Lost Flag

If you want to be a real human being- a real woman, a real man- you cannot tolerate things which put you to indignation, to outrage. You must stand up. I always say to people, 'Look around; look at what makes you unhappy, what makes you furious, and then engage yourself in some action.'— Stephane Hessel

Tara Lewis considered herself a pretty calm person. She was a psychologist and trained to handle clinical psychopaths and the like. She did her job with the BAU and did it well. But like most people, she did have her limits and when it happened, she tried to minimize the collateral damage that could occur with outbursts of anger such as the one that one of the conspiracy theorists or truther did by calling the shooting at Sandy Hook a setup.

Tara had been at Sandy Hook and she had to help parents and loved ones who lost children in that shooting. The sight shook her to the core. To hear it belittled like she did, it just made her angry; it touched a nerve to the point where she had to excuse herself and just let out all her frustrations. It frustrated her since she had never really lost her cool like that. At least not in front of the team. And she wasn't one to nearly get themselves fired for having strong beliefs.

I did what I did because I really believe in Spence. And call it a big brother complex or hero complex or whatever you psychologists call it.

Tara remembered that conversation when Reid was first arrested for murder. She had met his friend Michael Nassar previously and had developed a good opinion about him. Like all relationships though it was a journey that was full of surprises, with some being more memorable than others because it brought the best out of the team.

As she cooled down, Tara wondered how Michael would approach these truthers. He was not big on conspiracy and said that conspiracies were fanciful tales that people invented because the simplest explanation is not enough. She had said the same thing to the only truther that was talking to them. It was one of those things that had her interested in Michael as a person. He was big on scientific fact but he wasn't afraid to show that he believed in things he couldn't see like God and didn't care what other people thought about it. Reid merely shrugged at it and said, "It's Mike."

That was the explanation for something that was just odd. It would be funny if it became code for anything that was out of the ordinary. Tara witnessed it enough before Michael's current deployment and encouraged her to actually interview him. Or at least attempt to do it.

I don't know what good it will do since I probably fit psychological types you know and it may be the Asperger's but… I'll talk.

He humored her when she asked questions and she did realize that he wasn't kidding about the Asperger's. Reid confirmed it and it explained a few things but not everything. Thinking about it, Reid's friend kind of prepared her for this. True it wasn't the same but it was a good reminder that people weren't the kind to be in cookie cutter form. And given the way he answered her questions prepared her to go back in though the lingering thought of what it would be like if her were talking to a truther was a constant and no doubt the team was probably thinking the same thing.

It was a gamble to reveal the profile to the local truthers but she was right in that it would give the look of transparency. In the end, they had them all in holding because of the suicide of one of the truthers and they were using it to find out what was really going on. It was a challenging puzzle and Tara could almost hear the grin in Michael's voice calling it a puzzle and she could hear his voice prompting her to think about it and look at the case from a different angle.

In the end it was something simple with the death of one of the victims, an Occam's razor example. The simplest explanation is usually the right one and in the case of the whole thing with the fish tank, it turned out that bleach touching a certain type of coral produced toxic fumes that knocked the victim out and he ended up drowning. It was more likely a disappointment to the truthers since it was overly simple and they were completely convinced that the FBI framed people.

In the end Carl Lee was the true victim of the unsub and it turned out to be one of the oldest motives in the book and it revolved around infidelity. At one point, when Tara was trying to work out her theory, she realized that she was starting to sound like the truthers and it was evident on the team's faces. It was a smack to the back of the head to get things reoriented but she could hear Michael chuckling because he would be genuinely amused by it and would entertain the theory and let you try to convince him that you were right.

The team did manage to get their suspect and the evidence needed for the DA to prosecute the case. How would have known that the unsub was a psychopath? In the end Tara felt good about it. She filed it away mentally for her face time with Michael. The man made it a point to talk to everyone on the team whether it was Skype or email. The team learned a long time ago never to ask him why he was talking to them when he should be talking to his family. It was always the same so no one argued and he did manage to have some advice or words of encouragement. She remembered when he came on at Thanksgiving and he said hello to everyone.

Wishing I was there with you guys but… it's good seeing all of you together. Carries with you.

Tara wondered what the man was doing now. She did know that if he were on the plane, they would be talking about the case. More likely he would end up joking that he was a normal crazy compared to the conspiracy theorists or something like that. Then it would end with him and Reid doing whatever it was they were working on. She didn't know what but Tara was convinced of was that putting two geniuses together was waiting for something unexpected to happen. She watched them play chess and was amazed how they would declare beating the other in a certain amount of moves.

Thinking about it definitely made the trip home smoother. She and Emily talked about what happened with her outburst. Sure they talked there but she was able to talk about it more without the pressure of the case hanging over their heads. In the end it reminded the team that they were people too and that they needed to wind down. Certainly their six week hiatus after Scratch was welcome and necessary. The mood was good to carry through on the way back to the office. In fact, the whole team was in a good mood. They certainly didn't expect to see what waited for them in the bullpen.

Tara sensed something was wrong when she and the others saw Reid standing in the bullpen, leaning on Michael's desk with his hands in his pockets. It was a casual position but she could tell something was up. It was confirmed when she spotted Garcia almost hiding behind him and that was a feat considering her bubbly nature made her visible.

"What are you doing here, kiddo?" Rossi asked with a slight frown. "Thought you'd be home by now."

"Teaching getting to be too much?" Alvez couldn't help but tease with a grin.

Tara felt the shock and feeling she felt at Sandy Hook creep up her spine when Reid looked at them. Garcia had a similar look. Something was definitely wrong and the rest of the team was starting to feel it as Reid looked at them and started, "It's Mike. He's… he's MIA."

We never understand how little we need in this world until we know the loss of it.—James M. Barrie

A/N: Tara seemed to be affected by the last case and while it was solved, grave news awaits the team at home. Tag to False Flag.