The team ignored Reid and Natalie's warnings about not scaring Asher. They all saw him for a criminal. Reid fought for himself to take lead, Natalie was proud of him for that but she didn't mention as she knew they had to focus. Reid and Rossi entered the house first, SWAT busted in behind them, Natalie and J.J. paired as well as Morgan and Prentiss.
This seemed to scare Asher. SWAT ordered him to put down whatever was in his hand but he told them, he couldn't. Reid ordered SWAT not to shoot. He looked around at the labels all over everything, the overly organized set up, and the somehow chaotic mess as well.
He talked Asher into setting down what in his hand so they could talk. He promised him if it wasn't dangerous, he could keep it.
Reid turned to Rossi, "Everything about this house seems to confirm he's autistic."
Rossi nodded.
SWAT brought Asher into the kitchen.
Reid huddled up to the team. He locked eyes with Natalie for a minute, he didn't want to but it was like a compelling force he couldn't control.
"If Asher's autistic, he has trouble reading social cues," Reid told them.
"Yeah but in this case, he's high functioning," Prentiss told them.
"What used to be labeled as Asperger's syndrome," Reid told them.
"That's where the counter fit deviance comes in." Natalie nodded her head to the team.
Reid kept going, using his hands as he spoke, "Documented examples include high functioning autistics who collect child porn or pretend to plan a school shooting. They know there's power in those images, and those actions, but for them, there's no paraphilia behind it. They don't derive pleasure from it. What I don't see is evidence of someone who's interested in explosives. We need to rule out-"
J.J. interrupted, "That someone's pulling his strings just like he's been pulling ours." Her voice seemed compassionate to the young man now. Prentiss patted her back.
"Exactly. I'd like to-"
Rossi and Morgan both interrupted, "Just go, Kid."
"Hurry," Rossi stated.
Reid walked off to do whatever he had planned. Morgan nodded for Natalie to follow, she eyed him.
"You both knew. Just be there as a backup. Maybe don't let Asher see you there." Morgan told her.
Natalie nodded and followed behind Reid which surprised him, "Morgan told me too. I'll be able to hear you but not see you, just in case."
Reid raised an eyebrow, Morgan knew he could handle this, he assumed it was for Natalie speaking up about the autism first.
Natalie listened as Reid interrogated Asher, he was incredibly worried about going to jail, so much so that he confessed to all of it.
Sweet Reid spoke softly and told him, he didn't think he committed all of those crimes and it sounded as if Asher was protecting someone.
Asher did what some would call bragging about the 911 call but Reid and Natalie both knew he was stating facts. Reid decided to approach another angle, the explosives. Once he had confirmed Asher knew exactly what it was, he asked if he had bought it.
"No point. What would I do with it?" Asher asked.
"Well, when Agent Hotchner was arrested, they found that he had bought some. I think it was planted on him, and I don't think you'd do that." Reid shook his head, speaking softly to Asher.
Asher seemed uncomfortable in his seat, he wouldn't look at Reid as he talked, Natalie had now peaked around the corner, keeping herself out of sight.
Asher grunted and started banging his hands against his legs. It wasn't hard but it was enough to raise concern. Natalie almost lunged until Asher said, "this isn't self-harm."
"Okay," Reid replied.
"I used to do that. Now, I do this."
"To control how you feel when you get confused?" Reid asked, pinning down exactly what Asher couldn't articulate at that moment. Go, Spence, Natalie thought. What a weird thought to have at a time like this, still she couldn't control that.
"Yes," Asher replied, continuing to bang his hands against his legs.
"You know, I get confused a lot too, Asher." Reid began, Asher looked up, finally making eye contact with the agent. "That's actually one of the reasons I decided to study behavioral analysis. And I don't think my friend would buy 40 gallons of nitromethane. But I think yours might." Reid told him.
Asher started to look around, the wheels in his head now spinning.
"40 gallons?" Asher harshly pushed his hands to his legs.
"Does that mean something to you?"
"We talked about it once. How much of a city you could wipe out with 40 gallons. It was a hypothetical, like if you had the biggest chemistry set in the world." Asher told Reid.
Natalie's heart started to break a little for this man, how could people be so cruel to use people this way. She then remembered where she worked.
"I don't think that was a hypothetical, Asher," Reid told him.
"He lied to me." Asher's voice now breaking.
"He did."
"Help me, and I'll make sure that never happens again," Reid told him.
Asher started to sob but he decided to corporate with Reid.
Natalie smirked as she walked back to the rest of the team.
"He's got something. He'll be here in a minute." Natalie looked to Morgan who had eyed her as she came back without Reid.
Reid sent the information to Garcia and the team circled up, waiting for her to make quick work of finding the partner.
"May I direct your attention to Morgan's phone." Garcia said, "This is Eric Rawdon."
"What do you got on him, baby girl?" Morgan asked.
"Oh, he fits better than a traditional unsub. He had multiple IRC chats with Asher until he was arrested for criminal conspiracy." Garcia spits out.
"Conspiracy with who?" Rossi asked.
"It looks like a bunch of anarchists. Rawdon isn't necessarily an anarchist himself but he did want to make something go boom." Garcia told them.
"He's charismatic. He would have to persuade all those anarchists around him to rally behind whatever his plots were or are." Prentiss told them.
"What's the overlap with Hotch?" J.J. asked, wanting to get to the bottom of that since Jack was still with her boys, she felt deeply for him.
"Our beloved and soon to be released, Aaron Hotchner wrote up a profile on Rawdon which he defended in court," Garcia answered her.
"So this is revenge?" Natalie asked, looking around, knowing it couldn't be that simple.
"No, it's not that simple. We know it's bigger than that." Rossi replied.
Morgan decided to take a turn, "Rawdon couldn't have pulled this off by himself or in prison. He had to have some kind of help. When was the last contact Rawdon and Asher had?"
"Uh, emails from last week. The IP addresses are from all over the state, but none from Virginia supermax prison where Rawdon currently resides." Garcia told them.
"So someone took over the accounts or multiple people," Prentiss told them.
"Emily Prentiss, it is scary how right you are, sometimes. Whoever is sending these emails has gone hog wild over the last 12 hours and the message is always the same, the storm breaks tonight. Get his bed ready." Garcia stated.
"That's reminiscent of the emails the 911 hijackers sent to each other weeks before the attack. Coded messages like this summer will surely be hot. It was their way of saying the plan was set." Reid reminded them.
Rossi nodded in understanding, "except this is the storm breaks tonight." All of the agents started to get wide-eyed.
Natalie was going to speak up but she looked to Rossi who nodded in affirmation, "He's planning a prison break."