew up part of the building to aide their escape. The blinded agent would survive, although not recover, but six other agents had died in the raid.

So now they knew who the Chemist and the Bomber were… There'd been no sign of Cat or the Sniper, the entire network was alive, and their one true lead had been killed. It was one step forward but several steps back.

Spencer sighed and rubbed the back of his neck as he entered his apartment building. The whole day had been a disaster of a mission, and he had nothing to show for it. He was beginning to wonder if the network would be impossible to pin down. "Not impossible." He muttered to himself, wearily heading up the stairs. He reached the top and took a soft breath in alarm.

His apartment door was wide open.