Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I ever owned Criminal Minds.
Four days later, the team was out of the hospital. The poison in Reid's system was from a deadly breed of snake found in some obscure corner of the globe, resulting in the hospital having to acquire the antidote from out of the state. It took longer than the doctors thought Reid would last, but he shocked the everyone by living long enough to receive the cure and making a miraculous recovery. That is, everyone who didn't know about Hotch's healing. Garcia was also released from the hospital, though she was to work from home until she was fully recovered.
Most of the team now sat in the conference room, trying to find who might have a vendetta against the BAU. Fortunately, the list wasn't as long as it could have been. Unfortunately, the list was still extremely long. The problem was, they couldn't really rule anyone out at first glance. People could have been hired to attempt to kill them, so anyone that might feel wronged was on said list. They had been going through old cases for hours, adding anyone from the killers they put away to the grieving loved ones of victims to the list. The names were then sent to Garcia, who did background checks and eliminated anyone who was dead, in prison, or out of the country. Aside from that, they had nothing to got on.
"This is useless!" Morgan said, throwing his hands up in the air. "We have nothing to go on."
"Well, unless something else happens, we can't make an accurate profile." Prentiss said, sounding as exasperated as Morgan.
"Actually, we do have something to go on," Reid interjected. "We know that he targeted us for a reason. And that there is more than one person involved, whether they were hired or not." As Reid was talking, Gideon had entered the room.
"I have a feeling," Gideon said once Reid had finished talking and they all knew he was referring to his precognition. "That the people who attacked you were hired." Morgan reached over, video calling Garcia. She popped up on the screen a few seconds later, wearing pink fuzzy pajamas and braided hair.
"You guys realize that while I am extremely talented at multitasking, I cannot do all things at once." She said, only mild annoyance in her voice.
"Well then, I guess it's a good thing we're here to make your job easier," Morgan said, flashing a charming smile at her. She smiled back.
"Well then, speak and be heard, mortal." She quipped.
"Gideon thinks that the people who did the dirty work were hired. Look into if anyone on the list so far has made any withdrawals that could indicate they were paying off multiple mercenaries." Reid told her.
"If this person were paying off at least four different people to kill FBI agents, they would have to be loaded," Prentiss said. "Paying to have one civilian killed costs more than most people can afford. Paying to have seven FBI agents killed? That is a whole other level."
"I'll hit you back when I got something. PG out." She clicked a button and disappeared from the screen. JJ walked in just after Garcia signed off.
"The card in Reid's pocket came back from the lab. There was DNA or fingerprints." She said, sounding disappointed. Gideon grimaced before nodding and leaving the room.
The paper Reid felt the guy slip into Reid's pocket had only said 'This will not be the last' on it. Reid figured that he was supposed to die that night, and it only bothered him when he really thought about it. Which was pretty much all the time. He resisted the urge to shudder again when she brought it up.
"We think that the real Unsub hired people to kill us, so it was unlikely to have his DNA or fingerprints on it anyways," Morgan said to JJ, who nodded slightly.
"Found anything new?" JJ asked, sitting down next to Reid. Prentiss shook her head.
"We've been looking into past cases, but the further back we go the less likely it seems that the people would be involved." She said, frustration creeping into her voice.
"Ya know, if this guy is paying so much to have us killed he knows a thing or two about being inconspicuous. Since no one we've looked into so far has stuck out, he's got to know that withdrawing less than fifty thousand keeps you under the IRS's radar." Reid said, looking deep in thought.
"Well, anyone who is paying this much to have us killed is probably not going to be happy we're still kicking," Morgan muttered. Everyone had to agree with that.
...
"I think I got something!" Garcia popped up on the screen unexpectedly. JJ jumped slightly, looking toward the computer. Prentiss looked up, seemingly unfazed. "Dang, Reid's not here?" She asked. Prentiss chuckled.
"Nope, just me and JJ. Why?" Prentiss said. Garcia smirked.
"He jumps about ten feet in the air every time I pop up on the screen." She said, sounding smug. JJ laughed.
"Then I guess it's unfortunate that he's out getting coffee. I would love to see that." She said.
"You said you have something?" Prentiss prompted, getting the conversation back on track. Garcia was back into work mode in less than a second, looking down at the computer.
"Yes, I've narrowed the suspect pool down to three very wealthy people," Garcia told them.
"I'll go get the rest of the team." JJ said, standing.
A/N: Hey guys, sorry about not posting last night. Writer's block strikes at the worst of times, and I think it should be officially noted that I am the worst at combating it. Thank you to anyone who read, reviewed, followed, or favorited!