The first time she picked up a weapon, she was ten years old.
Well it wasn't a traditional weapon, though that would've helped in that situation. It had been a rusty pipe, fallen to the ground amidst the piping of a basement.
She had picked it up, swinging it down on the head of Fungus. She hadn't thought about how hard to swing down. Or where the best spot to hit was. Or even how she'd got there. All she was thinking was that someone was in trouble and Fungus was in the way.
After her opponent fell Megan didn't even hesitate to smile.
Only after the dust had settled and she was back Home, sleeping in her own bed, Megan wondered about her reaction.
She knew her parents would be so disappointed in her. They were always talking about not getting into fights, of choosing the way of peace. They weren't hippies, just schoolteachers. She understood wanting that kind of peace out in the world, but she didn't get why that meant it was okay for kids to push her around but she couldn't push back.
Pushing back made her the bad guy.
So she worked hard to make sure she stayed on the right side.
==BAP==
She'd first held a gun two months later.
It was less of a spur of the moment thing. She had been watching TV as one does, then fell again into another world. Kim Possible, where a high schooler can save the world and still balance homework.
The gun hadn't been a proper gun. It was a retrofitted hair-dryer grappling hook. Wade wouldn't make her anything yet cause she mostly kept Ron from falling off ledges.
Megan pretended she hadn't been disappointed.
She would be satisfied with a tranq gun at that point. At least then, she would have something more helpful to add to the team.
==BAP==
She held a real gun after she became a lawyer. The client for the prosecution had thought the best was to win his case would be to scare the pretty young thing working for the defense.
She was allowed to carry when the threats escalated to violence.
She smiled with giddy pride.
Like a child who didn't realize it was a problem.
(The man found out it was a problem
And that Megan made it a point to never miss)
==BAP==
Megan took a deep breath.
'Front sight.' She aimed at her target. 'Trigger press. Follow through.'
The bullet tore through the paper, hitting it in the bullseye.
Megan had trained a lot for that spot.
She had aced all the tests on weapons. She had practiced using Hotch's technique for years, ages before he ever spoke the words into Spencer's ear.
She prepared herself again.
Another shot through the target.
She trained until she got that shot every time.
==BAP==
Since she had unknowingly taken Elle's place, there wasn't much she could do in this case.
There wasn't much she could do to get the ambulances there faster. She couldn't do that without adding suspicion.
She could help Spencer with his qualification but that...even thinking of it made her blush.
She remembered how they parted ways after Einstein's Gift. Neither of them were looking for any sort of relationship, both of them seeming to miss huge cues that were practically neon signs to everyone else. It wasn't until the next morning that Megan wondered if she had been flirting with him. Or maybe he had been flirting with her? She spent the whole day wondering.
So maybe avoiding close personal contact was a good idea.
But...this episode had no arc for Elle.
It was for Spencer.
Megan had to let him learn to do fire that shot.
That was the best way of helping she could see.
==BAP==
She could shoot Philip Dowd between the eyes before he could even blink.
She could do it right now- leave her home and go to his.
She wouldn't miss.
She couldn't.
Even she had limits.
(Yeah she could leave an anonymous tip
But 'anonymous' was a challenge to Penelope Garcia
Not only did Megan never miss, she never got caught)
==BAP==
You don't need a gun to kill somebody.
Megan understood that philosophy.
But it helps.
She knew the worst way to kill Dowd would to be sure he never got any sort of fame from this. That within the month, none of the papers would be talking about him. She could steal the fame he sought, cut him off cold so that he lost even in death.
She could help the families and communities that had been most affected. With having no idea how to do that, Megan settled for doing her job to the fullest. Making sure Reid and Hotch were Dowd's hostages was the best method for that she could manage.
She wanted to do more.
Why did she always want to do more?
==BAP==
Her first kill had been when she was 21.
("Well, knowing what you're feeling.")
She remembered throwing her own 21st birthday party the week before. She hadn't known it was possible to get that drunk and still remember it the next day. She'd always thought getting drunk meant forgetting everything, like in the Hangover.
("That's not the same as not feelin'.")
She had been a cop. It was early, she was just beginning to work her way up the system.
("This is gonna hurt you.")
She wasn't even supposed to be on shift. It was supposed to end twenty minutes ago, when this happened. She couldn't leave. How could she leave?
("And when it does-")
The woman had been Christina Brown. She was a parent at the school, trying to break in to find her child. Apparently, Megan found out after, she'd been denied custody after a disagreement about how exactly Little Timmy 'broke his arm'. Christina had brought a gun to be sure she would be let inside.
("There's only three facts you need to know.")
Her parents had been teachers. They always told her not to fight fire with fire. Funny- or maybe ironic?- that her first had been stopping a school-shooter who was a parent. She wondered if her parents ever dealt with someone like this.
("You did what you had to do.")
Megan had warned Christina to put it down. Just put the gun down, there wasn't any need for anyone to get hurt. They could leave. Megan could 'put in a good word' for Christina. If she went quietly, everything would be okay. They never went down so easy.
("And a lot of good people are alive because of what you did.")
Christina had aimed her gun at someone. Megan couldn't remember if it was the receptionist or the principal. Maybe it was Little Timmy himself. Megan couldn't remember. To tell the truth, she didn't care who Christina had pointed at.
("What's the third?")
Megan never missed.
("I'm proud of you.")
Sometimes she wished she could.
==BAP==
AN: Hey everybody! Hope you're all remembering to stay home, wash your hands, and just generally doing your best to flatten the curve. I'm stuck at home with four college kids, a middle schooler, a kindergartner, and two teachers. Writing this with (at any given time) 4 Zoom calls happening was great, really great. I mean that. Fun.
But here's some more insight into who Megan Quinn is! I really like the style. While the episodes of Season 1 are *chefs kiss* I kinda wrote myself in a corner getting rid of Elle, cause then anything Megan did had to be on-level with what Elle did. I want this chapters to show what separates the two characters, as I don't think I can do that in the style of writing out the entire episode.
If you like it, please leave a comment! If not, leave a constructsive criticism. Give me your supporting argument for why this isn't working. Or just talk to me, I'm down for a chat.
Thanks to bmccullough825, JediGemini, Yuka Tsukino, and .queen for favoriting
Thanks to bmccullough825, JediGemini, Yuka Tsukino, nancywheeler, .queen, and Is-this-supposed-to-be-clever for following
