AN: Yeah, I knew I'd lose some followers after the last chapter.
Chapter Four:
Beth:
The BAU RV was a touring exhibition of how Reid and his team sought to keep helping people even after the BAU was dismantled. There were actually three used over the years but this one was the open to the public. Like the TARDIS house, it was designed to look smaller than it actually was. The interior was smooth shades of gray and beige. A picture of the BAU team that died hung over the meeting area. It was retrofitted to hold tech and sleep six. I met the driver Henry Harper before the bus opened to the public that morning.
Henry was a brawny man in his late seventies. His smile made me think of an African-American Santa Claus. He was dressed in a suit and jeans. He sat in the driver's seat like it was the most comfortable place in the world for him.
I set up the camera to get the right angle.
"I was their pilot for several years, you know. Like everyone else with any sense, I knew change was coming. I made a point of learning how road vehicles worked and audited some classes. I wanted to be ready."
"How'd you get roped into this?"
"David Rossi and I were cigar enthusiasts. While enjoying time at a cigar lounge, he asked if I'd still like to work for the shadow BAU they were building. I said, of course, I would."
"Tell me about what it was like to work for Reid."
Henry:
"It's nice to see a familiar face," Reid said as a greeting.
"Good to see you too, Reid," I said and waved at him as I got on.
"Rossi hired a special mechanic to integrate hybrid technology to make it faster and more energy-efficient."
"I read up on all the details in the app," I said. "I'm looking forward to seeing how this girl runs."
"Do you want to take it for a quick drive before everyone gets on?"
"I'd love to."
"There's an old plaza a few miles from here. You can practice on."
"Yeah, I know the place," I said and flipped some switches. "Let's scramble the signal."
We rode in silence for a few minutes.
"How are you doing?" I asked.
It had been two weeks since his team had been killed.
Reid wouldn't look at me and stared at the road.
"I've cried enough," he said. "I need to keep helping people. It is what the team and I were planning on doing. I intend to ensure their legacy lives on."
"What about doing something to the people responsible?"
"Vengeance will have to wait. The government will try to grab me the minute I start searching for answers. Helping people is what I need to be doing.
I put the vehicle through a few quick turns, sped it up, and watched it decelerate. We then headed back to the rendezvous point.
"You're going to be good at this," I said.
He didn't look convinced.
…
I watched Reid pace the small space from my mirrors. He was dressed in darker colors these days to reflect his mood. It was time to meet his new team.
A woman with pink and purple-streaked hair appeared on the bus. Her name was Delaney Stevens.
"Hi," he said. "Welcome to the shadow BAU. I'm Spencer, but everyone calls me Reid."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir," she said.
"No one has ever called sir," he said. "Don't start now."
"Yes, sir," she said in an attempt at humor.
"Garcia spoke highly of you," he said. "I was looking over your CV. You were obsessed with the Kennedy assassination and that is how you ended up on a watch list at the age of fourteen!"
"I know it's weird to be obsessed with a dead, good-looking scoundrel of a president. But I wanted the truth!"
"You were looking in the wrong place, to begin with," Reid said.
"So, there is a right place?" she asked with a note of giddiness.
"If we survive the next ten years, I'll tell you."
"I'm holding you to that Sir."
His smile was so weak. It looked like he was on the verge of tears.
Delaney took a step forward.
"You don't have to be brave all the time, sir. You lost most of your friends only two weeks ago."
"I spent three days in bed crying over them," he said. "That was too long. It's not about me anymore. It's about getting justice and continuing their legacy."
"It's a cliché, I know: But sir, I'm trained in grief counseling. It's an online degree but from a good online school. I will check in on you. If you ever need to talk, I'm here for you."
"Thanks, Delaney," he said kindly. "I'll keep that in mind."
The door opened again.
"You still seem tall to me," a younger woman with short brown hair said.
"You were fully grown when I met you," Reid said with the first real smile I'd seen him show. "Hey, Meg."
"It's good to see you, Reid!" she said and hugged him.
"Your aunt, okay?"
"Moaning about going through the teenage years again. At least she has experience."
"Seriously Meg."
"Reid, she is in a gated community teaching children self-defense class. She is safe."
"If you say so."
"I say so," she said with a laugh.
Meg struck me as a firecracker. Full of life and a little reckless.
The door opened again and two more people appeared. A woman with reddish brown hair and freckles, and a man with curly dark hair. Both looked to be in their early thirties.
"Tim Waverly and Ann Fields, welcome," Reid said.
"Sir, we're honored you chose us, sir," Tim said.
"I have no doubt you will prove your worth," Reid said kindly.
Reid addressed the group. "I'm not going to lie. This is going to be hard. I wanted to work with all of you at one point, but not this soon. I wanted to work with my team, but it doesn't exist anymore."
He paused for a second. I wasn't sure if he'd continue. But then he took another breath.
"We have a mission. People still need our help since the BAU has been weaponized to go after targets that meet the needs of the current administration's agenda. We need to go where we can to help.
I hope everyone has read their manuals as I intend to hit the ground running. There is a case in Valdosta Georgia that needs our attention. Tim you and Anne you're going to drive the SUVs we have. "
Reid divided up labor for how to manage the case. Everyone looked serious and a little on edge. This wasn't the real BAU after all.
…
Two days later they realized their first case was a Dahmer copycat. While they were doing their thing I tried to rest up. It wasn't like the jet where I had a hotel room. Here, I had a bed barely separated from the rest of the group.
"The sheriff is a homophobic prick," Delaney said. "He even implies in his email that it might be a good thing that these men are being killed."
"How's the search on peroxide purchasers?" Reid asked.
"Harder now that even Amazon sells it," she grumbled.
The others were out tracing leads. I had parked the camper in a state park.
A phone rang.
"Meg, you're on speakerphone," Reid said.
"I think we caught a break. I found a homeless shelter where a man was offering a hundred bucks to anyone willing to donate blood in his van a couple of blocks from here."
"Wait for back up Meg!" Reid shouted.
"Ann and Tim are five minutes away. I can shoot out his tires."
"Meg, get the license plate and back away, I don't want to explain how I got you killed to your aunt."
"But the guy could be dead by then!"
"That's a risk we have to take."
Meg didn't talk for a while. She sent the photos though as requested.
I couldn't sleep after that. Reid didn't take offense to me sitting at the table and watching them work.
"Alex Ormond is his name," Delaney said. "He was fired from his job as an FDA restaurant inspector a week ago. There are our triggers."
"How do you take the guy down since you're not agents?" I asked.
"Rough," Reid said.
Ann rang. "The guy has a nail in the man's head!"
"Leave it there. Anne, take the van Ormond is using and drive it to the closest hospital. They'll know if it can be removed. Try to stay calm."
"I got a confession from the man," Tim said. "He confessed to three more murders we didn't know about."
"Take him in SUV A and drive him to the sheriff's office. The file will be sent then. Meg, take the SUV B and drive the snake path back."
It was a tense couple of hours waiting for everyone to return.
"Will the charges stick?" I asked.
"This isn't federal justice," Reid said with a sigh. "The charges might not stick and the unsub might go back to killing. The thing is, we tried. We stopped the killing at least momentarily. If we didn't come to help in these cases, more might be dead."
Meg appeared.
"I wasn't followed," she said with a sigh.
"Meg," Reid said in a serious tone.
"I know. I need to listen. We can't save everyone. We have to prioritize our own safety if we want to live to save more people."
"I don't want this to be a recurring theme," Reid said in a tone that reminded me of Hotch.
"Yes sir."
An hour later Ann and Tim came back.
"First case down," Tim said. "Why don't I feel more victorious?"
"This isn't the BAU," Reid said. "We're on our own with no one to pat us on our backs except each other. We need to support one another as much as we can."
"Go team," Ann said.
"I'm going to take SUV A for a personal call."
Reid stepped out.
"So, what do we think of our boss?" Ann asked.
"He is trying very hard not to sound grief-stricken," Delaney said.
"Seven of his best friends were killed," Meg said. "I'd be down to."
"Maybe after a few cases he'll be less down on himself," Ann said.
"Either way, I'm prepared to walk through walls for him," Tim said. "He has our backs and wants justice. That's all I can ask for."
"I'll take a bullet for him," Ann said.
"I'll give him a kidney," Delaney said.
"I'll do as he asks even as I question why," Meg said.
"That's all you can do," Delaney said.
I pulled out a bottle of Pepsi and poured cups for all of us.
"To the shadow BAU," I said.
Everyone clinked their cups. There were smiles to be seen, but they were modest. As though no one was certain what was coming next.
Beth:
"That must have built strong relationships fast," I said.
"We stayed together for a year, then new blood came in. Delaney and Ann were the only ones who stayed for the long haul. Meg, the director, Reid kicked her out three years in because he saw her as too much like a younger sister and was terrified of losing her after one close call too many."
"Wow," I said. "I didn't know the director was that close to him."
"It's something neither wanted to get around until now."
"I see," I said and offered my hand. "Thank you for your time."
"Sure," he said with a smile. "I'm all for making sure the world knows Reid's story."
"So I am," I said.
Everywhere I went there seemed to be people who wanted to make sure Reid's story was told.
