I'm so sorry! I'm getting really, really horrible at updating this story. Sigh. It's just that this chapter is mostly case information and I get nervous about writing the case part of things. As anyone who writes CM knows, the case is like, the hardest part. :/ Profiling is not easy! But, I think I did an ok job. At least, I hope so. Next chapter, I'm aiming to have up in no more than three days. That is my goal. I'm going to start setting myself goals to try and make myself write this story a little faster. It's just a matter of organizing what I want for each chapter lol. Any ideas of what you guys would like to see, feel free to let me know! I'm always open to your ideas and suggestions! :) Again, I'm sorry about the spotty updates, people! Hopefully you enjoy this chapter, even if it is mostly about the case.


If it told you that there were two updates (12 and 13) I just had to fix something on 12, so it wasn't technically an update. Sorry if it excited any of you!


As Aaron had said, the team had hit the ground running. Each one had went to their assigned places to gather what they could and report back to the station. Dave and Aaron went straight to the station to check in and get situated before starting on victimology. It didn't surprise Aaron on the car ride to the station that Dave brought up the meeting with Strauss. He'd been expecting his friend to do that. "So, we've got a rat?"

Aaron chuckled at Dave's choice of words. But the topic soon sobered him back up. "Apparently we do. Someone tipped Strauss off about my relationship. According to her, the 'source' she got this from claims that they heard it from my own lips."

"Hey now, I didn't say anything." Dave held his hands up in a gesture of innocence that was offset by his grin.

Stopping at a light, Aaron turned to lift an eyebrow at Dave, making the older man snicker. "You, run to her? Anyone who believes that is a fool. People run to her with stories about you, not you about other people."

That little pot shot was enough to have Dave full on laughing. There was absolutely no shame in him at all. "I've been good since I've come back." He defended himself. "And that's completely off topic, Aaron, but nice try. If they say they heard it from your lips, well, have you guys discussed your relationship anywhere you might be overheard?"

"Not that I recall. Just on the jet with you. I thought everyone was asleep then, but there's a possibility that someone was awake. Prentiss or Seaver could have heard us talking."

Surprised, Dave turned to look at him even as they were pulling into the station parking lot. "Do you really think either of them would do something like this to the three of you?"

For a moment Aaron stayed silent. He parked the car quietly, reaching up and shutting off the engine. Then he simply sat for a second. Finally he looked up, his expression serious. "The three of us? No. No, I don't. I don't see Prentiss telling anyone at all. To her, it's too much of a political minefield and there's nothing she hates more than politics. Seaver and I have had no problems recently, but her problems with Spencer, well…we know about those. But Spencer suggested that Seaver might have told on us simply because she's a black and white, by the book kind of agent."

It was Dave who went silent this time. He sat back in his seat to process what Aaron had just told him. After a moment he shook his head. "I'm not sure what I think about that yet. But I'll keep an eye out and try to see what I can. For now, let's just be grateful you three aren't in any kind of trouble and let's focus on this case. Once it's over, I promise, I'll help you get to the bottom of this, Aaron. We need to know who would tattle on any of us like that. We can't work as a team if we can't trust one another."

"Thanks, Dave."

The serious look vanished from Dave's face and he was grinning at him. "What're friends for?"


Morgan and Spencer were the first two to return to the station. While Spencer moved straight to the loose map on the table, Morgan went to where Aaron and Dave were sitting with the local lead on the case, a detective Ryan, and looking over victim information. "There wasn't much to be found at the first site." He told the two senior agents. "They showed us where the bomb had been placed. From where he set the bomb, I'd say the Unsub's goal was more as a scare tactic than to maximize his damage."

Ryan looked up at Morgan with a raised eyebrow. "Seven died and five were injured." He pointed out. "How is that just a scare tactic?"

From where he was bent over the map, Spencer called out "Including all employees, there was a total of two hundred and six people at the club that night. The fact that only seven died and only five were injured is surprising."

"Exactly." Morgan agreed with a look in Spencer's direction. "So we took a look at where the bomb was placed to see if the low body count was deliberate, or if it was caused by a miscalculation on the Unsub's part. But, look at this." He walked over to one of the boards where photos of the first crime scene were hanging. One of his hands came up to tap at a point on one of the pictures of the interior of the club. "The bomb was placed over here by the side hallway, near the bathrooms. Now, that guaranteed that some people would be hit and it also allowed the Unsub easy access to the side door as an exit. But, in a club like this, if you were going for impact, wouldn't you pick somewhere different? The bar? A table? Leave a bag on the dance floor with the bomb inside? Instead he picked a hallway to the bathrooms."

Dave leaned back in his chair, twirling a pen around his fingers. "So the bomb is more to scare people. Maybe throw them off while he does what he needs to. In that kind of chaos, who's going to see him taking two men out of the club?"

"It also has the added benefit of injuring more people involved in this lifestyle." Aaron added in. "He can't stand seeing them without trying to do some kind of harm."

"The size of the explosion might also be an indicator of our Unsub's location during the blast." Spencer said. His fingers were moving over the map, tracing lines and images that only he understood at the moment. He didn't even lift his eyes as he spoke. "The size of the club is rather small and his exits are limited. If he's using the explosions as a cover, then he has to make sure that he maintains his own safety. He can't have an explosion so big that it injures either himself or his prospective targets."

Ryan looked back and forth between them all. "So why doesn't he pick a bigger club and use a bigger bomb if he really wants to cause lots of damage? There are a few bigger clubs than the ones he's hit."

Moving back to the table, Morgan shrugged while taking a seat. "It could be a few different reasons. He could lack the confidence to be in a crowd as large as some of the bigger clubs can bring in. Or he could have problems being around that many people at once."

"He might also have a personal connection to the places that he's chosen." Aaron said. "Which could give us a clue to who he is."

Before Ryan could say anything else, the door to the conference room opened and Emily and Ashley came walking in. Because he was looking, Aaron caught the slight tensing of Spencer's body when Ashley and Emily walked past him. He also saw the way Spencer studiously refused to look up. Morgan, on the other hand, visibly tightened when Ashley stopped near his chair to look down at what they were doing. Until things got figured out, there were going to be problems. He was going to have to make sure he paired them up correctly to avoid as much tension as possible.

"Was there anything important at the crime scene?" Dave was asking the girls. His question drew Aaron back out of his thoughts.

Emily took one of the other open chairs and rested her arms on the table. "We didn't find much, but we did notice that the bomb was placed in an odd location. A bathroom hallway." She said.

The others exchanged a quick look. "It was the same where we went." Morgan told her. "We were speculating on the reasons why he picked a place with the least amount of casualties." He shifted his seat, angling ever so slightly away from Ashley in a move that no one but a profiler would have noticed. "Is there any obvious connection between our victims yet?"

Dave was the one to field that question. "They all seem to fit the same physical type. All of them were brunettes. In each couple so far, one was taller than the other, but all of them had lean frames. They don't look like the athletic types. Beyond physical appearance, we haven't found any connections between them. Garcia hasn't called to let us know of any connections she's found yet, either."

Noticing Ryan's curious look, Aaron took a moment to make introductions. "My apologies, Detective Ryan. We all tend to get a bit wrapped up in the case." Raising a hand, he gestured from person to person as he listed their names. "These are agents Morgan, Prentiss, Seaver and that's Dr. Reid. They're the rest of my team." They all stretched to shake his hand as they were introduced, except for Spencer. He half looked up, waving slightly and then dropping his gaze back to the map.

Now that introductions were done, Aaron set them all back to work. "Prentiss, Morgan, why don't you two head to the home of our two missing victims and see what you can find there. Talk to their neighbors, find out if there's been anything strange going on around there lately." Aaron looked at the two as he spoke, his mind trying to think of how he wanted to divide this. Dave cut in before Aaron could assign anything else, saying "Seaver and I can go to the hospital and speak with the survivors of the recent blast." His look also let Aaron know that he wanted to have a moment to talk with Ashley.

Would they manage to get through this case without their personal life bleeding through? Aaron resisted the urge to sigh. Until things settled, until they figured out what to do to fix the dynamic amongst the team members, personal things were going to bleed into their work. He needed to figure out something and fast or else it could end up affecting their case and that was not something Aaron was willing to let happen. "Good. Detective?" He turned to Ryan now. "Do you think you could have someone call and request that the other survivors, the ones that were already released, come in so I can speak with them? I understand they've already been interviewed, but there are a few things I'd like to ask them."

"No problem. I'll get right on that." Ryan said. He rose and made his way out of the room. The others slowly dispersed as well, gathering keys and coats and making their way out of the station. For the moment, that left Aaron and Spencer alone in the conference room. There were too many people who could see them for Aaron to touch his younger lover the way that he wanted, but he did walk over and lean over the map with him for just a moment, casually looking down as Spencer put little stickers to mark different points. "How're you doing, Spencer? Are you ok?" he murmured in a low voice.

The young doctor looked up with surprise. "Of course."

"I understand this case is going to be a tough one. If at any point you feel the need to step back, please, don't be afraid to let me know. And I'm saying this as your boss, Reid." He made sure his look was stern so that Spencer would understand that he was serious about this. "I'm going to explain the same thing to Morgan."

"Hopefully you've already explained it to yourself." Spencer countered. After quickly scanning the room to make sure they were alone, he raised an eyebrow and murmured back "You're just as susceptible to identifying with the victim as we are, Aaron. I don't want you pushing yourself with this one. If you need to step back, please, don't think that you can't just because you're the boss."

The unit chief straightened, smothering the smile that wanted to come to the surface. It never failed to amuse him, how much of a caretaker Spencer was to every single person he cared about and how horrible he could be at taking care of himself with the same quality as he did others. He couldn't help the warm feeling that came from having someone try to care for him, though. "I will." He answered.

"Mmhm." Humor suddenly lit Spencer's eyes. It gave him a slightly mischievous look that he quickly hid when he grabbed a few pens off the table and bent back over the map. He cast one last look up as he teased "I'm going to need to keep my eye on the two of you. Stubborn old men, the both of you."

Aaron worked hard to keep his expression neutral. "Did you say something, Reid?" he asked in a normal voice.

Imp that he was, Spencer looked up with such an innocent expression that anyone who didn't know him would have been fooled. "No, Sir. Nothing at all."

Before Aaron could say anything else, his cell phone rang in his pocket. He shook his head as he pulled the phone from his pocket. "Saved by the bell." He murmured. Then he was flipping the phone open and bringing it to his ear, slipping back into Boss-mode. "Hotchner."