Reid stepped off the elevator with a different spring in his step. His normally wild hair was slicked back and stylish. His vest was left at home. He had his messenger bag hung loosely over his shoulder instead of across his chest. He had one hand in his pocket while the other held onto his double espresso.
"Agent Reid." Parker called out as he walked toward his former employee. "I heard about the explosion."
"Yes, it was a close call." Reid nodded.
"I'm glad you and your team made it out okay. I'm especially happy that you were able to get Alex out, too. It would be horrible for her to get out of surving the rest of her sentence by dying."
Reid knew that Parker's disdain for Alex ran deep and simply nodded in response.
"Well, I will see you around, son." Parker tapped him on the shoulder then entered the elevator.
Rossi approached Reid from behind. "It's good to know that he doesn't hold any animosity towards Alex." Rossi said sarcastically.
"The man has no love for her after what she did." Reid confirmed. "So, what was Parker doing here?"
"He was here to take Alex back to prison; however she will remain in our custody for a couple more days." Hotch noted.
Rossi looked Reid up and down. "Are those Bacco Bucci shoes?" He raised his eyebrows and nodded. "The kid has expensive taste."
"At least your hair isn't in your eyes anymore." Hotch said dryly.
Reid gave a simple shrug in response.
"I have noticed that Parker's demeanor has changed, especially in regards to wanting to get Alex back to her cell." Hotch's eyebrows furrowed.
"Parker holds a lot of resentment towards Alex." Reid started.
"Well, that's understandable." Rossi added.
"Not only did she betray our team, but her being a double agent, right under his nose, well that got him into a lot of hot water with his superiors."
"It must not have been that bad, he is the Deputy Director, after all. You don't get that position if you are blackballed." Rossi pointed out.
"True." Reid nodded. "But he was determined. He wasn't going to let what Alex did ruin his reputation."
"Maybe you can help me understand something." Hotch started. "I am used to the CIA being elusive, but in this case it appears that we are purposely being left in the dark about details that we should be looped in on."
"That's not the CIA, that's Parker. He is notorious for not letting outsiders in. He did not want our help, I am sure that his superiors made him bring us him to assist. He will stop at nothing to get Alex back to prison now that we are no longer hunting after knight."
"But we are still hunting after Knight's killer. This case is far from over." Hotch reminded.
"You worked the case." Rossi interrupted. "Surely there are plenty of people that Knight pissed off enough to want him dead."
"Yes, there are. I will work on a list of everyone that could be a suspect." Reid eagerly added.
"Good, then get that list to Garcia as soon as possible so she can start running those names." Hotch directed.
"Will do." Reid said as he entered the BAU and headed toward the conference room.
Rossi turned to Hotch now that they were alone. "So, what has got those wheels in your head turning?"
"I am still trying to figure that out." Hotch left Rossi's side where he headed down the hallway. Moments later he stood in JJ's office doorway.
"Hey, Hotch. What can I do for you?" JJ dropped her pen on top of the file she was reading.
"I need you to locate someone for me."
"Okay, who?"
"His name is John McIntyre."
"Where should I look?" JJ asked.
"Langley." Hotch stated.
"Why hello there, Stud Muffin."
Reid looked up to see Garcia entering the round table room. "I thought you usually reserved those comments for Morgan." He quipped.
"I am going to make an exception in your case." She flashed a smile. "You called about a list of names?"
Reid nodded and handed her a piece of paper. "Yes, these are all the people who have or had a reason to want Harris Knight killed."
"I will punch them into my super duper computer once the update has finished installing." She looked down at all the paperwork on the table in front of him. "What's all this?"
Reid glanced over the mess he made. "I am trying to decipher the message Charles left me."
"I thought you could translate this stuff in your sleep."
"I am still missing one piece of the puzzle. All I can do now is try to figure it out by trial and error until I get the key." Reid let out a sigh.
"Well, you will always be my Boy Wonder, even if you are a little more Knight Wing lately." She chuckled then waived it off. "Oh, never mind."
"Knight Wing: The new super hero name taken on by Dick Grayson, formerly Boy Wonder, also known as Robin." Reid stated.
Garcia beamed. "I love this pop culture knowing Reid! So, how can I help?"
"Okay, I am going to read off a series of letters, you write them down and we will see if we can form anything from it."
"What exactly are we looking for?" Garcia asked.
"In one of the documents Charles left for me the word 'guilty' was underlined and I know that it wasn't part of the original letter… because I wrote it. So I believe we are looking for a name and this person will be guilty."
"Guilty of what?"
"I don't knew, I guess we will need to figure that out as well."
"I'm ready, give me the letters." Garcia stood in front of the white board with a marker in her hand. She wrote groups of letters down as Reid spouted them out.
Reid flipped back and forth through the pages and looked back at the pictures hoping to find a clue. Garcia could see that the frustration was getting to him. "So, how are you doing now that Alex is back in your life?"
"I think I am past the initial uncomfortablilty. But it's still weird. On the one hand, she was a huge part of my life, my best friend. But on the other, I don't think I can ever forgive her for what she's done."
"I totally get it. If I ran into my ex after this long, I don't know how I would be able to handle that. We are in two different worlds now. I'm a different person than the one he fell in love with. He would actually hate to find out that I work for 'The Man'." She chuckled.
"Yeah, but Alex and I weren't dating, we were partners." Reid corrected.
"Oh honey, I've seen the way you two have looked at each other. There are deeper feelings there than either one of you care to admit."
Reid couldn't hold back his smirk. "Maybe that's why I can't stay mad at her. Maybe she had a good reason for what she did."
"That's true. Anything is possible." Garcia looked at the letters she just wrote. "Unless you know someone named DIBNIF, I think we need to move on."
Reid rearranged the numbers then came up with a new sequence, okay try U-A-R-M-S-C.
Garcia wrote them on the board.
"Wait." Reid stared at the letters and saw them rearrange in his head. "That spells Marcus, as in Alex Marcus!" He looked shocked. "Charles was trying to tell me that she is the one that is guilty!" He was disappointed. He hoped that there was a mistake, that maybe they could actually make peace. But he knew now that could never happen.