Surprise, I'm not dead! Life has been... odd lately, and I will be finishing this story do not worry.

Chapter 8: Reid POV

I woke up at 8 am to Morgan poking me repeatedly in the chest.

"Wake up sleepyhead, it's showtime,' he said, before showing a plate with a waffle on it next to me. The hotel must have some continental breakfast.

"Did you know a "continental breakfast" was named in 19th century Britain and referred to the type-".

He shoved a biscuit into my mouth.

"Regurgitate facts later, pretty boy, we're leaving to go to the high school in 30," he smirked, before leaving our hotel room, leaving me with the waffle. I sighed, and started munching on it after swallowing the biscuit piece. He cared, and that was nice.

But caring about me did not require the forced consumption of subpar baked goods.

After I finished the waffle, I grabbed my outfit for the day- a blue long sleeve button up, black pants, a navy tie, and a sweater vest- before heading into the bathroom to comb my hair and get dressed.

I headed down to the hotel lobby 5 minutes later, and after a nod from Hotch we were off.

20 minutes later, at 8:30, we arrived at the school. Classes had been going on for an hour or so, definitely long enough to take attendance, so we would be able to see whether Jeremy was here.

I walked into the front office with the team, and let Morgan take the lead as I studied the inhabitants. It was mostly run by students, it appeared. Mostly seniors who looked like they were doing homework in between helping others. It must be cheaper that way.

"There's something weird going on," Morgan said, walking up to the group. "He was present in his first period, but his second period reported him absent." he said, voice grave.

"Maybe he took another victim?" I suggested, before continuing, "It doesn't fit his time pattern, but if he knew the FBI was looking into the case maybe he went off pattern," I finished. Hotch nodded at me, before telling Morgan to ask the girls to find any other students that were present in their first period, but missing from their second. He was delegating other tasks when the phone rang.

After a few seconds, I realized it was my phone. I picked it up and answered it, only to hear an anguished scream.

"Sir? Is this Dr. Reid? I'm Ella, Phoebe just gave me her phone and told me to call you- we're in the band room and Jeremy Jacobs-" she said, crying intermittently before being cut off by another scream, somehow more gut wrenching than the first.

"Jeremy just stabbed her, please help," she said again, and I could feel the fear in her voice.

I looked up at the rest of my team, who all nodded. We ran to the black SUV's and put on our vests, before I led them towards the band room. When we reached it, I was the first one in, and my heart broke when I saw the scene. In the center of the room were risers for the choir, and on the right side of the room behind them, there was a mass of students who were physically unharmed. On the left side, near the entrance to the office, however, a very different scene played out.

Closest to the door was Phoebe, on the ground in a quickly growing pool of blood. On top of her was another girl, who I assumed was Ella, putting pressure on the wound. Slightly behind them there were two boys, one pinning down another who was covered in blood. A knife laid a few feet away.

Almost in a trance, I walked towards the left side of the room, looking in horror at Phoebe who was somehow still conscious. Derek was in front of me, and he nodded at the boy who had the other pinned down, handcuffing the unconscious unsub who was covered in blood. Somehow, EMTs were behind us with a stretcher.

"I'm so sorry this happened" I said as they loaded Phoebe onto it. She only nodded weakly.

"By the way, Dr. Reid," she said weakly, as if she was sleepy. I looked at her. "Mr. Blake is dead in his office." I nodded back at her, trying to silently tell her I would take care of it. Deciding a nod wasn't enough, I crossed over to her and laid a hand on her wrist.

"We're gonna get you help, Phoebe" I said, before she passed into unconsciousness.

I looked behind me, and the girl- Ella- was sitting there in apparent shock.I motioned for Prentiss to come over- she was better at comforting people- and walked into the director's office.

My first thought was about how pale the man was, before I got a closer look. The body had been completely drained of blood, and the floor was covered in it. The computer was open to a student records page on Phoebe McLean, and I realized that Jacobs must have held the teacher at knifepoint to access the birth certificates of the girls, before deciding no one else could know about his secret.I went to walk out of the room when my shoes squelched, and I realized that they were drenched in blood.

Damn.

Morgan walked in soon after that, telling me that the students had been led out of the room. With a nod, I walked out of it, and shared my conclusions with the team. They all agreed, and I realized that the case was finished. We had caught the unsub, there was no reason to stay in Vegas. Well, no official reason.

"This case has been grueling on everyone," said Hotch, and he was right. Kids were traumatized and we got here too late to save a man.

"Because of that," he continued, "I'm going to make sure that the plane needs a few "repairs"," he said, putting finger quotes around repairs making everyone smile, "so we'll be here for the next three days. Relax, team," he finished.

Things like that were the reason why I appreciated Hotch so much. He really cared about his team, made sure we were okay.

Prentiss walked over to me holding a pair of flip flops.

"Derek said that your shoes got ruined in there," she said with a sparkle in her eye, "so I sent one of the kids that was in here to get a pair of shoes from the lost and found. They couldn't find any, but they got a pair of these from the school store"

I looked at the "shoes".

"Emily, those would look ridiculous on me!" I protested weakly, but we both knew that she was right, I needed to change out of the shoes. So I pulled mine off, along with the socks, putting the offending items in a plastic bag she had somehow procured, before wiping off the blood with some wipes she had also gotten.

"How did you get this stuff?" I asked, trying to delay putting on the hot pink flip flops.

She looked at me before deadpanning, "we're in a high school. There are a lot of… objects just lying around. Now put on the shoes"

I did.

I looked ridiculous, and I could tell Emily shared the sentiment as she giggled when I stood up. The rest of the team was gone by now, probably excited to go gamble or drink, or call home.

"I assume you want to go visit Phoebe?" she said in an understanding tone, and I nodded. "Then let's go," she said, holding out her hand for me to hold.

That's how I ended up holding hands with my girlfriend wearing pink flip flops and walking down the halls of my old high school, haunted by thoughts of death.